Green Chile Chicken Casserole & A Milestone

Monday, October 21, marked 1 full month of no smoking for Scottie. I had planned to take him to whatever restaurant he wanted (which he chose Waterloo Icehouse for burgers ha) to celebrate him and to show him appreciation that he chose to live a healthier, toxin free lifestyle after 11 years of smoking over a pack a day - I could not be more proud of him. It has not been easy!! But it has been completely worth it.

When we got home from our trip to Colmesneil, Conroe, and pretty much all over east Texas, I was ready for a home cooked healthy meal that wouldn't take me too much work. I basically just looked around my fridge and threw some things together. Suzy helped me chop some veggies, and we went to work!

Green Chili Chicken Casserole

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

2 small bell peppers (or 1 large one)

1 small yellow onion

1 can 7 oz. diced green chile peppers

4 cups cooked rice

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

8 oz. sour cream or plain greek yogurt

8 oz. shredded cheese, mexican style

seasoning, to taste (I used light salt and some fajita seasoning)

Directions:

1. Chop up your veggies, set oven to 350 degrees

2. Set aside 4oz of the cheese, but mix all other ingredients together

3. Put mixture into a nonstick 9x13 pan

4. Cook for 30 minutes, then top with the rest of the cheese (and desired seasoning), and cook for 5 more minutes.

5. Serve!

This was so delicious and so flavorful, I was a huge fan and after 3 people eating it for dinner, we still have half left for leftovers. I highly recommend! And it was SO easy!

Enjoy!

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!

Homemade(ish) Sloppy Joes

How is everyone doing this morning? I have been better. I got a rough wake up call at 3am from the back of my left calf muscle in a charlie horse - OWW :-( I know people say you need to eat more bananas or something, but anyone have recommendations? - it's so sore! I have been working out a LOT lately doing a twice-a-day almost every weekday, could that be the reason?

Anyway, I go to check my inbox of my email last night and this is what I see....

Ughhhh... wth!? If anyone knows how to avoid this ^^, please let me know. Just been moving them to the spam folder.

I finally got to go grocery shopping yesterday after clipping some coupons from our mail, and ended up scoring HUGE with spending only $100 and getting at least 2 full weeks of food! No joke! We are usually spending close to $200 per 2 weeks, so I am super pleased.

Scott had a craving for Sloppy Joes, and I have never really made those before, and also haven't had them since I was really young, but after this past weekend, I had to make the man happy :-). Good thing he told me BEFORE I left for the store.

I would say they're completely homemade, but then I'd be lying. After a 9 hour day downtown and being in traffic, going to fedex in time for a pickup, I didn't want to go too crazy in the kitchen, so I got a little sloppy joe seasoning packet.... BUT I halfed the recipe so it'd only be for two, and I spruced it up with lots of veggies. So I'd like to say homemade(ish).

Servings: 2

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 Packet Sloppy Joe Seasoning
1/2 Cup Chopped Celery
1/2 Cup Chopped Chives
1/2 Cup Chopped White Onion
3 oz. Can Tomato Paste
3/4 Cup Water
2 Slices of Meunster Cheese
2 Wheat Buns

Directions:
1. Brown Meat in Skillet over Medium High Heat
2. While meat is cooking, chop up the vegetables and place to the side
3. Once meat is cooked, add in the water, vegetables, tomato paste, and seasoning and bring to a boil while stirring occasionally.
4. Reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to BROIL.
5. Put two bottom buns on a pan and your serving of the meat on each bun. Place the other two tops of bread on the pan for toasting. Top with a slice of meunster cheese, and put in oven for 2-3 minutes.
6. Let cool for a minute, then serve with a side of vegetables, chips, etc. Enjoy!

It was a huge win for my first experience cooking it! Next time, I want to try without the seasoning packet. But it really just replaces the ketchup/brownsugar/redwinevinegar/etc. so we will see - this was really good! Super easy 30 mintute or less meal! Great man-meal!!

Happy Tuesday!

Crock Pot Roast Rice & Gravy

When I was a kid, my mom made Roast Rice and Gravy every Thursday for dinner. It was my favorite meal growing up, and every so often I'll make it myself crockpot style!

This is super easy prepped recipe (took me about 5-7 minutes before I left for work yesterday morning). I urge you to make this crock pot recipe as it is so easy, clean up is easy, food is damn good - will leave your mouth watering for more! If you think I'm joking, before bed last night Scott was begging to have a second helping in a tortilla it was so good! You can also use the leftovers in sandwiches, tacos, etc., the meat stays tender for a good couple of days!

Ingredients:
1 Rump Roast (I'd say it was about 1.5 lb, but we had tons of leftovers)
1 Tblsp Minced Garlic
1 Tblsp Seasoning (Your Choice, I used a little of Tony's and Salt/Pepper)
1 Small bag of baby carrots
1 Medium Onion
1 Small bag of Red Potatoes (about 5-6 is good, we ended up with tons, so you can do 3-4)
1 Box Beef Broth
1 Bag Brown Gravy Mix
2 Servings Whole Grain Brown Rice (Depends on how many your serving!, I use Boil-in-a-Bag)

Prep:
1. Take Rump Roast and rub with Minced Garlic, and other seasonings - you can let it sit overnight if you're throwing in the crockpot the next morning, or you can place straight into Crockpot
2. Chop Onions and Potatoes, put in a bowl with the baby carrots

Directions:
1. Pour Beef Broth into Crockpot with all other ingredients
2. Set on Low for 8-10 hours (If cooking quickly, High for 4-5 hours)
3. When ready to start getting dinner ready, boil Rice for 8-10 minutes
4. Take 1 Cup of the Juices from the Crockpot and put in a small saucepan, and empty brown gravy mix in. Bring to boil, then simmer for 1 minute on reduced heat. Stir occasionally to develop a gravy.
5. Serve Meat and Vegetables over Rice and Gravy and Enjoy!

So tender and delicious flavor! Great for families as this was my favorite "healthy" meal as a kid!

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday! Don't forget to enter the big Group Giveaway going on over at Ruthie's blog! I am giving away a Starbucks giftcard! There is also Nordstroms, Target, and Sephora giftcards up for grabs too and some fabulous bloggers to meet!!

New Fav Coffee Shop

Good morning, friends!

I know it is for all of us Austinites that enjoyed yesterdays and todays raining. 70-80 degrees in July? We'll take it!

When I got off work yesterday, Scott was needing to stop by target for some new trimmers (his went out right as he got shaving ONE side of his face - before work hah! sorry boo. it was funny hehe) and also next door to get his hair cut. So getting drenched in the rain going from store to store was fun, and I ALMOST bought this adorb coin purse I found while browsing in Target... Sorry but I couldn't justify spending $7(!?!?!) on this little thing. Maybe when it goes on clearance for 75% off, yes?

Last night was very relaxing and just what I needed! Scott was super sweet and rented us some red box movies and cleaned up around the house leaving me with only having to cook us dinner :-) I was a happy girl after a long Monday! We rented 21 Jumpstreet and The Grey. Both were pretty good, Jumpstreet was funny, and I ALMOST made it through the whole movie of the Grey before conkin' out.

I made one of my fav meals to cook, Salmon and Asperagus...

While waiting for this delicious meal to cook, I went ahead and got everything from my giveaway ready to ship. Shipping a Starbucks card to New York and this cute tote to Dallas!

Huxley wanted in the action :-). We laid around the rest of the evening and I started prepping today's crockpot meal! This morning all I had to do was throw some thangs in the crockpot and set on low - ready to be eaten tonight when we get off work! I am making my mom's incredibly delicious Roast Rice and Gravy :-)

We were out of milk this morning so I couldn't make my coffee, and when I got to work I walked over on SoCo to this little Dominican Coffee Shop called Cup-O-Jo's... and I think I fell in love...

I ordered a Low-Fat FroJo Mocha (kinda like a light mocha frapp from Starbucks), and it was REALLY good! They also serve TacoDeli Breakfast Tacos and those are my fav! I ordered the Jess Special which is just a cobination of Egg, Monterey Jack Cheese, Avocado, Red Peppers, and Jalapenos. So good! The pricing was pretty similar to Starbucks, but the inside was fun - kind of urban looking. I will be going back!

