Moving...

The blog has a new home!

http://spontaneoustruth.wordpress.com/

Please bookmark and reset your RSS feeds. Sorry for the hassle, but I've kinda had it with blogspot and it's time to move on. Blogger, you've been a good first home for me, and you'll always hold a special place in my heart. No hard feelings, k?

:)

Tofu Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Okay, sorry for the weird font issues I'm having lately on the blog. I'm trying to get it all solved but just pretend it all matches for now. :)

Time for true confessions. I love to eat healthy and make good-for-you meals, and I love tofu but...I've never actually cooked with it. This was my mission to try out some new stuff and make something yummy.

I found this recipe just by searching online for something I could make with ingredients I already had on hand. It was surprisingly easier than I anticipated and I LOVE this new recipe! This is going on my "keep" list for sure.



Tofu Bok Choy Stir-Fry

1 pound firm or extra-firm tofu (I used extra firm)
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 good-sized bunch bok choy (stalks and leaves), sliced crosswise and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 tablespoons stir-fry sauce, or to taste (I made my own with ponzu sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, dark sesame oil, and a little bit of garlic teriyaki sauce)
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts, optional (I didn't use these, but only 'cause I didn't have any!)

Directions:

1. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Blot well between clean tea-towels or several layers of paper towel, then cut into 1/2-inch dice.

2. Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan or wide skillet. Add the tofu and stir-fry over medium-high heat until golden on most sides.

3. Add the bok choy, scallions, garlic, stir-fry sauce, and about 2 tablespoons of water. Quickly stir together, then stir-fry for another 3 to 4 minutes, just until the bok choy and its leaves are wilted.

4. Stir in the optional peanuts and serve at once.

Recipe from: Nava Atlas, savvyvegetarian.com

Shower Time!

This blog has been a long time coming! I just recently threw a bridal shower and bachelorette party for one of my dearest friends, who is marrying an amazing guy in July (yay!). I love planning parties, especially when it’s wedding related, so I started buying items and planning out for this party weekend way back in January. I’ve been dying to post updates on my progress but couldn’t ‘cause I know she reads and I didn’t want to spoil anything for my lovely bride!

Now that the weekend has come and gone, I get to tell you all about it!

I decided I didn’t want the bride to know anything about her special weekend, it’s always more fun that way (and, as a former bride, it’s definitely better if you don’t know about any of the planning, or stressors, that pertain to the parties). So the element of surprise was definitely a fun part of the planning!

We started out on Saturday with a Mad Hatter-themed tea party bridal shower. It got really fun and crazy with giant pink flowers (her wedding colors are ballerina pink, ivory, and black) hanging from the ceiling and pink and white balloons littering the floor. Really gave it a fun, topsy-turvy look. Plus, some of the flowers totally looked like strange chandeliers. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the flowers, but if I find any I’ll post them later.

We also had a weekend-long theme of “tiny food” (something I knew the bride loved). Since it was a tea party, wee appetizers were definitely the way to go! We had the following on our menu (find all recipes at the bottom of this monster post):

-tea sandwiches

-shots of tomato soup with mini-grilled cheese sandwiches

-mini sirloin sliders

-mini stuffed tomatoes w/spicy chicken salad

-mini lettuce wraps

-lemon tea mini muffins

-“J” cookies (the bride’s first initial)

-pink Whoppers (can you believe they make them!)

-chocolate cupcakes (decorated with J’s, of course)

-champagne and Chambord cocktails

-and, of course, an assortment of tea!

Our dessert table all decked out!

Lemon Tea Mini Muffins (recipe below)

Sugar "J" Cookies (recipe below)

I got the amazing chocolate cupcakes from Culture Cupcakes. I highly recommend this baker! She did a fantastic job on the cupcakes, and delivered them to the shower location, too. Yum!

As for other décor, I printed off several of the bride and groom’s engagement photos, framed them, and strategically placed them around the two rooms we used for the shower. We also made personalized stickers for water bottles, teabag favors, and plastic cups (for a shower game). I also spread out lots of pink flowers, black wooden J’s, and other various fun items. We even filled a pink, white, and black ceramic teapot with a beautiful arrangement of flowers for the bride to take home.

The supercute penguin water bottles and table decor!

The party favors: personalized teabags!

One of my favorite items that I found was an Alice in Wonderland-themed tea set, a la Lewis Carroll, complete with two dainty cups and a teapot. Perfect!

I also made “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” signs to place among the food and drink and lend a hand toward our Alice theme.

I also found a print particularly sentimental for the bride and groom and had it framed with a signing mat, which each party guest signed with marriage advice for the blushing bride-to-be. This was one of my favorite ideas!

We collected a wide variety of fun and crazy hats and the bride picked one out for each guest to wear for the duration of the shower, thus completing our Mad Hatter tea party. Here's the bride with some of her bff's in fun hats!

Phase Two of our fabulous party weekend took place at the local Rancho Bernardo Inn, where we had a hotel room for the night and 10 crazy girls to party with. We had more “tiny food,” cake, cookies, drinks, fun party games, and lots to kick off our bachelorette evening. Unfortunately, most of those photos really aren’t appropriate to share, so you’ll have to make do with my written recaps!

We had a fun dinner of Italian tapas (tiny food!) and champagne and set out on a very successful pub crawl for the night.

