Cooking for One

Cooking for one is probably one of the biggest things I hate about being single. (Okay not the BIGGEST, but it ranks right up there with having to do all the lawn work and remembering to buy toilet paper.) Do you know how hard it is to take a recipe and divide it into 8ths? How the heck to you use an 8th of a can of something anyways. It's such a waste of money. Can you say IRRITATING?!

So here are a few tips I've collected that seem to work for me:

• When you want to make a casserole, split the recipe into two pans, one being one of those disposable foil pans. When you're done making it, throw some foil on that bad boy and stick it in the freezer. I know I can't go through a whole casserole before it either A) goes bad or B) I'm burned out on it. Say this with me everyone, "THE FREEZER IS MY FRIEND"
• While on the subject of freezing food, it is really hard to make a single serving of soup. I take my leftovers and put individual servings in ziplock bags and then freeze the bags. When I want to eat some soup, all I do is boil a pot of water, throw in a bag of soup, let it thaw, and then I dump it in a bowl and heat it up in the microwave.
• On Sunday, I write out my whole plan for the week and I only buy what I need, especially when it comes to produce and dairy. If I plan on eating 3 apples, then I buy 3 apples, not a whole bag. A coworker and I have started sharing bags of cuties because I'd rather give her half my bag than throw them away when I don't eat them in time.
• Find recipes that use many of the same ingredients  The other day I made a black bean and chicken enchilada casserole. I saved half a cup of the black beans and 1/2 a cup of the corn and threw them in some lock n lock containers and put them in the fridge. Today for lunch, I'm going to bust those out to use for some healthy BBQ chicken nachos. 
• If you're anything like me, I hate milk. The only time I use it is for cereal or recipes. I've found that organic milk, though more expensive, lasts FOREVER. I hate when I end up collecting 3 half used half gallons of milk in my fridge with an expiration date a month ago.
• Get creative! I like throwing stuff together and seeing what comes up. If it fails, there is always PB&J.

Below are three things I came up with and are now staples in my dinner plans. Please feel free to share with anymore you might have!

Chicken and Hummus Tortilla

• Heat up a whole wheat tortilla in a skillet, flipping from side to side until crispy. Place on plate.
• Throw some grilled chicken strips (Tyson Grilled and Ready are my favorite) in the skillet to heat up.
• On the tortilla, spread 2 Tbsp. of supremely spicy hummus (or whatever kind you like). 
• Top with romaine lettuce, chicken strips, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, a sprinkle of feta cheese, some salad dressing, and croutons.
• Cut like a pizza into wedges.
• Calories: 493

Mediterranean Chicken Pita

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place a whole wheat pita on cookie sheet.
• Cover with 1 Tbsp. pesto, grilled chicken strips, roasted red peppers, and cheese.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Calories: 517

Cousin Love

How is it that I've let almost a whole year go by without a post? Yet, once again, I suck at life. (Just kidding.)

If you didn't know, I'm training for a half marathon. Let's be honest, the only real reason I'm doing it is so I can have one of those awesome 13.1 stickers on my car. I'll probably be more excited about that than I will be finishing the actual race. My cousin and I completed the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville of April 6th and let me tell you, Holy Hills, I. hate. hills. My cousin Holly told me that if I finished, I could do her hair when we went out that night. If you don't know Holly, that was a huge honor.

It always surprises me when people think it's crazy how close I am with my cousins. They really are some of my best friends. I think it is pretty awesome that we text and talk all the time. Two of them are in this half marathon journey with me and come August, we are doing a Warrior Dash too. If I've learned anything from this training and running, it's that you have to have a support team to do it with. Without them I'd had quit a long time ago.

The Brockman's Are Ready To Pop!

I recently threw a baby shower for my friends, Mike and Christy. This sweet family has become some of my dearest friends and they are the most giving, loving people I know. It was an honor to be able to throw this for them. Of course, with everything I do, nothing is traditional. I told Christy that the goal of this shower was to be the "least awkward shower ever." It was an open house-families welcome style, complete with beer and booze. I believe everyone had a good time, so I think it was a success. :)

These were the invites. I created them as postcards which gave the shower a more relaxed feeling and saved on postage.

This was the food table. The whole theme was "POP!" so we had POPcorn, POPcorn Chicken and Cake POPS! 

I made these food signs from corner ceramic titles and chalkboard paint. 

Cheddar popcorn, caramel popcorn, and buttered popcorn.

Can't forget the cakepops!

Drinks included beer and Mexican Breeze cocktails, which was a combination of lemonade, tequila, and cranberry juice. I served them already mixed in canning jars, placed in the ice tub. The signs are made of outlet plate covers and chalkboard paint. 

Of course, I had lemonade for the non-drinkers. Of course, I had to use mason jars. 

For favors, I gave away Tootsie Roll Pops and Blow Pops, with a sign that says "Thank you for POPPING by!" Kids were walking with suckers in their mouth and I'm pretty sure we were finding half eaten ones laying around the house the rest of the weekend!

I used mason jars and baby food jars with yellow and gray ribbon wrapped around them to hold yellow and white flowers. I placed them all around the house! 

And here is the beautiful soon-to-be-a-mom-of-three! Love you Christy!

