Kickin' Kitchen!

My kitchen has been on fire lately! Okay, not literally. Figuratively.
I've spent the last few weeks of my "free" time cooking up some really yummy meals. I've even been baking! Yes, I said typed it. Baking! Unfortunately, I haven't been taking pictures of these masterpieces. I guess I'll be whipping up some more goodies in the kitchen so you can see what it all looks like when it comes together. It also gives me an opportunity to work on my photography skills. (Love a good 'ole point & shoot session)!

A few weeks ago (2), I decided to start a lovely love affair with my crock pot. Why on earth I have left this amazing appliance neglected for the past two years, I'll never know! I've set myself up with some tasty creations. So far, I've made a whole chicken (best idea ever) and chicken tortilla soup (very cheap & yummy)! 

Recipes are to come. I can't seem to find the originals to give credit where credit is due. However, here's a sneak peek of the chicken I made. Feed myself for over a week off of a $3.50 chicken. Who says you can't eat well for cheap?!?! 2 hands up for a happy budget (even if said budget doesn't actually exist)!

FYI: I've also made three cakes in 2.5 weeks! The first was a pound cake & not a complete disaster, but I can't really judge because I'm not a huge fan of plain pound cake. The second cake was a recipe of my very own! I LOVE cinnamon & sugar and decided to make a cinnamon & sugar pound cake. I couldn't find d recipe I really liked, so I looked at a few and created my own. Super yummy! Lastly, I made a lemon coconut pound cake. So simple. So flavorful. I'll definitely be keeping the last two desserts in rotation.
To answer your question....NO, I didn't eat all of that cake by myself! Thank the good Lord for co-workers!

Happy Eating!

Woo

Is it okay to back pedal?

Sooo...yeah, in my last blog I mentioned something about New Year Resolutions and how I don't make them. Well, I still don't, but I did find a great little read about resolutions for "twenty-somethings" online. I thought I'd share because I think these are things we should do already be doing. Granted, I am typing this instead of sharing this tidbit with you face-to-face, but I think you appreciate my effort. If you don't, I don't really want to know. Happy reading!

20 Resolutions for 20-somethings

*Eat MORE brussels sprouts!!! :)

Happy 2012!!!

Happy New Year! Cheers to new blog posts about my oh so awesome life! :)
I'm not one for resolutions so I won't bore you with the typical shallow claims of dieting, working out or change of hairstyle. (Disclaimer: If you make resolutions and see it through to the end, then the previous sentence doesn't apply to you)!
I do know of one thing I'll be doing more of this year and that's cooking!
Here's a quick and easy recipe that could be a dessert or breakfast...enjoy!

Sopapilla Cheesecake
16 ounces cream cheese (room temp)

2 cans Crescent Rolls

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Using a 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of crescent rolls and line the bottom of the pan. Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Spread mixture over the crescent rolls. Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture. Pour melted butter or margarine over the top and sprinkle with  cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

*This is the "regular" recipe. I changed it up a little to make it slightly healthier.
I use reduced fat crescent rolls. Instead of cream cheese, I use neufchatel cheese. I believe I also only use 8 oz of neufchatel. I'm not a big fan of "stuffed" foods so you can be the judge. I also recommend cinnamon and sugar to taste...I don't think I use half a cup.

FYI: To get the "sopapilla" taste, drizzle some honey on top!

Homemade Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

I had a dinner party with my friends and decided to make dinner & dessert from recipes found on Pinterest. As we all know, I get super nervous when hosting, but do it anyways. Can you imagine my anxiety level??? Luckily, my friends don't mind being my guinea pigs! True friends rock!
The original post made this vinaigrette and paired it with a spinach cobb salad. I (still) don't eat eggs so I changed the salad up a little. Was it tasty? Why, yes! All bowls were empty! It was absolutely delicious! Next time I decide to make it, I'll be sure to take a photograph for you.

Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
2 heads of garlic, roasted and peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp honey

Cut the pointy top off of the garlic. Brush with olive oil and roast them in a pan at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until it is starting to turn golden brown and soft. Remove from the oven, allow to cool. Once the garlic is cool, peel the skin off. Discard the skins, save the garlic.

Add all the ingredients to the food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

The salad I made was simple. I used spinach, diced roma tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, turkey bacon crumbles, and carrots. If you're a meat eater, might I suggest adding chicken. Yum!

Recipe from http://fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.blogspot.com/2011/06/roasted-garlic-vinaigrette-dressing.html

I'm in love...

By love, I don't mean the kind where everything is roses and I'm changing my last name because he put a ring on it...
but it's pretty close!

I'm completely addicted!
I haven't been this crafty/ productive/ procrastinator of actual REAL important things in such a long time!

