Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Happy Hump Day Everyone! How is your day going?

I am proud to announce that I went to workout last night and was able to complete a full hour of cardio kickboxing without too much pain.  I am super excited because I am supposed to be running a 10k two weeks from Saturday and I was genuinely not sure if I was going to be able to complete it.

This week has been filled with new recipes and I thought it would be good to share another one with you.  I am slowly falling in love with my crock pot because it makes dinner so much easier on me.  Last night for dinner we ended up having Salsa Chicken and it turned out pretty delicious.  Here's the recipe!

What You Need

• 4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Cup Salsa
• 1 Can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Packet Taco Seasoning
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
• Tortillas

How to Make the Chicken

Place the chicken in the crock pot and pour the taco seasoning packet on top of the chicken.  In a separate bowl, combine the salsa and cream of chicken soup.  Pour the salsa mixture over the chicken and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8.

Shred chicken with two forks and stir in the sour cream.  Serve over tortillas or as desired.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello Everyone! I trust you are having a great Tuesday so far!

Last night while I was at home, I deemed it necessary to bake some sort of sweet to fill the sweets craving I have been having for the last week or so.  Luckily, I did some reorganization on my Pinterest boards that made searching for a dessert easy peasy.

I came across a recipe for "Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies" and they caught my attention right away and luckily I had the ingredients in my kitchen! Here is what I ended up with! 

What You Need:

• 1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter - Room Temperature
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups Peanut Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 2 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Extra sugar to roll the dough in

How to Make the Cookies

Preheat the over to 350° F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, sugar and peanut butter together.  Mix until creamy.  Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time until well blended.  Add the vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.  

Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl a bit at a time allowing the flour to be completely blended after each addition.

In a different separate bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar.

Once the dough is ready, begin rolling it into 1" balls (or larger if you'd like) and roll them in the sugar.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the sheet and enjoy with a large class of milk!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite cookie recipe?

Besides milk, what do you like to drink with your

Niagara Falls Weekend Getaway

{Not so} Happy Monday Everyone! I trust you weekend was full of fun and adventure like mine was! Who is tired from Daylight Savings Time

Justin and I made plans at the beginning of the year to head to Niagara Falls to meet up with a couple we met on our honeymoon and hit it off with right away.  It's been difficult to see/communicate with them because the live in another country: Canada.  So you can imagine how excited we were when the plans were made and everything was set.

Niagara Falls is about 4 1/2 hours from our house so it is not too terrible of a drive.  We got up bright and early Saturday morning and made our way out of the U.S. and into Canada.  One of the traditions we have started in the last few years is to listen to books on tape when taking long road trips.  My pick for this trip was Warm Bodies by Issac Marion.  If you remember, we went to see the movie last month, so it seemed only fitting to "read" the book.  Surprisingly, there are quite a few things in the book that do not match up with the movie, but overall they did a pretty decent job.

Once we arrived at Niagara Falls we met up with Nick and Laura at the hotel to drop off our luggage before heading down to the falls.  Luckily the hotel was able to check us in right away and we were able to upgrade our room to a Jr. Presidential Suite for only $15.00! It was amazing.  Plus the hotel had a pool & hot tub!

The weather was absolutely beautiful in Niagara Falls on Saturday which made the trip that much more enjoyable.  We walked down to the falls so Justin could see them for the first time.  He was pretty impressed and enjoyed snapping some photos of them

His favorite type of pictures to take are panoramic and we both managed to grab a few good ones.

After walking the falls, we decided to do the Journey Behind the Falls tour.  Because it is winter time, the falls were frozen in a few spots, but we were able to go down and see them from 35' down.  I loved seeing them from this angle and feeling the sheer force of their strength.

After the Journey Behind the Falls tour, we went back to the hotel to relax in the hot tub before dinner! I am so excited to tell you about dinner because it is one of the most exciting dinner experiences I have ever had.  Have you ever been to a Brazilian Steakhouse? Then you know what I am about to tell you about.

For dinner, Nick and Laura chose CopaCabana for dinner which is a local Brazilian Steakhouse about a mile from our hotel.  At a Brazilian Steakhouse they bring "speared" meats to you and you pick and choose as they walk by which meats you want to try and which ones you will pass on.  They also had pineapple spears which were absolutely delicious.  I kept asking them for more.

The two pictures above were of the menu.  When your menu said "Fire it UP!" the waiters would continue bringing all kinds of different skewered meat to you.  When your menu said "Cool it DOWN", they no longer would bring you food.  Overall, I would have to say that the Parmesan crusted sirloin and the pineapple were my two favorite choices from the menu.

