Normally, I stick to writing about burgers. And dating. But this recipe was so darn good I had to share! The best part is that it is super healthy and can be tweaked to make it vegan friendly, too. Use olive oil instead of butter and omit the cheese and viola, you have a vegan filling that is just as yummy!

Coco’s Spinach and Quinoa Enchiladas

• 1 cup quinoa, prepared as directed on the box (I used red quinoa)
• 2 boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 small onions, roughly chopped
• 1 container baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper sliced into strips
• 26 oz vegetable stock  (feel free to substitute with chicken stock)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup Monterrey jack cheese
• 1 cup pepper jack cheese
• olive oil for sauteing
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash of red pepper
• 10 tortillas (I used whole grain)
• 1 can green chili enchilada sauce

Slice peppers into strips and drizzle with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees until soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Filling:

Saute onions in olive oil (and a touch of butter) until soft in a large pot. Add mushrooms, saute until brown about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach and cooked quinoa. Season with red pepper for a little kick. Continue to cook over low heat for another 10 minutes. Set aside.

Cheese sauce:

In a small sauce pan, make a roux with the butter and flour. Melt butter over low heat, add the flour slowly, and whisk to blend. Slowly add the vegetable stock, whisking constantly until thick. Season with salt and pepper. Add cheeses and stir until smooth. Add the cheese sauce to the spinach mixture.Let the filling thicken for a few minutes.

Scoop about 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture into each tortilla, top with a few of the roasted peppers and roll until tight. Place the enchiladas in a large baking dish, that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. You may need 2 dishes depending on the size of your enchiladas. Top with the can of green chili enchilada sauce and sprinkle with extra cheese.

Bake at 350, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the edges are brown. Serve with sour cream, extra cheese and something spicy if you like it that way! If I can get my hands on my friend’s adobo chili sauce recipe, I will add that. It was a fabulous edition to the recipe!

***Thank you for taking the time to share the recipe and for making mine vegan! Here’s the chipotle sauce recipe (from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook):

1 large onion, cut into small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the chipotles

In a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is very soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the chipotles and adobo sauce, cook for 30 seconds, and remove from the heat. Allow to cool a few minutes, empty the sauce into a food processor bowl, and briefly pulse until a chunky sauce forms.

Randomly, around a fire pit with friends at the birthday celebration for my niece, we decided to test out the Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden in East Nashville. Many of our best decisions are made around a fire pit.

First of all, The Pharmacy is just a great venue. The space is open, lovely, kid-friendly (until 9 pm) and has a fun vibe. We waited about 30 minutes and the girls ran around outside while the adults slobbered on the menu.

Our group included 2 vegetarians, 2 kids and 2 meat eaters. Once we were seated, we told the girls they could eat whatever they wanted and they both ordered a fun drink from the old fashioned soda fountain and basic Pharmacy Cheeseburgers, along with tots. We were told to order tots, not fries. So we did.

The 2 vegetarians ordered a black bean burger and a falafel burger and shared. They were both very pleased, especially by the side order of wasabi mayo that was spread on everything in sight. I grabbed a nibble of the falafel burger and was quite impressed by the texture and the flavor.

The 2 meat eaters ordered the Stroganoff burger and the Mission City Burger and shared. The silly question of possibly ordering one of them with turkey was brought up, but I quickly squashed that idea. Our first trip to the Pharmacy would be all about the beef. And the tots. And the ketchup. And the beer gravy. Yep. I said beer gravy.

But I digress… The burgers were freaking amazing. All of them. Each of them fabulous in their own right. The soft buns are made especially for them by Provence Breads. The patties were homemade, just like your daddy would have created them for a grill in the back yard. They were sloppy, big, juicy and filled with flavor. Seriously, these folks know what a cheeseburger is supposed to taste like. The burgers were so good that I forgot to take a picture. OK, maybe I ate it too quickly and realized that with just one bite left and that made me feel like a piggy so I didn’t take a picture.

The toppings and dipping sauces are also amazing. Next time I go, I will go at an appropriate beer drinking hour (is there such a thing?) and get a cheeseburger drenched in the beer gravy to enjoy with my beer (s). That may have been the best part of the whole meal…. that, along with watching Knight eat her burger faster than I did and steal her kid’s tots to dip in the beer gravy.

