The cat is out of the bag...

Ok, so now I can say what my decision was. I resigned from my position at the church I was working at. There were many factors, but it was certainly a difficult decision to make. I am feeling more and more okay with my decision as time passes. My last day is February 7. I really felt spread too thin and my health, among other factors, was really taken a hit. I can now focus on teaching, and although money will be really tight, I/we will be happy, so that's a very good thing. It's difficult barely making enough to pay rent, bills, and food, and not having any extra for trips, movies out, eating out, or clothes, but happiness is more important than all those things. I am currently advertising and getting the word out about my chamber group and lessons, and will be self employed again (and employed by 2 community schools). :)

So, there you go - - that's my big news of the day!

Best Baked Chicken I've Ever Had

It's called Forbidden City Chicken...it is amazing!

What you need:

Chicken (I hate the look of raw chicken, so I didn't put it in the picture haha).













4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (or use 8 thighs)
3 T butter, or oil
2 tsp. Madras Curry powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 T Splenda brown sugar blend (or if you're not dieting, regular brown sugar)
1/4 C soy sauce
2 T chicken stock or water

Melt butter or heat oil in small pan, turn off heat. Stir in curry powder, ginger, garlic and cinnamon. Add soy sauce, Splenda blend, and chicken stock. Stir until well combined. Let cool if it is very hot.

Trim all visible fat and and tendons from chicken. Make small crosswise slits about 1/2 inch apart down the length of each piece of chicken. (This allows marinade to penetrate more.) Put chicken in zip-loc bag and pour marinade over. Marinate 6-8 hours.

To cook, preheat oven to 325. (350 if using thighs.) Remove chicken from marinade and place in glass dish that you have sprayed with nonstick spray, skin side down. (Save marinade in plastic bag.) Cook 20 minutes.

Turn and brush side facing up with reserved marinade. Cook 20-30 minutes more, until chicken is starting to brown and feels firm. Watch it carefully the last 15-20 minutes of cooking time because the sugar in the marinade can burn quite easily and ovens vary a great deal in actual temperatures. Turn it down if it seems to be getting too browned.

Enjoy!

Deviled Eggs

This is a low-carb snack that we love! And very easy to make.

My recipe is as follows:

Boil the eggs (I think I boil mine for about 8 minutes)
Peel the eggs and cut them lengthwise in half.
Pop the yolks out of the eggs and place in a bowl.
I don't really measure, but these are basically the measurements. You can't mess this up :)
Mix 3 heaping of T light or regular mayo, 1t of vinegar, salt, pepper, and 1.5 teaspoons of honey mustard. Add more mayo if it's not creamy enough.
Whip the ingredients with a fork, and spoon back into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika, and garnish with a little bit of parsley if you would like.

Enjoy!

I'm Back!!! Slow cooked peppercorn steak

Just to let you know, we are on the south beach diet. Some of these recipes have been on my poor camera for a VERY long time so not all of them are completely south beach...I am going to post a bunch of recipes in different blog posts today.

This first one was DELICIOUS!

I would have never thought to make a steak of any kind in the crock pot. As a busy couple, we use our crock pot at least 3x/week. The crock pot can be used in many different ways, to cook just about anything! It seems to be the only safe thing to be cooking while you're gone. I just turn it on before we leave in the morning, and the smell of tasty food is strong as I come in the door! All I have to do is serve it up at that point!

On to the recipe...
Peppercorn Steak (4 servings)










4-6 steaks (use whatever is one sale, it will tenderize nicely)
2 chopped bell peppers (I used orange)
1 yellow onion, chopped (I chopped mine very fine, like I did here.)
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I opted out of this one, since we are not big mushroom fans!)
1 cup tomato sauce (I used one that had very little sugar content)
1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
1 T Italian seasoning
1/4 t black pepper

D I R E C T I O N S:

Put the meat into the stoneware. Cover with the chopped veggies. Pour in tomato sauce, Worchestershire, and water. Add Italian seasoning and black pepper (no need to stir). Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6.

Madison & I LOVED this and definitely will make it for a special treat once in a while!

I have lots of wonderful recipes to post! If only I would get a chance to post them! Recipes coming soon...(maybe tomorrow!)

Wings w/ homemade ranch dipping sauce

I tried something from the low-carb cookbook I bought at a bargain bookstore in Wheaton. I normally wouldn't make something like wings, but we had some range-free hormone-free chicken wings from the "chicken man" as Madison calls him. He sells chicken at the farmer's market we play at, and gave us some frozen chicken as our tip from him!

Back to the chicken...this chicken was GOOD! I may use the marinade on boneless chicken breasts next time.

These were only 4 carbs with the dipping sauce! (per 2 wings)

































Preheat your oven to 450*F.

Ranch dipping sauce:
1/2 cup light mayo
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Combine above ingredients in small bowl.

Combine 2 Tablespoons of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of sugar (I used splenda), 1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in small bowl.

Cut tips from wings; discard. Place wings in large bowl. Drizzle with orange juice mixture; toss to coat.

Transfer chicken to greased broiler pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear and skin is crisp. Serve with ranch dipping sauce.

