Feral.. What???

I must pause in my insanely crazy day to blog about.... feral chickens. Yes. I am pausing my day to write about them.

Last night I read a status update about feral chickens getting into a winter garden... I literally said 'what' out loud. I had to read the status again before I said anything to someone about it. I didn't want to look like a total idiot. Yep - that's what it said.. the 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... time I read it. I commented on the status, but I am sure I looked like an idiot doing that. I was just in amazement? shock? maybe scared?

I then turned to Google.. who sent me to Wikipedia.. you can read the article here. Again, I was shown that this is totally a real thing.

Seriously? Wild chickens? I am not sure why this amuses me or shocks me so much. But something about imagining walking through our woods and coming up to wild chickens cracks me up and freaks me out a little bit. There is something just so odd about it that fascinates me I guess.

I guess it is just another one of those things that you have in the country that we didn't even think of in the city :o)

Blows. My. Mind.

Simply Amazing - Herb Crusted Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce

Simply amazing.. that is the only way I can think to describe tonights new dish. The real name is Herb Crusted Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce. Oh. My. It was so so delicious! It is a definite dish to make again.

This was the first time I have made a homemade basil cream sauce. It was worth every second.

I only had two issues with tonights dinner. The first was the prep/cook time. The directions said 15 minutes for prep and cook. For me it was more like 30 minutes each. That may have something to do with my chopping skills.. but it did take way more than 15 minutes to prep and probably another 20 minutes too cook, considering it takes 10 minutes just to cook the chicken. The second was the amount of sauce - sort of. I made angel hair pasta to go with the chicken. It said that it was enough sauce for two dishes.. but really it was enough for our pasta and chicken in general with 3 servings. 

Serves: 2 (I made 3 servings including pasta noodles)

Prep Time: 15 mins  (More like 20-30 min.)

Cook Time: 15mins (More like 15-20 min)

Software:

• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, pounded thin
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Progresso Garlic & Herb Bread Crumbs
• 2 teaspoons'Perfect Pinch' Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon freeze dried chives
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/4 can of Italian diced tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese blend
• 2 Tablespoons freeze dried (or fresh) basil
• dash of fresh ground black pepper

Hardware:

• Large skillet
• Cutting board
• Measuring cup/spoons
• Meat mallet

Procedure:

• Place bread crumbs, Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Seasoning and freeze dried chives in a shallow bowl; mix thoroughly.
• Place milk in a separate shallow bowl.
• In a skillet, heat butter on medium heat. Meanwhile, pound chicken flat and thin for even cooking (if you haven't done so already).
• Dip the chicken in the milk, then coat with crumb mixture.
• Cook chicken in butter until browned and cooked through (about ten minutes). Remove and keep warm
• In the same skillet, add garlic and saute for approximately 1 minute. 
• Add chicken broth and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally to loosen browned parts from the pan.
• Stir in cream and tomatoes; bring to a boil and stir for one minute.
• Reduce heat to low; add Parmesan cheese, basil and a dash of pepper, stir sauce and cook until heated through and thickened. (about 5 minutes)
• Serve by pouring the sauce over the chicken. For added flair, serve the chicken and sauce over cooked pasta. 

I found this recipe on Our Kind of Love on Blogger. You should check them out!

I made this new with my new favorite Cheddar Bay Biscuits. It was a mmmm...mmm..mmm.. meal... 

Ya'll from the city?

heh. I could see our dog Gunner looking like this. 

My 2nd Favorite Pasta

Yes you read the title right. This is my second favorite - not my first. My first favorite pasta is the oh so yummy in my tummy, pasta carbonara that my hubby makes. I really need to figure out how to make it like he does. I especially loves it when he makes it with his yummy garlic mashed potatoes and lemony baked asparagus. I think I knew for sure I was marrying him the first time I ate that. So.Good.

Okay.. off subject again.. I better get back on track. This pasta is called simply - Creamy Garlic Pasta. It is simple to make, an easy dish to clean up and I could eat it for days. It is one of my go to recipes on a quick and easy night. I will added grilled chicken to it at times and usually serve it with garlic bread. Trust me on this. It is so good!!

I found this amazing recipe on tumbler - specifically The Cheese Pusher site.

