After being MIA for a few weeks, it’s time for another round of Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four things I don’t eat. This was a really difficult question because I love food and I love eating so I had to really think about things I don’t eat. I wish I could say that I don’t eat fast food or processed junk or sodas, but I am only human and I make a lot of bad food choices. I do try to eat lots of veggies, lean meat (although I do love some red meat) and I do *try* to cut out the junk as much as possible. That being said, here are the four things you’ll never (or very rarely) find me eating.

1. Miracle Whip. Ew. Just ew. I don’t know what it is about Miracle Whip but I think it’s disgusting so I don’t eat it. I almost feel sorry for Nick, though, because he ate it all the time when we started dating but since we’ve lived together/got married we don’t keep it in the house. There have been a few times that he bought a small bottle to keep for himself but I never eat it. I’m a Duke’s Mayonnaise kind of girl.

2. Cool Whip. I’m noticing a pattern with me and whipped foods. I don’t like cool whip at all because it’s a weird consistency and is way too sweet. I have, on occassion, enjoyed some homemade Chantilley cream on my desserts, because it was thicker and tasted better. There’s something about being homemade that makes everything better.

3. Liver. When I was growing up, occasionally my mom would saute up some livers for dinner because my dad really likes them, particularly liver and onions. It was the grossest thing ever as a kid, and those nights were always PB&J for dinner for my brother and me. I haven’t had the courage to try it again as an adult, so I just don’t eat it. However, I will eat livermush (it’s a western NC thing, apparently) which I think is delicious. I’m a little quicky like that.

4. Swordfish. This is more of something I’ve never eaten, and probably because I’ve always heard about the high mercury content, which is bad for you. I eat all of the other fishes, though, so maybe I just think this is a weird one to eat! I have no desire to try it, and I usually desire to try everything.

I do love going to the local farmers’ market though. It’s one of my favorite weekend activities!

And I do love taking foodie road trips! Agh, I just love food!

I didn’t make any official New Year’s resolutions this year, either for myself nor for the blog but one thing I would like to do is share more lifestyle posts since I consider this a “lifestyle blog.” My first lifestyle post for this year is food-related. I am terrible at coming up with my own recipes but I’m great at following instructions and putting my personal spin on existing recipes – much like I do with my fashion. For example, I often make this Charred Chile Relleno recipe by Rachael Ray but I add chorizo and skip the green rice.

I’m a big fan of Gina at Skinnytaste.com so I try her recipes regularly. I can honestly say that I’ve never been disappointed by anything I’ve tried from her site, and she’s really good with cooking directions. The other night, Nick and I decided to try her Bangin’ Good Chicken Salad recipe. It definitely lives up to the name. It’s extremely easy and simple and I’ll definitely be making it again. But, of course, I put my own spin on it. More on that below.

It starts with romaine lettuce and red cabbage. Look at those beautiful colors: green and purple, my wedding colors! 😉

For the chicken, simply cut up a chicken breast (or some chicken tenders, which is what we used) into bite-sized pieces, coat them in a little olive oil, cover them in breadcrumbs, and bake for 8-12 minutes. Baking the chicken doesn’t give it quite the crunch that frying would, but it still turned out really yummy.

My personal spin is that I decided not to make the skinny bang bang sauce as specified in the recipe. Instead, I found a bang bang sauce that has become my go-to so I used it instead. The recipe I use is fromThat’s So Michelle and can be found on her blog here. (I haven’t tried that actual recipe yet but I have used that recipe with shrimp instead of cauliflower and it actually turned out to be amazing)

So, with the greens, chicken, and bang bang sauce, this recipe was a hit. The ONLY thing I would change for next time would be to add more vegetables to the salad since we ate it as our main course without any sides, so maybe some red bell peppers, carrots, snap peas, cauliflower, and/or edamame.

I hope you enjoyed this post and  don’t mind seeing more like them. What do you think, would you try this recipe? Do you come up with your own meals or put your own spin on other recipes?

Independence Day at our house was fairly low key. On Friday, we attended the USA vs. Chinese Taipei baseball game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. A friend from my program drove up with her boyfriend and the four of us went together, and had a great time. We ate dinner before, then got beers and hotdogs at the game, watched fireworks in the stadium, and finished the night off with my favorite ice cream at The Parlour. I didn’t get many pictures that night. I’m not a very good blogger because I forgot to get pictures and when I do remember, they don’t always turn out that great. But whatever, we had fun!

