Celebrate Southern Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

Tuna Salad Cucumber Bites // Whole30 + Paleo

Fun fact - I used to own a restaurant. “Used to” being the key to my life right now. Anyway, it was super quaint, located in a really small town, in an old historic house. The front of the house held our little gift shoppe. We had one dining room upstairs and one down. I always tell folks, to get a good idea of what it was like, imagine Lorelai Gilmore’s Dragonfly Inn mixed with a Cracker Barrel… Although, due to it’s size, it was more like a Cracker Bucket.

While we quickly became well known for our chicken salad recipe (which I will have to feature here another day) the close runner up was my tuna salad. Like most of you know, when I cook or create, I don’t necessarily have a plan - I just throw things together and if it works, hooray. If not, eh… there’s always next time. That’s what happened with this Tuna Salad. Surprisingly people (other than just myself) loved having olives in their tuna! #iheartolives.

I’ve been eating clean foods for the past 2-ish years. But it wasn’t until a few months ago that I decided to start making my own ranch and mayo. (Apparently I am a crazy person for waiting this long!) So last week when I had a batch of Whole30 Mayo to use, I thought what better an opportunity that this to make the Carriage House Tuna Salad (Whole30 compliant)?!

And since I do not eat bread, I paired the tuna salad with little cucumber slices. How cute are these? I cut the cucumbers to all different heights and then, to make them even prettier, I went ahead and cut slices into the outside. These would be a perfect appetizer for a party or a high tea, never mind the fact that they are a great no-bread paleo lunch option!

Whole30 Paleo Tuna Salad

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Suz from www.2catsandchloe.com

Ingredients

1 - 2 TBSP Whole30 Approved Mayo
1 can of tuna
¼ cup of sliced olives
½ small chopped onion
¼ cup of sliced carrots
¼ cup of chopped celery optional
Salt + Pepper to taste
1 large english cucumber

Instructions

Cut up your olives, onion, carrots and celery.
In a bowl, mix everything together except the cucumber. (Salt + Pepper to taste)
If you are skipping the bread and want to serve on cucumber - cut your cucumber into bite size pieces. I made mine vary in height. Cut out a bit of the core, making it a little tiny "bowl" for the tuna salad. If you want to make them even prettier, cut slits in the cucumber skin.
Put a spoonful of tuna salad on the cucumber slices. Plate and serve.

2 cats & chloe: Tuna Salad with Cucumber // Whole30 Tuna Salad

So what do you think? Are these party worthy? Maybe worthy of joining the Celebrate Southern Soiree Linkup??

This week our co-host is Jenn from What You Make It! I am so excited that she is hosting with us, as she is one of my oldest blog-friends. She is a new mommy who writes about her life, her loves, parties, recipes and travels! So now, when you linkup below, you are not only showing up on my blog and J’s blog, but you will also be present on Jenn’s blog! Haven’t you always wanted to be in three places at one time??

Now grab a button and join the linky party about the party! We want to see your recipes, parties, home decor and DIY posts! Feel free to have fun with this and dust off a couple of your old posts to share!

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If you would like to have some fun, gain a little more visibility with your blog and be a party hostess in the future, please fill out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/IHXJ7Nxyxq

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Memorial Weekend Treat: Frozen Berry Flattened Trifle

by Susan

Can you believe Memorial Weekend is already (almost) here?! This weekend is always one of my favorites. The sun is (usually) shining. The flags are flying. And we are (almost always) working a wedding and then spending the holiday weekend at the river. This is the first year, in EIGHT YEARS, that I do not have a wedding this weekend. I am cutting way, way back this year on my wedding business. I still have one-ish a month for the majority of the season. But it’s a fourth of what I did last year. Because I want to be around to enjoy fun-filled weekends (like Memorial Weekend) with my family!

That being said - how about a festive NON PALEO NON WHOLE30 BUT INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS dessert? Yes… every now and then you just have to live by the 90/10 rule. (Keep in mind, this dessert was created we discovered my gluten intolerance… so I will not be eating this. But my friends and family will love it!)

