Getting Crafty

The past week, I've been in a DIY mood.  I know, so ambitious of me right?  I've been wanting to get a new wreath or hanging decoration for our front door because we still have our holiday wreath up from January.  Yesterday I was talking to my neighbor Gretchen and she told me about a wreath she made using scrap fabrics.  Unfortunately i haven't sewed enough to have scrap fabrics, but fortunately i was so excited I just had to go out and make it happen!

First, I went to google to find out where I could get scrap fabric.  DI popped up!  I zoomed over to DI and found a large piece of lite green fabric for $1.  Can't beat that! At least now I had one color decision.  Because I can be impatient, I decided I didn't want to go from store to store looking for scrap fabric so I went over to Joanns. 
I got 4 18X21 pieces (they come prepackaged this way) of purple and grey fabric.  And they just so happened to be on sale for $1 a piece!

Now making the wreath!
First step - get a hanger and bend it into a circular shape. Here are my results:

It was fairly easy, but then again I had Evan help me with his strong muscular hands! ;)
Then I took all this:

And turned it into this:

I decided on 7" by 1 1/4 "....roughly of course.  Most people do these with scraps so I wasn't too OCD about them being all matchy matchy. 

And then the fun part! Tying them onto the wire.  I think a lot of people would be fine going about it in a very random fashion, but I like things to be more even.  So I started with all grey and then I filled in with purple and added a few splashes of green. 
Let me tell you, I was very nervous throughout this process.  After I had tied for awhile, I thought "this just ain't happenin' " I decided that I was too ambitious and that this was not working out.  It just didn't look right.  But I had gotten that far, so I kept pressing forward. 
Here are my results:

I added the purple bow, but I'm still trying to decide if it works with the look. 
Overall, I'm pleased!
All at the cost of $5!

The key for this wreath is to have a lot of ties.  It really started coming together when I got so many on there that I had to smoosh them nice and tight. 

I guess I'll venture onward :)

Chicken Cacciatore made light

I've decided this picture definitely doesn't do the meal justice.  So, as can be guessed - this meal was fabulous! Why am i having such great luck when it comes to exploring cooking? I am very excited because although the recipe intimidated me, this recipe was ridiculously easy to make.  It took at the most 45 minutes to make, 25 of that was just cook time!

Here is the original recipe. (From Annie, and I think from Weight Watchers)

 Ingredients

6 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, (about 1½ lbs)

⅛  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

8-10 ounce package mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion. chopped, about 2 cups

1 large red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin

½ cup white wine

1 (24 oz) jar Classico Tomato and Basil Tomato Sauce or your favorite

½ teaspoon Italian seasonings

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Sprinkle chicken thighs with a little salt and pepper.  In a large nonstick pan, add the chicken and cook about 5 minutes or until brown, turning once.  Remove chicken from pan to a plate.  While the chicken is browning, place the mushrooms, onions and both peppers in a large microwave-safe bowl.  Cook in microwave for about 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are softened.

2. In the same large pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add garlic, softened mushrooms, onions and peppers.   Saute on high heat until lightly browned and soft, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Stir in wine and cook for about 1-2 minutes until wine is almost evaporated.

4. Return chicken to pan and add the tomato sauce, Italian seasonings and fresh ground pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

And how I made it:

You should know...This makes a lot of food, or i should say a lot for two people.  I think it could feed 4-6 people!

First of all, I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. I'm sure its good either way, but I just so happen to usually have chicken breasts in my freezer.  So, I used 2 1/2 boneless chicken breasts.  I cut the two whole chicken breasts in half and so to start off, I had 5 pieces of chicken.  As the recipe says, I sprinkled them with salt and pepper and then cooked the chicken until it was browning.  I did this on medium heat, and I would say it took about 5 or so minutes.  I was nervous during this part because the whole chicken wasn't getting cooked, just the outside.  However, I ventured on and realized that the entire chicken gets cooked by the end of the meal.  

While the chicken was browning, I cut up my bell peppers and onion and placed them in a Tupperware with the mushrooms ( i bought the mushrooms sliced).  I would recommend doing the chopping before starting the chicken because it got slightly hectic!  Anyway, as the recipe says i put them in the microwave for 2 minutes.  When the chicken was done, i took it out of the pan and poured in the veggies.  BTW, I used 1 TBSP garlic powder instead of garlic cloves.  I sauteed the veggies until they were brown and sizzling.  I added the cooking wine and continued cooking for a couple minutes.This is what it looked like:

 

Then I added the chicken back into the pan and sliced each piece in half, I did this to ensure that it got fully cooked! So now I had 10 pieces of chicken (if you're counting!). I added the tomato sauce, Italian seasonings and pepper.  It was boiling after about 20 seconds so then I reduced the heat to low and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  

The recipe doesn't mention anything about noodles, but I just thought it should have noodles! So i made some fettuccine noodles to go with it.  I would actually recommend more penne style noodles, but that's all I had so i went with it.  It was yummy!  See!!!:

And, i complemented the entire meal with some corn.  Can't go wrong with corn or green beans with every meal ;-)

 

Healthy Week!

