It's Finally Summer!

Hey everyone!

It's finally summer...which means that it's time for sunburns! I got a sunburn on my upper back yesterday as I continued to work on stripping the antique dresser that I have had since I was a kid. I still cannot believe that someone painted this thing three different colors! Yesterday I finally got to see wood! It was a gorgeous cherry wood under all those layers of paint! I didn't get to finish it, but it's pretty close! I will be so happy when this project is complete!

So this week, I spent most of my time cleaning and cooking, and I actually organized my kitchen cabinets and pantry again! I can find things again! It's super nice...for me. Mike is having some trouble finding things, but he's hardly in there, so it's not too bad for him.

So let's get these recipes out of the way!

Here's the recipe: Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu

For the Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz thinly sliced deli ham
4 oz Swiss cheese cut into 4 blocks
Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

For Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I didn't have any, so I used one tablespoon red wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme (If you use dried like me, just add another teaspoon)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Brush or spray grill with oil or spray. Cut a pocket into each breast by inserting a knife blade into the wide end. Sweep the blade back and forth, cutting the opening larger, being careful not to cut through the end, top or bottom. (If this happens, just use some toothpicks to secure them closed).  Wrap a slice of ham around each block of cheese and insert into pockets. Coat each breast with Dijon and salt and pepper. Grill chicken, covered for 5 minutes per side. Whisk together vinegar, Dijon, and honey in a bowl for the vinaigrette. Add oil and whisk until emulsified. Add thyme and salt and pepper.  To serve, drizzle vinaigrette over chicken. 

Here's the recipe: Chicken Parmesan

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs (I used just bread crumbs I had at home)
1/2 pound dry spaghettini or thin spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 cups roasted marinara sauce (I just grabbed any store bought brand that sounded good)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
Grated Parmesan
Fresh basil sprigs (optional)

Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick with a meat mallet; season with salt and pepper if desired. Place the flour, eggs and crumbs into three separate shallow dishes. To bread breasts, first dredge them in flour, then dip them in egg, then coat in crumbs. This can be done two hours ahead and refrigerated.
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain and toss with the sauce. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve.
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute chicken in batches if necessary, on both sides until golden, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.
Top chicken with 1/4 cup Parmesan and the mozzarella. Cover pan and cook until cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to plate and serve with pasta and sauce. Garnish with Parmesan and basil if desired.

Here's the recipe: Citrus-Herb Game Hens

2 Cornish game hens, halved and seasoned with salt and pepper (if desired) *I bought 3 birds*
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds (I used three)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon each of rosemary and parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450*. Halve each hen by cutting along both sides of the backbone. Remove bone and discard or save for making stock. Cut along one side of the breast bone to separate the halves. Saute the hen halves in batches, skin side down in one tablespoon of olive oil in a large oven proof non stick skillet over medium high heat until golden, (4 minutes). Turn hens over and saute for 2 minutes. Transfer hens to oven, skin side up. Roast hens, uncovered, until the instant read thermometer registers 165* at the thickets part of the breast, about 20 minutes. Place lemon slices on a plate and heat in a microwave for a minute or until hot. Combine heated lemon slices, remaining oil, garlic, rosemary and parsley in a large baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Place the roasted hens in the dish, skin side down and let rest for ten minutes, turning them every few minutes to coat with herbs and oil.


The three recipes that are on this blog actually came from a magazine that I found at the grocery store. I was pretty impressed by this company because I found many meals that I like. The chicken Parmesan ended up feeding an army when I was finished! But the best thing about this magazine is that there are no ads whatsoever and every recipe has pictures! I ended up subscribing to them, and I have never subscribed to a magazine before. I hope that I get many more great meal ideas from this company! So far, we're off to a good start!

Our yard is still mostly weeds, but some of the seeds that I threw on the yard are starting to make a small appearance. I hope that it actually grows, but as most of you know, it's tough for anything to grow here. I also found that I didn't completely kill my fuchsias. There are some blooms and new sprouts...so I'm happy about that, because I really like the look of those flowers.