Frozen Berry, Flattened Trifle

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Two Sleeves of Graham Crackers One stick of Melted Butter One Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (For a slightly lighter, less rich taste use fat free) Approximately 8 ounces of Greek Yogurt. Four-ish of Pineapple Greek and Four-ish of Lemon Greek. (Again, for a slightly, less rich taste you can use normal yogurt) An average sized lemon to zest and squeeze the juice One 8 ounce Container of Thawed Cool Whip Half of an Angel Food Cake (I did store bought) Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Strawberries Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Blueberries

Author: Susan {2 cats & chloe.}

Ingredients

Two Sleeves of Graham Crackers
One stick of Melted Butter
One Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (For a slightly lighter, less rich taste use fat free)
Approximately 8 ounces of Greek Yogurt. Four-ish of Pineapple Greek and Four-ish of Lemon Greek. (Again, for a slightly, less rich taste you can use normal yogurt)
An average sized lemon to zest and squeeze the juice
One 8 ounce Container of Thawed Cool Whip
Half of an Angel Food Cake (I did store bought)
Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Strawberries
Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Blueberries

Instructions

Take the Grahams, double ziplock bag 'em, then smash them to bits! Add the melted butter and mix into the bag.
On your cookie sheet, spread out some wax paper. This makes for a much easier cleanup. Lay the buttery grahams out and press them down hard. Making a make-shift crust. I popped it into the oven, on 350 degrees for about 5 minutes to help bind it. {Not sure if this is necessary or not though since you will be freezing it.}
In a separate mixing bowl you need to mix your yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, zest the lemon until you don’t feel like zesting anymore, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze it’s contents into the bowl, sans the seeds. Then blend in the Cool Whip.
Cut up your strawberries and tear up the Angel Food Cake. You could cut it, but let’s be real… it’s way more fun to tear it up. More than likely it will take you back to your first birthday where they told you to run amok with the cake. DO IT! And do it so the pieces are small squares.
I highly recommend fresh fruit. Unless you are in Hertford, NC. In which case they “ran out” of blueberries. I have never made this with frozen fruit before but in my mind, they are going to be frozen in the long run – this should just save on the freezing process? (Bottom Line: Stick with the fresh if you can.)
On top of your grahamy crust, lay out some blues and straws… berries that is. This ensures that even when the top looks like the American Flag, your happy family and friends will get some of each fruit.
Put a layer of the Angel Food Cake down. Surprisingly this is AWESOME when frozen. Then smooth the layer of your fruity cool whip concoction on top of the cake.
Use your slices strawberries and blueberries to make the top look like the American Flag. OR, I think this would look just as pretty, scatter the strawberries and blueberries around like you did on top of the grahams. Use your creative juices to figure out your frozen treat decor.
Cover it up and pop it in the freezer. I let mine freeze through the night. It’s still a bit gooey because of the contents, but my oh my! You’re going to enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Y’all.

#thisisnotpaleo

Be safe. Have fun. And take a moment to remember those who have given their lives to keep us safe.

PS. Today is the Southern Soiree! So linkup here:

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The Soiree: Paleo Margarita Mocktail

by Susan

Yay! Welcome to another Celebrate Southern Soiree! I’m really beginning to LOVE Thursdays because it’s all about the party! If you’ve been following along, you know that J and I opened up this linkup, asking for other gals (and any guys out there too) to be party hostesses!

I’m super excited to introduce you to Brita this week! She has opened up her blog for the Soiree today!

If you haven’t heard of her or checked out her blog B.Britnell before, let me just say that I was extremely flattered she wanted to join this fun. Brita’s blog is one that I oogle over every day. Her recipes are amazing and her photography is outstanding. So go show her some love on her blog or on instagram! Then link up for today’s Celebrate Southern Soiree - because you will be visible on not just one, but three blogs today!

Now on to the show! Last night I went out with my sister and my BlogFriend-turned-RealFriend, Heather, for our photography class and margaritas. You know, I’ve been trying to cut bad things out of my life (I’m not currently on a Whole30, just trying to live the paleo life to it’s fullest) and honestly, I’ve kinda decided that if I am going to be drinking - it better be something that I really love. And while I used to love a good margarita… after a night of full of margs, wine and cigars with J a couple years ago, margaritas have just never been the same.

So when I was pondering our dinner and how I kinda wanted a margarita but not really… I decided I wanted to create a Margarita Mocktail to get me through.

