Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

-2 large/4 medium chicken breasts

-1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free is good)

-6 oz. light sour cream

-1 cup of salsa (we use medium heat)

-1 packet of taco seasoning

-2 cups brown minute rice

Preparation:

-place chicken breasts in crock pot and cover with taco seasoning

-mix soup and salsa together and pour over chicken breasts

-cook for 2.5 hours if chicken is unfrozen, 6 hours if frozen

-mix rice and sour cream into the crock pot and shred chicken with forkand let cook until the rice is done

-serve as is or in a whole wheat tortilla

Makes 6 servings

Bon Appétit!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Boeing

So, Traver and I got a puppy! YAY! I have been bugging him for a puppy for quite a while and I finally got one! On monday I got an email from someone at the base that had found a puppy on the side of the road and were trying to find it a good time. When we called there was another couple who was already looking so we figured we probably wouldnt get him but we gave them our info anyway, just in case. Well they called tuesday night and said he was still available if we wanted to see him. We went over and he was just too cute how do you turn that down! We brought him home and did a late night walmart trip to get supplies. The first night was kind of rough, he cried alot, I got up with him 3 times that night and by 7am he was awake and I had to get up with him. He was really good that first day, Traver and I both got some good time with him, but we both had to work at one point or another and they overlapped by like 3 hours, which meant the puppy had to stay home alone during that time, but he did great! He was better that night too, he only got up twice but he was awake at like 6 and ready for the day, so I got up, he is trying to make a morning person out of me, and I am so not a morning person! By the time Traver got up I had made a vet appointment for later that morning and we had to pick a name, because it is just sad to go to the vet with a nameless dog. 

We had gone back and forth about names, we wanted something aviation related and been bouncing names around since we got him and just hadnt found the right one, by this point we were between Ace and Boeing, and we went with Boeing! Its perfect for him, and we love it! So we took him to the vet and he did great, the vet was really nice and Boeing was a trooper! They gave him his first round of shots and an ear mite treatment (and an ointment for us to use) and a de-worm treatment. They weighed him in at 5 lbs and he is between 6-7 weeks old, he is so tiny! We were able to get something to keep the ticks off of him too because they love him! Anyway, he slept most of today after the vet. We even had some friends over and he barely played with them, sleep coma apparently. So he was really mellow and they loved him, I wish he was like that all the time! He is just so cute and we just love him! We are in the process of crate training him and its been hard but he does really well so far!

Cant wait to see what all we have in store with this little guy in the future! I hope he sleeps in a little more tomorrow, I could use the sleep! 

Woof Woof!

Life Happenings: General LIfe Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Church Stuff! 

So, for the last 8 months of being in Meridian Traver and I have been struggling to find a church, we have tried several churches and each one came up short, in one way or another. The biggest problem with each of them, at least for me, was the lack of young people to fellowship with. Fellowship is such a huge part of church for me and there weren't any opportunities for that at the churches we were trying. We did find one that Traver liked, in terms of message, but again no fellowship opportunities, and I got very little out of the teachings. I personally have a very hard time getting up and going to church if Im excited to hear what is going to be said and with all these churches, I had no excitement, I wasnt being fed at these churches so I would sleep through it and wake up feeling guilty for not going, but not that guilty, and that is a bad sign. 

So last weekend, on Saturday, Traver got up to go to this Bible Study and I got up and did one of my own. I started into the book of Romans and was just starting to feel more and more fed and alive with each verse. That night we went to a friends house for dinner and they mentioned trying this new church (Faith Baptist), the church of the family that leads the Saturday morning Bible Study, and we decided we would try it too! The family that lead the Saturday Bible Study, the Blankenships, lead a 9:30 Sunday School class for young adults on Sundays, and then there is the normal Church service after that at 10:45. So we got up and went to the 9:30 service where they were finishing up Galatians, it was great to sit in a room full of young adults and break into God's word! We even stayed for the 10:45 service, which was great and had a great message as well! After church we had lunch with a big group of people from the class (mostly student naval aviators and their wives) and everything seemed to be falling into place! 

To make everything better, Tuesday there was a meeting at the Blankenship's house to plan the start of an Officer Christian Fellowship for the base here. I was super pumped about it and the meeting went great! We got the chance to decide how we want to go about running it and where we thought God was leading it. So now we have not only a church for Sunday's but also a midweek Bible Study! Then to add to that, a few of the girls from the church and OCF are part of a women's Bible Study on Thursday nights and they invited me along. They are working through Beth Moore's book on Esther and so far it has been great, and I went to my first meeting last night and what a comfort it was to spend time with some Christian women and talk about God! I have missed that so much since we have been here! It was always so amazing to me how great it made me feel when I would go home and get together with my two best Christian friends, Kirsten and Christina, they are so encouraging and inspirational in their faiths, and I'm excited at the prospect of building that here as well!

So anyway, I just really wanted to share my excitement at finding not only a Church, but a midweek study, and a women's study! When God moves, he really moves! In less than a week, I feel so much more put together, I feel a 100 times closer to God, and I am just happier in general about life! What an awesome feeling! 

Praise God!!!!!

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

Life Happenings: General Life Happenings

LEARNING FRENCH!!!!!

So a while back, my mom and I agreed that we would learn languages and go to those countries when Traver is away on deployments. So our first language is FRENCH! We decided last summer we would start learning french and my mom went out and got all kinds of fun stuff for us. It was actually really fun. I got home from an evening out and my mom had this super cute bag full of little wrapped up gifts all having to do with France.
Including:




A french computer program, not Rosetta Stone, way way to expensive! But its called Instant Immersion and its got lots of awesome stuff in it including a mystery game you play when you are all done and have to solve all in French. Its a great program and WAY cheaper than rosetta stone!



