A new ring for my left hand

Well ever since the break up my left hand has been missing wearing a ring. I had been thinking about treating myself to a new ring to wear for some time. A few weeks ago I remembered that my friend Caroline from work makes rings! I was even more excited when she told me they were only $5! She brought in all her samples for me to look at one day. And of course I fell in love with a purple bead :) today she brought me my ring and it has made this good day that much better! I hope everyone has been able to enjoy this beautiful weather!

Creamy Chicken and Rotini Primavera

Pinterest is simply amazing. I seriously believe that it is good for my soul. It gives me so many wonderful ideas of things I really can make myself. Here is another recipe that I made tonight for dinner. I spent the whole day doing homework so I treated my self to a long walk with a friend and then making a yummy dinner. It was delicious! And of course it makes more than one serving so I will be eating it all week.

It is hard to see the sauce but it is there! 

Creamy Chicken and Rotini Primavera
- 1/2 pound dry Rotini
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts- cubed
- 1 lb frozen vegetable mix- thawed
- 4 oz Neufchatel cheese ( reduced fat cream cheese)
- 1/2 cups lite Italian dressing
- 1/2 cups 2% milk

Directions:
1. Cook pasta per package directions to desired doneness. Drain well and keep warm.
2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken cubes and cook until no longer pink.
3. Combine cream cheese, dressing and milk and whisk until smooth.
4. Add thawed frozen vegetables and pasta to chicken along with sauce mixture. Stir well and heath through- About 5 Min.

* I did a few things different. I used skim milk because it is what we always buy. My sauce still tasted fine but I think it was a little thinner than what it should have been. If you do not like Italian dressing then either don't use so much dressing or don't use a nice brand such as Ken's like I did. I also used Northern Italian which I don't know if that made any difference. But none the less it was delicious!

This past weekend I also fixed a throw pillow that sits on my bed.... When I actually make my bad. It is a very nice and soft brown pillow. However, Jeff's dog had gotten dog buggers on it. I was scared to wash the pillow but the I remembered I had some brown fleece fabric from a project I did last year. I decided to cover the pillow like you would make one of those blankets that you tie around the edges. On one side I cut the fabric into about 1-1 1/2 inch strips and a did a weave patter. The other side is just solid brown. I think the weave pattern turned out pretty cool. And because I pulled it pretty tight I don't think it is going to come apart. :)

Homework calls....

I'm a Stewer!

Before the tomatoes were added.

Yesterday I went to Walnut Cove, NC to see one of my friend Natalie. Natalie met really through our music fraternity (Sigma Alpha Iota) but we were also in marching band together at ECU. A few years ago over fall break I went home with Natalie for her church's Brunswick Stew Festival. Well it isn't really a festival... at least not what I would call a festival. They make stew in two HUGE pots. I think each one holds 100 gallons. And what is even more amazing is that they do this twice a year and they sell ALL of the stew. The make the stew in the fall for a church fundraiser and in the spring for the eight grade trip to D.C. Because this has been my third stew I have now become an official stewer! Natalie's family and church family are amazing and even if I can't come and make stew every year I totally am going to buy some. It is the best Brunswick stew I think I have ever had!

After the tomatoes and other veggies were added. About to be dipped in to quart size cups.

Goodbye Fast food!

It is Ashe Wednesday yet again. It is crazy to think about what was going on in my life this time last year. My life is a little less interesting but oh well. This year for lent I decided to give up fast food and fried foods. For some reason if I need to eat fast food I have to get a salad. This might be tricky because I am going home every weekend in March. In getting ready for lent I did eat Bojangles last night for dinner hehe.

Cooking for the soul

        I would like to start this post by saying I love my Mom and I am so glad she encouraged us (my sisters and I) to cook. I can't tell you how many times I sat in the kitchen and watched her cook. When I cook I get such a rush! And I feel like it makes the food I cook taste that much better! The past two days I haven't been in bad moods but I haven't been in good moods either... until I cooked! I made two new recipes in two days. Granted now I have enough leftovers to last me the rest of the week haha but thats ok :) For both of these dishes the thing that took the longest was waiting for the water to boil! Two very easy quick fixes!

