A Day to Remember

Holiday's like today always lead me to reflect on the meaning of freedom and how privileged I am to have it in my life. It makes me think of my own journey as military wife, and the journey's of so many others who have come before me and who will come after me. It was just a year ago this past week that I stood on a pier on a very wet and cold day to say goodbye to my sweetheart as he set out on an 8 month journey to help others and protect our freedom. I was proud, there was no doubt, but that did not stop the constant stream of tears that did not dry for weeks. My family was supportive and helpful, but they could not fill the lonely void left in my heart. Somehow we made it though. There were days that were long and hard, times when we could not talk, there were sicknesses and sorrows, there were lonely aches and long nights, but we made it to the end.

I know that not all families have happy endings like mine. And there are no words to describe how thankful I am to every person that gives their life in service to this wonderful place that I call home. There will always be a special place in my heart for those who gave everything. Thank you to all those who have served and who are serving, and thank you to their families as well, who make the sacrifice with them. I said a prayer for all of them today. For the families that have lost loved ones, and for the families that have loved ones away serving our nation. I hope you take the time to say a prayer for them too.

This is my Confession

Its Friday, so you know what that means! Time for one of my confessions. And this week is a good one. I got a job! Well, sort of...if I pass a government background check then I have a temporary position with fleet and family services. This is exciting because they generally don't hire people who do not have friends on the inside already. Its a good opportunity to get experience and will help me get a job on other military bases if we have to move in the future (which we most likely will). Now I am stressin over the background check. I mean I know I am squeaky clean and pretty much a model citizen, aside from the speeding ticket I got that one time...or two times (does that make me a criminal??). And even though I know they are looking for really bad stuff, I have still been combing my past and thinking on everything I ever did in my entire life. The why the heck did I buy that and the why did I do that moments keep popping up. Good thing I am only 23 or this would be a lot more stressful(and take a lot more time).

Oven Roasted Chicken with Sweet Paprika Veggies

Lately I have been noticing that the frozen chicken breasts you can buy at the store, while economical and convenient, do not taste very good. So I thought I would compare it to a fresh whole chicken (that I also bought at the grocery store, so not THAT fresh). I have never roasted a chicken before, but this one was delicious! I think I might end up cooking one once a week because the leftovers are so convenient!

Lemon/Herb Chicken

1 whole chicken (washed and dried with "guts" removed)

3 medium-large lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

about a 1/2 cup dried or fresh herbs  (parsley, basil, oregano etc, whatever you like)

(i used dried Italian blend because that's what I had)

2 tablespoons salt 

1 tablespoon pepper

1. Heat oven to 425. Spray a baking pan (I just used a 13x9 pan) with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Squeeze the juice of two lemons into a bowl. add olive oil, herbs and salt and pepper. stir until all combined. set aside. Cut the remain lemon into quarters and set that aside as well.

3. After washing and drying the chicken, separate the skin from the flesh by putting your hand underneath and running it all the way across the breasts. 

4. rub the herb/lemon/oil mixture all over underneath the skin and then all over the entire chicken. Stuff the quartered lemons into the middle of the chicken. Tie the legs up and secure the wings to the chicken with kitchen string. 

5. Place the chicken on its side in the roasting pan. Put in the oven for 30 min. Flip the chicken to its other side and bake for another 30 min. Then flip the chicken so that the breasts are facing up and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over so the breasts are down and roast for 15 minutes again. All this flipping ensures all the sides get equally brown and delicious (at least that is what my thought process was, and it seemed to work great) Remove from pan and let rest for 15 more minutes before carving. Be sure to cut the string off throw it away.

I asked David what he wanted for a side dish to go with this chicken and he told me nothing starchy or heavy because he wanted to be able to consume as much chicken as possible and those starches take up too much space. So after looking around in my fridge, I came up with this. It was good, so good.  This will definitely be made over and over again this summer.

