Pinterest = Obsessed

Once again, I have been failing miserably with keeping my blog updated. Boo! Yes, I have been busy this fall with trips and going to football games I have a new obsession I can blame....

Like so many of you, I spent an unthinkably large number of hours and minutes each day looking at the cyber world of Pinterest. I frequently "pin" items that I haven't gotten around to making/trying/etc, but when my sister was home over Thanksgiving weekend, we helped my parents decorate their tree and house for Christmas and while we did, we made several recipes I had found on Pinterest, so I wanted to share the results. I have seen a few friends sharing on their blogs some Pinterest successes. I wish there was a way to mark on Pinterest that you have completed something!

Here's my sis decorating the tree....

And here's the mantle...

Here's what we made that day....

1. Homemade Pretzel Bites

Verdict- We didn't loooooove them, but I would probably make them again; especially since I have more Rhodes Rolls in the freezer. We all liked the cinnamon and sugar ones better than the parmesan, but I expected it to be the other way around. The sweet sauce was okay but the cheese sauce was pretty gross. My overall score = 6.

2. Chicken Pastry Puffs

Verdict- These were better but again, not my favorite thing ever. Kind of bland....maybe would be better with green onions or some spice added? My overall score = 5.

3. Buffalo Chicken Bites

Verdict- My dad thought these looked good, so we made them and I got my first experience of using Panko, an Asian breadcrumb. I would make these again and they are relatively low-calorie, which is always a bonus. My overall score = 7.

Other recent Pinterest experiments.....

My mom hosted bunko in November so I made just a couple sweet things for her to have there. I had these at my bunko group in November, and acorns too, which were apparently a big hit. Fyi, the cookie gets soggy after a few days.

I made a wreath I found on Pinterest for a decoration this fall. It was fairly easy, just more time consuming than I realized it would be. And, it was cheap...yea! I bought a $3 wreath at Michaels and then used scraps of fabric that I had at home. I forgot to take a picture of it and apparently didn't pin it to my board, but it turned out pretty cute.

Last week, I made these Homemade Butterfingers to take to work and people liked them. I wasn't wild about them for how much labor was involved and I'm pretty sure I didn't get the candy corn melted enough. They had the flavor of butterfingers, but the texture of a Baby Ruth.

Another Pinterest find I recently brought to life was something my friend Sarah shared that she had found on Pinterest and made. It's roasted broccoli, which I have heard of doing before this, but never actually got around to doing. I left out the pine nuts and squeezed too much lemon juice on after, but I'll definitely make this again. Love how fresh it is!

Okay, that's all I can think of right now to share, but am loving trying some new things! Have anyone found anything on Pinterest that they are wild about?!

God loves us and therefore created The Rotisserie Chicken

Monday night I picked up a rotisserie chicken on the way home from work and some salad stuff and it has totally rocked my face off all week! Can't beat it for a $5 purchase. I bought carrots, tomatoes, onions, an avacado and a hard-boiled egg, and made some great salads the last couple days with added protein from the previously mentioned bird. Tonight I made some chicken quesadillas (is there anything easier?!). I love how many things you can do with them and they're still pretty healthy. Cheers for easy, quick and healthy dinners as we welcome in some nicer weather and don't want to spend evenings cooking in the kitchen! :)

Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers

I tried another recipe last week off of http://www.skinnytaste.com/; which is where I found the recipes for both the Chicken Parmesan and Zucchini Sticks that we loved. This was a recipe for Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers and is basically a twist on beef and rice stuffed peppers. We thought these we maybe a little bland but not bad. I would probably add some sort of spice if I made them again. They were definitely really filling and pretty low calorie, which is a plus. If green peppers are your thing, then you would probably like them!

Something new....verdict = Tasty

I've been wanting to try some new recipes lately and ran across this recipe for Chicken Georgia on another blog. If you like mushrooms and onions, you might like it. :) I cooked it for my dad when my mom was at her monthly bunko group, as he is on Team Mushroom with me and my mom wants nothing to do with them. Pretty tasty.

WW Chicken Parmesan, Baked Zucchini Sticks and Diet Coke Cake

Tonight I had my parents and cousin over for a Valentine's Day Eve dinner. I have been pretty into trying some new recipes lately and had stumbled across a few Weight Watcher ones on Skinny Taste and based off of tonight, I'll be trying more from it!

