Errors

I would just like to apologize on behalf of all of my posts. I am no English major. My grammar and spelling are absolutely terrible. If it weren't for Spell Check automatically checking my emails before they are sent out at work, I think I would have realllllly embarrassed myself on numerous occasions. So I apologize. For spelling errors. For leaving words out. For using the wrong conjugation of verbs. For.. I dunno... being human?? hah! Just don't judge me.

Favorite Recipe: Sante Fe Skillet

My mother has some recipes that she has made FOREVER and therefore they are some of my favorites. There were several recipes that I took with me to college and now re-create in the Foster home. One of these is Santa Fe Skillet.

Santa Fe Skillet is cheap, quick, easy, absolutely delicious and not to mention healthy. Yep, you heard me, its a Weight Watcher's Recipe, and you would NEVER know! After feeding this to Greg, I let him in on the secret that it was a Weight Watcher's recipe and he was shocked! So, needless to say, this is one that the men absolutely LOVE!


What you need:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 3/4 cup onion, chopped
• 3/4 green pepper, chopped
• 1 can Rotel, drained
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cup instant rice
• 1 1/2 cup beef broth
• Grated Mexican Blend cheese (or cheddar)

What to do:

In a large skillet, brown the meat with the onion and green pepper. Once browned, drain the grease off of the meat. 

Add the rotel, salt and pepper, instant rice, and beef broth to the skillet. Immediately cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and re-cover for two minutes. Once the cheese has melted, serve with tortila chips and a salad. Viola!

Movies I am Excited About

In case you haven't heard, there are some pretty big movies coming out this year. Three of those movies are inspired from best-selling and must-read novels. I'm SO excited. Not only do I have three movies to look forward to, but three books to re-read before they come out!

The Hobbit

Movie Release Date: December 14, 2012

I had an absolutely insane English teacher in 7th grade who made us read this book. It was way beyond our reading level, but after she was able to walk us through it all, this is one of my very favorite books. The pre-cursor to The Lord of The Rings series, this book explains the back stort. I literally CANNOT wait for this one to be released!

Les Miserables

Movie Release Date: December 14, 2012

This is another book that I had to read during that same 7th grade year, but this book literally IS my favorite book of all time. If you haven't read this book, you HAVE to read this one before it comes out (subsequently on the same day as The Hobbit). If you decide to take on the task of Les Miserables, make sure you read the abridged version. It will save you a couple thousand pages of non-sense. Anyways, this movie will be starring some huge names: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway. I'm getting so excited about it already and I've already started re-reading this one. Worth the time it takes.

The Great Gatsby

Movie Release Date: December 25, 2012

Sadly, I did not read this one in 7th grade, but it was a book that I had to read for school. I remember liking this book, but unfortunately do not remember too much about this one. That's why I'm excited about reading this book again for the Christmas 2012 release date. This movie, starring Leo DiCapprio and Tobey Maguire, should not disappoint. 

Favorite Recipe: Raspberry Pretzel Dessert Bars

Photo Courtesy of: BeckyBakes.net

So what do you do when you visit the grocery store and it's "buy one package of Raspberries, get two free"? You buy them of course and immediately go to Pinterest to find some recipes involving Raspberries. At least that's what I did. After perusing several recipes, I decided to try these Raspberry Pretzel Bars because well, they involved cream cheese. And whipped cream. COUNT. ME. IN.

Good news: Tom Thumb has the same Buy One, Get Two Free deal going all week!! I might be making another batch.... :)

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz. container cool whip
• 6 oz. package raspberry jello
• 2 cups water, boiling
• 24 oz. raspberries (frozen or fresh)

What To Do:

Preheat oven to 325.

Crush enough pretzels (about 3 large handfuls) to make 1 1/2 cups of pretzel crumbs. Combine in a bowl with 1/2 cup sugar and your melted butter. Once well mixed, press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake for 6 minutes and then let cool.

In a separate bowl, cream together the softened cream cheese and the last 1/2 cup of sugar. Once well mixed, mix in the container of cool whip. Spread on top of the cooled crust with a spatula.

In yet another large bowl, pour 2 cups (2 1/2 cups if using fresh raspberries) boiling water over the package of raspberry jello. Whisk until the jello powder is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, add your raspberries and mix well. Place bowl into the freezer for about 1.5-2 hours, or until the mixture turns into the consistency of an egg white. Pour over the creamy layer. Refrigerate until the jello has set. Best if left untouched overnight!

Sorry for the ugly corner where Greg and I taste-tested this before approving!

Fitness: Best Treadmill Workout I Have Found

Hehe. Yep I do this. Every time. Competitive Much?

At the beginning of last December (December 2011), I decided to commit and go against all odds and become one of those "hard-core-I-wakeup-at-the-crack-of-dawn-and-workout-before-work" kind of people. It was really an experiment. More of a challenge. 

There was a day when my sweet endearing husband said "I don't know if you could do it". Of course, he only said this because my nature is to stay in bed and sleep till noon, given the choice. Well, if anyone knows me, they also know that me being told that I "can't" do something is straight up a challenge. Something to immediately prove that I CAN do. And that's also what he was doing. By telling me that I couldn't do it, he knew that it would spur me to want to prove him wrong.

And it worked! Almost 8 months later, I still wake-up early 4-5 days a week and go get a good workout in. Naturally, I've had to change my workout every so often to give me something to look forward to, but I've gotten into a rhythm and have developed some staple workouts throughout my week that I absolutely love. One of those workouts is the one that greets me every Monday Morning.

Brace Yourself.

I start out every Monday with some cardio. Actually, let me clarify. Its hill intervals on a treadmill. Aka death on a Monday. On the blog I pulled this from, Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life, she titles this workout "Sweaty Mess" Incline Intervals. That should give you some insight into what you could get yourself into here. But in the end, after I'm sweating profusely and vastly out of breath, I love it!

If you're looking for something that will burn a TON of calories, help improve your endurance, and tone up your legs, this is a great workout to try out this upcoming week. Keys to success for this workout: a water bottle, some good tunes to keep you pumped up, picking your knees up on the hill sprints, and "driving" your elbows to keep you moving. You'd be surprised at how easy hills become when you pick your knees up and drive/pump those elbows. Just a little trick I learned from my distance running hubby.

Have funnnnnn! :)

Quick Cajun Chicken Penne

For one of my Christmas presents, my Grandmother gifted me with a year-long subscription to Taste of Home. At first, I was not excited about this. To the point that I left the first magazine in the wrapper for like a month. But, after finally deciding that I should at least look at it, I opened it, and to my surprise, ended up ripping out 10 pages of recipes I wanted to try. This magazine has transformed from something I thought was lame to something that I look forward to receiving in the mail every month! I've tried some recipes and look forward to sharing!

Photo Courtesy of: Taste of Home

Serves: 6
Prep & Cook Time: 30 minutes

What you need:

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 4 chicken breasts
• cajun chicken seasoning (I made my own!)
• 4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 10 oz. containers refrigerated Alfredo sauce (I used Bertoli)
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

What to do:

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Melt your butter, and dip your chicken breasts in the butter and place on a plate. Sprinkle with the cajun seasoning and cover on both sides of the chicken. Grill the chicken, covered, over medium heat for 5-8 minutes on each side. Once cooked, cut into bite size pieces.

On the stove, heat the 2 containers of Alfredo sauce until warm. Once warm, toss with the cooked pasta, chicken, chopped tomatoes, and sliced green onions. TA-DA! 

***Warning, this recipe does have a bit of kick to it, so beware if you're not the biggest fan of spicy foods. Being someone who LOVES spicy food, this was pretty mild for me, but absolutely delicious. LOVED the flavor of this one! Enjoy!

Progress

Remember that one post that I wrote ages ago about a bedroom-face lift?

Well we've been making progress. Slowly but surely. I apologize in advance for the poor iPhone pics.

Stage 1:

This awesome antique mantle that I found on Craig's list for only $20 came in pieces (as opposed to well over $100 for being all in one piece!). So, with a little elbow grease, my dad and Greg put it alllllll back together. The next step was to figure out how to hang this bad boy on the wall. That thing was HEAVY. It's solid wood, so Greg had to get creative with how to hang it. Good news, my hubby is a genius and figured out a way to let the studs in the wall hold it up because it probably weighs a good 20-30 pounds. So, once it was up, Stage 1 of the re-do was complete!

Stage 2:

Stage 2 entailed moving the Coffee Filter Wreath in from our living room. Obtaining some antique glass bottles from my mom and a local antique store, and redo-ing some cardboard letters to mimic the expensive brushed metal letters found at Anthro. To make the letters, I just bought 3-d carboard letters (found at Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics, and painted them with "Hammered Metal" Spray Paint (also found at Hobby Lobby). They don't look exactly the same as the Anthro letters, but I still think they look pretty darn awesome!

Stage 3:

Stage three entailed finally hanging our Anthro-letter inspired monogram in a re-vamped frame. I used an old frame that my mom had stored in the attic (and she so graciously gave me - FOR FREE!). I spray-painted the frame with a clearance bottle of off-white spray paint that I found at Hobby Lobby for a couple bucks. After the spray-paint had dried, I ran a piece of sand-paper over the frame to "antique" the frame and have the brown peeking-through on all the ridges and designs. It turned out better than I would have hoped and looks like I paid quite a bit of money for it! We hung the letters with 3M strips, which was super easy and obviously meant no more holes in the walls! In addition, I stocked up on white candles at Hobby Lobby this past week as they were all 50% off. Definitely the way to go to save lots of money!


What's Next???

Stage 4:

Adding some baby's breath (or dried baby's breath) to the bottles for some more height and texture elements.

Stage 5:

Using the leftover fabric from the curtains that my mom and I crafted to make some 18x18 Grey & White Chevron Throw pillows. Cannot wait for the patterned element that this will add to our bed.

Yes, I know that I'm mixing designs and styles in our bedroom, but isn't that what Anthro does? Modern with antique like things? I like to think so.. haha! Maybe I'm just fooling myself but I absolutely love the way that things have been turning out. Once all is said and done, be looking for the final before & after pics!!!