As I mentioned last entry, I decided to change up the hair a little bit, and I'm glad too, with how hot it's been lately! I did take before and after pictures of my hair, and I still miss my old haircut some days, but I just need to spend some time practicing on this new look.

Mike likes the look, but it's taking him a little bit to get used to the new look, simply because it's a lot shorter than he's ever seen me in. I've had short short hair before, and I will never go to that extreme again. I think this is as short as I will ever go. I won't grow my hair out to my hips again either. So I think that I have a good balance when it comes to my hair. I just need to go out and get a nice flat iron/straightener for my hair, because the one that I've had since I was about 17, is not a good one, therefore doesn't really work well.

So coming up is my niece's first birthday. She was born on the 4th of July, and there is going to be a celebration. I'm curious to see how it goes, and see if the gifts that I got her will be approved of. I got her two books and two dresses. I thought they were pretty adorable, but who knows, maybe I'm partial to them?

Until next time!

I Have a Service! Yay!

Hey everyone,

It's been another long while since I've written anything, and I apologize...yet again. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I've finally got some down time and figured that I was past due.

Today, I found out that my phone service shut off my connection. Apparently, the people in the store set up the plans wrong, and they had me under a sub account, which to make the story short, wasn't paid, therefore, they shut me off. Mike called and cleared things up and now I have a phone that works. Yay for texts and phone calls!

We've been getting a lot of rain here lately, which is great for our lawn...or what we are hoping turns into a lawn soon. I spent two hours mowing and trimming the yard last week, and wouldn't you know that I've got to do it again soon. Not really looking forward to it...it kind of sucks when you are allergic to the world. Oh well, I guess that's why we invented loratadine; love that stuff.

So let's get the big things out of the way...the recipes!

As you know, I usually make meals that require leftovers so that Mike has something to take in the next couple days for lunch at work. Here are a few that I made this last week.

Here's the recipe: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce

1 2/3 cup hot water
4 tablespoons butter
6 boneless chicken breast halved and pounded 1/4 inch thick
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package Stove Top chicken flavor stuffing mix
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter (optional)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dill weed (or to taste)

Heat oven to 400*. Stir in hot water, 4 tablespoons of butter, and stuffing mix until butter is melted. Add stuffing crumbs and egg, stir until moistened. Spoon stuffing into each breast, wrap chicken around stuffing. Place seam side down in greased shallow pan. Brush with melted butter, if you choose to do this. Place any remaining stuffing around chicken. Bake 30-35 minutes. Heat soup, water and dill in saucepan. Serve over chicken.

Here's the recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

1 package of tortillas
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 pound of chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1 medium to large onion diced
2 cans/jars of your favorite green chile sauce/salsa

Cook chicken in some olive oil in a saucepan until fully cooked. Place some chicken, onion and cheese into a tortilla, roll and place seam side down in a casserole dish. Pour green chile sauce over the entire batch until covered. Place remaining onions and cheese on top. Bake in 350* oven for 30 minutes.

Here's the recipe: Baked Cod and Bacon

1 medium onion, sliced
6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pound of potatoes, parboiled and sliced
Sea salt and pepper to taste
4 cod steaks of any white fish
1/2 pound of smoke bacon
1 1/4 cup light cream
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Saute onion in 4 tablespoons of butter until golden. Place some of the onion in the bottom of a baking dish and layer the sliced potatoes on top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put the cod steaks on top and cover with bacon and remaining onions. Bake for 15 minutes. Pour in cream and dot with remaining butter. Return to oven and bake for another 40 minutes. Cover with parsley and serve.

  

Here's the recipe: Easy Tiramisu Trifles

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Kahlua (If you don't like Kahlua, you may sub this for 1 teaspoon vanilla. I used both.)
1 teaspoon instant espresso granules (I didn't use this, but will next batch)

For layering: 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup chocolate cookie crumbs without cream

Combine whipping cream and sugar in food processor bowl fitted with metal blade. Process for 1 minute or until cream is stiff. Transfer whipped cream to a medium bowl and set aside. Do not clean the bowl from this step. Combine cheese, cocoa, and espresso in food processor. Process until blended.  Add cheese mixture to bowl with whipped cream and fold in with a rubber spatula until no white streaks remain. Transfer to dessert cups or brownie pan.

