Quick weeknight meals

Most newly engaged or married couples have very busy schedules. Between work, family, social obligations and spending time with each other, you don't always have time to make a complicated meal on a week night. It doesn't mean it can't be easy and delicious!

Eating too later = cranky AND a migraine for Mrs. Onion. I try to avoid this at all costs. I thought I'd share a few of my quick and easy go-to recipes for weeknight meals.

1) Linguine Fini with Pesto, Olives and Feta CheeseIngredients:
Pesto (costco sells a very yummy pesto)
Feta cheese
Calamata olives.

Preparation:
Boil water and cook pasta. Pit olives and cut up feta, put aside. Drain pasta and toss with pesto and feta. This is so easy and yummy especially when you're in the mood for salt.

2) Vegetable baked penne (or ziti).

Ingredients:
1 lb box penne
2 zucchinis
1 medium onion
1 cup red sauce (approximately)
1 cup ricotta (approximately)
½ ball of fresh mozzarella
Pinch of salt
Dash of red pepper flake (to taste)
Dash of Oregano

Boil water and cook pasta. While penne is cooking chop zucchini and onions. Sauté onions first, then add zucchini. Under cook the zucchini a bit as it will continue to cook while baking in the oven. Then mix in a medium bowl red sauce, ricotta, salt, red pepper flakes and some oregano. Put aside. Then, cut up fresh mozzarella in 1-inch chunks.

Once the pasta is cooked (again slightly under cook as it will continue to cook in the oven), place in baking dish. Pour red sauce/ricotta mixture over the pasta and mix it up. Then pour veggies in and mix again. Finally place chunks of cut up mozzarella in dish and mix one last time so everything is evenly distributed. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 and enjoy!!

3) Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro (a new find from the September issue of Bon Appetit magazine).
4 to 6 servings
prep: 25 MINUTES TOTAL: 40 MINUTES

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups chopped white onions
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup quinoa,* rinsed, drained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup water
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
Crumbled feta cheese

Preparation:
Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and red pepper; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients. Add water; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until quinoa is almost tender, about 14 minutes. Add beans and 1/4 cup cilantro; cook uncovered until heated through and liquid is fully absorbed, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with ¼ cup cilantro and cheese, if desired.

What are some of your favorite quick recipes?! Please share them with the hive :)

Your first home

Buying your first home as husband and wife is a huge accomplishment and no easy task. Mr. Onion and I have started seriously looking for an apartment in NYC. We did the math and figured out what we would be spending on rent over the next 4-5 years (assuming we stayed where we are and our rent was never increased -- ha) and realized it would be more than enough for a down payment! We want to start building equity, make a good investment and it would be so nice to have a place to call our own.


An example of my dream apartment -- anyone have 8-10 million dollars to loan us? Or better yet, a generous wedding gift?! Haha.

Because of our budget we are limited in location and we know we want to remain in Manhattan proper (not move to NJ, Queens or far out in Brooklyn). So our search has been limited to upper Manhattan. The most helpful website we've found while hunting for a place in the city has been www.streeteasy.com.

Streeteasy is pretty comprehensive, pulls from all different real estate agencies listings and gives some really helpful information like how long the property has been on the market, the asking price history etc. I feel like we've learned so much in just the past month and can't wait to take that step. We've been pre-approved for a mortgage and are working with an real estate agent we trust so when we find the best place for us we're ready to make an offer.

But before you can get to that big step you have to address your financial situation. I'd highly recommend you have this conversation while you're still engaged long before the wedding. Find out what kind of debt you each have -- credit cards, college loans, car payments etc. Then talk about savings -- how much do you each have saved, do you have a retirement account, what is your outlook on long term saving? Everyone has a different approach to personal finances and knowing where you each stand BEFORE the wedding will make big financial decisions easier to make down the road. The last thing you want is to be turned down for a mortgage because one of you had terrible credit and were too scared to tell the other.

Any advice from those of you who've already bought your first place together? I'm interested to hear from NYC apartment owners as well as just general feedback from all over the country.