Weekend Recap: New restaurants and recipe!

This weekend was a lot of fun.  Dave was out of town until Sunday, so instead of having to balance BF and friends, I had a friend packed weekend starting with a girls night at the Library Lounge at the Fairview Inn.  I loved this place -- small tapas and specialty drinks (many were named after Mississippians!)  This was definitely a quieter scene than most bars. It was nice to go have a couple drinks and talk in a place that wasn't loud and crowded.

Saturday morning, I had breakfast with my "first friend" Laurie who I have known since infancy.  I loved getting to see her and her adorable daughter Finley.  Seriously, check out this cutie!

I worked Saturday and I use the term work loosely.  January seems to be a slow month in retail, understandably.  We have a couple busy times because of a few wedding showers coming up, but other than that, I spent time with one of the other employees registering me and I talked to my coworkers.

For dinner, I met my friend Chris and brother Blaise at Illegal Burrito.  QUICK FACT ABOUT ME: I LOVE MOES!! but we no longer have one in Jackson.  Illegal Burrito is fairly new and I thought it could be my fill-in for Moes. Plus one of my goals was to try new local restaurants this year (I tend to eat at my favorites all the time!) It was good. but not as good as Moe's!  However, I will eat there again! We then went to see the movie, Gangster Squad.  and I was pleasently surprised by how good it was-- and its based on a true story of a secret cop squad in LA who had the job of breaking down the LA mafia.  Actually, Dave and I went to see Silver Linings Playbook Sunday night and I expected to like that movie more than Gangster Squad but I prefered Gangster Squad more.  Sometimes you're surprised by what you like!

Sunday I got a lot done and cooked a late lowcarb lunch for Dave and me when he got home. One of my 30 by 30 resolutions was to cook new recipes....so Sunday I started towards that goal.  This was a fairly simple recipe but one that Dave and I would both eat.  Dave admits to be a fairly picky eater.  So that limits us.  I am trying to eat low carb so that limits us too. Both limitations make it hard to find foods we both eat. Dave comes over for dinner several nights a week since his school is 2 miles from where I live and we just eat a lot of staples: chicken, beef, veggies, etc. After the wedding, I'll have a bit more free range in what I make because I won't be super low carb, but until then I am craving a little variety.

Dave LOVES pizza.  I MISS pizza. You may remember my cauliflower crust recipe which is low carb and tasty BUT dave does not like cauliflower.  So, I tried a different easy lowcarb crust recipe this weekend.  Dave liked it, didn't love it, but willingly ate 3 pieces! He said the crust was a little "different" which it is...however, to someone like me who is eating lowcarb, any crust is better than none!

Here's how to make the recipe:

CRUST:
Block of cream cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c. parmeson cheese

Toppings:
marinara sauce
1/4 c parmeson cheese
1 c mozzerella cheese
turkey pepperoni
vegetables


Blend cream cheese (softened) and 2 eggs.  After its blended, add in 1/4 c parm. cheese.  spread in a 9x13 pan (sprayed with Pam) and cook for 17 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown.

Take crust out of oven to cool for 10 minutes. Adjust temp. to 400.  After the crust cools spread marinara sauce with a little parmeson mixed in (I think I used almost 1 c. of marinara)  Add 1 c. mozzerella cheese. The place toppings: pepperoni, turkey pepperoni, veggies, chicken, etc.  Bake for 8 minutes (although I think I left mine in a bit longer.

If you are eating lowcarb and miss pizza/bread, try this.  You will know its not real bread but it gives the impression of bread and hits the spot.  Unfortunately, the pizza is more fattening with all that cream cheese (and I think you have to use full fat cream cheese to hold better, although I will be trying this with the lowfat version)

The pizza is thin which means you eat 2-3 pieces easilly.... so I think if you want a big serving, you can split the pan 3 ways (~ 520 calories) or split it 4 ways (~390 calories).  We served it with carrot sticks and had a pretty good sunday lunch! I will definitely be making it again!

Sunday night, I also worked on a goal of mine. Dave and I tried a new restaurant for date night: Islander (oysters and poboys).  I must admit, I was dissapointed.  The service was fine, but the food was just okay.  I would certainly eat there again if invited, but I probably wouldn't suggest the restaurant.  However, it was fun to have a date night and chat.  I swee Dave many times a week for dinner but we usually cook in and watch TV.  We then went to see Silver Linings Playbook which was okay, not bad, but not as good as everyone claimed it was.  I did like the ending though.  By the way, local Jacksonians, Parkways has movies for 5 dollars on Sunday nights which is why Dave and I often go see movies on Sunday nights because its basically half off!  You know I am all about finding Cheap Date Ideas and blogging about them, but seriously, you could easilly skip dinner and get popcorn, diet coke and two movie tickets for 21.00 total which is 10 dollars cheaper than a friday or saturday night movie.  I like Sundays because the ten dollars you save can cover the overpriced popcorn! I know this is not an original idea, but it is practical to consider seeing Sunday night movies or matinees!

So as far as my goals go, I tried two new restaurants and cooked one new recipe! Not bad for a typical low key weekend!