Thursday, March 27, 2014

Baja Chicken Sliders

This is a really delicious recipe - yummy little chicken sliders, topped with a flavorful southwestern version of coleslaw (I don't like coleslaw, but I love this!) and a zesty sour cream lime sauce.

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Recipe adapted from this book.

Ingredients:
{sour cream lime sauce}
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp lime zest
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
{slaw}
4 tsp fresh lime juice
2 cup broccoli slaw mix
1/2 sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
2 tsp sugar
{sliders}
2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 16 slider-size pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
16 hawaiian rolls, sliced down the middle
16 small tomato slices (optional)
16 small lettuce leaves (optional)

Directions:
1. To make sour cream lime sauce, combine sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest in a small bowl. Refrigerate.
2. To make slaw mix, combine all slaw ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and refrigerate.
3. Flatten chicken breast pieces to be 1/2-inch thick. Season with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Grill for 4-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
4. To assemble sliders, serve chicken on hawaiian rolls and top with lettuce, tomato, sauce, and slaw.

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(sour cream lime sauce)

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(slaw)

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(grilled chicken)

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Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Valentine's Day 2014

I'm only oh... over a month behind on blogging about Valentine's Day. Haha. But I have to document it anyway, right? We were never big Valentine's Day celebraters before we got married (mostly because we were long-distance dating and not ever in the same place, I think), but over the past few years we've really enjoyed doing something special for the 14th of February. We don't do really expensive gifts or meals or anything, but we try to just do something sweet and use it as an excuse to spend some quality time together.

First of all, a few little house decorations:

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I ended up stuck at work late on Valentine's Day, but when I finally got home Jeff surprised me with a really sweet card, tulips (my favorite!), and chocolate covered sunflower seeds (another favorite).

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The tulips were still attached to the bulbs and in a special vase that keeps the bulbs and roots growing, so they bloomed beautiful red flowers for weeks! Jeff also gave me a little gift - a heated blanket! It sounds like a silly gift, but it was actually really sweet. I had been complaining about how I get so cold at night when he's out of town for work, so he bought me the blanket to solve the problem and make me miss him a little less when he's on business trips. I gave Jeff Little Mermaid on Blu-Ray (he's collecting all the Disney classics as they come out on Blu-Ray).

We went out to dinner a couple days after Valentine's Day (once the deal I'd been working on day-and-night on finally closed) at our favorite little Mexican restaurant. Mmm, enchiladas! :)

I look pretty tired, huh? You can tell I'd been working really long hours for a few days.

So that was Valentine's Day 2014! Nothing spectacular, but lovely nonetheless. :)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Southwest Chicken Chopped Salad

Here's a quick-and-easy one-dish dinner recipe! If you go easy on the dressing, it's pretty healthy too!

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Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet yellow corn, drained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 large romaine hearts, chopped
crushed tortilla chips
{dressing}
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2-3 tbsp milk

Directions:
1. To make the dressing, stir together the mayo, sour cream, ranch dressing mix, taco seasoning, lime juice, and milk in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth and completely combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the bell pepper, beans, corn, tomatoes, green onion, and cilantro. Add the chicken and lettuce.
3. Pour the refrigerated dressing over the salad and toss.
4. Top with crushed tortilla chips (and lime wedges and additional cilantro, if desired) and serve!

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(dressing ingredients)

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(finished dressing)

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(salad!)

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Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Mini Polenta Pizzas

The biggest Kroger in Texas opened a while back pretty close to our house (and RIGHT next to our church!). It's by far my favorite grocery store. I could spend hours just wandering up and down the aisles! I always seem to come home with something fun and new - recently it was a tube of polenta.

There are probably about a million things you can do with polenta, but we made little pizzas! So yummy. 

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Recipe idea from here.

Ingredients:
116-oz tube of polenta (I used the garlic flavored kind!)
3/4 cup pizza sauce
Italian seasoning
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
handful of pepperoni

Directions:
1. Slice the polenta into eight circles. Lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil spray and put the polenta circles in the dish, adjacent to each other.
2. Spread pizza sauce over each polenta circle. Sprinkle Italian seasoning over each one, then add cheese and pepperoni.
3. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and browned. 

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(polenta circles + sauce + seasoning)

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(topped with cheese!)

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(...and pepperoni!)

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(out of the oven!)

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Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

These cookies are the perfect little springtime treat. They're easy to make and pretty cute too!