I made Baked Zucchini Sticks and they were AWESOME! I like zucchini but get sick of fixing it the same way and this was a really nice change of pace. My sister has had them before and had said they were tasty- turns out, she was right. I would definitely recommend them!

For the main course, I fixed Baked Chicken Parmesan and LOVED it. It is by far the best WW recipe I have ever tried. We had a hard time believing that it was low calorie, but I guess the whole not frying it thing helped. I'll definitely be making this again. I served it with a bit of spaghetti but definitely didn't even need that.

For dessert I made Diet Coke Cupcakes. I wanted to make chocolate ones but didn't have a chocolate cake mix on hand, so I did yellow cake and used leftover chocolate frosting from the last cupcakes I made. This is not my favorite low-fat dessert but the cake was really soft and the frosting helped. I'll be taking the rest to work tomorrow for Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!!! xoxo

Merry Christmas in February!

My aunt, uncle and cousin in Colorado gave me a Penzeys giftcard for Christmas and I just placed my order. SO excited! If you haven't been to a Penzeys (it's a national company, you should check it out, or even look online. It's an awesome spice store with all kinds of stuff. Today I used to my giftcard to buy poppy seeds (I have a recipe to try called Poppy Seed Chicken), black peppercorns, Old World Seasoning (which they claim is their lower salt answer to Seasoning Salt, which I frequently put on my cooked broccoli), Pasta Sprinkle (says it's good to put on pasta or chicken too!), and I got some Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon (how exciting is that?! the website said it's super strong cinnamon and perfect to use when cinnamon is the main flavor- like with cinnamon rolls). With the giftcard, they also gave me some dried minced garlic which is awesome. I've used it a couple times and would recommend it. Thanks Colorado family! I'm excited to get cooking with some different flavors!

WW Chicken Pot Pie

As I'm awaiting the snowfall tonight (seriously, I can't believe it's gonna snow again!), thought it seems like a good night to make this Weight Watcher dish that I think is pretty good. Here's the recipe if you wanna give it a try:

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

1 tsp butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. dried thyme, crushed

1/2 tsp. table salt (more to taste)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 cup canned chicken broth

3 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk, divided

Reduced-fat crescent roll dough, undivided

Preheat oven to 375' F. Coat a 10" round shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Coat a large pot with cooking spray, add butter & melt over medium heat. Add onion & mushrooms and cook, until tender. Stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Stir in paprika, thyme, salt & pepper. Add vegetables, broth and chicken. Cover & simmer 15 minutes.

In a small cup, combine flour & 1/4 cup of evaporated milk, stir into chicken mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly for approximately 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup evaporated milk & cooking until mixture is slightly thickened approximately 2-3 minutes more.

Spoon chicken mixture in baking dish. Bake approximately 15 minutes. Serves 6.

Super Bowl Weekend....and new (to me) recipes!

This weekend FLEW BY! That could be largely associated with the fact that I worked Saturday, went to the gym Saturday and Sunday and spent most of the rest of the time at my parents' house.

Friday night I went to see "No Strings Attached" with a few friends. It was cute. Natalie Portman was funny- who knew she had that in her?! More vulgar than I was expecting for a little romantic-comedy but still a movie I would recommend.

I cooked dinner Saturday evening for my parents and cousin and tried a couple different recipes. I found this Laughing Cow Chicken recipe on Cara's blog. I LOVE Laughing Cow cheese and finding new ways to use it. So low in calories, but really tasty with crackers, pretzels, veggies, etc. I love trying new recipes and while not my favorite, would recommend you give it a shot. I also had made a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake Friday after work that I found on a blog of a friend of a friend. I made it to have a little dessert Saturday night, but ended up giving some to my friend's kids who shoveled my driveway last week as a thank you and then took the rest to work Saturday. You could say it was a hit. Definitely recommend it next time you want some serious chocolate!

Yesterday brought the SUPERBOWL! I went to my parents' house for the game. One of their friends, along with my cousin and my friend, Sharee, joined us. Sharee decided to cheer for the Steelers "cause she thinks their coach is cute and probably nice" so I got onboard with that plan....before realizing K-State's Jordy Nelson plays for the Packers. It was fun though since the Steelers' colors are black and yellow and there just so happens to be a song right now with that title.....so, for the majority of the game, you could hear us singing, "Black and yellow, black and yellow....". It turned out to be a close game, which is fun.....but I was a little disappointed with the commercials. :( I liked the Doritos ones the best....especially when the guy licked his co-worker's cheesy fingers. INAPPROPRIATE!!!! :)

Some of the biggest talk post-game is about how Christina Aguilera flubbed up the lyrics for the National Anthem. REALLY Christina?!?!?! I know some people think it's harsh to think she should sing it correctly, but I'm sorry....if you're going to be on national TV and it's the biggest professional sporting event of the year- YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T MESS IT UP! I know if they ask me to do it next year, I'll nail the lyrics!

