Dining Room Chair RE-DO

My mother in law received her grandmother's dining room set. It is in fabulous condition but she wanted to update the seat cushions. JoAnn's was having a sale, she paid a total of $65 dollars it took us about 4 hours, we re-did 10 chairs in two different fabrics. We used a staple gun, it was funny to see all the layers of different fabrics.  I think they turned out great, especially for our first upholstery job.

My photos don't look that great I may need to retake the after photos.

Before:
Off-White

After:

Stripes

Paisley

Green Smoothie

Green Smoothie, it's such a buzz word these days. They are the new cake pops, which were the new cupcakes. Don't get me wrong I still love cupcakes but isn't a great feeling to eat/drink something that taste delicious and is good for you. I've seen a lot of recipe out there but made up my own, my brother says I need to increase the veggies which I will, but for today this was my green smoothie concoction.

Ingredients: 

1 banana, sliced

2 cups of spinach

1/2 of a apple, sliced

1/4 to 1/2 cup red raspberries

6 oz vanilla yogurt

Directions:

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

I put mine in a mason jar it travels well.

s/n after you rinse your fruit make sure to remove any stickers, after I placed all my yummy ingredients in the blender I noticed the apple had the sticker still on it, no bueno.

Check out my brothers blog, he'll be traveling to Europe soon can't wait to read all of his stories! http://strangerinthestrangestland.wordpress.com/



Cheese Review: Pepper Jack

Name: Pepper Jack
Origin: U.S.A
Type: Cow's Milk
Why I picked it: I love Tillamook brand
Thoughts: Pepper Jack is Joe's favorite, and this one hits the spot. Perfect spicy to jack ratio,
Buy Again?: YES!
Purchased From: SMART Foods (Local grocery chain, you can find this cheese in most grocery stores)

*All opions expressed in this review are my own. I do this for fun and for the love of cheese.

Chicken Tortilla Chip Soup

IN NEED OF SOUP!!! This past weekend we went to South Lake Tahoe and had a fabulous time celebrating our friend Leslie's 30th birthday. Needles to say we partied our booty's off, and of course now that we get home, I get sick. I wanted soup desperately, I was going to go to Safeway and check out their soup selection since being sick = being lazy. However right before the end of the work day I searched the net for "easy tortilla soup" and found this recipe. Now my problem with this recipe was the canned chicken, I can not begin to explain how grossed out canned chicken is to me. So I decided to switch it up a little, here's my version:

Ingredients:

8 frozen grilled chicken strips (pre-cooked)

1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 32 oz carton of chicken broth

1 14.5 oz can pinquitos, drained (if your store doesn't carry them, sub for your favorite bean)

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chile's

1 4 oz can diced green chile's

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

Place all ingredients in crock pot, stirring once or twice. Turn crock pot to high heat for about 3 hours.

After you place a generous serving in a bowl add a few crumpled up tortilla chips, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced avocado. Squeeze lemon or lime into soup if you'd like.

South Lake Tahoe

Here's a little glimpse of our weekend trip in South Lake Tahoe:

Drunk Gummy Bears (Made by Kristen)

I bottle of Malibu Rum

3lbs of gummy bears

Soak in Fridge for 3 days

So good and so potent be careful (do not feed to anyone under 21)!

Shot Ski time!

Shot Ski time, again!

First real snow of the season, gorgeous! View from the back porch of the Dos Reis Shot Ski Chalet.

We also ate this Breakfast Casserole, delish!

Blender Hollandaise Sauce

Easy and taste great!
from AllRecipes.com via clutteredcupcake.blogspot.com

3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 dash hot sauce
1/2 cup butter
1. In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds.
2. Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and VERY hot. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water.

Phyllo Chicken with Blender Hollandaise Sauce

4 Chicken breasts, pounded flat & seasoned
1 pkg Phyllo dough (you will only need 3 sheets per breast, but some will rip beyond repair)
1 cube melted butter
8 - 12 asparagus spears, trimmed or a handful of fresh baby spinach
1/4 c. Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Place one sheet of phyllo dough carefully on a flat surface, brush with melted butter. Place another sheet on top of that one, brush with melted butter and repeat, Giving you a total of 3 sheets. Place 1 chicken breast towards the bottom corner of the dough square. Top with 2 asparagus spears, or a small amount of fresh baby spinach. Fold, roll and wrap your pouch of delishness and place on silpat. Repeat process with each chicken breast.

Brush tops with remaining butter; Bake on a silpat, at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, spoon on Hollandaise Sauce over pouch serve with Asparagus or your favorite veggie.

*See next post for EZ Holandaise Sauce

Ridiculously easy Pesto Chicken

Prep time for this meal was about 5 minute cook time for the chicken about 25 to 30. It was so delish! I was on pinterest and found this recipe Baked Pesto Chicken I had everything so decided to give it a try.

3 Chicken breast, sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons Pesto ( I used store bought, because I had it you could make your own.)
3 low fat string cheese, sliced
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
Fresh ground pepper about 4 to 5 turns

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking dish with cooking spray (I use the olive oil spray from TJ's) the spread 1 tablespoon of pesto on the dish.

Slice chicken breast in strips, place in dish spread 2 tablespoons of pesto on chicken strips. Sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder.

COVER WITH FOIL (helps keep chicken moist, let's face it nobody likes dry chicken). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (depending on your oven). 

Remove from oven, uncover. Slice up 3 low fat string cheese and place on baked chicken, on top of cheese add 4 to 5 turns of fresh ground pepper.

 Broil for about 5 minutes (watching to make sure cheese does not burn)

Ta-da...delish pesto chicken, serve with your favorite veggies.

*I'm playing with my photos, yesterday I used paper bags as the background. Probably won't do that again.

Enchilada Chili

Yesterday while shopping at Trader Joe's I sampled "Russel's Enchilada Chili" (I'm assuming Russell is one of the crew members at the Trader Joe's in Stockton). I was hesitant to try this recipe because Joe isn't a fan of black beans. I made it in anyways but subbed ground beef for ground turkey. It was delish!!! He enjoyed it as did I, definitely will be making this again soon. The other great thing about the chili is it takes about 30 minutes start to finish and only has few ingredients.

1lb. Ground Turkey

1 can of corn, drained

1 jar double roasted salsa

1 bottle enchilada sauce

2 cans black beans, drained

*all of my ingredients are from Trader Joe's (you can totally substitute). 

Brown ground turkey in a pot, add drained corn and stir. Add drained black beans, salsa and enchilada sauce. Let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Ready to serve.

You can top this with shredded cheddar and or sour cream. Since we are trying to eat healthier we had neither and it was still awesome.

Happy New Year!

The start of a new year comes with so much hope and happiness for the next 365 days ahead. Joe is starting his teaching credential program. Im getting my medical assistant certificate and my license to sell life insurance. We are in two weddings together this year a few trips planned and a lot of time working on our home, hopefully a baby, should make for a busy year. One of our resolutions is to quit smoking cigarettes, wish us luck! We are also eating better so our resolution is basically a lifestyle change. Weighing in tomorrow at work, once again wish me luck. Should be interesting at least we have each other to support one another.

Looking forward to doing a lot more blog post this year. Cheers to health, wealth and prosperity (I ate black eyed peas earlier today)!

Happy new year!
-Rachel