To assemble: Create the Tiramisu base according to the directions above. Layer it with freshly whipped cream and cookie crumbs. Finish them off with a sprinkling of chocolate shavings, fresh berries, or more cookie crumbs.

The tiramisu recipe was a surprise to Mike. He really likes that dessert, so when I found a quick and easy recipe to make a version of it, he was pretty happy. When he watched me make it, I asked him numerous times if he knew what it was that I was making, and he couldn't have guessed.

The next week will be interesting in the kitchen. I am planning on making some burgers and shrimp to finish off this week, but next week will be a week of nothing but chicken and fish. I am trying to see if by eating these protein filled, lean meats will help with weight. I think it will, but I guess we will see what happens. I might just get so tired of eating chicken, I'll be begging for some red meat!

The cats have been fighting over the blanket that I made Mike. They were literally on top of one another! It was the funniest sight that we had seen! It's nice to know that everyone in the family enjoys that blanket! Guess I'll be making more!

After sewing up Mike's scrubs earlier this year, trying to save them, Mike finally bought more. I did have to stitch up another pocket but at least I know that it's not going to be near as frequent as it used to be! I don't mind sewing up things, but sometimes I don't think I do that great of a job. I also know that unless someone is two inches from his back pocket, inspecting the seams, then no one will notice! Now, if someone was that close to his back side, that would be a funny sight!

This week will be a very busy one. Not only will there be new food recipes coming, boot camp, and meeting up with friends, but I will be getting my hair cut! It's the first time since before the wedding ceremony. It's been almost a year, so I am in desperate need! I'm looking forward to it too! I'll post pictures when I accomplish this!

Until next time!

Another Week

Hey all!

It feels as if this week has just flown by! Yesterday at boot camp, it felt like I had just been there the day before, not two days ago...and I get to go back tomorrow! Yay!

Earlier this week, when I got back from boot camp, I decided to tame the furry lawn. Mind you, our grass is pretty non-existent. We have these weeds that sprout almost ten times faster than the grass we do have, so it's not really lawn mower worthy. So I decided to trim the yard by hand, using hand clippers and no gloves. I know, I know...stupid. I managed to fix the front yard, so it looked like people actually lived in the house, and then started on the back yard, within five minutes of working on the back yard, I stopped and looked at my hand, and noticed that I had broken a blister on my thumb. Great...so I stopped with the back yard. Really, my only want was to get the front yard to look more pleasing so no one would complain again. I don't care about the back yard as much, but I know our neighbor would most likely freak out, like he's done in the past.

The rest of my week has been spent cleaning, and editing photos for the website. I've been trying to go through my photo files to clear out bad ones, fix the good ones and store them in a place where I can re-upload them for my website overhaul. It's been a long process, and I will be happy when it's all finished! I still haven't touch the honeymoon pictures...and that's 5000 pictures in itself.

Cooking is hit and miss lately, because we had so much in leftovers last week, I didn't need to go crazy this week. I did make a couple of things and this next week will be back to normal, so to speak.

Mike and I usually split a steak, because it's healthier that way. Mike is the grilling king, so we split the dinner prep. He grilled the steak, and I made the asparagus.

Here's the recipe: Steak and Asparagus

Dry rub the steak with your choice of spices/herbs, we used salt and pepper this time. Grill until cooked to your taste.
For the asparagus: Wash and cut the ends. Cut stalks in half. In a large skillet, place a few tablespoons of butter, heat until melted. Place just enough asparagus stalks into the melted butter so they are not overlapping one another. Sprinkle garlic powder over the entire batch. Place lid over skillet. Every once in a while be sure to turn them over. Once they are dark green and are still firm with a fork but it slides off easily, then remove them. Repeat the process until all stalks are cooked. Should take only five minutes or so.

The next meal that we had, I made a quadruple batch, because of a few reasons...one: Mike needed leftovers for work, and two: He loves this meal so much, we usually blow through the leftovers within two days. Another reason I made so much was to use up the milk that I bought. Lately the milk we purchase either goes bad within a couple days, or we buy it, use what we need but have leftover and we never seem to use it up, and once we do need it, it's become lumpy and gross. So this time, I cut corners and used the entirety.