The next day we spent relaxing poolside (with tiny breakfast food and bellinis, of course) at a couple of prerented cabanas at the Inn. But first we walked the bride down to the spa for a surprise massage/pedicure spa package! This was something I’d thought of last year and was so excited that we pulled it off for her! If you haven’t been to the RB Inn yet, definitely check it out! It’s a beautiful property, and you don’t have to be a hotel guest to use this fabulous pool or spa. It’s so worth it for a fun girls’ day!

Recipes!

Deviled Egg Tea Sandwiches

3/4 cup soft butter or cream cheese
20 slices bread of your choice
4 or 5 hardboiled eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with butter or cream cheese. Place all the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Whirl until a spread is formed, adding reserved oil and/or mayonnaise to bring it to spreading consistency. Spread the mixture evenly over 10 slices of bread, top with the other 10, remove the crusts and cut into tea sandwiches. Makes 40 quarters or 30 fingers.

Almond Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches

Spread:
Combine 3/4 cup butter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves or 2 tablespoons dried basil.

Filling:
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken meat
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
20 slices bread, your choice

Combine the filling ingredients. Spread each slice of bread with a thin layer of the butter mixture. Add the filling to half the bread slices and top with the other half, buttered sides in. Remove the crusts and cut the sandwiches as desired. Makes 40 tea sandwiches.

Cucumber and Arugula Tea Sandwiches

1 seedless cucumber
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed baby arugula leaves, coarsely chopped
16 slices very thin whole wheat or white bread

Cream together the cream cheese and arugula, and stir until well combined.

Spread a thin layer of the cheese mixture on each slice of bread. Arrange cucumbers in a single layer on 8 of the slices. Place remaining bread slices over the cucumber, cheese-mixture side down. Using a serrated knife, carefully trim off and discard the crusts. Slice each sandwich in half diagonally and then in half again; each large sandwich makes 4 triangular tea sandwiches.

Ham and Cheese Tea Sandwiches

16 slices very thin whole wheat or white bread
8 to 10 ounces very soft Brie, room temperature
8 thin slices ham, about 4 ounces total
Unsalted butter, softened

Spread a very thin layer of butter on 8 slices of bread. Then spread a thin layer of Brie over the butter, and top each slice with 1 piece of ham. Spread a thin layer of Brie on the 8 remaining slices of bread, then place each, cheese side down, over a slice of ham-topped bread.

Using a serrated knife, carefully trim off and discard the crusts. Slice each sandwich in half diagonally, and then in half again; each large sandwich makes 4 triangular tea sandwiches.

*All tea sandwich recipes were a combination of other recipes I found on the Web so I can't credit them to any particular place since I made up most of it in the end!

Sugar Cookies
(Recipe from: A Taste of Home)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Dash salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until easy to handle.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with floured cookie cutters of your own choice. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Lemon Tea Mini Muffins
(Recipe from: A Taste of Home)

2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash nutmeg

In small mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until light and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in yolks. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with lemon juice and peel, stirring just until combined.

In another small mixing bowl (and with clean beaters), beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

Fill greased or paper-lined miniature muffin cups 2/3 full. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

Note: Batter may be baked in 8 regular-size muffin cups for 20 to 25 minutes.

What to Do With a Can of Pumpkin Part II

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Makes: 24 cupcakes
                                                     
1 (1-pound 2.3-oz) package pudding-included yellow cake mix   
1 cup canned pumpkin                                          
1/2 cup water                                                 
1/3 cup oil                                                   
3 eggs                                                        
1 teaspoon cinnamon                                           
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg                                           
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips                          

Cinnamon Frosting:                                            
2 teaspoons cinnamon                                          
1 (16-ounce) can vanilla frosting                             

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper baking cups. In large bowl, combine all cupcake ingredients except chocolate chips; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at high speed. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

2. Bake at 350°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan; cool 20 minutes or until completely cooled.

3. Stir cinnamon into vanilla frosting. Frost cooled cupcakes.

These are so tasty! Light and really moist (probably due to the cake mix) but definitely one of my new favorite cupcakes. These did not last long in our house! For the cinnamon frosting, I actually used some leftover cream cheese frosting I had already made the week before and just stirred in some cinnamon (I used more than 2 teaspoons, probably more like 2 tablespoons to get it cinnamony enough for my taste buds).

This is just a random recipe that came with my cookbook program so it might be a Pillsbury recipe or might not. I don't have a real way to attribute it but I can't take credit for it myself. :)

Roasted Garlic and Grape Tomato Pasta With Basil and Arugula

Wow, that title is a mouthful! But it's a tasty one, I promise. The mister saw this on the Food Network the other night and decided we must try it. It's a lot of garlic, and your breath will NOT be friendly afterward, but totally worth it if you're a garlic lover like we are. Super easy to make and the extra added liquid really soaks up and makes the pasta more tender and the sauce thicker and just adds that extra flavor that is so delicious. We also added shrimp to this since we're addicts.

