Travel Adventures: Pert Near Sandstone & Them Coulee Boys

So much fun!

Early last week on a whim Ryan and I purchased tickets to this concert and it was awesome. We went a little early to get some dinner at some local restaurants first. Then we went to  the concert at Mill Creek in Appleton. It was so much fun we danced and sang along the whole time. The atmosphere was so uplifting and being so close to the stage was really fun. I liked that the wood floor in there was perfect for stomping along to the music. It was a really intimate concert at the same time it was fun. It made me really excited to go to Blue Ox Music Festival in June.

Here are some high lights from our night.

Fress Restaurant  What a tasty new place in Appleton. You need to try it with their craft cocktails and awesome small plates to share.

 Pisco Mar Interesting location not a fan of the ceviche but a great little tapa of chips and wine.

 Mill-creek-blues-café This smaller long hall venue was a blast. Sorry I only took one picture of Them Coulee Boys. You cannot be mad at me I was having too much fun!

I love a random concert like this it gets you to center your soul a little bit. I cannot wait for Blue Ox in June now. Blue Grass music is one of my favorite genres!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Official Yelp Event: Beer School @ McFleshman’s

This event was so fun!

I loved coming to this Yelp event yesterday.  The inside of the brewery is so cozy. I loved the knowledge about the beer they taught us. I mean we also got a ton of free samples which never hurts. I now know that dark beer is lower calorie and I should for sure not shy away from all IPA beers. I love their space and their patio area too.

Here are some of the highlights from the event.

This Irish red is so dark it looks black.

I loved their outdoor patio area.

You can get to go beers for at home!

What a fun way to end our weekend. Cannot wait till the next fun event I can attend!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Enchiladas

This was perfection. I have a couple recipes that I have worked on and had numerous fails and this was one of them. The last time I made this it was a hot mess. I finally got it down and used part of my husband's mom's recipe to make it happen. It's funny because her recipes are sometimes vague and not specific on cook times but I made the best of it and I will share the recipe with you now. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did this made a lot of leftovers!













What you need~

1 cup of cooked great northern white beans (I made mine in the instant pot)
1 pound of ground pork sausage (hot) cooked
Taco seasoning to taste
1 large white onion shredded
1 can of artichoke hearts shredded
1 tablespoon roasted garlic (diced)
2 cups of Colby jack cheese shredded
2 cans of green chilis (about a cup)
2 (14 ounce) cans of red enchilada sauce
10 flour tortillas *large size
parsley

Start by prepping and cooking all filling items. I pressure cooked my beans then sautéed the pork, onion, artichoke hearts and garlic together in the Instant pot while seasoning as I went. I added the chili's to the mix and set aside. I heated my oven to 350 degrees and prepped my 9x13 and 9x9 pan with a little enchilada sauce in the bottom. I put the tortillas in the oven for like 2 minutes to warm them before I started to build the enchiladas. Place 1 warmed tortilla in one of your prepared pans and fill it. I put about a 1/4 cup of the filling with a sprinkling of cheese in each one then rolled them in the enchilada sauce with the open side of the tortilla facing down. I did this till I fit 6 in the 9x13 pan and 4 in the 9x9 pan. Bake them in the oven like this for 15-ish minutes. Watch them till they crisp up then remove. Top the center of the enchiladas with more sauce and more cheese. Put back in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with some parsley and serve hot.

It was so tasty and I am happy to say they turned out so good. Do not miss the crisp up step before adding more sauce it makes the difference. I love that my mother in law used artichokes at first I thought it sounded nasty but it added a little texture and sweetness to an otherwise spicy dish. This is low on the heat scale though. Kids could totally eat this.

YUM!

Until next time~
XOXO Emily

Travel Adventures: Brewers Game

I legit had the best time. I am not a really big baseball fan but I like trying new things and this was more fun than I expected. This game we went to was the Brewers VS Cubs and we did not win. It did not matter though we still had a really good time. Some highlights.















We started this trip with stopping at a Brewery that Ryan has wanted to go to for years. It was a really cool place in Grafton called Water Street.

Victory Amber Ale.

Scotch Egg Appetizer.

We then got to the stadium. Parking was pretty easy and the atmosphere of the tail-gaters was infectious. There were people grilling, a band and the racing sausages where around to take pictures with.

The Brewers stadium is really cool!

Once in the stadium we stopped at the team store and then bought a beer before finding our seats.

Local brews on tap!

3 seconds before I spilled a bit of beer on myself.

Our view from our seats.

Such a fun adventure with friends.

Look closely there were robins on the field throughout the game. The roof was closed so they were trapped in.

I ate a pretzel (with spicy mustard) the size of my head and a hot dog. I wish my hot dog was fancy in a box like everyone else's but it tasted good. I was missing relish though what's with that Brewers?

The game was fun and even though we were surrounded by Cubs fans it was friendly.

If you have never been to a game before I would recommend it. I mean I am not even a huge fan and had a blast. The stadium was clean and everyone friendly.

Onto the next adventure!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Instant Pot: Baby Back Ribs

Finally juicy and fall of the bone ribs at home! I have done some trial and error with these and finally got them just right. I researched all over the internet and was constantly annoyed and mislead on how long to cook ribs in the instant pot. This recipe works for baby back ribs specifically so be careful to not buy the wrong cut (IE spare ribs).  I am not going to include my homemade rub or BBQ recipe because you can really use any name brand or make your own easily. I hope they are as big of a hit as they were at my house last night.







What you need~
1 rack of ribs
1.5 cups of dry rub
1 cup of water
.5 cup apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups BBQ sauce

Start by removing the under skin on the back of the ribs. How I do this is I take a small knife and work the edge end of the ribs to grab the clear skin. It will stick and you really need to pull but make sure to get this off so your ribs fall off the bone well when done. Once you do this pat the meat dry with a paper towel and then apply all the rub to all sides. Cut the rack of ribs into three matching size chunks. Pour the water and vinegar into the bottom of the instant pot. Make sure the metal rack is in the bottom of the pot for the meat to sit on. Place the meat in the instant pot in a teepee shape. Close and seal the pot. Set the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. While that is cooking prep your grill or oven to finish these. I have tried them under the broiler and on the grill. I prefer the grill on medium setting. Once the meat is done quick release and move the ribs from the instant pot straight to the grill. Sear on each side to get a little crust for about 5 minutes on each side. Then start applying your BBQ. I put BBQ on both sides at least 2 times. I like my ribs sticky. Each side gets about 2-3 minutes before flipping. Remove from grill and enjoy.

I loved these and now that I have it down the way I like I cannot wait to make these again!


I hope you enjoy.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily