Onion Baked Chicken Alfredo with Capers

At the end of this week, I will be drafting into my annual fantasy football league with my family, and then later with some Dell friends, and this morning all I've been doing is trying to come up with a fun name for my team! Ever since high school but mostly when I became a bartender, football has been my absolute favorite sport. Every Sunday after Church you could find me posted up at a local pub with a beer in my hand and a jersey on, ready for game day. I am SO excited for this upcoming year!

While looking at names I thought it would be so fun if a group of bloggers did their own little free fantasy football league... what do y'all think? Either way.. these are my top favorite names:

1. ABC, Easy as RGIII
2. The Big Tebowski
3. A Partridge in a Crabtree
4. Colt Forte-Five, 2 Zig Zags
5. Brady Gaga
6. Rice, Rice Baby
7. Forgetting Brandon Marshall

Haha, and I just got these off a "Top Fantasy 2012 Names" site... What's y'alls fav? I can't even decide, I love all the football players above. Speaking of sports... how crazy is it that I was watching Sports Center while filling up my tank yesterday hahah... someone has got the RIGHT idea instead of those annoying commercials!

Anyway, I cannot wait to share this recipe I made last night with y'all. I was in HEB last week getting some necessities here and there, and while I was getting some pickles, I saw these capers in a jar, and it took me back to CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) where Scott and I used to go on little dates while he worked at Barton Creek Mall - and CPK was inside. I used to order the Lemon Shrimp Alfredo quite frequently... My favorite thing about this meal was the flavor the capers added to it, so as soon as I saw them at HEB, I had to get them!

These little babies are amazing! So I threw this recipe together on my own last night, and you will not be sorry if you make it!!


Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Jar Alfredo (Any type is fine, I used Roasted Garlic Alfredo)
1/2 Box Whole Grain Rotini Pasta (I portioned for only 2, still had leftovers)
1 Can French Onions (Optional coating of chicken) & 1 tablespoon wheat flour
1/2 bag Broccoli and Cauliflower
2 Tablespoons Capers
Spray Can Olive/Veg Oil
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• After thawing chicken, dice into bite sized pieces (we serve our pastas in bowls so this works out great for us, you can leave them as full chicken breasts and bake for 40 minutes)
• Spray Chicken with Olive/Veg Oil and place in a ziploc bag filled with French Onions and 1 tablespoon wheat flour. (If you don't do onion baked, you can sprinkle your own seasonings or even blacken your chicken at this point.)
• Shake until chicken is fully coated. Place on a foiled pan lightly sprayed with olive oil, and place in oven for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.
• Place Veggies on a separate baking sheet sprayed with olive oil and your desired spices, and bake for the same 20 minutes.
• In a medium pot of boiling water, empty half a box of rotini and boil for 10-12 minutes, then drain in a collander. Placing back in pot, empty alfredo sauce and capers into the pot with the pasta, and simmer over low-med heat.
• Once Chicken and Veggies are finished, put all together and sprinkle parmesan cheese for topping, and enjoy!

This entree was SO good! We don't eat pasta too often because we are trying to lose weight, but this was surprisingly on the lighter side, the veggies and capers were excellent additions to the flavor, and the Onion Baked Chicken was incredible! I highly recommend you make this stat! :)

The rest of last night we relaxed, talked about our day.. and I may or may not have spent a few hours catching up on DVR in bed... It was awesome! Huxley apparently enjoyed sleeping on my neck...

We also went and checked out the house I mentioned yesterday on Huxley St. before it got too dark outside... y'all it was in a cul de sac and all the houses around it were gorgeous as well! Ahh wish I could just throw down a payment and move in already! heheh wish it were that easy. Hey, it's a great way to figure out exactly what we want, where we want it, so by the time we're ready to purchase it'll be that much easier in the end.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Tuesday so far!

Weekend to Ourselves

It is unusual for us to have an entire weekend of R & R, as we are usually jam packed with events one or the other of us has to attend, etc. Like coming up in August, besides the first weekend, we're out of town the other 3! First I'm attending a bachlorette weekend in San Antonio, the next he is attending a men's bachlorette getaway (same couple!) and third, Scott's leaving town for the weekend with his buddy to do their hometown Fantasy Football draft. By September we are going to need a couple getaway fo-sho.

