Mother’s Day Weekend 2017

Hey guys! Happy Monday!

I hope all of you had a Happy Mother’s Day weekend. We change up what we do from time to time and this year, B and I hosted a get-together at our house with my family! Something funny and a complete blogger fail is that I did not even get a picture with me and my mom. So here’s an oldie (but goody) with my mom from a few years ago:

B and I were in charge of lunch for the day. We started out with a simple veggie and cheese tray as appetizers. Cheese selections were harvarti and a spicy cheddar, and I put out some carrots and cucumbers with the veggie tray. We actually just snacked on those for a minute as we were getting things ready to serve for lunch, so I didn’t want to make a big to-do over apps. I wanted something simple to put together for lunch, so we went with slow cooker BBQ chicken as the entrée. Here are the details for all of the food:

• BBQ- separated 4lb of chicken breasts into 2 slow cookers and cooked them on high for 4 hours covered in sauce. I used a sweet sauce in one and a mustard sauce in the other. I shredded the chicken prior to serving and offered buns and toppings if people wanted them. The mustard sauce was the most popular!
• Coleslaw- purchased from Fresh Market
• Asparagus- drizzled with EVOO, sprinkle with salt and pepper, roasted on 425 for ~20 minutes
• Lemon Orzo- purchased from Fresh Market (this stuff is like crack, FYI)
• Broccoli Salad- I used this recipe with some modifications. I only used half of the onion, I subbed sugar for Stevia and only used half of the amount, I used cranberries instead of raisins because my sister has an aversion to raisins, and I only ended up using about 1/2 of the mayo dressing. I’ve made this recipe before and people love it!
• Fruit salad- made with strawberries from my mom’s farmer’s market, blueberries and raspberries

My mom also made this amazing lemon cheesecake! Our family is definitely full of cheesecake lovers.

I really liked doing the slow cooker BBQ chicken for a group of people since it was so simple. I like to be able to spend time enjoying friends/family when they come over which is why I avoided a fussy entrée. Doing a BBQ chicken would be a great entrée option for a cookout over the summer!

My mom is living the life now that she is retired, and she and John have been doing more outdoors things. She asked for a walking stick for Mother’s Day, so I got her that as well as a Camelbak. She’s good to go on her hiking adventures now

My mom has always supported me in life, but I especially don’t know how I would have gotten through these past few years without her! B’s parents are traveling right now but he was able to wish his mom a happy mother’s day from Charlotte.

How was your Mother’s Day weekend?

What is on the agenda this week? I have to go back to the endodontist because there might be something wrong with the root canal that I got done last year (WTF?!). I am also putting together a business plan and counting down the days until my last day at work- 11!