Guess what?!?!?!

Well, this one particular recipe seems to be an overall favorite, among adults.

I say among adults because, well, what kid LOVES chicken?

I know when I was a kid, I HATED that we ALWAYS ate chicken.

This recipe is as simple as they come...

Buying good, organic, flavorful chicken is key.

It  is also the starting point to SO many of my other recipes to come.

SO BOOKMARK THIS PAGE

So now I present,

BAKED CHICKEN~

Serves 5-6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes - 1 hour

Here's what you need:

4 Bone-in Chicken Breasts
3 Bone-in Chicken Thighs
3 Chicken Drumsticks
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Extra Virgin Olive Oil


...and all you need is a broil pan and some foil.

(You can also just make this recipe for 2...with 2 breasts,
however I've found that it's a great leftover to put into salads, day 2 meals, and also very easy to reheat)


Line bottom half of broil pan with foil (this helps with clean up).  Replace top pan and evenly place chicken on it, making sure pieces aren't touching.

Drizzle oil onto each piece of chicken.  You don't want too much oil, as it will make it greasy, so just a drizzle on each piece.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika onto oiled pieces of chicken.

Place seasoned chicken into preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

When chicken is done, it should be  a nice crispy golden brown skin.  Let chicken sit for about 5 minutes before serving (this will help lock in the juices).

Hopefully later today, after I get some work stuff done, I can put some side dishes up on the blog.

~It's all out there in front of us......

On a roll....for now

So here I go, while I have a few minutes....

NOW TRANSFERRING

Favorite meal #2!

Sloppy Joe's

Serves 4-5
Total time:  30 minutes

Here's what you need....

1 LB Ground Sirloin or Ground Turkey
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 t Salt
1 t Pepper
2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 c Packed Brown Sugar
2 T Ketchup
1 T Yellow Mustard
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1-6 oz can Tomato Sauce
1 package Hampburger Buns

1 Large Pan
1 Spatula
Colander
Can Opener

Here's how you do it.....

Begin this recipe by drizzling the olive oil in a preheated pan at medium high.  Brown the meat in the olive oil, breaking all pieces very small, adding in the salt, pepper and garlic powder while it is browning.  After all of the meat is browned, you will want to drain it in a colander, then return it to the pan over medium low heat.

Add in the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire and tomato sauce.  Stir to combine.

Lower heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve on hamburger buns, with tater tots, and LOTS of napkins!

You can even make this recipe with vegetarian "crumbles"...

My sister said this was the first time she has had Sloppy Joe's since becoming veg...

and SHE LOVED THEM!

~It's all out there in front of us......

Let's start with a favorite~

This one has proven to be a favorite of MANY!!

It is a great go to for a quick meal,

and it's also easy to freeze.

Cheeseburger Macaroni

Serves 5-6
Total time 25 minutes


What you'll need:
1 LB Elbow Macaroni
1 LB Ground Sirloin
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bag of shredded Mexican or Cheddar Jack Cheese
1 cup Milk
1 T Butter
2 T Flour
2 T Salt (for pasta water)
1 t Salt (for cheese sauce)
1 t Salt (for ground beef)
1 t Garlic Powder
2 T Ketchup
1 T Yellow Mustard
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
10 grinds pepper


You will only need 1 large pan and 1 medium pot for this….if you use more than that, then you will be cleaning too many dishes.  Also, you will need one colander, 1 plastic mixing spoon/spatula.

Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring to a boil.  Place the pan over a medium- high heat, drizzle in olive oil, and place ground beef in pan to brown, breaking up the meat.
While browning meat, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  By this point, water in pot should be boiling, add salt then add macaroni, giving the macaroni a stir every so often to ensure it doesn’t stick.  After you start the macaroni and the meat is cooked, , drain the meat, lower the heat on the pan to low, then return the meat to the pan.

Add the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire and stir to combine.  Shut off heat under pan once everything is combined.

After about 8-9 minutes, the macaroni should be al dente.  Drain, then leave macaroni in the colander.  Lower the heat on the now empty pot to medium low, add the butter to melt it.  Once the butter is melted, slowly sprinkle the flour in making sure to incorporate each bit before adding more, it will make a paste-like consistency.
Slowly add milk, stirring to combine, bring to a slow simmer.  Once sauce is slightly thickened and fully combined, add 1 bag of cheese, stir to melt cheese.  Once cheese is melted (you may need to raise the heat to medium), stir together meat, macaroni and cheese sauce. Enjoy!


 ***This is a great recipe to freeze.  Make sure to store in an oven safe container, and when you reheat, do so after you let it sit for at least 20 minutes on the counter.

Heat in the oven at 350 degrees covered for 40 minutes - 1 hour if still frozen, and if it's not cold, 30 minutes or until it's heated through.

A new DIRECTION......

"Whatever you do, do it well.  Do it SO well that when people see you do it they will want to bring it to others and show them how well you do what you do." ~ Walt Disney

Well, as things may have it, life got very busy for me,

 which has made it hard for me to do what I do, and do it well for others to see.

I'm sure you are very surprised to see me back.

On one hand, I am back...

But on the other, I'm heading in a new direction.

I have been listening to what people want, and goals isn't it!

They want

~MY FOOD~

The cookbook is posing too expensive to produce...

So I have come back to the blog to put everything that I worked on in the book,

RIGHT HERE

for everyone to enjoy!

I hope you take the time to make each recipe that I share, 

and let me know what you and yours think.