Roasted Garlic and Grape Tomato Pasta With Basil and Arugula

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound penne pasta (I used whole-wheat penne)
  
• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 8 to 10 cloves garlic, cracked but left in skins, plus 1 clove peeled and halved
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus some, for drizzling
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup grated Parmigianino-Reggiano, a few generous handfuls
• 1 cup basil leaves, about 20, torn or shredded
• 2 cups coarsely chopped arugula

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil for the pasta. Salt water, add pasta and cook to just-shy of al dente. It needs to have a real bite left to it because it will sit in the sauce for 2 minutes later on and continue to cook. Heads up: you will need 2 ladles of starchy cooking water just before draining, about 1 1/2 cups.

Place the grape tomatoes on a cookie sheet with the garlic. Coat the tomatoes and cracked garlic with 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and season with lots of salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes. Take the tomatoes and garlic out of the oven. Turn the oven off.

Remove the roasted garlic from the skins and mash into a paste with the side of your knife. Transfer the garlic paste to the bottom of a pasta bowl. Using a fork, mix the garlic into 2 ladles of starchy pasta cooking water, about 1 1/2 cups. Add the tomatoes to the bowl and mash them with a potato masher until a sauce forms and tomatoes are well combined with garlic broth. Add penne, grated cheese, arugula and basil and toss a minute or 2 to allow the pasta to soak up flavors.

*Recipe from Rachael Ray, courtesy of Food Network.

**We also thawed out some frozen shrimp and tossed it in with the pasta the last couple minutes of cooking, then tossed it at the end. Yum!

Things to Do With a Can of Pumpkin: Part I

I had a can of pumpkin I opened to try in my morning oatmeal. I kept hearing how good it would be so I was excited...yeah, not so good. I was disappointed but then set on a mission to find other fun new recipes to use with the remainder of the pumpkin.

Part I

First, I tried out these Pumpkin Muffins. If it's any indication how good they are, I don't have any photos because we ate them so fast! So moist and light and yummy! This made it onto my list of favorites pretty quickly.

Pumpkin Muffins

Serves: 12
Source: Gourmet Magazine

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Sift together flour and baking powder.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Stay tuned for Part II coming soon!

Addicted to Etsy

I spend way too many of my nighttime hours perusing Etsy, but it's an addiction I have trouble breaking.

Here are this week's favorite finds:

























1. Obsessing over these tea light holders...made out of pages from the dictionary! Talk about my favorite votives ever!

2. Gingham cherry apron? Hello!

3. I will never get over the duckie addiction. This is too cute!

4. These just crack me up. Bookmarks made out of book covers from the Twilight series. I do love the colors though.

5. Mmm cupcakes. I love anything with a cupcake on it! These gift tags are so fun.

Beauty on the Cheap

I'm not a total girly girl, but I love being pampered like there's no tomorrow. I have come to the conclusion after much research that I'm just not a massage kind of person. My vice is facials. Last year I decided to get a facial monthly to help my skin be as perfect as possible for my wedding day (it worked!); but I also didn't want to break the bank.

Instead, I started frequenting the local beauty school of cosmetology (here's a great one with branches all across the country: Marinello Schools of Beauty). Prices range from $15 on up to $40 and they are definitely worth the price.

You might not be in a private spa room, but it's actually very quiet and relaxing and the students are monitored by trained teachers, so I actually feel like they focus more and put in more attention than at some professional spas and salons I've visited for the same services. I highly recommend! Had a great one today and it was fabulous! A 90-minute deep pore facial for $30? Talk about a great deal! (And they have coupons for 50% off all the time, too!)

There are also massage schools in my area (probably yours, too; Google to find out!) and professional massage therapists oversee students or perform massages themselves.

These schools are also great places to get hair styled (I've been afraid to get it cut by a student since I was in college, but I have friends who do it regularly and happily), nails done, etc. Happy pampering!

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon and Garlic Snap Peas

By request, here are a couple of my favorite NO-CARB recipes. :)

The first one is a more recent find, a South Beach Diet recipe. The latter is a favorite, and since I bought a giant bag of sugar snap peas at Costco last weekend, it's also one I've made twice this week and will probably make again before the weekend is out. It's actually the P.F. Chang's recipe. Yum! No photos today but if I make the snap peas again, I'll take a pic for you all.

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon

4 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 450.

Season salmon with salt and pepper; place in ovenproof baking dish and bake until opaque throughout, 10 to 12 minutes.

While fish is cooking, place vinegar in small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1/3 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in oil and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Place salmon on serving plates and drizzle with glaze.

*You can also try this glaze on chicken, pork, or grilled steaks.

P.F. Chang's Garlic Snap Peas

2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I've also used my trusty olive oil)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (if you are a garlic lover like me, I will sometimes add more)

1. Prepare snap peas by cutting off tips on each end of pod (or buy the pretrimmed to save time).

2. Preheat oil in wok or medium skillet over medium-high heat.

3. Saute snap peas in oil with salt and pepper for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, tossing often, until peas are cooked, but still crispy.

4. Add garlic and saute one more minute. Serve!

Recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2: More Amazing Clones of Famous Dishes from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains by Todd Wilbur.

My Black Thumb

I've been waiting all year for this time to come. It's been months in the making and it's finally here! We moved into our home almost two years ago and since that time I've been wanting to plant an herb garden on our patio. We moved too late for planting season and last year I was too crazy busy with finding/starting a new job, sadly leaving my old job, and doing something else big...oh, that's right, planning my wedding. So life was too busy for me to deal with getting dirt under my nails.

