Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken Pasta

This is so very fresh and yummy! It is a great recipe for a hot evening. I found this recipe on Whats Cooking in the Orange Kitchen. I made some slight modifications from the recipe but I think it is all personal preference. We both loved it and I even went back for seconds!

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken Pasta
From: Allrecipes.com

1 cup of chicken broth
1 1/2 tbls of lime juice
1 tbls corn starch
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of freshly ground pepper
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp of thyme
1/4 tsp of parsely
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 oz of pasta
3 cups of broccoli florets

Directions:

Bring water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions. During the last 5 minutes, add broccoli. When cooked drain pasta and broccoli. Mix together garlic cloves, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley. Divide in half and use as a rub on the chicken. Set aside the other half. In medium saucepan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook till no longer pink. Take remaining seasonings and add the corn starch, lime and then chicken broth. Pour sauce into pan. Bring to a simmer and cook till chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick. Toss in cooked broccoli and pasta with the chicken. Serve and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

MMMM Good!

This soup was amazing and I loved it so much! It's definitely going in the recipe book and I will make it again. I found this Giada recipe on Sugar and Spice's blog which I recently discovered. It was pretty easy and made of items that most people have in their house regularly, well at least I do! :)

Pasta e Fagioli
(From: Family Dinners by Giada De Laurentiis, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2006)

4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp of dried
1 large rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
1 tbls of olive oil
1 rbls of unsalted butter
1 cup of onion
3 oz. of pancetta or bacon, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 3/4 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup of elbow macaroni
ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

Wrap thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it with kitchen twine. (I did not do this, see later in recipe where to add). Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium. Add onion, pancetta, and garlic. Saute until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add broth, beans, and sachet of herbs. (I just added the spices directly into the soup). Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Then decrease heat to medium and simmer till vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. If you used the sachet of herbs, discard at this point.

In a blender, puree 1 cup of bean mixture until smooth, then return the puree to the saucepan. Cover and return soup to boil over high heat. Add the macaroni, cover and boil. Stir occasionally, until the macaroni is tender, about 8 minutes. Season soup with pepper to taste. Serve and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Cleaning Schedule

I have been trying to organize my life so it does not feel so hectic. Ever since the wedding I feel like I don't have a schedule for doing things. The whole merging two households into one is not easy. I have lived with many roommates over the years but you still always have your room with your things. You aren't combining bank accounts and sharing closets! I sometimes wonder if David should have been a girl because he has more watches and shoes than I!! I still love him though! :)

Anyways, I figured I should start with one area of our life and decided it should be cleaning. It is always much easier if you do a little bit of cleaning each day, so it does not build up to be such a big mess. If your like me when its a large thing to do I put it off. I say to myself that I will do it tomorrow and then I don't. One way to combat that was to write up a cleaning schedule and stick to it. I already have some what of a schedule, but there are certain items that I need to do more regularly. Since Ella sheds so much, I have to vacuum 3 times a week or there is cat hair every where. The chore that I dislike the most and do seldom is laundry, probably because it takes the longest. So, here is my cleaning schedule that I made for each week including monthly items that need to be cleaned. Hopefully I won't over do and then I will look the women from the picture above! If anyone has any suggestions or items I should add let me know. I always open to good advice!

Monday-
Activities: Girls Night

Vacuum- 10 min
Kitty boxes- 5 min
Sweep kitchen floor- 5 min

Tuesday-
Activities: Bible Study

Deep clean bathroom, floors and tub- 30 min
Dust - 10 min

Wednesday

Vacuum - 10 min
Kitty boxes - 5 min
Pickup bedroom - 10 min
Trash - 5 min
Sweep kitchen floor- 5 min
Mop - 5 min

Thursday

Deep clean kitchen - 30 to 45 min
Dust - 10 min
Laundry - 2 hours
Water plant- 1 min

Friday

Vacuum -10 min
Kitty boxes- 5 min
Organize and file bills- 15 min
Sweep kitchen floor - 5 min

