Peanut Noodle Kale Bowls + Plaid OOTD

My love for a peanut sauce never ends.  I could happily eat this dressing by the spoonful.  This was a super easy week night meal to toss together and the noodles get even better as they sit.  They are quite tasty cold the next day.   If you can't find watermelon radishes regular work just fine.  You could honestly do any veggies you wanted with this.  

Enjoy!

** The package of noodles I bought was 9 oz instead of 6 so I doubled the sauce and mainly because I love sauce.  **

|| P E A N U T  N O O D L E  K A L E  B O W L S  ||

via Love and Lemons Cookbook (if you don't have this cookbook you need it)

- 6 ounces soba noodles (can be found in the Asian section)

- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped

- 2 watermelon radishes sliced

- 1/2 cup frozen edamame thawed

- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

D R E S S I N G 

- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

- 1.5 teaspoons soy sauce

- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger

- 1 garlic clove minced

- 1 teaspoon sriracha

- 3 tablespoons water

In a small bowl whisk together peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and water.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook noodles according to package.  When noodles are cooked transfer them to a colander to drain reserving water.   Using the same water add in the kale and blanch for 30 seconds until slightly wilted.   Drain the kale.  Add the noodles and kale to a bowl.  

Add the sauce to the noodles and kale and toss all together.  Garnish with sliced radishes and edamame and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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I am really loving plaid this Fall.  I recently ordered this plaid dress and wanted to share it while it is on sale- 60% off.  This is my favorite style Equipment Dress because it is so versatile.  I am wearing a small.

Plaid Dress

The Blouse version is also 60% off.

Plaid Blouse

Chopped Shrimp and Quinoa Salad + 3 Cookbooks to Add to your Collection + JCrew Off Shoulder Top

The warmer weather has me craving salads. You all know a salad is one of my favorite meals so get ready for lots of Summer Salad recipes coming your way!    This recipe comes from GP's new cookbook which is amazing.  The salad was super easy to toss together.   You only have to cook the shrimp and quinoa (which can be done ahead of time). 

The dressing is so light and fresh, it pairs perfectly with all the ingredients.   While I was making it, I kept dipping veggies in the dressing and eating it, I couldn't stop.  Such a delicious dressing full of flavor. 

Several of you always want to know if the kids eat the same thing we do.   For the most part yes, I do not cook them a separate dinner.  In this case neither of them will eat lettuce (go figure) so I just serve them shrimp, avocado, cucumber and fruit.   If you assemble your salads like this is makes it so easy to serve the kids what they will eat from the salad and then you can mix yours up:)

Enjoy! 

|| C H O P P E D  S H R I M P  A N D  Q U I N O A   S A L A D ||

adapted via It's All Easy

- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined

- 2 baby cucumber cut in half and then sliced

- 5-6 radishes sliced thinly

- 1 cup cooked quinoa

- 3 ears of corn shucked (you can cook or use raw)

- 1/2 small red onion diced

- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half

- 1 head Romaine lettuce, shredded

- 1 avocado diced

D R E S S I N G

- 1/3 cup chopped basil

- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

- 1 scallion diced

- juice of 2 limes

- 1/3 cup olive oil

- 1 teaspoon agave nectar

- salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper if needed and add more olive oil if dressing seems too thick.

The original recipe calls for the shrimp to be grilled but I sautéed them.  I placed the raw shrimp in a bowl and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and a few dashes of hot sauce.  Then I heated 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and dropped the shrimp in.  I cooked them about 5 minutes until pink.  Let cool and chop into bite size pieces.

Layer the lettuce in the bottom of a large bowl and then place other ingredients on top.  Serve and drizzle with dressing.

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I frequently get asked questions about what cookbooks I use and love the most.  I wanted to share these 3 recent cookbook purchases because they are all awesome.   New cookbooks make me so happy.  Crazy I know but I love browsing through them and getting inspired about cooking and new recipes.

Foster's Market Favorites- Anyone that went to Chapel Hill, I am sure is familiar with Foster's Market.  I loved that place when I was college.    So many fabulous gourmet sandwiches and salads.  Pure heaven.  I actually own all of Sara Foster's cookbooks and love them all but this one is especially great.  I mean look at that cover recipe.  

Cravings- I have been following Chrissy Teigan on instagram for awhile so I was so excited when her cookbook came out.  I just made the Ramen Noodle salad this weekend and it was delicious.  I have bookmarked so many more recipes to make.   