Now I'm off to jumpstart on some marketing projects at work, but I also wanted to let y'all know that I am part of a nice big group giveaway over on Ruthie's blog - you can enter to win giftcards, ad spaces, etc by just going here below.

Ruthie's Group Giveaway!

Chicken Teryaki Stir Fry

I feel like this week has been so short due to having off on the 4th for the first time!! I am still so glad it is Friday! We don't really have plans as of yet, but I know some book reading and relaxin by the pool with a marg is in my agenda!

Last night, my brother Chris was over and he and Scottie were playin NBA 2K12 (is any other girl's man obsessed w/ this game?! Scott raps to the songs... lol), and I decided to make something new in the kitchen!

I had bought a frozen bag of stir fry veggies about a week ago and I knew I wanted to use them but I didn't know much what for. The veggies included broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, red peppers, water chestnuts, green bell peppers, and onions. So I pulled out two chicken breasts, thawed them, cut them into little diced pieces, and marinated them in a low sodium teryaki sauce for about an hour while I cleaned up around the house etc.

When I was ready to cook, I drained most of the teryaki sauce in the sink and with some oil heated over med-high on the stove, I cooked up the chicken - it already smelled delicious!

Once the chicken was cooked, I added in that frozen bag of veggies, a little more oil to cover, and a little more teryaki sauce and cooked on high heat for abuot 5 minutes...

Quick and AMAZING. I definitely recommend this! If you think about it, the teryaki sauce bottle I got from HEB was only about 1.25, the veggies were 1.15, and two chicken breasts... very inexpensive and I topped this mixture over whole grain rice!

The boys LOVED it! It was veggie-full, filling, flavorful, just great! I will be making this again for sure!

The rest of last night we just relaxed and I started reading a new book that Helen let me borrow. Huxley's favorite place to cuddle up is right next to his mama.

So does anyone have any plans this weekend!!?? I'm posting Mondays giveaway in this post to be easy to get to - 2 days left!! Monday morning  I will announce *8* winners!!

Anniversary Weekend & Trip to Winnie, Tx!

Good morning, friends! First I just want to say how grateful I am to have such wonderful friends and followers here thank you so much for your kind words and comments on our Anniversary, it was perfect! To the main question of that night you're all thinking of, the answer is no, not engaged... yet! ;-) Although after a few Sake bombs and Martinis, we definitely had the "pleeeease, let's just runaway and get married right now!!" talk... So here are some pictures from our beautiful evening at the Domain in Austin on Friday night!

Scott playing me love songs as I rushed home and got ready for our date!

Dinner @ Flemings in Austin

Oh my gosh, how I loved this dress!! Not only was it sexayy but very comfortable! I received a generous amount of compliments all night (&& thank you to my sweet instagram followers!) 

To view the full amazingness of the dress, here is the link to the dress online!

To start, I had a Pomegranate Martini, Scott chose the Dirty Vodka Martini with some Sweet Chile Calamari served with banana peppers and sliced red peppers. Sooo delicious, and they were cooked perfectly.

For entrees, I chose the Shrimp Scampi in a Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (to die for!!)

Scott chose the most mouth-watering steak we've ever tasted. A 16oz Prime New York strip.

Also for sides, the Chipotle Macaroni & Flemings Potatoes (we def took half of everything home but I was so impressed by the food and how amazing it was!)

Sake Bombs @ Kona Grill (also in Domain) for dessert!! My favorite!

A few games of pool at Sam's Boat (across the street from the Domain)

Oh, and I definitely won TWO games (Yay!) - free shots for me! Weird how much better I am at bar-games (pool, bowling, darts, shuffleboard) when I am intoxicated?? Hah who's with me on this!?

Scott was such a gentleman and so sweet all night. He defintely got a kick out of the manager @ Flemings walking by and addressing him as "Mr. Owens". hehe. It's nice to be treated like royalty when you go somewhere. We had a few giftcards too so we hooked up the waiter big-time as well.

Scottie unfortunately had to work Saturday morning (boooo!) so we called it a night and cuddled up with our little furbaby & watched some reruns of family guy falling asleep. I love my little family.

Next morning came bright and early, and as Scottie headed to work, I headed 4hrs to the middle of nowehere aka Winnie, TX to meet my mom & sister (halfway mark between Austin & Baton Rouge, LA)

When we arrived we checked into the Holiday Inn Express (it was suprisingly a new model and was extremely nice!) & decided to go explore for the day.