But not this year! This year my awesome husband took matters into his own hands, determined we were getting our herbs this season. They are everywhere right now and we'd been price checking at every store we went to (we finally decided Wal-Mart and Home Depot had the best deals and selection). He really took the lead on this one, and was the enforcer in our little gardening experiment.


Now I have to go off on a tangent for a minute and say that we are a great match for each other. I'm not gonna be modest here 'cause it's pointless. We really work well together. Case in point: I like to vacuum, he likes to mop. I like to bake, he loves to cook. I like to play on my computer, and he can fix it for me I inevitably break it. He's handy with stuff like tools and I ... well, I like to alphabetize stuff. I do the laundry ... and he leaves it in a pile on the floor. Hmmm.

Anyway! We balance well in most areas. But when it comes to gardening, we've both got the blackest thumbs you ever did see (I could make a comment about my mother here, and believe me, I've thought of several good ones, but I think she reads this blog and I value my life too much). I always traded chores with my brother growing up so I wouldn't have to do any of the outdoorsy stuff (like weeding, raking leaves, anything with dirt). I'm not that much of a girly girl but I HATE having dirt under my nails. Sadly, my husband is the same if not worse. So we have a quandary.

But despite the odds against us we forged ahead!! We bought a bag of soil, 8 little pots of herbs, a watering can, gardening gloves, and a couple planters. And, ta-da! Herbs. I really hope they don't die. We're six days out and so far they are thriving, or at least still looking green.

By the way, I went to Vons this morning and SCORE! They have the cheapest herbs around! $1.99 each, and they had a better selection than anywhere else we looked. Go figure. So if my starter herbs make it through the next couple weeks, I may be adding another row to our garden. Oh, we also planted some garlic but nothing has sprouted yet so we can't tell if we've killed it, drowned it, dried it out, or if something down there might actually be growing.

My Current Literary Obsession

Also titled, Hey, Look, a Blog Post That Actually Isn’t About Food!

So, yes, I’m obsessed with books and reading. If you’ve known me for all of ten minutes, you know this already! I learned to read early and I fell in love from the first word I read.

I also grew up in the library. Almost quite literally. My parents were avid readers and had me visiting the library multiple times a week when I was young. I spend hours at my local branch after closing as a kid, while my mom tirelessly volunteered with the library’s board and on various committees. I did service projects as a teenager cleaning up library storage, and worked summers at my local library all through college. I spent the past five years working for various book publishers. I’ve been surrounded by books my entire life and they’ve integrated their way into my personal and professional personalities with abundance.

I now visit my local libraries once or twice a week and I have long lists of hold items at each library system (there are three in my county).

Some of my favorite library tips:

-If a certain book has a long waiting list (yes, libraries have waiting lists), check out the large-print edition as there are hardly ever holds on them, or definitely fewer than regular print.

-You can check out CDs and audiobooks at libraries, and many of them are now offering MP3 downloads for audiobooks (yay!).

-Most libraries offer DVDs, VHSs, and various video games for rent, usually for very cheap (think $1 at most) or free (usually for a week or two’s rental).

-You can search for items and then place them on hold directly from your computer and have them sent to your local branch. The library will e-mail you when the items arrive and you can go pick them up when they're ready.

-Most also have free wireless Internet access.

I could go on and on, obviously!

This leads me into my most recent literary obsession! A few months back, one of my friends turned me on to a site called Paperback Swap, where you can post old books that you own and receive books from others. The cost is free, but shipping your books out to others is on your own dime (and fairly cheap, thanks to media mail).

At first, I wasn’t too sure about this site. I wondered why I’d use it since I had my faithful library services. But then I wanted a book that had long waiting lists at all three library systems that I frequent; I checked on Paperback Swap and found it! I am now a loyal user of both this site and my local libraries.

I also like using Swap Tree, a similar service to Paperback Swap but that also deals with CDs and DVDs.

Check ‘em out! I gotta get back to my book now.

A Chef's Fantasy

This little gadget is my current obsession to covet (besides the Kindle and the iPhone). I want one but don't want to spend the $$, go figure! But it's sooo pretty.

www.mydemy.com

Now, I gotta say that I really love my current recipe program, Cook'n with Pillsbury, but this little one is so cute and would certainly be easier than hauling my laptop into the kitchen every night. But I still have loyalty to Cook'n!

Chicken, Biscuits, 'n' Gravy Casserole

Wow, lots of recipes lately! I guess I am going through yet another foodie obsession. I promise I have some non-food related blogs lined up next!! Lots of stuff to post about. But, for now....

We LOVE to make this recipe. It's like a guilty pleasure. So delicious and so easy to make. It probably isn't the healthiest meal, but it's worth it. I've altered it a bit to fit our healthy needs. I usually serve with some sort of vegetable to make it better, too. We made this last night and had a side of steamed green beans with it; perfect!

Chicken, Biscuits, 'n' Gravy Casserole
Adapted from Every Day With Rachael Ray

1 rotisserie chicken
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese


1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Butter a large casserole dish. Pull the meat off the chicken, shredding it with your fingers or a fork into the baking dish.

2. In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup of the milk and simmer for 1 minute more. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the gravy over the chicken in the baking dish.

3. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with the garlic.

