Is It Happy Hour Yet?

Aaaaand I'm Back!

2010-08-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Ch-ch-check it out!
We're Taking The Plunge!

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

2010-01-10T07:59:00.001-08:00

Good Morning everyone! I've been enjoying a pretty lazy Sunday so far. After getting up at 6:30 this morning to see my favorite Doc off to work, I ~~shopped online~~ did some intense internet research for an hour or so before taking the puppster on a brisk morning walk. This week went by a little slower than I was hoping but it was still pretty decent. I started Monday off right with an always enjoyable Happy Hour with my friend Olivia. We tried to go to one of our favorite HH spots, Panchito's at the Quarry, but left after one drinking when we realized the new owners had broken the cardinal rule of all that is Happy Hour - Don't fix it if it ain't broken. (And don't take away the half off appetizers.) So we popped over to Fleming's for their pretty crucial HH, 5 for $6 til 7. I enjoyed a delicious white cosmo, shared some crab cakes with Olivia... (yes, only $6...and yummy.) I also brought home this bad boy to Justin, who spent the entire night ~~enjoying the peace of not having to answer "Does this shirt make my feet look fat?" or "Want to watch Nick & Jessica on DVD?" or "Does this cheese smell rotten?"~~ waiting by the window to see my car drive in. (again, $6...except for some reason, his didn't come with those two pictured, plump, delicious, crispy, crunchy onion rings...it's a mystery I can't explain. Burp.) I also munched on some blue cheese stuffed olives courtesy of a bartender who overheard me creppily professing my love for them. Later on in the week, I was about to walk out the door and went into the bedroom to say goodbye to Miss Lily...only she was nowhere to be found. Oh wait..what's that over there? Behind the pillow... SURPRISE! How could I leave right then? She's too cute...and my HR Director wonders why I'm always late...you try leaving that adorable little fluff monster every day.

On Thursday night, after realizing, at 10pm, that I'd eaten 1 candy cane, three bites of a MooseMunch Caramel Bar (Thanks Mom...super delish!), 3 5 oreos, a brownie and some FroYo, I decided to give up sweets. It was a great theory at the time. So far, as of Sunday, I've only cheated once. I had about a tablespoon of No Sugar Added ice cream and a small teensy crumb of brownies. I'm okay with that. But I really need to chill out on the sugar. Now, I'll celebrate Cookie Friday (a la Tina) and not Cookie MTWTrF [btw, anyone else feel bad for Thursday, who gets the lame "Tr" abbreviation since Tuesday was a jerk and stole the uppercase T earlier in the week?] If I want sweets late at night, I'll have a cup of hot tea, some gum or a nectarine. Pray for me.

On Friday night, the unthinkable happened...something I'm terrified to admit as I know my mother will read this and immediately bury her head in her hands, cry and wonder where she went wrong in all those years of raising me. While making spaghetti, I made the gruesome discovery that I had indeed, run out of onions. Sweet potato? Check. Butternut Squash? Check. Yellow lid to Justin's nasty cheese in a can? Check. Onions? .... Hello? Onions? .... Bueller? No onions.

Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. I did have red onions in the fridge but no white or yellow onions, two MAJOR staples in my pantry. I had to make do with the cebollas rojas (Your Spanish lesson for the day. You're welcome.) and I didn't notice too much of a difference in taste. But deep down, I knew. And I was ashamed.

I dealt with the shame the only way I knew how. Okay who are we kidding here...this is how I cook every night. And excuse the greaseball look I decided to rock in this picture. I'd just gotten back from the gym.

Yesterday I hung out with my friend Rachelle and her super cute son, Connor, while her husband, Corey, and Justin went to the Army All-American HS Football Game. We ended the night at the Lion & Rose Pub to watch the Jets/Bengals game.

And right now I'm enjoying breakfast
(Leftover egg white omelet from yesterday, d'anjou pear slices, FF cottage cheese and some toast with Polaner) with water and coffee (I obviously refuse to accept the fact that the holidays are over) while DVRed Giada plays in the background.
On the agenda for today...
- Fold the Kilimanjaro of a mountain of laundry that I've avoided all week
- Hit up the gym to lift back and run a few miles
- Take down the last remaining Christmas tree
- Go to Walgreen's to take advantage of this week's specials before they disappear. (My favorites? Free toothpaste & TheraFlu and cheapo Betty Crocker Warm Delights. <---not going to bode too well for my whole "No Sweets" thing.)
- Pay a visit to Justin who is on his first of a month long of Sunday calls. Gross.

Have a great day and a great week!

Are You F-Ing Serious?!?!

2010-01-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

On The Wings of Love? Is that really the cheesetastic-ness that the Bachelor producers came up with?!?! Oh lordy...this season is gonna be good! I'm not going to do a recap because Tara at Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes does an amazing job so I won't even waste my time.

But I do already have my top three favorites...
Ali
Tenley
Elizabeth
And I really liked Ashley and thought she was cute until she came out like a moron in that stupid Flight Attendant get-up. I wonder how long it's going to take me to get sick of all the "pilot" references and cheesy connotations. It's gonna be a super dramatic season! Can't wait!

I Guess I'm Just A Sucker

2010-01-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

I hate doing NY Resolutions because I know ~~there's no way in hell~~ the odds are strongly against my favor that I'll keep them. But I get suckered in every year. [Hence the reason I'm so familiar with my track record.] So here's what I've come up with this year...
- Blog (some) more - I really like blogging and I know family and friends enjoy hearing what I'm up to [Wow, I sound so pompous...but it's true so whatevs] but sometimes it's more of a pain. I'm a brat, I know. So I won't make any promises as to how often I will, but I promise to update more.

- Running - In 2009, I fell in love with running. Something I thought would never in a million years happen. This year I'm planning on doing 2 (mayyyybe 3!) half marathons, a 10K here or there and about a dozen 5Ks. I also set a running goal of 500 miles [a goal that will be pretty easy to attain, I think, with all the training runs.]

- Join the Junior League of San Antonio - I've made good friends here but I'd still like to have more...plus it will hopefully limit the days I stay on the couch all weekend long watching Lifetime Movie Network.

- Keep in touch better - I talk alllll day long at work so sometimes when I come home, I just want to be quiet. [I know, I can't believe I just said that either...] But I miss talking with my friends and keeping up with the action going on back home. I PROMISE to make [and keep!] more phone and skype dates.

- Refinish a few hideous pieces of furniture in my possession - If I can convince Justin that (a) know what I'm doing [which I don't, I'll just figure it out along the way, but don't tell him that], (b) the furniture won't end up pink, and (c) I won't get two hours into the project and get hooked on a Lifetime Movie Network flick and we end up with a half sanded, half painted piece of furniture on the living room floor for 4 months then I think he'll let me channel my inner Martha.

- Stop bitching about how hot it is here - If I also resolve to increase the consumption of Frozen Margaritas, I just may keep this one.

I also have the typical "save more money, be nicer to strangers" crap that everyone else usually has too. So maybe I'll update everyone on my progress or maybe I'll fail at Resolution #1 and not. We'll see!

7 Miles....

2009-09-26T05:14:00.001-07:00

...here goes nothing!

SIX!!

2009-09-19T15:26:00.001-07:00

I DID IT!!

And boy was it NOT.FUN.

I woke up at 6am this morning, grabbed a bowl of cereal and read a book for a little bit. It was still dark out and I'm a fraidy cat so I wanted to wait until the sky was a nice light blue before I headed out.

Finally, around 7:20am, I was dressed and ready to get the show on the road. I was not too pleased when I was greeted by a blast of humidity the moment I walked out the door. BLEH! I was sweating just making the walk to my starting point at the front of my complex!

I drove around to map out a few different route options last night (with Lily!) so I had a general idea where I was going. I've been using Map My Run to help plan my running routes so I wouldn't be running in circles trying to make the mileage. The part of town we live in actually has the name "Hills" in it and the area certainly lives up to its name, so I've found myself on a mapped out run going up about a 35 degree incline before. To avoid that from happening again, I map a run then drive it to check out the elevation. I don't completely avoid all hills but there are some areas more hilly than others. I've found a few flat areas that make the running a bit easier.

I decided to run with my water bottle today mainly because of the humidity. It isn't really an annoyance and I was glad I had it.

Overall, the run went decent. I was V.E.R.Y. S.L.O.W. I know I can run faster I think I'm just worried I'll exert all my energy in the beginning and not be able to finish the distance. That's what I'm most concerned with...finishing. And finishing without walking.

I did have to stop twice today. Once around Mile 2.9 and the second time around Mile 3.3ish. I had a TERRIBLE cramp under my right rib. I ran with it for about a mile, trying to rub it out before I finally had to stop. The same spot bugged me again less than .5 mile later. I don't know if it went away or my mind just ignored it because I didn't have to stop again. (BTW...I only stopped for about 30-45 seconds each time and I paused my workout so it didn't affect my time.)

There is one GIANT hill that you have to go up in order to get back to my apartment and it's in the last half mile. In all my other runs, I include it as part of my running route. After having run 5.5 miles, I wasn't too sure I would be able to get up that dang thing and I didn't want a stupid hill to be what stood in front of me and a 6 mile run. So when tracking my run last night, I decided I wouldn't turn around to come back until I was more than halfway done. That way, I would end right before the hill and walk home as my cool down. Well, I guess I either started to enjoy the run and didn't pay attention or I just didn't realize how far away I was because when I heard the little voice say "Congratulations! You have completed your goal of 6 miles." I was 2 miles away! YIKES!!

Pretty anti-climactic end to a run.

I'm not one to brag (okay, yes I am) but I guess you could say I ran 6 miles and walked 2 for a grand total of 8 miles logged by these feet!

