Just do it!

Sometimes in life you have to say "Just Do It!" .... and today was one of those days.

I'd like to say we've had a busy week, but by anyone's standard, we really didn't.  We've gone to a few doctors appointments.  We've shopped at a few stores.  I went swimming twice at my sisters.  Hard stuff I know!  We probably spend more time at home, so you may be wondering, why isn't she cooking more!  I don't know, honestly.  I think about it all the time!  I constantly look at recipes and say to myself "oh I want to make that" and then when it comes time to eat .... I don't.  So it's time to change!  I'm going to shoot for cooking at least 4 times a week.  OMG just saying that gives me heart palpitations!  But I am going to do it!  I promise!

So yesterday Jim and I went to BJ's to do a little shopping.  While we were there we found the cutest patio set.  Let me see if I can find a picture of it on the BJ's website! ................... YAY I found it!!  Here is a picture of it!

It is so nice AND it is fat friendly (we tried out the chairs!) haha BUT it is VERY heavy.  The table is real stone.  I tried with all my might to push the table that was set up in BJ's and I couldn't!  So Jim and I knew that there would be no way we could get it home.  Time to call in some muscle!

Muscle # 1:

haha yes this is my nephew Anthony.  He's a good kid.  I looked for a better picture of him on his face book page BUT most of them are of him and another man and kind of goofy LOL  So this was muscle # 1.

Muscle # 2

This is Hank.  Even though he is a Boston Red Sox fan - we love him!  He is always there if we need him!  He is dating our good friend Johnna.  She is muscle # 3!!!

Muscle # 3:

She definitely is stronger than she looks!!  She is an amazing friend and we were so happy that the new house that we bought is literally 3 mins from her house!  YAY

So they all went to BJ's with Jim and loaded up the patio set.  While they were gone I was chatting with my friend Tabitha (online) and she said she was going to cook dinner so I was like ... YAY Me too!!

Here is Tabitha!  I'm introducing her to the world!

She is so cute!  I do NOT know what she is holding in her hand.  Some sort of present that may or may not be a "fun" present!!

So anyway - she gave me the jolt to get up and cook!  I'm so glad I did.  While the muscle was out getting the patio set, I pulled up an easy recipe (I knew I already had the ingredients in the house) and I started to cook.

I don't know about you, but I have come to love my cast iron skillet.  It is big and it is beautiful!  I immediately go right to that skillet when I'm going to cook!  (the two times that I've actually cooked haha)

Here is the recipe that I tossed together.

2 Step Skillet Chicken Broccoli Divan

It was really good!  The recipe is simple.  

Here is a picture of it!

2-Step Skillet Chicken Broccoli Divan

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces 
3 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets 
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free) 
1/2 cup milk 
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 

Directions:

• 1
  Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.
• 2
  Stir the broccoli, soup and milk in the skillet.  Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  Sprinkle with the cheese.

*Note - when I was cooking, I had a brilliant idea to add French's Fried Onions after I added the cheese.  My husband was THRILLED with this decision!  He said about 700 times (maybe not that much but a LOT) - OMG this is so good!  Good idea adding the onions!  So I recommend adding this!!!

** Another side note - if you are using frozen broccoli florets, I suggest thawing them out and cutting them down.  I opened up the bag of frozen florets and they were huge.  I did use them but eating broccoli that big tends to be harder!  

So there you go!  It was so good.  Quick and easy.  I know it wasn't super fancy but it was good and it wasn't take out!  YAY  I'm thrilled!

So I'm going to cook 4 times between today and next Wednesday - should be exciting!  If I fall behind - you have my permission to shout!  haha  until then ... 

Keep Smiling!

Sonya

Success!!!

Tonight was an amazing night and I'm excited to tell you all about it!  We had friends coming over to visit.  We knew that we were going to have some big packages delivered and why not ask a big beefy friend over to help move stuff!  (haha Sean - I had to say that!) Oh and Chrysi you are smoking hot too!  Just saying!

Anyway ... this is Sean & Chrysi.  Our awesome friends!

We also invited over Kayla & Tim.  Kayla had to work but Tim and his buff muscles came to help!  Here is Tim!

Of course I had to include Kayla because we all know that we girls compliment our men!!  

So I knew that our friends were coming over and that I was going to put them to work so I figured I would whip up a few recipes and feed them!  Now since we all know that I haven't YET become a wiz in the kitchen, I tried to find recipes that wouldn't be too hard.  I was praying that I could pull it off and that my guests would not be allergic to anything I was making!!  