So this weekend was so perfect for us to spend one on one. We started off right, too! On Friday, we celebrated my brother's baller week at work by having some drinks at third base, and I beat everyone at Big Buck Hunter! I am pretty sure I look ridiculous reloading my gun every time I shoot anything at all, I look like a mad woman haha. It is such a fun game though!

We watched some movies and passed out early only for Scottie to wake up at 9am on Saturday morning (wayy early for him!) and invite me to a cafe breakfast at the 620 Cafe in Round Rock. Ohh, I love this place! I treated myself to a chocolate milk and we had some fun laughs remembering the last time I came here and accidently ordered something with mushrooms, ewwwww. This time it was much better. Our hungry bellies are the reason why there was no photo of this :(.

We continued our day and decided not to go home, but to go shopping at the outlets close by!

Ralph Lauren had a huge sale going on, so it was Scott's lucky day. He is the kind of guy that dresses up on casual Friday. You'll never find him in basketball shorts or a tshirt at work, always a button down with jeans/cargoshorts on casual day or fully dressed. He scored a new belt, tie, three new shirts, and 2 pairs of shoes at the outlets and spent under $200!

I am in in this "must save for a house" mode, so lately when I've been shopping I've been stopping myself from buying really anything as I am in full house-fever mode and want to save every penny. It'll still be a while, but we've been sending each other many houses we both like :-).

Huxley has been sleeping in our bed pretty much his whole life, but we decided over the weekend after being completely smushed together for months, that until we get a King, Huxley needs to sleep in his own bed - this little muffins sprawls out in between us leaving us hanging off the bed hah.

I think he loves it... it even matches our bedding!

We stopped by redbox on the way home knowing we'd probably have a horror movie night and eat popcorn and snug up on the couch, but I could not have been LESS impressed with this movie...... "The Intruders" ... buhhhhh so weird! We ended up turning it off to watch DVR as we had recorded Something About Mary, Enemy of the State, and 21. All great movies!

Friday I picked up these gorgeous crosses down South for only $10! What a steal! I cannot wait to start really decorating our little home and a little cross wall is just what we need!

Earlier Friday during the day, I had a little lunch date with our office Manager, Sharon, who is about 70 years old and the funniest lady, I love working with her! We get caught up in the most random conversations and she tells the best stories. Makes the work day very quick and easy. :-) Well, we chose this new place in walking distance to our office that just replaced Bennigans, and as much as I wanted to like it so much, I was not impressed, the food was really bland.

We ordered the Fish Tacos and the Capri Salad and split both entrees. These two entrees are some of which I order at multiple restaurants to see how they compare, who has the better one, etc. We even got the fish blackened, and it still had no flavor. It was almost like everything tasted the same, has that ever happened to you?? Meh. I was, however, impressed with the furniture and ambiance of the restaurant. Very sports-like with TVs everywhere, and the bar top tables and regular dining tables, they looked pretty expensive dark brown wood. The service was also pretty good. Would I go there agian? Eh. Probably not with all the amazing restaurants in Austin to choose from.

Soo.. funny coincidence that our #1 house we are looking at is on a street named "Huxley Ln"... Even though we don't have NEAR enough to put down 20% on a house at the moment, Scott is seriously considering pulling some strings, but we will see! It's so hard that the market is so great right now, but we just don't have the money we need quite yet. We are about to start buckling down hard. I'm so excited!

What did everyone else do this weekend!?

Life Lately via Instagram/IPhone

Anyone else feel like this week has flown by!? Maybe it's because I've been so busy work-wise this week going to trainings off site and meetings, but I am lovin' it! Happy Friday to you all!

Thank you all for your comments yesterday about the Cupcakes I should make for my office. Now, my office only consists of about 5 people (including myself - our other 4 employees work remotely from home in 4 different states!) but thank you, I can't wait to post about my baking experience since I have never really gotten into it before too much besides cookies.

Same thing with crafting, I'm itching to buy a cheap dresser and re do it, and I found one on craigslist this morning for only $20! Might go pick it up :-) Now those that know me know I am not a good crafter, but I also have never really tried to craft. With over 120 something pins about DIY projects, I'm thinking I should give it a shot.

I have some fun random instagrams throughout this week so I thought I'd share!

