I think I'm going to have to talk to my scheduling manager at the part time job. I told them when I was hired I was looking for about 16 hrs a week. I've been working at least 23 so far a week. This means that I'm getting slightly frazzled at my full time job, very frazzled at home and not excited about going to the part time job. I can see me doing this for about a month or so before I burn out and realize that I am no longer 21 and cannot exist on 5 hrs of sleep per night and hope to be productive.
I need to come up with some easy recipes I can make on a Sunday for Spence to eat during the week while I work nights. My usual schedule has been working at Nike Mon, Tues, Fri and Sat*. So if I cook some things on Sunday he can eat them on Mon and Tues, and then make something later in the week for Friday.
*Hopefully though one of the weeknight shifts will go away soon, I really really hope so.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wine Night Wednesday
Wine Night Wednesday (or Thursday, or Monday or pretty much whatever evening the girls and I can get together) is happening this week and I am so excited. WNW is one of my favorite times of the week, an evening of girl talk, some --ok maybe a lot-- of wine and dinner with some of my favorite ladies.
I found a new recipe for this week and I'm pretty excited to try it out.
Chicken with Garlic, Basil, and Parsley Ingredients
1 tablespoon dried parsley, divided
1 tablespoon dried basil, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tomatoes, sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon parsley and 1 teaspoon basil evenly over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange chicken breast halves in the dish, and sprinkle evenly with garlic slices. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons parsley, remaining 2 teaspoons basil, salt, and red pepper; sprinkle over the chicken. Top with tomato slices.
Bake covered in the preheated oven 25 minutes. Remove cover, and continue baking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear.
* from reading the reviews on this recipe I think I'll use fresh herbs instead of dried and will probably create a little marinade from the herbs that are supposed to go on the bottom of the pan (I'll probably add some more garlic and Cayenne pepper too), some lemon juice and a small amount of chicken broth. I'm thinking that marinating the chicken for an hour or two will get some more flavor into the chicken before I bake it, and I'm hoping the added juices in the pan will ensure it stays moist during cooking.
The reviews also mentioned adding a splash balsamic vinegar and cheese to the chicken in the last few minutes, so that's a consideration as well.
I found a new recipe for this week and I'm pretty excited to try it out.
Chicken with Garlic, Basil, and Parsley Ingredients
1 tablespoon dried parsley, divided
1 tablespoon dried basil, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tomatoes, sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon parsley and 1 teaspoon basil evenly over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange chicken breast halves in the dish, and sprinkle evenly with garlic slices. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons parsley, remaining 2 teaspoons basil, salt, and red pepper; sprinkle over the chicken. Top with tomato slices.
Bake covered in the preheated oven 25 minutes. Remove cover, and continue baking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear.
* from reading the reviews on this recipe I think I'll use fresh herbs instead of dried and will probably create a little marinade from the herbs that are supposed to go on the bottom of the pan (I'll probably add some more garlic and Cayenne pepper too), some lemon juice and a small amount of chicken broth. I'm thinking that marinating the chicken for an hour or two will get some more flavor into the chicken before I bake it, and I'm hoping the added juices in the pan will ensure it stays moist during cooking.
The reviews also mentioned adding a splash balsamic vinegar and cheese to the chicken in the last few minutes, so that's a consideration as well.
Friday, March 18, 2011
beer cheese soup
seriously does anything sound better than this? I like beer. I like cheese. I like soup. I like them all together. The other evening I decided to make this delicious recipe from Allrecipes.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Wisconsin-Natives-Beer-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx
As written:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups beer (Boulevard Wheat)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk or half and half
6 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard --didn't have so I just used extra Dijon mustard
Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Stir in hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Pour in chicken broth and beer; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour with a wire whisk; cook, stirring until the flour is light brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Gradually stir in milk, whisking to prevent scorching, until thickened. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in cheese. Keep warm.
Stir beer mixture into cheese mixture. Stir in Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Adjust for hot pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Serve topped with popcorn.
Changes made:
I don't really measure spices very well, I know what we like and I tend to add more of those things. In this case I added more Cayenne, more hot pepper sauce (franks hot sauce), and more garlic.
I also cooked the veggies for more like 30 min so I was sure they were soft, the carrots took forever.
I did add a little more flour to the soup toward the end, Spence thought it was a little thinner than he wanted it.
I decided to just cook the veggies in the butter for the first part of the mixture, no particular reason it just seemed better, and two different mixtures, a "beer mixture" and a "cheese mixture" seemed like an added step that I didn't need so I omitted that. I cooked the vegetables in the butter for about 30 minutes, added the flour (dissolved in some of the chicken broth because otherwise I end up with lumps that never go away), then cooked that another couple of minutes. Stirred the milk in gradually, added the beer, chicken broth, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, brought it to a boil and simmered for about 15 minutes, stirring fairly constantly, until creamy and thickened. I turned off the heat, then stirred in the cheese a little at a time until combined.
