Getting Ready for the Holidays (Day 3)

Last night's menu was Apricot Chicken with Apple Yams, or in my case, Apple Sweet Potatoes.
I had two left-over chicken breasts from our last meal and this recipe called for just that. The Apple Yams recipe was right below the Lava Rock Potato recipe in my book, and when I saw it, I said, "Um, yes!" I love sweet potatoes (which I confuse with yams, which is why I bought canned sweet potatoes instead). Sweet potatoes are one of the few things I can make into a side dish without a recipe to follow, but I've never made them with apples. It sounded wonderful and very appropriate for the upcoming holidays. Even Rory exclaimed, "It smells like Christmas in here!" when he got home.
Everything was amazing! I swear these recipes just get better and better.
I've never prepared chicken the way this recipe called for -- marinating. I had to marinate the two chickens in rosemary, garlic, salt & pepper and oil. The recipe said for at least an hour, but my chickens ended marinating for almost two. My only problem was that I was supposed to grill the chickens, but we don't have a grill. I opted for cooking them in a frypan which meant no smokey flavor, but it still got the job done.

I wrapped my chickens in foil and set them on a baking sheet in the refrigerator.

This is the apricot glaze. Much, much better than I expected as I mixed dijon mustard with apricot jam.

I used McIntosh apples for the Apple Sweet Potatoes. They are sweet, crisp and great for baking!

I think too much rosemary got in the frying pan and I worried it would overwhelm all of the other flavors. Luckily it didn't mess with anything.

Here are the Apple Sweet Potatoes right before getting sprinkled with mini-marshmallows and baked for another 5 minutes.

Here is the finished product. Simply fabulous!

I loved this meal. I loved the Christmasy flavors and that apricot glaze. I will probably add apples to sweet potatoes during the holidays and serve them without every other time. It's amazing how one ingredient can influence the feel of the dish so much. I have a lot of leftover sweet potatoes so I am looking forward to lunch!
Rating:
Taste: 10. I wouldn't change a thing on either of these recipes. I only wish I had served the chicken in slices rather than one hunk of meat.
Simplicity: 8. I give it an 8 because it required a lot of dishes to make! Otherwise, it was a smooth evening in the kitchen. While the chickens marinated, I worked on the potatoes, and when the potatoes had 30 minutes left in the oven, I started cooking the chicken. They were both finished at the same time! But like I mentioned, clean-up wasn't as simple.
Overall: I am very impressed with this dish. It came out a lot better than I expected. The sweetness of the apple sweet potatoes complimented the tart of the apricot chicken. It would be an easy meal for the school week because of how easy they are to cook together. You can literally tend to one while the other takes care of itself. You'll never cook two things at once. Five stars for this meal!

P.S. I got the job I mentioned in my Day 1 post! Whoo hoo!

Need something filling? (Day 2)

Oh man, Dinner #2 was the most filling thing I have ever cooked! Even Rory was stuffed after one helping and that, my friends, never happens. He still polished off my serving, but he was filled.
Dinner #2 was Baked Chicken and Rice with Lava Rock Potatoes.
Baked chicken and rice may sound ordinary, but I guarantee that this dish was one of the most flavorful and interesting dishes I've ever cooked.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to flip these pictures. Anyway, it's fast to take a picture of the recipe rather than copy it word for word.

I used two chicken breasts and cut them in half. It was plenty for two.

Here is the dressing you put over the browned chicken and cooked rice. It consists of cream of mushroom, dry soup/dip onion mix and sour cream. Yum!

Brown the bacon and add potatoes, onion and water. Make sure the bacon is cooked to your liking because it doesn't cook once you add water! Simmer until potatoes are tender.

As delicious as this was, it didn't photograph too well. Sorry about that.

It was great! We loved everything about this meal. I also bought a sourdough jalapeno flute (from Albertson's) to go with it. We had a lot of leftovers and I'm looking forward to serving it again!