I think I have yet to experience the "Runners High" everyone has talked about. My mom used to run all the time and she asked me, "Do you ever get the feeling that you can just keep on running forever?" "Um. NO." "Okay, you haven't experienced it [The Runner's High] yet!"

This run was TOUGH for me. I was panting and breathing heavily and praying for it to be over. At the end, I tried to sprint and go as fast as possible but my legs felt like spaghetti and I couldn't really go too much faster. It got me a little worried when I realized I have to run more than twice this for the race. I guess that's what training is for.

I like running around my neighborhood because it's convenient but I think for next week's 7 miles (OH MY LAWD HOW AM I GOING TO RUN 7 MILES?!?!?!?) I am going to try out one of the park trails in town. I ran a trail near my house last week and it was so pretty that I really found myself enjoying the run (and also found myself scared shitless and face-to-face with a deer...but hey I guess that's nature.)

I haven't loaded my Nike+ yet but I think my time was somewhere around 1:06ish minutes. Yeah a little slow, but I'm perfectly content with it.

Justin ran with me a couple weeks ago (actually, at one point he walked next to me just to prove a point at how slow I was...but in my defense he has super long legs and can walk really fast) and asked why I was going so slow...I told him I wasn't the least concerned with how fast I finished as long as I finished. And the good news is at least I know I'll run 13.1 miles in 5 hours or less...because that's all the time they give you!

See you next week when I add another mile to the mix!

Stupid Nike+

2009-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

So...I may or may not have finished my 5 mile run on Monday thinking I was the fastest person ever. When I told Justin my super-speed time of 42:55, he said "Great job!" all while still looking a little unconvinced because, well, let's face it - Bea Arthur and I run pretty much at the same pace. (Yes, the dead Golden Girl.) I just thought he was jealous of me and brushed it off.

I was playing around the Nike+ forums yesterday when I read something about calibration. WHA? Supposedly, I was supposed to calibrate my Nike+ to run according to my stride. Yeah. Didn't do that. So, when using my sensor to run, I was actually running less than I thought. When that little voice would say "1 mile completed" it was more like "Not really 1 mile completed. But almost 1 mile completed. In like 2 minutes."

I was really bummed at first, thinking that my entire training had been a sham so far and I was pretty much back at Square 1. Then I realized that the only real long run I've had was 5 miles (but wasn't really 5), which felt awesome and I definitely could have gone farther. All of my other runs have been 3-4 mile runs that have actually been mapped out and I know the distance is correct.

Tonight was technically a night off but I wanted to get this bad boy in order before my long run this week. So I took my handy dandy Nike+ to a local high school track and ran around 4 times (I think it's actually the first time I've ever HONESTLY run a mile around a high school track...)to calibrate it to my running style and stride. I'm going to test it out tomorrow and see if it's still a ~~lying biotch~~ little off or if it's just right.

Which brings me to a question...

When I originally started my training schedule, I had the date of the race wrong. I actually started my 12-week training program 13 weeks before the race. The way the schedule goes now, starting two weeks ago, I run a long run every Saturday, each Saturday building up a mile. I started at 4, then 5 and it goes all the way up to 12 miles the Saturday before the race. Since I was a week off, I thought, "Hey! I can actually add one more week to my training and do 13 miles before the race! Then I'll KNOW I can do 13.1!" But now, since I had my slip-up with not really doing 5 miles this week (more like 4.1 UGH!) I have a decision to make.

Anyone who has ever lived with me or known me for a long time just shuddered, as making decisions isn't one of my fortes. For my run this weekend I can either:

a.) Repeat the 5 miler I "ran" last week and do the 6 miles I was supposed to run this Saturday next Saturday. This will mean I'll only get up to 12 miles before the race. I know this is how the training program is supposed to go, but I'm not so sure how confident I'll be going into a race having never run the distance before. I'm a little nervous about making the jump from 4.2 to 6 miles.
b.) Brush off last week's flub and go for the 6 miles anyway. Hey! It's just 1.8 miles farther than I actually ran! (Which, ~~HOLY HELL IS A LOT FARTHER!~~ come on, is that so bad?) This way, I'll be able to go 13 miles the week before the race.

Either way, I'll need LOTS of encouragement as I run my farthest distance to date this Saturday! This training thing is getting intense!

"Do you always find a new reason to shop?"

2009-09-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

That question was asked by my fiancee last week when I came home with new running shoes. And then was asked again when my new iPod and Nike+ arrived in the mail. And when I bought my new running skirt...well, you can see the pattern.

I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty fun buying all these cool running gadgets. I keep telling myself I'm investing in my health, but I know deep down that I'm not going to run better just because I have a snappy new lime green iPod strapped to my arm [oh yeah, I had to get a new armband, too...oops!].

But seriously, all of my new purchases DO serve a purpose. And I haven't spent BOATLOADS on all my new stuff. Justin's aunts graciously gave me a $100 gift card to Dick's for Christmas and it had been burning a hole in my wallet since then. Everyone says it's very important to make sure you have good shoes. I had been working out in a crappy pair of Avias I got on clearance at TJ Maxx and I realized they weren't going to cut it. I went to Dick's and, after watching me run, the guy realized my feet pronate inward and decided a particular pair of Asics would help with that. Though they didn't have the turbo rocket engines to propel me forward like I was hoping, they get the job done and feel great.

Now onto ~~justifying~~ explaining my reasoning for the iPod and Nike+....

I've been following a blog for sometime, Roni's Weigh about a super awesome woman who documented her weight loss journey and is now training for a marathon. [I followed her through her first 5K, 1/2 marathon and now she's going for the 26.2...definitely inspirational!] She trains with the Nike+ and raves about it.

It's a computer chip you put in your shoe and it transmits your distance, time, pace and a billion other things to your iPod and to you while you're running. I've been running the same 3-mile route for the past couple weeks but I wanted to explore some trails around the area and needed to know how far I had gone. [I figured the park rangers wouldn't be thrilled with me taking Rhonda Honda barreling through their serene trails and besides, the last experience I had with taking her 4-wheeling didn't go over so well...just kidding Dad!] I told the guy at Dick's I was looking for something to tell me how far I'd gone...he explained that the Nike+ was "more for pace" and then tried to upsell me the $300 Garmin Watch...yeah, no thanks. The $29.99 Nike+ will be just fine for me, thank you. Now, I'm not planning on going all Jackie Joyner-Kersey on anyone's ass at this 1/2 Marathon, but I'd still like to beat the group of 65-year old Red Hats who are walking the race.

The Nike+ is made for special Nike shoes that have a slot to slide the chip in. I wasn't going to drop even more cash on the shoes, besides I already had my cute Asics, so I had to figure something else out. After MacGyver-ing a pouch out of duct tape, I secured my Nike+ to my shoes and headed out for my first run with it on Friday night.

And about 3 minutes into my run, it got flung out of said MacGyver pouch and flew into a bush somewhere. Lovely. I did end up finding it but resorted to purchasing one of these bad boys from Amazon:
I really wanted to run with it for my 4-miler so I had to MacGyver-mixed-with-a-side-of-Chuck-Norris a new pouch on Saturday morning. Happy to say, we had success! It's so cool to run and hear a chick say, "Your time is ____. Your distance is ______. You are running at _______ pace." After the run, I came home, plugged the iPod into the computer, logged onto the Nike+ website and it showed me a graph of my first run. I think I can upload them on here but I just have to become unlazy enough to learn how to do it. Until then, live with the image in your mind of me being the fastest person on earth and my graph displaying: ERROR. UNABLE TO REPORT GRAPH BECAUSE RUNNER IS SO BADASS AND RAN TOO FAST FOR OUR SENSORS.

Right.

I've gotten a little too ahead of myself, but the reason for the new jazzy green iPod is because the Nike+ wasn't compatible with my old circa-1965 first generation iPod. Thanks to Sharon, the nice lady at Apple, I had a new iPod Nano on my doorstep two days after ordering, for only $102, including shipping!

Now onto the running skirt...okay, okay, I didn't REALLY need one...but if I feel cuter when I'm running, I'll run faster. At least that's what I told myself when I was at the cash register at Marshall's.

I don't plan on buying anything else for my hobby at the moment, but I'm sure I'll find reasons to buy new socks, sports bras, tank tops, visors, sweat bands, gooey energy crap and, I'm not gonna lie, I may or may not have been eyeing those Energy Jelly Beans at Dick's...

No More Happy Hours For Me...

2009-09-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

NO. I'm not Preggo my Eggo.

I AM however running the 2009 San Antonio Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon!

Yes, I, Shelby ~~Real Last Name~~ Sugarbaker [gotta keep SOME anonymity...don't want any creepy guys following me around...Justin's bad enough! Besides, it's always been my dream last name...oh, Designing Women, sigh], the girl who would cheat on running the mile for the physical fitness test in high school["Yes, Coach Martin, I SWEAR I went around the track 4 times...YES HUH! I DID SO!"], the girl who would go to the gym, hop on the treadmill, run .6 miles and say, "Wow I feel great. Cardio workout's done" is running 13.1 miles.

On November 15th.

And may or may not be absolutely freaking out about it.

I've volunteered at the Va Beach RNR 1/2 quite a few times and a good friend of ours, Rachelle, ran it here last year (4 weeks pregnant!) in some obscene time like 1:46 or something like that. [Yeah, don't look for me in that pace group, you'll be sorely disappointed when you don't see my ~~angry~~ smiling, happy to be running face amongst the speedy runners.] I decided 2009 was going to be the year I, too, ~~lost my mind~~ joined the ranks.

I waited until the last possible minute to enjoy the discounted registration fee (You call $95 DISCOUNTED?!?) and officially signed up on August 31st. I had started a training program a week and a half or so before that but shelling out the bucks REALLY made it official...no turning back now! I don't care if they have to drag me across the finish line, I'm finishing!