I pulled some “ingredients” out and decided to play. And now I’m obsessed with this drink. It was a trillion times more refreshing than a real, sugary margarita.

Paleo Margarita Mocktail

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Author: Susan {2 cats & chloe.}

Cuisine: Beverage

Serves: 1 glass

Ingredients

1.5 small limes
½ medium lemon
1 tsp light agave
a glass full of sparkling water
ice

Instructions

Squeeze the juice of 1-2 small limes into the glass, then pull out the pulp and add it to the glass.
Add half a lemon and it's pulp to help balance out the sweet/sour ratio.
Add your light agave.
Use a spoon to smash the pulp and mix the juice with agave.
Add your sparkling water, to taste. If you want it less sweet, add more.
Pop a few ice cubes in there and watch the beverage froth up!
Enjoy!

I was really surprised at how frothy this Paleo Mocktail became. It was a great twist to my normal sparkling water. When I totally forgot I was just sipping on water I decided that this would be perfect for a summer soiree!

While I normally prefer cocktails to mocktails… sometimes a girl just needs a break. Before my Whole30 followers jump on board with this, let me say that this IS NOT Whole30 compliant. Because of the agave. But, if you want to leave out that teaspoon of sweetener, this mocktail does become Whole30 approved! Try adding some mint or other fruit to this beverage to mix it up even more!

And for those of you who want to make it “stronger” and more adult? Add some Agave Tequila to keep it clean and paleo!

Paleo, Whole30 Lemon Lime Mocktail

I cannot wait for my mid-afternoon pick me up later today so that I have an excuse to make another paleo margarita mocktail!

Join the fun and linkup below! And don’t forget to go back to yesterday’s post to WIN LIFE CHANGING SHAMPOO!

Be-te-dub. If you want to open your blog up to get a bit more visibility as a Celebrate Southern Soiree Party Hostess - please fill out this form! It’s a first come, first serve thing! We are looking forward to partying with you in the coming weeks!

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The Soiree: Burger Bar Party + Giveaway

by Susan

I really wanted to do a post this week about a super fun spring party. I also wanted to take pictures of my food in manual mode (since I’m rocking my photography class with Heather!) I also had to go out of town to meet with a client for a few days. I also have a dog that still cannot be left alone without supervision. (Dear God, please heal my border collie. I cannot keep up with her, but this forced-slow pace is killing us both!) All of that being said - today we are going to talk about burgers. Because what really screams “shindig” better than burgers? (Well, other than booze of course!)

The problem with burgers + shindigs? My family. 2/5 of us eat beef. 1/5 of us will not eat ANY meat. And the remaining 1/5 will only eat meat that comes from animals that walk on two feet or less. Weird right? The solution? A burger bar! Give everyone options! Serve up beef patties, chicken patties and as much as it breaks my heart and all my soy-hating rules, Boca Burgers. Then chase your beef options with tons of toppings! I used this burger bar idea a few years ago as an impromptu birthday party and it was a hit!

Now, to combine all things I love into this one post (party ideas, photography, whole30 food and grilled pineapples) I give you these burger inspiration images for the Soiree Linkup this week! Don’t they just make you drool?!

Junk-Free Burgers!

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

If you are looking for an easy, go-to burger that is Whole30 compliant and still have flavor - you will love this recipe!

Author: Susan {2 cats & chloe.}

Recipe type: Whole30, Paleo, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Junk Free

Cuisine: American

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 pound of grass-fed ground beef
½ TBSP of minced garlic
1 TBSP of coconut aminos
½ TBSP of onion powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lettuce for the wrap
Toppings that you love

Instructions

In a bowl, mix your beef, garlic, coconut aminos, onion powder, salt and pepper. Use your hands and be sure the seasoning is blended well.
Form patties with the meat. One pound should make 3 or 4 patties.
Cook on the grill for 10-ish minutes or until burgers have reached desired level of doneness.
Use the lettuce as a wrap and add any and all toppings that you love. The more the merrier!