Saturday

Laundry - 2 hours
(Including floor mats)
2 monthly chores
Trash - 5 min

Sunday
Activities: Church

Nothing or possibly a monthly chore


Monthly
check off once complete

Waste baskets/trash can- wipe out and disinfect
Ceiling fan- wipe off
Doorknobs
Moldings- dust
Kitchen Cabinets- wipe down
Microwave- clean and deodorize
Bathroom Cabinets- wipe down
Windows- wash inside and out
Spot treat carpet
Blinds- dust

Food for a good cause/ Tawni's Birthday

Thanks to Jenn, one of the knotties on the Inland Empire board, I was told about how today September 24th, Chili's was going to donate 100% of their profits to St. Jude Children Research Hospital. Us girls had talked about going out to dinner to celebrate Tawni's birthday and when I heard about this fund raiser I suggested it to the girls. They all loved the idea as Chili's has great food and what a better way to support a great hospital.

If you also donated an additional amount you got to color your own pepper. Here is mine! I drew little peppers on the big pepper!



Here is the beautiful birthday girl!



Tawni and I shared the Citrus Fire Chicken and Shrimp Fajitas! They were so good!



Tawni opening birthday gifts.



The rest of the girls, Renee, Rachel and Jenni.



Happy Birthday Tawni! Hope your birthday was amazing!

Just the Girls!

I have a group of great friends with whom I participate in girls night with each week. Each week we rotate houses, cook for each other, scrapbook and complain about our husbands! Just joking about the last part! Over the years, I have experimented many recipes on them and we have grown close to where we do lots of activities together. When Rachel suggested a girls weekend in Palm Springs to scrapbook and relax all of us were excited. So last weekend we headed out to Indio actually and stayed at the Worldmark Resorts.







We scrapbooked and watched chick flicks like Runaway Bride and Sweet Home Alabama.



Since I am a perfectionist I only got three pages done. I really love them so oh well!



Rachel and I took over the entire floor!



The resort also had a lazy river, which we took advantage of as well! On the way back, we stopped in Cabazon and did a little bit of shopping. I found David's birthday presents and Rachel found some awesome red pointy toed shoes! All in all it was a great weekend!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe is to die for! I have always wanted to make home made macaroni and cheese. Since David's family is from the south I wanted to make something authentic. I started looking online for a recipe and realized that there are so many ways to make macaroni and cheese, from stove top, oven to crockpot! I found this recipe on the Food Network and it is by Paula Dean. I knew that if it was by Paula Dean it must be good and boy was I right! David loved it as well. We had some people come over after bible study just to try it and they polished it all off!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
Yield: 12 Servings
Cook Time: 3 hours
Weight Watchers: 6.25 points per serving

Ingredients
2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni (8 ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tbl of butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups of grated sharp Cheddar Cheese (reduced fat)
3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 (10 3/4 ounce of condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup of milk
1/2 tsp of dry mustard
1/2 tsp of black pepper

Directions
Bring macaroni to bowl in medium saucepan for about 7 minutes or until tender. Drain. In medium sauce pan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until melted. In slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and remaining ingredients. Stir in macaroni. Cook in crockpot for 3 hours on low. Stir occasionally.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

After making the peanut butter cookies I had the idea that I would make these cookies. I had remembered seeing this recipe on Annie's Eats when I found the blueberry muffin recipe. There are so many recipes which are on her blog that I would love to try! Anyways, this past weekend David was gone and I figured I would bake and take advantage of the time without distractions. There I was on Friday night at 10pm making cookies. The next day I even had some cookies for breakfast! They came out really good and so easy! They will definitely go on the list of recipes to make again.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter softened
1 1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup of flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
10 oz of white chocolate chips
5 oz of macadamia nuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Stir in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and stir into cream mixture. Finally stir in chips and macadamia nuts. Drop cookies onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly brown. Cool on wire rack.