Sweet Paprika Veggies

Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 yellow or green squash sliced in circles

1 cup chopped broccoli

1/2 carton of sliced mushrooms

2 medium carrots chopped in small pieces

handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

couple dashes of garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a deep skillet, pour enough olive oil in to cover the bottom. Place on medium heat for a couple minutes. Add the chopped onion and allow to brown and caramelize (it takes about 10-15 minutes). Cover and stir occasionally.

2. Once it just begins to brown add the rest of the veggies. Stir. Add a drizzle more olive oil if it seems too dry to cook evenly. 

3. Add cilantro, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder and about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. cook until veggies are soft (particularly the carrots). You can taste it here to see if you like more salt and pepper. 

4. Serve with that beautiful chicken  you just made. I think these would also be good sprinkled with the seasons and cooked on an outdoor grill.

thrift store bookshelf

As promised here are the photos from my 4 dollar bookshelf. 

Before:

this is actually post cleaning. It was a lot uglier than this when I got it. And my dad helped me do a little construction to the bottom before I took this too. 

After:

I actually haven't decided exactly what I am going to do with it but I kinda like it now. Here is the cost breakdown:

Bookshelf- $4.95

Paint- $0 (leftover from table project)

extra paint supplies- $3.75 (drop cloth, paint trays)

TOTAL: $8.70

I am really starting to like this thrift store redo. Its fun to see something become something else entirely. Plus it gives me something to do. I'm not very good at it yet, but I hope to get better. Let me know what you think.

confessions friday

Ok here it is. I am a little embarrassed about this one. Yesterday I was cleaning and painting furniture all day long. It was the real deep spring-cleaning type thing going on. I scrubbed down everything in site and redid a bookshelf I got at a thrift shop for 4 dollars with some leftover paint from my table(post will come later on about that). And today I woke up sore! How out of shape am I? I guess that wax on wax off stuff is legit(or scrub on scrub off). And now I don't feel so bad about skipping the gym to sleep in yesterday. Best multi-tasking ever. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Confessions with Sprinkles on top

I am going to start a new Friday theme: confessions. We will see how long it actually lasts but for now, here we go... I LOVE sprinkles cupcakes. And its not even a cliche love. Its a real life love. They are just so yummy. If you have one near you, please go! go now! There aren't a million options but the ones they have are delicious. Second confession...I got a pedicure for my birthday today (right before I went to sprinkles, yeah that may have gone a bit overboard on indulgences). I spent way too much on it. It was ridiculously fantastic and felt amazing. Susan, or was her name Karen (I am so bad with names) kept telling me she would really make it the best pedicure ever. I have to admit, I think she succeeded. She probably just wanted a large tip since they weren't particularly busy for a Friday afternoon. I now have bright coral nails with cute little flowers. It really is a guilty pleasure. Moving on to my final confession for today...I love my husband, I love spending time with him, I love that he makes me laugh, and he is really my BFF but I have to admit that I really do enjoy a good girls day out. Thanks Ems for the fun day out complete with a rockstar finish (gotta save that confession for another time). Happy Birthday to me! :)

Books for Cooks

Like I have said before, I love to read cookbooks like a good novel. I just picked up this one after seeing it featured on Rachael Ray. And although I am not a huge Gwyneth fan (this has more to do with her attempt to break into country music than anything else), I absolutely love this book. It is beautiful. It has simple lovely recipes and heartfelt stories of family and life in general. It inspires me to want to write my own cookbook. Maybe I will someday. Anyway, pick this up next time you are at a bookstore. You will not regret it.

A Note of Thanks

I am officially a BYU Alum. This is a message of thanks to all those who helped me achieve this goal. To my parents for facilitating a love for learning and for financially supporting me through most of this. To my husband for fronting the bill for the last part of school and letting me tell him every single thing I learned right before the tests. He was an excellent study buddy. To my professors and colleagues for pushing me further than I thought possible, and for helping me to expand my mind in new ways and learn all that I could. This truly was one of the best experiences of my life, and even though I was really sad to leave this beautiful and holy place, I am really excited to see what comes next. And as always (and forever), GO COUGS!