Creamy Garlic Pasta
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
¼  tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 cups chicken stock
½ lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted. Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil. 

Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box’s directions indicate. Reduce the stove to medium heat and mix in the parmesan until completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

Farmer's Pork Chops

Tonight I made another comfort food meal. Thanks to the dreary, rainy and now cold weather - comfort food is a must!

Tonights dinner is brought to you by the amazing Paula Deen. Now ya know we are talking about some serious comfort food ya'll :o)

My favorite thing (other than the flavor) about this recipe was that it was a side and a main dish in one. Those are my favorite kinds. I only added a side of green beens to add to the delishness. 

Without further a due - here is the amazing Farmer's Pork Chops recipe.

Servings: 8 servings
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients 
8 Smithfield Boneless Pork Chops, about 1/2 inch thick 

8 medium potatoes
1/2 medium onion
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Paula Deen’s Seasoned Salt (I used Lawrys seasoned salt)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Paula Deen’s white sauce (see below)

Paula Deen’s White Sauce

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or chives (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Peel potatoes; slice 1/4 inch thick and cover with cold water. Slice onion into very thin slices, and then cut the slices in half. Drain potatoes; layer half the potatoes in a well-greased 15x10 inch casserole dish. Scatter half of the onion slices on top of potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Repeat with remaining potatoes and onions. Cover potatoes with white sauce. Cover casserole dish with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes on high or bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

Sprinkled seasoned salt on pork chops and dredge chops in flour mixture. Lightly brown chops in vegetable oil. Do not cook them completely. As chops are removed from frying pan, lay them on top of potatoes.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes. The juices from the pork chops will drip down into the potatoes. Delicious!

Paula Deen’s White Sauce

Melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in flour; add salt and pepper. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly. Add milk, 1 cup at a time. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, then let stand at least 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in parsley or chives, if desired.

The only thing I would do differently is follow the instructions and actually use 1/2 an onion instead of a whole one. Normally we would love that kind of Ooops.. but I could taste the difference.

I was going to post a picture of my outcome.. but unfortunately it was pretty messy looking on my plate by the time it was all said and done. So here is the delish looking photo Paula Deen has graciously provided!

My Side vs Your Side

I may just have to make this for my husband for Valentine's Day.... He takes up way more room than I do!! Hmm.. I wonder if they have something like this that would work for blankets and sheets too???

Made in America

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays because of what it stands for. I am extremely patriotic and have been known to have some 'anger issues' when it come to people disrespecting the flag, our veterans, not taking their hat off or shutting their traps when the National Anthem is playing or paying respect to the fallen. I have a lot of military friends and family and they should be honored and respected for the life they have chosen. They are willing to give their life for people like me and you - the least we can do is be respectful.

In saying all of that - one thing I am trying to become 'more American' on is with things I buy. I will be the very first to admit that with all the 'America preaching' I do - I do not always buy American. Why? Well that's simple. Its easy to go to the store and buy whats convenient. I mean who has to time to look and compare every time you go to the store.  In other cases I find it is cheaper (which means cheaper quality at times too). I am not saying it is wrong to buy from overseas. But with my big purchases and day to day living I think I need to be more conscience and show more support for my country in this manner. 

So I started thinking on what could help me buy more American and then it dawned on me. It's kind of like a 'name brand'. For instance we all have our favorite brand of things like make-up, cereal, shoes, hair product, etc. We don't have to think when we go to the store to buy them. We know what it is... and we get it. Well if I apply that same principal to buying things that are 'Made in America' it should be come pretty easy in the long run to do!

There is also another big reason and often the subject of many debates - is the fact that it seems buying from over seas seem to be more harmful and unsafe. One instance I remember vividly was the Aqua Dots. Our daughter wanted this so bad for Christmas one year. Of course it was bought for her and then quickly taken back to the store when the recall happened. It was one of the most serious cases in years at that time of toys killing and making kids sick. 

So if you would like to follow along in my journey or even help out with ideas, companies, products or any thing else you can think of that is American made that would be great! I have created a tab called - American Made. You can click here to view it or just click up top where you see it. I plan on listing companies, people, places, products or anything that comes across interesting that is American made.