1. Dinner date with my love Krista, who is the newest ATX Blogger, so I can call it a "blate". :-)

2. Kona Grill California Roll... Yummm

 

 

 Company Lunch @ Mama Fu's

1. Calamari

2. Crab Rangoons

3. Deeeeelicious Iced Tea for me

4. My brown rice, veggies, and beef

 

 

 

 

What a lame fortune cookie!! Although, it was pretty funny. One of my coworkers made a comment along the lines of... "Maybe it means you were once "cramped" at Dell, but now you're free!"

Hahha

 

 

 

 

I love volunteering every Thursday for Meals on Wheels

OOTD on Tuesday when I went to Kona. Love love love this dress.

Rue 21 has some cuuuute summer dresses for only $15-20 right now!

 

 

 

 

1. 90 day mark on 8/1! Yay for having Insurance/Benefits again!!

2. Soo funny catching one of the IT guys snoozin on the job yesterday afternoon! I printed it out and taped it to my boss' door for a good laugh. He snores loud.

 

 

1. My little Bananalee in the Pool (bff's daughter) gosh she is so so cute

2. Cute texts from the boyfrannnnnn <3 love him

3. Funny how Huxley sleeps sitting up against the couch pillows.

 

Are you following me on Instagram!?

Happy, happy Friday!

What are your plans this weekend!?!?

Ideas for Cupcakes

Alright, I need your creativity and brains, friends! As much as I love to cook and it is almost like therapy for me, I am not really the best baker. Then again, I've never really got into trying it out or usually have had the best utensils to make baking easy and decorating look at least somewhat decent.

My 90 day mark is coming up at work, and I wanted to show my appreciation by making some insanely delicious cupcakes or even another dessert if y'all have a great idea to share. I'm willing to try anything!

So.... here are some ideas I saw on Cooking Light via Pinterest, and then I want you to comment and tell me if you like one of the ones below to do, or if you have a better recipe or link that you want me to check out!

So here we go! (Recipes are in the "via" links)

Amaretto Apple Streusel Cupcakes

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Peanut Butter Chococolate Chip Cupcakes

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Chocolate Velvet Cupcakes

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Strawberry Filled Lemon Cupcakes

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or more of a dessert like:

Gluten-Free Chewy Gooey Marshmallow Cookies with Mini Chips

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Healthy Zuccini Brownies

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Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

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Sooooo what do y'all think!? I am linking up with Michelle for Pinterest Wednesday, cheating because it is Thursday, hehe, but these are all pins and I need y'alls opinion! I'm ready to try something new in the kitchen... cause who knows? I could be a good baker??? :-)





Southwestern Egg Rolls with Spicy Avocado Ranch

Morning, friends! Today I have a special treat of a recipe for you! Not only is this an incredibly easy appetizer that feeds 25-30 people, but it was under $6 to make ALL of it (including the dip!)! I kid you not - I am so glad I made this, and will be making again... and again and again.

Servings: 25-30 rolls

Ingredients:

For the egg rolls:
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1-9 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry with paper towel
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
1-7oz can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 package of egg roll or wonton wrappers

For the Spicy Avocado Ranch Dip:
1 Avocado
1 cup Mayo
1/2 cup Milk
Spicy Ranch Packet (Dry Seasoning)
Chives or Cilantro for Garnish :-)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl mix together corn, beans, spinach, cheese, chiles, onions, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Using a small spoon, scoop a small amount of filling onto the wrapper.
3. Starting at a corner, carefully start to roll the wrapper. When it’s slightly rolled, tuck in the two side and continue rolling to the last point. Wet your finger with water and dab a bit on the corner to seal the egg roll.
4. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling, placing them slightly apart on the baking sheet.
5. Lightly spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes, flipping them at least once during baking.

Spicy Avocado Ranch Dip:
1. Mash Avocado in a small-med sized bowl, leaving as chunky or smooth to your liking.
2. Empty dry seasoning packet and add in milk and mayo, and whip into a dip. If you have a blender or food processor, this would be a perfect dip to blend. I wanted my avocado to be a little chunkier, so I did it by hand.
3. Top with chives or cilantro for garnish, and dip those egg rolls! So good!

You can find these egg roll wrappers in the grocery store in the refridgerated section by the Asian influenced foods like tofu and sushi. A pack of 16 is only $1.20, friends! SO inexpensive. All of the vegetables were in the frozen isle for around a $1 for over 16oz which is more than double what the recipe calls for. Like I said, incredibly delicious, meatless, brilliant appetizer to make for a party. Our friends loved them!

Another thing I definitely wanted to mention is that you can add shredded chicken to these for more protein and it would probably be even better!!

