Newlywed

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

Newlywed Chicken: 3 Totally Different Meals Fast

You’ve heard of engagement chicken, but what about newlywed chicken? Did you envision preparing elaborate and elegant meals when you got married? Thought you’d give Martha a run for her money? Me too.

In reality, it can be very stressful to figure out what you and your spouse will eat every night all week/all month/all year. Here’s an idea that can jump-start your planning this week or rescue you when you feel uninspired or overwhelmed. A chicken is my solution. Yes, a whole roaster chicken cooked on Sunday so you have time to prepare it.

Meal 1: Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Roast* your chicken in the oven for the amount of time specified on the label. I suggest liberally shaking kosher salt on the inside and outside first. You can also mix crushed garlic and herbs ,such as sage and thyme, with a tablespoon of butter and slide this under the upper skin of the chicken (it’s sort of like giving it implants). This ensure a moist well-flavored chicken. While it roasts you can whip up mashed potatoes and any vegetable you have on hand. Have you heard the expression “winner winner chicken dinner”? That is how your spouse is going to feel about this classic home cooked meal!

*If you’re too busy to roast a chicken, you can put it in your crockpot for 4 hours. Just add 1 cup of chicken broth so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Meal 2: Layered Chicken Enchilada Bake

Shred ½ of the remaining chicken and make this quick layered chicken three cheese enchilada recipe. It takes 10 minutes to assemble and 30 minutes to bake. Blend some margaritas while it’s cooking and you’ll have an instant fiesta dinner!

Meal 3: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Shred the remaining newlywed chicken and use it to make Asian chicken noodle soup. If your spouse is like mine, soup doesn’t count as dinner, so you may want to make this for both of you for lunch. Here’s the recipe adapted from The Londoner Blog:
Ingredients:
Splash of sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, chopped
2 handfuls of shredded chicken
2.5 cups chicken stock
1 cup boiling water
Piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, thickly sliced
3/4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red chili, chopped
1 can of sweet corn
1 big handful of thin noodles (I use somen noodles..but any will work)

Directions:
Put a saucepan onto medium heat and add a few splashes of sesame oil, add your garlic until it starts to sizzle. Stir it around a bit & add your spring onions. Fry until they start to soften.
Toss in the chicken and stir to make sure it gets nicely coated in the oil & garlic. Pour in your stock & boiling water. Add your ginger slices, fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander & chili. Just before it comes to the boil add your sweet corn & noodles. Boil 2 more minutes and serve immediately.

So, from one newlywed chicken on Sunday you ended up with 3 completely diffent meals for the two of you. Not a bad way to begin the week! It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out how to utilize one ingredient a few different ways to make quick and interesting dinners for 2. I also thew out a lot of leftovers and felt badly about it.

I hope you and your spouse enjoy these dishes and that he washes them!

Kitchen Chaos: Newlywed in the Kitchen

Newlywed kitchen chaos happens. Everyone needs to and typically loves to eat. Getting married and cooking together should be no big deal right?

There are all sorts of hang ups and stigmas that can appear once you’re married and sharing a kitchen. There are the sexist concepts from long ago, such as a woman’s place is in the kitchen or barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen depending on who you’re speaking with. There is also what you consider normal kitchen roles based on both of your childhood observations of parents. Add busy work schedules into the mix and you could be headed into kitchen chaos.

My newlywed kitchen chaos was 100% my own creation. My husband walked in the door on a Friday night to find me face down, crying on the carpet. After pulling a 60 hour work week I was frustrated that the roasted chicken wasn’t going to be ready the moment he came home from work. He calmly took me out for Chinese and got to the root of the problem: I was trying to be my mom. She is an amazing cook and always had a gourmet dinner on the table at 5:15pm. The fact I overlooked was that she was a stay at home mom and had more time to prepare family meals.

Newlyweds, learn from my mistake. Discuss which of you can actually cook (take out on plates does not count) and decide what the other spouse can do to help. If you both cook, it may be easiest to alternate nights instead of collaborating. My mother’s marinara recipe versus your Nonna’s can be one ugly argument.

Whatever kitchen formula you come up with, just make sure that it is fair to both partners and results in a meal that allows you to enjoy each other’s company and reconnect after your day.

Gorgeous Underwater Wedding Photos in Turks & Caicos

We adore underwater wedding photos! I know this is a newlywed blog…but I recently came across the most amazing wedding photo shoot in Turks and Caicos and had to share it! Typically, I really don’t get into trash the dress montages. A wedding gown represents a dream come true and feeling like a princess. Destroying it seems wasteful and a bit crass in my opinion (especially since you could donate your dress to a good cause). All that being said, this trash the dress shoot is classy and beautiful. It is almost like this couple is part of an ocean fairy tale.

Check out the entire photo gallery by Brilliant Photography (one of the top 5 photography studios in the Caribbean). I love how her dress slowly dips into the ocean in the fist photo and in the final shots both the bride and groom are underwater. Props to that newlywed for holding her breath for breathtaking photos! She made the most of her destination wedding and truly caught the beauty of the turquoise water in Turks & Caicos!

Did you have a destination wedding that resulting in amazing photos? We’d love to see them in a comment!

Photo Credit: Brilliant Photography

Baby It’s Cold Outside: 4 Things To Do With Your Newlywed Spouse

Looking for things to do with your newlywed spouse? As arctic temperatures sweep the U.S., I think we can all utter a collective “BRRRRRRRR!” No need to let the cold spoil your newlywed time. If you’re stuck inside on evenings and weekends, use that time to your advantage.

Organize – The beginning of Spring is the last time I feel like cleaning. I want to be outside soaking up the sunshine! Use your freezing winter weekends to organize your closets, kitchen cabinets or any other parts of your house that are causing chaos and possibly a few squabbles. This way when Spring does arrive you’ll have your house in order and your weekend calendar free for fun things!

Play Games – Too cold to possibly go out for a date (seriously, no one wants to put on a dress and then multiple scarves, a parka, hat and boots…it does not feel sexy)? Break out some board games with your spouse. You can play by the conventional rules or mix things up with drinking versions of twister and scrabble or play naughty Jenga. Laughing together will make you both feel warmer and closer to each other at the end of the night.

Dream – I love to dream about what my husband and I will do when the weather is warm. Take picnics, visit the national zoo, go boating, plan a beach weekend with friends…the list is endless. If you can get your husband to help you “dream up” some warm weather activities with you, the happy result is a list of fun to-dos that will actually get done this year. Tape your list to the fridge to remind you that Spring is coming and to help you make time for your planned activities on the calendar.

Work Out – Nothing warms you up like a serious work out! Browse Amazon for a new DVD (I’m loving Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown), and when it arrives prepare to break a sweat. Come spring break time and swimsuit season, you’ll be really glad that you did your Winter workouts instead of sitting on the couch with cocoa.

How are you handling the cold as a newlywed couple? We’d love to hear your suggestions for things to do with your newlywed spouse this winter.

Newlywed Decor

I came across this pillow today and couldn’t help but pin it to my Newlywed Pinterest Board. As a newlywed, you usually have a new space (be it apartment, townhome or house) to decorate and sprinkling in a few romantic things helps keep the newlywed aura going. You’re in love and newly married…feel free to buy a few things that advertise that fact and make you smile when you see them.

Please note that I said a few things. A house that looks like a shrine to your wedding day is not a look many people (including your single friends) can appreciate. Choose a few of your best wedding photos to display in frames or as canvas art, add a pillow or another item that reminds you of how in love you are and voila…newlywed chic!

What are your favorite newlywed pieces of decor?