Since we didn’t get any pictures of the food, this picture of 5 adorable girls before the burgers arrived will have to suffice. Make this place a priority if you want a killer burger in Nashville. And save room for a milkshake

I started the year by finalizing my divorce.  On 1/11/11, I walked into the courthouse in Franklin with my lawyer, answered 3 simple questions, and walked out a divorcee.  The entire process took over 2 years, so I was more than ready to bring that part of my life to a close. I didn’t cry. I felt nothing, really. To be honest, I was just really excited to legally change my name back to Rogers and get a new drivers license picture. Which is fabulous, by the way…

I was the girl who said I would never get married again, but in March of 2011, on my 33rd birthday, I got engaged.

I know, right? I met a guy in October of 2010 and moved way too quickly into a whirlwind relationship that lead to an engagement in March and a break-up in April.  Looking back, I realized I was still searching for someone to fill a loneliness inside me. I wasn’t satisfied with myself professionally, nor had I completely healed from a failed marriage. I spent a couple of weeks crying and being sad, which ironically I didn’t do with my marriage. A broken engagement with a man who never deserved me or knew me taught me to feel again. It felt so damn good to cry.

I got a sister in February! Alicon couldn’t be a better match for Matthew and the entire Rogers family. She is the only person who makes Clair squeal with delight every time she sees her and I am beyond thankful for her positive attitude and genuine delight with life. Honestly, I am glad I didn’t have a sister growing up to steal all of the attention from me, but I am more than happy to share the spotlight with sweet Ali

Spring brought me a new best friend. I have a handful of precious friends spread across the US, and the older I get the more I realize you really can’t have a lot of them. You can have lots of friends, and I am blessed to have many, but the friends who know your soul and your heart are few and far between.  Knight’s divorce was final in March and we found each other at exactly the right time. I am so thankful for her wisdom, honesty and her daughter. Sweet Lily is a breath of fresh air for both me and my Clair. The 4 of us are a force to be reckoned with.

Twitter got me a new job in May. Seriously. I knew I was ready to move back into the corporate world and mentioned that I was looking for a career change to a few friends. One of them mentioned it to an attorney friend of his, Stephen, who I knew from Twitter, and 2 weeks later I was the Marketing Coordinator for Bone McAllester Norton. In an economy where people had been jobless for over a year, my connections through social media helped me land my dream job. Almost 8 months later, I couldn’t be happier and more thankful for this opportunity.

Don’t ask me what I did this summer. Clair was gone. Knight and I went out. A lot. I attended my first grown-up camp for a weekend with another bestie, Emmely, and met tons of fabulous people. We played games that all started by chugging a beer (totally up my alley!) and slept in cabins with mattresses that squeaked every time you moved. It was AWESOME! Of course, I totally should have been named the Best New Camper, but I am over that. Really. I am.

Fall started with a party. An “Eff the Summer” party that included a shrimp boil, a homemade fire pit and my dad’s recipe for shrimp.  We drank an entire bowl of “Summer Beer” and transitioned into “Fall Punch”. Pretty sure a group of us were art directed for pictures that included apples, knives and awkward. Totally normal for me.

So in November, I met a guy. Wait. I met a man. Online. Not even on the dating site that you pay for. We met on this horribly cheesy free dating site and I ignored him. Not because he wasn’t attractive or interesting, but because he was from Alabama. I didn’t want to date a guy who lived 3 hours away. So yes, I ignored him. But Wes was pretty adorable with his messaging and we met for dinner in early November. Turns out 3 hours really isn’t that far when you make an effort and have a mature relationship. He is a wonderful daddy with 2 girls and an honest, kind, giving man. Thank goodness he roots for The University of Alabama or my mother would have already written him off.

The best part of 2011 was on November 30th. I decided to stop being an immature brat and let go of the anger I was harboring towards my ex-husband and his girlfriend. I just let it go. I wrote them an email and told them I was happy for them and that they are a great couple. And I meant it. I genuinely mean it. They are a team and they love Clair and that is all that matters. I had lunch with them last week and it wasn’t bad. Clair had sparkles in her eyes when she realized I was going to stay for lunch. She is happy. Mommy is happy. Daddy is happy. That is what matters.

2011 has been life changing. Every event has made me stronger. Each heartache has taught me a lesson. Friends keep me going and my daughter makes every day more meaningful. I love my life. I loved this year, but this next year will be epic. You can write that on a rock.

I should have listened to him. He hasn’t steered me wrong so far. It took me a while to work this one in, but I have found my new favorite burger in Nashville thanks to Vivek Surti.