Y'all know how ~~lazy I am at updating my blog~~ things in life can pop up and interfere with keeping everyone posted on what I'm up to, but I'm really going to try to update this thing at least once or twice before the actual race. Maybe more. We'll see.

Lots of catching up to do...

2009-05-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

My mom just left from visiting me for the most awesome Mother's Day (extended!) Weekend Ever. In order to update you on all that, I have lots of catching up to do!

Also Worthy Of Coming Out of Hiding....

2009-04-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'll get back to blogging, maybe I won't...but for now, you can stare at a blurry picture of my cute doggy! (And, according to the picture, my awkward looking fiancee.) You're welcome.

Hi, I'm Lily!

Worthy of Coming Out Of Hiding....

2009-04-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Why do I not find out places like THIS exist until AFTER I have moved HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY?!?!?

Whoa...how'd February get here??

2009-02-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Blog slacker here!

I love reading blogs and hearing about what is going on other people's lives...both people I know in person and those I know through the Blog World. Maybe I don't think my life is interesting enough for other people to want to read about it, I don't know, but I suck at updating my blog! It was going to be a New Years resolution to keep up with my blog...obviously, on February 15th, you can see that's holding up real well.

The Doc is on call today and I don't really have any plans, other than to play with the pupster for a little bit...yes, that's how far behind I am in blogging...we have a new roommate! Updates to come!

Happy Monday!

2008-12-08T17:46:00.001-08:00

We're 1/5th of the way through the week! WooHoo! Today went by SO FAST! I looked at the clock and it was 5:00 already! I hope the rest of the week zooms by in the same fashion!

We had a pretty nice weekend...Justin was on call on Friday night and I was beginning to resemble Medusa -- on a good day -- so I got a haircut! I had been nervous about trying a new salon here in San Antonio but knew I had to get the hurr did (after all, the last time I got it cut was two days before This Pretty Lady's wedding...in APRIL! YIKES!)

Speaking of April, that was the name of my stylist at Smooth Lines Salon. I was pleased to read her fab-o reviews on City Search before I went. She was just as cute as she was a great stylist -- I thought it was a little short at first but I love it! I think I've found my stylist for the next two and a half years!

On Saturday I woke up bright and early -- and COLD! It was 35 degrees out! -- to get to the City Manager's 5K Run/Walk. My work has a strong partnership with the City of San Antonio so a bunch of us volunteered to participate to show our support. I was responsible for coordinating the event and everyone said they wanted to walk. I was hoping to run bc I'm training for a 10K in April, but was looking forward to spending some time with co-workers so I went with the flow. So, I roll up in my jeans and hoody sporting my still cute-ly stlyed 'do from April's handywork the night before and see some work buddies wearing running pants and tennis shoes, stretching and warming up!

Had I gotten the memo, I would have done a wardrobe change before the leaving the casa -- and wouldn't have eaten that ~~second~~ third biscuit. I decided to give it a whirl and ended up running the first mile with a co-worker then let her go ahead and finish...the jeans, hair down and keys, camera and cell phone jingling along in my sweatshirt pouch didn't make for the best running conditions. I walked back to meet up with my co-workers who were walking and finished with them.

After the race, I headed to my favorite vegetable market and stocked up for the first time since Thanksgiving! I came home, unloaded my loot, cleaned the house and waited for a sleepy Justin to get home from a loooong night in the NICU. When he got home, he passed out and I watched football until it was time to get ready for my company Christmas party!

The Christmas party was nice -- downtown at the BEAUTIFUL brand new Grand Hyatt. Food was delicious and I may or may not have paid two trips to the pasta bar. We left around 9:00 after using our two "Free Drink" tickets and headed out downtown with my friend Amanda. We met up with a couple other friends and had a great night!

Sunday was spent laying around for the first half of the morning and cleaning and cooking for the second half! There's something so nice about starting the week with the house clean and all the laundry done -- there would be something even nicer about it all if I had someone to do it for me. We had a YUMMY pork dinner (Good Luck with the recipe tonight, Jess!) and then watched all we could bare of the first half of a disappointing Redskins game. Boo.

I'm hoping the week will go by fast! Justin is off this weekend and we've made plans to go up to Fredericksburg to do some Christmas shopping, wine tasting, sightseeing -- and a little more wine tasting! Have a great week!

Not Just For Pancakes Anymore!

2008-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

I found this delicious recipe for Maple Sage Roasted Pork Tenderloin in the November 2008 Cooking Light. I immediately dog-eared the page because I knew I wanted to try it out! I diced up some butternut squash I got on MAYJAH sale at my Farmer's Marketing (Holler at 5lbs for $1!!) and baked them with the pork, roasted some asparagus with garlic and popped an Uncle Ben's in the microwave for 90 seconds and had a DELICIOUS and super healthy meal!

Maple Sage Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
- 1 tblsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp chopped fresh sage (I only had dried...still yum!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (1-lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
- Cooking spray

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and turn to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

The recipe calls for the pork to be baked on a flat baking sheet covered with foil. Since I cooked the butternut squash along with the pork, I baked mine in a casserole dish. Also, after consulting with my mom, I decided to bake mine at 375° for about 35 minutes. This was definitely the most tender my pork had EVER come out...YUM! SO DELICIOUS!

A close up of the pork...

Christmas Is All Around Us

2008-12-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

If you know that song, then you've seen one of the best Christmas movies. Ever.

We've been spreading the holiday cheer at Casa de Margarita and getting in the Christmas spirit! The weekend after Thanksgiving we trotted off to Wal-Mart and got our tree! We spent the next day putting it together...

And then I spent the next three hours tangled up in a seemingly never-ending strand of lights. What resulted from that monstrosity was this pretty ~~little~~ a lot bigger than it looked in the store tree. Trees look sadder without presents beneath them. Since Justin and I have yet to go Christmas shopping, rather than actually go out and complete said shopping, I told him I was going to wrap up things we already own and put them under the tree -- he thought I was nuts.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

2008-12-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't always been a big fan of spicy foods. As part of my "training to move to Texas" I began forcing myself to get used to foods that carry a bit o' zing with 'em. I began throwing (verrrrry finely diced!) spicy peppers into my fajitas and enchiladas and adding a couple dashes of red pepper flakes to my pasta dishes. My tastebuds have been learning well and I'm able to tolerate the spiciness in small to medium doses. This dish is considered a wee tad on the "wayyy too spicy for me" side.

On Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to have a snack ready for Justin when he got home after being on call so he wouldn't be rummaging through the fridge and in my way. I had seen a recipe for an easy take on Jalapeno Poppers and I gave it a whirl! They were super easy and he loved them!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Stuffers
6 Jalapenos, cut in half lengthwise, ribs and seeds removed
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
Approx 2-3 Tblsp Mexican Seasoning (such as Old El Paso)
6 Slices Turkey or Regular Bacon, cut in half

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and mexican seasoning. Fill each jalapeno half with a small amount cream cheese mixture. Wrap stuffed jalapeno with half slice turkey/regular bacon. Bake @ 350° until jalapeno gets soft and bacon is crisp and browned (about 20 minutes).

You All Know Who You Are...

2008-12-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

And this is for you...

Sorry it's so blurry...and a video. I was trying to take a picture of it really fast while in traffic and had it on Video not Photo. By the time I got it switched, he had PED4LLED away. Hehehe.

Luck Be A Lady...

2008-12-03T07:03:00.001-08:00

Who would've thought I would ever have two Guys & Dolls themed posts...certainly not me!

So you all are going to think I am totally weird. You know how they say everyone gets their "15 Minutes of Fame"? Well, I don't want to waste mine. If I'm ever at a big event for work, like a gala or charity function, I steer clear of the television cameras when present. I'm afraid of getting caught on camera or asked for an interview and "wasting" my 15 minutes on something lame. Completely weird, I know. But I want to "save" my 15 Minutes of Fame for something good. What? I'm not quite sure...But I'm hoping I'll eventually come to terms with the fact that I most likely won't be discovered while out dancing at a bar and become a huge singing superstar and have Britney Spears open up for me on my World Tour.

I'm the same way with contests. I don't usually do Lotto Scratch-Offs because I don't want to waste my good luck by winning $1. I don't call in to radio stations because I don't want to win a dumb CD. I'd much rather enter a contest that leads to something big. Again, weird.

Well, I must be getting tired of not ever winning anything because while out to lunch one Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago*, I dropped my business card into a bowl hoping to win a free lunch, and of course forgot all about it. Well wouldn't you know, I received a phone call yesterday and I WON! I am going today to pick up my Gift Certificate for Lunch For Two at Panchito's, a DELICIOUS local Mexican Restaurant! Their portions are HUGE. Our leftovers fed Justin for three days (and anyone who knows him, knows that means they were ENORMOUS portions!)

So maybe I'm getting bold with my luck, but I'm entering another contest!
One of my favorite blogs, Baking Delights, is having a contest and the prize is that big beautiful wrapped up bunch of deliciousness you see! If anyone knows my obsession with ALL things Chocolate (Justin quickly nixxed the idea of going to Hershey, PA for our Honeymoon...sad face!) it's no surprise I couldn't help but enter!

Cross your fingers for me! Maybe I'll bake you something if I win! ;) *We went to lunch with our friends Corey and Rachelle to celebrate Rachelle's AWESOME finish time for the San Antonio Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon....13.1 miles in1:49:32!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?!

Happy December!

2008-12-01T06:50:00.001-08:00

Holy cow! Is it really December already? Today, December 1st, officially marks 6 months since I have lived in Texas. 6 months down...30 months to go!

I have lots of updates to come later, including the result of all my (and my mom's...via telephone) hard work on Thanksgiving Day!

This weekend was pretty relaxing...it was Justin's first weekend off in quite awhile so we planned to enjoy it! On Friday night we fully anticipated going out and hittin' the town but we couldn't seem to get off the couch! We were in bed by 10pm. Sad.