Here's the recipe: Cheese Soup

1 cup chopped carrots (I use as many as I want. This time, our carrots were bad)
1/4 cup chopped celery (I use as many as I want)
1/4 cup chopped onion (I used a whole onion)
1/4 cup chopped potatoes (I used as many as I wanted)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth (You can use bullion cubes and water. For a large cube the ratio is 1:2)
2 cups Milk
1/4 cup flour
paprika
1 cup cheese (American or cheddar) {The more cheese you use, the cheesier it is}

Place all vegetables in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender. Combine milk, flour, paprika and add into broth. Stir until thickened. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve hot.
*Note: Be sure to keep stirring when you add the cheese. The cheese tends to fall to the bottom, burn or it tends to clump together and it makes for an interesting texture


Last night, I decided to make some Pumpkin bread...I have a bread pan, but apparently, it's too small compared to the ones the Irish use... =)
I mixed the batter and put too much into my pan, and had to pull out my brownie pan to use up the remaining batter. When I went to check the bread in the oven after twenty minutes or so, the batter inside the bread pan was rising and it looked as if it was ready to boil over. So I placed a cookie sheet underneath the rack...it's a good thing I did too! When it was time for me to pull out the brownie pan batch, the bread pan had boiled over, down the side, onto the rack then falling onto the cookie sheet. As soon as the oven door opened, our fire alarms went off. The cats freaked out, of course, and we opened up windows. The alarms calmed down within a couple minutes, so it wasn't that bad...and there wasn't any smoke that I could see.

Here's the recipe: Pumpkin Bread

1 large can pumpkin (I didn't use Libby's because I couldn't find it, but I used organic pumpkin)
1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (I did not use this!)
1 cup raisins (I did not use this!)

Mix together pumpkin, melted butter, water and eggs. Blend in baking soda, flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts and raisins. (I didn't blend with a mixer, I did this all by hand.) Place batter in a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until top is golden brown.

The bread is actually very moist and yummy! I'm not a huge fan of walnuts or raisins, and neither is Mike, hence why I didn't add them into the batter, but I am sure that it's just as good if you were to add them in.

The smoke in Colorado Springs is still pretty bad once in a while, which my allergies can attest to. I'm taking loratadine almost every day, and it's not really helping with the smoke. So I am praying for some rain!

Anyways, this is the first day Mike has off for a week, and we are working on Quicken, the spa, and more today, so with all of that said, I will write again soon.

Until next time!

Crafts and More!

Good morning everyone!

Sorry, once more, for not writing often! I guess this is as close to each day as I'm going to get it seems! Things have been super busy, and then there have been days of just vegetating! So now, I have the time before my day explodes with things for me to do!

Last time, I mentioned that I was going to buy some blackout curtains for the master bedroom so Mike could sleep in more when he works evenings. I did buy some nice long ones that match the paint in the room, and they do work! It's significantly darker in that room now! I think the first couple nights were tough for me to get up early, because the room was still dark, and my brain was telling me that it was still dark outside...so not the case!

I also bought a small hand vac so that I could clean those places on the stairs that my vacuum couldn't reach...I haven't tried it yet because it had to charge. So, I will be giving it a test drive today! Yay! I hope it works!

The only new meal that I have made this last week, because Mike and I have either gone out to eat, or it's been leftovers, is a salmon meal that we tend to have often as well. Unfortunately for Mike, it was only me who got to savour this meal...(He was working evenings).

Here's the recipe: Oven-Baked Salmon with Brown Rice

Place a long strip of foil (just enough to wrap the salmon in) Place the salmon in the middle of the sheet. Add some butter on top (depending on the size, it can be anywhere from a tablespoon to three), some garlic powder to taste, parsley to taste, lemon juice to taste, and Parmesan cheese to taste. Wrap the salmon by folding the ends into the center. Place on a cookie sheet and put into the 350* oven for 35 minutes or until done. Cook rice according to instructions. When fish is complete, unwrap and place on plate, add more Parmesan cheese if desired.