Rating:
Taste: 10. Everything came together wonderfully. It's not because I added anything special: I followed the recipe to the letter.
Simplicity: 5. You're going to have to reserve an hour and a half for the whole thing. (If I just did the chicken, I would rate it a 7.) You've got to do several things at once: the chicken, the rice, the bacon, chop veggies. . .so there's quite a bit of juggling. The good news is, you can use the same pan twice: once for the chicken, wash it really quickly and use it for the bacon and potatoes. While the chicken and rice takes an hour to bake, you've got to put your entire focus on the lava rock potatoes. But once you brown the bacon and cut the veggies, it pretty much takes care if itself.
Overall: I'm proud of the outcome on this one. I don't know if I would cook it during a school week unless I had a lot of downtime. This is a great meal for when you have company because it's so filling and flavorful. My own meals never make me feel totally full, but this one did. Very satisfying!

30 Day Cooking Challenge (Day 1)

This blog was a dead-ender from the start, so I'm resurrecting it.
Among a handful, there are a couple things I've been slacking off from. Blogging (or journaling) and cooking. You see, we moved back to Idaho a couple of weeks ago and it is COLD. Everyone knows you can't motivate me by freezing me, so I've been off to a slow start with housework and meal preparations. All I want to do is hide under a blanket with a space heater. (Actually as I write this, I'm wrapped in a blanket with the space heater blasting at my feet. Our apartment has no heating system.)
Anyway, I needed something to get me on my numb feet and making progress. I have nothing going on in my life. My senior year of college starts in less than two months, and I'm waiting to hear back for a job that wouldn't start until school does. So I have A LOT of free time. I really enjoy cooking. I'm not bad in the kitchen and I have a husband who, not only will eat everything, but will compliment anything I put in front of him. I decided to volunteer myself for a 30 Day Cooking Challenge. I found a cookbook that I received for a wedding gift, but I tucked it in a cupboard for a year. For some reason I prefer scoping recipes on the Internet. But I rediscovered this little treasure and found a lot of recipes that Rory would love. Here is how the challenge will work:

It's very simple: Everyday I will pull a recipe from the cookbook. I HAVE to cook a from-scratch dinner every other night. It would be nice to make a dip, breakfast or dessert on my non-dinner days. We'll see if I can do that. So it's not really a challenge, but whatever.
Why? We're a little on the, um, poor side. We can't afford going out to dinner on a regular basis. When we do, we find ourselves slipping financially. It turns out that home-cooked meals are more affordable, you can eat the left-overs, and use the left-over ingredients for other meals. So with this challenge, we will not go out to eat except for ice cream, because I don't want to give that up.

Here is the book that I will use as a staple for this challenge:

Home Cookin' is by Kelley Van Orden Dalley
The book includes recipes for just about everything from spinach dip to casseroles to pizza to red velvet cake to window cleaner.

TODAY November 12 I will start with meat loaf. The only time I've had meatloaf was at 6th grade camp. I remember liking it. It seems like one of those classic American dishes and it should be easy to start the challenge with.

THE RECIPE
2 eggs
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs or Ritz crackers
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. dry mustard
3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup onions
11/2 pounds lean hamburger
2 tbsp brown sugar
MIX together ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Set aside. Mix together all other ingredients and put in a greased breadpan. Cover with ketchup mixture. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.



UPDATE for this post. The outcome of the meatloaf.

I got off to a bad start because after I finished writing the first part of the post, I went to the grocery store, but I discovered a flat tire on my car :( There are two grocery stores so I had to walk to the closer one.
At the store I discovered dry mustard is $4. That seemed to be a little too pricey for a spice I wouldn't use very often so I skipped it. The dry mustard was to be used for a glaze to pour over the raw meatloaf before putting it in the oven. I substituted the dry mustard for barbeque sauce to give it a kick.

This is the glaze (ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard...or barbeque sauce in my case.)

Add the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir it together. It will look gross, but that's okay. (Somehow this picture got flipped. Oh well.

Transfer the raw meatloaf from the large mixing bowl to a greased bread pan. Pour the glaze on top.

Your finished meatloaf.

