Come visit me at Feast + West!

Happy Thursday! 

I hope you'll hop on over to Feast + West and visit me today. I wrote a travel guide on Columbia for her "Hidden Gems" series. Go check it out!

Hidden Gems: Columbia on Feast + West.com

Until next time - -

Mexican Progressive Dinner: Appetizer Quesadillas

I am beyond excited to be teaming up with Christine from The So-Called Homemaker to put together a virtual Mexican Progressive Dinner! Over the next two days, Christine and I will cover four recipes for you to create a delicious and fun fiesta!

Today, I'm kicking off the dinner with an appetizer: Black Bean & Goat Cheese Quesadillas. The beauty of dishes like this one is that if there is an ingredient that you aren't fond of, you can either replace it with something else or leave it out altogether! It's so easy to customize to your own taste. 

(Be sure to follow the link at the end of this post to see Christine's entree recipe today!)

I'm sharing today the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

•  1 can (13.5 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 oz. goat cheese
• 1 medium tomato, chopped and seeded
• Kernels from 2 ears of corn
• 1/4 of a red onion, diced
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 inch corn tortillas

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mash the rinsed and drained black beans with a fork until about half are mashed and half are still whole. 
• Add the goat cheese, tomato, corn kernels, red onion, and cilantro to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and stir until the goat cheese is well incorporated with the other ingredients. The mixture will be very creamy, as you can see in this picture.

• Once the mixture is ready, heat a cast iron skillet or an electric griddle to medium heat. Spread the mixture onto a corn tortilla - use as much as you wish, but remember that the more filling they have, the harder they'll be to flip without filling falling out!
• Place another tortilla on top, and place in the pan.
• Once you begin to see grill marks appear on the bottom, flip it over to heat on the other side. It is finished when both sides have some grill marks, and the mixture inside is warm.
• Cut into wedges and serve warm!
• You can serve with a side of sour cream or salsa. We substituted sour cream with Greek yogurt, and it was delicious!

Be sure to head here and read all about the entree recipe from Christine: Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas!



Until next time - - 

8 Tips for a Great At-Home Date Night

Date nights can include so much. Romantic dinners, trips to the ballet, expensive bottles of champagne, concerts...Date nights are really fun! They're also extremely important to couples who are working to keep the "spark" alive. 

Though the options I listed are wonderful and definitely fun, they're also expensive! Not many of us are able to comfortably afford to do these often. But the good news is that you can have just as much fun at home for little or no cost!

I've made a handy list of 8 Tips for a Great At-Home Date Night. Don't be like me and break most of these, haha. We don't always do it right, but at least we try! Right? 

1. Easy Dinner and Quick Clean Up

If you're like us, we enjoy the cooking and eating part, but totally dread the clean up - putting away leftovers, washing and drying pots and pans, loading the dishwasher...the key to this is to be sure you plan ahead and make this as easy as possible! Order takeout and eat from the boxes. Make a frozen pizza. Have leftovers! It doesn't have to be fancy to be delicious, it just needs to be easy!

2. No Phones

This is a biggie. We all know our phones are basically attached to our hands and ears. Because of this, we are 95% of the time not fully present at any given moment. On date night, put the phone away! Turn on your "do not disturb" and put it somewhere where you won't see it light up with notifications. Really focus all of your attention on the other person - that's the whole point of the night!

3. Skip the Movie

Spencer and I love to cuddle up and watch movies together. We both really enjoy a good movie! I've noticed, however, that this isn't the best option for a date night. It's great when we just want to lay around and snuggle, but when we're really attempting to connect, movies actually discourage communication and conversation. Instead, try a board game, card game, or Q&A game! Most of the time you'll end up laughing with one another (or at one another!) and that's one of the best ways to connect.

4. No Chores

This is similar to number 1, but goes even further. Plan out your date night so that you haven't left any urgent chores until the last minute. Planning a date night for Wednesday, but know you have to take the trash out Wednesday night for Thursday morning pick up? Take out all of your trash on Tuesday! Dog need a bath? It can wait a day. Laundry? Do it on the weekend! This should be a night when you aren't staring at the dust on your end tables or fretting about changing your sheets. Enjoy the moment. The rest will still be there tomorrow.

5. Talk

This is one of the main points of having a date night! Open up, catch one another up on work and friends. What are some things you don't know about one another? What is his or her favorite color? Do you know? Ask about past experiences and future dreams. What traits do you both want to develop in your children (or to foster in future children)? Enjoy the conversation! And don't forget, when you aren't the one talking - LISTEN! It's just as important (see number 2 above).

6. Skip the Serious Talks

Though talking on date night is extremely important, it is not the time to discuss anything "heavy." This includes money and budgets, something you wish your partner would work harder at or do better, big family issues, etc. Sure, discuss what's on your mind, but avoid bringing up any topics that you think could potentially drag the conversation into a direction you don't want it to go. Those topics can wait. 

7. Laugh

One of the most fun things to do on any date night (whether at home or in public) is to laugh! Laughing together is one of the best things you can do. Be silly, play games, chase one another - if you don't do this often, you'll love to see what doing these things can do for both of your moods! And it really sparks the romance. Seriously!

8. Be Intimate

This means different things to different people. For a new couple who is dating, this may mean having a conversation about the future, as individuals or as a couple. For engaged couples, being intimate may be sharing your hopes for marriage, or sharing your fears about what things may change. And for married couples, yes, this absolutely means having sex (sorry for being so blunt). It's so important to do this regularly! (see 1 Corinthians 7:3-6).

What am I missing? Share your at-home date night thoughts in the comments!

Until next time - -