Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Get inspired! Lonny Magazine

Lonny Magazine is an online magazine that was recently launched! Check it out! With the click of a finger you can get inspired! It even has links throughout it to take you to where you can purchase the item. A lot of the items are out of my reach right now with our budget but there are some things i could work with (or go on my one day list! hehe) it definitely gives me ideas of what i want to do in my own home! The photography is lovely.




Saturday, October 24, 2009

I love headboards..is that wierd?

I don't know why but i just love headboards..and the statement they can make in a room! They are more than part of the bed..some can even be considered artwork! check out some of these lovely headboards that i like to look at.







I've always wanted to make my own fabric covered headboard.. it's on my to-do-list. :) This site gives you step by step instructions!

 













hmm....................
i love headboards..and chalk boards..but not sure about a chalk board head board.
i have a hard enough time trying to forget my to do list when going to bed!!
but i suppose you could be like ahaaa! i thought of something i have to do..honey..pass the chalk! haha.



Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Chicken Cordon Bleu and Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

I first saw this recipe on pioneer woman's tasty kitchen and thought i would try it out! I did it a little different just cause i'm a rebel like that. (i think i've read that same line on every foodie blog out there.) but seriously...i just go with it.




Ingredients
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - The thinnest you can get them the better! i'm not one to use one of those hammers in the kitchen. it ended badly last time i tried....hehe.
6 Slices Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly (or swiss like it usually calls for. i don't care for swiss)
6 Pieces of Ham, Thinly Sliced
1 Cup Italian Breadcrumbs (I used regular and added salt pepper garlic powder-eyeball it)
2 Eggs
2 TB Water
Olive Oil
2 TB Corn Starch
1/3 Cup Flour
Toothpicks (careful for toothpicks falling and waiting on the floor to injure you.)


Potatoes first: Start chopping.



place in foil lined baking dish. pour olive oil in mix around..add salt pepper and garlic powder (or fresh if you have it)



Bake at 375 degrees. 30 minutes or so (be like me and forget to put a timer on.) i just threw it all in together. easy.
Remove the foil when they are soft enough for you and if requested by husband put cheese on top and let them crisp up. (any type of cheese.. i like the mix of the mozzarella and cheddar all together.)


Set up a work area! Plate with the ham and cheese on it.
Plate with the raw chicken.
I used the chopping board i used to slice the ham and cheese to roll up the chicken on.
I'm pretty sure i didn't do this the official "chicken cordon bleu" way....but oh well..Place the chicken down then ham then the cheese..roll from top to bottom. Pierce with as many toothpicks as you need to hold it together. i used two on each..seemed to be fine.




Beat the 2 eggs in a small bowl. add 2 TB water.
In another bowl mix cornstarch and flour.
On a plate pour out and mix your breadcrumbs and preferred spices. (salt pepper garlic for this one)


Important part! Dip Chicken in egg...cornstartch mix...egg again...lastly breadcrumbs.



Place in baking dish.
You could spray it with butter spray but i just used some olive oil on top.



bake 375 Degrees for 35-45 Minutes. Cut a slit in the chicken to make sure it is done. juices no longer pink. Remove all toothpicks.




enjoy!!


Our First Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Today started off like most days lately...cold! but i warmed up once i threw on the fuzzy pink robe my mom gave me when i firs got married. i look in the mirror now when i'm holding sophia and i see my mother. totally. she wore a light blue robe all through my childhood..it must be like a mom staple. sophia loves it though its so snuggy she cuddles even more with me when i have it on haha. Sophia decided to wake up at 5:30 am this morning..lovely. of course at first i was like ahhh....."darn it"..but as soon as i walk into her room and see her throw her arms up and go mamaaa...its over...i love it! she makes me smile even when i don't want to. and into the bed with mama and dada she goes!


besides the early wake up call...today started off somewhat smooth. not. my deodorant broke off as soon as i opened it.. and flew under my dresser. of course. i tried and failed to get sophia down for her morning nap.. daddy woke up from his nap (he was up at 5:30 with her.)..and he got her down his first try. of course! but then he made it all better cause he came downstairs..saw me working on my computer and turned on the romance on demand music channel...for some reason it was all in spanish. haha. so we slow danced amid the toys covering the family room floor. very romantic. haha. but then when he started to do some so you think you can dance moves i knew it was time to get on with the day!