Here are some things I would suggest: Bake it for an hour instead of 50 minutes. My meatloaf was still considerably pink inside after baking for 50 minutes. It wasn't raw, but it wasn't completely done. Rory didn't care, but if you're like me and pink meat makes you nervous, keep it baking longer. Serve it with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Voila, you have an all-American meal.

Rating:
Taste: 9. It was really good! It was really moist (I used a 15% fat hamburger) and had a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar. Next time I would add bell peppers to make it less beefy.
Simplicity: 8. This was really easy to make. I had every ingredient in my kitchen except for the beef and ketchup, so it's something you can whip up pretty easily. The only thing is it takes awhile to bake, and longer than I expected since it wasn't completely done.
Overall: I really liked this meal and it is great for a middle-of-the-week dinner when you don't have time to go all out prepping a meal. The long bake time comes in handy if you're a student, then you can do some homework or housework while you wait. If you're not a student then you can make your sides in the meantime.

Goldbug Camping Trip!

I figured since I'm here and my husband is knocking on doors somewhere in town, I'd blog about our camping trip to Goldbug, Idaho.
I'm not much of a camper, but I enjoyed this camping experience with a HUGE exception of the hike to get there. More on that later.
Rory and I went with his two best friends from high school and their wives.
Rory and Kelly
Kenneth and Ronna
Sam and Katie

His friends married awesome girls, they're a lot of fun. We love being the wives us these best buddies. 

We drove from Rexburg in Sam's dad's old pick-up truck. Rory and Kenneth had a lot of fun laying out in the truck bed on the way. The drive was about three hours, and we didn't get to our destination until it was dark outside.

So we set out to hike --ready for this?-- in the darkness, with a few small flashlights, uphill. All uphill. It was seriously like climbing stairs for an hour straight. Even though it was dark, it was fairly hot and we were dying. There were times where I would stop and think, "I can't keep going, this is ridiculous." It didn't take me long to remember that stopping would be the death of me. The whole time I couldn't help feeling like something was following me, either a  mountain lion or a deranged murderer. That kept me going.

Finally, we heard the rushing water. We were there. Goldbug is so cool because there are hot springs everywhere. They were the most natural spas I've ever seen. 

Rory threw some cans of Chef Boyardees into a hot spring that was too hot for anyone to enjoy. He said they'd be hot for lunch tomorrow.

We changed into our bathing suits in the darkness and got camp set up. I was trying to ignore the rattlesnake Sam and Katie saw, the rat Ronna saw, and the mouse I saw.

We all got into a soothing hot spring, drank grape juice, ate fruit and watched the moon until we were pruney and completely drained. 

Rory and I got to sleep in a tent with Ronna and Kenneth (Sam and Katie had their own two-man tent). I must say, that was a great sleep. We had sleeping pads and sleeping bags, and the weather was perfect.

We woke up at about 8:30 am, had some breakfast and enjoyed the hot springs some more. Then we had a little lunch (those almost-hot Chef Boyardees and we were on our way.

I kicked myself for not bringing any water. I thought I'd be fine with all of the juice we brought, but it turns out, by the end of the day, the juice was worsening my thirst. After the hike down, I couldn't take it anymore -- I drank from the stream running down from the hot springs. And I didn't get sick :)

Here are some pictures:

Kenneth and his wife Ronna. They were married last December.

The wives!

This is how dark it was.

And there were lots of steep drop-offs. Sadly these are the only pictures I got from that night.

Breakfast!

Kenneth forgot to pack the tent poles, so he made a giant make-shift one. It worked out!

My tanlines. I know, I know.

Sam and Katie.

Our men!

Awh! Rory got a scrape!

The wives!

Sam's lunch.

As soon as we got home from the camping trip, we caught the last half of Rexburg's annual Demolition Derby! We went to this on our second date, but missed it last year. We had to go this year. They are so much fun! So redneck!

They're muddy too! This picture doesn't really show it, but a mudwave came right at us. Guess it was a bad idea to wear white.

Overall, a very fun weekend!