I planned to also add a little bacon on top of the cheese but turns out that didn't work out so well. Not because I don't think bacon would be good in this, it would. But the bacon I had in the fridge was just a little off in color, so I didn't want to risk it. I bought a loaf of Italian bread served that on the side. Next time I make it, I'm totally adding in a little bit of bacon though. And I may shred the carrots instead of dicing them, they didn't get to quite the consistency I wanted.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Wisconsin-Natives-Beer-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx
As written:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups beer (Boulevard Wheat)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk or half and half
6 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard --didn't have so I just used extra Dijon mustard
Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Stir in hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Pour in chicken broth and beer; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour with a wire whisk; cook, stirring until the flour is light brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Gradually stir in milk, whisking to prevent scorching, until thickened. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in cheese. Keep warm.
Stir beer mixture into cheese mixture. Stir in Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Adjust for hot pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Serve topped with popcorn.
Changes made:
I don't really measure spices very well, I know what we like and I tend to add more of those things. In this case I added more Cayenne, more hot pepper sauce (franks hot sauce), and more garlic.
I also cooked the veggies for more like 30 min so I was sure they were soft, the carrots took forever.
I did add a little more flour to the soup toward the end, Spence thought it was a little thinner than he wanted it.
I decided to just cook the veggies in the butter for the first part of the mixture, no particular reason it just seemed better, and two different mixtures, a "beer mixture" and a "cheese mixture" seemed like an added step that I didn't need so I omitted that. I cooked the vegetables in the butter for about 30 minutes, added the flour (dissolved in some of the chicken broth because otherwise I end up with lumps that never go away), then cooked that another couple of minutes. Stirred the milk in gradually, added the beer, chicken broth, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, brought it to a boil and simmered for about 15 minutes, stirring fairly constantly, until creamy and thickened. I turned off the heat, then stirred in the cheese a little at a time until combined.
I planned to also add a little bacon on top of the cheese but turns out that didn't work out so well. Not because I don't think bacon would be good in this, it would. But the bacon I had in the fridge was just a little off in color, so I didn't want to risk it. I bought a loaf of Italian bread served that on the side. Next time I make it, I'm totally adding in a little bit of bacon though. And I may shred the carrots instead of dicing them, they didn't get to quite the consistency I wanted.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Date Night
Let me preface this post with the words: I am exhausted. Flipping tired. I worked 70+ hours last week and am on pace to work a good 65 hours this week. You know what though? I'm also liking it, not the tired part, the working at Nike part. Not that retail is all that exciting, but I am excited that because of this job we will likely get our credit cards the rest of the way paid off this year (THIS YEAR!) and will have a good shot at getting to go on the Europe trip I've been mentally planning for us since we got married sooner than later (which is also scary because its the last thing on our "before we have babies we must" list, I'll spare you the rest of the list).
One thing I've noticed the past few weeks is that when I don't get to see Spence, I miss him. I miss getting to snuggle on the couch, eat dinner together and just hang out. Since tonight is one of my nights off from the part time job we have decided to get out of the house and go on a date. Dinner and a movie, yes we are super duper creative people. Despite our lack of creativity for our date I'm pretty much doing the happy dance in my chair at work today. I am so excited to hang out with my husband!!
One thing I've noticed the past few weeks is that when I don't get to see Spence, I miss him. I miss getting to snuggle on the couch, eat dinner together and just hang out. Since tonight is one of my nights off from the part time job we have decided to get out of the house and go on a date. Dinner and a movie, yes we are super duper creative people. Despite our lack of creativity for our date I'm pretty much doing the happy dance in my chair at work today. I am so excited to hang out with my husband!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
All those little inside things
I am one of those lucky people who have been blessed with long lasting friendships. Through 23 years of ups, downs, and lateral moves my friends and I have come through it all. You add in my college friends and the friends I've made as the years have gone by and there are a LOT of inside jokes, memories and one liners. For example, if I walked up to you right now and said "hi noodle" or "squirrel" or "rooooosssttteeerrrr" you'd probably give me the side eye and back away slowly. My high school friends would collapse in laughter and we'd reminisce about high school tennis, gym class or something else that was triggered by those words and phrases.
One of the things I was looking forward to the most about our trip to FL was getting to spend some time with one of my best friends from high school, J. (check our her amazing fashion blog here: http://www.jseverydayfashion.com/) After high school graduation we went to different schools, and then she trekked off for the east coast not long after college graduation. On visits home there are a lot of people she tries to see so we haven't had a good long catch up time in FOREVER. It amazes me how incredibly different we both are from thenaive slightly immature younger versions of ourselves and yet despite those changes (or more likely because of them) we have remained friends over the distance and time.
Spence and I have our own inside jokes and language too. Just like any relationship where you spend a lot of time together its bound to happen. We call our phones "motos" despite the fact neither of us has had a Motorola phone in years. We can have almost entire conversations in 10 words or less and both know whats going on. And on Saturday night we added a new friend to our house, yup its a frog. I'm pretty sure its part of one of those sets of see no evil hear no evil speak no evil. And I'm also pretty sure its supposed to go in a garden.