Off to go make things happen~

~It's all out there in front of us.....

Almost 2 months....

I think I managed to almost forget what it felt like to write. I know that's a harsh thing to say...but I've lost my creativity!!

I'm not sure as to why I lost my creativity, maybe it's the fact that I really like to sit down at my computer and put all of my thoughts down- instead of on the little phone screen that I have. Not having Internet at home has really slowed my desire to write or post, as well as take or share photos. It's nothing against writing, I just haven't wanted to.

So enough babbling about my lack of creativity! Let's see what desire has brought me here to write today...

I'm exactly 1 week away from my departure from this chapter in life! It's incredibly hard to believe that these 3 years of long distance with my babe & fast paced living filled with challenges and bittersweet moments, will be coming to a close. I'm not quite sure how to describe how I am feeling at this moment.

As I've mentioned in past posts, I've had my share of commuting, which will be all finished come Monday. I'll ride, for the last time, into the city, knowing that the next time I do that trip will be for pleasure instead of business. It's been an interesting length of time, that I hope to never have to experience again by myself. Now I'm not opposed to commuting alone, just understand how much I'm looking forward to my newest endeavor.

My newest endeavor.....well it's something that I still can't go too much into detail about quite yet, as I need to confidently be trained in what it is I'll be doing, before I expose my magic!! The wait will be well worth it when I finally do tell you what I've been up to! I will tell you that it has been taking a lot of my ability to challenge myself with what it has to offer. I'll be able to use all of my business sense as well as my creativity!!! I'm very excited about everything!

I like things organized- to say the least. I don't do so well with quick changes....so that's why I've taken my time preparing for this move, by packing myself up a few weeks ago. My car is nearly all packed up, and is extremely organized. I wanted to ensure I was able to fit everything in the back, while in turn, leaving some space for some VIPackages. I can't squish these special things- AT ALL!! I don't mind squishing the other things, like clothes, but these are pretty important and require their own space. So they were left with their own seat!! I'm looking forward to getting them to their final destination!!

I'm all around pretty ecstatic about the upcoming things...so many to look forward to! One being back with 2 of my best friends in the whole world, my babe and my bubbles!! Another being the start of the future. There's so much out there that I'm seeing, I can't wait!!

"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow....shining at the end of everyday."

~It's all out there in front of us.....

297 - 5 = I admit, I've been a slacker

As I sit here today on the train on my commute to work, I'm realizing what a slacker I have been! I really really have been slacking- on production of many many things. I'm not sure of what came over me these last few days, but I really MUST shake this!!!

My production of my cookbook came to a screeching halt when I found myself lazily sitting around with my computer with a lack of ability to type what needed to be typed. The recipes that need to be input, are just in my brain....and not making it into the cookbook to finish it off. I supposed I'm allowed to have some sort of break, after consistently being creative for about 2-3 weeks.

I didn't commute in as much last week, which meant I wasn't sitting quietly for 2 total hours looking to fill time. It also meant my typing of much of anything didn't happen, including my little blog here. I did, however, have my computer with me, pretty much, at all times last week.

I also need to get working on learning these last few stitches for my knitting project! I've got to finish them!!! What I have finished is turning out very very cute, but they aren't quite done yet!

There are only 53 days left until I move back to Florida! I can't believe that it is happening so soon, yet I can't wait to begin this next chapter! I booked the actual trip home last weekend, and we will be relaxing on the auto train. It will be tricky to load everything into my truck, but I'm do very well with puzzles and playing Tetris. I have to think about my last few weeks here, and really make sure to optimize my time.

And now, there has been a bit of new info on a potential job for when I move back......I was going to finish this post tonight, but now I'm going to postpone and work on this bit of info I need to fill out!

298 - 1 = Back for an update

I know it's been about a week since my last goal, but as I mentioned before, this past week was pretty busy.

I got a lot of what I've been working on done....

I finished my book- which was an amazing read that left with such a cliffhanger, and I'm so upset that I have to wait until the next book is out to find out what happens next!!! I'm looking forward to tonight when I'm joining in on a chat with the author of the book! I'm looking forward to submitting a few questions an getting a few answers!

I've also been working very hard on my cookbook. So far I have a total of 64 pages! It's going to be great! I have included chapters, pictures and even a table of contents (in addition to some of my favorite recipes)! Maybe one day it will be so awesome that people would want to buy it! It's wishful thinking, but it's something.

My fortune cookies are coming along, but not quick enough! I suppose I really need to just sit down and focus on them for a consistent amount of time...not for a few minutes here and there. I've admittedly been lazy on that project.

I have some other fun projects that I'm getting ready to work on, but can't tell you about them quite yet!

I had a very special visit from my babe this past weekend as well! It is crazy to think that there are only 2 more flights that are booked- 1 for my birthday and the other is for my babe to help me move back to FL for GOOD!! It was nice to visit with his family on Saturday, and just have a relaxing day on Sunday. I really do enjoy our time together...it's like a singer sang in a song "It's always better when we're together". He makes me feel like there is nothing else in the world I could need to be happy (with the exception of my ladies)! Thank you to my babe for a great weekend!! Only a few more trips alone, then we'll be traveling together from then on!

Well I accomplished this goal-

GIVE AN UPDATE ON THE BLOG

I'm saving what other goals I accomplished this weekend for another day this week, this way I can post more than once this week!!

This couldn't be more true....

~It's all out there in front of us......