And hopefully healthy life.  The times I feel best are the times when I'm feeling healthy.  This includes me doing some sort of physical activity in the day, getting enough rest (but not too much!), and eating well. 
A couple weeks ago I was chatting with my brother Jason!

He told me that Annie had been cooking some healthy meals and he was feeling amazing.  In fact, almost purely because of eating healthier he told me he was losing some weight.  This shocked me.  So I did a little research and found out that one of the main keys of having a healthy life is good food choices.
I have been hesitant to cook meals that are considered "healthy meals" because my experience is that they don't taste very good!  Plus i am a true believer in intuitive eating.  But then Jason told me that he actually thought these meals Annie was making tasted really good!!
So then I got to chatting with my sister Annie!

She told me that the meals were somewhat easy to make and she thought they were pretty tasty too! Lucky enough for me, she had some of the meals saved in her email so she forwarded it to me.  All the credit for this weeks recipes go to Annie.  
Yesterday I went on a crazy grocery shopping trip and got all the ingredients for each of the meals.  This week Evan is going to really take on the role of Ginny pig.

Thanks Annie and Jason!!!

Manicotti, or something like it.

The final product!

A few months ago, my sister Michelle (here she is!!!)

 told me about this stuffed noodle recipe she makes.  It sounded pretty good, so I bought some of the ingredients I thought went in it.  Time passed, and I kept forgetting to get the recipe from her! 
Well, the other day (yesterday)  I decided since things had calmed down a bit I wanted to cook a home made meal.  I looked in my cupboard to see what I had and I saw those stuffed shells I had bought months previous!  I decided to see what kind of meal I could make with them.  Unfortanately, as I was searching through recipes almost every meal included ricotti or other cheeses like that.  Even more unfortanately, I was in a mood where I really didn't want to go to the store! Then I stumbled across the one and only recipe I could find that didn't take a whole lot of ingredients. I was in very unfamiliar territory, but I decided to try it.  It turned out YUMMY! And I even made some changes to the recipe, so I feel pretty cool. Also, i just have to say that being back in the kitchen and cooking a meal felt so absolutely wonderful.  I love it!  This recipe was simple and quick.  I think overall it took about 30 minutes.
Here is the original recipe:

Ingredients:

14 uncooked manicotti shells 1/2 pound ground beef 1 small onion, finely chopped 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:

1.

Cook manicotti according to package directions; drain. In a skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, oregano and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cheese; stir until melted.

2.

Stuff half meat mixture into manicotti shells; arrange in a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Spoon remaining meat mixture over shells. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted. Here is how I made it...and wow.  Looking at the recipe again makes me realize that I really did change it up! The following is the Lazy Persons way to do this recipe: First of all, I realized a little too late that I had stuffed shells instead of Manicotti noodles.  At this point, I decided to stick with it and see what happened. So, to start off, I boiled a package of stuffed noodles for about 5-7 minutes.  The important thing here is to undercook your noodles so that they are easier to fill with the ingredients.  Don't worry, they will finish cooking later in the oven! As I was boiling my noodles, I defrosted my groundbeef in the microwave.  I used a guestimate of 1/2 lb of ground beef.  I've found that you can use more or less groundbeef and it is okay! The meal will turn out great. After I had drained my noodles, I started cooking my groundbeef in a saucepan.  Instead of an actual onion, I used 1/2 TBSP of onion powder.  I've started doing this substition quite frequently and I haven't been sad as of yet.  I also added 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.  Helpful Hint #7: 1 small onion = 1/2 TBSP onion powder.  1 medium onion = 1 TBSP onion powder.  1 large onion = 1 1/2 TBSP onion powder.  1 medium sized clove garlic = 1/4 tsp garlic powder.  1 large or 2 medium cloves = 1/2 tsp garlic powder. After my groundbeef was browned, I drained it. I always drain it and am shocked by all the grease that comes out - YUCK! I put the groundbeef back into the saucepan and instead of tomato sauce, i added 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp thyme.  I did not use the green bell pepper, although I think this would only add excellence! I brought the sauce mixture to a boil and then reduced heat and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  The longer you let it simmer, the better the taste will be.  As I did this, I turned my oven on to 325 degreees.  Then i added some mozarella cheese and dove into the scary part! After I greased a 9X9 baking dish, I poured my noodles in the pan.  Stuffing the noodles!!!  I would pick up a noodle, open the noodle slightly, spoon some of the sauce mixture in and set it back into the pan. And yes, some of the sauce mixture would fall out. Some stayed in, so I wasn't too worried.  It may simple to describe this process, but I had no idea what to do so this is what i did! And it worked!  I didn't end up using all of my noodles, so i took some out, but it was about two layers of noodles in the pan.  I stopped when I decided I had just enough left to cover all the noodles and then I put it in the oven! I baked it for about 10 minutes, added some cheese on top and put it back in for about 3 minutes.  It came out looking delightful and then luckily it tasted just as delightful! Evan seemed to love it and I did too! We even had leftovers. I haven't tried them yet, but I believe they will be yummy! The last thing you should take from this is that stuffed noodles can work with manicotti recipes :) Here i am checking on my noodles!

Life is great!

I haven't made something worth blogging about in a while.(But I just did and will be blogging about it shortly) Don't worry, that doesn't mean that me and Evan have stopped eating.  Evan is quite the champion at feeding himself. :)  Also, i've discovered these amazing things at the grocery store - 10 minute meals.  They seem really healthy, but we've decided based on how quickly they can be made that they must not be that healthy.  They are in the freezer section and the ones we have tried are a variety of pasta's.  You just put them in the saucepan, cover it up, and ten minutes later you have the equivalent of a restaurant meal. For realz!! These have been a life saver for me because I have had a crazy month and a half. 
For my first time ever I decided to do spring term!  And I decided to take 9 credits because I figured I should get my money's worth.  It has been soo incredibly stressful and crazy, but I have loved every second of it.  I have officially decided spring is my favorite time to take classes.  Because everything is smushed together, there is no room for procrastination (which is a huge weakness for me).  I feel really on top of it because, well, i've had to be!  Also, a lot of my teachers actually cut out material so i feel really happy that I have less work to do than I would if I took it any other time :).  And the last thing i love is that i'm getting 9 whole credits done in approximately a month in a half.  It feels great!

Other fun things:
-Me and Evan have been playing Tennis like champs.  It is great because we have access to courts that are within 5 minutes of our house.  Evan beats me every time, but I think I am getting better.  It feels so great to be active and to be doing something fun with the guy I love.  I prefer doubles, so let me know if you are game!
-We went to the Zoo with the Driggs and so of course Ella Bella.  I go to the zoo approximately once or less every year.  But that doesn't mean i don't love it!!  I feel like I could sit and watch the monkeys all day long.  I love animals!  It makes me sad to think that they have to sit in a boring cage all day, but then a zoo lady told me a lot of them are born in the zoo so thats the only life they know.  Ella really loved the zoo experience. She is at such a fun age! The new exhibit wasn't up and running yet so i guess we'll have to make another trip ;) 
Here are some pics:

-Last week I went to Seven Peaks TWICE! And guess what? I'm counting on going at least 60 more times this summer. Not joking. I love it there! Lazy river, slides, wave pool, or just laying on my towel.  It is wonderful!
-I am absolutely confident in my decision to become an elementary school teacher. I've had my doubts and i've had my hesitations, but now i am more than sure!  Now that i'm in the major, i've already had experience being out in the schools.  I. love. it.  I can not wait to have my own class! I want to get out there and do my thing! But then i remember, there is so much i don't know, so i will try to be patient. But i still can't wait!
-We went bowling! (and we don't need to talk about who won.)
- I saw the family i used to nanny for - the Katy and David Roth family.  I love them! And i was so excited that they came to BYU so that i could see them. 
-I made my first pasta salad ever! In fact, i think i will blog about it even though it is probably something a first grader could do. But i feel so accomplished!
-Evan got a haircut...and this is exciting why? because it was a BUZZ HAIRCUT! And he looks so fine! I love it. And i'm so proud of him for being daring :)
-Me and Evan have a favorite restaurant - LAS GLORIAS. Its mexican food and lets just say its AmAzInG!  Every month we get a buy one get one free coupon in the mail so we can eat there for practically nothing. 
And i still have the best little family with my cute Charly and my cute Evan !!!

And I can't think of anything else right now, but life is great!

Busy Busy Busy Life.

As can be seen by how long its been since I've done a cooking post, i haven't been on top of my cooking game lately.  Honestly I don't know what happened.  Like a lot of my hobbies, I seem to go in spurts.  I'll be really into it for a few weeks and then really out of it for the next few.  I do enjoy cooking and trying new things, but it seems life has gotten quite hectic lately.
What have I done??
-I've finished Winter semester!!! Boo ya baby.  Five classes and its looking like 5 A's.  I do believe that is my best semester in college so far.
-I've officially hiked the Y! I feel like this is something every BYU student should do at least once as part of their college experience.  Why it has taken me so long I don't know. It was hard! Maybe its cause i'm out of shape, maybe its because I don't really like hiking, but my heartrate was up the entire time.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment when it was done though :)

-I tried a new pizza at Slab Pizza-- Chicken Enchilada.  Just writing about it is making me crave it.  It is a flavor I don't think I can get enough of.
-I've gone down memory lane with regards to Pokemon cards. Ha ha, but seriously.  When I was in elementary school I collected them.  I thought it was fun to trade during recess and stuff. But I never learned the actual card game.  When Evan stumbled across his childhood collection, he taught me the actual game. It is so fun! Seriously. You may think it sounds stupid but I guarantee if you like card games, you will like this one.
-I've gotten sick! It was so weird.  Evan was sick for approximately 2 weeks straight. I was sure that I would catch it since I practically breath the same air.  When he got better, I figured my immune system was top notch.  But then it hit me.  It may have been a little late, but it was the same thing.  Sore throat, headache, sinus problems. Yuck!
-I started cycling classes at Gold's Gym.  This is very exciting for me!  I will be able to stay fit hopefully doing something I find fun.  So far they have been extremely difficult.  I get off the bike feeling like I'm going to die.  They are only 45 minute classes too! But I think if I can stick with it, I will love it.
-I discovered the show The Vampire Diaries.  And lets just say I've been consumed.  Its a good thing that I get a little break between semesters because it is extremely addicting.  I can't get enough of it.  I dread when I'm caught up to real time, but I can't stop watching!
-I got a pair of gorgeous red cowboy boots.  (ok they were actually for my birthday in december, but i just got the right size delivered)  I went shopping and found two dresses that will coordinate perfectly!
-I've officially been promoted at work.  I am now a Financial Service Representative, or FSR.  That means I do a lot more then teller.  I open new accounts, send wires, do loans, and pretty much handle customer service needs.  I love it!

