2013 Resolutions!

I am very excited for all that 2013 will bring! And in looking forward to the new year I have begun to determine my New Years resolutions. Now, I have had resolutions before and some I was able to stick to and most I failed miserably at. Why? Because some were unrealistic and others were easy to make excuses for.

One step I am taking to assist myself in keeping my 2013 resolutions is writing this post so it is written in a semi-public forum and in a space I can return to in the event I forget what resolutions I believe I can keep. Another step is making them attainable and setting realistic and measurable goals for myself and not making sweeping resolutions such as; "I will be healthier" "I will workout more" or "I will think positively all of the time"

With these steps set in place here we go!

My 2013 New Years Resolutions:

1. Cut down on making excuses for myself - ex. I am carrying a bag, therefore I can take the elevator to my 3rd floor office or everyone else is eaton French fries...if I choose to do these things I need to own it and not rationalize. My mantra for this will be "no excuses".

2. Stop talking like a trucker! I will swear, I know that but I don't need to use a 4 letter word in the middle of my sentences, I need to cut back and use them for real emphasis. Ex. When I stub my toe or when I stub my toe again.

3. Mooooooove! I want to go to the gym more and I want to eat better blah blah blah - who doesn't? But one effort I can make towards this realistically is to move my arse more. (See what I did there I didn't say...) walk to work, take the stairs, stretch when I wake up. I have a fitbit now and this has already made me more aware of how much I move. A minimum of 10,000 steps each day is what I have set for myself!

4. Saying hello! I would like to take the effort to let people know I am thinking of them. When I see something in a store, when I see a card they would like, when I like a Facebook post- I will let people know. Send it to them, tweet it at them, comment on a post not just "like" it. Once a week I need to do make sure an do this with my friends and family. I think of people a lot and its time to put this into action!

5. CRAFTS! I love crafts - looooove. But I never give myself time to do it. And with Pinterest the world knows I have plenty of craft ideas to keep me busy for approx. 5 years with no breaks or sleep. So my plan is to complete 1 craft a month. Small, large - it doesn't matter just do one!

And with that we have my 2013 resolutions! Ta da!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Mini Lasagnas!

Soooooo, my Mom offered to buy all of the ingredients if I came to her place and cooked one of my new recipes.  Okay deal!  I used this recipe for mini lasagnas and it tasted amazing but it was not shaped correctly when I was done.  

So in this recipe I have made some changes that will hopefully help in this area. One thing I dislike in recipes is feeling overwhelmed by steps or not being prepared. So I am trying, in all of my recipes I try and blog about, to give as much advice and as many extra tips as I can to help cooking come easier to anyone who also feels this way. 

Mini Lasagnas 7/20/2012

Ingredients

12oz ground turkey (raw)

salt & pepper (on hand for seasoning throughout)

1c chopped onion

1/2c chopped mushrooms

14oz diced tomatoes 

8 or 10 oz can of tomato sauce

2tbsp minced garlic

3tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1 3/4c skim ricotta cheese

1 package Nasoya All Natural Wonton Wraps

2c shredded mozzarella 

Instructions

• You will need a skillet & a muffin tray
• Prepare and measure out all ingredients in advance, this will save you time and you will be a better cook for it!
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 
• Coat muffin tray with cooking spray
• In a skillet saute ground turkey, onion, mushrooms, salt & pepper until turkey is cooked through
• Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds 
• Add in diced tomatoes & tomato sauce 2 tsp of oregano and bring to a boil
• Simmer for 10-15 minutes
• While the ground turkey mixture is simmering: 
• Combine ricotta, 1 tsp of oregano and basil mix well, add in salt & pepper
• Place 2 wontons in each of the muffin cups (I used 1 and they ended up falling apart) 
• Place a dollop of ricotta mixture in each
• Add ground turkey mixture
• Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese

• Press wonton on top and repeat ricotta, turkey, mozzarella steps

• Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese has melted and wontons have cooked a bit (light brown)
• Do not remove from pan until cooled, doing so will also cause them to fall apart

Enjoy!

- A 

Ground Turkey, Roasted Potatoes & a Caesar Salad

Sorry sorry sorry!  I know I have not posted in a couple of days.  The week got ahead of me.  But I hope I can make up for it by posting a delicious meal with 2 recipes we enjoyed this week to make a wonderful meal!  Since most of the recipes were made up on my own with a little help from Google the portion sizes should be great for a couple!  If you need more...add more :-)  Enjoy!

