Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
At one point this was a Rachel Ray recipe, but not really anymore…

1 pound ground beef
1 quarter onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons bbq sauce
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
4 dinner rolls
A few slices of provolone cheese

In a large skillet, start browning your ground beef… until it’s all brown (usually 6-7 minutes, but just eye ball it!)  While it’s browning, start chopping your veggies!

Once the veggies are chopped and your meat has browned up, add the veggies into the pan.  Let them soften up in the pan… it’ll probably take 3-4 minutes.  You’ll be adding liquid to the pan in a minute, so you don’t need them to be too soft!  The liquid will help soften them up.

Add a cup of beef stock and a few tablespoons of barbeque sauce (or steak sauce if you have some on hand!) and let it simmer until it thickens for a little bit.

While your sauce thickens, throw a few rolls in the toaster oven and put some provolone cheese on top so it gets all melty and delicious.  Pile some of the sloppy joe mix on top, and enjoy!  Best served with some fresh, summery corn on the cob (unpictured), or even some yummy steak fries.  (I didn’t make fries this time, but I’m sure Robert will request them after reading this post!)

I was so proud of myself for making a new recipe – I get stuck in cooking ruts sometimes.  Have you made any yummy new recipes lately?!

To start off, let’s recap the month of May in true accounting style – by the numbers.  (PS can you believe it’s June?  Holy Crap.)

1 – One new camera!  Check out this amazing gift that the hubster surprised me with.  I cried!  I can’t wait to use it on our honeymoon!

1 – Also a new iphone!  I’ve been loving using apps like instagram (see pic above!) and beating Robert at Words with Friends

2 – New blog friends who I finally got to meet for lunch last week!  Chrissey and Stephanie and I had a great lunch at Marathon Grill in Philadelphia.  It was surreal meeting people I met on the internet, but we had so much to chat about.

3 – Flavors of frozen yogurt I had at the new Yapple Yogurt down the street from our apartment!  It opened two weeks ago, and Robert and I went to welcome in summer over Memorial Day Weekend.  I tried white chocolate, peanut butter, and birthday cake – they were all so good!

4 – Number of books I read in May!  This includes Bossypants by Tina Fey (amazing, had me laughing on the train, and loving all of the Pennsylvania references!  she also included a great message for women – not just women comedians.  Girl power!)  I also read The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand.  This book was good, but I threw it on the couch at the end because I was disappointed by the ending. Finally, I read Firefly Lane and True Colors by Kristin Hannah.  I am now officially addicted to her books!  The first had me bawling on the train, and the second was so deeply real.  Kristen Hannah really paints you into the story, both in the plot and in the setting.  You find yourself so invested in the characters!  I loved both books and can’t wait to read more of her work in June!

7 – Inches I chopped off of my hair right after the wedding!  I couldn’t wait to get my Post Wedding Chop, and scheduled my appointment for the first day that the salons were open after the wedding.  Take a look:

             Before………………………………………………………After!

8 – Number of yoga classes I attended at Dana Hot Yoga this month.  I really enjoyed the chance to fulfill my groupon, but by the end of it, I was ready for a little break.  But I truly feel like I am a better “yogi” now… except:

1 – Number of times I FACEPLANTED while attempting crow pose.  OUCH.  My nose was bruised for days!

13th – My 25th birthday!  Robert and I celebrated with an amazing dinner of calamari, basil mojitos, and amazing bacon burgers at 20 Manning.  The burger was great, but not the best burger I ever had!  (Although I might have kept comparing their food to 20 Manning’s sister restaurant, Audrey Claire.  The mussels at AC are in the top 5 of favorite meals ever!)  We finished the night with drinks at Table 31 on the Thursday prior.  Although I work right above Table 31, I’d never been there.  We sat outside, and I swear it felt like we were in Miami!  The celebration continued at my BFF Kirsten’s house, where she and her husband bbq’ed for our friend Georgia, Bob’s friend Pat, Robert, and me.  We drank strawberry wine from Heritage Vineyards, ate a giant cookie cake, and just chatted.  It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday! 

31 – Days of being a wife!  I never thought that being married would feel very different.  We’d  been living together for almost 3 years by the time we got married, but it has been amazing.  I feel more connected to Robert, and I’m just giddy with love.  (Ok I’ll stop making you puke now.)

80,000 – Degrees that it’s been outside.  OMG it is so hot and humid, and it was only May.  I’ve never wanted rain so badly before in my life.  Anything to break the heat!

What were you up to in May?!  I can’t believe my favorite month is over

To celebrate, we headed downtown to cash out some Groupons that I’ve been collecting.  Our first stop was The Academy of Natural Science to check out some dinosaurs!  Robert loves dinos  

Rawr!

After the museum (and all of the screaming children on field trips), we needed to refuel with some Mexican food and of course some alcoholic beverages at Mexican Post!  We had a Groupon for this as well, and since I do love myself some Mexcian Post, I jumped at the opportunity to visit!

We feasted on nachos, burritos (for the boy) and fajitas (for me!)  Super yum, as usual!

After our feast, we high-tailed it to the closest pub to watch the second half of the SJU-Duquense game in the A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals… which we WON!  What an amazing way to round out the day.  There was even another Hawk fan in the bar to share in the excitement.  High-fives all around!  The Hawk Will Never Die!

