#3.5: Make 20 Recipes From Pinterest – Chicken and Garden Veggies Quinoa Skillet

                      

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs EVOO
• 2 large bell peppers
• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 medium zucchini
• 1 bunch broccoli
• 10 oz grape tomatoes
• 1 bunch parsley/dill/basil

First, chop and prep the vegetables. 

I use this handy green thing specifically for onions. You only need to roughly chop them up, and cranking the handle minces them for you. I'd strongly recommend getting one if you're at all interested in saving your skin from mascara stains or your ego which is usually bruised when other see you crying uncontrollably.

Dice the chicken.

Heat the oil in a skillet.

Sauté the garlic and onions until browned, about four minutes.

Add bell peppers, and cook everything for an additional three minutes.

Add chicken. Cook for five minutes.

Add quinoa, water, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes.

Throw in the zucchini and broccoli, and cook covered for 15 minutes.

Add tomatoes and whatever herbs you chose.

Eat.

This was soooo good. I didn't run into many problems while making this. The only major thing was I ended up adding way too much water (way more than the single cup that was called for), but it was mostly absorbed after being in the fridge for a couple days. 

I also discovered that I hate zucchini, so when I make this again I'll replace it with more broccoli, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Maybe I'll even add some carrots. I'm SUCH a connoisseur.

Thanks for reading, no one!

#4.8: Read 25 New Books, #6.3: Read BuzzFeed's 21 Best YA Books of 2013 – The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Listing reading BuzzFeed's 21 Best YA Books of 2013 may have been a mistake; I'll have to read a lot more than I was originally intending to, and it's keeping me from rereading certain books that I haven't in a while (i.e. Harry Potter).

BUT that's why it's called a challenge, right?

I picked The Coldest Girl in Coldtown off the list to read because it wasn't part of a series (there are a lot of books on that list that are the second or third book in a series, and obviously I'm going to have to read whatever books precede those, so once again, I'm going to have to read a loooooot).

A little background about my reading preferences: I am not one for fantasy or sci-fi. The only exception to this is the Harry Potter series, which I've read 10 times and am still obsessed with. I like books about romance. I like books about people my age. I like books that are funny. I like stories that are real, in the sense that they could feasibly (or unfeasibly, whatever) happen.

Back to the book.

"Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mixture of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of range and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black."

Spoiler alert: it's about vampires. That initially turned me off, and I had a hard time getting into the story, but once there was romance happening, I was ALL IN. I thought the book ended in the middle of what could have been a great opportunity for even more romance, and there really was a lack of closure. Maybe this means there'll be a sequel? I sure hope so.

Thanks for reading, no one!

#16: Win a Contest

Several months ago I entered a contest through disneymovierewards.com. The grand prize was a trip for four to Disney's Aulani resort, themed as "Frozen in the Summer". Before you get too excited, no, I did not win a trip to Hawaii. But I was close!

I ended up winning an Olaf stuffed animal. Not a vacation, but I was excited nonetheless.

Cute, right?

You can even mutilate and dismember his body! Fun!

Thanks for reading, no one!

Autumn

#3.4: Make 20 Recipes From Pinterest – Chicken Pesto Quinoa Bowl

Time is passing so quickly, and to be honest, it's scaring the shit out of me. There's a lot on my plate at the moment that I don't want to deal with, and when that's the case, I distract myself with the Internet. A bad idea, really, as that in of itself makes time slip away even faster.

Anyway, I made this recipe over a month ago (I think?). It was one I found through Pinterest relatively recently, but it immediately caught my eye and I wanted to try it. Do you remember The Protein Bar? It was a restaurant I tried during my DC trip, and I wrote a little bit about it here. To summarize, it's a small restaurant chain that specializes in healthy, high protein meals, everything delicious and made with natural ingredients. 

I didn't get the Chicken Pesto Quinoa Bowl the two times I visited, but I think (lol idk??) I remember seeing it on their menu. 

Ingredients

• 2 c quinoa

• 2 chicken breasts

• 1 c spinach

• 2 T pesto

• 2 T grated parmesan

• 1 t lemon pepper

• 1 t garlic

• 1 T EVOO

Boil 4 cups of water, and add the quinoa. Simmer for 15-ish minutes, or until done.

Cut the chicken (and season with the lemon pepper) and garlic...

…and add to a warm skillet with the olive oil.

After the quinoa and chicken are done, add them plus the spinach, pesto, and parmesan to a large bowl, and mix.

All done!

I did have to make adjustments to the recipe, but once I did, it was sooooo good. At first, once I had mixed everything together, the flavor was weak. I ended up adding more pesto, parmesan, and salt, and wanted to add more chicken and spinach, but this could easily be solved by using less quinoa. It does make a lot anyway, so using less quinoa would be good if you don't want a lot of leftovers.

Thanks for reading, no one!

Autumn

#4.7 Read 25 New Books – The Body Book

Before I took off for Oklahoma, I wanted some new reading material. I had been on the waiting list for The Body Book at my library for a while now, and finally getting through it could not have come at a more convenient time.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Naturally, I was a bit skeptical about a nutrition/fitness/health book written by an A-list celebrity, as they are typically known for indulging in the latest fad or having a diet and fitness routine that isn't realistic for anyone not in Hollywood. That wasn't the case with this book at all. Cameron really stressed eating whole, natural foods, avoiding anything processed, and the importance of incorporating activity into your daily life. Simple information, but that's really what it comes down to.