Ground Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Red Potatoes and Caesar Salad

7/17/2012

Ground Turkey Meatloaf Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1c milk

2 eggs

1c Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1Tbsp. Chopped onion

2 cloves ground garlic

3/4c cheddar cheese

1/2c ketchup

1tsp. salt
1/2tsp. pepper
1Tbsp ketchup

Ground Turkey Meatloaf Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
• Mix ground turkey, milk, eggs, bread crumbs, onion and garlic in a medium bowl by hand
• Fold in cheese
• Mix in ketchup
• Season with salt & pepper
• Place into loaf pan
• Top with additional ketchup 
• Cook in oven for 1 hour

Roasted Red Potatoes

1-2lbs of small red potatoes, quartered

1/4c butter

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2Tbsp lemon juice

1tsp Salt

1-2Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Roasted Red Potatoes Instructions

• If cooking Ground Turkey Meatloaf no need to preheat oven.  Otherwise preheat to 350 degrees F
• Mix potatoes, butter, garlic, lemon juice, & salt in a mixing bowl until well blended
• Pour into 8x8 baking dish
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to your liking
• Bake covered for 30 minutes
• Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes until cooked to your liking.  Fork should easily go through potato

If you make these together, pair with a caesar salad and a glass of wine. I promise, it is delicious.  Enjoy!

- A

Grilled Tomato Mozzarella Basil & Pesto

Fancy Grilled Cheese

I was feeling inventive yesterday when deciding what to make for dinner.  And I suggested a grilled tomato, mozzarella, basil, pesto sandwich.  We both agreed it sounded delicious so I went to town and made it up as I went along.  Here is how it went!

Grilled Tomato Mozzarella Basil & Pesto 

7/16/2012

Pesto Ingredients

1/3c finely chopped basil leaves

1tbsp. Parmesan cheese

3 finely chopped garlic cloves 

1/2c olive oil (you probably won't use it all)

Ingredients

4 pieces of whole grain bread

butter

pesto

4-6 slices of fresh mozzarella (slice it thin so it melts quicker)

4 cherry tomatoes, halved

4 basil leaves

Pesto Instructions

• Place all of the dry ingredients into a medium bowl
• Slowly add oil and mix with a hand mixer (I do not have a food processor if you do use that)
• Add oil and mix until the texture is what you'd like it to be and voila!

Sandwich Instructions

• Take 4 slices of bread and spread butter on one side of each (think grilled cheese)
• Place 2 slices face down on frying pan over medium heat
• Spread pesto to your liking on non buttered sides
• Place 2-3 slices of mozzarella on each slice of bread on top of pesto (this depends on how you sliced it)
• Place halved cherry tomatoes on top of cheese
• Next, add 2 basil leaves to each half
• Top each half with other slice of bread buttered side out
• Using spatula flatten sandwich  
• Flip occasionally until both sides of each sandwich looked grilled and cheese has melted

Tip

I suggest you try toasting the bread lightly before beginning sandwich instructions to give it a crunchier texture

ENJOY!

-A

Travel Map

Memories & Inspiration!

Our travel map 

created 7/12/2012

For those of you that know us, you know Mike and I love adventure in trying new things and traveling.  Even if you don't know us the description of my blog should have given that away.  We have talked for awhile now about creating a travel map for ourselves. My Nana & Papa had on their wall and it inspired me as a child to travel as much as they did and create my own map. The idea behind it is to highlight/showcase where we have lived or traveled and also to remind us to visit new locations.

We finally created it this week and I am very excited by it. You'll want to find a very large map so you can be more specific with where you have been.  (As a New Englander, I have accepted I cannot mark everywhere I have been regardless of the map size)  You'll need a larger than the map cork bord and colored pins.  I have provided links below to the items we bought.

We use ours as follows:

Green - Places Mike has lived

Black - Places I have lived

White - Places we have lived

Red- Places Mike has visited

Yellow - Places I have visited

Blue - places we have traveled to together

As we travel more, places we have been individually, we will change to blue when we have gone with one another  It is fun to see where we have been and how many places we would still like to go.  It's also a nice feature to hang in a family room or den for guests to look at.  Who knows maybe we will inspire someone else to make one.  We look forward to filling our map with colors! Overtime mostly blue and white pins will fill the map :-)

Shopping List

Board

Map

Pins

- A

Chopped Chicken Taco Salad

OMGosh Chopped Chicken Taco Salad with Chipotle Dressing DELICIOUS

This recipe is an adaptation from one of my favorite magazine's recipe found here!

Chopped Chicken Taco Salad with Chipotle Dressing

7/11/2012

Ingredients (this makes a VERY large portion so feel free to cut amounts down to what works for you, we are still eating leftovers today 4 days later)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 tsp. olive oil

salt & pepper

frozen corn (All You recipe calls for fresh corn chucked and grilled but we couldn't and this worked great!)