After dinner we spent a few hours at the casino testing out the slots and some roulette.  No one won anything, but we still had a great time.  

The evening ended with another dip in the hot tub before heading off to bed.

Sunday we grabbed a quick breakfast before heading back to Michigan.  What a nice and relaxing way to spend time with friends and enjoy new experiences!

Sunday evening Danielle came over for some one-on-one best friend time so we could catch up and she could tell me all about her trip to Florida! So lucky!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite restaurant?

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Blog Under Construction

Hello There!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up there there will be some changes to the blog in the next few weeks. As this blog develops and changes I am noticing that the theme no longer matches the focus of the blog or the personality of the blogger.

As a heads up, the blog will still be up and running during the "construction" so continue to look for posts from me!

A Few Other Updates:

• I still have Costochondrisis and it is still painful.  But thankfully the days go on, the pain gets less and less.  I am starting to get very frustrated with this "issue" because it is really inhibiting my ability to go to the gym and workout with Janna.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will feel well enough to go next week and hop back onto the bandwagon.

• I started working on one of my New Years Resolutions this week and I am super excited to show you once it is completed! I will post pictures and updates on that when the time is appropriate

• I still have not written the letter to my birth parents.  If I am honest with myself and with you all, there is something in my subconscious holding me back.  I am working on that part of the letter and working my way towards writing it.  Hopefully I will be able to finish it in the next month or so and have it sent on it's merry way.  Oh boy, that is so scary.

• Leilah is adjusting pretty well to her new home.  She definitely takes after me with her stubbornness and incessant motion.  I think Frye is starting to officially adjust to her being in the house since we constantly find him looking for her and playing with her

That is all the updates for now! I will just leave you with this little piece of gold.

Have a GREAT Thursday!

Delicious Cheesy Chicken

Hello Everyone! I trust your day is going well so far and you are enjoying your day!

I decided it could be fun to try a few new recipes in the crock pot and started to research some when I came across the Cheesy Chicken and Rice on Ziplist.  If you have never used Ziplist before I would 100% recommend it.  You can search for recipes right on your phone app or on the Internet and if you like what you see, you can add the ingredients to your shopping list right there.  It definitely makes shopping and meal planning easier.

Here's how to make the recipe!

What You Need:

• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Large Onion chopped
• 1 8 oz box of Zatarans Yellow Rice Mix
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
• 1 10.5 oz can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 15 oz can Whole Kernel Corn, drained

How to Make the Cheesy Chicken

Place your chicken in the crock pot and cover with the onions.  Cover your chicken and onions with the Cream of Chicken Soup mixture by putting spoonfuls of soup wherever the chicken is not covered.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8.

Cook your Zatarans Yellow Rice according to the packaging.  Once your rice is cooked, cover the chicken with your corn, cheddar cheese and yellow rice.

Cook for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.  Shred your chicken and stir all of the ingredients together.  Serve hot and enjoy!

Overall this recipe was simple to make and it was very delicious! We will be enjoying this recipe in our house again!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite crock pot meal to make?

This was delicious, but my favorite is still the Sante Fe Chicken.

Wedding Card Project

Happy Tuesday Afternoon Everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Last night I spent some time working on a project that has been a LONG time in the making.... at least a year...maybe more.  I saw this pin on Pinterest a long time ago and it immediately caught my attention.  The project? Wedding Card Organization.

We've had our wedding cards in Ziploc baggies for over a year and they were begging to be organized when we were cleaning out the guest bedroom over the weekend.

The best part about this project is you can do it with cards from any occasion: Birthdays, Bridal Shower, Baby Shower, Graduation... the list goes on.  It's a great way to keep the cards and be able to reread them whenever you feel like it.

What You Need:

• Your stack of your {wedding cards} removed from the envelopes
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Ribbon (or book rings if you choose)

How to Organize Your Cards:

• Pick any card from the pile and punch the holes in the card to your desired locations (mine are about 1/2" from the left and 4" apart.  I didn't want to them too far from the fold otherwise you won't be able to open the card
• Use your card first card as a guide and begin punching the rest of the cards to match your first card
• Once you have hole punched all of your cards, begin threading them onto your ribbon.  (I had to use ribbon because in order for me to get a book ring large enough, I would have spend $20.00+ on the two rings)
• Once you have strung all of your cards, tie your ribbon tightly in a bow and you are done!

Now you can have your cards organized and can put them on display if you so choose! 

Question of the Day:

What project are you working on?

Potted Potter

Happy Monday Everyone!

I trust you had an exciting weekend and enjoyed yourself! Our weekend was filled with adventures and organizing. 

