On The Kindle: The Hunger Games Trilogy

Thanks to your suggestions from my last reading post, I downloaded the Hunger Games Trilogy to read during the holidays.  Too bad the books were such an easy, enjoyable read that I finished all three in a week.  So much for spreading it out over the holidays!

Via Scholastic.com 

The trilogy includes The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay and the high-energy, drama filled pages were hard to stop reading.  Now that I've read the books, I'm really looking forward to the movie that premieres in March!!

Will you be doing any holiday reading?

30 Before 30: New Thanksgiving Dish

Growing up, Thanksgiving was such a production.  My grandmother would work all week preparing the meal for the families of all of her children (my mom had 6 sisters).  We would drive over to New Jersey early in the morning and I always loved stepping into Mom Mom's house.  The aromas of the turkey, sweet potato casserole, pie and so much more would hit you the second you opened that door.

Since my grandmother's passing and our move to Texas, our Thanksgivings have been on the smaller side but still center around family and good food.  I'll be honest, I usually leave all of the cooking to my mom.  I have helped in the past (mashing potatoes or filling a pie), but usually stick to making my staple pumpkin bread.  This year I wanted to actually take over one of the other side dishes for my mom - the baked mac & cheese.

I found a pin for mini mac & cheese (recipe on the Galley Gourmet) and decided to tweak it.  By doubling up on the ingredients I was able to make 24 minis, and also a big dish to take to my parents.  This is by far the most expensive mac & cheese I've ever made due to purchasing blocks of the three cheeses to grate.

Ingredients (original measurements, I doubled for my purpose):
-1/2 lb Elbow Macaroni
-1 1/2 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
-2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
-1 cup Whole Milk
-1/2 cup White Cheddar Cheese, grated
-1/2 cup Gruyère Cheese, grated
-2 extra large Egg Yolks
-1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, grated
-1/4 cup Panko crumbs
-Pinch of Kosher Salt

I started off with a great arm work out by grating the blocks of cheese.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and follow the instructions for preparing the macaroni.  Once drained, set it off to the side.  Combine the Parmigiano and Panko into a bowl and set aside as well.

In that large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and then whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add in the milk, whisk until thick (about 5 minutes) and then add in your Cheddar and Gruyere cheeses until  completely melted.

Remove from heat, whisk in the egg yolks and combine the macaroni with a pinch of salt.

Since I made the minis for tasting and wouldn't be baking the full dish until the day after, I topped off the dish with the Parmigiano/Panko topping and then refrigerated for Thanksgiving.

I added a little extra cheese because we all love it

For the minis I sprayed the muffin tin, added in the macaroni and topped with the Panko cheese mixture.  Into the oven at 425 degree for 10-12 minutes and you're golden.

I knocked off a couple of minis before confirming that this is a scrumptious recipe!  Although there is extra effort, it is leaps and bounds better than our normal store bought mac & cheese.

Since the recipe was intended for the minis, my suggestion for the bigger dish would be to add more milk and cheese in the sauce, and possibly layer some cheese in with the macaroni instead of just on top.

How was your Thanksgiving meal?  Any favorite dishes?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I'll be enjoying the day with my family and Chris (after he gets off work) and testing out my skills making the baked mac and cheese this year along with my holiday staple of pumpkin bread.

This recipe comes from the family of my best friend.  I needed to make something for a pre-Thanksgiving meal in college and this looked pretty simple.  It was such a hit that I've made it every year since!

Pumpkin Bread Ingredients:

-4 Eggs
-3 1/3 cups Flour
-3 cups Sugar
-1 tsp Cinnamon
-1 cup Veggie Oil
-1 tsp Nutmeg
-2/3 cups Water
-2 tsp Baking Soda
-1 tsp Baking Powder
-16 oz Pumpkin

Mix all of it together and pour into sprayed loaf pans and bake at 325 degree for 55 minutes (or until the top is golden brown, the muffins only took 40 minutes, but the loaves took longer).  Since I make this for my family, and we love some left overs I normally double the recipe.  It makes a little more than 3 pans, so this year I used the extra mix for some pumpkin muffins.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

A little Tex Mex Pintrest find, Cheesy Chicken and Rice casserole!  I followed the recipe found on Tasty Kitchen, with a few modifications.

Ingredients:
- Boneless, skinless Chicken
- 4 cups of cooked Brown Rice
- 15oz can of Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- 3/4 cup Salsa
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
- Chopped Cilantro

I made it a little easy on myself and went with the boil in a bag brown rice instead of pulling out our rice cooker.  I think the boil in the bag kind was quick, easy and very tasty!  While the rice was boiling, I trimmed off the fat of the chicken and cut it into little pieces.