Crockpot Creamy Fiesta Chicken

I'm sure that the name "Crockpot Creamy Fiesta Chicken" is over used and has been employed to describe many different recipes, but I think "Best Damn Chicken Creation You've Ever Tasted And Not to Mention The Easiest Thing You've Ever Made" probably isn't as easy to remember (although very descriptive).

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen is okay)
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar of medium or hot salsa (mild doesn't have enough flavor. Have no fear though, when I used medium, it had no "kick" at all. I think that hot is the best way to go. Just spicy enough for you to know its there, but not so spicy you are running to the fridge for a glass of milk)
1/2 a block of cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat and it still tastes fantastic)

Directions:

Place the chicken in the crockpot

Add the corn

Add the beans

Add the salsa (The jar I show in the pic is 16 oz., but I only used about half of it)

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4

Once the chicken is cooked, it will literally fall apart just by picking it up. I used a pair of tongs and shredded it

Add the cream cheese and mix until creamy

My favorite way to eat it is over some crushed Frito's. SO GOOD! It refrigerates well and makes great leftovers. 

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Baby Shower Brownie Cupcakes

Made cupcakes yesterday for my new dear friend, Robin, and I was so excited with how they turned out! Not only were the cupcakes good, but they were so easy to decorate. I think a little practice and I might be onto something.

I started off making Betty Crocker's Original Hershey Supreme Brownie batter and Betty Crocker's White Cake batter. Make sure that you have two separate mixing bowls when doing this. Some of you may be thinking, "Well duh," HOWEVER NOT ALL OF US THINK OF SUCH THINGS...  Don't judge me.

MOVING ON...

In a muffin tin with liners, I put a spoonful of brownie batter in each cup and used the spoon to kind of "spread" the batter to cover the bottom.

Now add the cake batter. I only added enough to fill the cups 1/2-3/4 full.

The recipes for the brownies and the cake both called for 350 degrees. I wanted them to be flat on top rather than domed, so I knocked the temp down to 325 degrees and baked them for about 20-23 minutes. I used the toothpick trick to make sure they were done.

I ended up with more cake batter than brownie mix so some were made without chocolate, which turned out great since Sarah doesn't eat chocolate! Score!

Decorating them was the fun part! I got this $12 kit from Wal-Mart in the wedding cake isle and I am forever a fan of decorating cupcakes with icing bags and decorating tips. I stuck a pacifier in some of them and added chocolate chips as eyes. They didn't turn out as cute as I wanted, but oh well.

They sure did taste good though and I got a lot of compliments on them, so I think everyone else thought they tasted good, too! Now, anyone want to come clean up my kitchen for me?

Deuces!

XOXO

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A second post in one day?!

Who would have thought this could actually happen?! I wanted to share a recipe that was totally easy and super delish...

No Bake Oreo Cheesecake Cups!

Combine one block of cream cheese, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla.

Crush 8-10 Oreos in a food processor. Add the cookies and a container of Cool Whip to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well.

At this point you could put it all in a single container, OR you could do what I did and put them in 8 4-oz. mason jars. Crush 4 more cookies and sprinkle on top.

SO GOOD! ... In fact, I just ate three of them... Opps. Don't judge me.

These would be perfect for a bridal shower or baby shower! Super cute!

Deuces!
XOXO

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In the words of The Black Eyed Peas, "Let's Get it Started..."

Okay, seriously. I suck at life. I started this blog and have failed miserably at keeping up with it. And for that, I apologize. I'm sure that I put a lot of undue stress on each and every one of you who checked each and every day to see what new and exciting adventures I have had going on in my life. For this first post in a long time, I'm thinking you all deserve an update. So here it goes...

I've moved to Murray, KY for a new job. I've settled into my position as the Marketing Coordinator for TapLogic. I get to be creative just about every day and design ads for our product, FarmLogic. It's crazy the feeling I get every time I see one of my ads in a magazine. It's also crazy the amount of information I've learned about agriculture in the last year.

I bought a house. Crazy. I'll do my next post on my house since it takes up most of my time and money... I think I should give it fair coverage. It's pretty sad when you buy a house simply because you couldn't find a place for your DOGS to live. I searched and searched for an apartment but they were all dumps. The ones that weren't dumps, wouldn't allow pets. And some of you might be thinking, "Well maybe you were just being picky." NO... I have lived in some dumps... The Brickyard, The Golden Nugget... CRAP HOLES!  But they were cheap and fit the bill while in college. ANYWAYS, back to the house... Still has some work to do, but it's coming along. I get adventerous every once in a while and try to replace a light fixture or take the molding down around the laundry room, and sometimes end up up a creek without a paddle, (or rather no light in the bathroom), but it's fun... Mortgage payments aren't fun, but oh well.

I love being closer to my college friends, but I do miss my Alabama friends. Why can't you all just be in the same place? Grr... Once Lindsay get's hitched in August and Erin ropes Derek into getting married (just kidding, love you Erin), then I'll officially be the last woman standing... Literally... All the rest of you are laying up in the bed with your boo. Jealous. It's okay though... While you all have your honey bunches of oats husbands and boyfriends, I've got all the power to the remote control, eat whatever and whenever I want for dinner, all the covers on the bed (minus what MB and CM take up), and have full intentions of painting my laundry room pink. ... That's what I keep telling myself at least... :)

That's enough for now. More to come later.

Deuces.
XOXO