2 cats & chloe: Paleo Burger Bar for a Party

Lifehack: When I was complaining once about how tough it is to know how much seasoning is too much seasoning for burgers (since the meat is raw until it comes off the grill!) one of my friends told me that she takes a small spoonful of seasoned burger meat and pops it in the microwave for a minute or two, obviously until its cooked, to sample it! If you think it needs more seasoning or flavor - go for it! (This also works for meatloaf!)

Some of my favorite burger bar toppings include, but are definitely not limited to: fresh grilled pineapple, sugar free bacon, sautéed onions, pickles, guac, tomato, jalapeno peppers, lettuce and mushrooms!

If you want to mix it up a bit, while staying gluten free - consider using a roasted portobello mushroom cap as a “bun!” This is beyond easy and the flavor is excellent! You simply scrape the gills out of the mushroom (they totally freak me out anyway!), cover both sides with your fat or oil of choice (I use coconut oil, olive oil or bacon grease) then season with your favorite herbs. Last week I used Jane’s Krazy Seasoning and it was awesome! Roast the mushroom caps for 10 minutes at 400*F on one side. Flip them over for another 10, and then you’re done! Easy peasy right??

We paired our burger bar with (Whole30 Compliant) Sweet Potato Fries and grilled zucchini with this steak seasoning on it! Man, it’s so, so, sooooo good y’all!

So tell me, what are your favorite burger toppings? Do you use anything special to replace a traditional bun?

Before you scoot out of here today, don’t forget about the Celebrate Southern Soiree Linkup! It’s a linky party about the party! Share a recipe, DIY, home decor or any entertainment post with us below! If you are interested in being a party hostess and having the linkup on your blog one week, please fill out this form! It’s a first come, first serve thing! So hop to it!

PS! As a “party favor” this week… don’t forget to enter this Kate Spade giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The Soiree: Vintage Shasta Party?

by Susan

So before I begin this post, let me just tell you that I am a girl who loves her birthday. I like to start planning my birthday month (June) shortly after Christmas wraps. Crazy? Yeah - probably. Fun? Totes.

Last year the hubby and my mom teamed up to throw me a surprise 30th birthday party. On a boat. With a bunch of my friends. And pirate balloons. Did you miss that fun post? You can see it here. This year though, turning 31, it really isn’t really that big of a deal. I mean, after 30… the next milestone is 40. So it’s all downhill from here right?

But it’s still a birthday so it’s still party-worthy. So here’s what I’m thinking… a vintage camper birthday party!!! (I’m normally not a fan of multiple exclamation marks but this idea is so great excessive punctuation is absolutely necessary!) As an event planner, I’ve come to the decision that it’s totally okay for me to throw myself a party, as long as it is not a big milestone (i.e. 30th birthday, bridal shower, graduation party…) because I’m throwing it with the intent of my friends and family gathering to have a great time. Anyway, I figure I may as well use my new awesome Shasta Reissued 1961 as a prop right??

2 cats & chloe: tin can camper the 2015 shasta reissue

I’m just in the beginning phases of brainstorming said 31st-vintage-camper-birthday-party… but here’s what I’m working with:

Want this look? You can have it: Coral Summer Placemats from Target // Summer Floral Plates from Target // Pitcher with Orange-ish Tumblers from Target

Don’t you just love this fun vintage style fan that I found? It’s so fun and it does a great job at being a fan and circulating air!

I really haven’t had much time to even decorate her yet… so it is a bit crazy that I’m already planning her first party! In addition to packing up our house and working a few weddings in June, apparently I need to drive myself crazy, I am going to start planning party with my new 2015 Shasta Reissued 1961 Camper. What do you think… Maybe a cute birthday pennant banner? Some coral and seafoam striped straws with fun, summery beverages? A campfire? Good music? S’mores? Oh em gee I’m so excited!

Now it’s your turn to join the Soiree fun! It’s a new linky about the party! Link up below with a recipe, home decor, DIY or party post! You can use an old post or a new post! Totally up to you! We are also looking for future party hostesses! If you want to get a bit more blog exposure and be party of this party - let us know by filling out this form!

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Tuna Salad Cucumber Bites // Whole30 + Paleo

Memorial Weekend Treat: Frozen Berry Flattened Trifle

The Soiree: Paleo Margarita Mocktail

The Soiree: Burger Bar Party + Giveaway

The Soiree: Vintage Shasta Party?

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