October 10th, 2009
by Becca
I can’t believe it is October already. I seem to be stubborn in the fact that it is quickly becoming too cold to wear my croc sandals anymore. Me stubborn? hah.
Today Gray and I have been married for one year and five months. It is hard to believe that next month will be a year and a half. Where is the time going?! The second year has already been better than the first year, a pattern I can only hope continues in the future. We’ve got several activities going on this month already. This weekend we will be on the A-Team at church, which helps to set everything up and then takes it down after the service. Next weekend is fall break so we’re going to McEwen for a few days and then to Memphis for a few days. I’m looking forward to the visits. The weekend after that includes a Halloween costume party and the weekend after that is Halloween!
I am actually going to do a few project this weekend, including carving my pumpkin (hopefully) and something deco-rational for our party. If it turns out well, I’ll post pictures.
I took Gray with me to the Rec. Center yesterday. I asked him if he would go running with me and then the rain started so we opted to go inside. He ended up just walking around the track, and I ran about 2.62 miles. I finally mapped out how many laps is 3.1 (5k) miles so I can train in there if I want to. I got the nike+ ipod gadget this past week and it’s great! Of course, I have to calibrate it to the right amount of distance, but it is still useful. THe only thing left for my running gear is a heart-rate monitoring watch. I have one that I want to get and it’s only $50-60.. maybe for Christmas?
Oh! We made a beef stew last night in the crock pot and it was amazing. It came from my S&D magazine so I’ll try to post the recipe the next time I make it… I do believe it will become a staple!
Dunkin' Donuts 5K, life, marriage | 
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March 29th, 2009
by Becca
We overslept for church today, but it turned out to be a nice quiet morning. We were able to spend some time together and enjoy the lazy morning.
Friday, after a productive morning, I picked Gray up from work and he decided to do some job searching. We found out State Farm closed earlier than expected and drove around to a few places. Verizon Wireless has a call center in Murfreesboro that is hiring, however, it is for full-time and you go through extensive training. In other words, it would be a waste of time for Gray to apply and go through all of that, only to quit in the fall. We also went to a few computer stores in town, one of which Gray was really interested in working at. Outside of Play N Trade, a local gaming store, we ran into a fun friend.
That would be a guy, dressed up as Mario. Gray was told he could do this job and get paid a whole $7 a hour. Hah.
Yesterday we went out searching for a pantry for our kitchen. Since we are staying here for another year, I wanted to make sure we have adequate space for all our stuff! We went to a few stores before finding our pantry and Big Lots. It’s really neat and has two wired shelves on the side for all our pants and pans! Inside are three shelves which store the bigger food items and some appliances.
Last night was also a fun time because of the storms. We got lucky and only saw fierce wind and rain. Other parts of town saw much stronger winds that did some severe damage.
Tonight we experimented with a new recipe and now I’m making blueberry muffins, for breakfast this week. I am about to go study for a while, but I’m distracted by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
apartment, life, photos | 2 Comments »
February 25th, 2009
by Becca
So the croutons turned out ok, but we need to experiment more with flavoring and spices.
Last night as I watched the President address Congress I got really bored. I understand the whole standing and applauding deal, but they apparently did it 34 times!
I gave the 101 Things in 1001 Day its own page so that I can access it more easily.
I have to end this short because I am trying to re-calibrate my macbook battery and it’s on its last limb. It might be time to purchase a new battery, 2 1/2 years is pretty good for endurance, right?
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February 24th, 2009
by Becca
I’m currently baking some homemade croutons, I will let you know how they turn out.
I realize today that I get incredibly grumpy when life doesn’t go my way. In my case, it’s school stress baring down on me. I kind of would love that week off SOON and thankfully, it’s coming SOON.
I can not believe MTSU spent $10,000 to advertise that we should vote for a parking garage on campus. I voted against it because we have parking lots, we have plenty of spaces, and we have buses. Parking is not that bad, and it’s such a waste of money to advertise like that. Seriously, people are losing their jobs and they wasted money on a bunch of signs. I voted against the referendum myself.
On a completely different note, I passed through STA Level One today, which means I get to keep my job. Now I’m working on Level two, which includes a raise, woot!
life | 3 Comments »
November 13th, 2008
by Becca
Last night I decided I would try another pioneer woman recipe. We’re trying to use everything we have rather than buy more ingredients and we have a whole lot of chicken. So I tried the Crispy Yogurt Chicken recipe.
Let me tell you, READ all the directions and see if there is an approximate amount of time to make a dish before you make the dish. I thought the chicken recipe would only take about thirty minutes, so I waited until Gray would be home in thirty minutes before I made it, bad timing.