On Saturday we woke up early and ventured out to get our Christmas tree! After looking at Garden Ridge (holy expensive!) We found an awesome tree at Wal-Mart for a great deal! After a disappointing UVA/VA Tech football game (BOO HOKIES), I made cookies to bring over to our Alabama friends Jake and Kayla's house to watch the Alabama/Auburn football game. ROLL TIDE!! Great game and lots of fun! Again, we had intentions of going out for Karaoke that night but fell asleep on the couch watching the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State football game. Oh well! There's always next weekend!

Yesterday we woke up (not hungover! such a great feeling!), made a big breakfast and started put up our Christmas tree! I also tore out all my holiday decorations and got the apartment all decked out for the holiday season! When we were here in April looking for a place to live, we stopped and had lunch at a DELICIOUS restaurant, Tiago's. I received a Buy One, Get One Free coupon in the mail a few weeks ago and it was set to expire yesterday so we went out for a delicious meal...Mahi Mahi Skewers for him and Chicken and Shrimp Fajitas for me! YUM! All leftovers were sent away with him for lunch/dinner while he is on call tonight...back to eating (somewhat!) healthy for a few weeks before I devour amazing Funky Chickens and Plaza Azteca Chimichangas when I go home for Christmas!

Waking up this morning was rough...after no work Thursday and half days on both Wednesday and Friday, I'm not looking forward to a regular-length week! At least I started the week off with a yummy piece of chocolate from the December 1st window on my Advent Calendar Justin bought me! YAY!

Have a great week everyone! Lots of updates with pictures are on their way later!

Turkey's In The Oven!!!

2008-11-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

But more on that later! Now, it's time to relax! Everything is done and just needs to be re-heated when it's time to grub!

Justin is home from a loooooooong 32-hour shift sans sleep. Needless to say he is zonked out and I'm relaxing with a glass of wine!

The main purpose of this post actually has nothing to do with Thanksgiving...

This post is for all my OSLers...I am thinking of you all right this moment, not because it is Thanksgiving and I am extremely thankful for the amazing friends you all are, but because I turned on the TV and saw that this was on...

Memories...I miss you all so much!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

xoxo,
Critter/DogTip/Sherlby Mare/Shel

Update From The Trenches

2008-11-27T05:25:00.000-08:00

How have I fared so far? Well, the good news is that I'm still alive.

The bad news is that it's not over yet. The biggest battle still remains.

I'm finding that Thanksgiving Dinner is a lot easier with my Mom there to guide/do mostly everything and my Dad there to run out to the grocery store whenever we forget anything. He also makes a pretty mean Pina Colada.

Last night had its share of a few "mishaps." I baked sweet potatoes for my sweet potato souffle and for some reason most of them turned white and hard. With the help of a can of yams and a spare sweet potato I was able to pop in the microwave, I was able to salvage enough to make plentyyy of sweet potato souffle.(I haven't put the streusal topping on yet so I'll wait to take a picture.)

I had to run to Target for an extra can of green beans. I got a little sour cream/mayo/cream of mushroom soup happy and needed to soak up some of the goo with more greens in the casserole.

No worries, because I also had to go to Target for sugar and a digital meat thermometer. I was more than thrilled when I discovered I had to go to the store again. Or completely not thrilled.

I managed to get my turkey patted dry and safely into its new little home for the next 14 hours: Shortly after it was tucked into its brine, I realized it's going to be hell trying to get that thing out.

The Bourbon Pecan Tart went without a hitch...I can say that now because we haven't tasted it yet...that's the true test! Before and After pictures... The cute little florally/star I made in the center shifted while baking :( Oh well! (PS: Cute tablecloth, eh Mom? ;) )

Cranberry relish is done and hanging out in the fridge getting nice and sweet! Sidenote...a bunch of my cranberries were mushy so even though I used two bags, I was only able to get about a bag and a half worth of berries for my relish. Picture to come later...

I got the easy ones out of the way last night...today will be the real battle. Stuffing, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie (okay, that's an easy one) mashed potatoes and The Turkey (cringing...) WISH ME LUCK!! Mom, make sure your phone is charged!!

I'll leave you with the war zone that my kitchen turned into last night...note the wine. :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

2008-11-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

Things I Am Thankful For...
   - The best family in the world (I miss you Mom, Dad, Evan and Shugs...and Norma!) who loves me and supports me everyday. Mom...if my turkey stinks you're hopping on a plane and bringing me yours! I can't wait to be home for Christmas!!!
   - The most amazing fiancee who loves me enough to turn a blind eye to my shopping addictions, only slightly roll his eyes when I gush over Tyler Hansbrough and (reluctantly and without too much grumbling) answers the age old question "Which shoes look better with this dress?"
   - The greatest friends I could ever ask for...OSL...I miss everyone! Enjoy each other's company while you're all together and think of me from time to time ;) To those I'll see at Christmas...LESS THAN A MONTH!! And to those who will be elsewhere, like in stupid Georgia or stupid Wisconsin, COME VISIT ME! :) I love you guys!
   - Beautiful sorority sisters that I know I can still count on, years after we've taken our pledge. I miss you girls more than you know! a.o.e.
   - Stores that are open on Thanksgiving Day because I ran out of brown sugar
   - Unlimited cell phone minutes so that I can call my mom with my freak-outs throughout the day without worrying that my minutes will runneth over.
   - The "I Don't Believe In Calories On Thanksgiving" rule I made up last year
   - Oscar Mayer Deli Sliced Turkey Breast that I can slap on some bread and serve to Justin just in case mine doesn't go as planned
   - All things Carolina Basketball including, but not limited to, a 6-0 start, a #1 ranking, ESPN Full Court so I see my Tarheels all the way from dumb Texas, and my other boyfriend.

That was, of course, just a sampling...but remember to stop and take a moment to remember everything you're thankful for today! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Early Bird Gets The Worm!

2008-11-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

…or just gets to panic and freak out about Thanksgiving Dinner a day early!

Since Justin is on call, I’ll begin cooking tonight! I’m going to go visit with some friends tomorrow late morning so I’m going to try to get quite a bit done this evening in order to have some relaxation tomorrow before Justin gets home (exhausted and zombie like after a 32-hour shift in the NICU with no. sleep.).

On the agenda….
- Peel, dice and roast sweet potatoes for Sweet Potato Souffle
- Bake my Bourbon Pecan Tart
- Make Cranberry Relish
- Peel and dice 6lbs of potatoes for mashed potatoes
- Make Sweet Potato Souffle (after the sweet potatoes have cooled)
- Maybe make the Green Bean Casserole (minus the crunchies on top…don’t want them to get soggy!)
- Brine my turkey

I’m going to leave the stuffing, pumpkin pie, rolls, mashed potatoes and broccoli with hollandaise until tomorrow!

My mouth dropped and drool fell onto the ground when I saw the November 2007 cover of Cooking Light magazine. On the front was a DELICIOUS looking pecan tart! I’ve been waiting to try it until now and I’m excited! Here’s the recipe and what it’s supposed to look like….I’ll let you know how mine turns out either later tonight or tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Bourbon Pecan Pie With Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients:
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons bourbon (Plus additional 3 oz. of bourbon, 7 oz. of ginger ale and a squeeze of lime poured over a glass of ice for the chef! ;) )
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 2/3 cup pecan halves
- 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 10 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in pecans. Roll dough into a 13-inch circle; fit into a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray. Trim excess crust using a sharp knife. Spoon sugar mixture into prepared crust.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over tart. I may leave this part out…Justin isn’t a huge fan of chocolate.

Nutritional Information:
(Makes 12 servings. One serving = 1 wedge)
Calories: 277
Fat: 10g
Protein: 2.4g
Carbohydrate: 45.2g
Fiber: 0.7g
Sodium: 156mg

So A Turkey Walked Into A Bar....

2008-11-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday...it only beats out Christmas by a hair, but it's still my fave! I love to cook and fall is my favorite season so it just has "me" written all over it!

Our Thanksgiving dinner hasn't really changed too much over the years. There have been a couple additions and some recipe tweakings, but other than that, I've pretty much had the same Thanksgiving dinner my whole life...and I LOVE IT!!

It's rare if I have any of the Thanksgiving items throughout the rest of the calendar year (except for the green veggies & mashers) so I'm always super-craving everything by the time October rolls around. It takes all my strength to not dive into the first pumpkin pie I see! My favorite feast is only two days away...here's what I'll be serving up!

Pictures and recipes to follow....
Herb Roasted Turkey with Gravy...named James (ask my mom, I name my turkey every year)
Sweet Potato Souffle
Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Traditional Herb Stuffing
Broccoli with Hollandaise Sauce
Cranberry Relish
Yeast Rolls
Pecan Tart
Pumpkin Pie

I've heard from a bunch of different sources that Pinot Noir is a great wine to serve with the Thanksgiving spread. We tried it last year and it was yum, so I'm doin' it again this year! After I pay another trip to the grocery store, we'll be having the Boxcar Pinot Noir. I can tell you that it's very yummy because I snuck into the bottle for a taste...and then it all somehow magically disappeared! Funny how that happens! ;) I don't think I forgot anything! Pictures and recipes to come!

Only Two Days Left...

2008-11-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

Until Thanksgiving!! I can't believe it's here already! This has definitely been the fastest year EVER!

And this will mark the first Thanksgiving I am cooking completely, 100% on my own.... I don't know who is more terrified, me or Justin. I'm concercned with not blowing up the turkey. He's concerned with not getting salmonella poisoning.

Most of my shopping is done. I would be completely finished if I would just learn to listen to Justin...(This is the only place I'll ever admit that! Thank goodness he never reads my blog!) If I recall, the conversation went something like this...