I wanted to share some photos from Sophia's first trip to the pumkin patch!! it was so fun. it was like a feel good trip. if you haven't done it yet this season do it! I think ben and i enjoyed the trip more than sophia haha. It was an adventure in itself. We missed the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. I asked the lady working there if we could walk and she looked at me like i was crazy...i'm not sure if the crazy look meant of course..or...no you'll get lost..... well.. we just started walking and you would think there would be like one trail...no...there were like 4 trails. we got to a point where we had to choose which way to go and we just started laughing and tried to use our detective skills to see which of the mud tracks looked fresher. (??haha. yeah i don't know??) We finally found the pumpkin patch and the other people after wandering for a while. It was fun though. It didn't really look how we both pictured it...must more..hilly..and dead looking. but it was still nice! sophia was scared at first when we put her down..but then she got the hang of it. I'm not really into the whole Halloween thing. But i do enjoy decorating and doing fall/autumn things! I think all my friends with babies have a pumpkin patch album up on facebook...love it. it was so nice..go do something fun like this with your family!









Sunday, October 18, 2009

Planning Ahead Meals Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas & Alfredo Pasta with Roasted Chicken

Ooo yes. anything with sour cream in the name has GOT to be good. and believe me..these are ahhmaazinggggg! You will enjoy these..and you can make them as spicy as you want. I..can't handle too much chilli powder. and my husband he adds hot sauce to everything anyways so i didn't put too much in. My recipe is a variation of the one i found on SimpleDailyRecipes.

Ingredients:

Chicken Filling:
4 Roasted Chicken breasts***, shredded
1 Can Diced Tomatoes with green chilies (you could use more of both if you want..we don't really love tomatoes.)
1/2 TB minced Garlic
1TB Chili Powder (you could put in less..this had a kick.)
1/2 TB Cumin (spilling over)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/12 TB Flour
1 Cup Chicken Broth

Sour Cream Sauce
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Flour
16 oz Chicken Broth
1 Cup Sour Cream


***roasted chicken - preheat to 350* line cookie sheet with foil. cover chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper. both sides. cook until no longer pink. depends on if you use frozen or not for the time. i set the timer for 30 minutes the first time then checked them.***

While I prepped the chicken for the enchiladas...I made dinner for that night: alfredo pasta with roasted chicken. I also chopped up the zucchini that my sister-in-law gave me from their garden. I wanted to chop them up and freeze them before they got too many seeds. The bags are ready to go for zucchini muffins! sophia's favorite! Now the messy part of that recipe is done and waiting for me. perfect.

while the pasta is cooking chop up two pieces of roasted chicken for the pasta. and shred the 4 pieces of chicken for the enchiladas

you can use any type of pasta. i used large spaghetti. you can make your  own white sauce or cheat this time and use a jared alredo sauce. throw it all together and you're done!

simple and delicious. eat this for dinner and freeze the enchiladas for a meal later in the week!

ok..back to the enchilada recipe.
In a large skillet on medium high heat add shredded chicken, diced tomatoes with chilies, minced garlic; cook for 7-10 minutes. Add cumin, chili powder, and flour; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly getting the spices mixed through. Pour in chicken broth, stir in well.
you want the chicken filling to have enough liquid but not be soupy. Reduce Heat to medium low and continue to cook until meat has thickened and almost dry, stirring regularly, around 20 minutes. (during this time I attempted to put sophia to bed.

she won. i temporarily gave in and let her help me in the kitchen.
she wanted to unload the dishes. great.