What is this new obsession?
Yep, you guessed it...PINTREST!

I've yet to document my adventures through photographs, but trust, they're coming soon!

Please don't judge me...

Yikes Y'all!

To blog, apparenlty, someone has to actually login and write regulary! I clearly haven't been that person. School & work have consumed my life over the last few weeks (actually months, but weeks sounds so much better)!

I vow to update you on my personal happening over the break. I actually started blogging on another site to see if I'd like it better and it turns out I didn't. I'll start with a post from a salsa workshop I attended. Good times! Happy Reading!
This post is from November 2011.
Better late than never!

Salsa Workshop with Nery & Giana Last weekend...I spent a second consecutive weekend dancing in Atlanta. The workshops for the weekend were on salsa fundamentals. I has a spectacular time and learned a ton! Now, I'm waiting to physically recover (sick...boo) so I can put these new dance skills to use.

We started the workshops by doing some partner yoga. YES, yoga! It was absolutely amazing! Turly the best "warm-up" ever! (Can you tell I've been converted into a yogi)? I now have a morning and evening routine that I do....everly so slowly working into the difficult poses. You know, Rome wasn't built in a day...just sayin'...

Nery and Giana were wonderful! Fantastic teachers! I love their technique and their energy! Very positive and very thourough. Saturday started with fundamentals in posture and footwork. Luckily, I knew most of this from a private lesson I took with Randi over the summer. It was a nice refresher. The workshops rocked, but because I was attending with a friend who wasn't used to the salsa "party scene," we didn't party like rockstars Saturday night. Beauty sleep...works miracles!
Sunday, the focus was on partner work. The last two hours were strictly dedicated to cater to the needs of the students. We each got to choose a technique to focus on (footwork, spotting, etc). This turned into very effective mini-lessons!
If you ever get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend you work with Nery and Giana!
Check out their awesomeness on Youtube!

Things I learned:1. Dance energy levels/ Connection to the floor:
flat, hips, hips + shoulders
2. Lift your "tray"
3. Yoga, yoga, yoga!

I hate corn. Thanks Missouri!

As promised, here's update #1 from the summer.




My sister & I

 Missouri. Honestly, it's a place that has never been on my Top 10 Destinations to Visit List (or any number for that matter) and probably never will be. I'm crossing this hot miserable place off of my list of states I've visited and adding to the places I'd do well without even visiting again! OK, so it's not bad once you park the car, but the drive...oh, that drive...

Let me take you back...
I'm minding my own business and getting ready to leave church when my aunt stops to talk to me. She asks if I'm going to my cousin's vow renewal in Missouri and I inform her that I'm not.
My reasonings:
1) no money (gotta make the dollars stretch when you only get one check in the summer)
2) very close to Summer Fizzle (the first Saturday in August when I meet my new set of kids...and yes, that was the FIRST SATURDAY IN AUGUST...NOT WHEN SCHOOL STARTS)
3) seriously, Missouri?!!?
At the end of the day, Missouri makes sense...the married couple lives in California, groom's family lives in SC, bride's family is from....yep, Missouri (the happy halfway point).

Long story short, everyone from the family that's supposed to be going with my aunt to Missouri backs out and since I apparently have nothing to do since it's still technically summertime, I'm "voted" to go. This is what I find out about 36 hours before we're supposed to leave. FaB.
We sent off at 4 a.m. and the first 6 hours really aren't that bad. There's traffic to navigate & you're driving through actual cities (Atlanta, Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville). My uncle drove his family & we checked in with each other periodically. This was great since my uncle used to drive trucks & he knew all the places we should stop.
I didn't want to make the 15hr trip any longer than it needed to be so the fewer stops the better in my book. Outside of a town called Cartersville (I think), I couldn't decide if we should stop for gas. We had enough for about another 100 miles give or take a few, but feeling the need for a stretch, we pulled over at BP.
Once we got back on the interstate, it happened. The reason why I haven't been able to eat corn for 2 months. It seemed like an eternity. I'm sure it wasn't and my poor sleep deprived mind just couldn't quite handle it, BUT, I swear we drove through corn fields for the next 4 hours! Seriously, corn fields. All you could see was corn and the occasional farm house, but just one.
I felt alive once we got to St. Louis, but there was still another 4 hours to go before reaching Kansas City.
We ended up staying a few miles from the airport. The hotel & food were great. My cousin & his wife (along with her parents) renewed their vows in an outdoor ceremony. The couples were an hour late, the heat index was over 100, and they had the drinks. (Your assumption is correct, there's no way in the world I'm having any ceremony outdoors)!  I could bore you with more, but all you really need to know is that I haven't been able to eat corn since the end of July. I'm hoping that changes in time for the holidays...I love/loved cream corn.