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Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
1 box strawberry cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup canola oil, divided
2 tsp lemon juice, divided
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1-2 tbsp milk

Directions:
1. Put each cake mix in a large bowl. To each bowl, add 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix until combined.
2. Refrigerate dough for 20-30 minutes.
3. Form cookies by taking a piece of each dough and rolling into a ball.
4. Put 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl. Roll each dough ball in the powdered sugar before placing on a baking sheet.
5. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Cool on a wire rack.
6. When cookies are cool, make a glaze by whisking together 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 tbsp milk until combined. Add additional milk if necessary to reach desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over the cookies.

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(lemon dough)


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(strawberry dough)

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(ready for the oven!)

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(fresh out of the oven!)

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(drizzled with glaze)

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Ta-da!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Things I Never Blogged About - Part 3

Here are another three things I totally forgot to blog about!

1. Recreated Brothers Photo

Jeff took this photo with his mom and brothers when he was little (he's on the top left):

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Jeff's mom had the bright idea that we should recreate the photo and give it to Jeff's dad for his birthday, so we did! We were laughing so hard while we took the photos... I had to really concentrate to get some that weren't blurry! Haha.

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Here's the finished product:

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Teehee. Pretty cute, right?

2. Miniature Parfaits!

My parents gave me a set of mini parfait dishes (complete with tiny spoons!) for Christmas, and they are so fun! Here are my favorite two parfaits to make in them so far...

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Lemon Berry Parfaits - layer pound cake, lemon curd, strawberries, and fresh whipped cream

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S'Mores Parfaits - layer chocolate pudding, crumbled graham crackers, and marshmallows

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To make the s'mores ones extra-special, I like to toast the marshmallows on top with my creme brulee torch. :)

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Here we are with family enjoying some mini parfaits!

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3. Things That Are Cute

Sometimes I just take pictures of things around the house that make me happy. Here's a little assortment:

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Jeff and Katie Chicken Pot Pie :)

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Gerber daisies!

4. The Humble Rodeo!

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is a big deal around here. It's a BIG production. But here in our sweet little suburb of Humble, we have our own (slightly smaller) rodeo that's just as fun (and much less expensive, and everyone has great seats)!

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We've never been to the Humble Rodeo before, but we went this year with two other couples. There were all the same rodeo events as the regular big rodeo, and Kevin Fowler did a concert, and it was a great time!

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Cows!

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And now I'm alllllmost caught up on blogging. Almost. :) 

Monday, March 10, 2014

A Year of Holiday Printables!

When my little sister was moving to New York, we wanted to give her something sweet that she could take with her to make NYC feel a little more like home. It had to be something fun and something that could easily travel in a suitcase without taking up much space. After extensive Googling and Pinteresting, I ended up putting together a little frame and a set of seasonal/holiday prints that she can change out throughout the year!

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I put the first print in the frame, and included the rest in a cute little folder. The frame is an 8x10, but there's a mat in it for 5x7 pictures, so some of the prints are 5x7 and some are 8x10. I figured it was good to mix it up a little!

I thought I'd share all the prints I used (and links for where you can download them) in case any of you need a simple-and-inexpensive gift idea (or just need a little more holiday cheer in your life!). Here they are, all laid out on my craft room floor:

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Most of the prints are holiday-related, but I included a handful of generic cute prints for the time periods in between the various holidays. Starting with January 1st, here are all the prints I used in chronological order! 

JANUARY

hny 2014 2
Happy New Year - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

FEBRUARY

love you green pink horizontal
Love You - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

XOXO-Pink-LCMF
XOXO - from Less Cake More Frosting (free!)

She Believed She Could, So She Did - from Jones Design Company (received as part of my Paper Works subscription)

MARCH

word shamrockgreen
Shamrock - from Blooming Homestead (free!)

1-07840cea1e
Spring Bunny - from Craftily Ever After (free!)

APRIL

Hosanna blue
Hosanna - from Mostly Homemade Mom (free!)


April Showers Bring may Flowers - from Jones Design Company (free!)

MAY

grateful damask wm
Today I Am Grateful - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

JUNE

Filled with Joy - from Jones Design Company ($14.99)

JULY

free 4th of july printable
Land That I Love - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

AUGUST

bird with a french fry pink
Happier than a Bird with a French Fry - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

SEPTEMBER

Fall is Fabulous - from The TomKat Studio (free!)

OCTOBER

free halloween printable
Happy Halloween - from Whipperberry (and cropped by me) (free!)

NOVEMBER

give thanks mustard
Give Thanks - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

DECEMBER

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

christmas printable gold wm
Glory to the Newborn King - from My Fabuless Life (free!)

Isn't it lovely that there are so many talented artists sharing their work for free on their blogs? I'm about the print the fun shamrock one to put out for St. Patrick's Day! I hope y'all enjoy these prints!