It's All Easy- I swear by all GP cookbooks.  They are my favorites.  This new cookbook offers so many great meal recipes that don't take forever to cook.  I also love her cookbooks because they are pretty:)

Lastly I want to share this Off Shoulder Top from JCrew.  I have been stalking the site waiting for it to be released.  I saw it in Glamour and Instyle in the March issues and called customer service and said it would be released in May.  Well I just checked this morning and it is now on the site and 30% off!    Use code TIMETOSHOP

Also comes in white, I may just order both:)

Off Shoulder Blouse

Stripe Version

Scenes From Our Weekend + Charleston Food and Wine Festival

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  This weekend was definitely a fun one!!

Thursday after hitting up the Troubadour Sample Sale I went to Leon's Oyster Shop for lunch, still one of my favorite places in town.  I normally get the Siam Salad which is amazing but decided to branch out and try the fried fish sandwich.  It was so good!  Their fried Brussels Sprouts are also delicious. I am still dreaming about this lunch.

Wearing:

Equipment Dress | RM Purse | Booties are old similar | Hyla Dewitt Bracelet

Friday I met up with a friend to try the infrared sauna at Seeking Indigo.  Instead of a wet moist heat like a regular sauna it is more of a radiant heat.  We did 30 minutes and I really enjoyed it.  Next I plan to try the detox foot soak and the infrared massage.

After the sauna we grabbed a delicious lunch at Monza.  This antipasto platter was so good, I def want to try and recreate something similar at home.  Loved the addition of the arugula.

Friday night we met up with my parents for happy hour.

I always love the view on the deck of their condo.

Love having my parents in town!

Mom is wearing a Joie Blouse ( that I can't wait to borrow!) 

I am wearing Equipment Blouse | Similar Sweater | Jeans

Saturday I attended the Locavore lunch at SNOB.  It was 5 courses and all the ingredients came sourced from local farms.  This noodle bowl and the swordfish were two of my favorites!

 The wine was amazing too.  It was from a vineyard in California called Luli.  We sampled their Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and they all were delicious. 

After that we headed to the tent tasting at the festival!

Joie Dress (also here) | RM Purse | Sunglasses | Earrings (similar) | Booties (similar) | Ring

The weather was perfection.  We enjoyed so many delicious wines!  They also had some really cool cooking demonstrations too. 

We even had the pleasure of meeting the gastronaut! 

We sampled so many great wines but there were also several liquor companies  at the Festival as well.  This black cherry vodka was amazing.

Sunday the weather was nice again so the kids and I headed to the beach.  It was too cold to swim but they insisted on wearing their suits.

Frances showing off her belly! This picture cracks me up!

Enjoy your week!

The Ultimate Ramen Noodle Bowl

Oh, how I love a noodle bowl.  One of my favorite restaurants here on James Island, which sadly closed recently had the best noodle bowl.  We used to love to go there on Wednesday nights just for their Noodle Bowl special.  If you want a serious noodle bowl you really need to make your own stock.  That restaurant told me that they make their own broth and cook it for 24 hours which I did not do.  I just spiced up the Ramen water and added store bought veggie broth.  You know what it was good and easy for a week night meal.  

There are so many different ways you could make a noodle bowl so experiment and go crazy.  
You don't even have to use ramen you could use another type of noodles.  I however like the texture and size of ramen noodles.  Any veggies would work too- I think this would also be great with sautéed broccoli and or asparagus.

I want to to mention 2 kitchen tools I use all the time: My grater and mandolin.  I use my grater for so many things other than cheese.  A mandolin makes finely shredded things so easy, just watch your fingers:)  I love this Mandolin and it is on sale currently for only $14 I swear it works just as great as the expensive version I had before it.  I like this handheld grater for when I need things grated finer like Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and ginger.  Then I use this big box grater for cheese.  All are essential tools in my kitchen.
Enjoy!

|| T H E   U L T I M A T E  R A M E N  N O O D L E  B O W L ||

- 2-3 packages of ramen noodles ( I used the oriental flavor)
- 3 carrots shredded ( I used our cheese grater to shred them)
- 4 green onions sliced
- 1/2 head purple cabbage sliced thinly (I used the mandolin mentioned above)
- 1 box sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 1 bundle bok choy, chopped (mine had 3 small bunches in it)
- 1 small shallot
- 2 red chili peppers or jalapeños, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 eggs, hard boiled (5-6 minutes for softer center)
- hot sauce siriacha or whatever you prefer
- 1 cups vegetable stock


In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil (olive oil, canola, peanut oil any of them work) and add chopped shallot, garlic, and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes.  Add in Bok Choy and half of the diced green onions.  Continue to cook until bok choy is wilted.  Remove skillet and set bok chop mixture aside in a bowl.  In that same skillet add a little more oil and the shiitake mushrooms.  Sprinkle with salt and cook about 5 minutes.  Then drizzle with soy sauce and remove from heat.