Our Dinner > Your Dinner

Last night I tried two new sides with dinner - cheddar bay biscuits & roasted zucchini and squash. (These are also the recipes below) We also had homemade garlic mashed potatoes and pork chops. It was a night full of delish comfort food. I don't usually make dinners this big, but my husband wasn't feeling the best at work so I figured what is better than to come home to a nice big 'comfort' meal.

Now onto our dinner.....

Pork Chops
Nothing special here. I actually over did them and almost made a new food called pork chop jerky. I am not a big meat eater at all. So learning to cook meats correctly is a constant challenge for me. At times its perfect and then times like last night - I totally over cooked them. Ya live and learn right?

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
These turned out awesome. We always make homemade mashed potatoes and never used the boxed. They are so much better than the fake flakes. My husband actually makes the best garlic mashed potatoes I have ever had and no matter how I try to recreate them they are just never as good as his.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits
(aka Red Lobster Biscuits)
This is the second time I have tried to make these. The first time was a complete fail. They were so dry and icky tasting. It was completely my fault though. The main ingredient is Bisquick mix. I cannot stress to you how important it is to have exactly that brand. When I tried making it the first time I didnt have any. So I googled what was in bisquick mix and we tried remaking it. Complete fail. The only way to go is to have the correct ingredient in this case. Now that I used the right stuff I cannot believe how amazing these biscuits are considering how ridiculously easy they are to make. These are a new favorite in our house for sure. 

Ingredients
Makes 9 biscuits

2 cups Bisquick mix (must be Bisquick)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees 
- Mix Bisquick, milk, and cheese in a medium bowl for about 30 seconds until it becomes a soft dough. 
- Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. (I used our ice cream scoop)
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. 
- A couple of minutes before the biscuits are done put your butter and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and melt.
- When biscuits are done brush the garlic butter over the warm biscuits.
- Serve warm (trust me and try not to burn them as soon as they are brushed - they will burn your mouth :))

These.Are.Amazing.

Roasted Veggies

I found this great recipe for roasted veggies on The Gracious Pantry website. These were pretty good tasting, but I did make one big mistake. I cut the veggies to thin, which meant they got a little too soggy after sitting out for about 15 minutes. If I would have made them the correct thickness they would have been amazing(er). 

The recipe below calls for 4 zucchini and 2 squash. I only used one of each as only my husband and I eat these. Our daughter hasn't learned to like these yet. I think next time I will still use one squash but 2 zucchini. This is because you get more 'cuts' out of the squash and less on the zucchini. Since I didn't use the same amount of veggies, I also just sprinkled the seasoning by using my judgement.

Clean Eating Roasted Summer Squash

(Makes approximately 6 servings)

Ingredients:
4 large zucchini 2 large yellow squash 2 teaspoons Garlic powder1/2 teaspoon PepperOlive oil – In an oil sprayer1/8 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Chop your squash into large, chunky slices about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness.
3. Spray a cookie sheet with a light coat of olive oil.
4. Line up your squash slices like little soldiers. Don’t worry about leaving any space between them. They’ll cook just fine scrunched together.
5. Spray a very light coat of olive oil over the top of the squash.
6. Sprinkle your spices, including the parmesan over the squash.
7. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, or until they have a very light golden hue to them, and you can easily push a fork through them.
8. Allow to cool slightly and serve.

Quick & Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Let me start off with saying this could be a great dish. The original recipe I used needs lots of tweaking.   Please bare with me on the recipe below as I am going to try and explain what the original said and I did to what should be done. 

I am also using the words 'Pot Pie' loosely as there is no full crust associated with the dish. But in the end it gives the feeling of one. 

The ingredients are extremely simple - shredded chicken (I used a fully cooked rotisserie chicken), frozen mixed vegetables, cream of mushroom soup, water, salt, pepper & biscuits. It IS that easy. 

Below is the original recipe with my notes and/or additions in blue.

