A Saturdate.

I love spontaneous dates with my husband. Last weekend we decided to lunch at BLVD Nashville, a new restaurant we've been meaning to try. The food exceeded my expectations, everything was so good. Trent ordered a farm burger topped with all things delicious and I ordered a tuna nicoise sandwich...unreal. Next time we're just going to go for the fries. They had a separate french fry menu with over 8 different kinds of fries....hello! That's my kind of menu. It was a quick lunch date but a sweet one. I love spending time with my husband, he's just the sweetest man...

Easter Sunday

This year's Easter Sunday was wonderful. We dressed up and went to church in the morning to hear a great Easter message from our pastor...and later, we joined some dear friends for a delicious Easter meal. We had so much fun cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I took some video throughout the day and decided to make a put together a little video!

Here's a little peek into our Easter Sunday... 

Tarte Cooks: A Made Up Dish...

It's time to buy groceries in our house... so dinner a few nights ago was completely random and made up due to have almost nothing in the fridge. I must say though, this made up dish was so delicious and flavorful that I'll definitely be making it again soon. I had quite a few people on instagram asking me to blog the recipe...so here goes nothing! Hopefully I can remember everything.

Sauteed veggies over wild rice, topped with a fried egg (longest name ever, but I don't know what to name this, ha!) 

You will need...

Rice or any grain of your choosing (we used a wild rice mix from Trader Joes, feel free to make as much as you'd like)
1 small  yellow onion
2 cups semi-cooked brussel sprouts, quartered (just steam them for a few minutes)
2 zucchinis, chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 egg (I was the only one who had an egg with this. My husband is not an egg fan)
Sriracha or any kind of hot sauce

Cook rice according to package directions, set aside. In a cast iron skillet or non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp coconut oil. Add chopped onion to pan and cook until translucent. Add sweet potatoes to pan and cook until golden and almost tender. Finally, add in brussel sprouts and zucchini and cook until all veggies are tender. While veggies are cooking, season them however you like. I used salt, pepper, chili flakes, garlic and some Montreal seasoning, believe it or not. You can use whatever you like though! Set aside sauteed veggies once cooked.

In a separate pan, fry an egg. Scoop some rice onto a place, place sauteed veggies over rice and top with the fried egg. Drizzle some sriracha on top if you like that sorta thing and that's it! An easy dinner made in under 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

10 From The Weekend

1. Driving around on a snowy Saturday.
2. Breakfast at Merridee's with sweet friends.
3. Blueberry coffee. So good.
4. Discovered a doughnut truck called "Dough Works" We ordered the bacon banana fosters and it was unreal.
5. Lunch at husband's favorite college spot, Pizza Perfect in Hillsboro Village.
6. A lazy Sunday calls for naps on the couch.
7. My view at the mechanic. Car issues...oy.
8. A caramel latte for him and strawberry sage tea for me at 8th and Roast.
9. Hangs at sister's cute little home.
10. Exploring downtown Nashville.

Well, we had a great weekend...we were spoiled with one last snowfall here in Nashville and it was beautiful getting to see those big snowflakes fall all day long. We also welcomed some new friends to town and lots of late night fun was had just laughing & having a good time. The rest of the weekend was spent lazying around the house in our pj's and eating leftover pizza. We did try to snap some Sunday Best photos yesterday, but the sun was so darn bright that it was impossible to take any. (I've also decided to blog Sunday Best every other week now. So, those will be back next week!)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Meal Prepping 101

I've been wanting to start meal prepping for a while now. I've seen a couple people do it and it's been so inspiring. With it just being my husband and I, I feel like we're always rushing to use our produce before it goes bad and then I end up throwing away the food (and money) when it does. I finally took the time to meal prep today and loved every second of it. It's great to grab a healthy meal that's 100% ready. Especially on days when we are so busy that we forget to eat....unfortunately, that happens quite often and we end up eating something we shouldn't. So today,  I took a few hours to cook up some delicious meals that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and a light dinner. I've had a few people ask me (on my instagram) how I go about meal prepping and what I like to make...So I thought I would go ahead and share some quick and easy recipes! The food I made was all off the top of my head, so I'll do my best to write down exactly what I used. Also, everything is gluten/dairy free and cooked with coconut oil. The best and oh so good for you.