A french book called "French in 10 minutes a day" which has little lessons and stickers to put all over your house and flash card and puzzles and games that help you learn, its a great book for learning!



A subscription to France Magazine which is really fun to look through, its not in French, but has all these sweet articles about places in France and just fun things, and it does have some french in it to help you learn and read in French!





She also got us each these books by Mireille Guiliano... "French Women Dont Get Fat" and "French Women For All Seasons" and although I havent fully read them yet, they are pretty good and funny! She also got us a book called " A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle and Im looking forward to reading it!



And as a fun extra, she got me a copy of "Sex and Mrs. X", dont worry its not anything raunchy, its a movie, a comedy, about a woman who goes to France to write an article about a French woman who basically sets up well established french men with beautiful women.... ok ok it sounds bad, but its really not and its very funny, and very french!

All in all we have tons of fun French learning tools and are making progress towards really learning the language and making a trip to FRANCE! We are so excited and I think its going to be great! I cant wait for our actual trip to France where we can put our french to good use and sit by the Eiffel Tower and drink wine and eat cheese, haha! We even are thinking about doing a race while we are there, since we are currently training for a half-marathon, we figured why not just keep up with it and do a race while in France! But we shall see how that goes, haha!


Au Revoir!

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

Life Happenings: Entertaining Exercise

Half-Marathons




As of the 1st of this month I started training for a half-marathon! My mom and I, and several of her friends and their daughters are training for a half-marathon later this year and its really exciting! I am no runner, like I literally dont run, but I am really excited to become a runner. The first thing I did was buy GOOD running shoes, that is one thing I knew, I could not run in bad shoes, and it makes all the difference. So if you are thinking about running you should make sure you go to a running store and have them fit your foot to the right shoe! There are so many different shoes out there and a running store will be able to find the one that fits your foot just right. For me, I got Mizuno's and they are awesome! I use the Mizuno Wave Rider and they are super light weight which is really important and they are really comfy!





Another good thing to get is a book that will give you a better idea of how to train for a half-marathon. I have "The Absolute Beginners Guide to Half-Marathon Training" and its really great. It goes through the whole process from start to finish, also through how to eat when in training, and it comes with stength training logs, food logs, and running logs. Its a great book and definitely worth the read! I also got a running watch that keeps track of your distance, speed, and even estimates calories burned! All these things are great resources when you start training for races.




Another awesome resource is Hal Higdon's website (HalHigdon.com) . He was a world class runner and has written several books and programs for runners, starting with beginners all the way through advanced runners. His website is a gold mine full of awesome information for runners. Whether you are running a 5K or a Marathon, or a triathalon, or if you live in the cold or the hot. He has a program for everyone and they are all editable so that you can make it work into your lifestyle and time frame!

Ill be keeping everyone posted on my progress through my training! Wish me luck!

GO! GO! GO!

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Life Happenings: Excursions in the Kitchen

Fun Football Party Dips!

In honor of football season being in full swing Im putting up a few favorite dip recipes that are great for football parties!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients
-1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Original Sauce
-1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing
-1/2 cup Blue Cheese Crumbles
-8 oz. of softened Cream Cheese
-2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken

Preparation
-Mix the hot sauce, dressing, crumbles, and cream cheese in an oven safe dish (I use my 8x8 pyrex dish) and then mix in the shredded chicken.
-Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for appox. 20 minutes or until bubbly!
-Serve with your favorite crackers, Ritz are a good choice!


Seven Layer Dip

Ingredients
-1.5 lbs cooked ground beef
-16 oz. can refried beans
-4 cups shredded cheese
-8 oz. sour cream
-1 cup guacamole
-1 cup salsa
-1 small can chopped olives
-1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
-1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preparation
-Cook ground beef in large skillet and set aside until cooled
-Spread beans in a large 13x9 dish that is approx. 1.5-2 inches deep
-Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese over the beans
-Sprinkle beef on top of cheese, and then spread the sour cream slowly over the beef
-Spread guacamole over the sour cream and then pour the salsa on top of that and sprinkle with other 2 cups of cheese
-Sprinkle olives, tomatoes, and onions over the top of the dish
-You can either serve it at room temperature or you can refrigerate it overnight and then serve with tortilla chips.

Bon Appétit!

Divine Décor: Décor Tricks

Divine Décor: Décor Tricks

Vase Fillers

A recent favorite décor trick is the use of vase fillers as a table centerpiece. My main inspiration came from a friends wedding centerpieces which were filled with fresh sliced oranges, it was beautiful and the smell was wonderful! Lemons work the same way, and you can mix flowers in as well to make it a floral arrangement!



You can find so many different things to use for fillers. Stores like Pottery Barn carry several different kinds of fillers like Acorns and Cranberries (both great for Thanksgiving) They also have fake fruits, like lemons, apples, and pomegranates (however, I prefer the use of real fruit).





There are also none food types of fillers like leaves, seashells, rocks, sand, fake snow... So many options and so many different opportunities to use them! Holidays are great times to use this trick for your table centerpieces. I already mentioned several good Thanksgiving ones, you can also use small pumpkins for Halloween, fake snow or snowflakes for Christmas, sand and seashells during the summer, leaves for fall...




Decorating with fillers is fun and gives you the flexibility to have a new fun centerpiece for each season, holiday, or event that you have!

HAPPY DECORATING!!!