First on my mind was an appetizer.  I think having something to snack on before the meal is always a good thing.  Of course, if it's too heavy of an appetizer, my friends wouldn't be hungry for dinner! So I thought something light was in order!

Appetizer:

Cucumber bites with Garlic Herb filling.

I found this recipe on a food bloggers web site and I immediately wrote it down.  Like I said on my first blog, I follow about 2 dozen foodies!  Here is the link to the original blog:

Annie's Eats - Cucumber bites

I have to admit though that Annie recommends using Boursin Cheese.  I couldn't find this.  Of course I was shopping at Walmart LOL but according to the Boursin Cheese website you can find this at most of your local grocery stores (like Acme, Shoprite and of course Wegmans!)  I will find this cheese and retry the recipe.  I used Alouette Cheese.  Personally I didn't think the cheese added much flavor.  This may be because I cut the cucumber bites too big?  I'm not an expert at that YET!  Like I said - I will try this recipe again.  Perhaps the next time YOU visit my house!!

Here is a picture of how my appetizer came out!  Pretty fancy I think!!

So after deciding on my appetizer, I started thinking about my main meal.  This was a little more difficult as I really am a beginner at cooking.  I decided to go with chicken because it is very hard to mess up!!  

Dinner:

Asian Coconut 5-Spice Chicken & Asparagus

Sounds delicious doesn't it?  Well guess what?  It WAS!  OMG I made this and it came out so good!  Of course now that I'm thinking about it I never took a picture of the final product but I know that the food blogger that I got this from has an awesome picture so I'm going to steal hers!

You can find the recipe at:  Butter with a Side of Bread - Asian Coconut Chicken

I followed this recipe to a T.  Well everything except splitting the recipe into two dinners!  I had enough people coming to dinner that I knew I was going to need all the food I could!  I probably could have made more chicken actually because the beefy men at my table probably could have eaten more!  I was happy to see that everything was eaten!  The only left overs I had were a few asparagus spears!  It was so delicious that I will definitely put this on my go to recipe list!!

Here is a picture from the foodie's website.  Mine didn't look this pretty, I'll admit BUT it did taste great!

While Chrysi and I were slaving away in the kitchen, (actually I was slaving, Chrysi was drinking a Tastefully Simple Blueberry Pineapple Margarita.  I used 1800 Coconut Tequila and it made the margarita taste so good!  It went very well with our Coconut Chicken too!!  So anyway - while we were in the kitchen the boys started moving around the big boxes that we got delivered so when they sat down to eat they had big appetites!  We all relaxed and enjoyed our meal.  Jim actually even had a glass of wine with dinner!  I was shocked!  It was a really good time with friends!

After dinner, Chrysi helped me clean up while the boys continued the hard labor.  After the kitchen was put back together, we decided to tackle the living room.  Since Jim and I moved in, we have been using the "formal living room" as a storage room.  Tons of boxes and rubber maid containers!  So we started. Before I knew it, the whole room was 90% cleared out!  The boys set up the furniture and Chrysi put it in place!  She really should be an interior designer because she did an awesome job!  Here is the after picture!  My living room actually looks amazing and I can't thank Sean, Chrysi & Tim enough for their help!!

After being a slave driver and getting the living room set up, I brought out the dessert I made.  When I say it was delicious, that is an understatement!  Of course, getting it to the final product did take some doing!  Let me link you to the dessert I made and then I will tell you what happened!!

Your Cup of Cake - S'mores Bars

Doesn't that just sound delicious?  So I followed this recipe to a T as well.  I started with the graham crust and then I added the melted chocolate w/ the Cocoa Pebbles & Marshmallows.  Then I put the remaining 2 cups of marshmallows on top.  The directions say to broil for 2 - 3 minutes AND to pay close attention as they can burn easily.  Take this information to heart because burn is what I did!!  I had Jim helping me with the broil part because it scared me a tad and well when he opened up the oven the dessert was actually on fire!  Flames were coming out of my stove and it was a bit scary!  Jim kept a cool head and blew the fire out and then removed the dessert from the oven!  It was intense for about 45 seconds!!  

Here is the burnt dessert!

Hope you like your marshmallows well done!!  haha  I started to panic and get upset.  Jim again kept cool and was like "just take a fork and pull off the burnt parts and try again!:  So we did and WAHLA! We successfully fixed the dessert!

