Run Around

I love music.  I have found there is a song to express any emotion or thought I have.  I also know music gets me moving.  Some people can watch TV while they run.  Not me.  I need my music to get my feet going!  Here are some of my current favorite tunes to run to lately:

Scream & Shout – will.i.am featuring Britney Spears

Everybody Talks – Neon Trees

50 Ways To Say Goodbye – Train

Shake Senora – Pitbull

Wait – Chris Brown

This is just a small sampling of the music I listen to when I run.  I have done a few of these posts in the past and I’m always looking for new music.  I tend to listen to Pandora a lot simply to get new song ideas, but I like having a backup playlist on my phone in case Pandora is being wonky and not playing anything I like.  A little known fact about me is I hate the radio for the most part.  Pandora is less like the radio and more like an iTunes playlist on shuffle.

Anyhow, what’s your favorite song to run to?

March 2013 Meal Plan

So…you may have noticed I’ve basically missed the entire month of February!  Whoops!  Something has happened in the last several weeks that has taken my attention away from the blog.  Oh wait…it’s called LIFE.  Obviously when presented with the choice between real life and virtual life, I choose real life.  But how could you ignore this sweet face?

If you were around last month, you might remember my meal plan for February.  I am the first to admit that plans, schedules, and tastes change, so my plan is extremely adaptable.  It’s honestly more like a list of options for the month.

Since I am a retail manager, my schedule is never the same week to week.  Some days I open (7:30-5), some days I close (1-10:30), and some days I’m off.  I don’t know a month of schedules ahead of time, so I just pick what sounds good to make for the month and hope for the best.  When my schedule and the meal planned for that day don’t coincide, meals change.  I either move a different meal to that day or figure out a different option altogether.

Last month, not only did schedule conflicts arise, but I got sick with the stomach bug!  Then Jeff followed soon after.  Obviously I wasn’t going to cook if I felt like I might…you know…any minute.  Enter Dominos. 

Here’s what my “real” meal plan resulted in:

The red ones (if you can’t deduce for yourself) were the meals I ended up not making.  And the dates for the meals I did make were way off.  For instance, I made the General Tso’s Chicken last night!  Whatever works, right?

I like my way of doing a meal plan because it feels very customizable to our lifestyle.  I can’t wait for the day where my schedule is predictable, but until that happens I will stick to this method.

Here’s the next month of meals:

I’m trying a few new categories this month.  Sandwiches are coming in to play more simply because I want to start using my panini press again!  I’ve also added Casseroles back into the mix.  We end up eating probably one a week anyways, so I thought a category for it would just make sense.  I’m also trying out Side Dishes.  I have an entire board of side dishes on my Pinterest account that I never use, so I thought this would be a good way to do that.  I’m pairing the sides with a basic, easy to make entree.

I had a question about what I serve with these entrees most of the time.  Typically, I grab a prepared veggie dish out of the freezer (you know, Green Giant, Steamfresh, etc).  They are so quick and easy, plus require no added concentration.  When you have hungry husbands and toddlers milling around the kitchen like vultures, you need to be able to concentrate on the meal and get it to the table quicker than Usain Bolt.  If I have some time and the ingredients onhand, I might roast some veggies instead.  Asparagus, green beans, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash are my favorites.  I also like to add a fruit of some sort to Jake’s meal.  He is still in love with blueberries and grapes.  We also keep little fruit cups in the pantry just in case.  In a pinch, I’ll pull out an old stand by.

He still loves them!

I hope you guys enjoy this post.  Please let me know if you tried any of the meals from last month and what you thought.  Also, if you want the recipes I included in this month’s post, check out my March Meal Plan 2013 board on Pinterest!

Appreciate ‘Cha!

We did it, you guys!  Due to your awesomeness, I reached 100 likes on my facebook page!  Thanks so much!

They like me!  They really like me!

As promised, I drew one name from a hat (OK, really I used random.org) and one lucky winner will win a delicious treat straight from me!

That winner is………drum roll please……….Jen!