J: You're not going to make a list of everything to get for Thanksgiving?
Me: Pshh...I don't need no list! I've done this shopping trip thousands (okay maybe 23) times before with my Mom...I practically have the Thanksgiving shopping list memorized!
J: Okay. But I'm not going back to the store with you to get the 15 things you forget.
Me: No worries! I won't forget anything!

So now, I'll be going to the store alone to get the cinnamon, evaporated milk, karo syrup, molasses, vanilla extract, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes and wine. (I didn't forget the wine the first trip...I just drank it already. Whoops! But more on that later...)

My mom has given me very extensive culinary training so I'm sure I'll do fine...although I'm sure at the end of the day my kitchen will somewhat resemble a Federal Disaster Area.

To make things a little easier on myself, I'm going to break up the cooking into two days...since Justin is on call Wednesday to Thursday morning, I'll have all night Wednesday to get started on my pies (yes, you read that correctly...PLURAL!) and a few of the sides. When the big day comes, I won't be running around like crazy trying to get everything done...I may even be able to relax and watch the parade a bit!

I hope everyone is as excited as I am!! I'll be posting my Thanksgiving menu a bit later and I'll be sure to post lots of pictures and recipes if I survive the ordeal.

What food item are you most looking forward to on Thanksgiving?

All I Want For Christmas....

2008-11-23T04:43:00.000-08:00

...are these AWESOME Night Vision Goggles!!!
Two seconds after I just posted my "Welcome Back ~~Kotter~~ Critter" post, I flipped to QVC (another guilty pleasure) and my jaw dropped when I saw these bad boys.

This was awesome on so many levels...1) I think this has to be the first time Night Vision Goggles have been presented on any home shopping show. 2) Anything with the word "Stealth" in it...I must have. 3) The brand name is "EyeClops." and 4)I conveniently saw them just in time to add them to my Christmas List.

Cue "Welcome Back Kotter" Theme

2008-11-23T04:19:00.001-08:00

I'm tired of being a Phanton Blogger.
The month of October was ridiculously busy and left little to no time for anything other than work (bleh), gym, wine and sleep. On occasion, I would be nice and make dinner for Justin. November has decided to be a gem and continue in the same manner.

So, I have been completely MIA from my blog world and am ridiculously behind in updating everyone on my life...which I know they have been on pins and needles waiting for.

Besides being busy, another possible reason for my lack of blog motivation may be that I'm not too happy with my blog design. So bear with me...it may look cah-razy over the next few days as I figure things out.

Justin is on a pretty tough rotation for the next three weeks so I'll have more time on my hands...giving me time to get back to blogging...just in time for the Adventures of Cooking My First Thanksgiving Alone (also affectionately known as "Dear Lord please don't let me give my fiance salmonella poisoning") and Christmas! I promise...many updates to come!

New Pumpkin Bread

2008-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

I posted my Pumpkin Bread recipe a little while back. I loved it, it was delicious and it proved that I actually did have some baking ability! I started making them in mini-muffin pans to have around the house to pop in my mouth while running out the door for breakfast or for just a quick snack.

I was playing around in my Google Reader and came across another version on Skinny Food By Amy who got it from Kate at Good Things Catered, who adapted it from The Joy of Cooking. I gave it a shot and am super happy that I did! Below is my interpretation.

Ingredients:
1 ½ C all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (When I first read this, I thought that it sounded like a lot of salt but went with it anyway...I don't eat a lot of salt at all, so next time I'll lower it to ½ tsp)
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (Didn't have any...used a mix of Allspice and Pumpkin Pie Spice)
1 tsp ground nutmeg (See above!)
½ tsp ground cloves (See above...then see above that!)
1/3 C milk (Actually didn't have any! Used 1/3 cup International Delight Sugar Free Hazelnut Creamer...YUM!)
½ tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp butter, at room temp (I used applesauce instead)
1 C granulated sugar (I used Splenda)
1/3 C packed brown sugar
2 large eggs (I used Better 'N Eggs)
1 C pumpkin puree

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Have all ingredients at room temp (I have no patience...didn't do this!).
- Spray 9x5 loaf pan (or muffin tins).
- Whisk together flour, soda, powder, salt and spices thoroughly.
- In a large bowl, combine milk and vanilla
- ~~In large bowl of mixer beat butter until creamy (about 30 sec)~~I added my applesauce in with the milk and vanilla
- Add sugars and beat on high speed about 2-3 minutes
- Beat in eggs one at a time (Again, no patience. I dumped 'em in.)
- Add pumpkin puree on low speed until just blended
- ~~Add flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts beating on low or stirring with spatula until just combined~~ Do you think I did this or do you think I plopped everything together and started stirring?
- Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly.
- Bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (It took me about 68 minutes).

Final Verdict: Absolutely delish! I think this one has replaced my old pumpkin bread recipe. Though I loved the thought of the oats in the last recipe, I think they made the bread a little too dense. This one is a bit fluffier and downright tasty! (You may want to try my less salt suggestion!) Sorry no picture...it looks like the old pumpkin bread, just a little darker due to the whole wheat flour.

And May I Just Add....

2008-11-04T07:37:00.001-08:00

This is the best Google header ever. Ever.

Be A Good American....

2008-11-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

When The Cat's Away...

2008-10-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

...the mice will eat simple dinners not loaded down with potatoes, pasta and tons of bread!

With Justin being gone for the month, I've taken advantage of being able to cook whatever I want for dinner! He's a big pasta, potatoes and bread kinda guy so a lot of what I make for dinner includes at least two, if not all three, of those ingredients. Sadly, I was not blessed with a metabolism the speed of a Lamborghini. I can't eat all the carbs I want and still live a content life, happily strolling along in size 2 jeans. Le sigh. I was super excited for tonight's dinner to be light, major veggie-centered, with no carbs in sight!

I found this recipe in a recipe booklet at the grocery store over the summer. I've only made it once before and Justin loved it! I had an eggplant in the fridge and a couple frozen italian sausages so I thought it would be perfect for a light, small dinner for one. The recipe calls for cheese, but I didn't have any in the house so I figured it'd be fine without it! It is very good with the feta though. I chopped up a lot more veggies than the recipe called for so that, paired with the fact that I also only used one eggplant, made my stuffing a little too overzealous for my teeny eggplants. I made good use of my new ramekins and baked the extra stuffing in there.

Stuffed Eggplant 1 pkg turkey italian sausage (I always get hot, not sweet...it isn't very spicy but has a TON more flavor!)
2 eggplants
1 Cup Reduced Fat Feta Cheese (Didn't have any)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes, drained
1-2 Tbsp Basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Diced veggies of your choice (This time I used zucchini, squash, red & green pepper, onion and mushrooms)
Salt & Pepper to taste (be easy on the salt...the sausage is a bit salty!)
Cook italian sausages over medium/medium-high heat. Cut up and set aside.

Cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp to make a well in each eggplant. Set pulp aside.

Combine veggies (incl. eggplant pulp), garlic, basil (Confession: I was too lazy to dice up a bunch of garlic and basil so I used onion powder, garlic powder, Italian Seasonings and pepper...delish!) and sausage together in a bowl. Fill eggplants. Top with feta cheese.

Set stuffed eggplants in a casserole dish for baking. Don't use a cookie sheet! The eggplant softens and the juices will run out and alllll over the oven. Bake at 360° (random, but does make a difference!) for 17 minutes or until eggplant has softened and feta becomes gooey. I dipped bites in a small side of marinara. Yum!
Confession #2: This is another "Before" photo...to be honest, it pretty much looked the exact same after being cooked so I figured another photo session wasn't necessary!)

Happy Birthday To You ME!!!

2008-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Me! (And Usher and Tommy Hilfigger, who also share the fabulousness that is an October 14th birthday.)

Right now, I am celebrating my birthday by happily floating along and bobbing around in the Gulf of Mexico...hopefully blowing out candles on a cake somewhat resembling this:

Since this is the first birthday I have ever spent without my Mom (Don't cry Ma!), I wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU for being such a trooper back in '84, even though I was almost a month late and weighed 10lbs! (I was worth it, eh? ;) ) Thank you for making my birthday so, so, so wonderful weeks before it even began! I love you and miss you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!! (I get to say it again...because it's my birthday, which legally gives me the ability to do what.ever.i.want. [Lindsey taught me that.])

xoxo

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go...

2008-10-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

We depart tomorrow for our first cruise! And I'm proud to say that, at 8:00pm the night prior, I am already packed, suitcases standing by the door, ready to go....

Okay...so I'm exagerrating a little. Or a lot. My suitcase isn't packed. I haven't decided what I'm bringing yet and my room may or may not resemble this: Anyone who knows me, or even worse, has lived with me (Sorry Mom and CR...but hey, look on the bright side...y'all survived!) knows the act of Congress it takes to get me to decide on an outfit to wear for one night, let alone 5!

Justin came into the bedroom today during one of my earlier attempts to pack and said, "Our cabin is going to be pretty small, so I'm trusting that you will be smart when packing and not bring too many clothes or 8 pairs of shoes to take up what little space we have, like when we went to the Dominican."

.....So cute at that age.

(And in my defense, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who also think it is completely necessary to bring 10 dresses, 3 skirts, 4 pairs of pants, and 12 pairs of shoes for a 6-night vacation.)

So, anyway, I'll be a little absent this upcoming week! I'm not quite sure what to expect on the cruise. I've been getting lots of advice from other past cruisers. All I really know is there will be lots of food (and thankfully, a gym!) I'll definitely give everyone a complete run-down when we get back!

And I'll pack eventually. In the meantime, football and Planet Earth are on television and I just discovered yesterday that we have Picture-In-Picture! Yay!...perfect timing!

