Sharing the bacon pasta recipe with you here today!!!! I think that this is a great base recipe, and you could totally add in some veggies like peas or asparagus if you wanted….or swap out the bacon for pancetta or prosciutto. Next time I am going to try pancetta. My favorite thing is that you literally cook everything in one large skillet. Less dishes makes me very happy.
Side note – You could also halve this recipe if you don’t want to have too much leftover. Why do I always feel like I am cooking for twenty people when I make pasta???
What You Need
16 ounce box of rigatoni pasta
8-10 slices of thick bacon
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves minced garlic
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
6 or 8 ounce package of shredded Parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons arrow root powder or cornstarch
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish (optional)
2 tablespoons of reserved bacon grease
What You Do
-Chop bacon and cook in a large skillet until crisp. Set aside and drain pan, reserving two tablespoons of the grease for flavor in the pan to cook the onions.
-Cook onions until soft and browning. Stir in garlic.
-Add pasta, chicken brother and salt/pepper to taste. Let the broth boil, then cover and cook noodles for 12-15 minutes, depending on how firm you like them. You want to stir the noodles two or three times while cooking.
–Stir in cornstarch/arrowroot powder, heavy cream and cheese. Stir until it has thickened and cheese is melted. Stir in bacon.
It is time to talk about books with Steph and Jana! I had a month of decent reads and I wanted to share them with you! Before we get in to all the reviews, I have noticed that a lot of people have changed their format for reviewing books. What is your favorite way to read book reviews? Just curios. I had played with changing mine up but stuck with my normal way this month.
I liked that this book switched back and forth between two characters and times, keeping me interested right from the start. The more I learned about Emma, the less I liked her character. It didn’t take away from my overall feeling of the book though. It was something different and I enjoyed reading it!
Bottom Line: If you are looking for something with a little mystery and suspense but nothing too crazy that keeps you up at night, hiding under the covers…then this would be a good read.
Rating: 4/5
** I received a copy of The Girl Before from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
You know my love for Janet Evanovich!!! I just adored Love in a Nutshell last year, which introduced us to the Culhane family. The books in this series really read as stand alone books. This book takes places in NYC in 1894. It is sort of a historical romance, if I had to classify it. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this book, usually I don’t read many historical fiction books.
Staying with the times, Caroline’s parents are trying to find her a proper husband to keep up the good name they have made for their family. Caroline is a very strong willed and independent woman, and doesn’t want to just be married off like some stock prize. If she wants to get married, she wants it to be for love. And she has her eye on Jack Culhane, her brother’s best friend.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a cute love story, and/or a strong female lead and/or you love Janet Evanovich….then you will love this book! I flew through it so fast, and I am missing the characters! It left me wanting more.
This book starts out really sad and depressing. It was pretty dark and I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it. But then I got hooked and couldn’t quit. I wanted to see if Susie’s dad would ever figure out who killed her and be able to prove it! I wanted to slap her mom a few times. And give her little brother lots of hugs. I really loved the side characters in this book too…Ruth, Ray Sing, Grandma Lynn, Sam and Hal Heckler. Not many books do side characters well, so I really appreciated them here. I think my favorite part of the book was how Susie described her heaven. How everyone’s Heaven is different.
Bottom Line: If you are in the mood for something a little heavier, I say read it. There is great character development and it certainly had me hooked.
Kate Reddy is a working mother and the breadwinner for her family. She struggles to balance everything and keep up with the judgy stay at home moms. There were parts of this book that made me laugh out loud, and there are parts of this book that made me want to slap Kate. I hated the way that she treated her husband for most of the book and it almost seemed as though she didn’t really enjoy spending time with her kids. She really sheds light on to how hard working mothers have it though. And just women in general in a male dominant field.
Bottom Line:This is a cute book for the working mom who is struggling to balance it all and could use a good laugh.
Rating:4/5
Royal Scandal by Marquita Valentine
I devoured this book in just a few quick days. Which is quite a feat with a newborn, let me assure you. I really liked the characters in this book and the exiled royal family. It is a fun, light love story about an exiled prince who keeps his identity hidden from his best friend, until he needs to ask for her hand in marriage to get his family back on track. I will say that I read romance novels here and there, and I didn’t really care for how vulgar this one was. I am not sure if I would continue on with the series if they are all written that way.
Bottom Line: This was a quick, fun read if you are in to romance type novels and don’t mind vulgar scenes.
Ratings: 3/5
**I received a copy of Royal Scandal from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
The first weekend of May is in the books! It was a gorgeous weekend here in Alabama with temps in the 70’s. Gotta soak it up as much as possible, soon it will be hot AF and I will want nothing to do with the outdoors again.
Saturday morning my sister came over to hang out for a little bit and spend some time with Zoe. We headed to meet her niece for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, then went to my nephew’s baseball game. Unfortunately, Zoe is not a fan of screaming parents and promptly had a break down. We had to leave a little early, but I at least got to see my nephew bat once and play on the catchers mound for a few minutes. I hope she gets over the screaming before football season!!!
That afternoon, Chris and I hit up HomeGoods and stopped by his parents house for a bit. We never made it out to eat, so we stopped at Publix on the way home and grabbed some snacks so we could make it home in time for Zoe’s bedtime. Classy AF with our dinner right here….