Scarce around here

Us T's have been very busy lately! Madison is preparing for a national moot court competition at Vandy, as well as writing-on for the law journal...I seriously have hardly been able to exchange words with him for a long time now. Usually the first part of the semester is fun and laid back, but not this one! He has been working on moot court and now law journal since exams finished! :( I keep on just telling myself it will be worth it someday when he's a lawyer. It's difficult being married to a law student, but I obviously wouldn't have it any other way. I have been going to bed by myself for a really long time, thanks to moot court and law journal...boo...at least lady keeps me company :) Sweet girl. She's so much fun! I think it makes it difficult that I work so much too...so it's not like I'm at home waiting for him to come home...I'm at work from 8am until 6 or 7p right now...and one day a week, 8a-10:30p straight! It is all worth it to be providing for our little family right now.
I just completed my first bridal expo! It was exhausting but worth it, I think! There were 1,000 people there...I talked to hundreds of people from 12:30-5pm. I got ideas from my mother-in-law on how to decorate the booth, did the booth by myself, carted everything to the car (5 trips of heavy stuff!). I have been getting good feedback and bookings from it. It's hard to break through in this town as a musician, and it was a risk I was willing to take.
My house is in bad shape, seeing I get home and make dinner and then pass out. I have been going to bed in between 9 & 11 but mostly earlier. I don't know why I am so exhausted all of the time! It's weird!

I haven't seen any friends in forever! I am buried in work right now, because I'm taking on more students, I'm a contractor/coordinator for wedding musicians, and I am working a full-time 8-4 job. I will be happy when I have a little Liz time...:) I have so many projects I have been jotting down and dreaming of, just not a minute to do them!

Well, it's 8:30 and I'm exhausted. I worked a full day, made breakfast & dinner, contracted 2 weddings, and taught 5 students!

Hope all is well with my readers :) I am going to post some food posts that I have been storing that are nearly finished! Enjoy!!
Lizzie

Delicious Lemon Pasta w/ Shrimp

Madison's Nana gave me 2 large cookbooks of her favorite recipes. This is one that I make on special occasions. It is fairly easy, and is divine. The first time I made it was when she left me all the ingredients, including fresh shrimp, when we stayed at their beach house in Florida. I have made it 2 times this year since.






Her recipe calls for fettuccine, which is what I used the first 2 times. This time, I used a lemon pasta that you can find in Kroger, or wherever you shop. Both ways were very good.

WHAT YOU NEED:
Butter
Shrimp (1-1.5 lb)
Raw onion or green onion (chopped very fine)
Green onion top (chopped very fine)
Parsley
Seafood seasoning or Tony's
Flour (1-2 T)
Pepper (ground)
Salt
Fettucine noodles or lemon noodles
Heavy cream or half & half
White wine

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a large skillet. In the butter, saute 1-1.5 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, raw onion or green onion (chopped very fine), green onion top, (chopped very fine) and parsley. Sprinkle the shrimp rather heavily with seafood seasoning. Sprinkle over the top of all ingredients in the skillet, 1-2 tablespoons of flour.
Stir all together to saute until shrimp have turned pink. Salt very lightly and pepper.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot of salted water, cook the noodles per directions on the package. When done, drain and reserve. To the sauteed shrimp and veggies, (after the shrimp turn pink), add heavy cream or half & half and white wine. Sprinkle with more seafood seasoning. Add more cream and wine if needed. Stir in cooked noodles and serve immediately. If desired, sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan. For variation, cook fresh asparagus tips with the noodles.

how to cut an onion

I do not know proper names and such as far as the onion goes, but I learned how to cut an onion from my sister who learned it in a cooking class...let me just say that it was life-changing, and if you don't know this already, it will be life-changing for you as well, as long as you use any recipes for cut up onion.

First, peel the onion all the way. Don't cut anything yet. Then:

1. Cut the top off (the top that has the stuff sticking up, not the rough other end)























2. Put the side you just cut, face down. Put a large, sharp knife through that root looking thing (I told you I didn't know anything about onions!)


















3. Place one of the cut halves on the cutting board like this:












4. Do you see all those ridges in the onion? Now you cut along the edges of those. It should stay all in place when you take the knife out...I usually use my big veggie knife with the ridges, but it was used for something else right before this.

















5. After you have cut along the ridges (no need to be that precise really...it doesn't take that long), then you cut it like this:
















And this:
























And voila! You have minced onion!

Tiny bit of snow

Oxford got the teeniest dusting last night...looks like we brought it down with us...I am ready for spring now!
I am gearing up for teaching this week. I have about half of my students starting this week, and the 2nd half next week. Nice way to ease into it. The reason is, I start my non-OAFA students a week before OAFA starts. I have several new ones that I am very excited about! Yay!
All the church stuff starts back. Choir, kids choirs, praise band, etc. Back to the grind for a while!

By the way, I don't mean to offend anyone who takes NY resolutions seriously and actually does them, I just know so many people who have said things they were going to do (including myself several times) and it hardly ever works out. :)

My New Years Resolutions

I never make them, therefore never break them! I have always thought New Years Resolutions were a little silly... :) I will just do something if I am determined to do it!

One goal I do have (not a resolution mind you!) is to lose 40 pounds this year. I am making plans to really work hard at this! I just need to get that weight off! I have been carrying it around since my mom died, and it is way past due to get it off...I never struggled with my weight in high school and the first part of freshman year. I thought I was big back then, but now I realize how tiny I was and how I so want to be there again! I got off the trail when Thanksgiving hit. Now I am going to really stick it out until my weight is lost. That may mean I don't get any Easter candy, but I just have to tell myself that it's worth being small.

This January will be crazy. I will be working 50+ hours and will be exhausted. I am picking up a bunch more students. There's light at the end of the tunnel, and I will actually be able to paint, do crafts, have a little time here and there for myself after this month is over! What a wonderful feeling that will be, not to be flying by the seat of my pants constantly. I will have time to cook, meal plan, keep this mess of a house in shape, and still be the breadwinner. :) Right now as it stands, I am very very sick of coming home late, eating bad things, and going straight to bed, only to repeat it again the next morning. I'm just not enjoying life, and the environment I am in currently is toxic. That will be no more after the last of January.

By the way, I am hinting around and being weird on purpose. You can figure it out. Yes, it's safe to strongly hint around like that.

Happy New Year everyone :)

The end