I had the best day with you today.

Well, this didn't happen today...but earlier in the week I had one of the best days!

SB and I met up in the afternoon for lunch and then he went to play with a Boston Terrier - his favorite.

This isn't the one he played with - this is our family friends' Boston, Spunky, in Va Beach!

Meanwhile, I decided to get the fixings for dinner and dessert! I went over to Mom's house to get some inspiration and I found this book -

Have y'all seen these books before? There is a series of them, including The Kitchen Survival Guide (pictured), The Supermarket Survival Guide, The Restaurant Survival Guide, Kids version and more! They are creatively designed, include lots of facts and pictures and have really got me thinking about what I'm eating when I go out.
Now, I'm not a huge health nut but it is nice to have some "better options" available.

I decided to go with the Pesto Gnocchi with Green Beans and Tomatoes

This picture doesn't do it justice, really (i'm just obsessed with instagr.am) but it was delicious! SB liked it, which was the most important part.  We decided though that next time we would add some sliced, grilled chicken to it for extra protein and flavor. Here is the recipe!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound green beans

1 pint cherry tomatoes

Salt

1 16 ounce package potato gnocchi

1/2 cup pesto

1 cup bite-size cubes of fresh mozzarella

Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

Cooking Directions

Set a large pot of water over high heat.

Heat a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat.

Add the olive oil and green beans to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes, then toss in the tomatoes and continue to cook until the green beans are tender (but still crisp) and the tomatoes are browned on the outside.

Remove from heat.

Salt the water after it reaches a boil.

Drop the gnocchi in and cook until they float to the surface (4-5 minutes).

Drain and add the gnocchi to the pan with the green beans and tomatoes.

Stir in the pesto and mozzarella.

Divide among 4 warm plates or bowls and top with a bit of grated parmesan

It was yummyyyy. I love to cook meals every once in a while and it was a nice 'at home' evening!
Then it was time for dessert. SB helped with this :) He is a great helper.

For dessert, we made "Outrageous Cookie Bars" but grandma-style. My grandma used to make these and would use chocolate chips & butterscotch chips instead of all chocolate.

This picture is before we put on the coconut.
Here is the recipe :) They are soooo yummy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  
  Directions
• PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
  
  MELT butter in 13 x 9-inch baking pan in oven; remove from oven. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter. Stir well; press onto bottom of pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Sprinkle with morsels, coconut and nuts; press down firmly.
  BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

After dessert we went to see Crazy, Stupid, Love.

It was very good! I love Steve Carell and if you do too, I think you'll like this movie. It's weird to see Ryan Gosling in any movie since he will always be Noah to me! This movie has some funny and serious parts and some twists!

It was a perfect day :)

Yesterday I mentioned I went to Paint 'n Fun...here is my progress!

I'll let ya know when it's done :) I ran out of time to paint because the movie was about to start -- which by the way was awesome! Even if you haven't read the book...go see it!!

happy weekend :)

xoxo,