        Last night I made Shrimp, Asparagus and pasta with Pesto Sauce. It was flipping amazing!!! I called my sister Erin to tell her right away because I had told her earlier what I was making. I had to share how freaking yummy and easy this was! Of course I found the recipe on Pinterest but you can also find it on Cinnamon Girl Recipes . Her recipe called for spring beans but she suggested asparagus so I tried that instead. She also gave you a recipe to make your own pesto sauce... I didn't feel like doing that so I cheated and bought the kind in a jar already made :) Oh and the small jars is enough pesto for two of these recipes so that was exciting!

Shrimp, Asparagus and Pasta with Pesto Sauce
- 8 oz rotini or penne pasta
- 1 lb medium or large raw shrimp, cleaned,
 deveined and tails off
- 2 cups asparagus cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1/2-3/4 cups pesto sauce

- Cook the pasta and asparagus together in plenty of salted water to al dente, being sure to reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water before draining.
- Meanwhile in a large skillet heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add shrimp, season well with salt and pepper and cook until they begin to curl.
- Mix pasta, beans, shrimp, 1/2 cup pesto and pasta water together. Add more pesto if needed. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese.

        Before I go into my next recipe can I just say this weather is freaking crazy!!! On Saturday it is 60 degrees and I'm sitting at a baseball game enjoying the sun. Then on Sunday it is in the 20s and snowing!! I know I was on two different sides of the state but still... The temperature changed that much!!! If I don't get sick it will be amazing! Below is what my car looked like when I had to leave for work this morning... at least the roads were clear so I didn't have to worry about slick roads.

        Tonight I busted out my 5 Ingredient Cookbook that my mom gave me years ago for Christmas. This is only the second time I have made something out of this cookbook. I really need to use it more often.

Crabby Alfredo
- 4 cups cooked egg noodles
- 1 package (16 oz) imitation crabmeat, chopped (I think if you got the real deal it would be even better!
- 1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo Sauce
- Seafood seasoning or minced chives

In a large saucepan, combine the noodles, crab and Alfredo sauce. Cook and stir until heated through. Sprinkle with seafood seasoning or chives.

* I added broccoli and topped with a little parmesan cheese and it was freaking amazing!

Baseball season!!!

Woohoo it is finally baseball season. Nothing says spring is on the way like baseball games! I came down to Greenville with my parents for a doubleheader. I ran into my friends Megan and James as I walked in which was a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew at the game so that was very exciting.  Megan and I are both trying to keep up with a blog. We were talking about how nice it would be to have an app on our phones so we could blog anywhere. After searching for only a few minutes we were both able to find an app! It is pretty cool to blog right from the baseball game! Being back in Greenville makes me really miss this side of the state and the friends I that I still have here.

Valentines Day Yummies!

Hello world! So from talking to different people it is funny hearing about who reads my blog and who didn't even know I had a blog. Haha I think its funny. It is the people who are on Facebook I think who mainly read it because I always have a status up date when I update my blog. I guess I have to start telling the other people haha. It was kind of neat when my friend Heather told me she bookmarked it on her computer haha. Does anyone know if there is a way to know how many people read my blog? Like a thing that tallies every time someone views my blog?

Things here have been pretty busy but I have been trying to keep up with cooking new things! I made some yummy roasted carrots last week to go with some pork chops that I marinaded in some honey teriyaki marinade by Ken's. The pork chops were very yummy and so were the carrots and rice I made. The picture below is not of the pork chops because I was halfway through my dinner when I realized I had forgotten to take a picture of the finished product! I made some chicken in the same marinade a few days later to go with the leftover carrots and rice. I got the recipe off of Pinterest but here is the blog link if you would like to get it right from her blog! Ok Link to come later because Pinterest is being difficult right now...


Roasted Carrots
- 2 lbs baby carrots
- olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
- Veggie Seasoning (take your pick)
- tin foil (my recommendation)

Mix in a small bowl the olive oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar and set aside. Mix the carrots with some seasoning and a little olive oil then place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Pull the carrots out and drizzle with mixture and put back in the oven for about 5 more minutes.

With Valentines Day being this week I was determined not to be all sad and bummed out about being single. So I invited some friends over for a game night! It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend Singles Awareness Day. Laughter is a great cure for sadness!! I wanted to make something yummy for us to munch on while we played. I found on Pinterest (Yes I know I might have a problem) where you can make peanut butter cookies and put a Dove heart chocolate in the middle. I did not really like the recipe online because it was cookies in a bag. I knew my mom had a yummy peanut-butter cookie recipe that would be better. So here is what I did!

