I hope all is well in life! Let these picture remind you of the beauty all around.
The picture above was nice today because it rained here today and I love stomping in puddles in my rain boots.
Photos from thefuturebuzz.com
Monday, January 31, 2011
oops.
Well I failed on my promise to post everyday. I decided to go away for the weekend last minute and it has ben crazy ever since. I have class till about 8:30p this evening, which hopefully will give me time to take a nap. haha. Then after I just have to do some homework and cook dinner than I will hopefully be getting a couple posts up later tonight, including a recipe if dinner is a success. If not they will be up tomorrow afternoon.
Friday, January 28, 2011
capers.
I wont be able to post tomorrow so I am writing a quick entry for this. I didn’t want to go to the store so I just used what I just made a very easy and simple chicken dinner that was delicious so I had to share.
Photo by St2.
St2’s Chicken with Capers
Ingredients
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
3 tsps of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of low-sodium chicken broth
1 fresh lemon, juiced
¼ cup of flour
½ tsp of paprika
¼ tsp of black pepper
2 tbsps of capers, drained
Instructions
1. Combine the flour, paprika, and pepper in a shallow dish.
2. Rub some oil on the chicken and coat each breast in the flour mixture.
3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-heat.
4. Add chicken and cook evenly on both sides until fully cooked. When done, remove from heat.
5. Add broth to pan. Scrap any brown bits from the bottom and stir in lemon juice and capers.
6. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to boil. Then remove from heat and pour sauce of the chicken.
NOTE: Watch the chicken because I didn’t and I burned it a little. Once it start cooking, it cooks fast.
Goodnight all!
kate.
Convenient. I actually had to answer this question in class the other day so I knew exactly whom I would pick. Surprisingly no one else picked her. O well..it’s my dream anyway.
Day 06 - A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day.
Photo from myfashionlife.com
Kate Middleton. I think she is absolutely fabulous. She seems very humble even with all the media attention. She is handling all the pressure very well and always appears poised.
I also love her fashion sense and style. She can look comfortable and sleek.
Plus, it would be cool to be seeing what her life is really like when she is not being watched by the media (and to hang out with Prince William).
On a ski trip.
At William's Airforce Graduation.
Engagement Announcement.
At a friend's wedding.
She is gorgeous and has such a bright future.
draft.
As every hockey fan knows, tonight the all-star weekend starts. The players have been chosen by the fans to attend the weekend, but this year there is a different format then just east vs. west. There is going to be a draft where the captains chose their teams out of the best players in the league, no matter the conference. The captains are Nick Lidstrom and Eric Staal.
It’s like picking teams when we were kids and it starts at 7pm central on VERSUS. I know everyone will want our defenseman, Shea Weber. I’m sure he’ll be picked before the 5th round. Besides that it'll be the first time that the Sedin twins could be split up and play on separate teams.
This is going to be very exciting! I can’t wait!
east.
Again, it has been a busy one. I actually work up this morning at a decent hour ad after a small breakfast had time to do some writing before my mutter picked me up to do some shopping. We went out to East Nashville, which is a place that is getting more widely recognized and is the fastest growing area of Nashville. That is just what I have heard; I’m not actually basing that on any statistics.
East Nashville is home to a lot of neat places and festivals. Here are my favorites:
The Pied Piper Creamery: They have over 147 rotating flavors of homemade ice cream! Yum!
I Dream of Weenie: This hot dog joint is a VW bus/house. They also have veggie dogs (which are delicious!).
The Tomato Art Festival: A festival dedicated to tomatoes. What’s not to love? There is music, art, a 5k, and good times including a costume contest all revolving around tomatoes.
The Wild Cow: A casual restaurant with a vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free menu.
5-Points: This intersection is the center of the tomato art festival. This area also features a variety of businesses, including 3 Crow Bar, Turnip Truck, Aunt April’s Bakery and Asphalt Beach.
We met up with my fasha for lunch at the Rose Pepper. If you haven’t been out there, it is definitely something to put on a to-do list.
Photo from www.rosepepper.com
Maybe I should start a restaurant reviews when I am done with the photo challenge because I love checking out new restaurants. Whatcha think about that?
My good deed of the day was picking up a nice hitchhiker and taking him downtown. He was pretty nice and loved the music scene so we had something to talk about.
I got home right before Bo got out of class and had time to do some more writing and homework, but it was such a beautiful day that I couldn’t let it go to waste. Don’t you hate spending nice days indoor? I know I do that is why we went to the park and feed the geese, squirrels, and birds. Don’t worry we have animal food so as to not make them sick. I love feeding the geese because they will eat right out of your hand. I’m sure they are never go hungry; people are always there.
Photos by St2.
Enjoy the weather and be thankful for such a beautiful day! Also I hear it is supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow.
routine.
