It's Nice To Have You In Birmingham and TexMex Casserole

Sorry for the long post, but Eric’s friends came into town from South Georgia Thursday afternoon, and I thought it would be fun to post about What to Do in Birmingham with out-of-town guests. I figured that this could come in handy for a few people who want to entertain their out-of-town guests in Birmingham, AL.

Trim Tab Brewery- It's Nice to Have You In Birmingham 

Thursday Evening—I met Eric and his friends at Thirsty Thursday at Regions Park. If you haven’t been to the new ballpark by now, you must be living under a rock. It is probably one of the best decisions Birmingham has ever made to move it from Hoover to the downtown area. Every time I have been, it’s packed! This time was no exception. You can’t go wrong with $2 beer and Dreamland Nachos. If you haven’t had Dreamland Nachos, you aren’t living. They are so freakin’ good! Eric and I originally found them at Bryant Denny Stadium during football games (Roll Tide), and I was so excited to see them at Regions Park as well. I always crave them. Unfortunately, they don’t have them at Dreamland restaurant in Birmingham!

Getting off on 1st Ave- Beautiful Sunset

Front of Regions Field

General Admission Section aka cheap section

Friday—Eric and I had to go to work, but our friends Ben and Jennifer decided to go to 16^th Street Baptist Church and The Civil Rights Museum downtown.  Side note—Ben is finishing up his Masters and wants to be a History Teacher. Ben and Jennifer really seemed to enjoy it. I met them back at the house and cooked dinner (I will get to recipe later in the blog). Jennifer had told me about a free concert earlier in the day at the Vestavia Library, so we decided to go! Vestavia did a great job with this library. It’s call a Library in The Woods and very well done! The concert was at their outside amphitheater. (I didn’t even know they had an amphitheater.) When we arrived, we were a little bummed that they had moved the concert inside due to rain (although the sun was out at this point). We stayed for a little while to check it out. The band was actually really good, but the atmosphere would have been 10 times better if it was outside. We didn’t stay long, but I will now being paying attention to who plays there. It has a lot of potential.  

We then headed downtown for some dessert. When Ben and Jenn were here last, Eric and I took them to Steel City Pops, and I knew I wanted to let them try something new. So Insomnia Cookies it was. Kaitlyn, my sister told me about this place when it first opened, and she and I are obsessed! These cookies are delicious, and I wish I lived in the delivery range…actually, no I don’t! Before we got to Insomnia Cookies I took them by The Club to see a beautiful view of Birmingham skyline. Side Note- This is where the Husband proposed. It is one of our favorite places to come and watch the sunset. While leaving the Club, I asked Ben and Jen if I had ever taken them to The J Clyde Bar since Ben is a big craft beer guy. So we took a small pit stop to J. Clyde to have a beer and beer cheese (don’t judge unless you try—it was yummy). This is a really neat bar that is tucked away on a cobblestone street. They have more beers than you can possibly imagine. Insomnia Cookies was next, and Eric ended up meeting us there. Did I mention that this store is open until 3am? If you haven’t had the S’mores Deluxe, get it, it’s the bomb!! We took the long way home and I showed them the newly restored Lyric Theater and the color tunnel. We forget how cool the little things are! I have yet to see the inside of Lyric Theater but have seen pictures and looks like they did a wonderful job on bringing it back to life.

City View from The Club

J Clyde Bar- This was a portion of their on draft section

Insomnia Cookies

Colored Tunnel

Saturday—Eric had to be at work at 5am (poor guy) so I took Jennifer and Ben to Pepper Place. Pepper Place Framers Market runs from April-December. I swear I could spend hours here and about $300 easy. I went at the beginning of the season this year but haven’t been back. This past Saturday, there seemed to be a lot going on and a ton more vendors. Jennifer loved it and made sure to tell me that every time they visit, this is a must! We headed back to the house because I had a house showing, and Ben and Jennifer headed off to Birmingham Museum of Art. I have yet to go to this museum. They put on a really cool event every year called Art on the Rocks. I hope to make it to this event this upcoming year.  Saturday evening, we headed down to Avondale Brewery to go watch one of Eric’s friends Brad’s band play and also support a great fundraiser: Beer, Bands, and Bullies!

If you haven’t heard of Atticus Avenue, look them up. They are on ITunes, Facebook and YouTube. Here’s a link to when they were on ABC 33/40—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3AYMyd-ovY (Brad the drummer is Eric’s good friend). Brad and Drew (they are brothers) also have a band called Brother’s Kin. I have had them play at a couple of work functions for me, and they are awesome!  If you like acoustic songs from all genres, contact them. Here is their website—http://brotherskin.com/the-boys/ 

To finish off a great Saturday, we devoured Post Office Pies (a local pizza place) in Avondale that has phenomenal pizza. Go if you haven’t!

Pepper Place Farmers Market

So fresh!

Sunflowers make me happy!

Avondale Brewery- Atticus Avenue on Stage

Wish I would have brought Murray!

Sunday—Ben and Jennifer left at the crack of dawn, so I headed to church with a good friend. Let me tell you a little bit about Church of the Highlands. Before my current job, I used to work every Sunday. It was very hard for Eric and I to get to church. I hated it because I loved going to Sunday School and “Big Church” as I called it growing up. A good friend of mine Alexis told me about Church of the Highlands online, and Eric and I started watching it. I had been to the Riverchase campus with another good friend, but I had not been to the Grants Mill location where Pastor Chris Hodges actually is “teaching” not preaching (although at yesterday’s sermon he preached haha). I loved it and can’t wait for Eric to be off next Sunday so we can go. This church has done so much good for the State of Alabama. If you haven’t been, you should, especially if you are a part of my generation. They teach in a way where it is easy to understand.  Mallory and I decided to head over to the Lakeview area and grab Brunch at FIVE. Omg, a little piece of Heaven! I was bad and ordered the Chicken and Waffles. I usually always get the cheeseburger because I swear it’s the best burger in town, but wowzers that was good! Eric got home early afternoon, and we were exhausted. We were in bed by 4pm and watch 5 episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Since being married for 5 months, we have watched 12 seasons…can’t believe I just admitted that. I cooked an awesome dinner that I will share with you tomorrow.

Brunch at FIVE- Chicken and Waffles

TexMex Casserole—this is an awesome recipe, and we all went back for seconds! I did not change anything except replaced the onion with onion powder!

Ingredients

8 ounces whole-wheat penne pasta

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, diced or onion powder

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 (10.5-ounce) can Campbell’s® Healthy Request® condensed tomato soup

1 (15-ounce) can reduced-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15.25-ounce) can low-sodium whole kernel corn, drained

1 (10-ounce) can Ro*Tel® "Original" diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chilies

2 teaspoons chili powder

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup shredded reduced-fat four cheese Mexican blend (Sargento®)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, onion or onion powder, and garlic until the beef is no longer pink, 7 to 8 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break the beef up as it cooks. Drain any excess fat and return the skillet to the stovetop, turning the heat down to low.
• Add the cooked pasta, soup, beans, corn, diced tomatoes, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, salt and black pepper to the skillet and stir until well combined.
• Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the Mexican cheese evenly over the top. Bake uncovered in the oven until the cheese is melted and casserole is heated through, 18 to 20 minutes.

Happy Eating!

Original Recipe- http://www.skinnymom.com/skinny-tex-mex-casserole/