So yes, I've been horrible at keeping up on my cooking and blogging, but a lot has happened in the past few months! It's a busy, busy, busy life.

Tuesday Secret

Tuesday. It has become a day that I dread and look forward to at the same time.  Dread because I have a class that goes until 8pm. Look forward to because of our tuesday night dinner.  What is this dinner you might ask? Well let me tell you, in the form of a story. (Quite a short story really)

There once was a boy. He met a girl. They fell in love. Now they are married. One night, this boy and this girl were feeling hungry. "What shall we eat?" they both said. In fact, it turned into a chant.
"What shall we eat?"
"What shall we eat?"
"What shall we eat?"

The girl said, "I could make something." The boy said "Nah, that sounds like too much work." So the girl began her search. She looked high and low through a place called Google. Many places she did visit but alas there were too many possibilities!
"What food do you feel like, my love?", The girl inquired.
"Pizza!", The boy responded. (The girl should of known this by now, but alas it had only been a few months!)
And so the search was narrowed. The girl once again searched. This time, going to more specific places such as "Little Caesars" and "Dominos". Fate intervened at this time, for then she looked at "Pizza Hut" There, on the screen so big you couldn't miss it was "It's Tuscani Tuesday, Pasta for 2 $6"  Could this be true? It couldn't be true. It was too good to be true!!! But as they soon came to find out, it was true. A pasta and 5 breadsticks for only $6!!!
They ordered. They waited (10 min). They picked up. They devoured.
Their tummies were full, they were felt exuberant and they couldn't ask for anything more.
The end.

So, as could probably be guessed by this great story, tuesday nights are now our Tuscani Tuesdays. Evan orders at around 7:45 and then when I get home, dinner is served! They even have two options, meaty marinara or creamy chicken alfredo. We switch off every other week.
We think this deal is too good to be true, but its still going so far!
And that is our Tuesday Secret. Enjoy!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

As I'm writing this post, I'm listening to the song "Changes" by David Bowie. If you haven't heard it, go listen to it right now. Seriously, go. It's good to hear at least once in your life! 
Anyway, the past couple months I've been itching for some change. Which is funny because i've had a lot of change in my life in the past six months.  But the kind of change i've been itching for is with my hair. I've mentioned it to Evan at least once a month since we've been married but it's been more of a joke.  I actually never really thought about coloring my hair because I really like my brown hair. It just seems like me. I've been talking about a cut. A drastic cut!  I guess I have wimped out on that one for now.  The thing that finally motivated me to get into action was looking through a lot of pictures over the years.  As I looked at each year, going back at least five years, I realized I hadn't really changed my hair ONCE. I've had it the same length, give or take a few inches, and the same color, give or take a blonde stripe :), for the entire time! These pictures prove my point:

Left, 2008. Right, 2012 Point PROVEN!
I've been saying to myself, "You have every reason to just do it. You have had the same hairstyle ffffoorreever!" So, this morning I woke up and I made a haircut appointment at some random place because I had a free haircut coupon.  As I continued to get ready, I knew that I just wasn't ready for the hair cut.  My hair grows SO SLOW so when I do decide to cut my hair I need to plan on having it that way for awhile. And, i really do need to be mentally prepared because it isn't the kind of decision that should be impulsive.  Once its cut, its cut.  I have cut my hair before, in fact the good majority of my life its been shoulder length or shorter, and i've loved it! But i think its because it took me so long to get it to this length that I am so resistant.  Anyway, wow i am rambling!
So as I thought about all this, I decided I would just get my hair trimmed. Disappointment ran through my entire body. I wanted change gosh darn it!  Then it hit me, I have never gone blonde. That would be a big change!! I've always wondered if i could pull it off. My sister has gone all sorts of colors and can pull each one off, so maybe i could too.  I am brunette through and through so I haven't ever considered blonde an option.  Especially since it is so damaging! But the nice thing about hair color(and hair in general) is that if you do something and hate it, there is a good possibility that you can get it fixed or that in time it will just go back to the way it was!  So. Blonde it was!
I cancelled my free cut at that random place and called up Suggestions Salon ( I wasn't going to go to just anybody for such a drastic change!) I think that I was meant to go through with it, because Michelle Keddington (my stylist) had an opening within the hour! Nothing was stopping me now. I was nervous pretty much the entire time.Especially when i found out that because my hair was so dark, it wouldn't be all blonde and it wouldn't be very light blonde. it would take a couple times to get the look i was going for. So it would probably initially turn out funny looking.  But I did it anyway. And as it turned out, IT WAS SO WORTH IT and I LOVE IT!