Winnie is very Southeast by the coast (close to Beaumont) so we drove to the Peninsula & rode along the beach and soon enough we were at the end where the Ferry meets to take you to Galveston. So we did it & headed to Galveston for dinner and drinks/watch the sunset on the beach!

Love this picture of my mama, isn't she gorgeous!?

It was so nice to be back at the hotel close to Midnight (ferry takes like an HOUR to get all the lines of cars from the island back to the peninsula)

Morning came and we had a good ole complimentary breakfast. I had some rice krispies (plus a few cheerios) with a side of English muffin Egg Sandwich

Mom headed back to Louisiana and Maddie and I decided to take a little day trip to see my girlfriend Suzy in Conroe, TX just about an hour and a half away.

It was so much fun! Suzy & I had a glass of box wine and we all played games and watched movies, ate at Buffalo Wild Wings while picking up her boyfriend Taylor at the Airport. We always love getting to see her!

Finally around 10pm we got home & immediately hopped into our PJs, grabbed Huxley & a blanket, and watched "He's Just Not That Into You" before going to bed. Gosh I love that movie so funny and cute.

Huxley was soooooo excited to see his Aunt Maddie again!!
This whole weekend was just SO much fun but also draining & I'm exhausted today! 2nd cup of cofffeee please!! The next 3 weeks will be such a blast w/ Maddie here in town!

What did everyone else do this weekend!?! Fill me in! :)

Linking up with A Good Life, Finding Beauty in the Ordinary, & Life Rearranged

Buffalo Wing Turkey Burgers

Today marks day 4 of my 24 day challenge! I am actually surprised to say how easy it has been for me to avoid carbs, sodas, dairy, and have been doing really good at taking the ginormous horse pills they give me (which are nothing but vitamins and herbal supplements for detoxing the body).

Yesterday for lunch, I forgot to bring my chicken leftovers, so I walked over to Freebirds and did a salad with every vegetable they had but with no rice, only white meat diced chicken, and lime juice. Umm... who knew that could be soooooooooo good!? It took every bit of me to portion it out and not wolf down the whole thing!

Last night, I made Buffalo Wing Turkey Burgers.

This recipe is inspired by the cleansing program I'm doing with Advocare, and to be honest I was a little skeptical on how it tastes, but if you know how big of a buffalo sauce fan I am, I had to at least try it!

This is a very EASY & simple recipe!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 cup Buffalo Sauce
1/2 cup Shredded Zuccini
1/2 cup mixture of diced tomatoes, onions, and cilantro (this is optional, but I loved it!)
Seasoning to taste: I used Garlic Powder and a Salt Free Burger Seasoning

Directions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the turkey, zuccini, and seasonings (to taste)
2. Put some Olive Oil in a frying pan and get it hot to about a Medium-High heat
3. Make two burgers out of the 1/2lb and add to the pan
4. If you are using Pico de gallo or diced tomatoes, onions... add them next
5. Add the 1/2 cup Buffalo Sauce to the burgers
6. Cook about 4-5 minutes on one side then flip your patties (cook until well-done, 165 degrees with thermometer)

If you are carb-concious, I did one patty on top of a generous serving of romaine lettuce and sided with a cup of italian style cooked green beans. It was absolutely AMAZING. I cannot believe how delicious it was, and the Zuccini tastes great with the combination!!

Scott came home later in the evening and put his on a toasted wheat bun with cheese, light mayo, and more pico, and was I'm pretty sure his eyes were rollin in the back of his head he was so impressed and so I'm confident to say ANY way you make these will be perfectly delicious! :-) You can guarantee I'll be making these again and again during this challenge.

source: Yeah we totally ate both burgers before I snapped a pic. Can you tell they were amazeballs? :-P

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Well friends, today is Thursday and is a busy day for Scottie & me! In Austin today they have the X Factor Live Auditions going on very close to my work, so we will be checking that out... but then rushing to Dripping Springs, TX for 7:30p for a concert of one of my favorite bands, Randy Rogers Band!! I brought my boots to work I'm so excited! :-) Pictures to come!