I had so many leftover egg roll wraps, and plan to make these Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls next week! Will definitely post how they turn out!

This recipe is Pinspired by Cake & Ally.

Happy Hump day! Make it a great one!

Weekend Shenanigans

Shenanigans it was, my friends. This weekend just about had a little bit of everything. For some reason I have felt like everything was wrong with me this weekend! Let's start from the beginning, haha.

So Friday, I am at work towards the end of the day, planning out what appetizer I'm going to make for the House Hunters party, and my middle finger on my left hand starts feeling irritated. Now before you start thinking anything gross or weird, NO irritation showed what so ever. Just felt like it was on fire, itched, whatever. So I put a bandaid on it and forgot about it as I was getting ready to leave and make my way through 45 min of traffic getting home.

We are supposed to be AT the party around 8, well guess who shows up 10 minutes before 8 a little tipsy from an after work happy hour? The boyfriend... I am the kind of person who HATES being late, yes hates... so I'm a little chaotic getting things together, showering, cooking, etc. and as I'm unloading the dishes, our hefty sized plate falls edge first and lands smack right on my knuckle on my big toe.... yep couldn't breathe for a good 9.6 seconds. UghhH! Leaving the picture out though to save you from the grody-ness. You're welcome.

Still can't really bend it much either. It is nasty looking haha! But we got everything together and at least made it to the party in time for House Hunters to come on! I made Southwestern Egg Rolls (recipe to come!) and they. were. so. good!

These were a huge hit, and I also made a Spicy Avocado Ranch sauce for dipping. Will post recipes this week!

The House Hunter's party was so, so fun. Ruthie & Jon are the cutest and hope you all tuned into their episode! Who came name all the bloggers in these photos!? We were all there to support our girl!

Scott has really become good friends with the blogger hubbies, and played Corn Hole with Jon for hours straight. We didn't leave until about a little after 1am... fun night!

Saturday we were zombies! We had all these fun plans for Scott to hang out with Dave (Mallorie's hubby!), see Batman all together, etc.  well we laid on our couch being lazy until nearly 3pm! Wasted day, but Chris, Scottie and I still went to see Batman around 7pm... I have to say that after Friday's Colorado thing, I was definitely feeling a little weary of being in a theater, but the movie was INCREDIBLE. I love Christian Bale Batman!! hehe

Saturday was rough with my finger having some weird allergic reaction (with no visual! so weird!) that was bothering me, and my toe that I couldn't bend, I was definitely being dramatic about it but it hurt, ok!? I ended up picking up a thing of benadryl on the way home from batman. I straight up passed out less than 30 minutes later, I guess it still has the same effect on me as it did when I was a kid haha.

When I woke up Sunday morning to start getting ready for Church, now my throat was all hurting! Am I fallin apart or what? I immediately took some airborne, tylenol, and laid back down and streamed online - no way am I going to get sick! When I got back up, cleaned up around the house, did some laundry, and Scott was really wanting me to go with him to this new restaurant so I got ready and off we went to Lupe Tortilla! He's a fajita fanatic, and we've heard nothing but great things, so I was pretty excited. I love little day dates with my man.

This place was a little more expensive than say Chuy's or La Margarita, but I can see why. Not only was management constantly stopping my tables giving samples of their famous fajitas, but always making sure we were having a great experience, margaritas came with another glass full and were strong (yay!), and chips and salsa were great. Scott has named this place our new go-to. If they had Creamy Jalapeno like Chuy's does, I would have been SET!

Yummmmmm. We had lots leftover too. Rest of the day was spent finishing laundry, we got a Red Box movie, and chillaxed. I'm still feeling a little rough today, but now I can bend my toe again, yay! My finger is 100% better too. I swear - so weird. Anyway, while we had our family snugglefest, I snapped cute pictures of Huxley so that is what I'll end my post with.

Weekend Plans & Prayer

Hope you all have as much fun as this little guy...

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Hahah, I can't tell whether he is a frenchie or boston, but it is too funny! Huxley is obsessed with hoses and chases after the water to do this move exactly ^^.. so cute!