Ingredients

• 1  3 1/2- to 4-pound  rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
• 1  10-ounce package  frozen mixed vegetables (my bag came as a 16oz. Use the whole thing)
• 1  10.75-ounce can  condensed cream-of-mushroom soup (You can be creative and use any kind of 'cream of whatever soup')
• 1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  10-count tube  refrigerated biscuits
• 3/4 cup of water (I used a 3/4 to mix in and added about a quarter cup more in the end)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Combine the chicken, vegetables, soup, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.
2. Transfer the mixture to an oven-safe casserole, cover with foil, and bake for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the foil, cover the filling with the biscuits, and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
4. Here is something I learned. The biscuits need to be cooked a little before you put them in the dish. Only the top half of our biscuits were cooked. The bottom were all icky and mushy. I suggest putting them in the oven on a separate pan about 5 minutes before they are ready to go into the dish. Just long enough that the bottoms are cooked and not mushy. 
5. Next time I plan on dicing up probably 4 or so large potatoes and boiling them until they are almost done and then adding them to the dish. I think that would make it a lot heartier. 

The actual insides of the dish were really good. There are tons of way you could play with this dish to make it to your family's liking. The best things are that, there is not a huge mess, it is quick to make and easy clean up. If you do not have rotisserie chicken on hand, I think you could get away with shredded seasoned chicken as well.

Over all I think this is a great dish that we will surely make again and just tweak it a little!

Here is a picture of what the final dish looks like:

Courtesy of: http://www.realsimple.com/

Starbucks At Home

I. Love. Starbucks.

Starbucks is an addiction that my husband got me started on when we first started dating. Before then, I was just a plain ole' coffee drinker. I usually had a little coffee with my cream & loads of sweetener is what it amounted too. But I guess that's what happens when your drinking bleh coffee!

Anyways, because of my l.o.v.e with Pinterest came this amazing find!

Yes - it is a pdf full of Starbucks Recipes!!!! I haven't gotten a chance to try too many. But maybe you just need to find your favorite one. I don't know about you, but $5 for a cup of coffee whenever I need it isnt always in my budget. So this is a great go-to at home when that urge is there but the cash (or location in our case) isnt there.

I hope you enjoy it!! You can download the full pdf here: http://www.dwallace.net/starbucks.pdf

Are you the New Years Resolution type?

I have never made a New Years Resolution that I kept - ever. I think it is just because it really doesn't seem like a big deal in the long run. Nothing ever pushes you to keep it. It's just something fun to think about at the end of a long year. Really, whats the reward? I guess I just never really put that much thought and faith into one.

However, I do try and make a goal for the new year. So far, I have completed those goals on a yearly basis. It seems that setting myself a goal and completing it works pretty well for me compared to saying it is just a New Years resolution.

I do have a rule though with my goals each year. I don't make goals about losing weight or quitting anything addictive. I have learned that those sorts of things need to be done with you are personally ready. Plus there are a lot of things that can stand in your way, set you back, etc. For instance, weight gain issues that I have had in life have had nothing to do with what or how I am eating. I have had set backs due to surgeries or physical limitations due to health issues at that time that make it almost impossible to work with. Or take things that are addictive. I was a smoker for years. It was the hardest habit I have ever had to break in my life. But it wasnt something that I could just make a resolution about on New Years Eve. I had to find my reason inside me that kept me hanging on when I really wanted another one. No NYE resolution was going to stop me. For me - I am just setting myself up for failure if I make one like that.

I like my goals to be something that I need to make myself work at and even hard at times, but not something so hard that it becomes impossible. I can make those goals any time of year. haha.

Last year my goal was to take a picture every day of the year. It was the coolest one I have done by far. I loved it so much that I am doing it again this year. I am adding another two goals this year just to be fair though. The picture every day was something small, but was pretty hard at times. I mean honestly some days just are not that entertaining. But in the grand scheme of things it gave me an awesome way to tell my life story for 2012.

This year my goals are:
Take a picture every day
It explains itself. Im hoping to take last years pics and make a 2012 family 'yearbook' out of it :)

Monthly Pay It Forward
I have a ton to be thankful for in my life. When I sit back and think of all the blessings that have come my way and the reasons I have to be thankful - it is truly amazing. So this year I want to give back. At least every month I plan on doing something for someone else. If I can do it more than once a month that will be even better. But my goal is once a month.

Keep up this blog
I have always loved writing. But life gets in the way and I never seem to accomplish anything when it comes to writing.