P.s.

Something has gotten into me! I worked out at a gym today for the first time in over a year. It felt great! Can't wait to go back.

Chicken Noodle Soup - great for the sniffles.

Getting ready to be  eaten in a bowl that I colored! :)

On Wednesday Evan woke up feeling extremely sick.  His head hurt, his throat was sore, and he didn't sound good at all.  Luckily, I didn't get called into work so I was able to take care of him and get him whatever he needed.  I had been waiting for a good time to fix my homemade chicken noodle soup and this seemed to be it.  The thing about this meal is that a couple of years ago, I called my mom to ask her how to make chicken noodle soup and she told me roughly how to do it over the phone. It is definitely simple, but every time I make it it turns out slightly different since i'm not using an actual recipe.  This time as I made it I tried to pay more attention so I could write it down, so this is it.  Also, as a side note, although it is SO SIMPLE every time I make it I can't believe how tasty it is! And Evan loves it too. (Although this time he couldn't really taste it :)).  Another nice thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it very easily to make more or less.  For the amounts I used this time, I'd say it could feed around 4 people. 

Ingredients that go into the soup:

Chicken (2 breasts cut into pieces or 1 can chicken breast meat or 1 rotisserie chicken)	Optional:
Potatoes	Celery
Carrots	Any other vegetable you feel inspired to add
Egg Noodles	Marjoram
Salt	Parsley
Pepper	Bay Leaves
Water
Chicken Boullion Cubes

Recipe if using canned or rotiserrie chicken (notes at the bottom for using chicken breasts)

1. To start off, I put 8 cups of water into my pot and bring it to a boil. 

2. While the water is coming to a boil, I wash 4 medium size potatoes and between 1/4 -1/2 of a 32oz bag of baby carrots. (I know that isn't very exact or helpful but I forgot to count! I like a lot of carrots in my soup so I would suggest just adding how much you like)  To make this soup even easier, I have started using unpeeled potatoes in the soup.  I just make sure to wash the outside of the potatoes extra good.  I cut the potatoes into meidumish cubes and then I slice the baby carrots. 

3. Around this time the water is boiling and I add 9 chicken bouillion cubes to the water. Technically it is one bouillion cube to one cup of water, but I want to make sure my soup is always very flavorful! 

4. After the bouillion cubes have dissolved, add the carrots and potatoes.  Also, add some salt and pepper and if you want, a dash of I'd marjoram, parsley and chopped bay leaves.  Set the timer to around 10 minutes. When it goes off, test a couple of the vegetables to see if they are close to being done.

5. When the vegetables are about done (needing just a couple minutes more) add the canned chicken or rotisserie chicken - shred the chicken a little bit - and the egg noodles (a couple of handfuls seems to be perfect).  Let boil for about 3 minutes more and your good to go!

Here is the canned chicken I used. It was my first time using it ( I got the idea from Evan's mom) and it is easy and yummy!

Here are the egg noodles, or at least the package, that I would highly recommend using. They are located close to the other noodles in the grocery store.

And I made some cheese bread to compliment the meal. However, because i'd never used our broiler before I didn't realize how it cooked. Oops!

Surprisingly still yummy though :)

Evan cut his crust off just like an elementary school boy! ha ha.

*HOW TO ADJUST IF YOU ARE USING REGULAR CHICKEN BREASTS*

Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Add the bouillion to the water and heat until it is dissoved. Add the chicken to the water and SIMMER the chicken until cooked. The key to non-chewy boiled chicken is to SIMMER the chicken, not BOIL.  Then, once the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the water and add the vegetables. Continue previous directions and then add chicken at the same spot as above.  This way your chicken doesn't get over cooked and is still good!

Also, if you are like me and just don't like boiled chicken, brown the chicken in a skillet with vegetable oil while boiling the vegetables etc. and then add the chicken in the same spot as above.

Good luck! And be prepared for a great meal! 

Stroganoff. So easy yet so tasty!

One of my favorite meals growing up was Beef Stroganoff.  My mom never understood why we loved it so much because she thought it was too simple. (She's an excellent cook so she likes more challenging things) Well the other day I was thinking about ideas of things to cook, and I realized I hadn't had stroganoff for at least 3 years. What a sad realization!  With this first attempt, I didn't get to ambitious because instead of making it with beef strips I used ground beef but it turned out amazing! And soooo easy. Oh and it didn't take that long, i think approximately 30 minutes. Which are three things i love in a recipe. (yummy, easy, and quick.) :)

Here is the actual recipe:

Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles, cooked and drained 6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced 1 onion, chopped 1/4 cup butter