I met my foodie friend Beth for lunch at Fido last week and didn’t even look at the menu. I was getting the burger that I had been hearing so much about. And oh heavens, it was scrumptious. Delicious, juicy, flavorful, amazing, delightful and mouth watering. I took this  picture on my phone, but Vivek already wrote an beautiful blog post on the burger, and his pictures and eloquent descriptions do this burger justice. Enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised by an email on Saturday morning from the senior partner at the law firm where I work. All he said was “great picture on the front of the Tennessean and your Klout score of 58!”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out my picture was right next to the likes of Blake Shelton, Chris Johnson, Dave Ramsey and my friend Kate O’Neill as being influential in Nashville. We were measured by our Klout score, which is a service that calculates a persons online influence. My buddy Dave Delaney got great recognition, as well as another friend Steve Chandler. I am connected to these people  because of social media so it makes sense that we are all friends. I am genuinely honored to be recognized as being influential in the social media world, but I had to chuckle at bit when I really thought about how this influence is measured.

I probably shouldn’t admit that I don’t really pay attention to Klout. I have never asked for a recommendation and don’t make a habit of checking my profile like I do my Twitter and Facebook. I don’t make a special effort to increase my Klout score. I just do what I do. I tweet a lot and push good information out so others can use it. I read people’s updates and comment on them. I blog and read other blogs. I connect people online and in real life.

To me, social media is an incredible tool to meet people and to help them. I am not saying I go all Mother Teresa and try to save the world one tweet at a time, but I genuinely try to connect people with resources or even a good coffee shop in town. A quick congratulations to a twitter friend or a “Like” on a great Facebook post doesn’t take long. This world is insanely small and social media makes it even smaller. The way I see it, I may as well bring as many good people together as possible. It makes our small world a happier world.

If you want to learn more about Klout, check out Dave Delaney’s post. He already did all the work explaining stuff and linking to other really smart people. And thanks for the picture, too! So glad they found one from 2 years and 10 pounds ago….

Watch out Franklin, there is a new burger joint in town!

Thanks to my mother and to my chef friend, Chuck, I was introduced to Chapman’s Pie Wagon. They were raving about their burgers on The Facebook so naturally, I showed up the next day.

The most adorable pie wagon is parked right outside of Landmark Booksellers, which is another one of my favorite spots in downtown Franklin. The Williamson Herald did a great article on the owners, Dan and Gwen Perkins last month. They are the sweetest couple and are obviously very passionate about great food and wonderful customer service.  I didn’t realize that the original Chapman’s Pie Wagon was around when my grandparents were a young couple in Franklin!

I told the owners that I loved cheeseburgers. Then my mom mentioned casually that I write a food blog all about burgers and they got so excited! Their burgers are made fresh, kept simple with salt and pepper, grilled on the spot and are superb! The buns are soft, well-buttered and compliment the tremendous flavor perfectly. I topped my gigantic burger with mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickle and couldn’t imagine anything else that could make it any better.

I wish I could say I couldn’t finish mine, but I ate it all, and the last 3 bites of my mom’s burger.  This is my new favorite burger in Franklin, and for $6 you can’t beat a burger, chips and homemade sage blackberry iced tea!

Next time you are in town, go over to the parking lot next to Landmark Booksellers, order a burger from Dan and Gwen and take a few minutes to go into a small town bookstore and think about what it must have been like in 1922 when Jim and Effie started the original Chapman’s Pie Wagon in good old Franklin, Tennessee.

I normally don’t watch the news, but since Clair is gone for the holiday and I don’t have to listen to Bob the Builder in the morning, I have been flipping on an early show while I get ready in the mornings. Today was a lot of the same news about Penn State, the Republican debates and the lucky Marine who got to take Justin Timberlake to the annual Marine Corps Ball.  Damn, she really was lucky….

As I started humming Sexy Back, a sound bite caught my attention about how Miley Cyrus was fighting back via Twitter towards some people who are calling her fat. I normally don’t care about celebrities and their personal lives, but this one really irked me. Miley gains a few pounds and the media, along with some plain mean people, are calling her fat and making YouTube videos about her.

It bothers me because I have a 4 year old daughter who called someone fat in her gymnastics class last month. And it made me so sad to know that she is already aware of what society considers fat, and that she thought it was okay to call someone that. That was probably one of the more upsetting moments for me as a mom, because I don’t think she learned that from me. I admit, she has said “dammit” after she heard me use it in the grocery store and most likely gets her sass from me as well. But I don’t call people fat.