Last Friday, I ended up scrapping my knee at boot camp. I'm glad that I had the weekend to heal because today's class we did a lot of kneeling push-ups...that's ironically, how I scrapped my knee last week! My knee slipped off the mat and skidded across the blacktop...Yay for battle scars!

I went to Brandi's house last week to workout with her, but the wind was so crazy that we decided to skip our run and just do a craft day. She helped me with the blanket that I was making for Mike. As we were making it, Brandi's adorable son, John, kept laying on the blanket because the fleece felt great on his skin! He also kept using me as his personal playground and chair. That kid cracks me up; love him!

So when Mike got home later that day, I made sure to give him the blanket. He didn't know what was in the bag that I left it in, and once he pulled it out, he was very happy with it! Too bad that it's fleece and it's summer now! But I think we'll end up using it eventually. The weather has been pretty bipolar and now that we have so many fires in the state, it's been really hazy and my allergies have been super bad because of all the smoke that has been blown into town. I hate allergies!

I really enjoyed making this blanket, that I may end up making even more! Christmas ideas, perhaps? It was pretty easy to do too, and there was no sewing involved!

A couple days ago, Mike got our mail, and the item that I had been fighting the HBO store for, had finally made it's appearance! I opened it, and sure enough, that was the missing key chain. I gave it to Mike, who placed it onto his keys, but it was big and bulky, though he likes it a lot, we have to come up with a way to make it work.

The key chain is from a book series that he and I both really enjoy reading, and they made it into a HBO series. From what we keep hearing, the series is amazing! It makes us wish that we had the channel to watch it, but we both know that we are going to buy the series once it's available.  So the story behind the key chain is this: I saw a promotion on the site for a free key chain on an order of $40 or more. So I knew that I would have no issues finding that much to buy and give Mike. (This was one of those pick me up/thinking of you gifts). I ended up ordering him a shirt, a stein and the total came out close to $50. The key chain appeared in my cart, so I sent it. A couple days later, I got the box, but the key chain wasn't in there. I called and they told me that my order was actually two cents short of making the promotion, but they didn't think there would be any problems in sending one to me because of the difference being two cents. So the rep placed a request to have it sent to me and told me that I should expect a phone call within two to three days. So I waited a week...no call, no key chain. I ended up emailing them to find out what was going on. I told them what the first csr told me, and the response I got was that my order wasn't $40, so I wouldn't get it. I emailed back asking a ton of questions, and asking the same questions again, because the girl didn't touch any of my questions before. She replied telling me the exact same thing as the first email she sent to me. At this point, I had to calm down because I was so annoyed with them. The next day, I called and politely asked for a supervisor. Since I worked in a call center before, I know how miserable it can be, and I have never been rude or mean towards anyone who works in a call center. The girl opened my file, and transferred me. Once I was transferred, I explained everything from the beginning and including the frequent conversations with the previous csrs. The woman apologized multiple times and told me that she doesn't understand what the issue was. The two cents was never the problem, and why the second csr was not helpful, made this woman feel very humiliated. She told me that it looked as if the online ordering system had a bug, that I was supposed to get the key chain and that it had discounted my items in the cart, so she told me that she'd send the item to me. The one that was in the promotion was no longer available, so she asked if I'd like a different one sent to me in it's place. I told her that was fine, picked one out, and she mailed it to me, free of charge.  Long story, and most people who think that it wasn't worth it, but hey, it wasn't for me, and I knew that Mike would really like it, so I fought for it...and won in the end!

I've been looking for a new hairstyle to try, but I'm not sure in what I want to do. I might just stay with what I've had this past year, but I feel like I want to mix things up a little bit. Any suggestions?

Well, I think that's been it for now. I'll make sure to update the blog as soon as there is something more to write about. For now, I better get the house in order, cut down some rather tall weeds that have grown faster than the "grass" that doesn't exist in the yard before our neighbor calls code enforcement again, like he did two years ago. I might even clear out a section of the yard for our vegetable garden, but I think that depends on how motivated and focused I'm going to be later.

Until next time!