Mix all of your ingredients except for the cilantro into a bowl.  I seasoned with a little pepper and salt before pouring the mixture into an oven safe dish.  Top with a little extra cheese (we're big fans of cheese) and baked in the oven for 20-25 mins.

I topped it with a little fresh cilantro and served it up!

It tasted delicious, but next time I'll probably cook the chicken beforehand and then only bake the dish for 10-15 minutes.

Are you a fan of Tex Mex or Mexican dishes?

Our First Place - Bedrooms

Before we continue on with the mini tour of our current abode, I just have to say thank you for the reading suggestion of the Hunger Games trilogy!  I bought it on Tuesday and have already moved onto book number two as of last night.  I'm even more excited for the movie to come out in March!

OK, back to the tour.  Today we'll finish up with the bedrooms and bathrooms.  When Chris decided to move over here from Ft. Worth, I knew that my one bedroom apartment wasn't going to cut it.  We decided to give ourselves a little more space by moving into a 2 bedroom place.

Guest Bedroom

Our guest bedroom is a mish mosh of furniture pieces.  The headboard and chair were free furniture saves from my aunt's move, the dresser is actually a piece from our bedroom set, and the bookcase & side table were new purchases from Target & BB&B.  When we move, I think a little more cohesion with this room would be in order.  A fabric headboard would be a fun DIY project and I want to figure out a better way to showcase the quilt of my old college t-shirts (I always fold it up whenever we have actual guests).

Guest Bathroom

The brown and beige colors were built around the toiletry set picked up at Ross.  I love all of these pieces and will be using them again in the future house.

Our Bedroom

I love, love, LOVE that bedroom furniture!  Other than my car, it was the first big purchase I made once I got my real world job.  It's going to make a nice guest bedroom set since we'll be upgrading to a king size bed when we move.  Not pointing fingers, but someone (coughchriscough) is kind of a bed hog so the extra space will be much appreciated. The built in bookcase has been a great storage type place for some of my knick knacks.

Our bathroom

Surprisingly, with all the blue and green you may remember from our wedding, this is the only room that really features those colors. The cool beach colors of blue and green are a great way to start the day.  Sharing is caring, but I can't wait to have my own sink!  It's really interesting when we're brushing our teeth at the same time.  This will probably become a backup set for the guest bath in our new house since we were gifted new master bathroom items at the bridal shower.  I'm sure the urge to change things up in the guest bath will come around.

And there you have it, our current abode.  As excited as I am to move onto greener pastures, this place will always have a special place in my heart.

What was your first place like?  Did your decorating taste change as your grew older?

Pesto Baked Chicken

I wonder where pesto has been all my life!  After using it in one of my first documented recipes I've been looking for another tasty dish to make. Enter Pinterest and Kalyn's Kitchen.

Ingredients

- 4 Boneless Chicken Breast

- 2 7oz containers of Pesto with Basil

- Mozzarella & Parmesan Cheese

- Black Pepper & Salt for seasoning

Begin by trimming the fat and then cutting your chicken breast into smaller sections.  Spray your baking pan with non stick spray and then start spreading the pesto with basil sauce.  The original recipe called for 1/4 cup under the chicken and another 1/4 cup on top, but I didn't feel like was enough.  I ended up using a total of 1 and 1/2 of the Bertolli containers.

After spreading the sauce in the baking dish, place the chicken pieces on top and sprinkle with pepper and salt.

Another layer of pesto and basil on top of the chicken and then cover with tin foil.  Into the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

Once the timer went off, I pulled out the baking dish and turned the oven to broil.  I sprinkled mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top and back into the oven for 5 additional minutes to give it that nice golden brown, melted cheese look.

  

Thankfully this was a recipe that I could prep during the day and then stick in the fridge as I waited for Chris to get off work.  

Do you have a favorite type of sauce that you like to use in your cooking?

30 before 30: Be in Print

One of my 30 before 30 goals was actually accomplished just a little before I published the list.  Our wedding photographer asked if we would like to submit our pictures either online or in print.  I always liked the idea of being in print, so that's what we went for.  We're still waiting to see if any "bigger" magazine will pick them up, but I was delighted to find us in the local magazine Dallas Brides.

I'm not sure how I started to get this in the mail, probably from a bridal event, but as I was flipping through there we were! After looking through every magazine rack in nearby bookstores and grocery stores, I finally just called the editor who was sweet enough to send additional copies.

If you have a 30 before 30 or 101 in 1001, what were some of the first items you crossed off your list?