As mothers, it is imperative that we set a good example for our daughters. Girls can be so hard on each other, especially in the early teen years. It isn’t okay for us to obsess over our weight, and compare ourselves to the airbrushed models on TV and in the magazines. It is up to us to talk to our girls about healthy eating, exercise and what hormones can do to a little girl’s body. As mothers, we must teach our daughters that being a mean girl is not acceptable. In fact, I used Taylor Swift’s Mean Girls as an example to explain how Clair made that little girl feel. And she got it.

Rather than worry about a teenage star’s extra pounds, why don’t we worry about the girls who don’t have role models, can barely afford a winter coat, are 16 and pregnant or are throwing up their lunches in the school bathrooms. Seriously people, if we don’t stop the obsession with image and superficial worries and focus on the real issues at hand, our next generation of women could grow up be a bunch of skinny mean girls who lack self confidence and thrive on other peoples hardships. It is our duty to change that. Starting with us.

One of the attorneys at my law firm took the Veterans out for lunch today. It really was a kind gesture, and the 5 of us greatly appreciated it.

And on the way there, we were talking about how tough it can be when our soldiers and sailors come home after serving their country. Days like today make me proud to have served my country and thankful that I have a job. But after the parades are over and the old men go back to the VFW, our country is still facing a major employment issue for our Vets.

As wonderful as the news is that we will be bringing many of our troops home this summer, when they arrive safely on American soil, many of them will leave the military and start looking for a job. I don’t think there will be enough jobs to go around. What will that do for our unemployment rate? What can we do to take a proactive role before these troops come home?

No matter what your political viewpoint is, our President and his wife are making great strides in support of our Veterans. Take a moment to read this post on the White House blog about the initiatives being taken to get Veterans back to work.

And yes, take a moment to thank a Veteran today. Buy them a drink or post a cool video on their Facebook page. But be thinking about the hundreds of thousands of Veterans that need a job, health care and a place to live at this very moment and the many that will join them in the months to come.

Or am I? And why is being high maintenance necessarily a bad thing?

I remember when my car was totaled a year ago and I had this idea that I wanted a Volvo. The first thing people said is that they were great cars, but they could be high maintenance. The parts were expensive and not everyone could fix them. So the practical, single mom and single income side of me didn’t pursue the Volvo any further than one fun little test drive.

In the dating world, being called high maintenance is considered unflattering. For fun, I Googled ‘high maintenance’ and found this great post. Personally, when I think of a woman who is high maintenance, images of fake blonds who take 2 hours to get ready, fuss constantly over their outfits, have their nails done weekly, get Botox and refuse to eat places that don’t carry organic greens come to mind. I will eat anything. You know that.

However, I am not afraid to admit that I am high maintenance when it comes to my standards and my expectations of men. I don’t expect lavish meals and flowers delivered weekly, but rather attention and kind words from a man who wants me to spend my precious time with him. A sweet text or phone call, an unexpected and unprompted  compliment or a surprise visit when an extra 15 minutes can be found. Simply listening and asking interesting questions, rather than talking about yourself, goes much further than spending money on a trinket that will be lost or a flower that will die.

If knowing who I am and what I want puts me in the high maintenance category, then consider me a Volvo. And it takes a lot more than a copy of your license and insurance to get a test drive.

And when I say bad, I mean good. Bad ass, actually.

There is this place called The Arcade not far from my office on 4th Street. Not gonna lie, it looks a little seedy. But it is filled with lots of yummy places to eat and I, for one, try not to judge a book by its cover. Unless you are an ugly book. Then, well, consider yourself judged.

A new spot popped up in The Arcade a couple of months ago called Back Alley Diner. Or B.A.D. This place looks a bit shady from the outside and is kind of hard to find, but it is surprisingly nice on the inside. Like, borderline classy even.

I had a lunch date with someone who appreciates food as much as me and told him we were doing a burger debate. So we ordered the burger. I ordered first, and he copied me, but I ordered wisely so he got lucky. We both got the classic burger with pepper jack. And it was a seriously great cheeseburger.

The burger was flavorful, juicy, cooked perfectly and the toasted bun added just enough texture without overpowering the meat. Simple lettuce and tomato and a touch of mayo topped off this mouth watering burger. I removed the red onion, not necessarily because I don’t like them, but because it was a date. Otherwise, I totally would have added them. And yes, he removed the onions too.

I know fries should have their own blog, and I may venture into that, so I will keep this brief. The Back Alley Diner fries are super yummy. Scrumptious. This place should be on your list of shady places in The Arcade that you don’t think you will like that you should try. You will thank me. And bring a date.