The tap water isn't as good in California. I forgot about that.

Took the second digital test. Negative.

Moving on -- we've moved!
Yesterday we drove from Rexburg to Santa Clarita, CA, where neither of us have ever been to. We're staying in a furnished apartment for the three months. At first glance after a fifteen hour drive, the place was absolutely wonderful. The couches are a lovely sandy faux-suede, the table is dark wood, we have a dishwasher (yay!) and a laundry room (super YAY!!). Then on closer inspection, we discovered that whoever had this place last was a slob. There are crumbs everywhere (on the lovely faux-suede couch, the chairs, the floor), little dark hairs are stuck to the shower walls, and the carpet is just. . .ugh. I did some power cleaning today, but without a vacuum, there's not much I could do.
This bugs me because Rory and I took so much time to make our apartment spotless and sparkling clean for our renter, but whoever had this apartment apparently couldn't have cared less.
This morning I found out there is no Internet (what?), no TV (what?), and I'm not guaranteed a car every day (Oh, no.) It's okay! I'm used to not having a TV, the only reason this was a let-down is because there's. . .nothing else. I slithered my way into someone else's Internet. Thank goodness one of our neighbors decided to make a password unnecessary to log into their Internet, because I got hooked right up. I must say, it's pretty fast, too. Thanks, neighbor!
I had the car today so I was able to do some much-needed grocery shopping. I have to share this moment:
Rory and I went to the CVS last night for some TP and air-freshener (the apartment smelled like cat pee. Now it smells like peaches!). We asked a girl in line where the nearest Wal-Mart is. She gave us directions, but I didn't pay much attention because I would let my iPhone guide the way when the time came. Well, the time came today and I remembered her directions and found the SUPER Wal-mart, no problem. I love me a Super Wal-Mart. I'm pretty proud of my memory and navigation.
I'm thinking to keep myself entertained, I'm going to try to get a job at Panera Bread, part-time. I worked there two summers ago, hopefully that helps seal the deal. If not Panera, then I'll try to be a seating hostess. There's no way I can just sit around for three months. Of course, I am pretty excited about the pool here.

Okay, pictures anyone?!

 I love all of the counter space! The only problem is, there isn't a drawer big enough to hold the silverware tray. What the heck?

 Oh yeah, the walk-in closet. Very nice!

 Lots of towels, sorry.

 Who knows?

Rory is down here selling pest control. And what do I see outside of the living room window? That. Oh, the irony.











And there you have it. I really like Santa Clarita so far. Everyone I've met is really friendly and nice, the the town has everything we need and everything is really close together. And of course, it's a three hour drive to San Diego rather than a day trip. Love that!

To be or not to be?

Today was my last day of college as junior.
Here's the other exciting news:

I bought a pregnancy test on Monday. I don't feel pregnant or even really suspect it, except for skipping a period last month but for me, that's normal. I've also had a "butterfly" feeling in my stomach off and on for the past month. Not that that's a sign, but it is interesting. I just bought the test because Rory and I are moving next Monday to California and his family lives here in Idaho. I would feel bad being pregnant this whole time, finding out in California and having to call them up on the phone to tell them.
Tuesday morning before class, I took the test. This is the kind of test that only has one line show up if you're pregnant. And show up it did!
Barely....
I didn't know what to think because the line was so faint, so I snapped a picture of it with my iPhone and went to school. I showed the picture to a couple of people in my class to get their opinion, and they agreed that a faint blue line was present. I mean, if they can see that on a low-quality phone picture. . .
I didn't want to tell my husband or family before I knew for sure (that is SO hard for me!).
Today I bought a more expensive test, the fancy digital kind that says "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant". This one felt much for intense because the answer is not up to as much interpretation. Or is it?
Rory was home when I was taking this test so I was trying to be as quiet and nonchalant about it as possible. In our little apartment, it's not that easy.
I did the test and waited, waited, waited, waited. . .
"Not Pregnant"
Well, sheesh, what am I supposed to think now? My explanation for this is that I took the digital test in the afternoon and my pee was pretty clear from all of the water I drank. I heard that dilutes the hCg and can alter pregnancy test results. I took the first test in the morning, and it was positive (I think?). I have another digital test, but I'm too scared to take it tomorrow morning, and that's $10 down the drain if I use it too soon.
If I am pregnant, I'm only three-four weeks. I think we got pregnant around Father's Day. Perfect timing.
Needless to say, I was pretty down after taking the digital test this afternoon. Rory noticed this (sidenote: when I came out of the bathroom, he started kissing my belly. Father's intuition?). I had to tell him what I've been doing. I was hoping to surprise him, but since I'm back to being "unsure" I figured I should tell him. I showed Rory the first test and he agreed with me that there was a faint blue line there, but of course we couldn't argue with the "Not Pregnant" result of the second test. . .okay, I can.
Since I'm on the subject of babies, here are some names I have figured out:

Girl: Melissa Marie, Allie Christine, Olivia Lynn
Boy:  Jordan Thomas, Dallas Ricky, Alex Charlie

I love Melissa because of the song "Sweet Melissa" by the Allman Brothers. Allie is just so cute and so is Olivia. . .I feel like everyone is naming their girls Olivia these days though.
I picked Jordan, not only because it's my maiden name, but I just think it's a great boy name. Dallas is a name that grew on me. It kind of fits with my in-laws theme for their boys' names: cowboy. Dallas is such a cowboy name, and with Rory as his dad, how could he not be? I've always liked Alex. Allie and Alex? I know, I'm that girl. All of the middle names are family names.
Look at me getting ahead of myself! Guess we'll know for sure on Friday, maybe?

What are we doing now?

School, school, work, school.
Technically Rory is the only working now, bless his heart. He works at a craft & frame shop that is probably the most successful and respected private business in Rexburg. I worked at Arby's from last March until this April where I happily quit. I absolutely despised that establishment, but stuck with it because I felt too awful to put the burden of money-making on just Rory while we were both in school. We're managing though. Rory also makes phone calls for my stepfather to get people on board for becoming a client for him and we get a nice chunk of what Bill makes from people signing up. That's helped us.
We're also going to California (hooray, hooray!) for a few months while we're off from school because Rory will be selling pest control which we've heard brings in some big $$. Rory's a great salesman, I have no doubt that he'll have success.
I just don't know what I'll be doing in California in the meantime. I'll only be a couple hours away from my family in San Diego, so I'm sure I'll be making some day trips. I don't know, I'll read? Get in shape? Yeah, I'll get in shape. Rexburg's cold weather turns me into a flipping vegetable.
As far as school goes. . .boy is MY load light, especially compared to Rory's. My big thing right now is participating in BYU-Idaho's news, Scroll Digital. I do some on-the-field reporting and video editing and I anchor the sports shows on Fridays. I anchored my senior year of high school and I loved it, and people gave my lots of compliments about it which was nice. That was my thing. Once I got to college, I put it on hold to focus on my studies, and then I sort of forgot about it.
This semester I was re-introduced to it, and it feels good to have gotten back in my groove. I just can't help but feel like it isn't my calling in life. At least not right now. I'm really good at it (in fact, it's probably one of the only things I'm really good at.) Just when I feel like I'm on the road to success, I have discovered something I'd rather do and yearn to do. I'm talking about becoming a mother.
I hear some tires screeching.
Mother? At 21 years old? Only been married 10 months? (10 months on the 18th, I'm rounding up)
I know. Honestly, I didn't want to have kids until I was graduated from college, but here I am, three semesters from graduating, and I want to have a baby. I know my limits...I know I couldn't go to school while caring for a newborn, nor do I want to do that. My mother didn't do that -- she never worked after she started having kids and I think that was good for us kids, and I want the same thing for my kids.
Now before you get too excited, Rory and I aren't "trying" for a baby, although he tells people we are because he's so excited. I'm looking at more as handing the reins over to mother nature. If it happens it happens, if it takes some time, that's fine too.
We'll keep you updated!