Oddfellows

We went to an amazing restaurant in the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. Oddfellows is a quaint little restaurant consisting of maybe 30 tables and a bar. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit them for brunch and it was soooo delightful. When we arrived we had to wait, it was a Sunday, after church, and it was beautiful outside, so.......There were some benches and tables outside so we sat (for almost an hour) and waited. After about 30 minutes a nice waitress came outside with some delicious, hot beignets. THANK YOU!!!!

We were later given a table and ordered more beignets. I ordered the green chile scramble, which consisted of eggs, salsa verde, brisket, mozzarella, and topped with tortilla strips. It came with a side of fruit and nut bread. So delicious.

Please excuse the horrible phone pics. I keep forgetting my camera. I need to do better with that. 

The hubby had fried chicken and waffles. The seasoning on the chicken was perfect, not too salty, not too spicy. There were three bountiful pieces of chicken that consisted of two thighs and a breast. The meal came with fruit and whipped cream.

Here are the beignets. They came with a side of lemon and honey. They go really heavy with the powdered sugar. Yes Please!!!! 

Here's the super cool restaurant. 

So if you are looking for a cool little brunch spot, definitely hit up Oddfellows. 

I'm not paid for this. I just like good food and want to share! 

Cajun Crab Tilapia

The best fish ever!!!! I totally made this up. I love when I get in the kitchen and just use my imagination. I got really lucky with this because honestly, I have had some major disasters! This tester turned out amazing. 

Cajun Crab Tilapia

4 tilapia filets

1 tbsp. Tony Chachere's Seasoning (any cajun seasoning will do)

1 tsp. olive oil

Cajun Dip*

Combine seasoning with olive oil and mix. After washing tilapia, dry off with paper towel so there is not water or moisture on them. Place fish in the pan you are baking in and rub the seasoning mixture all over the tilapia. Top each piece of fish with the cajun crab dip. You can go as heavy as you would like. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tilapia flakes using a fork. 

*Cajun Dip

1/2 lb. imitation crab meat

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sour cream

1tbsp. hot sauce

1/2 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp. cajun seasoning

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Cream/Mix all ingredients, except crab, together until smooth. Add crab meat and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for 3 hrs. so seasonings can set. 

Etouffee with Sauteed Kale

This Etouffee was absolutely delicious.

Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee

2 lb. Shrimp peeled and deveined (Steamed)

16 oz. Free Range Organic Chicken Broth

1 Red, Green, and Orange Bell Pepper 

3 Celery Stalks

1 Yellow Onion

4 cloves garlic

3 skinless Chicken Thighs cooked and de-boned*

4 tbsp. Butter (unsalted)

2 tbsp. flour

4 tbsp. Tony Chacheres' Cajun Seasoning

Coat shrimp with 3 tbsp of Cajun Seasoning. Steam shrimp and place to the side. Dice bell peppers, celery, onion, and garlic. Sautee veggies in 1 tbsp. butter for 3-5 minutes. Shred de-boned chicken thighs and place to the side. In large stock pot or dutch oven, melt 3 tbsp. butter. Once melted add flour and wisk combining flour and butter together (you are making a roux). It will be lumpy so be sure that you are mixing fast. Continue to cook until you have the desired color of your roux. The longer you cook, the darker the color. Be sure not to burn which can happen if you stop stirring or your fire is too high. You Tube "roux' if you want to see the different colors. Add Chicken Stock and stir. Once heated through add veggies and meat. Let simmer for 15 minutes and taste. You may need to add more (the rest of the seasoning) depending on if you need more salt. The shrimp seasoning will go into the soup so you may not need to add any. 

*The chicken is just baked with Italian seasoning at 375 degrees until cooked through. Then de-boned and shredded. You want to bake it with the bone to allow the flavor. 

Serve over rice (we used brown)

FYI: The green and white stuff is sauteed kale and parmesan. I just put it in the same bowl. 

Mini Vacay

See These Yummy things!!! They are Geauxsicles

  

I posted this yummy picture because if you are ever in Shereveport, LA you need to get these ASAP!  

Geauxsicles uses real, wholesome ingredients to make their delicious popsicles. They are quite good! 

I had the honey, lemon, and strawberry pop. It was quite tangy but perfect for a summer day. It's actually called Summertime. 

 

Little Miss K. eating her Strawberry Chance pop.