4. Stir together the baking mix, the remaining 2/3 cup of milk and the cheese. Drop tablespoonfuls of the biscuit mixture on top of the casserole and brush with half of the garlic butter. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 25 minutes, brushing them once or twice with the remaining garlic butter.

Cinnamon Swirl Buns

I think I am newlywed nesting lately or something because all I want to do is bake! It's becoming bad for my waistline, but yummy for my tummy! Seriously, though, bad bad bad.

Last week I had an overwhelming desire to bake cinnamon rolls! This is something I haven't done since just after I met my husband when I attempted to make an old tried-and-true recipe for him...I've since blocked that memory out (literally, he had to remind me of it). I didn't exactly fail at it, I think the rolls came out well but hunger, me, and baking mishaps do NOT blend well!

So last week I was having this craving for fresh cinnamon rolls...and as fate would have it I stumbled across a new recipe posted by my beloved Smitten Kitchen. Score! My weekend plans were set!

This recipe is fabulous! My husband said it was better than Cinnabon, and that's high praise in this house. :) I probably wouldn't make them the same morning I want to eat them, since it does take a while for the dough to rise. We made them the day before and they were still delightfully delicious in the a.m.! YUM!

Sorry no photos for this one; we ate them too fast! But Smitten Kitchen has some beautiful ones (better than I'd take anyway!) in the blog post.

Cinnamon Swirl Buns with Cream Cheese Glaze
Adapted from Molly Wizenberg’s recipe in Bon Appetit, March 2008

Makes 18 buns. Note I did not say “servings”. That’s between you and your buns.

Dough
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt

Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For dough: Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, about 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add additional 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. (You may also use a KitchenAid’s dough hook for this process.) Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For filling: Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt in medium bowl.

Press down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over butter. Starting at the longer side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, trim ends straight if they are uneven (we baked them in a ramekin, incapable of discarding such deliciousness) cut remaining dough crosswise with thin sharp knife (a good serrated worked well here) into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes (an 8-inch square metal pan worked just fine, too) with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes, though yours, like mine, may take longer. Don’t skimp on the double-rising time.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

For glaze: Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This has long been one of my favorite recipes but I haven't made it in a couple of years. Dug it out this weekend when I needed a good dessert for a barbecue, and this was perfect!

This cupcake recipe can also easily be turned into a beautiful, two-layer carrot cake. And the frosting is to die for! I treat the raisins and walnuts optionally, and I usually use golden raisins. Yum!

I used my beloved KitchenAid mixer to make these; makes the process so easy. Bake and enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Serves: 27

2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound carrots, grated
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting:
3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sieved

Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

Beat sugar, oil, and eggs togetehr in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until light yellow. Add vanilla. In another bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet. Toss carrots, rasins, and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Add to batter and mix well.

Scoop batter into muffin cups until each is almost full. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.

For frosting, mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until just combined. Add sugar and mix until smooth.

When cupcakes cool, frost them generoulsly and enjoy!

Recipe from: The Barefoot Contessa

Get Drunk, Not Fat

I love this site! Such a great resource when you want a drink but not the calories. Add it to your phone for nights out!

Check it out: www.getdrunknotfat.com

Also, it's sister site for the low-budget alcoholics: www.getdrunknotbroke.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These were so easy to make and sooooo good. I think I ate about 5 cookies' worth of dough...oops. They were pretty dangerous to have in the house this weekend, when we already had Easter candy and chocolate and other treats, but I was itching to bake something new and these cookies definitely hit the spot! One of my new favorites. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt or 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.

Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches apart, on each of the baking sheets.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen (yum!).

Sales at Longs Drugs!

CVS is buying out all the Longs Drugs stores, and while this brings me great, great sadness as I am a lifetime lover of Longs, it also brings us good sales!

Longs has got to get rid of all their items that CVS doesn't sell so there are crazy markdowns anywhere from 25% to 75% off LOTS of stuff.

So while we mourn the loss of Longs (sniffle), know that there is at least a silver lining! I went by my local Longs this weekend and got some great deals. Still can't find some of my longtime loyal Longs items, but I'm gonna keep on searching.

Happy shopping!

Trash the Dress!

I am a blog slacker and wholly apologize for it. I do have a long list of stuff I want to post about in the coming weeks so stay tuned! I promise I will try not to let life get in the way again (how dare it!). :)

In the meantime, I have to gush again about how awesome Melissa McClure Photography is. I blogged about her way back in one of my very first posts, but she's so badass she deserves another mention!

In keeping with my obsession with all-things wedding, I just couldn't resist getting my bridal gown on for one last time (at least, I think it's the last time...but if I can find another excuse, I will!). My husband and I met up with Melissa at a nearby winery for a post-wedding trash-the-dress photoshoot and had such a blast playing around with her. She's is an absolute pro and her work really speaks for itself. Okay, I could gush forever, but check her out (especially her post on us!) and see for yourselves! (And while I didn't totally "trash" my dress, it did get pretty dirty!)

http://melissamcclure.net/

And, just 'cause I can't resist, here's one of my favorites!

Show Me the Money!

I'm a total nerd and love to read finance and money blogs. In case you share my same vein of dorkiness, here are my faves:

1. My Money Blog - I just like seeing how this guy invests and how he talks about it all over the Web. Actually, a very interesting read.