Have a great week everyone! And to all who know me, be sure to take a brief moment at some point on Tuesday, October 14th to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (I kid, I kid. Okay, I completely don't kid.)

Love you, mean it!

Weekend Recap

2008-10-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sundays are so bittersweet. They're part of the weekend...but they're the worst part...the end. I love relaxing all day, doing nothing, but then Sunday evening comes around and my relaxation goes out the window once I begin thinking about everything I have to do before Monday rolls around again in just a few short hours.

I definitely needed today to relax. On Friday night, Justin and I hung out around the house for a bit and then headed out to grab some drinks with two friends here. We went to a pretty fun bar up around the Medical Center area. It was a gorgeous night so we sat outside, listened to great music, drank and had a good time!

I was determined to do one thing and one thing only this weekend...lay out. We leave for our cruise in ONE WEEK! (YAY!) and I currently look like I have just spent the summer in Antarctica. So when Justin trotted off to play golf Saturday afternoon, I headed to the pool to catch some sun. Mission accomplished!

We were both looking forward to Saturday night because Justin finally got his birthday present! Back in August, I got him 2 tickets to see Carlos Mencia, one of his favorite comedians, here in San Antonio. Before the show, we headed to T.G.I. Friday's to grab a couple beers with a gift card (Thanks, Mom!)

So then, I drove us to first the wrong venue (Apparently, while taking pictures of the tickets, it never registered to pay attention to the venue location to make sure we ended up in the right place! Oops!) But, we made it to the Municipal Auditorium with plenty of time to spare so Justin let me live. Get this...they have waitresses that bring you drinks at your seat! We definitely took advantage of the service! Crown Royal! Yummy!

The show ended up being awesome! My stomach hurt this morning from laughing so hard last night! Carlos Mencia used to perform a lot in San Antonio years ago when he was first starting out, so he wanted to make this show special as a Thank You. He was paid to do a 45 minute set...and ended up going on for 2 and 1/2 HOURS! Nothing but solid hilarity! It was so fun and such a great night!

Justin is on call today and tomorrow so I had the day all to myself! My Sunday started with me hanging out with John, The Locksmith, who came to fetch my keys out of RHonda. Oh yes, I was full of brilliant moves all weekend long! I spent the rest of the day at the gym, at the mall and in the kitchen (foreshadowing!!).

This upcoming week is CRAZY! I think I have three or four hours all week long that are not taken up by appointments! Busy, busy! But I have a sushi lunch and a Happy Hour (or two!) scheduled. Then, I'm off for A WEEK!! WOOHOO!!!

Have a great week everyone!

YAY!!!!

2008-10-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

So, it is officially Lindsey's and my FAVORITE MONTH!!!!

OCTOBER!! THE MONTH OF OUR BIRTHS! YAY!!!

P.S. This is what comes up when you Google Image "October"....

Coincidencce? I think not.

Who Do I Think I Am, Betty Crocker?!

2008-10-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve been on a baking kick lately, which is surprising since that was usually Lindsey’s deal when we were growing up. I like having portable breakfast-type items around the house so Justin and I can grab them and go in the mornings.

I came across a banana bread recipe a couple weeks ago that looked too easy to be good, but I gave it a shot. I didn’t splurge on buying nuts since I wanted to try it out first. I’ll definitely make it again and definitely with nuts!

Banana Sometimes-Nut, Sometimes-Not Bread
1 ½ Cups Flour
1 ½ Tsp Baking Powder
¼-½ Cup Chopped Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, etc) (I omitted until recipe was deemed worthy of using expensive nuts...hey gotta save the $$ for my wine!)
¼ Tsp Baking Soda
¼ Tsp Cinnamon
¼ Tsp Nutmeg (I added)
1 egg (I used ¼ cup Egg Substitute)
1 Cup Mashed Bananas
¾ Cup Sugar (I used ¼ cup Splenda Brown Sugar and ½ cup Splenda)
⅛ Tsp salt
¼ Cup Vegetable Oil (I used ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce)

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Then combine. Pour into loaf pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 10 Servings....

Calories		121.1

Total Fat		.4 g

Protein		2.8 g

I know, super easy, right? And super good! I love it with my healthier substitutions so I doubt I’ll ever revert to the unhealthier recipe. Gotta save those calories for my wine!

If You Like Pina Coladas Chicken Enchiladas...

2008-10-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week down here in Texico...Justin's Dad and Step-Mom drove in from Virginia (Yes, drove!) on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend with us. We had a great time! I'll post about their visit a bit later.

On Saturday night, we were tired from our day-trip up to Fredericksburg, TX (they drove from Fredericksburg, VA and ended up visiting Fredericksburg, TX!) and didn’t want to go out to eat. So, I volunteered to make Chicken Enchiladas…it wasn’t until everyone was excited about eating said Chicken Enchiladas that I realized I had only made them once and they weren’t too good…yikes!

So, on to CookingLight.com I ventured, per usual. I found three recipes that looked good and combined what I liked from each one until I had a recipe I thought would be yum…and it WAS! So super easy and so super delicious!

Chicken Enchiladas
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Red. Sodium Taco Seasoning (such as Ortega or Old El Paso)
½ pkg of Red. Fat Cream Cheese (I used Neufchatel b/c it’s what I had, but I know some people don’t like it)
1 Cup Salsa
1½ Cans Reduced Sodium Enchilada Sauce(I only used had one can on hand and I was wishing there was a bit more sauce when I ate it. If you only have one can, it’s great! If you have more, use it!)
Approx. 10-12 Tortillas (depends on the size of your dish)
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar or Mexican Blend Cheese
Diced Tomatoes, Red Onions, Lettuce, Green Onion and Sour Cream for toppings

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat a casserole dish with cooking spray.

Heat large skillet to Med/Med-High. Spray with Cooking Spray and add chicken. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes then add taco seasoning (enough to coat all of the chicken). Continue to cook the chicken for about 5 more minutes, until a little over halfway done. Add garlic, onions and peppers to the same pan. Sauté all together until onions become translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

Add cream cheese to the chicken and veggie mixture. Stir until melted and combined. Then add salsa. Remove from heat.

Soften tortillas in the microwave, about 25-30 seconds for 12 tortillas. Spoon a little less than ¼ cup of the chicken/veggie mixture into the center of the tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-down in casserole dish. Continue with remaining tortillas and mixture, tightly packing them together in the dish.

When finished, pour enchilada sauce over the tortilla rolls and top with shredded cheese of your liking. Bake 25-30 minutes, until cheese is nice and melty and starts to get golden brown.

Top with the usual taco-ish toppings. I thought they were awesome...but I drank about 4 margaritas while cooking them so maybe that's why! ;) But seriously, they were so good! And pretty healthy, for chicken enchiladas at least!

Makes 10 Servings....

Calories		324

Total Fat		10 g

Protein		29 g

Monday, Monday....A Day Late

2008-09-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

After a marathon grocery shopping trip over the weekend, I was in the mood to make something new for dinner last night. I ended up making an awesome chicken recipe I found on Made By Melissa. Then I made up one of the best spaghetti squash recipes ever. Both were delicious...soo delicious in fact, we couldn't wait to eat, so the pictures are after we attacked everything like vultures! I'll add the Spaghetti-Squash Au Gratin recipe a bit later...after I remember it!

Baked Chicken With Parmesan-Garlic Crust
¾ C Fresh Breadcrumbs
½ C Grated Parmesan
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ Tsp Salt
½ Tsp Pepper
3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
½ Tsp Lemon Juice I added
¼ C Basil, chopped
¼ C Parsley, finely chopped I added
¼ C Lt. Mayo

Preheat oven to 425º. Move oven rack to upper middle.

Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic, parsley and S&P.

Combine basil, mayo and lemon juice. Spread over chicken breasts. Then sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over chicken. Bake for 18-22 minutes until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

*Note* To make fresh breadcrumbs, pulse a couple slices of bread in the food processor!

Just A Quick Brag....

2008-09-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow! 1:25pm (CST, that is! No more EST for me!) and already three updates? WOW!

I was about to shut down the computer and get out the door to run some errands (it's halftime! ;) ) and then I ran across a picture that I just had to post.

Justin and I stayed in and had game night by ourselves on Friday night (because we're that cool). After a few drinking games, we decided to see how good we were at trivia while slightly inebriated. Out came Trivial Pursuit from the back of the closet. We've only played TP one other time together and when we played we made a bet (I can't remember what it was now...) but I do remember losing...and losing bad. like to think of myself as the Self-Proclaimed Queen of All Completely Random Useless Knowledge, but that doesn't help too much when faced with the actual intellect-required questions of Trivial Pursuit. And it doesn't help that Justin is a huge History and Science Nerd.

But, the alcohol gave me confidence and I decided we needed to set some stakes for this game. Justin's terms of the bet were: "Any night he has off, I have to go to McDonald's and a.) Get him whatever he wants to eat and b.) Get him whatever movie he wants to watch out of the RedBox and watch it with him...no complaining. After lots of thoughtful pondering, I came up with my end of the deal...If I won, he had to go shoe shopping with me and contribute $30 to whatever pair of shoes I want. He not only agreed, he raised the terms of the bet to $75 for shoes!!!

Once I heard that, my jaw dropped and I heard angels singing...time to put my thinking cap on! I wanted those shoes!!

I won't keep everyone in suspense for long. Below is the outcome of the game:
The question is...which pie is mine? The sad, pathetic, empty, lonely pie? Or, the filled-in-with-brightly-colored-little-pieces-of-knowledge pie?

I'll tell you all later. AFTER I go shoe shopping. (!!!!!)

YAY!!!! PRESENTS!!!!

2008-09-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Though my birthday is still just under a month away, I got to start celebrating a little early thanks to a Birthday Package from my Mom!

