Date Nights :)

Well, life in NC has been fabulous. I've been making some good recipes and school is going great. John and I have been hanging out a lot before he leaves, which I couldn't ask for anything more. 

Here is a picture of a homemade margarita that John and I made on Friday night:

Also on Friday night we went to Joe's Crab Shack and I was finally able to order some drinks! Haha I don't remember what this was called but its was delicious! 

I actually typed this blog yesterday but I forgot to save it so I am now doing it again..lol 

On Saturday night I made my mom's recipe Gumbo. Its seriously soo good. 

Ingredients:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4c veggie oil

1 lb. smoked sausage, chopped

1/2c flour

5tblsp butter

1 large white onion, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1/4c Worcestershire sauce

1/4 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

4c hot water

5 beef bouillon cubes

14oz can stewed tomatoes

2c frozen sliced okra

1/2 lb small shrimp

Directions:

Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Heat veggie oil in deep pot over medium heat. Cook chicken until brown on both sides then remove. Add sausage until brown then remove. Sprinkle flour over the oil, add 2 tblsp of butter and cook until brown, stirring constantly. Let cool. 

Put on low heat and melt remaining tblsp of butter with onion, garlic, and celery-cooking for 10 minutes. Ad Worcestershire sauce and parsley, cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly. Add hot water and bouillon cubes, whisking frequently. Add chicken and sausage, bring to a boil, reduce heat-cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes and okra, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add shrimp just before serving. 

Monday night we went to our first REAL Military Ball :) it was so great and I had the best date possible. 

John actually had Valentine's Day off the next day!

For V-day John made me dinner, got me flowers and was just perfect. I made dessert for us, compliments of Pinterest!

The dessert is called Chocolate Lovers Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Cheesecake- 1 1/2c semi-sweet chocolate chips

11oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4c butter

1c heavy cream

Ganache- 4oz. dark chocolate

2tblsp water

Whipped cream- 1/2c heavy cream

2tblsp powered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler over low heat, stir until melted. Combine cream cheese and butter in a different bowl and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat well. Add melted chocolate to the bowl and beat to combine.

In another bowl add heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Then fold into the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Spoon mixture into desired bowl and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 

After the cheesecake is settled, time to make the ganache. In a microwaveable bowl add dark chocolate and water and cook for 30 second intervals until melted. Let cool slightly and pour over cheesecake. 

In another bowl, make the whipped topping. Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. beat until stiff peaks form and fill a pastry bag. top the cheesecake(s) and serve or chill until ready to serve.

And finally, the last thing we did was another Pinterest project. 

I hope you can tell the differences between the paint colors..its John's hand, then mine and then Bentley's paw on top of it :) haha I think we're going to do it every year from now on. 

To wrap up these past few weeks..things have been amazing! This is actually the most stress free I've ever been about school and life. I know that he'll have to leave soon so we're trying to spend as much time as possible together. I already miss him sometimes, but I can't wait to see my bestfriends and my family. Spring Break is going to be so perfect and I'm so excited! Everything is great so far, so I hope all the negativity and the negative people stay away from me and my family for a while because I don't have time to deal with it. 

We also got our wedding pictures back from Linda so as soon as I get them uploaded onto my computer I'll be sure to post a few. This weekend John and I will be going on a marriage retreat for the army before the deployment. :) should be super funn! 

Hope everyone has a great Jersday! 

"Loving life is the easiest thing to do when I'm loving you<3"

-Megan