I didn't learn anything new while reading this book, but that's probably because I'm pretty knowledgeable about fitness and health anyway. It was nice having all that information organized into concise, clear, and easy-to-read chapters.

Two thumbs up.

Thanks for reading, no one!




101 in 1001

#3.3: Make 20 Recipes From Pinterest – Cheesy Taco Spaghetti Squash

I had my first experience with spaghetti squash a few months ago. I had heard of them before, but had always been skeptical (how is a VEGETABLE supposed to replace pasta???). They were on sale at the grocery store, so my dad picked one up and cooked it in the crockpot. Admittedly, I was hesitant to try it at first; squash has always been disgusting to me.

But, I sucked it up and tried it, and I was pleasantly surprised. The taste reminded me of hash browns, and a bowl of it with salt and pasta sauce satisfied me as much as a bowl of pasta would have. I haven't had any since then, mainly because I didn't know how to cook them or where to buy them.

This recipe had been sitting on my Pinterest board for a while, and, as I was incredibly bored one night and had no dinner plans, decided to make it.




Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 vidalia onion
• 2 jalepeños
• 1 1/2 pounds turkey burger
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 can corn
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chili
• 2 cups Mexican cheese

1. Chop the bell peppers and onion, and cook them in the olive oil until slightly brown.

2. Add the turkey burger.

2. Cook the spaghetti squash while the turkey is cooking. Taralynn (the girl who runs the blog where I got this recipe) made hers in the microwave, so I decided to follow suit.

3. Drain the black beans, corn, and tomatoes.

4. When the spaghetti squash is done cooking, cut it in half, remove the pulp, and scoop it into a large bowl.

5. Add the turkey/vegetable mixture, taco seasoning, and cheese.

6. Stir, and let sit until the cheese is fully melted.

7. Eat (it tasted better than this photo suggests).

I liked this for the most part, but there are several things I would do differently next time. 

First, I wouldn't cook this in the microwave. It took way longer than the 10 minutes mentioned in the recipe. I kept having to put it back in the microwave until it was soft enough, and it ended up being over an hour before it was done. Maybe my microwave wasn't powerful enough. Who knows. I'd cook it in the oven or crockpot next time, which I'm sure would give it a better flavor as well. 

Secondly, I would not use canned corn. I have everything that comes in a can, especially corn, so I should've thought this out better. When I first started eating, all I could focus on was the canned corn. I ended up picked it out, which took a while, but vastly improved it. I like fresh and even frozen sweet corn, and I think using that would improve this a hundredfold. I might even use freshly cooked black beans, too. The beans didn't bother me that much, but I think fresh would taste even better and really enhance this dish.

Lastly, I would add more red bell peppers and taco seasoning. The taco flavor was pretty weak, and I think one more packet would be just the right amount. And I just really like red bell peppers and I can never eat enough of them.

Although I did have some critical comments about this recipe, I am already planning to make it again (I even picked up a spaghetti squash at Walmart the other day, shh), and am excited to implement the above changes.

Thanks for reading, no one!

#15: Visit Family in Oklahoma; #16: Make Disney World Change Jars; #17: Learn to Drive Stick Shift

I've been home from traveling for a few weeks now, and thought I should give a quick update on things I've completed/what I've been up to.

I got a job a couple weeks ago at a grocery store, working in the deli. Working has been such an adjustment for me. Before, my schedule was very open and nothing was planned out. I honestly spent most of my time on my computer/watching Netflix, which is fun at first, but gets old quickly. Having more structure in my day will take some getting used to, but ultimately I think it's for the best.


#15: Visit Family in Oklahoma

After my week-long escapade in Florida, my brother and I took off for Oklahoma. My mom grew up on a farm in western Oklahoma, and it's been a frequent Summer 'vacation' spot (I use quotations because there is literally nothing to do besides watch TV and become overly dehydrated).

While we were there we had a Fourth of July party for my Grandparents 60th (!!!) wedding anniversary. Fun only until I got sick (woo).


#16: Make Disney World Change Jars

While in Oklahoma, my cousin/best friend Shannon and I 'tried' to complete a summer bucket list we had written a few months before (again, I use quotations because we didn't try very hard). One of the few things we did manage to complete was make Disney Change Jars.

What's a Disney Change Jar, you may ask? Let me enlighten you.

I'll start off by saying that I'm dying to go to Disney World with my cousin. Dying. We went to Disneyland for a couple days right before Christmas, and on that trip we decided we would visit every Disney travel destination in existence over the course of our lives. We are going to take a Disney Cruise after we are both either married or engaged, go to Disneyland Paris after we've both had babies (as an I'm-tired-of-this-and-need-a-break-here-Honey-watch-the-child-while-I-go-to-Europe vacation), and Disney World while we're in college.

Disappointingly, Disney World isn't cheap. Because it will take so long to accumulate the money we need (I'm estimating that we will each have to save about $2,000 (ugh) to cover flights, food, tickets, and the hotel. Maybe extra if we want souvenirs), I want to start saving right away. I had seen Disney Change Jars on Pinterest, and thought it'd be a cutsey way to collect money.

This was what I was aiming for:

And this…

…is what we got.

I think they turned out okay! We really just winged it when we started them, but I think they turned out cute.


#17: Learn to Drive Stick Shift

This actually happened in Florida, but I forgot to write about it while I was there. My aunt has an 80s Fiat, which is a manual, and taught me to drive it. Obviously I don't have much experience and I'm not going to be driving on the freeways or anything, but at least I can say I've learned how to do it.