I got...
3 sets of prep bowls for cooking, a spoon rest, cute autumn kitchen potholders and towels, a pink leather case with a mirror inside, a fun pink cleaning mitt from Williams Sonoma, two dresses to wear on my cruise (!!) and....The Cooking Light Complete Cookbook!!! I cleaned up!

Thanks Mom!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Pumpkin Bread

2008-09-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling extremely Fall-y lately...maybe it's the fabulously cool weather we've had down here in Salsa City recently, or the fact that it's football season, but I've already gone through two Autumn Harvest Pumpkin Scented Candles. I think Justin might be worried he's going to come home and find me in the middle of our living room, sittng on a hay bail, drinking spiced cider and watching "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

I've seen lots of muffin and bread-type recipes that use pumpkin and they sparked a craving! I headed over to Cooking Light, browsed around and finally decided on this recipe. I read others' reviews before I tried it and made a few changes based on their recommendations.

I normally suck at baking, so I don't try it too often. The kitchen ends up looking like a war zone even when I make a Betty Crocker Box Cake, but I think I fared pretty well with this one! It came out nice and pretty! It's very dense and not too sweet. I'll probably continue the hunt for other pumpking recipes, but I'll definitely make this one again!

⅓ cup fat-free milk
2½ tbsp vegetable oil (I used 2½ tbsp applesauce)
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 (15oz) can pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats (I blended my oats in the food processor first)
1 cup sugar (I used ½ C white sugar and ½C light brown sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I also added 1 tsp nutmeg)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup raisins (I omitted)
¼ cup chopped pecans (I omitted)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. ~~Fold in raisins and pecans.~~

Spoon batter into 2 loaf pans coated with cooking spray I used 1 loaf pan and a 6-cup muffin tin). Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. The muffins only needed to cook for about 30 minutes.

Good News!

2008-09-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

We were worried about our cruise being canceled because of all the damage in Galveston, TX due to Hurricane Ike. We got a voicemail from our Travel Agent yesterday and the cruise is still a go! Woohoo!! We'll be leaving out of Houston, TX instead of Galveston, TX! It actually turns out better for us since Houston is a shorter drive than Galveston!

24 days!

Tim McGraw Concert 9/11/08

2008-09-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Faith Hill is a Lucky, Lucky, L-U-C-K-Y Woman!

Last Wednesday, Justin came home from work and surprised me with tickets to see Tim McGraw...the next night! (Okay, maybe I'm a lucky woman, too!) I didn't even know he was going to be in town! Turns out, he was doing a Benefit Concert for the U.S. Army at Ft. Sam Houston and Justin was lucky enough to snag ticket for not only us, but our friends Jeremy, Corey, Sandy and her sister who was in town visiting from Nebraska.

We started off "tailgating" before the concert (Read: we sat on the back of Corey's truck with a cooler of beer watching everyone else walk by...no other tailgaters in sight. Hey! If there's fun to be had, we're gonna be there!)

Tim McGraw did this concert completely free and just for members of the U.S. Army in San Antonio. It was a beautiful, perfect evening and an amazing concert! The best surprise in the world!

Corey and Justin...sun was a leeeeetle bright!
The sunset was GORGEOUS that night!
We took advantage of the perfect backdrop! More pictures to come but my camera died and football is on!

Is It Thursday Already?!?!

2008-09-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been a MAJOR blog slacker (okay, I'll admit it, and gym slacker) this week! Time to get down to business! I added a picture from Sunday's Ricotta Fritatta so read below!

Time to get to more updating...stay tuned!

Weekend Recap

2008-09-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was very low-key, lazy and filled with football! I'm very happy about the uneventfulness, considering the rest of September and October are jam-packed!

Justin had surprised me with tickets to the Tim McGraw Benefit Concert at Ft. Sam Houston for Thursday night! It was so much fun...I'll post about it soon! We were out pretty late and partied a little too hard for a work-night, so Friday night we layed around the apartment, watched TV and went to bed early.

Justin was on call Saturday so he was up and out the door by 5:30am, leaving me wide awake and unable to go back to bed! I went out and finally found pillows I liked for the living room. I also bought some new picture frames and towels for the guest bathroom. I came home and rearranged the living room and cleaned up a bit. The rest of the day was spent lounging around with College Football on the TV and a glass of wine in my hand.

Justin got back from call early, I mean earrrrrrrly, Sunday so, once again, I was up early! I put him to bed and went out grocery shopping. Came back and watched more football! I made a FABULOUS new pork chop recipe for dinner! (I'll post that later, too!)

It's a busy week for both of us...I have two after-work functions and he is taking his USMLE Step 3 Board Exam on Tuesday and Wednesday (ugh!)! Hope everyone has a great week!

Whole-Lotta Ricotta Frittata

2008-09-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

(Okay, so maybe it's just a normal amount of ricotta, but work with me here people!)

I found this recipe randomly looking through the August 2008 Good Housekeeping magazine. When I first showed the recipe to Justin, his response was, "There's nothing in it!" (Translation: not enough meat and vegetables.) I completely agreed. They called it a "Crustless Tomato-Ricotta Pie," but when I called to consult with my Mom, as I often do before cooking 80% of my dishes, she renamed it a "Ricotta Frittata!"

I had never made a quiche-like dish before and I'm so glad I gave this a shot! It is so good! I really like it without the crust...it lightens up the calories and tastes great without it! Justin LOVED it, especially because it's easy to heat up in the morning and take with him to the hospital. I did make a couple changes in my version, which I'll note below. ~~And when I first made it, I forgot to take the "After" picture, so I only have the "Before". But, I'm making one later today so I'll be sure to take pictures!~~

1 container part-skim ricotta cheese
4 large eggs
¼ C freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese (I used Parmesan)
½ t salt
⅛ t coarsely ground black pepper
¼ C low-fat (1%) milk (I used skim milk)
1 T cornstarch (Didn't have this! Thanks to Mom, found out 2T of flour would do the trick!)
½ C (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves, chopped
½ C (loosely packed) fresh mint leaves, chopped (I used parsley)
1 lb ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used 3 tomatoes)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, whisk ricotta, eggs, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper until blended. In measuring cup, stir milk and cornstarch until smooth; whisk into cheese mixture. Stir in basil and mint. Pour mixture into nonstick 10-inch skillet with oven-safe handle. (I used a cake pan!) Arrange tomatoes on top, overlapping slices if necessary. Bake pie 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned and set around edge and center is puffed. (After baking for 45 minutes, mine was a little runny still on top so I let it cook a little longer. I think my final cook time was around 53 minutes. Just keep an eye on it!) Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I added chopped ham, spinach, and mushrooms to the egg mixture, then layered thin slices of zucchini and squash underneath the tomato layer, and topped with chopped green onions. Today I'm going to try it with turkey sausage, mushrooms, spinach and red pepper!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2008-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

And this version is a little easy on your hips!

Right after we moved in, Justin asked me to make some kind of appetizer, any appetizer, that he could snack on when he got home while I was still making dinner. I may or may not have been craving SPinach Artichoke Dip myslf, and I may or may not have gained a couple pounds during the three day trek out West, so I pulled out a recipe I had bookmarked in the September 2007 issue of Cooking Light, the culinary equivalent of a Little Black Dress, always there for you and always soooo good! It was voted Best Appetizer (of all time!) by CL readers so I figured, what the hell! 2 C shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
½ C fat-free sour cream
¼ C grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
¼ tsp black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed (I minced mine)
1 (14-oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (8-oz) block ⅓-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-oz) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
½ (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine 1 ½ cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 Tblsp Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl; stir until well blended. Spoon mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining ½ C mozzarella and remaining 2 Tblsp Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips. (I also served with celery...yum and a lil healthier!)

This dip is soooooo, I mean sooooooooo good! Justin loved it! I made it for his birthday party and everyone there loved it, too. I've also taken some leftovers and stuffed it into chicken. To. Die. For.

Close Call

2008-09-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Didn't I move to Texas to get away from these things?!?!

I just wanted to update everyone and let y'all know we're okay down here in Texas! I got LOTS of phone calls and texts from friends wanting to make sure we were safe and out of Hurricane Ike's way. We were prepared to get a lot of rain and a lot of wind, but thankfully (for us) Ike veered to the Northeast and headed up I-45 and towards Dallas. Instead of being greeted by what I thought was going to be horizontal rain and a black sky this morning, I instead saw blue skies and a slight breeze. We got lucky.

I wish I could say the same for everyone along the Texas Coast. Please keep those families affected by Hurricane Ike in your thoughts and prayers.

Cheers to a hopefully uneventful remainder of Hurricane season!! We're supposed to leave for our cruise exactly one month from today. (!!) Only bad news is that our departure port is Galveston, TX, which got hit pretty hard by Ike. We're crossing our fingers! (But, if the cruise doesn't happen, VEGAS BABY!!)

Such A Beautiful Sight...

2008-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

After a summer of torture with nothing but tennis, baseball and golf to satisfy my athletic viewing needs, I bow down to the Sports Gods when I finally see this on my ancient, circa 1986 television screen in front of me*:

Welcome Back Football Season...You've Been Missed!

I'm looking forward to a great NCAA and NFL season...hopefully it'll be an exciting one! I also hope we get to make it to a University of Texas football game at some point this season...or at least a tailgate. ;)

*I would rather have a closet full of extremely cute shoes and clothes than a $2,000 flat screen TV. I've seen basketball and football games in real life, so I don't care about seeing them in HD. And I'm pretty sure Will & Grace re-runs will survive without being in higher res.

We'll Always Remember....

2008-09-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

We've Got Another One Folks!

2008-09-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Yes...ANOTHER engagement!

Dustin, the older brother of one of my favorite people EVER, who is also a pretty cool guy himself (and I feel really bad about all those years I tortured and annoyed him growing up...really, I do...), popped the question to his *amazing* girlfriend Adele last week!