2 pounds lean ground beef 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups beef broth 1 cup sour cream salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook egg noodles in boiling water until done, about 8 minutes. Drain.
2.	Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a large skillet, cook mushrooms and onions in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until soft; remove from pan.
3.	Using the same pan, melt remaining butter. Cook ground beef in melted butter until browned. Mix in flour. Stir in beef broth, and cook until slightly thickened. Add mushroom and onion mixture; stir in sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until sauce is hot, but not boiling. Serve sauce over egg noodles. I did step 1 the same, but steps 2 and 3 I did slightly different because I didn't have any mushrooms on hand.  To be honest, i think the mushrooms would of made it even better but I didn't want to make a trip to the store.  So here is what I did differently...and it was also slightly healthier... I took 1/2 an onion, diced, and about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil  and sauteed them in my saucepan.  Then I added about 1 lb of ground beef and cooked until browned and then added 1 can of Consomme soup. *Note- I have discovered that Consomme soup is more flavorful and healthy than beef broth.  It is located by all of the other soups in the store. Anyway, after adding the soup i added 1 cup of lite sour cream and 3 tablespoons of flour and then some salt and pepper. At this point I let the mixture simmer for a bit until it looked slighly thickened and I called it good. This is what it looked like: I poured it over the noodles, served with some green beans and me and Evan scarfed it all up. Another success! As a side note, I have started to realize that a good majority of the meals I make call for ground beef.  Buying ground beef by the pound each time can get a little pricey. And i find that using the whole pound is usually a little too much for us.  So... Helpful Hint #6: Buy your groundbeef in larger increments,(like 3 lbs.) divide it up into separate bags when you get home (I usually cut mine in 4ths) and call it good. It may not be an exact lb, but it will end up being perfect! I promise! And it is so much easier just defrosting the exact amount you need.

Resolutions

2012 ?

Ok so this is a little late in the game. I know. But I'm not usually too good at making New Years goals because it seems to end up being this huge list of things that I never end up accomplishing. And it's discouraging! But, this year, without even knowing what was happening, goals started forming around me. And I think they are pretty doable! Here they are so far:

• Take pictures of our adventures EVERY MONTH
• Exercise at least once a week (hopefully more!)
• Do well in school (I guess this is subjective :) )
• Have a happy home
• Make a homemade meal each week
• AND the last one so far is to read every book that has won a Newberry Medal Award.

They seem like goals that will only make me happier so I think I can do it! 

OUR BUCKET
The other day, me and Evan started talking about making a bucket list. I think it started out as more of a joke, but as days went on and things kept coming up as potential "bucket list items" i've decided to make it more official. It's pretty exciting to think about things we can do over the span of a lifetime!

• Go to Hawaii
• Get court side seats to a BYU basketball game (and go to it...)
• Go on a cruise
• Go to March Madness final four championship games
• Swim with dolphins freely (not just petting them)
• Adopt an animal from the pound
• Get a Jeep Wrangler (I don't know if Evan wants this...)
• Go to the four corners and touch all of them at the same time

And I thought we had a lot more than that. To be continued i suppose!

Love Day

I know it's what every girl does on this special day but I have had such a perfect day that I just have to fit the mold!!!
Valentines Day. Love Day. E + E day. It has been great.  This year me and Evan didn't really talk about Valentines. We made no plans, had no talk of getting each other something, nothing. 
As I woke up early to drop off a valentine at Evan's work, I decided that even if Evan didn't do anything, I would be a happy camper.  As I walked into the family room to pack up my back pack a huge grin couldn't be stopped from coming to my face.  This is why:

Yep. Jimmer Valentines! They were put there the night before, and they are printed in color! So this was planned! My day was complete. Evan got me valentines. What a cutey pie. But it wasn't over yet...
I rode my bike to the ASB where Evan works and decided that since I was just quickly dropping off a valentine, I could just park my bike out front. Especially since it was 8:30 in the morning and not a lot of people were out and about. 
As I walked down the hall to where Evan worked, everybody made comments about some lucky person getting my delivery.  One guy even proceeded to follow me where I was going.  I dropped off my delivery (a love balloon, twix, chapstick and a heartfelt card) when the guy that was following me said that Evan wouldn't be in til 3! Luckily, his boss Meldon offered to send him an "trick" email asking him to come in around 11.  I was in luck!
As I was walking out of the office, the guy that was following me introduced himself to me. It turns out his name was Mark, the big boss!  He turned out to be a super friendly guy and led me into his office where we talked for at least 15 minutes.  Unfortanately, I had class at 9 so as soon as I could, I booked it.  When i got outside, my bike was no where to be found.  My heart dropped to me stomach.  My bike had been stolen!!! I was such an idiot! I thought that I would be out in 5 seconds but it turned into at least 20 minutes.  I ran to two bike racks aimlessly hoping that someone had just put my bike away.  Then I called Evan, hoping that he had pulled a prank on me and was hiding it.  To my dismay, this didn't turn out to be the case.   I felt like this:

I ran straight into the campus police department and told them my bike had been stolen.  The girl said that they actually had impounded it! I was SOOO relieved.  I don't think they had ever had someone so excited to find out their bike was impounded.  When they went to get it, they told me it would be 15 bucks.  I was like, whhhaaat? I was just dropping off a Valentine!  Then they told me that the chief was the one who found it and actually wanted to talk to me. Scary! When he came over to talk to me, i explained what had happened. After chatting a bit we found out that he was from the same home stake as me in South Jordan. He let me go with no fee! Boom Bam Baby.  I was so happy with getting my bike back that I hardly cared that I was 45 minutes late to my 9:00 class.  This was a Valentines day that I could not forget. :) This is proof of it all happening! :