If I want to blog everyday I’m going to have to set aside a specific time for it because right now I am just winging it and as you’ve probably noticed I’m not doing very well with it. Sorry about that. I’m going to make this like homework, but the part that I look forward to. More like a reward for getting everything done that needs to be done. This is something I would like to do so I can’t change my mind about it now. So continuing with the catching up, here is yesterday’s photo.
Day 05 - A picture of you and the person you've had the best memories with.
Photo by St2.
This is Bo and I at prom back in the day. We’ve been together for almost 6 years! It still sounds crazy to me every time I say it. I spend most of every day with him and life would be so much different without him. I’m so thankful to have him (and his lovely family) in my life.
As for choosing a memory, that is not even possible because we've had so many. I love him.
(haha check out our hair, it matches)
catch up.
I guess it time to play catch up. I haven’t written consistently over the past couple day because I have been super busy.
Wednesday: it was doo’s birthday!! He is getting so big I can’t believe it. I had a three-hour break in classes so I went home and put the finishing touches on doo’s present, a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine cake. He can’t have wheat so we had to make a wheat and gluten free cake, which I have never made before.
Side Note: I love making cakes. Well the baking the cakes - not so much, but the decorating is so much fun. By no means are we professionals. In fact, we have never taken any classes on cake baking or decorating. I could write an entire post on cakes so I’ll save that for a rainy day.
Back to the party, after we got out of classes, Bo and I headed to doo’s favorite restaurant, El Guadalajara, where everyone was meeting. He was so excited to see us and the place was decorated so nicely. They had put signs around the restaurant and decorations on the table. We go there so often because they are so good to us.
Bo had to leave early so we brought in our surprise so he could see doo’s reaction. He loved it and everyone was excited to see something new we had made. The staff had also made him a dessert and sang him Happy Brithday. It was so sweet and he was really excited!
After dinner we headed home to cut the cake and open presents. Doo got a new guitar, walkie-talkies, a couple games, and some chips with salsa, his favorite. I would say overall it was a successful birthday.
Now dolly’s and I have birthdays next month so I have got to start planning those.
Thursday: Oh man, I had to stay up all night writing a paper for my second class on Thursday. I’m never on top of things. Well I did finish it about 3:30am so after printing it I went straight up to bed and was out in less than 5 mins. I didn’t get up for my 9:30am class because I just couldn’t function. But it’s alright because we can miss up to eight classes. The good news is that I got everything turned in on time and the rest of the day was pretty easy.
I got out of class earlier than the roomies so I did some homework and cleaning before I had to head back to school for a meeting. I have been meeting with the representatives for study abroad, which I hope to do this summer. I’m so excited about it!!
As many know, the Winter X Games are on this week and in my opinion they are way better than the summer games. I love everything about the snow and mountains so it is definitely something I would like to attend one day…as a spectator. This is what we spend some of the afternoon watching and what we will be watching the next couple days.
We went to my parents’ house to cut the Mystery Machine cake because my fasha is back in town. After, we watched some AFV. Here’s the cake. The holes are from candles. I wish I had remembered to take a picture before…o well.
Bo took me back to the treehouse and went to his parents’ to help his brother with math. I did some more cleaning and homework while I watched The Princess and the Frog and When in Rome. They ended up both being really cute.
When the roomies got back we watched some Food Network and went to bed.
tetrazzini.
Tuesday night we decided to make a later dinner after we did some errands. We were craving Chicken Tetrazzini, but our original recipe is like 800 calories. Yuk. We decided to revamp the recipe and create one that less than 400 calories. I hope you all enjoy!
Photo by St2
St2’s Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1-8 oz. package of thin spaghetti
1 cup of onion, chopped
2/3 cup of celery, chopped
1-8 oz package of fresh mushrooms, chopped
2/3 cup of all-purpose flour
1-15 oz box of low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups of Parmesan Cheese, grated
½ cup of dry sherry
½ cup of fat-free cream cheese
½ cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1 tsp of pepper
¾ tsp of salt
1 tbsps of butter
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken then set them to cook.
3. While they are cooking, begin the sauce. Melt butter in large pan over medium-heat.
4. Add celery, onion, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms are tender.
5. Add sherry and cook for about one minute.
6. Gradually add flour to pan, stirring constantly, as the mixture thickens.
7. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly as well. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for a couple minutes. Remove from heat.
8. Add 1 ¾ cups of Parmesan cheese and the cream cheese, stirring until they melt.
9. Check the chicken it should be done. Remove from heat and chop into bite size pieces.
10. Add the chicken and pasta to the sauce. Stir until blended well.
11. Combine the breadcrumbs with the remaining Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the mixture.
12. Cook for 20-30 mins.
NOTE: (1) Freshly grated cheese really does make a huge difference so there is no need to buy a package of shredded cheese.
(2) It made more than we thought it would so we had to use 2 smaller rectangle dishes.
It was a little dryer than I would have liked, if you have any suggestions please let me know.
We also decided to bake and decorate a cake for doo, which is kind of last minute, but we can pull it off. We baked the cakes, stacked, iced, and put down the first layer of fondant. It is still lumpy at this point, don't worry we smoothed it down.
