Love & a Skillet

ATL Beltline love

 As usual, we’ve been up to some super fun stuff, and cooking some great new things, but I’m going to share it all in parts and pieces so no one gets too jealous all at once. Ha.

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to head south to Americus, GA for a weekend to celebrate our friends Bryan and Danielle’s wedding. The whole weekend was an absolute blast. We saw so many great friends we hadn’t seen in a while (too long), and witnessed such a sweet couple finally tie the knot. They got married on Bryan’s family’s farm on Bumphead Road, but don’t let the name fool you. It could not have been a more perfect setting or a more beautiful day.

We stayed at the Windsor Hotel in downtown Americus, which is famously old and haunted. The place was freaking cool, inside and out. The 3^rd floor was supposedly the most haunted, but we stayed on the 2^nd floor much to Chris’s excitement. Don’t worry, we tried to scare her the whole time.

On Saturday before the wedding, the groom hosted a little kickball game for the wedding guests on the farm. Nate and I played, Whit and Chris cheered us on. My team won, duh. After that, we drove out to the Andersonville Civil War prison site. Our friend Sarah was a history major in college at UNC, so she is chalk full of civil war knowledge. So full that she lost her voice while sharing her knowledge, and if you know Sarah, you know that she uses her voice a lot. (Love you, Sarah Tillet!) 

See, her mouth is always open.

Nate had been there before, so he was filling us in too. All of my AP U.S. History knowledge started coming back to me, and I think we all felt a little nerdy. It was awesome. Ironically, we were listening to The Civil Wars in the car the whole weekend.

Ladies, pre-weddin'

Beautiful reception spot

After the cutest, funniest ceremony ever, with the best ceremony music ever, thanks to Kristina, Matt, and the Packway Handle Band, we chowed down on the amazing reception food. They had low-country boil, BBQ (from a pig cooked all night), and some great sides (mostly gluten-free!) that were homemade by the groom’s family members. They also had a great whiskey ginger signature cocktail. We drank them (a lot of them) out of mason jars. We loved how the food was served on random china plates. They were all different, and it added so much character. And we all know how Chris is a sucker for some good china. She wanted to take her desert plate home. Don’t worry, she didn’t. At least I don’t think she did. Ha!

So sweet. Congrats, y'all!

The Packway Handle Band took the stage during the reception and set the mood for the rest of the night. They played some great tunes of their own as well as some covers. I told you, this wedding was freaking awesome. After the reception we headed to the barn for a Camp Mikell style dance party, complete with music by our very own DJ Spider. At the end of the night, we took trolleys back into town. Soo perfect.

After a refreshing (dehydrating) weekend in south GA, winter came to town. We’re wanting warm, comfy meals more and more the colder it gets outside. I famously change my mind/get sick of meals a lot, and pasta is definitely one of them. It’s a great quick thing to make, but man I get sick of it. Pasta + Sauce = boring. Lucky for me, Chris found a change-up pasta recipe on Pinterest. It’s pretty rare that we cook Italian food, as you can tell from the blog, so, surprise!! We made Gluten-free Skillet Lasagna. I was under the impression that this meal would be a one-pot meal, but mid-way through the recipe, I figured out that was NOT the case. Chris was working late, so I think I’d wait for her to get home next time. It’s ok, it was worth it. Here’s what we started with.

Skillet (And a few more pans) Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 (12 oz) package Gluten-free noodles. These are my favorites
• 1 (26 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• ½ cups light sour cream

  

Directions: 

• Start by browning ground beef in small pan.
• Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

• After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. 

• Once the meat is sufficiently browned, drain the grease, then add the meat back to the skillet on low heat.

• Mix in your spaghetti sauce and pasta into the skillet.

• Add seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

And just in time for the roomie to get home, it was ready. We ate off of the china, drank La Croix, and watched Gossip Girl. This meal definitely had the warm and cozy taste and feel AND it was different. We already had the seasonings, the ground beef was on sale, and so were the noodles.

It’s Thanksgiving week, and this girl is going to attempted making Gluten-free stuffing. I’ll let you know how it goes.