Grilled Asparagus

Our favorite seasoned vegetable of the summer has to be asparagus. It is so easy to prepare and looks and tastes great with every dish. If you want to "wow" your guests without doing much of anything here's our go to:

You Will Need:
3 tbls Olive Oil
1 tbls Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

To prepare, take a sheet of aluminum foil and make a little boat for your asparagus. I do this by folding in the four sides to create "rails" ensuring it's the right length and width of the amount of asparagus I am cooking.

 I then take the asparagus and cut of the bottom "white" chunk. It's not needed and it isn't as tasty as the other part of the stem. 

Then I drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, and then sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Using tongs I move the asparagus around in the boat coating each piece with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Then I add the Parmesan cheese. 

We then place the boat on the grill for about 10-15 minutes on high heat until it's well cooked. To get some char marks, we then place the asparagus on the grill for a few minutes just until you see some grill lines and take them off.

There you have it. Simple grilled asparagus. 

Note: You can also add 2 tbls lemon juice and some lemon zest if you'd prefer to have it a little bit more light a flavorful. Just reduce the amount of olive oil by 1 tablespoon.

Grilled Pork Chops

(iPhone 6 photos) 

When I was younger, my dad loved pork chops and it was a normal staple in our weekly meal rotation. As an adult though, I haven't really considered it. I am traditionally a steak or chicken girl. We decided to try some center cut chops and it made me fall in love with them again. I'm definitely going to have to buy more next time I head to the butcher shop. We also served with some grilled asparagus & corn. So delicious.

To prepare lightly coat pork chops using olive oil - I used about 3 tablespoons for 4 chops, I then sprinkled the following rub in each of the chops coating all sides, and pressing gently into the chop. I then placed each chop into a plastic ziploc bag and let them "hang out" in the fridge until we were ready to grill.

Pork Chop Rub: 
3 Tbl Paprika
2 Tbl Sugar
1 tsp Ground Mustard
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Enjoy!

Lately on Instagram.......

Be sure to follow @mallorymclellan

 

Fresh hydrangeas and a antique brass duck that I found at a antique store for my book shelf

 Michigan Cookies for Memorial Day

 

Latest Amazon purchase. So far half way through Wild, and I really love the way Thug Kitchen was written. I've already tried a few recipes and they were tasty.

 

Nothing like a little outdoor oasis to catch up on some mags, and enjoy some ice cold lemonade. Sweet summer time. 

 

Such a cute treat, and it was tasty too. 

Living Room Upgrade

Table Lamps /Area Rug / Mirrors/Wall Art/Throw Pillow/Dark Throw Pillow/
Beacon sofa/Throw Pillow/Curtains/Bonsai Tree/Sequin Throw Pillow/Flooring/Reclaimed Coffee Table/Table 

We spent the better part of early winter, price quoting everything we wanted to do to our house. From fencing to basement installations, anything and everything was price quoted. One thing I put on the to-do list first was our living room. We still use the same furniture I purchased my senior year of college, and while it was a nice purchase five years ago, it has moved from four different locations in that time frame. Getting a little bumped and scraped in the process. 

Now that we're settled a bit more in our house, it would be nice to update our living room to reflect our personal style and taste. Currently our living room is very light and bright, but there is not much on the walls, and it lacks seating for when friends come over, making it awkward. To help alleviate that, we're going to actually purchase a couch and a loveseat, a chair and two poufs. We really fell in love with the Beacon Sofa at La-Z-Boy. It has the style that you love from Pottery Barn, but the comfort you expect from La-Z-Boy. Also, if you time it right you can get a descent deal on it. 

Best Spinach Dip Ever

Earlier this week I mentioned I did quite a bit of cooking over the weekend. One thing I made that was a huge hit at Easter was my mom's spinach dip recipe.  I have to say I was a bit thrown off by that it was cold, I usually eat Spinach Artichoke Dip that is warm, but my mother-in-law liked this so much she came over the next day to grab more.

Spinach Dip: 
1 C. Mayonnaise
2 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Water Chestnuts (drained & chopped)
1 Pkg. Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix
1 Pkg. Frozen Spinach (well drained)
1 Onion Chopped

Mix together & serve cold.

Enjoy!

Bacardi Rum Cake

When my mom passed over 15 years ago, one of the lasting momentos I received was one of her personal cookbooks. No i'm not talking about one from some random author, the one she wrote her favorite recipes in. Now my Mom was a fabulous cook, and she had many but unfortunately we could only find one (not even the best one!) Luckily, my Dad found it not so long ago, and I have discovered some really fun (random) recipes that i've been trying week by week. 

For Easter I actually made three of her favorite dishes, and one of them included the 1970's hit "Bacardi Rum Cake" while at first I thought this was some special recipe, turns out this is a recipe Bacardi famously included in all of their magazine ads for Mom's to make. So while it's not one of my Mom's personal recipes,  it was still fun to make and eat this weekend. 

Cake: 

1 C. Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (I opted out on this since i'm allergic) 

1 Pkg Yellow Cake Mix

1 3 3/4 oz Vanilla Pudding

4 Eggs

1/2 C. Cold Water

1/2 C. Oil

1/2 C. Dark Bacardi Rum 

Glaze: 

1 Stick Butter

1/4 C. Water

1 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Dark Bacardi Rum

Preheat oven 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10 cup bundt pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour over nuts. Bake one hour or until brown. Cool. Invert and prick sides for the glaze to stick. Then drizzle and brush evenly over top & sides. 

I personally sprinkled powered sugar to make it look a little bit prettier, and added fruit along the sides. 

Enjoy! 

5k Music Playlist

 

Photo Credit: From Here

A couple weeks ago, Andy and I ran in a 5k downtown. It was the first of the season, and with very little training, a bit harder then expected (then again it was only 25 degrees out), but I did complete it with no walking. 

 To prepare, I wanted to make sure my music was on point. I'm one of those that tends to run to the beat of the music, so making sure I have a descent playlist to keep me motivated is necessary. I also, tend to want to start walking at certain points so by putting music in an order knowing when I'd slow down really helped.  Here's what I created:

1. Faded - Zhu 

2. Worth It - Fifth Harmony

3. Made In Gold - Nova Rockafeller

4. I Want You To Know - Zedd (feat. Selena Gomez) 

5. Blame - Calvin Harris (feat. John Newman) 

6. Booty - Jennifer Lopez (feat. Iggy Azalea) 

7. Turn Down for What - DJ Snake & Lil Jon

8. You Know You Like It- DJ Snack & AlunaGeorge

9. Break The Rules - Charli XCX

10. Hey Mama - David Guetta (Feat. Nicki Minaj & AfroJack)

11. Delirious - Steve Aoki 

12. Til It Hurts - Yellow Claw (feat. Ayden) 

13. DJ Turn It Up- Yellow Claw 

Happy Running!