Sunday was meal planning and grocery shopping. I had to try the new Midnight Mint Frap at Starbucks. You guys, this one does not disappoint!!! So amazing and not too sweet. It was the perfect treat.
I had to snap a picture of Zoe in her cute outfit too!!! My Godmother got this one for her. I envy the fact that she can pull off white leggings. You will never find a light color on my bottom half. If makes me look a like the Stay Puff man. How cute is that tunic? I die!!!
Sunday night I made a bacon pasta that was delicious! I will be sharing the recipe soon! We enjoyed it while we caught up on Chicago Med/Fire/PD, Vampire Diaries and Scandal. Is it just me, or is this the best season of Scandal yet??
We did watch one episode of 13 Reasons Why on Friday evening. I am interested to see the rest of them. There are a lot of mixed reviews out there. I also started to do some organizing around the house. I redid the laundry area and we got a cute set up for the soap and brushes near the kitchen sink. Next up will be under the sinks. HomeGoods and TJMaxx didn’t have what I wanted so I am on the search on the internet I guess. No area is safe from reorganization!
What are you all getting for your mom for Mother’s Day? I haven’t quite decided yet. Usually I have that figured out by now!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Linking up with Biana.
Hey there, Friday! This week was a little off for me because I went to the office a different day than I usually do.
Favorite Moments: Zoe turned 5 months old yesterday! I just love looking back over the pictures of her and seeing how much she has changed and learned over the last month.
—Laura and I finally got a chance to meet up for lunch yesterday while I was at my office. Some much needed girl time for sure. We decided to try somewhere new, SoHo Social. We started off with beer (Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc) and waffle sweet potato fries with a Gorgonzola dip. From there I got a short rib burger and Laura had a pork belly BLT and we both ordered street corn. Needless to say we will be adding this place to our regular rotation! The atmosphere was great for having a conversation and our service was wonderful.
Favorite Recipe: This Whole 30 Sweet Potato and Greens recipe sounds delicious for breakfast! Anything without eggs is my jam.
Favorite Purchase: I am stalking the tracking on my IT Cosmetics Pretty in Summer Trio!!! I saw a tutorial using this trio and heard that QVC was doing a Beauty with Benefits sale now through May 18th and I just had to get it! Plus, if you have never ordered with QVC before (I hadn’t) you receive $5 off your purchase! The trio comes with a dual sided no tug eye shadow brush and is supposed to be brightening and anti-aging. The three colors are my favorite three kinds to wear; a neutral, pink and plum! Ummm beautiful make up for a good cause? Sign me up! If you are in the market for some new beauty products right now, check out the QVC sale to give back with your purchase. (Totally not sponsored by QVC I wish, I just like companies who give back.)
Favorite Lust:It sounds weird, but after taking inventory of clothing items…I don’t have any basic “nice” t-shirts. I want a few neutral colors that I can style up or down and want them to be really good quality. I have heard amazing things about the Halogen jersey t’s from Nordstrom. Have any of you tried them?
Favorite Thought:
Favorite Funnies:
Linking up with Amanda. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!
Linking up with Kristen and Gretch for a monthly check in! Today Zoe turns 5 months old. My goodness!!! I need to find time to squeeze in a five month photo shoot at some point. Time is flying!!!
Reading: I am finishing up Royal Scandal from Netgalley.
Listening: I Don’t Know How She Does It on audiobook thanks to the library.
Watching: You guys, I am almost embarassed to say…but I still watch Pretty Little Liars. I mean, I am already in deep so I have to finish the damn thing. There have been so many twists and things have honestly gotten so ridiculous but I cant quit. There are seven episodes left and I better get some fucking answers. I just have a feeling they are going to end the show on a ridiculous twist or something. Like it was all made up and these girls are dreaming this all from the psych ward or something….and I am going to be pissed.
On a more positive note, Lucifer is back!!! So excited about that. I freaking love this show.
Eating: Paleo Banana Bread for breakfast most days. I have been making stir fry veggies and brown fried rice for lunch a lot lately. Dinners are mostly paleo/whole 30 approved. This week was baked pork chops, turkey burgers, kickin chicken, and bacon wrapped steaks. Yum!
Loving: The weather lately! Though, today and tomorrow we are getting a cold snap with rain. Tomorrow the high is 54. For Alabama in May, that is just nuts!!! But the rest of this week has been gorgeous and Zoe and I enjoy going and sitting out front and blowing bubbles together. Gotta protect those precious eyes of hers! We got her some glasses with a band around them to keep them on her head for the beach and pool this summer so we decided to try them out this week. She already has a pretty decent sunnies collection going! All Cat and Jack brand from Target so far. These watermelon ones are my favorites that she has. I am wearing Kate Spade.
Working: After months of attempting to complete my office area, I am in the final stretch! We have a garage sale and a bulk trash pick up day coming up in a few weeks and after that, I should be golden. I want to get the walls painted in here too and have an extra can left from Zoe’s room that I think I will just use in here since it is a neutral gray.
I have also been trying to straighten up/organize the unseen areas in the house. You know; under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, the laundry closet, the kitchen pantry and cabinets. I have a trip to HomeGoods in my near future to get some more organizational things so I can just knock it all out.
Pinning: Which means, I have been pinning all the organizational things!!!!!