Our prayers and thoughts go out to the victims of the Colorado Shooting last night... Hearing it over the radio on the way to work made me cry this morning, what a sad event. The youngest person injured was just 3 months old.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. - Psalm 147:3

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. - Psalm 9:9

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

We have a fun weekend ahead with a House Hunter's watching party, tomorrow Scott and I have a day-date including going to see Batman (!! so excited !!), and an Engagement Party for our friends Mandi and Jason on Sunday... oh and Scott's also excited about a big Golf Tourney on Sunday! Busy weekend!! :-)

Hope everyone stays safe and has a lot of fun this weekend!

Thursday Randoms

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. It was also the day that finally, after 1.5 years after his passing, all 5 of his kids (including his 14 year old daughter) put their money together and paid for a beautiful new grave marker that would take the place of the "Place Card" on his grave in Baton Rouge, La. Honestly, it was the most beautiful gift we could have given him. Etched in his stone are pictures of golf, and words of love coming from the 5 people he loved more than anything and anyone in this world.

Yesterday was also a sad day. It is the second birthday that had gone by without him, but all of those sad feelings went away when I attended Church last night for our Worship Service. As the band was playing these wonderful songs praising the Lord, there was a Baptism area to the right hand side of the stage. It was overwhelming and uplifting getting to witness so many people being reborn brand new in Christ. The pastor even mentioned to "celebrate their birthdays with them" and be their family. It was truly amazing. My sad tears of missing my dad on his birthday turned into happy tears witnessing such power and love from the Lord in so many people's lives, including my own. I have really grown to love this Church. Everytime I go, I feel a pulling connection where I am zoned in 100% just listening to God speak. It's the first time in a long time I feel connected with the Church, and I love that. I just had to share this with y'all today.

The other night, I woke up at 3am with a severe muscle cramp in my left calf, and it was excrutiating! I was worried about going to the gym that it might hurt it more, but I have been SO dedicated to gyming it up at least once or twice a day Monday-Friday - no excuses! So I decided to talk to one of our personal trainers there. He told me to take it easy and do a lot of good stretching, walk on the treadmill for a while, then to try their new Hydro Full Body Massage bed that lasts 7 minutes. I didn't hesitate a bit! Full body massage, yes please!

It was so cool! Now, I'm the type of girl who will probably never get a professional massage because I am SO ticklish. I laugh when Scott gives me back rubs. Weird, right? I think my nerves are messed up! So the first two minutes of this machine I was giggling. You lay on this bed, and when it comes on, there is high water pressure that is heated and moves from the tips of your toes to the highest point on your back/shoulders. It was SO relaxing. You could change up the pressure and the speed using this little touch screen monitor...

I'd say it was one of the best 7 minutes of my day! Really did help my calf a lot along with stretching a ton all day. I hate getting cramps of any kind!

When I got home from Church last night, I thought Scott would just be getting home from work (he's been staying late to learn as much as possible at his new role at Dell) and that I would be having to cook dinner, and as soon as I walk in the door - there he is with Huxley all excited to see me and we had Pita Fusion take out - I cannot get enough of Pita Fusion!! SO delicious!! I swear, Scott has been unusally overly sweet and generous lately, I'm thinking he's either up to something or he is truly feeling blessed with his new job and our life lately, as am I. :-) Things are really good.

I also got a sweet little picture text from my oldest brother, Jeff, right before bed time and I thought it was cute. Love you too, Jeffy!

How random is this post!? Lol! Hope everyone is having a blessed week so far... tomorrow is Friday! We have some fun things planned this weekend between a House Party, Engagement Party, and another little date night. Will take pics :-).

What are your plans this weekend!?

Happy 63rd Birthday, Dad

Grandpa of 4, Father of 5, we miss you so very much, but know that you are with us every single day being our guardian angel, watching over us and giving us guidance in everything we do.

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We want to wish you a very Happy Birthday and hope you are having a blast celebrating in Heaven today. :-)

We lost our dad to a 6 week battle of Esophageal Cancer in 2010. If you'd like to read more about my dad's story, you can go here.

In 2011, our oldest sibling, Jeff, raised over a thousand dollars running a marathon in honor of our Dad, and donated everything to the Education Foundation of Esophageal Cancer studies.

Hope everyone gives their own dads a big hug. It is hard not having him around. I was devestated knowing he wouldn't be here to walk me down the isle one day, but over time I realized that he blessed me with three amazing and loving brothers to do the job for him, and I am also grateful that he knew and loved Scott with all his heart, and even got the chance to tell Scott that he trusted him with me and to take care of me always. That will always be so close to my heart.

I love you daddy. Happy, happy birthday.



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