1 Tbsp.unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 canned chipotle in adobo

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (smells so incredibly good)

2 Tbsp. lime juice

Romaine lettuce 8 cups (I used the stalks you can get from Market Basket, I used 1.5 Foxy brand stalks)

1 cup cherry tomatos, halved

1 avocado (I used a medium sized one because I LOVE avocado)

1/2 med. red onion, chopped

1 15-oz. can black beans

tortilla chips

Instructions

Make sure all of your veggies are prepped and ready according to the ingredients list

Grill the chicken in a skillet on your oven (if you are like us and don't have a grill, Foreman doesn't work well here since you need to season as you go)

Brush chicken with oil, season with salt & pepper

While grilling the chicken, cook corn in pot on the oven according to package instructions

Grill chicken until cooked through (approx 10 min)

Cut chicken into cubes and place to the side

Drain and place corn off to the side as well

In a bowl blend (I used a handmixer) buttermilk, chipotle in adobo, cumin, cilantro, lime juice, and 1/4 tsp. salt until smooth - this will serve as your dressing!

In a separate large bowl place lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, corn, and beans.

Mix in dressing as much as you prefer and season with salt and pepper

Serve with chips on the side to eat salad like a dip if you'd like - I recommend it

Leftovers

We covered the leftovers with foil & plastic wrap in the fridge and 4 days later its still tasting great and the lettuce still has a crunch which is impressive!

Calorie information can be found here.

ENJOY!

- A

Caprese Grilled Chicken Dinner

More yum time!  Another Pinterest adventure here from this site.

We could all use a little more of refreshing dishes involving "the favorite meat"- chicken.  This dish satisfies that need.  We made this one on Tuesday and cut down the recipe for just the two of us and our George Foreman, since we cannot have a grill in our current living situation. 

Caprese Grilled Chicken

07/10/2012

Oops forgot to take a picture, it smelled and tasted so good we had devoured it before I remembered.  You can find a picture from the original site here.

Ingredients

2 grilled (on a George Foreman) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4c balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp butter

2 slices fresh mozzarella

2 slices fresh tomato

2 lg basil leaves

Instructions

• Grill chicken on the George foreman until cooked thoroughly (not pink on the inside, white inside only people - chicken 101)
• At the same time (or if you want to prep before you can) pour balsamic vinegar into pan on stove top - medium high heat.  
• Cook until reduced by half (yup you are making a reduction sauce, congrats!)
• Add butter and stir until mixed and has become thicker version of what it was when you started (set aside)
• While the chicken is still on the Foreman, add slice of mozzarella, followed by basil and tomato on top to each breast until cheese melts just a bit
• Place on plates and drizzle with balsamic reduction sauce you made, serve warm.

Hope you enjoy it, please share comments, suggestions, or thoughts. And pass along to friends!

- A

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CUPCAKE PIZZAS

WELCOME to my new blog!  

I have wanted to come up with a blog for awhile now that is more ME! I have dabbled before with some success but not much consistency.  I have decided that my adventures in trying new things is the way to go.  I love Pinterest, magazines like All You, Real Simple, and my new favorite book - 101 Things to do with Cake Mix and then try recipes and crafts. So I'd like to share how those work out for me; share suggestions, additions and improvements for all to enjoy!  So for my first blog I have chosen Cupcake Pizzas which I made on Monday night for the first time. 

Away we go!

Cupcake Pizzas 7/09/2012

Yummy & easy!

Okay so this is a recipe I found on Pinterest from this blog.  This is so easy, cute to look at, and delicious to eat if you don't try it there is just nothing I can do for you.

Ingredients

(1) Pillsbury Pizza Dough

(1) package Pepperonis (You will have leftovers)

(1) package Market Basket Mozzarella Cheese (INEXPENSIVE ALERT)

(1) can of Market Basket Pizza Sauce (INEXPENSIVE ALERT)

Muffin tin - Greased!

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Unroll pizza dough and cut into 4 slices (I was able to fill 5 out of the six in my tin)
• Break up dough and press into muffin molds so that sides are covered a little more than 1/2 way up and press down in the middle so you can fill with yummy sauce, cheese and toppings later! (Hint: It is okay to break it up to make more and fit together like a puzzle it will all cook together provided the base is one piece)
• Spoon pizza sauce into each dough filled mold to your liking (remember there will be a decent amount of dough so make sure your sauce to dough ratio is something you will enjoy)
• Sprinkle with Mozzarella Cheese
• Top with Pepperonis or whatever you like for a topping!
• Place in oven 10-15 minutes (Mine took 12 to be precise)
• EAT AND ENJOY!

Mike and I LOVED these they were filling and tasty.  We each had a leftover for lunch the next day.  For leftovers place in Tupperware in the fridge.  When ready to eat place in microwave for 1 minute and then enjoy!


I hope you enjoyed my first post of I hope many on this new blog!


- A