Wedding planning...house hunting...cooking...growing up quick!

So before I get into a recap this weekend, I wanted to recap this past week because it was full of excitement!  The week started of with some wedding excitement on Monday!  The DJ was one thing that Joe and I really knew nothing about and didn't know how to go about finding one.  Luckily, a guy from Joe's high school was a fairly well known DJ so we did some research on him and he had great reviews!  With that, we set up a time to talk to him so we could ask him some questions about how he runs weddings, music choices, etc.  He did a great job answering our questions and concerns about our unique touches that we want during our wedding that pertain to him, so we decided he would be our guy.  With that, we booked our DJ and are one step closer to having everything booked!  The next step is bridesmaid dresses, and I really think they will be the worst thing to decide on!  I promise you it has been harder deciding on that than picking my own dress :)

This week I also cannot pass up some posts about our meals.  We switched up meals a bit this week.  Normally Joe doesn't have too much say in what I cook because I want to try new recipes so this past week I let him pick from my recipe book and I would make the ones he wanted!  We ended up having Chicken Picatta and Shrimp with Mango Salsa.  The Shrimp with Mango Salsa is a super quick, healthy, and easy meal that is full of flavor!  Enjoy :)  I also made "healthy" brownies for desert that Joe said tasted very good considering they were made with apple sauce for sugar, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat flour! They are also only about 145 calories/serving and a lot healthier calories than normal desert!  Since I am not a huge fan of brownies to start with I can't say I tried them but Joe liked them! Anyways, below are the recipes!

Shrimp with Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil cooking spray

8 cups baby spinach

1 cup couscous

1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1 large mango, peeled and diced

1 medium avocado, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions:

Heat grill. Fold four 18-inch-long pieces of foil in half; unfold and coat inside with cooking spray. Place 2 cups spinach in center of 1 half of each piece of foil. Combine couscous with 1/4 cup water; divide evenly among packets, placing on top of spinach. Combine shrimp, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Divide shrimp evenly among packets, placing next to couscous. Fold foil to close and crimp edges to seal; place on grill; close lid; cook until packets are fully puffed, 10 minutes. Combine remaining 1/4 cup cilantro with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, mango, avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeño and lime juice in a bowl. Carefully cut foil to open; stir contents; garnish with salsa before serving.

 

Yummy Shrimp on the Grill

Chicken Picatta

Ingredients:

½ cup flour

Salt and pepper

1 tbs. parmesan cheese

1 lbs. chicken

2 tbs. butter

3 tbs. olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

½ cup chicken stock

¼ cup capers

2 tbs. butter

Directions:

Prepare pasta as directed on box.  Mix flour, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese on plate then bread chicken.  Mix lemon juice, chicken stock and caper, and bring to simmer.  Fry chicken in 2 tbs. butter and tbs. olive oil for 3 min on each side.  Place chicken in simmering sauce for 5 min.  Remove chicken from pan.  Place chicken on pasta and pour sauce over plate.

Chicken Picatta

 
Skinny Whole Wheat Brownies

Ingredients:1/4 C. Honey
2 Oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate, Chopped (I used Baker's)
2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp. Dark Cocoa Powder
1/2 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 Egg
3/4 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 C. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
 Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the honey and chopped chocolate. Melt in 15-30 second intervals, being careful not to burn! Allow to cool. In the mean time, in a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powders, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, apple sauce, egg, vanilla, and olive oil.

Add the melted chocolate and honey to the egg mixture and blend. Carefully add in the flour mixture and beat until all is well combined. Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into 12 equal squares.

Healthy Brownies!

So besides meals, the last thing I wanted to touch on was house hunting!   House hunting is full of ups and downs.  Joe spends a lot of time looking at places, and I am very grateful that he actually loves looking at houses above, below, and at our price range!  He is such an expert in this market that I 100% trust his judgement which is nice because it makes the experience a lot easier on me!  That being said, it's still not easy!  Thursday night was date night for Joe and I and we had an amazing date at Prici, an Italian restaurant in Buckhead.  It was super amazing and I ate way too much, but since we were already downtown we went ahead and looked at two houses.  The first was a house we though would love, and ended up not being too impressed by it.  The second house was one we didn't like the images of and thought about not even looking at it, but after a last minute decision to go ahead and look at it, we fell in love with it!  It is the perfect house, so Joe contacted the realtor and we were informed we had to have our final and best offer in by noon the following day!  Lucky for us, Joe was able to do that, and because we loved it so much, we went above list since we knew there were 4 other offers on the table.  Later Friday we received news that we had not won the bid and we were incredibly sad about it :(  That being said, we are still keeping our hopes up and kept our offer on the table as a back up offer in case this one falls through.  So, with that being said, everyone keep your fingers crossed that the other one falls through (not to wish bad things upon someone I have never met but I love this place!). So, with that, the week was over and it was time for our weekend mini-trip to Charlotte!  More to come on that later :)  Workout time for me now!!!