 

 Anyway...As I was sitting in class, i had an epiphany that Evan's boss probably would be emailing him at his work email. There is no way that Evan would check his work email outside of work.  After class, I looked at Evan's personal email to be sure and sure enough, no email from work. So I emailed Evan that he should probably check his work email...luckily he pretty much did it with no extra questions.  After he got my surprise, he texted me thank you and I was pretty pumped because now i could tell him my strange bike story.  I asked him if he'd meet me so I could tell him about it. 
When we met up I started rambling about what had happened. I noticed Evan seemed slightly distracted. I asked him if he had enough time to hear the story or if he needed to go to class.  He said "no, we are going to lunch." Matter of factly. As if I knew! I said, "We are?" He said, "Yeah didn't you see the Valentines?" This is what I had missed....

Ha Ha ha . I'm still laughing about it! He had written that note on the back of the Jimmer Valentine. I didn't even think to check the back of it!  We got a pretty good kick out of it because both of our surprise plans got somewhat foiled. I think it made it even cuter :).  So as we walked toward the Wilk, I carried on with my morning events. I was so engrossed in my story, I didn't pay much attention to where we were going. Soon enough we were on an elevator in the Wilk going somewhere. The door opened and we were at... 

The Skyroom! It's basically BYU's version of "The Roof" at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It's a really fancy buffet.  I was shocked out of my mind! I had always wanted to go there. AAAAND he had a reservation. He had thought this all out. I was more than impressed, and words can't describe how happy i felt. A huge grin couldn't leave my face. I didn't have my camera with me so I didn't get to take a picture of that huge grin, but i'm sure you can imagine it.  It was delicious. Spinach salads, wedge salads, tender beef, mushroom rice, cooked tomatoes with cheese and red velvet cake.  I would definitely recommend it.  The reservation also included a pretty pink and white carnation.  I got to carry that around with me the rest the day remembering my adorable husband.  And by the way, after that I had no desire to go to the rest of my classes. But I was a good girl and went!
I figured that was the end of our Valentine festivities since I had class until 8.  I guess I was just having a day full of being wrong.  I got home and Evan wasn't there quite yet so I changed and cleaned up a bit. The door opened and my man walked in with these:

They are absolutely gorgeous. And I don't know why this is, but i LOVE getting flowers. I know they are expensive. And they die. And everyone seems to get them on V day. But I love them! They make me happy and excited and they are so pretty.  I thought that Evan had the flower thing covered with the carnation from the Sky Room but with these, he exceeded my expectations 100%.  Oh and he also brought home pasta and breadsticks from Pizza Hut and we made it into a candlelite dinner. It was pretty romantic.
After this, Evan had some homework to do so I took a shower. I was just smiling the whole time because I'm a holiday type of gal. I love holidays and I love to celebrate them. Evan isn't into them as much as me, and quite frankly I don't think anybody could be.  But it just makes me so happy that Evan knows me so well and how much I love them.  I didn't have to tell him or hint at him once and he made the day perfect. 
When I went out to sit next to him I had one more surprise waiting for me:

A white chocolate cinammmon covered caramel apple. Seriously can't describe how well Evan knows me. I love caramel apples more than most things. In fact, they are on my top 5 favorite treats.  I jumped for joy and was as happy a girl as I could ever be.
It's true, Valentines day is somewhat of a ridiculous holiday. It may be true that it was made up just for hallmark.  But I don't have any problem with spending a whole day expressing my love to the person I love the most, and getting the same(oh and spoiled) in return. I definitely know Evan loves me. He put so much thought into the whole day and I love him even more for it. And I love him too!
Evan certainly is my night in shining armor.

P.s. It wasn't all about me... Besides the work surprise, I got Evan a custom mouse pad and a ton of love too :) Oh and I made him this:

Homemade Mac N Cheese

So me and Evan are pretty fortunate this semester and get to see each other a whole lot more than I thought we would!  However, today he had a big huge yucky test that he needed to take so unfortunately I looked forward to a day and night by my lonesome.  How depressing.  Just kidding. It's nice to have some girl time.  Today I ventured into watching the show Parks and Recreation and I like it so far!  Tonight I decided I'd explore a new recipe, homemade mac n cheese.  I was very excited to cook this, because a couple months ago when i was at Target i came across a six piece CorningWare bake set that was on sale for $19.99 (thats a great deal if you don't know...:)).  I haven't had an occasion to use it until tonight!! I think everything turned out splendid.  Evan hasn't tried it yet, so i'll get his feedback tomorrow.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 5 tablespoons butter, divided 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups milk 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 2 ounces processed cheese food (i.e. Velveeta), cubed 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

Directions:

1.	Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Add the cheeses, stirring until cheese is melted. Drain macaroni.
2.	Transfer macaroni to a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni; mix well. Melt the remaining butter; add the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through and topping is golden brown.