Peanut-butter Cookies
- 1/2 cup shortening or butter
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut-butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Dove milk chocolates (if you aren't making this on V-day you can add a hearsay kiss)



Directions:
- Beat shortening and peanut-butter
- Add brown and regular sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well blended
- Stir together flour, baking road, and salt into another bowl.
- Gradually add flour mixture with wet ingredients.
- Shape into 1 inch balls then roll in extra sugar.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min at 375.
- Add chocolate right after they come out of the oven. Let cool and enjoy!

Like I said I have been keeping busy with school and being crafty when I can. I made this a few weeks ago but am just now putting a picture up of it. I am going to hang it in the living room :)

New recipes that I will be trying within the next couple weeks are: Buffalo Chicken Bites, Shrimp, String Beans and Pasta with Pesto Sauce, Spicy Chicken Rigatoni, Crabby Alfredo, and Creamy Chicken and Rotini Primavera.

New Year Resolutions

I know we are already into Feburary but I figured it was never to late to start some new year resolutions. I have recently fallen in love with Pinterest! I have had an account since this summer but never really gotten into it until a few weeks ago. My sister Erin has been making all sorts of wondering homemade cleaning productions. So I was inspired to make my own homemade laundry detergent. It actually wasn't that hard to make and it is going to be so much cheaper! The kind I made was a powered laundry detergent. So far I have only washed my sheets with it but they smell good and feel the same. I call it a success! It calls for:

- 2 cups Borax
- 2 cups Washing Powerder
- 2 bars of FelsNapth (sp?) soap
*grate the soap using a cheese grater or food processor, than mix with the other ingredients.



Another new resolution has also been inspired by Pinterest. I have found all of these amazing recipes and things that look so good! I am also tired of making the same thing over and over again. So my new goal is to make at least one new recipe a week or change something about a recipe I make all the time. This past Thursday I made baked ziti for the first time. The recipe I found wasn't from Pinterest but my friend Natalie made it all the time when we were at ECU and gave me the recipe years ago and I never tried it. For the first time making it I think it turned out pretty good! I thought it had a little too much pepper but all the other people who ate it with me said it tasted fine to them.

4 Cheese Baked Penne
Preheat Oven: 400

- 1 lb Penne Pasta
- 1 1/2 cups Cottage Cheese
- 1 1/4 cups Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 cup Ricotta Cheese
- 3 tablespoons Chopped Parsley
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 15 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 1 small Onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons Ms.Dash
- Grated parmesan to taste


- Combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella and parsley in bowl. Incorporate and set aside.
- Cook pasta until tender but still firm (2 min less than package).
- Heat oil in same pot over medium heat. Add onion, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5 min. Add garlic for 30 sec. more. Add the tomatoes, sauce, and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for approx 10 min. until sauce thickens slightly.
- Return pasta to pot with sauce. Turn off heat. Add cottage cheese mixture.
- Spray 13x9 glass dish with cooking spray. Add pasta mixture. Top with remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella and parmesan.
- bake until heated through and cheese is melted. Approx. 20-30 min.

I also want to try changing things that I make all the time. I make a yummy chicken stir fry at least every week or two. I mixed things up by making it with angle hair pasta instead of rice. Then I mixed the stir friend chicken and veggies with the pasta. It was soooo Yummy!!! My sister Erin introduced me to this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir Fry
- 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or things
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 cups loose-pack frozen veggies

1. Rinse chicken, pat dry. Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces; set aside. For the sauce in a small bowl stir together honey, vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, and corn starch. Set aside.
2. Poor cooking oil into a work or large skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking) Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry frozen veggies for 3 min or until veggies are crisp-tender. Remove veggies from wok. Add chicken to hot wok. Stir-fry for 3-4 min or until chicken is no longer pink. Push chicken from the center of the wok. Stir sauce; add to center of the wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
3. Return cooked veggies to wok. Stir all ingredients together to coat. Cook and stir about 1 min or until heather throughly.

Well those are the cooking adventures for now. The scarf is still going well. It is about a foot and a half long right now. I ripped it out several times but I think I have finally gotten the hang out of. Check out a picture I added to the last post to see the start of the scarf!