Of course the best part of the Superbowl (well, for most girls) in addition to the ads, is the snacks! Sharee brought over two dishes, including a new recipe for a "Hot Seven Layer Dip" which was really tasty, as well as some BBQ weiners. Mmm. My mom also made a bunch of stuff (of course) and we ended up with a good variety of stuff.

Sharee and I got festive by dressing in our team's colors. Too bad for the Steelers I picked them to cheer for....as that usually doesn't tend to work out for whatever random team I pick. She even painted her nails in team colors!

Here are a couple other pictures from the evening....

As promised, I made my first veggie pizza, and it was pretty good too. There definitely was not a calorie shortage. I worked out hard yesterday in preparation and actually just hit the gym tonight after work. Whew! Getting back on track today after a treat-filled Sunday! :)

At the current moment, I am watching "Glee!" from last night and just made a Weight Watcher Chicken Pot Pie and I will share the recipe later (tonight hopefully). I made it once last winter when we had a chicken pot pie cook-off and I thought I posted about that, but I can't seem to find it. Oh well, I think it's post-worthy even if I have before. Low calorie and tasty!

Weekly Wrap-Up

This week could largely be summarized by "brr!" and "snow!". I am trying to stay positive about the snow, but man, it's tough! I finally went to the gym yesterday morning after not going M-W, it felt good to go, but the temperatures are so crazy. On the way homefrom the gym, my car read -11 at 6:30 and it warmed up to a balmy +23 degrees on the way home from work....who else is ready for spring?! I have logged quite a bit of couch time this week and will have to report on how my resolutions are going, as some of them (watch less TV) took a hit during my hibernation! One BIG task that I did accomplish was that I ordered pictures from my sis and my Australia/New Zealand trip this week. Took me quite awhile to pick which ones I wanted!! Excited to get those in an album!

On an upnote, I am chipping away on my Pantry Project 2011 and getting more and more room in my freezer and cupboards! Hooray!

One nice surprise this week was that my friend's kids shoveled my LONG driveway while I was at work Wednesday! These are the same kiddos I referred to last weekend....in my head I was thinking, "It will be good for me to shovel....good exercise." But, I'm not going to lie, I was really excited to see that snow gone when I got home. Oh yeah, for all of you "snow day" people- the hospitals NEVER have snow days. Turns out, people still get sick even in crummy weather!

Things perked up yesterday when I went to my parents' house for dinner and my mom had made her homemade scalloped potatoes. SO GOOD! It's her mom's recipe and a treat we only have it seems like every few years. Made my day!

In a bit I'm going to meet friends and go see "No Strings Attached". Looks cute and who doesn't love Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher?!

I'm working tomorrow during the day and then going to log some time at the gym as I'm trying some new recipes at my parents' house tomorrow night (more on that later!) AND looking forward to watching the Superbowl (okay, let's be honest, the commercials) on Sunday. I amtaking a veggie pizza to my parents' house for the game and PUMPED about using my new food processor that I got at Christmas (first time use!) to chop veggies for it. I've actually never made this recipe, but it makes me think of my college roommate Katie because she introduced me to it our junior year of college. She made it to take to the K-State game at Nebraska that we road-tripped to and I thought it was the BEST THING EVER! Shockingly, I have never made the popular recipe but excited to try it.

Hope everyone has a warm weekend with family and friends!

This dinner is brought to you by: Jenny!

My awesome friend Jenny gave me a pre-made bean soup mix in a mason jar, including the spices, and tonight seemed like the perfect winter night to use it. Add a piece of cornbread and it made a great warm meal! Thanks J-Bomb!! You're the best! :)

Step #1: Admire the pretty beans in the jar.

Step #2: Rinse the beans off in a colander...

Step #3: Cook the beans in the microwave covered in water for 15 minutes.....

Step #4: After rinsing the beans again, put them in a pot, add 8 cups of water, the spice packet and a can of diced tomatoes and you will soon have a million servings of soup!!

Step #5: Enjoy! :)

Chicken Spaghetti Cook-Off 2010!