Saturday, we started out the day with another Hawk game, this time against Dayton in the Semi-finals.  Unfortunately we lost, but I couldn’t help but be appreciative of how the team really rallied around for the second half of this rebuilding year.  We have a strong freshman class, and I can’t wait to see how next year goes!

After the game, we headed out to join the Erin Express!  We really only went to one bar, but the beers were good, people watching was classic, and company was handsome.  What more could a girl ask for?

It was a great long weekend, just like this was a [great?] long post.  I know I said I’d keep it brief… but I couldn’t help it!  How was your weekend?

Hello friends!  I was thinking the other day that I talked a lot about surviving the rough times at work, but I hardly spend any time discussing the perks of working for the Big 4 Firms.  This past weekend was a prime example.  You see, as many workplaces get off for Martin Luther King day or Presidents Day, we don’t – in fact we probably work a 12 hour day that day.  To thank us for our efforts during busy season, the firm gives us 4-day weekends for the three major summer holidays… and my god is it wonderful!

To kick off the long weekend, I spent Friday [finally] getting back into the wedding swing of things.  I had three meetings with photographers, and in between I spent some quality time with some cute coffee houses.  The first was right in my neighborhood… I couldn’t believe I’d never been to Milkboy Coffee before!  After my appointment with Lindsay, I stuck around for a grilled veggie sandwich and a mint-hibiscus iced tea.  It hit the spot!  I spent a lot of my high school years lingering around coffee houses, and I know this would have been the hot spot back then.  I felt like I was merging two versions of myself… the HS coffee house self, and the foodie self.  The menu even has a seitan cheesesteak, and although I wimped out from trying it this time… I will be back

source

After that meeting, I headed into Northern Liberties to meet with Dollface Studio.  I’d never been to that part of the city before, and once I got past the mild ghetto-ness of the area, I opened my eyes and found my new favorite place:  The Random Tea Room.

I grabbed a comfy seat and settled in with a Bourbon Vanilla Honeybush tea and a cinnamon scone.  I was in heaven!  Maybe one day I’ll open up such a wonderful oasis

Saturday we bummed around the house, and I got some cleaning done.  We headed out later to a BBQ at a good friend’s new house.  They recently moved really close to us… it’s going to be a good summer!  No pictures to report, but trust me – Kelly out did herself with the BBQ food   We finished out the night watching the flyers lose – woo hooo!

Sunday is when we really turned the weekend up a notch.  I may or may not have slept til noon… (I may or may not have had a few Coronas on Saturday )  But I woke up to the grand aroma of Strawberry Pancakes courtesy of the fiancee!  Later in the afternoon we went for a lovely five mile bike ride (approx 45 min!) and returned home to get all dressed up.

Our destination?!  The Waterworks Restaurant and Lounge.  I have been dying to go to the Waterworks since I moved to Philadelphia, and when I saw a Groupon for the restaurant, I jumped at the chance!  I had heard that WW is BYOB on Sundays, so fiancee and I grabbed a bottle and headed out.

First we took some pictures – of course

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I have to admit though, our dinner was sub-par. Once we announced that we had a Groupon, our server  changed his tone immediately.  The meal was set up in prix-fixe style, so we were to be served a salad, sorbet, and entree, and dessert.  We also wanted to try the grilled octopus, and supplement our entree with some mashed potatoes.  The server was happy to oblige (keep that in mind!).  But it wasn’t all bad.  Although I wasn’t a fan of the octopus, Robert loved it.  And our Waterworks salad was AMAZING.  But we had to beg for bread in between, and after the salad… we didn’t get our sorbet.  And when we got our chicken, it was plated with asparagus and MASHED POTATOES.  Which would have been great to know when we ordered an additional side of potatoes (for $8 I might add!)  But as all this was going down, so was the sun… and it made it all worth it.

Dessert was good too – a duo of chocolate flourless torte, and chocolate mousse.  It helped to quell our dissatisfaction about dinner.  That is… until we got the check, and we realized that our waiter had charged us for a salad instead of including it in our prix fixe.  And when we went to ask him about it, he was no where to be found!  Thankfully we flagged down a helpful waiter, and he took care of it for us (although he couldn’t find our waiter either!).  Anyway, we really tried not to let our poor service get the better of us.  While we were disappointed about our miserable service, we made the best of it with… more pictures!

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After we danced around Kelly Drive, we hit the hay.  We had a huge day planned for Monday – complete with a picnic lunch, a blues festival and….

Our favorite local winery was hosting a wine tasting and blues festival all weekend, and as blues music and wine are two of our favorite things, we didn’t want to miss it!  For $25, we got to hear two bands, have a taste of 10 wines, and keep that cutie wine glass above.  Did someone say worth it?!

(Yes, definitely worth it!)  Among our favorites were the Proprietor’s Reserve – a blend of red wine grapes (this wine has been a favorite of ours for a LONG time!), the Merican – another blend of red wine grapes with hints of cherry jam and chocolate, the Sunset Blush (a refreshing rose), and the Naked Chardonnay. 

It paired wonderfully with gelato   OH and why naked you ask?  Why not?!  Haha OR maybe it’s because it’s aged in stainless  steel barrels instead of the oak barrels.  This made a huge difference to me… and might have been the first Chardonnay that I actually liked! I might have even bought a bottle to take home!

Anyway, this afternoon at Chaddsford  Winery was perfect.   Where else could you relax with wine, music, and beautiful scenery?  It was the perfect end to the long weekend.

What did you do with your memorial day weekend?!