Breakfast //

Roasted Veggie and Super Greens Frittata

You will need:

1 tbsp organic, cold pressed coconut oil 
8-9 Cage-free/organic eggs
1 cup roasted veggies, roughly chopped (my roasted consisted of potatoes, peppers, red onions)
1 handful of super greens (kale, spinach, collards...)
1 tbsp of flour (I used GF flour)
1/2 cup strained yogurt (Dairy-free yogurt and greek yogurt both work)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried or fresh thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch of chili flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a 2-quart casserole or a 9-inch cast iron skillet, brush the sides of the pan with the oil and place it in the oven. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a large bowl and season with salt. Add the pepper, spices, flour and yogurt, and whisk together. Stir in the cooked roasted veggies.

Remove the hot baking dish from the oven, brush the sides with the hot oil and pour in the egg mixture, scraping every last bit into the pan with a spatula. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until puffed and lightly colored on the top. Remove from the heat, and allow to settle for 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.


Snack // 

Pre-washed and cut fresh fruit! We love pineapple (it's full of magnesium) and lots of berries (full of antioxidents) These are all ready for some afternoon snacking. I love to have these with non-fat greek yogurt, GF granola and flax + chia seeds. Or these are ready for a smoothie! Try adding some spinach and green veggies to your smoothies.


Lunch //

Green Salad

You will need:

2 handfuls of super green salad mix
Cucumber
Tomato
Red onion
Raw slivered almonds
Chia Seeds
Flax Seeds
Balsamic vinaigrette (I use Tessemae's, found at Whole Foods. It's amazing)

To make this a heartier meal, you could add chicken, tofu, salmon or beans to this salad.


Dinner //

Baked Sweet Potatoes:

Preheat oven to 350. Slice sweet potatoes in half, place on foil lined baking sheet, drizzle with coconut oil and bake for 45-50 mins or until fork tender. 

Roasted Cabbage:

Preheat oven to 425. Slice cabbage into 1/4 in. slices. Place on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle coconut oil on top and sprinkle sea salt and cracked black pepper on top. Bake for 25 mins until tender and crispy around the edges.

We like to use the cabbage in tacos! Fill a heated corn tortilla with roasted cabbage, roasted veggies, avocado, salsa and Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) These are delicious.

Quinoa salad: Two ways

Cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water. Bring to boil and turn down heat to simmer for 15 mins or until quinoa has absorbed water. Fluff with work, cool and set aside.

For the first salad, take half of the cooked quinoa and add in...

1 cup organic black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup cooked corn

Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. Chill in refrigerator.

For the second salad, take the rest of the cooked quinoa and add in...

1-2 tbsp pesto
1 cup roasted veggies (just use whatever roasted veggies you have premade)  

Season with salt and pepper. Chill in the refrigerator.

Both of these salads can make great main dishes with a protein added to them, like chicken, tofu, fish or beans. Or they make a great side dish!


Dessert //

Gluten-free Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
(these are honestly the best cookies I've ever had)

You will need:

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup organic, cold pressed coconut oil
1/4 cup organic honey
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchement paper or a silpat baking mat.

Mix together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheet. The batter is pretty crumbly, so you may need to press the batter together to form a ball. Press down the balls, to flatten a bit. Sprinkle some sea salt on top, if you're a salty sweet lover.

Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies won't brown much. Let cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

And there you have it! This is enough food for just my husband and I. So if you have a bigger family, feel free to double or triple recipes. Taking the time to meal prep today was definitely worth it. Now we have healthy meals for the rest of the week and we won't forget to eat ;)

(Also, sorry for the low-quality photos! Our kitchen has awful lighting...)

Style Me Pretty!

So excited to see our wedding featured on Style Me Pretty today! You can check out the feature here!

Sunday Best 2/17

We finally got dressed and took some Sunday Best photos yesterday...in the freezing cold!  It was a very lazy weekend for us. We went to a birthday party, did some grocery shopping, and that's about as exciting as our weekend was. Not complaining though! I love lounging around the house and doing absolutely nothing. 

This week is definitely going to be the opposite of last week. There's something going on everyday, including an 8 hour road trip to Charlotte, NC to visit my family. I've been incredibly homesick so I cannot wait to see them. 

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and happy Monday!