YAY  Take 2 on the marshmallows and we did great!  On top of that, the dessert was a big hit.  If I'm not wrong Sean, Tim & Chrysi even had a second piece!  (Sorry Chrysi for ratting you out!)  Tim took one home for his girlfriend and well I was just delighted!  I was so happy that my recipes turned out and that everyone enjoyed them AND that my living room now looks like a living room!

A great night with friends with great food!  Next time they come over I think I'll just cook for them and not put them to work.  Oh wait, I have a few beds to put together!  LOL

Keep Smiling!
Sonya

Birthday Tuna Cakes!

Today is my baby boys birthday!  They are 1 years old!  Crosby, Stills and Nash have been such amazing little baby boys.  We adopted them in September of 2012 and they have brought so much joy into our lives!  So I decided today that I would use my amazing cooking skills to make them tuna muffins!

I know you are sitting there thinking, "Wow, what an amazing idea!" and I'd have to agree with you BUT I didn't come up with the idea.  Sorry to burst your bubble.  I got the idea from http://www.blunderconstruction.com/2012/04/birthday-cake-for-cats.html.  I did alter it a little bit because I had to make 11 cakes (yes - I have 11 cats!) so this is what I did!

1 can of tuna in water
1 can of salmon in water
3 eggs
Little bit of flour
Little bit of shredded cheese
Cooked shrimp as garnish

Mix all the ingredients together.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 mins!  I used the mini muffin pan and I was able to make 14 mini cakes.  They actually turned out like mini quiches!  My cats all loved them.  Well most of them!  The birthday boys had an awesome treat as we sang happy birthday.  I can't believe my babies are 1 years old!!!

They are all so cute and getting so big!!  Love them!!!

So there you go.  My first crack at cooking and my boys loved it!  

See you next time!

Keep Smiling!

Sonya

So it begins!

Well, not really but I'm getting ready to begin!  haha  Hi!  My name is Sonya and I have spent the last year an a half telling my husband that I was going to start cooking for him!  I have become obsessed with recipes and I follow probably two dozen recipe bloggers.  I keep recipes that I say "one day I'll make that" and well ... I never have!  My husband keeps telling me that heating stuff up in the micro wave does not count as "cooking".  I've come up with so many excuses.  First it was "when we get married, I'll cook for you."  Then we got married in December of 2011.

When we got married, we moved into a two bedroom apartment, with a very very tiny kitchen.  So my new excuse was that the kitchen was too small and I would start cooking for him when we got into a house and got a bigger kitchen! haha

In October of 2012 we started renting a house.  Cute ranch house with a cute kitchen!  It was certainly a bigger kitchen then the apartment, BUT it was still so small and cramped!  I just wasn't feeling it!  I made dinner, don't get me wrong, but it was stuff like Hamburger Helper or Spaghetti with jarred sauce!  I never actually made anything, by following a recipe.  Ok well actually that is a lie.  I did make stuffing for Christmas dinner!  So YAY I haven't been a complete loser!  But my excuses continued and I never did anything amazing in the kitchen.  I continued to keep my recipes and I looked at them every so often, dreaming of the day I'd actually get started!

On May 20, 2013 my husband and I bought our first (and last) house!  We finally found our dream house and were able to make settlement.  The kitchen in this house is HUGE.  I have all of the modern amenities including a double oven and an induction oven!  Our house has a wine refrigerator and man oh man so many cabinets!  When we found the house and made our offer, I told my husband that I couldn't wait to start cooking!  I started buying cute stuff for my new kitchen including a new apron!  I really couldn't wait!  So have I made anything  yet?  Nope!  At first I said, "Well I have to go shopping and get real food in the house!" or "I want to finish unpacking!".  I even went so far as to say "I haven't started my cooking blog" which we all know we need in order to start cooking!  UGH

NO MORE EXCUSES!

I am ready.  I have my amazing kitchen and I'm ready ... pass or fail ... I am going to start cooking and I am going to keep all of you up to date on my cooking!  I've used the title OMG, I made that! as my blog title because I could use that phrase in two different contexts!  "OMG, I made that!  I am amazing" OR "OMG, I made that! I suck butt!"

So sit back and get ready.  Sunday is going to be my first venture into following a recipe and giving it a go!  I will post a link to the recipe and tell you how I did.  Oh and my husband is aware that he is going to be my guinea pig!  Like it or not!  So if he dies, I'll let you know that too!  haha

Keep Smiling!
Sonya