The Inn at Christmas Place

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.

Snow was falling softly, but quickly from the darkened night sky above. Sounds were muffled from the streets below as people hurried home to their warm beds. An orange glow filled the night sky, and everything was peaceful. Inside, a Christmas movie playing, and Christmas lights blinking. It was peaceful, and magical.

It would sound like Christmas was here, but in fact, this scene was set last week, in February. Zach and I found ourselves completely in raptures during our adventure to a new to us town, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Our destination, the Inn at Christmas Place. Where the spirit of Christmas is held all year round!

For those of you who know us, you know we love Christmas. It is our absolute most favorite time of year. We may have put up our tree right after Halloween last year. And we got married around Christmas! It is a special time of year that we love to spend time with friends and family and spread joy and cheer.

So when we found out about the Inn at Christmas Place, we knew we had to visit. And finally, our time came to have a weekend getaway at the Inn! We booked our two nights, and drove up early (read er arrived at 3am) to Pigeon Forge because we knew snow was coming the next day.

The Inn at Christmas Place was everything we expected and so much more. From first glance to when we drove off, it was an exceptional experience, and I just had to share it with you all!

Christmas Place is a beautiful hotel, and reminds me of a Bavarian building, all decked out in Christmas lights, wreaths, garlands and bows. And of course, it was even more picturesque because snow was on the roof and ground!

The customer service at the Inn is second to none. When we walked in, we were greeted by some really friendly doormen, and then checked in to our room. We were even given some ornaments since it was our first time at the Inn! We were also informed at every night they put out fresh, homemade cookies for free for the guests. Yes, please!

Walking through the hotel to our room we were taking in every detail. Christmas paintings and art, every floor with a themed center desk at the opening of the elevator, there is even a Charlie Brown Christmas themed area playing the movie all day long!

If we thought everything was amazing to that point, our breath was taken away opening the door to our room. We had a mini kitchen area, cabinets, a spacious, clean bathroom with granite countertops. The beds were decked with a lucious red cover and fluffly white pillows. The TV armiorre was topped with a mino Christmas tree, and the walls adorned with winter paintings.

We were blown away. Never have I ever been to such a unique and special hotel!

Our stay only continued to get better as we took morning dips in the pool and hot tub. We also watched the snow fall from the indoor hot tub! We definitely enjoyed our nightly cookies, an incredible hot breakfast included in the mornings, and to top it all off, time with singing Santa on Thursday night!

If you love Christmas, and especially if you love near Tennessee, the Inn at Christmas place is absolutely worth your visit. The customer service that we received alone was well worth our stay. In our culture these days, you don't always find such great service. But the Inn went the extra mile to make sure our stay was incredible, and boy was it!

We will absolutely be back to visit the Inn at Christmas Place.

Some fun places to visit around the Inn:
-The Christmas Place store! Across from the Inn is a huge, amazing Christmas store! Well worth the visit, even if just to look.
-The Old Mill- a working mill from the 1800's, complete with fun country store and restaurant! Very picturesque.
-The Island- an upbeat section of town with some arcades and even a ferris wheel!
-Smokey Mountain National Park is less than ten miles away! A beautiful place for sure.
-Blue Moose Burger and Wings. Zach and I ate here and it was so good! A sports bar and grill feel, but they have some incredible burgers!

Pigeon Forge itself has lots of dinner and theater shows, Dollywood, and lots of fun seasonal outdoor race tracks, putt putt places, and the like!

So if you are near the area and looking for a fun quick getaway, Zach and I can highly recommend the Inn at Christmas Place!

Who else loves Christmas? 

Crock-Pot Teriyaki Chicken

When our oven caught on fire right before Christmas and was out of commission for about a week, I dug around for some spectacular crock-pot recipes that I could cook, save some time, and get around not having an oven.

I found quite a few recipes that are fantastic and are definitely going in my go to meal planning because they are quick, easy, and most importantly, healthy! Isn't it nice to have minimal prep, set your crock-pot, then come home to a hot meal ready for you? I know I love it!

This teriyaki chicken recipe was one of the ones that I found, and love!

Be sure to try this recipe out for yourself, you could serve it over hot brown rice, or even some zucchini noodles!

Ingredients
Medium to large bag of carrots
1 onion cut into large chunks
4 garlic cloves
2 cups of fresh cut pineapple (or two cans undrained)
*1 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce (about one regular sized bottle)
4 chicken breasts

Directions
Combine all ingredients in your crock-pot, cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, then serve over hot brown rice or zucchini noodles!

*If you are freezing your crock-pot meal before use, split between two bags, and only use 1 cup of teriyaki sauce, then add the additional 1/4 cup when you are cooking it.

And it's as simple as that! Honestly, it doesn't get much easier. Prep time is minimal, and you come home to a hot, healthy meal! Who is going to give this a try?

Banana Ice Cream

Who knew that bananas could be so versatile and delicious? You can make pancakes with them, cupcakes, cookies, breads, muffins, and I’m sure a plethora of other goodies I have no idea about. But, my latest discovery and experiment was quite tasty.

Banana ice cream.

And really, it could not be simpler. You can of course add your own flair to it, but the base of it is practically fool proof. So grab a few bananas, peel away, and get ready to have your mind blown by deliciousness! (And it’s a healthy treat, too!)

Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients (For two larger bowls or 4 smaller bowls)

4 peeled bananas

Optional topping and mix in ideas:

Chocolate chips

Dried cranberries

Peanut butter

Shredded coconut

Chopped nuts

…really the possibilities are endless, depending on what you like!

Directions

1.     Peel the bananas and place them in a freezer container, or freezer Ziploc bags

2.     Freeze for at least 6 hours (I would recommend just putting them in the night before so you don’t have to worry). If they are not frozen all the way through, the consistency of the ice cream will be soupy and not as good. You want these bad boys FROZEN.

3.     Place in a food processor, give it a whir until it starts to take the consistency of ice cream (maybe a minute or so). If you are using any mix ins (peanut butter, etc) add them in, too!

4.     Divide into bowls, top as desired, and enjoy!

As you can see, this recipe really can be so versatile and you can add exactly what you want to your banana ice cream. Super delicious, and you get some fruit in there as well! Not a bad deal at all.

Does anyone else have any stellar banana recipes to share?

Revamped "Creamed" Spinach

Who loves a good serving of creamed spinach? I know that I do! But I also know that all of that cream and butter pretty much negates the nutrition I'm getting from said spinach. The other day while I was cooking, I needed to cook up a whole bunch of spinach that was on the verge of going bad, so I had the idea of creating a healthier version of creamed spinach.

My secret ingredient...cauliflower!

If you have been reading my blog lately, you'll know I've been loving cauliflower lately. I've used it for pizza crust, mac and cheese, pasta sauce, and all kinds of things. I seriously love it. I thought that if I had created a "cream" sauce for pasta, why not use it to make "creamed" spinach, and get even more veggie servings in!

So that is what I did, and I must say, I really liked the outcome!

Revamped "Creamed" Spinach

Ingredients (for about 4 servings)
-6 cups of raw spinach (you can add more if you want)
-1 cauliflower head, cut into chunks
-2 garlic cloves
-2 tsp cooking oil
-1/2 an onion
-1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt
-salt, lemon pepper, and garlic powder to taste
(Optional, if you have some parmesan cheese you can also sprinkle it in towards the end!)

Directions
1. Bring a medium pot to a rolling boil, and add your cauliflower. Cook until tender, drain and set aside.
2. In a medium to large skillet, heat up your cooking oil over medium high heat.
3. Mince your cloves of garlic and sautee for one minute, then reduce heat to medium.
4. Add in your spinach. It will pile high at start, but it will really cook down. Stir around so all the leaves get some heat and they start to wilt.
5. In a food processor, add your cauliflower, greek yogurt, and season with a small amount of salt, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Process for a minute or two, until it starts to turn smooth.
6. Once the cauliflower mix has smoothed out, add your desired amount to the spinach, and mix together. If you're adding parmesan, add it in now!
7. Let the mixture heat through for a minute or so.
8. Dish out and enjoy! We had this with some chicken and it was delightful!


What's your favorite cauliflower recipe? I'm always on the lookout for a good one!

Zucchini Burgers

There’s just something about summer that makes you want to eat a good burger, isn’t there? Something about the grill and outdoor eating environment just screams summertime fun. Well, Zach and I don’t have a grill, or really anywhere to eat outdoors at our apartment, so we revamped our burger experience last week!

Since beginning my journey to eating healthier, I have found that I am craving vegetables more than I was before, so I have been trying to find creative ways to eat more veggies. Let me tell you, these zucchini burgers hit the nail on the head!

They are super simple and really versatile to what you want to include in them. Take stock of your fridge and into consideration of what your family enjoys, and make it your own! Think of this as a base recipe to play around with and experiment yourself.

Here we go!

Zucchini Burgers

Ingredients (makes about 8 patties)

2 medium sized zucchini        

3 to 4 eggs (just depends on the consistency)

½ cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs

½ an onion, finely minced

½ cup of mushrooms, finely chopped

½ cup red bell peppers, finely chopped

½ cup feta cheese

2 tsp garlic powder (more if you like garlic like I do)

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp cumin

Salt to taste

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Use the largest holes on a grater and grate all of the zucchini. Place in a bowl, cover with a paper towel and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

-Use this time to chop/mince all of your other veggies. This is where you can get creative. If you like green peppers, or cucumbers, or whatever…experiment!

-Take off the paper towel and add your veggies and mix throughout.

-Add in your eggs. You want it to be sticky so they will bind together, but not too much. Start with 3, then add the bread crumbs. If it’s falling apart, add the fourth egg. If it’s too runny, add more bread crumbs.

-Add in your cheese (you can also use shredded pepper jack or any other cheese. We had feta and I love that, so that’s what we used!) and your seasonings to your taste.

-Mix so it is all incorporated, then begin forming them into patties. I made ours a little smaller than the palm of my hand. Place on a greased baking sheet, making sure they have space in between.

-Cook for about 30 minutes until they are golden brown on both sides, turning half way through.

-Enjoy on whole wheat slider buns, regular sized buns, Ezekiel bread, or just by themselves!

If you want a great sauce to put on top that’s not going to kill your clean eating, mix up some plain greek yogurt with mustard, garlic powder and paprika, and spread on the bun. Yum!