Jen, please shoot me an email (onegirlstaste@hotmail.com) and let me know what your favorite (mailable) dessert is!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Happy Valentine’s Day. Capisce?

Jacob would like to wish you a HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Capisce?

Like…Whatever?! (A Giveaway)

So, if you’re my friend on Facebook, you might have noticed an (innocent) request to like my Facebook fan page in the last few weeks.  I mentioned I would do something big when I got to 100 likes.  Today I’m at 78, which is a huge jump from where I was a few weeks ago.  I believe I was at 42 back then.

Anyhow…I want to give back to my lovely readers, so I’ve come up with a little temptation for you.  If I reach 100 likes by Monday, February 18, I will send one lucky subscriber a delicious goodie bag full of homemade treats.  I haven’t decided exactly what I will include, but you can bet it will be along the lines of this:

or this:

or maybe a new recipe from Pinterest.  Maybe this?

So how can you get this scrumptiousness in your belly?  All you have to do is like my Facebook fan page and then leave a comment on this post.

You can tell me your favorite dessert, your favorite movie, you favorite color, your favorite Muppet Baby, or simply tell me you’ve liked my page.  Whatever your little heart desires.  No matter what you tell me, I’ll still like ya.  Now go like me back!

14 Months

My little booger is 14 months old today.

He is the best little boy in the world.  He is an absolute joy to be around.  Just ask his daycare teachers!  I will be the first to admit babies are not necessarily my thing.  Toddlers on the other hand are awesome!  Jeff and I both agree that if we could have a baby born around 9 or 10 months, that would be ideal.  They sleep through the night, they interact more, and they don’t need constant attention.

Jake is independent, but definitely loves attention from his mama and daddy.  He plays well by himself but loves sharing with us.

He’s smart as a whip too!  He now knows the words shoe, book, blankie, head, and hand.  He will show you his belly on command.  He says “tan to” (thank you) when he gets and gives you something.  (You’re all pronouncing “tan to” in your heads right now, aren’t you?)

He knows exactly where we keep the animal crackers and will try to get one any time I go into the pantry, which is often especially at dinner time.  He likes to pick out his own from our super huge tub of them and prefers to have one for each hand.

His favorite foods are still mainly fruits and veggies, though he does eat more meat now.  His top picks are blueberries, grapes, and sweet potato.  He also loves mac and cheese, sloppy joe, and spaghetti & meatballs.  Typical kiddo.

Most of the time, he eats exactly what we eat.  Every so often if we have something with seafood in it or I think it will be too spicy for him, I give him something else, but that doesn’t happen often.  I do know he does not like spicy yet, but that’s to be expected.

He still does not like frozen things either in his mouth or on his body.  He bumps his head sometimes at daycare and they put a cold pack on him.  They always say he hates the ice pack more than the bump!

We’ve had a little…uh…frustration (for lack of a better word) with meal times lately.  He has this bad habit of trying to slam his body into the back of his high chair over and over again.  I asked people on Facebook what was going on with this and everyone said it’s normal, but I don’t like it.  I’m afraid he’s going to hit his head or hurt himself in some way.  Plus it’s not going away.  No matter how many times I tell him “no” he continues.

Speaking of “no”, he thinks that word is a game.  Whenever I tell him “no”, he just looks at me and grins the biggest, goofiest grin he has.  This, of course, makes me smile, which in turn confuses the heck out of him!  I try to keep a straight face, but the cutie pie is manipulative! 

Jake is a great sleeper, for the most part.  His most typical routine is to go to bed around 7:30p and sleep until 6:00a.  I wish he would go to bed a little later and wake a little later, but that’s just me being selfish.  He has to leave for daycare around 7:30a, so honestly the 6a wakeup time is actually pretty ideal.  It allows us time to play with him and get him ready at a leisurely pace instead of scrambling.  I leave for work at 7a, so if he slept much later, I wouldn’t see him for very long nor would I be able to help get him dressed.  Still, waking up at 5a so I can have a little quiet time gets tiring some days.

My little guy is seriously the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  I love playing with him.  I love watching him grow and learn.  He is getting so big so fast!  Every time he does something new I am amazed.  It’s awesome how their little brains soak up everything like a sponge.