Only one time have I finished a huge year long writing project. That was the first full year of my husband and I's relationship. When I got home after our first 'non' date (theres a story here), I sat down and wrote (typed) about it. Then the next day, I wrote about him after he called.... and it never stopped - not once for the first full year of our relationship. I literally wrote every.single.day a 'diary' about our relationship and what we had done that day. Each day was set up like a chapter in a book with a name. It was truly a piece of work. Once I was done, I made REAL books out of them. I had them printed, bound, named and a cover designed and gave them to my husband as presents. Its a pretty cool thing we have to look back on and so glad I didnt give up!

Anyways, I have many unfinished journals, notebooks and word documents. I will have a great idea and then it fizzles and I don't try and relight it. This time my goal is to not let that happen. I believe I have something to offer with insights, recipes, stories or whatever it is that will inspire someone else. I don't care if I have 1 reader or 1000. The point is to open myself back up to writing and hopefully spark something in someone along the way!

Oh.. and my family and I have an additional one together that we started on NYE this year. I made a memory jar complete with paper, pen, and decorations. The instructions are simple. During the year if anyone does anything funny, memorable, exciting, etc... We write it on the paper, put our names, date and memory down. Then we fold it and put it in the jar. On the next NYE we will open and read them. Once we are done we can put them in a binder and keep for years to come. It is never too late to start one with your loved ones. Just pick a date and start!

Refer to me as....

Loved this find today :-D

A Country Walmart Visit

We have lived in our new area for 7 months now. So I am totally a newbie at this lifestyle still. We moved three hours south-west from where we are from and you wouldn't think it makes a ton of difference, but wow.. It is a completely different world here. One of the biggest things is - people are extremely nice. It is rare to go anywhere and deal with 'those stuck up city folk'. lol

Which brings me to my 2+ hour Walmart visit today. First off, since I usually go to the store during the day it also means I am there with a large number of 60 year old plus people. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it just makes for a different shopping experience. 

It started when I pulled into the parking lot. I pulled into an open spot, put my car in park and rolled the passenger back side window down a bit for Gunner to hang is head out while I went over my list. Next thing ya know I hear a mans voice asking how old he is. That was creepy. I look and this guy is parked next to Gunners open window. I tell him he's three. He proceeds to start talking to Gunner from his car. Im starting to feel awkward now. Then I hear a door shut and the guy is now standing at my open window asking if he can pet him. My heart starts beating extremely fast. See I am from the a big city suburbs. If someone did that where I used to live, I would have rolled my windows up, start screaming, call police - you name it. But here it seems invading someone's bubble is normal. So I start telling myself to be cool, be calm. I was. I let him pet the dog, while I made sure 911 was on my speed dial. He ended up being a harmless weirdo. Im not sure I will ever get used to this!!!

Anyways... when I finally walked in to Walmart, there was an older lady sitting right in the middle of the aisle greeting everyone. She was extremely nice, peppy and actually made you feel happy for coming to Walmart. You just had to be nice and chat back. 

After my chat was through with her, I was on my way to the opposite side of the store. They conveniently placed these shopping parts full of $1 clearance items right in the middle of the aisle. So of course I had to stop and look. Well, that led to worker #2 talking my ear off about how great these smelly markers were and oooohh check out those .39 cent stamps!! She was quite the seller. Then I made the mistake of asking if they had Farmers Almanac books. That brought on a whole other discussion.

After what seemed like forever - I finally made it to the other side of the store for a bunch of misc items. One of the things I was looking at was paint chips. Here is where worker #3 appeared. He was this jolly ole' man with a white beard, big belly and wearing huge suspenders. He wanted to make sure if I needed anything I knew he was there. He was so very sweet and polite. BUT it doesnt end there. Next thing you know I am knee deep in paint chips and more advise than I needed. Eventually I moved on.