You could at this point put the chicken filling in a container and throw in the fridge or freezer for another day! I had people to feed later on in the night so I made them up. (with leftovers for later in the week)

PREHEAT Oven to 375
set up a work area..i used a cookie sheet for easy clean up.
Spray the casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Take tortilla and fill up with the chicken filling..however much you like!

roll em up..place them in your pan. 
Once you've filled the casserole dish set it aside.
Sour cream sauce time! mmmm....yum.
In a medium sauce pan on medium heat, melt butter and add flour.
Whisking flour constantly. cook for 2 minutes. gradually whisk in chicken broth and bring to a boil, whisking frequently.

Remove from heat; stir in sour cream; pour sauce evenly over chicken enchiladas in your casserole pan.


top with Monterey Jack Cheese.

Bake uncovered 25 minutes. While it cooked I chopped up some lettuce to have with it. I kept some sauce on the side to top it off with when i pulled them out.

This dish got rave reviews by 4 hungry (they used the word starving) men!
and i went for seconds..even though i was stuffed. yes.. these are that good! eat the lettuce..it will make you feel better about it in the end. haha.


Saturday, October 17, 2009

You asked...I tell! Blogger Friend Survey.

Posted by The Busy Budgeting Mama

I was asked to do this by a fellow blogger! check her out: In Honor of Design



Rules:
1. You Can Only Use One Word!
2. Pass this along to your favorite bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

The Survey:
1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your hair? Brunette
3. Your mother? beautiful
4. Your father? funny
5. Your favorite food? mexican
6. Your dream last night? sharks
7. favorite drink? IcedTea
8. Your dream/goal? Heaven
9. What room are you in? FamilyRm
10. Your hobby? design
11. Your fear? sharks
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? brother-in-laws
14. Something that you aren’t? melancholic
15. Muffins? Banana
16. Wish list item? Artwork
17. Where did you grow up? Atlanta
18. Last thing you did? 30Rock
19. What are you wearing? AEHoodie
20. Your TV? mounted
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? goofy
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? joyful
25. Missing someone? no
26. Vehicle? Hyundai
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Pottery Barn
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? Hubby
33. One place that I go to over and over? Ikea
34. One person who emails me regularly? Mother
35. Favorite place to eat? Bravo






Thursday, October 8, 2009

jack hammers in the morning... what???

I need to vent..i've moved on from being annoyed to being amused. haha. who uses a jack hammer in the morning??


I woke up this morning..still exhausted. so my wonderful husband said he would make a deal with me. i change the dirty diaper and he'll let me sleep for an unlimited amount of time. deal. (his hatred of changing diapers..works to my advantage at times.) So as i'm changing our sweet little sophia on our bed...i hear a loud beeping noise. oh must be a delivery truck. thats fine. i can handle a beeping delivery truck. it will only last so long. i could fall asleep through that........


but i was wrong..there was a worse noise to come. sudddenly a jack hammer goes off. loud. two houses down. my husband immediately finds it funny and intriguing. he runs over to the  window to check it out. city water guys are doing some work. all i can say is seriously?? seriously a jack hammer?? first of all you need to know our street is very quiet. (besides the dogs.) we barely get cars coming down that don't belong on the street. the hubby chuckles and as he takes sophia from me tells me to imagine the noise as waves..crashing on the beach.... seriously? haha.




i ended up falling asleep though. i was THAT tired. so tired i could sleep through a jack hamer two houses down.


on a more positive note....sophia lovessss the pot roast carrots. one thing about this girl is she does not like vegetables. i try and sneak them in and she finds them. she is so talented that she actually can swallow everything except the vegetable itself which she spits out..everywhere. but the carrots are working!!


as i'm posting this..ben, my husband, is trying to teach her how to clean up. she is going around the room picking up the napkins she shredded. thats better than how he taught her to slap boys. it's funny now.. ...but it will be a very bad thing when the other mothers come up to me complaining that my sweet sophia slapped their little boys. haha.  i don't know why i'm laughing. it's the tired histeria.


***ben took sophia out so i could shower. yay...just went to turn the water on.......nothing. i hate jack hammers.***




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