Photo by St2
Can you guess what we are making him?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
don't hate 08.
When I think back I can’t believe I have been out of high school for this long. I graduated in ’08, which seems like yesterday.
Day 04 - A picture of favorite missed memory.
I still keep in touch with most of my best friends from high school. In fact, four of them go to college with me so I see them around from time to time and two go to school nearby.
Photos from St2's library
I miss the times we spent together in and out of school. I especially loved our senior sleepover; minus the fact that it rained all night and I was so sick the morning after. But waffle house was delicious. This photo was taken the day after the sleepover, obviously nothign got done that day.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
tv.
It’s raining here this afternoon and there’s a winter weather watch till Thursday. I think we’re supposed to get some light snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. Chances are some people will cal my mutter tonight and say that doo doesn’t have school tomorrow, even before it starts snowing. I honestly don’t know what parents do if they both work and their kid’s school and after school program get canceled.
It is pretty much the start of the week so I didn’t want to get up, which is typical. I have a 9:30 a.m. class which may not sound early for some, but if you know me, getting up for this class is torture. I usually get up at 10-10:30ish and for this class I have to get up at 8:30 a.m. Bo basically has to kick me out of bed because I don’t hear my alarm and won’t get up unless someone takes my covers.
Tuesdays/Thursdays are all my GenEd classes so you know it’s going to be a fun day (sacasm). But the upside is that I do finish at 2pm so I get the rest of the day to do whatever I want plus chores around the house that need to get done.
So here I sit, catching everyone up on life and I am excited to be posting Day 3 of my photo challenge. So here we go…
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
This one was a tough-y because I get addicted to TV shows really easily. But after much deliberation I must say that my favorite show is The Office. I have watched every episode at least three times, if not more and I am proud to say that in the seven seasons they have so far, there are only two episodes I really don’t care for.
With that being said I can’t believe that The Office as we know it is coming to an end. I have read that Steve Carrell will not appear on the next season of the show, which will completely change it. I just hope the writers can find a way to continue the classic humor the show is known for.
Some of my favorite moments include:
- When Jim dresses up as Dwight and Dwight accuses him of identity fraud.
Jim: Question. What kind of bear is best?
Dwight: That’s a ridiculous question.
Jim: False. Black bear.
Dwight: That’s debatable. There are basically two schools of thought-
Jim: Fact. Bears eat Beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.
- Jim and Pam’s wedding, two-part episode: who doesn’t love that one?
- This quote is exactly what I would expect Michael Scott to say:
“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.”
- And of course “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID.”
There is no possible way that I could pick a favorite episode. That’s when you know it is the best TV show.
Very close runner-ups include:
Parks and Recreation:: I think this show is genius and completely hilarious. Ron Swanson and Lesley Knope!!
House:: Hugh Laurie is brilliant and medical dramas are so addicting.
Additional shows I love include Outsourced, Project Runway, Tosh.0, and almost everything on Food Network.
shrimp.
By the way, did I mention that dolly is a terrific singer. She is small in stature, but has a huge voice and a big personality. Let me say there is rarely a dull moment when she is around. Lately she has been more distant because she is working in the studio a lot and our schedules haven't lined up. But no worries, getting back in the swing of school takes a little time.
Back to last night...I made a very simple and quick meal for bo and me. I went to the store about 11pm and started cooking around 11:30pm. I know if it not good to eat so close to bedtime, but I had been doing homework, like a good studious student, and lost track of time. Anyways, basically the meal is shrimp with a spice rub over a corn and black bean mixture. For the sake of remembering, I have shortened the name to St2’s Southwest Shrimp. Check it out below:
Photo by St2
St2’s Southwest Shrimp
Ingredients
1.5 lbs of frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined
olive oil
2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
¾ cup of salsa
1 tbsp of chili powder
½ tsp of ground cumin
½ tsp of garlic salt
2 tbsps fresh lime juice
Instructions
1. *Unthaw shrimp
2. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat.
3. Combine chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt in a large bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat.
4. Coat the pan with some olive oil before adding the shrimp. When the shrimp are about halfway cooked, add 1 tbsp of lime juice. Sauté until done. Remove shrimp from the pan.
5. Add corn to the pan for about 1 min before stirring in salsa, cilantro, beans, and the remaining lime juice. Cook until heated through.
6. Serve shrimp over the corn and beans.
NOTE: (1) *Never defrost shrimp with hot water. It will make the shrimp tough. Place the shrimp in a strainer in the sink and run cold water over them for about 8 mins, flipping occasionally. Trust me on this one, bo didn’t know till last night when I caught him right before he tried defrosting them under boiling water.
(2) Pita bread is a nice compliment to this meal, so cut a round pita into slices, lightly coat with olive oil, and broil until desired crispiness.
(3) I used Pace Chunky Salsa – Medium, but please use any kind of salsa you like.
Enjoy!
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