2. Get Rich Slowly - Lots of good articles relating to personal finance. I love reading this stuff! Learn a lot, too. :)

3. Make Love, Not Debt - A great "relationship finance blog," as the writer declares. Is it totally voyeuristic that I just like observing other people's money?

4. The Simple Dollar - The current entry about the evil costs of a honeymoon rings so true to me right now! I love what's written about it. It's so true!

5. Wise Bread - I fell in love with this one on the tagline alone: Living large on a small budget. I think that's my new personal motto. I've gotten some great ideas from this blog and just have fun reading it!

Enjoy!

Photoshop Disasters

Be careful --- this site will suck up hours of your time. Pure entertainment, and it'll make you think a bit, too!

http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Coupons and Deals!

I love scouting the Web for good deals, and finding great coupons to use elsewhere.

Here are some of my favorite sites for deals and coupons:

1. Slick Deals - This site posts all the great Internet deals in one place; it's a gold mine!

2. Wow Coupons - One of my favorite sites to find retail and restaurant coupons.

3. Retail Me Not - One of the best sites for coupon codes. They don't work 100% of the time, but I've also had good success just Googling the name of the company I'm purchasing from alongside the term "coupon code."

4. Smart Source - Another great site to print off coupons.

5. Coupon Mom - This one lists great coupons and free samples! (Which, if you remember this post, you know I love to find!)

Tacky Weddings

I love weddings! From the day I got engaged, I was scouring the Internet for fun blogs, photos, stories; anything wedding-related, I found it and I read it. It's one of my favorite new obsessions and isn't waning as much as it should now that I'm actually married. Oops.

Which leads to a new blog one of my friends turned me on to recently: http://tackyweddings.com

Just too much fun!!!

How to Shop at Henry's...

...or What I Learned Tonight

I love Wednesdays because they are double-ad days at Henry's Marketplace. Both the ad ending that day from the previous week and the new ad beginning that day for the coming week are valid. Which means big produce savings! I rarely buy anything but produce at Henry's (and stuff from the bins, vitamins, and occasionally specialty items). It's best for cheap produce. I've also found you've gotta use that produce pretty quickly, and refrigerate EVERYTHING, even the stuff that doesn't need it. Gives it a longer life.

I usually go right after work or sometime in the evening. Tonight I decided to do a late yoga class and, since the closest Henry's is near my gym, swung by on my way home, just before closing at 10 p.m. I was shocked!

They were out of almost everything on my list and there was slim pickins' with what was left. The two employees in the produce section were NO help at all (actually just complicating the process by packing up what was still out as I was going through it...hmm, not the most productive way to assist your customers; they were also stocking the wrong item under a sale sign for a different item, it was all very confusing). So I was kinda pissy when I went to check out.

Then I remembered --- rain checks! Henry's used to have an appalling system for rain checks. They happily distributed them for various sale items that had run out, including produce, but limited you to use that rain check within two weeks and with an item limit (say only 1 package of blackberries and so on).

Now the policy has changed! I was so happy to learn that I could take advantage of the THREE items that I couldn't find with the new rain check policy. Unlimited items purchased and NO expiration date! Color me happy!

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd about stuff like this. But it totally made me feel better. So, since I'm not having zucchini, asparagus, or cucumber for dinner tomorrow now it's time to get creative with the sole, lonely grapefruit; two somewhat squishy avocados; and the small bunch of radishes I was able to find.

Moral of the story: Kinda worth it to hit Henry's late on Wednesdays for the double ads and to reap in the rain checks (think of saving them until that item isn't so cheap and you really need it; though I doubt I'll last that long!)...but you also run the risk of making a trip almost for no reason and dealing with super cranky employees who have no desire to help you. Take it and run with it!

Big Easy Shrimp

This is another new favorite! We tried this for the first time last week and after the first bite, my husband said, "This one is definitely a keeper!" Always words of praise from that mouth.

This is a yummy sort-of Creole-inspired dish. We served it over brown rice and it was delicious!

Big Easy Shrimp

Can substitute shrimp for scallops.

2 strips turkey bacon or Canadian bacon
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (16-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Place on paper towel-lined plate to drain. Crumble when cool. Remove and discard all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet.

In hot drippings over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, and celery 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with juice), bay leaf, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and hot-pepper sauce. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Add shrimp and bacon and cook 10 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.

*Another South Beach Diet recipe. Still working through that cookbook!

Spa Week

It's that time of year again! DO NOT miss out on this amazing deal! Spa Week is coming to Southern California the week of April 13-19. Select local spas and salons will offer select services (massages, facials, body wraps, peels, pedicures, etc.) for a flat rate of $50! Take advantage of this if you can.

I did it last year and it was totally worth it and so fun to get a $200 service for only $50 (yes, you read that right). Schedule your appointment as soon as possible 'cause slots do fill up. Then come back and tell me what you did where...just so I can be jealous. :)

www.spaweek.org/california

One More Disney Thought...

On a recent trip to the Happiest Place on Earth I had an epiphany. Someone needs to make an iPhone/Blackberry application that constantly updates wait times on the various rides. That way you can traverse through the park and check on the wait times and know if it's worth it to trek from the Haunted Mansion all the way over to Space Mountain. Now if only I knew how to make this happen....

Fly a Little SWA?