 

 

After the popsicle extravaganza we went to Margaritaville Casino and Hotel. Mr. Lovely was looking for a place to watch LSU play.  This place was pretty cool and they gave us fun Wiki-Sticks to play with.

 

 

We wanted to try Strawn's Pies. They have been written about in Southern Living Magazine. They are known for their Strawberry Pie. We got that and the Chocolate and they both were amazing. 

 

  

These amazing apples are so HUGE!! Honeycrisps are in season and they are so good!

This is Little Miss K. making her first roux for the Etouffee that we made. 

Here is the Etouffee. The Greenery is sauteed Kale topped with shaved parmesan. 

This was a very exciting and delicious experience for us. We are a cooking and eating family. Stay tuned for the Etouffee recipe. 

Fall is Here

Fall has officially arrived and I am taking full advantage. I've been snapping pics whenever I see or like something festive. 

This lovely picture is from Yankee Candle. Their holiday candle holders are so cute. I love to visit their store and check out what they have. I TOTALLY want the train! 

This candle smells so amazing. This is definitely on my list for fall candle scents. 

Yes this poor cake is half ate...LOL! I made an amazing pumpkin bundt cake for a friend at works birthday. I got the recipe from Mix and Match Mama

These yummies were definitely one of the first things in my cart. Truth be told I really can't decide if I like them or not. They taste like there is a coating on the outside of the chocolate??? 

These were calling my name. Mr. Lovely always says he hates the taste of pumpkin but he had noooooo problem finishing off the pumpkin cheesecake cookies. 

Of course a pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks....duh! 

Fall Fashion

So I went shopping minus spending any money a few weekends ago. Ya see hubby has me on this new plan where I have to window shop and make lists.......LAME. No more spur of the moments, rush of excitement, roller coaster ride to fashion, etc.....deep sigh. 

So while out, I took a bunch of photos of clothes that I love. It seems like I really don't need to purchase much. I have a lot of jackets similar to the ones pictured. I also have a few ankle booties which are all the rage right now in the blog/pinterest world. I am digging the corduroy off white pants though in the first photo. 

Maybe the hubby has a point.....evaluate what ya already got and then accessorize. 

End of Summer Visits

This weekend was quite eventful. Between the wedding reception, Labor Day traffic, and out of towners who have no idea where anything is in my town!!!! *Google map it! I must say that we found the time to actually enjoy ourselves and EAT!

Mr. Lovely is a salesman. He has to go to different areas of town daily. On Saturday he decided to work and extra day and have me accompany him. Well of course I got hungry! P-Diddy and Mr. Lovely were telling me about QuikTrip/RaceTrac hot dogs. They always say how amazing they are and that I really need to try them. WELL......I finally did and let me be the first to say that they are SOOOOOOO good. I had no idea and they are 2 for $2.22. WHAT! (I really need to stop with all the caps lock) I had the jalapeno cheddar hot dog. They have buns that they keep in a warmer and lots of ketchup, mustard, onions, etc. for you to use. I'm a ketchup and mustard only kind of girl.

I do not go easy on condiments!

On Sunday we had a wedding reception to go to so we pretty much just ate there.

Monday I had a few errands to run so we decided to try a few places. We went to the new Trader Joe's on Greenville Ave. It was amazing and I promise to have a post about that soon.

The restaurant of choice was Chicken Scratch in Oak Cliff. This is a really unique type of restaurant that pretty much serves fried chicken. They have salads that you can add rotisserie chicken to but once you see the other tables devouring, eating their yummy plates, you will definitely wish you would have not chosen the salad.
I had the buffalo sandwich and of course Mr. Lovely had the plain. He is not an experimenter like me. Here is a pic of mine. No need to show his lameness.

The buffalo is a yummy concoction of fried chicken thigh, buffalo sauce, pickled celery, and blue cheese, all on a HUGE buttermilk biscuit. You can order sides also but I just had the sandwich.

The atmosphere is super casual with picnic benches, cactus, and rocks to give it a southern Texas feel. There are paper towels on each table and the plates are tin. This is a really cool place to go and I definitely recommend.

Afterward we went to my favorite snow cone spot. Aunt Stelle's Sno Cones has been open for years and it never disappoints. There are a ton of flavors but I prefer the strawberry. The ice is shaved just right to allow it to melt in your mouth with little crunch. The strawberry is not too sugary and you can definitely taste the flavor without all the processed sugar aftertaste. The prices are really reasonable but I would take cash (they might be cash only, I am not sure.).

It was a great tasty weekend!