Every month brings new, exciting changes.  Instead of getting nervous when I have to watch him by myself, I find I encourage Jeff to do things on his own now.  I have no problem watching Jake by myself for long stretches of time.  I know most of my SAHM friends are thinking “Yeah, I do this every day” but when you’re a working mama who has a retail schedule and aren’t home a lot of nights and weekends, being the sole person in charge can be daunting!

Jake is my little buddy now.  We go places and do things, he helps me with chores, and we play tons.  He’s the best friend a girl could have and I love every minute I’m with him.  If the years to come are anything like the past 14 months, we will be the luckiest parents on the planet!

Doesn’t hurt that he’s super cute too! (This is a new face that he makes all the time.  Love it so much!)

Ultimate Chicken Finger Salad with Buffalo Ranch Dressing

I grew up in Tennessee.  There was this place in my hometown that had this crispy chicken salad I absolutely loved!  I would get it every time and never tire of it.  I still have a weakness for crispy chicken salads, even though I try not to eat fried chicken so much these days.

When I was working on my meal plan, I stumbled upon a recipe titled “Ultimate Chicken Fingers” that looked promising.  The chicken fingers looked crispy and delicious despite being oven baked.  Hmm…

I added them to the calendar for tonight’s meal and didn’t think much about it after.  Then, as I was trying to plan my side dishes for tonight, I had a thought.  If these chicken fingers were as “ultimate” as they claimed, I bet they’d go great over a salad.  The plan was born.

After I mixed the Bisquick, parm cheese, and other ingredients together, coated the chicken fingers, and placed them in the oven to baked, I got to work on the salad.  I used to be pretty bland with my salad toppings.  Lettuce, a bit of cheese, and maybe some sliced almonds.  Nowadays, I’m all about the toppings.  In fact, I could probably leave out the lettuce and just go for a chopped veg salad.  This salad was so good.  It was spicy and savory, creamy and flavorful.  It was big though.  I didn’t finish it all.  I will be making these chicken fingers again, though!

Ultimate Chicken Finger Salad
(adapted from this recipe)

2/3 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (you can use regular if that’s all you have)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in strips
1 egg, slightly beaten
nonstick spray

Preheat oven to 450º.  Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place over a cookie sheet, then set aside.

While your oven is preheating, mix Bisquick, cheese, salt, garlic, and paprika together in a shallow bowl.  I like to use cake pans.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg.  Dip your chicken strips, one at a time, first in the egg, then in the Bisquick mix.    Place your strips on the cooling rack.  Bake at 450º for 12-14 minutes, turning once halfway through.  Cook until chicken is done all the way through and breading is crispy.

I served mine over a big salad that included carrots, red pepper, cheddar cheese, chopped Blue Diamond Honey Dijon almonds, and hamburger bun “garlic toast” all topped with Buffalo Ranch dressing.

You may be wondering what hamburger bun “garlic toast” is.  Well…years ago I was visiting my mom and her boyfriend/manfriend/”husband”.  His title is a little hazy.  Just go with it.  Anyhow, we had a delicious recipe called Slum Gullion (seriously delicious…I’ll post it soon) with toasted buns spread with garlic butter.  I just kind of looked at the buns and then stared quizzically at my mom.  She explained that they never eat all the buns they buy for a particular meal and, instead of seeing them go to waste, they turn them into garlic bread for meals like these.  She just spreads them with butter, tops them with a little garlic powder and toasts them up.  I go a step further.  I melt my butter and mix in a bit of Aimee’s For the Love of Garlic Butter.  Oh my gosh, so good!

Also, you may remember that Jeff and I are huge buffalo wing fans.  Who isn’t though?  Any time we have chicken fingers in the house, he insists I make buffalo ranch dressing.  It’s really very simple.  You take ranch dressing and mix in hot sauce.  My personal favorite is Frank’s Red Hot.  You can mix in just a dash or a whole tablespoon depending on how daring you are.  I made mine a tad too spicy tonight!  Whoops!