This recipe turned out to be a success, and in all reality it is a very simple recipe, yet I wouldn't consider it "unstressful".  At least for a beginner cook like myself.  To begin with, it is one of those recipes where a lot of things end up going on at once.  But I got through it! And i'll happily make it again.  That's right, it's another 2 thumbs up recipe!
So, to begin with the beginning part of this recipe with butter and flour actually has an official name! It is called roux.  This particular mixture is what makes the base sauce thick.  And it's something we should all get really good at doing because it is involved in a lot of recipes (or at least recipes with sauce and gravy). Come to think of it, I've heard my mom talk about it a lot.  It isn't the easiest thing on the planet to do and it needs to be done right.  It can mess up consistency for a recipe (texture and thickness!)  So here is basically a great way of doing it (mine turned out perfect tonight so I think this is worth sharing)
--Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat.  When melted, stir in the flour.  It is better if you have a little more butter than flour (i.e 4 tbs butter to 3 tbs flour).  Stirring constantly is a must!  The next step for this recipe would be to keep stirring for about 2 minutes.  Then remove the saucepan from the heat and pour in lukewarm milk (not hot, not cold)  a little bit at a time while still constantly stirring.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, all the while still constantly stirring.  And viola! You have your basic roux.  Luckily, the ingredients are pretty basic so if you mess up you can just start over.  I think the key would be the constant stirring.
Anyway as said before, because of the sensitivity of the roux it gets kind of hectic with needing to add more things and worry about the noodles, etc. all at once. So my next tip would be
Helpful Hint #5:  When making a recipe where a lot can be going on at once, have your ingredients all ready to go and all measured out!
This really saved me because I didn't have to stop stirring when i grabbed the cheese and added it to the mix. I did have to step away quickly to drain my noodles(so they weren't really soggy) but that was A-OK.  I like things cheesy so I used 2 cups of mild cheddar cheese instead of 1.  Oh and breadcrumbs on top is optional.  And that's about it ! Yum yum!

The Amazing Little Timer

Here it is. The Amazing Little Timer.  I would recommend every person who does any cooking, baking, or timing of anything invest in one of these little things. And by invest, I mean a whole $3!

It is so easy to use, it's not worth very much so I am not paranoid about it breaking, and it has a really loud buzz so that I can set it in the kitchen, go into another room and still hear it when the time is up.

Plus, it seems like something I've seen in a lot of kitchens growing up, so i feel all growed up just having one!

:)

Green Chicken Enchiladas. Yum!

I think that something obviously must be going on here, because so far every recipe i've tried has turned out...delicious!  I guess it's because I am doing things so simple you'd have to be really distracted to mess up :)  I recently read a post by Tatum Norris on FB who said "I often cook straight from online recipes, and always read the reviews to get a good feel for it first. It just kills me when a reviewer says that they tried the recipe, but substituted the flour, sugar, and milk with oatmeal, pepper, and orange juice, and it turned out terribly, so it deserves no stars. I say if you do more than tweak it, don't rate it."
I agree with this wholeheartedly! Also, some people tweak it so much and then rate it with 5 stars.  How can I know which recipe to follow?  And on another note, sometimes all the ways they tweak it just overwhelms me to death.  I'm a beginner cook here.  When I look at a simple recipe, I want it to stay simple. 
This was a slight rant, and also kind of hypocritical because I seem to be tweaking every recipe I'm trying here on this blog.  So, I guess if my tweaking gets too crazy just laugh and say i'm like the pot calling the kettle black. 

So, I tried out some green chicken enchiladas. So so so good.  And so so so easy.  Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1 (19 ounce) can green enchilada sauce

Directions:

1.	In a pot with enough water to cover, boil the chicken 25 minutes, or until juices run clear. Drain, cool, and shred.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
3.	Fill each tortilla with equal amounts of chicken and cheese, reserving 1/4 cup cheese for topping. Roll tortillas to form enchiladas. Arrange enchiladas in the prepared baking dish. Cover with the enchilada sauce.
4.	Bake enchiladas 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Top with reserved cheese, and continue baking 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. First item of business, like previously mentioned I always prefer to cook my chicken in a saucepan rather than boiling it.  This should be... Helfpul Hint #4: In all instances possible, cook your chicken in a saucepan rather than boiling it in water.  Always seems to turn out better! I like the flavor and texture much better AND it doesn't seem to get overcooked as much.  So for this recipe, I cut up the chicken into cubes and threw it in a saucepan with lemon juice, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, and paprike.  If you don't have those spices, not to worry! It turns out great without.  However, I would recommend getting those at some point because they add some good flavor to quite a few recipes.  Also to note, 12 tortillas is way way too many.  The max I could fill with a decent load of chicken and cheese was 8.  And thats a lot anyway so i'd go with that.  If possible, buy the brand Las Palmas green enchilada sauce.  It seems to have the best flavor and it is the perfect thickness! Since this is the main ingredient, I don't know if i'd go with any other random brand. I didn't have 8 oz of monterey cheese, but i mixed what i had with cheddar and it was awesome.  And like all recipes so far, this had plenty of leftovers! Have fun. P.s. Do NOT add more than the 19 oz of enchilada sauce.  When looking at the enchiladas covered with the sauce, they look a little...bare.  However, trust me on this! If you add more sauce, the tortillas just get really soggy and the texture is unbearable.  Air on the side of too little in this case.