I only made it two aisles. This sweet old lady was having quite the animated conversation with herself and the power strips in her hand. I excused myself as I walked in front of her and she startles me when she gently grabs my wrist. She says "Honey, do you mind if I tell you a joke?" I think I was a little speechless as I was so not expecting that and I am also pretty sure I stuttered the answer of "Uh, Um, sure?" I tried to put on my best - "Im so excited to hear this joke" expression.  She started it with telling me she seen it on Facebook this morning. That made me laugh. She had to be at least 80 and she looked like she just came from Sunday school... Which is why when she told me this joke. I thought I was going to die laughing. She went on to tell me this joke below. She did paraphrase it some. But just to get the whole thing out, I found it online and put it below: (I did reword some due to its 'adult nature' for some readers)

A man buys a lie detector robot that slaps people who lie. He decides to test it at dinner.
Dad: Son, where were you today during school hours?
Son: At school.
The robot slaps the son.
Son: Ok! I watched a DVD at my mates.
Dad: Which one?
Son: Kung Fu Panda.
The robot slaps the son again.
Son: Ok! It was a 'bad movie'.
Dad: WHAT? When I was your age I didn’t even know what a 'bad movie' was!
The robot slaps the Dad.
Mom: Hahahahaha! After all he’s your son.
The robot slaps the mom...

Okay.. so thats a funny joke right? Sure. But hearing it from an 80 year old-ish woman that found it on Facebook AND used all the 'adult' words... now that was unexpected and funny. After the joke she just walked away.

Im sure I looked rather odd walking through the store laughing to myself. (Pause: as I am writing this my daughter tell me they almost hit a pig today on the way home from school on the bus. See? C-O-U-N-T-R-Y) Okay... back to the story. Anyways, the next funny thing was walking down a main aisle where some clerk with a sense of humor put these motion detected laughing babies that move their arms and legs. There was about 5 shelves of them with 9-12 on each shelf. At first it made me jump, then laugh, and then I felt a little creepy hearing all their laughs {shudder}. I am sure someone was watching this on the surveillance video laughing. I know I would be.

You would think that this was it. But it wasn't. The food side of the store was just as entertaining. There was this guy that almost had me running and screaming for the hills. No joke. I am minding my own business shopping and I feel like someone is behind me, like really close, so I turn around. There is. And he is dressed up like the statue of liberty. Crown and all. Freaked.Me.Out. Turns out he just has a really odd job. He was trying to sell some tax service named Liberty something. Geesh. Really?

It doesn't end their either. There was was the old man in the coffee aisle discussing why it is over priced. The rotiserrie chicken lady that confused me more than needed. And last but not least the cashier that is from California, has a son, is getting ready to move back home, only has her car to take them in and wants to know where I found such a large thing of cleaning vinegar.

Once I received my receipt I think I practically ran out of that place. There was only a little bit more commotion. That was the sound of a dog choir when I got to my car. It seems this lil car that parked next to me had 3 labs in side. So our dog was doing his 'Im lonely speak to me cry' and the labs were barking ferociously as they wagged their tails. 

Oh please dear Lord. Just let me go home!!

Baked Greek Chicken & Zesty Roasted Red Potatoes

Tonight I made two new dishes for dinner that I found on Pinterest. Baked Greek Chicken & Zesty Roasted Red Potatoes. What I liked best about these two dishes is that I was able to make them together. It was a very good time saving dinner.

Baked Greek Chicken
What you will need:
- 3-4 boneless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 375
- Mix parmesan cheese, greek yogurt, garlic powder, seasoning salt & pepper in a bowl.
- Place your chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Cover each chicken breasts with the mixture (note, I used all the mixture on 3 chicken breasts, if you do not like overly rich foods, use sparingly)
- Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through


Zesty Roasted Red Potatoes
What you will need:
- 6-7 Red Potatoes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 package of zesty italian dressing mix
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 Onion (This wasnt in the original recipe, but it will be in the next)
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Cube the red potatoes (leave the skin on)
- Put the red potatoes in a large bowl
- Add in the italian dressing mix (the original recipe called for a full package, I used just over a half)
- Chop the onion and add to the bowl
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes
- Stir to coat (add more olive oil if needed - potatoes should be lightly covered)
- Put potatoes on a baking sheet covered with foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until soft
- Top with grated parmesan cheese when finished
* I ended up cooking this at 375 since that was the tempature for the chicken. I just put it in the oven about 15 minutes prior. 


Overall opinions:

Baked Greek Chicken
First I must confess my husband came up with the name as the recipe did not have one. I think it fits, and I think you will too once you hear the ingredients. Anyways, back to the dish. The chicken over all turned out well. It was easy to make, flavorful, juicy and easy to clean up. The con was the flavor was a little to rich for our liking.

Will I make this again?
Yes. I will just use a little less of the 'greek sauce'.