On Saturday, we fired up the grill.  After all, what is Indpendence Day weekend without endless burgers, hotdogs, and, in our case, chicken wings? Yum! We made our own sauce to toss the wings, and we might share it with you one of these days.

What I loved about our picnic was that we kept it easy. Usually when we entertain, we put a lot into the presentation and recreate all of the Pinterest ideas we can find. But for this, it was just us, and later our neighbors, so we put condiments in plastic tuperware (so we just had to throw the lid on it once we were done) and we rocked the paper plates. It truly was a real-life picnic!

Burgers and beers – it doesn’t get much better than that!

As the sun set and night rolled in, we turned on our lights, which are probably one of my favorite things about our back yard. They’re just so pretty against the navy sky and the green leaves in the trees. I would sit under these lights every night if I could!

And, of course, the furbabies were included in the action. Look at that Mia face!

And that Chico face!

They wanted hotdogs! They stared at the hotdogs the entire time we ate, just waiting for someone to drop something for them. And you know they got some hotdogs eventually because, I mean, who can resist those adorable faces?

After dinner, Mia was happy playing with her ball. I thought I got a really good one of her lying in the grass but she must have moved at the last minute because it turned out really blurry. This is an action shot – she was probably looking for the ball even though it was right there in front of her. She’s so funny sometimes.

While Mia played with her ball, Chico was content snuggling up with our neighbor. He’s always been a cuddler, which makes him even more of a sweetheart. He’s my baby heart, for sure!

We had such a great weekend, just relaxing at home. We like doing it up big, but sometimes keeping it low-key is the best.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July / Independence Day! I’ll be sharing my red, white, and blue outfit within the next few days, so stay tuned!

On Sunday, we went for brunch at one of our favorite spots, Parker and Otis, a little restaurant and giftshop in the historic downtown area of Durham. We love that they use fresh, local ingredients. That’s very common in Durham, though; it’s very much a wonderful foodie town. Parker and Otis have so much wonderful stuff that it’s almost overwhelming. But you can go in and order a yummy breakfast or lunch (or in our case, brunch) and then browse through all of the candies, knick-knacks, cards, wine, and cooking paraphernalia while you wait.

They have lovely seating inside and out. Sunday was a bit gloomy as far as the clouds go, but it wasn’t too hot or humid so we were able to comfortably sit outside and enjoy our meal.

I got a grilled pimento cheese with bacon on sourdough bread. Their homemade cole slaw is the default side, and it’s delicious. If you’re not familiar with pimento cheese then you are missing out. It’s an indulgent spread made of various cheeses, mayonnaise, and pimentos. Everyone has their own recipe and most are very delicious. Parker and Otis’ pimento cheese is also very good!

Nick got a grilled banana, peanut butter, and bacon panini with a side of fresh fruit.

We had a visitor while we ate: this cute little guy!

Lots of scrumptious candies and food stuffs. And a coffee bar

I told Nick that I want to make a chandelier just like this. I mean, really, how amazing is this? I think it’s just beautiful!

Cook books galore! And plenty of pots and pans and other cooking utensils.

The area around Parker & Otis is very industrial because the majority of the buildings in the area were warehouses used for tobacco processing.

This is what I wore for our little outing. Can you think of anything more comfortable than these drapey pants? They looked great when I wore them out and were super comfortable when I got home and kicked off the wedges to sit at my computer and get some school work done.

That’s it for our little outing. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the cool things Durham has to offer!

Shirt: Gap (old)
Cardigan: Old Navy
Pants:Old Navy
Wedges: American Eagle by Payless
Necklace: Hawthorne Collection (online)
Handbag: Franco Sarto via Ross

“Fried” Ravioli with marinara dipping sauce and a salad. It’s not really fried; the ravioli  was coated in bread crumbs and then baked. we did make the marinara sauce from scratch though, and it was truly delicious. Much better than the bottled stuff. We’re already thinking of other ways we can use the sauce, like in spaghetti or on chicken Parmesan sandwiches. Yum!