On Saturday, Justin and I headed to Downtown Detroit to go see the play, Potted Potter.  I actually bought the tickets a long time ago for Justin as a Christmas gift and it was great finally being able to use them.  I honestly did not know what to expect with the play because it is not one of the major productions, but I can honestly say that I had a great time! 

We ended up going to Outback Steakhouse for dinner as a last minute option and it turned out to be pretty nice.

I had the fillet with the sweet potato and Justin had the house steak with mashed potatoes.  Overall, it was a very delicious meal!

After dinner, we rushed down to Detroit to catch the play.  I never realized how busy Detroit is on a Saturday night and due to the time constraint, we ended up running from our car to the theater.  We made it to the show just before curtain call and settled in for the excitement.

I absolutely loved this play.  It was only two men on the stage retelling the entire Harry Potter series in 70 (or so) minutes.  I can honestly say that I have not laughed that hard in quite some time.  My favorite part of the play was how much they interacted with the audience and how much they catered to the location they were in with jokes wittingly geared toward Detroit.

If you have a chance to see this play, I would take it.  Both Justin and I laughed hard and often and if that is your type of thing, make your way to Potted Potter.

Detroit is so beautiful at night and I have never really paid any attention to that until now.  It makes me sad that it is painted in a negative light.  I wonder what it was like when it was in it's prime days! It must have been wonderful.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite play/musical?

I still think Wicked is my favorite, but Potted Potter is a close second!

Leilah and Frye

Hello Everyone! 

We've got some exciting news! 

We adopted another kitty! Her name is Leilah and she is 9 weeks old.  We've been feeling bad lately for leaving Frye home alone all the time and thought it might be a good idea to get another kitten to keep him company and so far things seem to be going pretty good.

It has been so much fun to watch them get adjusted to each other and to see her "fight" with him.  She weighs all of one pound and is not afraid to get all up on Frye's face.  It is definitely one of the most amusing things I have seen.

If you're wondering why we picked the name Leilah, it is also a credit to Futurama.  If you don't know what that is, it is an adult cartoon show that Justin and I have been watching for a few years.  We ended up picking the name Frye for our orange kitty because the main character, Fry, has orange hair.

The name Leilah came from the other main character, Leela.  

Our kitty clearly does not look like the character, but there were only two girl names to choose from and Amy just was not an option.  However, I will say from what I can tell, our little Leilah has a similar personality type as Leela from the show.

So excited to see where things go from here!

Question of the Day:

Is your pet named after a t.v. show character? 

What is your favorite name for a cat?

So Much to Share - Text Heavy

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

I am SO unbelievably sorry for my lack of posts for the last week.  Unfortunately, I have been under the weather and it has been really dragging me down.

On Monday of last week, Janna and I headed to the gym to start the last round of Tina's Best Body Bootcamp.  I was super excited to start this one because it looked like the most challenging of them all and I was certain that I could do it.  Unfortunately, my body had other ideas.  About half way through the workout, I started feeling very sick and faint.  So I ended up going home and not finishing the workout.

Unfortunately, after that incident I had difficulty breathing and felt very short of breath.  Because of this, I did not workout any more the rest of the week.  Fortunately, I had a doctor appointment on Friday already scheduled for a physical so I would have the chance to talk to my doctor about it then.

According to my doctor, there were two possibly reasons I would have this type of chest pain: Pneumonia or  Costochondrisis.  So she ordered a chest x-ray to make sure there was nothing in my lungs and they were alllll clear! So I just have to wait until the pain goes away and have no clue when that will be.

I have to be honest that I am starting to feel very defeated in this whole exercising process.  If I don't have shin splints, then I have a three day long charlie horse.  Once I get those fixed, I experience the Costochondrisis.  They do say bad things come in threes, so maybe I will see the end of my workout woes.

At the very least, I had a pretty darn good weekend!

Question of the Day:
How do you pick yourself up from disappointing things?
What ailments have you faced in the gym?

Relaxing Saturday & Sunday

This weekend shaped up to be rather relaxing for Justin and I.  Considering we normally are busy almost every day of the week, it was nice to take it slow and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Saturday morning I got myself up around 9:00 to head to the gym for Zumba.  Out of all of the workouts that I do, Zumba is by far my favorite workout.  However, this week I was not feeling the class.  There is nothing more frustrating than not having enough room to move while you're working out.  I even went so far as to politely ask the ladies in front of me to move forward, but they did not seem to care.  So half way through the class, I left.  

Because of how busy we've been the past few weeks and me feeling under the weather, I've "missed" quite a few workouts, so I took advantage of leaving Zumba early and made up one round of Tina's Best Body Boot Camp and half of one of the runs that I missed.  

