Japanese BBQ!

A couple weekends ago we headed downtown on a Saturday night to celebrate the birthday of our dear friend Brittany! I have loved getting to know Brittany over the past year and a half or so and I'm always sure to have a good time when we hang out no matter what's on the agenda! We ate at a little Japanese BBQ joint where you get to cook your own meat/veggies on little barbecues in the middle of your table. So fun and pretty tasty too!

More from our kitchen

Reece just called to let me know that we were invited out to dinner tonight so I don't have to cook! Woohoo! As much as I enjoy cooking I also love the treat of going out! So, since I now have some free time I thought I would share a few more recipes that I've been enjoying lately!

Greek Salad Dressing

This one is nice and creamy! I used to always enjoy the 'Rendevous' house dressing but since I can't get that one out here in Hawaii this homemade version is the next best thing! I never have buttermilk in the house so I usually just use 2% milk with a bit of lemon juice. Perfect compliment to a greek dinner…chicken souvlaki, pita bread, tzatziki, roasted veggies…you get the idea.

http://greek.food.com/recipe/creamy-greek-salad-dressing-59898

Crunchy Coconut Shrimp

Although this is definitely not the healthiest way to cook shrimp it is so freaking delish that I don't even care. I served this with roasted asparagus and a rosemary flavored brown rice/quinoa combo (at least the sides were healthy!) to our guests last weekend and it was a hit! We also did some separate shrimp skewers on the BBQ with a light garlic/herb marinade for variety. Will definitely be making this again!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/coconut-shrimp-i/

Pesto

This one is from Annie's Eats. She's got a pretty awesome collection of recipes if you need a little dinner inspiration! I first used this one to make chicken, pesto & artichoke calzones (recipe is also on her site) but have since used it for homemade pizzas too! Love it!

http://www.annies-eats.com/2009/04/29/chicken-pesto-pizza/

Berry Pavlova

I needed a gluten free recipe and this did the trick! Probably more of a summer dessert, especially during berry season when you can get everything fresh and cheap, but frozen berries will work fine too. And of course I put heaps of whip cream on mine because I can :)

http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/berry-pavlovas

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Chicken

I needed to get rid of some ricotta cheese one day and came across this one. What I like most about this recipe is how quick it is to make. I add extra garlic to pretty much every recipe (because I LOVE garlic and it's so good for you) and this one was no exception.

http://www.marthastewart.com/314993/chicken-breasts-stuffed-with-spinach-and

That's about all I can think of right now. I've got a few new recipes on the meal plan for this week so if they are real winners I'll pass them along.  Enjoy!

Love,

Krissy

ps. If anyone has a really great salmon recipe please pass it along in the comments! I've tried so many different ones and have yet to really be wowed by any of them.  Thanks a bunch!

counting down...

It's hard to believe that a date that once seemed so far off is now just around the corner! Less than a month now (29 days, but who's counting) til our little peanut's due date!! What!?! Although, I wouldn't mind at all if she decided to come a little earlier…wishful thinking! It's been pretty exciting and incredible seeing our little one move and grow and feeling all the hiccups, kicks and flutters. The way God designed pregnancy just blows me away. But, as incredible as it all is, I think I'm at that point now where I'm just really ready to meet her and take on my new role as mom.

So here's a little of what we've been busy with to pass the time while we wait for our babe (I'm WAY behind on this update)…They aren't quite in order but oh well.

My dear friend Brittany started her own "pop up" restaurant called 'The Table'. A little background…the restaurant pops up in a new location each time it is put on (roughly once a month) and guests pay a flat rate to enjoy an AMAZING 5 course meal. She went all out on the menu and we enjoyed every single bite. So excited for her and this new venture!

Reece is loving "The Empathy Belly" at Baby Bootcamp :)

Reece and I enjoying dinner at Roy's in Waikiki. Food was amazing! 

Play date with Anthony!

I've had the pleasure of babysitting this little munchkin, Elijah, on Tuesdays! He absolutely loves to be outside so we spend much of our day playing at the park or going on walks. This is him 'walking the dog'.

Our nursery is pretty much complete! Kept things simple since we are moving to Seattle in July (yay!) but it's still nice and cozy for our little one.

The bump keeps growing! (left: 35 weeks | right: 34 weeks)

We enjoyed dinner at home on valentines day. The pic makes it look burnt (I promise it wasn't!) but we enjoyed chicken pesto and artichoke calzones, spring salad and strawberry cupcakes for dessert! The calzone and cupcake recipes are both from the Annie's Eats website if you'd like to try them yourself!

Amanda was on the island! This gal is one of my oldest friends and I absolutely love her to death! Such a treat to have her in town! It was her birthday while she was here so we took her out to dinner at P.F. Changs to celebrate! We also spent a day sun bathing on the south shore but I forgot to take pictures :(

Love,
Krissy