Cook Ramen noodles according to the package.  After mine cooked I added in 1 tablespoon soy sauce and several drizzles of hot sauce.  I wanted ours to have more liquid because much of it cooked off so I added about 1 cup of vegetable stock and let it simmer.   That is optional you don't have to add veggie stock.  Add in a few slices of the chopped chili peppers or jalepenos to flavor broth at this point.  Let it simmer about 15-20 mins on low just for the flavors to blend.  

Assemble bowls.  I like to place the noodles on the bottom and then arrange the veggies (carrots, cabbage, sliced boiled egg, shiitake mushrooms, cooked bok choy, green onions, and a few sliced peppers for extra heat ) on top because it looks pretty.  This way everyone can serve their bowls to their liking.  Sterling won't eat ,any of the veggies so this way I could make his bowl plain with just noodles and load ours up.

Soba Noodle Salad with Creamy Peanut Butter Dressing

I love pretty much any sort of noodle or pasta salad.  I also love peanut butter sauce, so this recipe was a no brainer.  The sauce is freaking amazing.  It has so much flavor.  Sterling and I licked the bowl clean after we made it.  Speaking of kids helping to cook, this dish is totally kid friendly.   Both my kids devoured it.  I have recently come to really love soba noodles, they are fairly bland but have a slight almost nutty taste. I think they are the perfect noodle for this salad but you could use spaghetti or rice noodles as well.

The original recipe calls for snow peas but I used edamame.  You could really use any sort of veggies you want.  This was almost even better the next day, I ate it chilled right out of the fridge and it was so good.  Perfect for a Summer Picnic.  This our main meal but it would be awesome with some grilled chicken or shrimp.

Heads up | my favorite entertaining store, Open Door Shop, is running their Half Yearly Sale starting tomorrow but offering early access for you today!  You can take 15% off the site with code SUMMERTIME. 

I love the terrafirma line, the bowl I used for this salad is terrafirma.  I love all the fun patterns and they can go in your dishwasher!  They are my absolute favorite serving dishes and a great time to buy them at 15% off!  Open Door Shop carries so many other fun entertaining pieces as well.

|| S O B A   N O O D L E  S A L A D  W I T H   C R E A M Y  P E A N U T  

B U T T E R  S A U C E ||

via Endless Summer Cookbook

1 ounces dried soba noodles

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 cup shelled edamame

1 cup grated carrots

4 sliced green onions

1 red bell pepper

cook the noodles according to the package instructions, drain and rinse.

While the noodles are cooking in a small saucepan over low heat, whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger together until the peanut butter melts and the dressing is smooth.

In a large bowl combine the noodles and dressing, toss until evenly coated.  Add the edamame, carrots, red bell pepper and green onions.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Food Porn.

 TGIF!  I hope you all have some fun plans this weekend.  Locals don't forget about the Laura Mercier Island Chic event at Gwynn's on Saturday.  It is all day (10-7) debuting the new Laura Mercier Summer line.  There is a fabulous gift with purchase and still a few spots left if you want to meet with the Laura Mercier regional specialist and have her help pick out your make-up.  Call 843.849.9667 and ask for Britney!

 I will be there in the morning so stop by and say hi!

Ford Porn, also known as things I want to eat immediately.

One of my favorite things to do is scour the internet for new recipes to try out.  I am constantly so inspired by food.  New recipes and flavor combinations make me so excited.  

I wanted to share a few drool worthy recipes that caught my eye.  These all look insanely good- if you click on the recipe name it will take you to the original source with the whole recipe:)

I hope these give you some cooking inspiration too!

|| WATERMELON MOZZARELLA SALAD ||

|| THE ULTIMATE SPICY REUBEN SANDWICH ||

|| CHOPPED CHICKEN SESAME NOODLE BOWL ||

|| BRUSSELS SPROUTS PIZZA WITH BALSAMIC RED ONIONS ||

|| GRILLED SWEET POTATO WEDGES WITH ZESTY HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE ||

|| STRAWBERRY CAKE ||

|| BEER PULLED PORK NACHOS ||

 

 || SMORES BROWNIE PIE ||

 || ROSEMARY CHICKEN, AVOCADO AND BACON SALAD ||

|| SHRIMP LETTUCE WRAPS ||

|| AVOCADO BREAKFAST CASSEROLE ||

|| LENTIL SALAD ||

 || EASY KUNG PAO CHICKEN ||

|| MINI CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKES ||

|| BALSAMIC ROAST BEEF FRENCH DIP ||

All recipes can also be found on my Pinterest Page.