The Boot Camp workout focused mainly on arms and definitely was a killer.  I was shocked at how much stronger my arms are than when I started six weeks ago.  I am sad to say that we are on the fourth and final round of Boot Camp.  Luckily, there will be more and Janna and I can continue working hard!

Saturday evening, Justin and I headed out to dinner with my cousin, Liz, and her boyfriend, Richie.  We haven't seen them since Christmas, so it was very nice to catch up and get some time with them.  They're so goofy!

Justin was being camera shy that day and would only let me get one of the side of his face.  Grumpy pants.

Sunday we had planned on going out shopping in the morning, but we got lazy and decided to relax at home.  We started catching up on The Game of Thrones because we have not finished the first season yet.  

I spent the entire day working on a baby blanket for my friend's baby shower next weekend! I finished the first one, but still need to work on the second.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite T.V. show?

Do you watch them live or after the fact?

Friday Night Hibachi

Who loves Hibachi? This girl! 

On Friday night we went to Miyako Japanese Steakhouse on a last minute dinner date with a few of my girls and their significant others.

I was pretty excited because I absolutely love hibachi restaurants.  There is something so exciting about having someone cook the food right in front of you, AND the food is always delicious.

I had the Sirloin and Shrimp platter with fried rice, but because I was so excited to eat, I forgot yo grab a picture of the food! Oopsy! 

After Miyako, Sarah and Karl came over to watch "The Watch" with us since Justin and I had rented it through Redbox. 

The movie wasn't too terrible, but it is not something I will be watching again.  It never hurts to try watching a movie because often I am pleasantly surprised by movies.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite restaurant?

What restaurant have you been wanting to try?

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Happy Friday Everyone! I trust you had a great Valentine's Day?

Justin and I did not have any plans for Valentine's Day, so we ended up staying in for the evening.  On our way home from work, we stopped by our local grocery store to pick up some steak and potatoes so we could cook a nice dinner at home.  We ended up with steak, mashed potatoes with sauteed mushrooms and broccoli.  It was super delicious!

While out, we also stopped by the Redbox and grabbed a movie to watch.  We had originally planned to go see a movie in the theaters, but due to a rather sleepless night, we decided it would be better to stay in.  We ended up with "Here Comes the Boom" as our movie choice. 

I did not have high expectations for the movie, but I can honestly say that I laughed and cried on more than one occasion while watching this movie.  If you have time and a few dollars, I would definitely suggest this movie for your viewing pleasure.

It was not anything super special, but it was nice to spend some one-on-one time with Justin.

Question of the Day:

What did you do for Valentine's Day?

Do you have any traditions?

I Survived Fat Tuesday

Hello Everyone! Did you survive Fat Tuesday? I did!

In Michigan, and possibly a few other states, Fat Tuesday is celebrated with a pączki   What's a pączki you ask? "A pączki is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling", according to Wikipedia.  In other words, a pączki is a jelly filled doughnut but SO much more delicious.  Luckily for me, no one brought any into work, so I was not faced with the temptation.

Monday evening, I spent some time cleaning and organizing our closet (which was super rewarding by the way) and I came across this sweater that still had the tags on it.  I'm not quite sure where it came from, but I was excited that it fit and managed to create an entire outfit from it!

In the evening, Janna and I headed to the gym to make up our Tina's Best Body Boot Camp workout from Monday and to get our 2.5 mile run in for the day! The run was not all that pleasant for me but I was able to finish it without too much angst and in a pretty decent time.

After that, we did the weight training workout from Boot Camp and stretched for 20 or so minutes.  Overall, it was a pretty awesome workout and I'm glad I went (even though I really was not feeling it).  

Did you notice something weird abut the treadmill picture? I got a pretty good laugh that the treadmill said I was at -0.5 incline.  I did not think that it was even possible! 

Question of the Day:

What is the weirdest thing you've seen a machine do at the gym?

Chocolate and Coffee

Hello Everyone!

Monday night, my mom and I headed out to her church for an evening of Coffee and Chocolate with the ladies.  I was not super excited to go because I wanted to just go to bed, but it ended up being a fun evening and I am glad I went.

The evening was filled with D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. desserts and coffee.  Each of the desserts were hand made by the ladies hosting the event (except the m&ms and Hershey's of course).  I allowed myself to have three things and ended up with a cup of Puppy Chow, a small piece of Nutella Peanut Butter Fudge and one of the small cups of m&ms.  That was plenty chocolate for me!

During the event we played some pretty fun games and had a wonderful speaker.  She talked about what Real Love is and how when we let God pour his love on us, then we can freely and openly love others; a thought I had never given any consideration before.

After Coffee and Chocolate I headed home and went basically straight to bed!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite dessert?