As I said, this salad was extremely good.  Even Jeff commented on how good the salad tasted with the added chicken fingers.  This is going onto the MUST MAKE AGAIN board!

And you may be wondering how the pictures are so light and fluffy…light and airy?…no I got it.  How they are lit so well.  I spent 20 minutes today making this:

I got me a fancy, schmancy light box now.  Actually there’s nothing fancy or schmancy about it, but it is effective!

What are your favorite salad toppings?
I’m always looking for more inspiration.

Soapbox Available

I love blogging.  Ever since I started way back in August of 2009, I have been cooking, baking, and exercising my way through life and telling all of YOU guys about it!  I’ve met some awesome real life friends through my blog and even more virtual ones.

I’d like to take the time to get a little input from my favorite readers.  Yes, this means you!  Do you have a topic you’re interested in?  A recipe you’d like to share or a kid’s craft you love?  Have you been on an awesome vacation and want to give others ideas on where to go and what to do?  Do you have a favorite restaurant you’re just dying to talk about?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then now’s you’re chance!  I’d like to start some sort of reader show and tell if you will.   Drop me a line and let me know what you’d like to talk about.  If I get enough participants, I could make this a regular post.  Wouldn’t that be fun?  Kinda like being back in grade school.

I really hope you’ll join.  Jake hopes so too.

Meal Plan: February 2013

Everyone has a hard time figuring out what to cook.  I was talking to a co-worker this weekend and she told me that, while she was going back to school, she asked her husband to cook dinner on Thursday nights as it was her busy day.  He replied that he would cook, but she needed to tell him what to make.  She exclaimed that that was the hardest part!

I completely agree.  I love to cook, but sometimes I just really don’t know what to make.  My husband is no help because he never has any ideas for me.  I asked him the same question each week.

What do you want for dinners this week?

He responds one of two ways:

Meatloaf. 

Or

I don’t care.  Whatever you make.

Ugh!  Finally, I got smart.  A few years ago I started meal planning.  I must say…when I do it and stick to the plan, it really makes a difference in my day!  I don’t have that dreaded feeling hanging over my head of what to make.  I typically am more prepared and have the ingredients on hand.  I don’t have to try to figure out how to pick up the ingredients I’m missing and still make it home in time to have dinner on the table by 6p (Jake’s dinner time).

I realize many of you feel the same way, which is why I’m hopefully starting a new series on this blog.  I’ve tried in the past to post menus and failed miserably, so take that as your warning.

Jake eats most anything we eat aside from fish, shellfish, and nuts of any kind (though I did slip and give him some peanuts with my Thai food the other day.  Whoops!).  Some of the dishes are spicy (like the Cajun Chicken Alfredo and the Spicy Chicken Tortilla Rollups).  I figure I’ll just make a couple without the spice or he will have leftovers that day.  In any case, this may help lots of you moms out there!

I also plan to lighten up some of the more calorie dense meals to make them more Weight Loss Goal friendly.  Stay tuned for more on that later.

Here’s the key to reading the calendar.  The light green recipes are from my Pinterest account.  The light blue ones are either from my blog or from my personal collection of recipes.  Here are the links to the recipes you can find online:

Burgers
Cajun Chicken Alfredo
Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese
Chicken Cassoulet
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Taco Chili
Cilantro Lime Chicken
Cream Cheese Chicken
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
Forgotten Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken
Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Meatloaf
Mexican Lasagna
Mini Corn Dog Muffins
Mushrooms Pizza Bites
Pad Thai
Pizza Casserole
Pork Chops au Poivre
Proscuitto Panini
Quick Coq au Vin
Spaghetti with Chicken and Thai Peanut Sauce
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Rollups
TJ (Trader Joe)’s Chicken Satay with Coconut Rice
Ultimate Chicken Fingers

You probably notice there isn’t any room for leftovers.  Most of the time, we either eat the leftovers for lunches, or I try to make a single night’s portion instead of a whole family’s worth.  The food gets eaten, don’t you worry.