I think it's so fascinating how so many companies are entering the blogosphere. I've being doing a lot of blog research lately, and think it's so interesting what's out there. Here's one from Southwest Airlines. It's actually pretty entertaining! I like how they're trying to reach out to their customers.

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/

Amazing Customer Service Story

I found this story the other day and just love it. Makes me want to shop at Zappos even more than I already do!

Wonderful Zappos Customer Service Story

Do you all have any great stories of excellent customer service? I wish I had more. I have lots of bad stories, but I'll leave those for another time! Feel free to share the good and the bad here! :)

Spinach-and-Goat-Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Another fabulous recipe! My personal chef (he's so good!) made this for dinner and it was so good. Good enough that I was actually sad when I had finished because it was all gone. I love me some goat cheese!!

Spinach-and-Goat-Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch spinach, tough stems removed
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 ounces low-fat goat cheese
Salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 400.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring constantly, until spinach is wilted and liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper and transfer to plate. Wipe skillet dry with paper towels.

Beginning at thickest end of chicken breast, carefully insert a sharp knife into center and cut pocket as evenly as possible, leaving 1-inch border on 3 sides. Repeat with remaining breasts. Open each pocket, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then fill evenly with goat cheese and spinach. Seal each with 2 toothpicks and season outside with salt and pepper.

Heat remining oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until well browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until juices run clear, about 8 minutes. Serve hot.

Disney Mania!

I love Disneyland. Plain and simple. This year my husband and I got passes and we have been loving every minute of it! Our annual trip has suddenly become a monthly occurrence and it's fantastic.

I've spent years accumulating tips and tricks of navigating Disneyland and now it's time to share some with all of you!

• To start your day off right, head to Main Hall just inside the front gates (to the right) and pick up a personalized birthday button, Just Married button featuring Cinderella and Prince Charming, Happy Anniversary buttons, My First Time at Disneyland, and many more! They have a button for nearly every special occasion, so if you're at Disney for something special, make note of it! Every cast member you pass is supposed to comment on the button ("Happy Birthday!" or "Congratulations!") and it makes your day that much more special.
• I spent a long time cultivating my own personal list of "hidden Mickeys," fun spots throughout the parks and rides featuring a little Mickey (big circle for the face and two smaller circles to make the ears) hiding somewhere you wouldn't expect. Now there's a book for all the others who like to play the game. They have it on sale at the park, or you can find it at most Disney stores, and on Amazon.com, here.
• To experience the true G-force, while on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, watch the goat with the red eyes, and hold your gaze even as the train turns the corner. It'll take the breath out of you!
• Check out the Evil Queen who appears in the curtained window above Snow White's Scary Adventures.
• Small World was redone earlier this year and opened with new dolls portraying various Disney characters (Alice, Pinocchio, Ariel, etc.). Keep an eye out for them!
• Disneyland's Dream Suite in New Orleans Square was, until the end of 2008, offered as housing for one night to a very lucky family. Now that the Year(s) of a Million Dreams has ended, this suite is being offered to a cast member for one night a month. Pretty cool! (Heard this direct from a cast member working near the Suite at Pirates of the Caribbean.)
  
• Yesterday was the last day to watch the movie "Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years" in Main Street's Opera House. Later this year, the animatronic Mr. Abe Lincoln show will return! It's being revamped, but it's coming back! (Heard this direct from a cast member working in the Opera House.)
• If you're traipsing around California Adventure and feel hungry, head over to the Mission Tortilla Factory for a free, freshly made flour tortilla. Then cross the street to the Boudin Bakery and get some fresh French bread, also for free. Yum!
• If you have time, check out the free drawing class at the Animation Academy. A real Disney animator will teach you to draw a favorite Disney character. Even my Winnie-the-Pooh came out looking relatively like the silly bear (and I really can't draw).
• Don't forget that this year you can get into the park FREE on your birthday! Sign up if you haven't already. And if you're an annual passholder like me, you can still sign up and get a Disney gift card in the amount a ticket would cost...all yours to spend at the park! You have to go to the park to get it on your actual birthday, but can spend it any time. Sweet deal!
• If you stay at any of the three Disneyland Resort hotels, you can get into the park an hour before it officially opens, at 7 a.m. Totally worth it! We did this and literally walked onto rides that usually have a long wait (Space Mountain, Peter Pan, etc.).
• If your Disney sweet tooth still isn't satisfied, check out this book, Mouse Tales. It's a fabulous behind-the-scenes look at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Okay, I know I'm leaving out some great tips and tricks! There's a lot of you Disney aficionados out there. Tell me your best Disneyland tips now!

And just to share one of my fave photos from my most recent Disney trip...my husband and I in front of the most perfect wall!

Debt-Proof Living

I first heard about Mary Hunt from one of my friends who has similar obsessions. Mary has a daily e-newsletter called Everyday Cheapskate that I've been addicted to for many years now. I love reading her daily tips on everyday things (from household fixes to ways to save money), her financial advice, and her all-around good sense.

I've also read her Debt-Proof Living books and they are a great resource. Once I got married, I read Debt-Proof Your Marriage and I love her way of thinking. It really is just good common sense when it's boiled down, but she has a wonderful no-nonsense outlook on savings and spending. I love finding new tips to recycle objects and new ways to cut corners and save money (since I love to do that, and love to bargain shop!). I find these tips especially helpful right now as our economy continues to downturn. I read her column every morning, and save the ones I want to refer back to in a folder in my e-mail account. Perfect for future reference (and if you have a gmail account, easy to search for later!).