Zesty Roasted Red Potatoes
A great hit with the hubby and I. Our daughter however (who is 14) was not a fan of it. Not completely sure why. The potatoes has a great over all flavor that complemented the chicken well. The pros are - it was an easy dish to put together. I was able to to cook it at the same time as the chicken. It would go well with lots of dishes. The con(s).. Well I can't think of any. Oh.. I should have sliced an onion up and added it to the pan.

Will I make this again?
Yes. I will add onion next time as well.


Here is our finished dish. You can see we also added a little good ole' spiral mac & cheese.

We also had a nice glass of Malbec with dinner. Unfortunately the bottle started out like the picture below. Don't you hate it when that happens??

Well thats all for tonight folks. Hope you enjoy!

#HashtagPetPeeve

Okay I get that this rant is a First World Problem. But I must get this off my chest. There are so many people that are on Social Network that have no clue what a hashtag really is. Where it really annoys me is Facebook. Oh Mmm Gee.

Let me ask you this. Why would you use a hashtag on Facebook? It does absolutely nothing. Facebook has yet to incorporate this into their site. The only time you should legitamitely see it on FB is if it is an update from Twitter, Instagram or other participating social network. It is one of those things that just irks you (or me in this case).

What is a Hashtag you ask? Here let's let Wikipedia explain:

"A hashtag is a word or a phrase prefixed with the symbol #,^[1][2] a form of metadata tag. Also, short messages on microblogging social networking services such as Twitter, Tout, identi.ca, or Google+ may be tagged by including one or more with multiple words concatenated, e.g.:

#Wikipedia is an #encyclopedia

Hashtags provide a means of grouping such messages, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it."

This was taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

In case your dying of curiosity, here are the sites that participate in 'hashtagging'.

Websites that support hashtags

• Diaspora software and social network
• All Gawker Media websites
• Google+
• Tagboard
• Orkut^[9]
• Tout
• Tumblr
• Twitter (since 2009)
• YouTube (2009–2011)
• Instagram
• FriendFeed (since 2009)
• Pinterest
• Fluidinfo
• Catch.com (as well as mobile apps)
• Sina Weibo
• Wanelo
• WorkFlowy

Nope don't see Facebook's name on there.

Like I said. It's not the end of the world. Just something that drives me a little nutty when I see it. 

Thanks for listening.

Good Ole' Home Cooked Meals

I have recently found a new 'like' for cooking. Partly because we live in the middle of no where so you kind of have to cook at home and the other is because food always seems to make people happy. However, I won't go as far as saying love yet.. I am still learning. I am in the stages where I have to ask a lot of questions and have to mess up a lot of meals in order to find what is right and what is not. 

Luckily I married a man that not only loves to cook.. he is also amazing at it. We hardly ever cook together because we are too hard headed and it makes for an interesting meal. So normally one of us cooks and the other enjoys a glass of wine. In the ends its a win-win situation.

As you may have figured out by now - I have a passion (borderline obsession) for Pinterest. It is seriously a great 'invention'. Most of our new meals now a days comes from there. I am finding it is a lot of trial and error working through some of the recipes. But in the end it has been completely worth it. So much so I am making my own cookbook to keep our favorites in!

So why don't you sit back, put your feet up and have a nice hot cup of tea (or cold sweet tea if your from our neck of the woods) and enjoy our kitchen cookings that we'll soon share with you!

True Words

Good day just got worse...

Today started off as a good day. Got my to-do lists accomplished, cleaning done, organizing in motion... and then it happened. That one bad thing that just ruined it all.

As I have grown older I have learned not to let most things ruin my mood, moment or days. But sometimes its as if no matter one you do, that one things IS going to ruin the rest of your day. Today I had one of those moments. A moment that turned my day upside down.

Then it kept unraveling. So much so the only thing that wasn't ruined tonight was the corn and the gravy at dinner that my husband made. Chicken Fried Steak - Burnt. Cheddar Bay Biscuits - Hard as baseballs. Over all attitude - diminished.

Sometimes praying for it to get better doesn't work. Instead it turns into a prayer to deal with the horrible mood correctly. That my friends is where I am now. Praying for the good Lord to put his arm around my shoulder and hand over my mouth.