Some of my friends at work decided that we should have a chicken spaghetti cookoff this fall. They also decided that we should have it at my house....I said that was fine, but that I didn't want to compete....wouldn't be fair since I would win. :) Just kidding!

I was in a contests of sorts last spring for chicken pot pie...it wasn't as official as this set up though! This cookoff involved a ballot box and voting- very official! A few other folks brought over some salad, some others bread....and I made a few desserts. Needless to say, there was plenty of food! Congrats to Kristen for her victory; her chicken spaghetti involved some Velveeta and rotel. There was already some discussion sarted for the next cookoff...chili this winter! Mmm!


Leslie, one of the cooks, dishing up some pasta!!


The whole gang....

Sharee, aka "Peachy" and me, counting up the votes....

The peanut butter fudge bars, banana-sour cream cake and carrot bars...

The day my parents bought pork chops at Sam's.....

My mom casually mentioned that my parents had went to Sam's this weekend. She said they happened to get a "good deal" on some pork chops there. Well, if you have ever been to Sam's, you understand that they sell in bulk. And lots of it. I think my parents forget they don't have 18 children. Whoops.

My cousin Jennifer recently moved here from Denver and I mentioned we were grill some pork chops at my house tonight for dinner so she should join us. I had no idea what I was promising. Jenn came over and shortly after my parents show up with the better half of a pig. Holy moly. Their idea was that we would have dinner tonight and then all have leftovers. Granted, my dad didn't grill all of them (some were saved for the freezer), but it was slightly overwhelming and I think Jennifer was like, what kind of family do I have in Kansas?!


In addition to the chops, I grilled some veggies and we had baked potatoes. Turns out, we needed a spare plate for the chops....what a mess! We discussed how in fancy restaurants, they give you a nice little side for plate for bread or salad. Apparently when you eat at my house, you get a Pork Plate since all of our pork wouldn't fit on the main plate. Geeze!







Anyway, thanks for dinner Dad (tonight and for the rest of the week!). Welcome to Kansas Jennifer and good luck starting law school tomorrow (pictured below with her first day of school picture)!

Old friends, new recipes and the French Press!!

This weekend I had a few friends from grad schoool over to my house for dinner. Out of the four, only one of them had seen my house since I moved in last summer. We had a blast. Not much that I love more than having some of my favorite people over, sharing a meal and catching up. It had been quite awhile since all five of us had gotten together and I'm so glad it worked out for everyone to come over.

My friend Gena offered to bring dessert and said she was gonna whip up a key lime pie. And did she ever! It was SOOOOOO good! She said the credit goes to a Betty Crocker recipe. So, since she was making something light and sweet, I found a recipe for Tequila-Lime Chicken on the super popular Pioneer Woman website. That woman knows what she is doing! I would highly recommend it! So, to round things out, Maha looked up an amazing Corn, Avacado and Tomato Salad on Paula Deen's website....really tasty! Leah and Teresa completed the meal with some wine and it all went together really well.

Gena and her beautiful pie!

To finish off a delightful evening, my friends taught me to use a French Press that my friend gave me. As a non-coffee drinker, I have not had much interest in learning how to use it, but they were VERY excited. My friend Amanda that gave it to me also had given me some Caramel Creme coffee from World Market. Again, all these coffee drinkers were VERY excited. I took a couple sips and so badly wanted to like it, but no luck.

Maha getting things started with the coffee....

Brewing....

Me wanting so badly to like coffee.....guess I will be sticking to Diet Coke for a vice.

I was super glad to spend time with these girls and look forward to doing it again! :)

Me with Leah who I lived with for a year after we graduated from KU....
With Gena who had baby Lydia in December....

Maha and Teresa.....Maha just got a new apt by the Plaza in KC and Teresa is getting married in November. Lots to celebrate!

With 3 of the 4 ladies...we figured out the self-timer! Ta-da! :)

The Month of Linds!

Yep, people....if you didn't realize this, May is technically "The Month of Linds", as in one of my bff's Lindsay's birth month. Her birthday was yesterday so I went to Wichita Friday to celebrate with Linds and a few other friends.

Since I see that Molly just posted about the evening, I will refer you to her blog so you can get the scoop. :) All 5 of us that got togehter have a blog, so I had had to laugh at one point during the cooking class we took when everyone had their camera out. Thanks for a fun time girls! Happy Birthday Lindsay! Enjoy the rest of your month!! :)

My fellow bloggers with their camera out and ready to capture the moments...