The recipe actually called to bake in the oven for at least a hour. Oh boy.
Aside from the waiting we had to do, the recipe actually turned out to be really good. It is a great way to make chicken if you want it to be healthier and lighter in calories.
Tonight we’re having a tried and true favorite, teriyaki chicken and rice. Yummy.
Since this post is so boring, I’ll give you an update on the novel. I’m reached 20,000 words and I’m on schedule. It’s hard to believe that by the end of this weekend I will be halfway through! I’m really learning how hard it is to discipline myself and write daily. I’ve always wanted to write a novel, but never had the time or patience to get it down on paper. It’s been a good experience so far. I hope I can make it to 50,000 words.
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September 15th, 2008
by Becca
Today I am going to share with you Gray’s favorite meal. This recipe is originally from my friend Justin Adams’s family. I’m not sure where it came from before then, but there are a lot of similiar recipes on the internet.
Here are some of the characters:
The Complete Cast:
- 1 cooked, de-boned chicken
- 1 small sour cream (80z.)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1/4 cup of milk
- salt & pepper
- Ritz crackers (60)
- 1 stick of butter
- Poppy Seeds (of course)
First, we need to cook our chicken.
I usually fill a stockpot with water and place the chicken inside to boil for about an hour. Be sure to rotate the chicken every fifteen or so minutes so it will not stick. Also, check the chicken before you remove it to make sure it has cooked.
While the chicken is cooking I usually work on the ritz cracker topping. I crush the ritz crackers until they look something like this:
Put this aside and once the chicken is done, it’s time to de-bone.
I use a 8×8 pan but you can double the recipe for 9×13.
Once you’ve placed the chicken in the pan, it’s time to pour on some ingredients.
Pour over chicken In order:
- sour cream
- cream of chicken soup
- cup of milk
- salt and pepper
Pour the cracker crumbs over the mixture and then melt the butter and pour it over the crumbs. Then mix the butter into the crumbs so it’s evenly covered. You could also mix the butter and crumbs first and then pour it over the mixture. I’ve found it’s easier to go by the first method.
Once that is poured, pour and toss some poppy seeds on top…
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
It’s yummy and tasty!
recipes | 3 Comments »
September 10th, 2008
by Becca
So, things are about to get a little messy around here. I realized having several blogs is really time consuming and I never update the others. So, I’m importing the blogs into this blog.
There may be some confusion until I get it all sorted out.
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August 20th, 2008
by Becca
It’s been a month, crazy! As I was making spaghetti the other night, I thought, “Why not put it on the cooking blog?”
Here’s some of the cast. I used whatever noodles are available, these were from my mom. Gray insisted on Prego sauce, but we use any sauce we like at the time. I also use 1lb of ground beef… it makes it taste yummy!
I start off by boiling the water, since that takes forever… and then I moved on to cooking the ground beef.
Once the ground beef is cooked, we drain it.
And put it back in the pan and pour the sauce over it. Turn the heat down to low for this and cover it with a lid until the noodles are ready.
Once the water is boiling, add your desired amount of noodles! My box said to cook the noodles for about 10 minutes.
I added some Oregano to the noodles… yummy.
Once the noodles are finished, drain them as well.
And that’s it! Viola, spaghetti!
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June 25th, 2008
by Becca
This recipes hails from Allrecipe.com
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon steak sauce
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
*Note: I doubled the sauce ingredients to have some dip on the table. I’m not a huge fan of mayo so I cut that in half.
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the grill for medium heat.
- In a shallow bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise, and steak sauce. Set aside a small amount of the honey mustard sauce for basting, and dip the chicken into the remaining sauce to coat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken over indirect heat for 18 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until juices run clear. Baste occasionally with the reserved sauce during the last 10 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning!
The results were pretty great. Because I made extra sauce for dipping, my husband completely devoured his chicken… until he got full. He could only manage to eat half… but we had HUGE chicken breasts.
I now have a very happy husband who has pretty much declared this as a staple of our household recipes.
So, try it and let me know how it goes!
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June 13th, 2008
by Becca
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes (or less)
Makes: 4 servings
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 slices prosciutto or cooked ham
4 slices Swiss cheese (3 ounces)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1. Place a chicken breast half between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound meat lightly into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Remove plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining chicken.
2. Place a slice of prosciutto/ham and a slice of cheese on each chicken piece. Fold in the bottom and sides; roll up and secure with a wooden toothpick.
3. In a 10-inch skillet, cook rolls in hot butter over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink (170 degrees F), turning to brown evenly. To serve, remove toothpicks.
When I did this, I found that after a while I could remove toothpicks and the chicken held together. This made it easier to cook.
life, recipes | Comments Off