One of the things I was looking forward to the most about our trip to FL was getting to spend some time with one of my best friends from high school, J. (check our her amazing fashion blog here: http://www.jseverydayfashion.com/) After high school graduation we went to different schools, and then she trekked off for the east coast not long after college graduation. On visits home there are a lot of people she tries to see so we haven't had a good long catch up time in FOREVER. It amazes me how incredibly different we both are from the
Spence and I have our own inside jokes and language too. Just like any relationship where you spend a lot of time together its bound to happen. We call our phones "motos" despite the fact neither of us has had a Motorola phone in years. We can have almost entire conversations in 10 words or less and both know whats going on. And on Saturday night we added a new friend to our house, yup its a frog. I'm pretty sure its part of one of those sets of see no evil hear no evil speak no evil. And I'm also pretty sure its supposed to go in a garden.
The frog came home with us on Saturday night after we had been a local bar for several hours watching KU win the Big 12 tournament with some of our friends. There were several beers had and at some point Spence thought it would be funny to see how far he could scoot me. He "scooted" me right off the seat and onto the bar floor. I thought it was funny too. (I really actually thought it was kind of funny, but I had to give him a hard time about it). After we left the bar we stopped at the grocery store to get dinner for the next day and I decided to razz him a little bit about shoving me around in public. He saw this little statue sitting in the flower section and decided he had a good motto. No more talking. He was just a little tipsy and thought this was hilarious. So now the frog lives with us. And I laugh every single time I see it.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Goal accomplished
One of my new years goals was to secure a part time job. Well I can check that one off the list, I am officially a part time employee of Nike!
I had a few reasons for wanting a part time job on top of my full time "big girl" job. A big part of it is that Spencer is going to go back to school full time in the semi near future (next year or two), and I would like to have some additional income when that happens, also I've realized that if we are going to take our big European trip in the next few years that some extra income will be necessary. Also, our roommate is moving out at the end of this month, and while we've never relied on her rent to pay any bills it has come in handy for our savings and "fun" stuff.
My goal is to set half my paycheck from this job toward paying off what will be left of our credit card debt and savings (ie: Europe), the rest will go toward our "fun" budget. Another added benefit is that since we'll have less time to do things we'll end up saving additional money that way too!
Assuming I can handle this week I should be good to go, between my grown up job and Nike I am working 70 hours this week!
I had a few reasons for wanting a part time job on top of my full time "big girl" job. A big part of it is that Spencer is going to go back to school full time in the semi near future (next year or two), and I would like to have some additional income when that happens, also I've realized that if we are going to take our big European trip in the next few years that some extra income will be necessary. Also, our roommate is moving out at the end of this month, and while we've never relied on her rent to pay any bills it has come in handy for our savings and "fun" stuff.
My goal is to set half my paycheck from this job toward paying off what will be left of our credit card debt and savings (ie: Europe), the rest will go toward our "fun" budget. Another added benefit is that since we'll have less time to do things we'll end up saving additional money that way too!
Assuming I can handle this week I should be good to go, between my grown up job and Nike I am working 70 hours this week!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Florida Day 5: Half Marathon and Universal Studios
Sunday morning came bright and VERY early. Anna needed to be at the race no later than 4am, and the one and only part of the race she was concerned about was getting there on time. Now, I can totally understand this as a concept, because in general I am the same way (I may not have been kind about it at 3am though). The original plan was that I would get up with Anna and drive her to the race, and then we'd be back probably by 9am to wake up Spence and start the day. Well the 15 passenger van changed that plan slightly, becuase I refused to drive it. Flat out refused. So Spence and I drove Anna to the race and then slept in the van. Not before we got some cute pictures of her though!
We explored the other Islands of Adventure, there were some pretty fun rides throughout the day. However by about 5pm the early start, and (for Anna) the half marathon plus the fact that we'd been gogogogogogoggooooo for about 5 days straight killed our energy levels. We decided to leave the park (we'd seen and ridden everything we wanted to) and I'm not going ot lie we were in bed by 9, asleep by 9:02. The next day we flew home!
After the race we headed to Universal Studios and HARRY POTTER WORLD! I am a huge Harry Potter fan, I love the books and think the movies are fine (movies are never quite as good as the books in my opinion, ever, not just for this series). So I insisted suggested that HPW be our first stop at Universal. By suggested I mean I death marched speed walked threw elbows through crowds walked quickly to HPW first thing in the morning. It was awesome.
Seriously, how cool does Hogsmead look??
In line for the ride inside Hogwarts
It's the Sorting Hat! And it was singing to me.
Spencer on the ride inside the castle
Hagrid's house
In line for the Hippogriff ride, it was short but fun!
We are in line for the dragon roller coaster, it has 2 different roller coasters that are all intertwined, we all got off this one feeling woozy (both coasters did that to us)
Anna is VERY excited about the red dragon.
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