Second-plate worthy...

Hey, everyone!  How are you doin??  It was a wild whirlwind weekend around these partsJ  I think I'm still recoveringJ hehehehehhee....

It started with a playdate with 4 peanuts on Thursday...

Celebrating Scott's birthday Saturday night...(with someone who stayed up late enough to have cake & sing Happy Birthday to Daddy...J)

And every minute in between was a flurry of last minute prep for my best friend's wedding shower on Sunday! 

Breakfast at Tiffany's themed, complete with pearls & sunglasses and a room full of ladies in their black dress finestJ

...well, except for the flower girlJ

Phew...to say it was busy was an understatementJ  But I just had to show you 2 of the dishes we had over the weekend that are "second plate worthy."  First up was the salad I RAVED about last Monday that I had served to my 'playdate friends':  Kristin's Kale Salad with Maple-Almond Vinaigrette....

Here's why it's wonderful:

1.-  Bacon

2.-Caramelized shallots that give a mellow tangy bite...

3.- Bacon

4.- Shaved brussel sprout, which you would be amazed at what a unique crunch this brings

5.- The Maple-Almond Vinaigrette made from creamy almond butter and sweet maple syrup

6.- All the extra bites of salty sliced almonds and chewy craisins

Everything together made for ONE. AWESOME. SALAD.  Even Scott flipped for it...he commented how great the ingredients all worked together.  It was the perfect mix.

Side note:  I had made this with a head of kale on Sunday night, but for the sake of time & convenience I used this spinach & kale on Thursday...

For this salad, I would suggest using fresh diced kale.  The spinach blend wilted a bit after I mixed the salad with the heavier almond butter-based dressing and tossed in the fridge about 20 minutes.  Kale is just a bit more sturdy to hold up to the dressing.  End side noteJ

Not that we had too much time to dissect kale & spinachJ  These little bees kept us busy.  As you can tell...

Getting a photo of them together is challenging at bestJ  Those little feet just want to go, go, go!

And in 'dinner worthy of seconds' corner #2:  Scott's birthday dinner request- Bove's meatball lasagna...

I REALLLLLLY wanted to stop at one serving of this 3-layer MONSTER, I REALLY did...

But it was JUST. TOO. GOOD...

And it was Scott's birthday.  Calories don't count on birthdays, right??  RIGHT???

Katie enjoyed her own double-serving...

Which is pretty ironic since the last time I made this was when I was pregnant and let's just say, at the time, Katie didn't like this AT ALLJ

So it was EXTRA hilarious to see her tearin' this up nearly 2 years later...hahahahahahJ

And speaking of '3-layer monsters,' the same can also be said for Scott's birthday cake request: Southern Butter Cake with Salted Caramel frosting (which, PS, that frosting took over an HOUR to makeJ)

So after all that butter/caramel madness, needless to say I am DONE with cake today!  Bring on the LESS calories TODAY.   

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!