I hope you guys enjoy this post!  If this is something you enjoy seeing, please let me know by leaving me a comment on my blog.  You can also show your support by liking my Facebook page!  I’d love to hear from you!

Award Show

Remember when I said I would be taking a slight step back from blogging during December and some of January?  OK, maybe you don’t.

[I moved my blog to a different address only to have the hosting company, weeks later, pull my address because of some BS issue.  The posts I posted on that site did not get posted here and, now that I can't access that site anymore, are probably lost forever.  I'm not bitter.  Not at all.  Grr.]

Because of my job, it is very hard for me to keep the blogging up during that time.  It is also pretty hard keeping up with reading all the great blogs that my friends and blends (blogger friends) post.  I still haven’t really gotten back in the swing of things, which is why I didn’t notice this post by Supermom until yesterday!

Supermom nominated me for a Liebster award.  Lots of these blog awards are floating around in the blogosphere, so I wanted to do a little research into what this award was actually about.  Apparently “liebster” means “dearest” or “loved one” in German.  The purpose behind this award to basically to show encouragement to your fellow bloggers.  Blog Love if you will.  Who doesn’t love a little blog love?

Anyhow, the rules are:

• Write 11 random facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions given by the blogger who nominated you
• Create 11 new questions
• Nominate 11 bloggers and mention them in this post
• Thank the blogger who nominated you and tell the bloggers you’ve nominated

First thing’s first…my 11 random facts:

1. I don’t mind folding laundry.  However, I hate putting it away.  And I really, really hate hanging my husband’s clothes.  His rods are too tall!
2. I love the kind of snow that is really quiet.  You know…standing outside, especially at night, when there’s no wind and the snow just kind of floats down.  It’s calm and serene.  Plus, if you take pictures in the snow, they look like little crystals.  It’s marvelous.
3. I have a tendency to download games on my phone, get super into them for about two weeks, and then completely stop playing them.  My apologies to all my friends who are currently playing Ruzzle with me.  Enjoy it now, but don’t expect me to be around in another few weeks.  Consider this your warning.
   
4. My favorite thing to make in the kitchen is anything baked.  I’m not always the best cook, but I can run circles around anyone who wants to challenge me to a bake off.
5. Speaking of baking, I’ve always wanted to work in or even own my own bakery.  As I get older, my thoughts on this have changed a bit.  I would still love working in one, but I don’t think I’m cut out to own my own business.  I like spending time at home with my boys way too much.
6. I almost always set my alarm for 5a even if I don’t have to work early.  I like getting up before everyone, enjoying a cup of coffee, and watching a program or catching up on my computer type chores.  Or sometimes I’ll just sit and read.  It’s one hour of bliss before the chaos breaks.  But really who am I kidding?  My little guy is the best and when he starts stirring at 6a, I get excited to play!
7. I hate for my house to be messy even though 90% of the mess is my fault.  I have a bad habit of taking things out and not putting them back where they belong.  My husband hates this.  I’m working on it.  Promise.
8. I have a nail polish addiction.  Not a horrible one, but an addiction just the same.  And since I only usually wear pinks, purples, and reds, I have a lot of colors that look extremely similar.  But they’re different!  I swear!
9. My basement is where anything I can’t find a place for upstairs goes to live.  If I can’t find a home for it upstairs, but I don’t want to get rid of it, I just put it in the basement and tell myself I’ll deal with it later.  Right now I have about six big piles of stuff waiting for a home.  In time.
10. Speaking of, I’m actually a relatively organized person.  I have pretty good spacial recognition and can typically plan a room out without having to measure.  
    I thought everyone could do this, but apparently I am wrong.  One of my jobs at work is to set whole aisles of product for different seasons.  I can imagine what everything is going to look like before I even start, but apparently my manager works a little differently.  Not sure how, but once I mentioned I was good at spacial recognition and she admitted she wasn’t.  Interesting…
11. I think everything made in the slow cooker tastes the same.  Maybe it’s my slow cooker, maybe not.  All I know is, no matter what meat I put in, no matter what flavors I add, no matter how long I cook it…all tastes the same.  I think that means I need a new slow cooker.  My husband would tell me it will just wind up in the basement.

