Manamana!

Gary likes to send me links to really cute things. Kitties, puppies, little people singing.

This is no exception.



Thanks, Gspice!

Beefy Grills

What a beautiful snowy day!  After each snowfall, my annoyance actual lessens if you can believe it. I have a good feeling spring is just around the corner so these snowfalls don't feel so bad. I know it'll end soon or at least sooner than our very first snowfall. That's a good feeling!

What else made for a good day? Seeing more beastly trucks in one area than I'd seen in a long time. And no, car lots don't count. I drove past the movie theatre twice today to the view of lines and lines of trucks, so many that they spilled over to the bowling alley across the street.

There's nothing sexier than a line of super masculine trucks with beefy grills on the front.

GIGGLES! I've said that line to myself now three times and I still laugh (out loud)!

Am I joking? Not in the least. I'm still kicking myself for not taking a photo...

Thank you, VEVO!

I have come in to contact with an amazing new site - VEVO!

It's basically like pandora but with videos! You select an artist or song and it will play that song and then come up with a mix of similar songs. It is pretty awesome and I've been cranking the tunes ever since!

Here are some of my favorites - some old, some new.

What's for Dinner {15} - Baked Herb Lemon Dishes

Gary's got another obsession these days and has asked for this dish almost as often as Griddler Chicken. I'll ask what he wants and his response is always "Griddler Chicken". I'll ask again, saying that he has to pick something else and he always picks "Baked Herb Lemon Chicken".

I finally caved and am so glad I did! It turned out sooooo well and those little roasted garlic pieces sent it over the top. We loved it so much, we made it again, but with shrimp instead.


Baked Herb Lemon Chicken adapted from Andicakes!

2 split chicken breasts, skin on (We chose to use the plain chicken breasts instead)
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon sliced in wedges, 6-8 slices
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
9 cloves minced garlic- about 3 Tbs
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
 2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves, plus 4 sprigs (didn't have any so didn't use it)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Trim any excess fat from the breast and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish skin side up. Repeat with the remaining breasts. Sprinkle the breast with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Now slice one lemon lengthwise into 6-8 wedges and set among the chicken breasts in the dish.

Next add the extra virgin olive oil to a small sauté pan and heat over medium-low temperature, once warmed and the minced garlic and cook for just a minute and stirring constantly. Turn the heat off and add the dry white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, dried oregano, and minced thyme. 

Pour the warm mixture into the dish to surround the seasoned chicken breasts. Using a brush lightly brush the chicken breasts  with the oil mixture so it will brown during baking and then add the 4 sprigs of thyme on top the chicken breasts.

Bake the dish uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes, until the breasts are cooked and reach 165 degrees F. 

Like I mentioned above, we  made the same thing but with shrimp the next night. We paired this with some linguini :)

I wanted to use up some potatoes too and tried out a really fun recipe - using some ingredients we had in the fridge - ranch dressing, sour cream, cream cheese and butter. I know, really healthy, right?

First, cut up 2 russet potatoes in to equal-sized pieces. Place in boiling water and cook through. Drain once cooked and add a dollop of ranch and sour cream, about 2 oz. of cream cheese and butter to taste. Mash til your hearts content and enjoy!!  Gary LOVED these potatoes!!

Door Decor Craft Time {3} - St. Patrick's Day 2013

Here's my door decor for St. Patrick's Day. It was a lot of fun and only took about 2 hours from start to finish.

 I started with 5 fat quarters of fabric plus extras from a past project. 

 I just out a 6"x21" piece from each and then cut those into 1x6" pieces. 

From there, I took a white wire hanger and shaped into a circle. Lastly, I tied each fabric piece to the hanger.

 It came out great!

A Tribute - {NOW 3}

Thanks to Gary's dad, I am a superfan of the NOW cds. I honestly can't wait til each new cd comes out. Did I say superfan? I mean diehard fan (and not ashamed!). Here's a tribute the the past NOW cds!

NOW 3 - released December 7, 1999

My favorites from the CD:

Start this one at :37

Dishwasher Saga Continues

A few of you already know this, but our poor dishwasher has bit the dust. Yes, it happened on the very next cycle I attempted after using Lemi-Shine for the first time. No, I am not attributing the dead dishwasher to Lemi-Shine. I'm guessing that the front control panel is the culprit and to be honest, I have no interest in bringing another repairman over to speculate the issue, lay down a hefty bill and then still have an older dishwasher that will have to be replaced before we move out of here anyway.  And what if it can't be fixed? We'll have had paid that hefty bill AND bought a new dishwasher. Ouch.

So, should we buy a new dishwasher and have it be relatively old by the time we move out of here? Or would that not be considered old? I'm guessing we'll be out of here in 5 years or so.

OR do we suck it up and have someone repair the dishwasher? I'm not sure the exact age of the unit, but it looks a little dated.

#biggirlproblems

Update:  I found the model and serial numbers this morning - our dishwasher is but a baby! It was manufactured on August 24, 2009...

I'm torn.

A Tribute - {NOW 2}

Thanks to Gary's dad, I am a superfan of the NOW cds. I honestly can't wait til each new cd comes out. Did I say superfan? I mean diehard fan (and not ashamed!). Here's a tribute the the past NOW cds!

NOW 2 - released July 27, 1999

My favorites from the CD:

A Tribute - {NOW 1}

Thanks to Gary's dad, I am a superfan of the NOW cds. I honestly can't wait til each new cd comes out. Did I say superfan? I mean diehard fan (and not ashamed!). Here's a tribute the the past NOW cds!

NOW 1 - released October 27, 1998

My favorites from the CD:
















Forgive me, I was in 5th grade :)