Check out her site and sign up for her daily e-mail! You won't be sorry!

http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com/

Nouveau Cheap

This is a blog I've really been looking forward to posting!

Here's the backstory:

Most of you know that I used to have a really sweet job. I left just about a year ago to go work elsewhere (which also turned out to be a great job, and which I enjoy) and I had to leave a really wonderful position where I had been blessed to work with some amazingly talented and creative people. The good that came out of leaving (besides finding my present job, also alongside some fantastic women) was all the relationships I was able to take with me and to sustain with my lovely former colleagues. One of said colleagues has recently started a blog, which I am so excited about!! She was the maven of all things beauty-related in our office and I always loved to hear her take on things. Plus, she always had the best tips and knew the best deals! Now I can share her with all of you!

Here's her new blog where she shared all of her worldly wisdom on beauty products, fun items, great deals, and the best advice: Nouveau Cheap. Trust me, you're going to want to bookmark this one.

Chicken Couscous

So we are trying to be healthy lately, as always, and we've been cooking some yummy meals. My main motivation is knowing that I have to wear my wedding dress again soon and I want to look just as good in it the second time around! (Stay tuned for more about this in a couple of weeks!)

Most of you know I'm a huge library nerd. I love to check out cookbooks and try various recipes. I found this one in a South Beach Diet cookbook, and it's SO yummy! I added grape tomatoes to it just before serving, which added some color and an extra flavor. I think you could easily add a lot of veggies to it. It's also super easy and quick!

Chicken Couscous

Serves: 4 (we halved the amount of chicken to make it just for the two of us)

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onions, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Salt
Pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink inside and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion, cumin, and cinnamon to pan; cook until onions softened and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to simmer. Stir in couscous, chickpeas, and good pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 1 minute. Return chicken to saucepan, combine with couscous, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Love Letters

When I was 12, my seventh-grade English teacher had us write letters to ourselves and she mailed them 10 years later. I thought this was such a neat idea that every year after throughout junior high and high school I wrote a letter to myself and opened it one year to the day after. It was fascinating to see how my friendships and relationships changed, as well as how certain things became more clear and important in my life. The collection of letters has been a wonderful way to travel back through my teen years and remember who I was.

The year I was 22, I remember waiting for my letter to come. It arrived and was amazing to read what I was like at 12, and how much had changed in my life. When I was 12, I had my first serious crush, my parents hadn't yet divorced, school and soccer was my life, and I was worried about growing apart in my elementary school friendships. When I was 22 I was more concerned about graduating college, finding a job in my preferred career, where I was going to live and with whom, and anticipating moving from Missouri back home to California.

Today at work, a colleague and I were talking about writing letters like this and I remembered a website a friend told me about recently. It allows you to write letters to yourself and pick the date you want to receive them; the website sends it back to you at the later date of your choosing. It's the same concept my seventh-grade English teacher had, but without the second party. I love it! I wrote one to myself two months ago and can't wait to get it back in five years. I wonder how different my life will be then???

Check it out now: www.futureme.org

Eat, Cook, Love

I love food. I love to eat it, smell it, cook it, have it cooked for me, watch TV shows about it, read about it, talk about it, and share it, and I love to grocery shop. When I was in second grade, I had to write a list of my hobbies on a poster board in front of the class. At the top of that list was “eating.” My teacher told me that eating wasn’t a hobby. I told her that for me, it sure was! Lately, I’ve been trying, as always, to eat healthy. I also always give up dessert for Lent. This year I’m just giving up desserts with sugar…I can still have sugar-free treats. So, needless to say, I’ve only been looking at more food blogs and more dessert recipes. You always want what you can’t have! I’m a diehard foodie and I obsess over my food blogs.

Here are some of my favorites (excepting the always wonderful Smitten Kitchen, of course)!

1. HungryGirl: Not really a true blog, but a daily e-mail newsletter. I’ve been reading it for years and I love it! It’s such a fun way to start my day. They review new items, give out recipes with great substitutions to make food yummy yet healthy, have tons of coupons and great deals, and it’s just fun to read. They also have a couple of cookbooks now and a great search function on the website (which searches every recipe or item ever mentioned in all of the many e-newsletters. I think they’re starting to take over the world!
   
   
2. The Traveler's Lunchbox: I love the writing style and the bookshelf is always good to check out for cooking references. I haven't made any of the recipes posted yet, but I love to check them out and bookmark them for future use.
   
   
3. Baking Bites: I love to bake and love to drool over the photos and descriptions of some of these yummy recipes. I made a sugar cookie recipe I found on here that was delish, but can't find it again to link. But I bet all these cookies are good!
   
   
4. Serious Eats: Great food news, fun facts and photos, yummy recipes, and good reading.
   
   
5. Cupcakes Take the Cake: I don't think I need to say much here. Cupcakes are the BEST!!!!

And I have to share an AMAZING recipe I made that I got off of my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen. I think these are really supposed to be a dessert, but I have them for breakfast, too. They’re a great potluck item and can be eaten hot out of the oven or chilled. Also, you can easily substitute other fruits for the blueberries and mix it up a bit, which is always fun to do.

Blueberry Crumb Bars