Good Times With A Good Friend

My sweet friend decided to head down this way to visit me this weekend! It was so nice to have her here and show her around good ole Del Rio, which took about 10 whole minutes. None the less, we spent the day doing girlie stuff like watching chick flicks, something I don't get to do often while hanging out with the hubs and his friends, and just catching up. With the lack of good dining in the area we decided to stay in and cook a delicious meal, chicken pot pie, and then share a glass of wine while watching, you guessed it, more chick flicks. She was so sweet and didn't complain once about the lack of entertainment I had to offer and we enjoyed picking up right where we left off ;) We then went to Chinto's this morning for their famous super breakfast tacos (seriously, if you are ever in Del Rio, for whatever reason that may be, you have to try them) which were an all around crowd pleaser. It was sad to see her go, but I'm so looking forward to moving a little closer to her in a few short months!

In other news I decided to try out a new, healthier, dinner option the other night. When we were planning our wedding and met with the caterer, one of my favorite items on the menu was a strawberry pecan spinach salad. Sadly, we weren't able to serve this to our guest for obvious reasons, but I remembered how delicious it was and decided I would try a recreation of sorts! When I was in San Antonio the other day and visited on of my favorite places, Trader Joe's, I picked up some insanely awesome fresh strawberry and thought this was as good a time as any to try it out! Apparently it's a pretty traditional southern dish and super easy to make! I also added some oven baked chicken to it that I had marinated in balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing fancy, but still delicious! Enjoy!

Spinach Salad With Strawberries and Pecans

Ingredients:

8 ounces of spinach 

1 1/2 cups of cleaned and sliced strawberries

1/2 cup of pecan halves, lightly toasted

2-3 oz. of goat or blue cheese crumbled (I used feta)

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. each of onion and garlic powder

Toss spinach, strawberries, cheese,  and pecans. Combine all other dressing ingredients until well blended. Drizzle lightly over salad mixture. 

*Serves 4-6

Kitten had her lady parts removed this past week.
She was obviously thrilled about the
car ride home...driving to Florida is going
to be SO much fun...not.

Bowling! Love this girl.

Love, 

The Etheridges