SHE SAID YES!!!

I got to spend some very fun times with Adele at Lindsey's wedding and she's the sweetest person in the world! I can't think of anyone better for one of my best friends' older brother! CONGRATULATIONS Y'ALL!!!!!!

Honey Brushed Spicy Chicken Breasts

2008-09-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

One of my passions is cooking...maybe that's why my butt keeps growing, but whatever. I love reading cooking blogs, books and magazines finding new recipes to try. (Thankfully, I have a 6'5", 220lb man who loves being my guinea pig to try new food on!) I plan on sharing my successes and the not-so-much successes. If you find something you like, give it a shot! Enjoy!

One Sunday afternoon we were sitting in the living room...he was studying, I was looking for a good chicken recipe for dinner. I told him I was going to pick three chicken dishes and he would decide which one I would make tonight! This is what he picked!

Honey Brushed Spicy Chicken Thighs
*Don't think we only eat monochromatic meals of just meat and carbs...there was a GIANT salad filled with (colorful!) veggies already on the table!

2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground red pepper (I used red pepper flakes)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Cooking spray
6 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cider vinegar (I only had red wine, so that's what I used!)
Couple sprigs of green onion, diced
Preheat oven to 350º. Trim the chicken of any excess fat.

Combine first 6 dry ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Add chicken and toss around to coat. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and place chicken on the sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes (until 98% done!). While the chicken is cooking, combine the honey and cider vinegar, whisk until combined. Take out the chicken and brush each side with the honey mixture. Beef up the oven to Broil. Broil an additional 1 minute on each side. Brush with a bit more of the honey mixture. I topped mine with some green onions.

*NOTE* The recipe originally called for chicken thighs, not breasts. I'm not a fan of thighs, so I decided it would still be great with chicken breasts. The orig recipe said to broil the chicken in the oven. I wasn't too sure this would be the best way to cook the breasts, so I called Food 911 (aka My Mom!) and she said to bake it @ 350º and it'd be fine! If you like chicken thighs, sub them in for the breasts and try broiling them! 6 minutes on each side! Everything else stays the same!

Adapted from Cooking Light

Taking A Quick Break From The Life Updates...

2008-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

To say CONGRATULATIONS to two of my dearest friends, Courtney and Austin, who got ENGAGED this past Friday!!

I'm proud to say, and brag, that I was there from the start, 8 years ago! I TOLD you two you would get married!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Life Update - May 2008 (Part...what are we on now, Five?)

2008-09-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

Packin' up and headin' out!
So after the fun and excitement of graduation and getting a new car, it was time to stop procrastinating and start getting all our Virginia crap ready to be packed, moved and transformed into Texas crap.

This was our first experience with a military move and let me tell you, it's FABULOUS!! They pack everything, put it all on the truck, move it and deliver it. The truck and moving clan was coming about a week before we were to leave and it was supposed to be delivered a few days after we were scheduled to arrive in Texas. This meant we had to: a) set everything out we wanted to be moved so the packers didn't have to dig through drawers, cabinets, etc. and b) decide what all we would need at the apartment in Norfolk for the rest of the week, what we would need on the drive down, and what we would need at the new apartment in Texas for a few days until the movers arrived.

This was the end result...(Cue Sanford and Son theme) All of our precious belongings were out and ready to be boxed up. (Yes, I used an empty Bud Light box to pack my *precious* belongings!)

After living like this for about a week:
It was a relief to come home from work one afternoon for lunch and be greeted by this site:
No, we didn't have enough crap to need two moving trucks...one of Justin's classmates lived in the same apartment complex and their moving trucks arrived on the same day to take them to Arizona!

Goodbye, Stuff! We'll see you in Texas!

That night, we ate dinner in our empty apartment, on the floor of our empty bedroom. And drank wine out of SOLO Cups. Ready for the next adventure!

Life Update - May 2008 (Part Three)

2008-09-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Justin's Graduation from Medical School!
On May 17, 2008, 22 loooong years of education and hard work paid off! Justin graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School! His entire family (minus 2 grandparents and 1 aunt) came down for the festivities!

The school held a super fancy banquet the night before at the Marriott Downtown. We ate until we couldn't move! Then we had dessert.

Us with Andrew, Justin's roommate, and Marketa, Andrew's girlfriend

We woke up the next morning and it was...GRADUATION DAY!!!

The graduation was held at Chrysler Hall in Downtown Norfolk...the site where I attended many ballets and performances of Peter Pan by the Hurrah Players while growing up.

Doors were to open at 8am so we all (all 28 of us!) arrived promptly at 7:30 to make sure we were first in line, which we were. You couldn't save any seats so if you wanted to sit together, you had to show up together. Doors opened and we rushed in and scored the entire row directly behind the taped off area for the students to sit. Everyone else's families and friends sauntered in and filled the rows behind us, until the entire first floor seating was filled! This wouldn't matter at all, unless the Usher came up to you and said "I'm sorry we didn't rope off enough seats for the students. All 28 of you will have to find seats elsewhere."

WHAT?!?! IS HE SERIOUS!?!?

I burst into tears when I realized the only place to go was up...to the balcony. 2 miles away from the stage. I was so upset and so angry! So needless to say, the pictures from inside the graduation kinda suck. The lighting was really crappy and we were in another time zone.

The tall dot to the right of the flower arrangement on stage is MY MAN GETTING HIS MEDICAL SCHOOL DIPLOMA!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Justin and his Dad

In case you're wondering why he doesn't look as smart as he does in the photo above, that's because this was taken before he had graduated!
After graduation, we headed to Guadalajara, a Mexican restaurant on Granby St. (that is also a bar late night...and I may or may not have celebrated my 19th birthday there with my Fake ID...nothin' like goin' somewhere that makes you reminisce!) We got to spend time with Justin's family and celebrate! The day was bittersweet...Since it would be the last time we saw his aunts, uncles and cousins before we moved, the goodbyes were filled with LOTS of tears and hugs. I can't WAIT to go home and see everyone at Christmas!

Life Update - May 2008

2008-09-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

My New Car!
With an upcoming Halfway-cross-the-country-with-everything-I-own-in-my-backseat Drive looming in the upcoming month (cue "Wide Open Spaces" by Dixie Chicks), I sadly stared out the window at Julio, AKA The Little Honda That Could. My 2002 Civic had been with me through a lot and we had a strong bond, a solid connection. Julio always kept me safe in his youth...but now we had come to point in our relationship where I couldn't think with my heart, I had to think with my head. And I knew there was a pretty good chance I would probably end up stranded on the side of the road in Arkansas somewhere during my drive out to my new home.

We had been through a lot...I had carted sorority paraphernalia (and sisters)around town in him all through college, I always knew that my trusty beach chair and towel would be in the trunk whenever I needed them, and he hadn't gotten mad at me when I was learning how to drive a manual and I would grind his gears or peel out at every stop light. But the non-working A/C, the failing clutch, and the dented bumpers just weren't cuttin' it anymore. (Okay, so the dented bumpers may have been attributed to my stellar driving skills, so I can't hold that against him...)

After Justin's Commissioning Ceremony, my parents and I headed out to Greenbrier Chrysler, the same venue where I had traded in my 1995 Ford Explorer (RIP Charles) for Julio, just four years prior. He looked so sparkling new back then. Now, okay, not so much. I browsed through the selection and carefully selected my newest sidekick for the next three years!

Meet Rhonda Honda!

Life Update - Where To Start!?!? May 2008 (Part Uno)

2008-09-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

Justin's Commissioning Ceremony
It was a cold, stormy night...ok, actually it was a gorgeous day, May 15, and I ventured out to the USS Wisconsin in Downtown Norfolk to watch my fiancee be commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army! This was also an important event because it was the first time my parents met his parents! (DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!) Just kidding...everything went great! I'm so proud of him!
Neat shot that I took!
Justin's Dad pinning on his new Captain Bars!

...and then we went to No Frill Grill to celebrate!
Just a fun little tidbit...Austin recently got commissioned into the US Navy and Adam is now an Air Force Chaplin! Who woulda thought that three OSL chicks would land them some sexy military men?! Not me! I wonder what the odds are of us all getting stationed real close to each other! Air Force? Check! Navy? Check! Army? Check! (Haley, think your Justin might consider a career in the Marines so we'll have all branches covered?!)

All My Exes Live In Texas...

2008-09-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not really. But I do. And as of today, September 1st, I have officially lived here for 3 months on the nose. And I feel a little bad for not keeping my friends and family as updated on my life as I should. I really enjoy reading how my best friends are doing (ALL over the country!) through their blogs while my poor little blog sat in a corner, collecting dust. I've decided to take this blog to another level...sounds exciting and dangerous, right? Wrong. Really, I just want to talk more about me. It'll give me more to say. Because, let's face it, I can talk about me all. day. long. Instead of talking about just planning my wedding, the original intent of this blog and something not everyone can relate to (i.e. Dan, Daniel and Corey), now I'll be able to address a vast encyclopedia of important topics...things that are very important to the continuation of the modern civilization, such as: my quests to find the best Happy Hours in San Antonio, pictures of cute dresses I find on sale, and my discoveries of all things Texas (which I hope will include a football game or two, seeing my first Longhorn on the side of the road and decorating a cactus for Christmas). But, before all that fun can begin, I must update everyone on the last 6ish months of my life. I may do a long, giant update all at once, or I may do them in small doses with some past and present mixed in...I'll surprise you. So go put on your favorite pair of chaps, your Sunday Best cowboy hat, grab a can of Lonestar Light (watch the cals so you can have seconds of that Brisket, Cornbread, Beans and Mac & Cheese!) and eagerly await your Google Reader to tell you I have once again decided to grace you with yet another update of my life. Thanks for reading!