And as part of the post, I am to answer the questions Heather has posed to me:

1. What is your favorite band?
This has changed over the years and now I can’t really name just one band.  That would be like asking me to name one spice to cook with for the rest of my life.  Or to pick one shirt to wear forever.  Nope.  Can’t do it.  My top 5 would be Barenaked Ladies, Staind, Incubus, All American Rejects, and for old time’s sake, Aerosmith

2. Coffee, cocoa or tea?
Love them all, but if I had to pick I would go with coffee

3. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
Cheeseburgers.  No question.

4.  Your hair color: natural or from a box?
A little of both.  Before I got a new car and decided to give all my money to the Kia company, I would get my hair colored every 6-8 weeks.  Luckily right before I bought said car, I had my hair dyed to almost my natural color.  Now, I have about half my hair colored and half natural.  I need to start coloring it again though because I’m starting to notice those hairs that are colored the color we won’t be mentioning today.  (Hint: it’s gray)

5. Aside from blogging, what do you do in your free time?
What’s that?  Just kidding.  Free time is reserved for cooking, cleaning, and recently exercising.  As I put on Instagram yesterday, it’s a whole new era!  Time to get back to Healthy B.

6. What is your favorite season and why?
I used to say Fall was my favorite season, but more and more I’m thinking Summer is.  I love all the seasonal foods, the cookouts, swimming, and playing outside.  I don’t even mind the heat anymore.  I still love Fall, but Summer is just awesome to me.  I will love it even more when I am able to spend more time playing with my boys!

7. Chevron craze – love it or hate it?
I’m kind of indifferent to it.  I don’t hate the pattern, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to include it in my decorating.  I’m partial to stripes though.

8. What was the last movie you saw in the theater?
Les Miserables.  I liked the movie, but I much prefer the live musical.  I also did not like that they changed the lyrics unnecessarily in the movie.  WTH?

9. Where is your favorite vacation spot?
This is an easy one and anyone who knows me can guess the answer but…Maui.  Anytime I go to Maui (yes I’ve been more than once…4 times actually), I say I’m going home.  This applies to all the Hawaiian islands, but Maui holds a very, very special place in my heart.  In fact, I usually don’t watch the shows about Maui on the travel channel because it makes my heart ache and I get all teary eyed.  Is that pathetic?  Oh well.

10. If you were in the Miss America pagent what would your talent be?
Wrangling children?  Ha!  No, for real I have no idea.  I took dance and music lessons when I was little and I was also a gymnast for about a year, but talents?  Not sure.  Maybe cross stitching. 

11. If you could have chosen your own name what would it be?
I actually really love my name.  I used to hate it because it was different, but now that’s the reason I love it!  It’s unique without being weird.  Paired with my last name, I get a lot of compliments on it.  I wear a name badge with my first and last name on it and I get asked probably once a week how to say my last name.  Once I pronounce it, I almost always hear “That’s beautiful!”  Yay for pretty names and creative mothers!

The 11 questions I would like my bloggers to answer are:

1.  Do you have any pets?  If so, what are their names?
2.  What is your least favorite chore?
3.  Where is the last place you went out to eat?
4.  What’s are you listening to right now?
5.  If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go and why?
6.  What’s the top item on your bucket list?
7.  Do you know any foreign languages?
8.  What is your favorite form of exercise?
9.  Who is your favorite celebrity, living or dead?
10.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
11.  Who are you subscribed to on YouTube that you look forward to watching most?  If you’re not subscribed to anyone on YouTube, who is your favorite blogger?

I am nominating:
Gretchen at Real Life Motherhood of 4
Abby at Sugar and Spice…Or Something Like ThatAlison at The Next Big Adventure
Marcia at Travel, Run, Eat
Katie at Healthy Heddleston
Nicole at My Love for Cooking
Alicia at Blessed and Blissful

This was really fun!  I hope you all take the time to participate as well.  I look forward to reading your posts!

And by the way…a great big THANK YOU to Heather for the nomination!