Italian Chicken Bake

This week I have reverted back to day shift. All week. I have no idea how I did that and I must say I hate getting up early! But, at least it's only three days. I love having the "normal" feeling of sleeping at night and being awake during the day, especially when the weather is super duper nice! My nights have consisted of porch sitting, beer (well hard cider) drinking, Pinterest perusing, working out and talking about the future with my main squeeze. 

This recipe is something super simple! Though it takes an hour to cook it takes about 5 minutes of prep work, if you think cutting up potatoes counts as prep work! This dish was ok, lacking in flavor some but I didn't do two packets of the dressing seasoning like it called for. I have no idea why! There's different versions floating around on Pinterest and the recipe I used was from Ashley's blog. I saw one version where they used ranch packets instead of Italian. I might try that next time or I might just use two Italian packets like she did.

I used a bag of frozen green beans but I think next time I might try canned ones. The frozen ones always have that "blanched" flavor even after they cook for an hour. Anyway, I'll definitely make this again but with slightly different variations. Supper can't get anymore simpler!

How to make said dish:

Enough potatoes (peeled, unpeeled, red, yellow, whatever floats your boat) to fill one side of a 9x13 casserole dish

Same amount for the green beans (canned, frozen or fresh)

3-4 chicken breasts 

2 packets (I used zesty) of Italian dressing seasoning mix

3/4 of a stick of butter

This literally is a dump and bake dinner! Line one side of your dish with green beans, the other side with potatoes and fill the middle with chicken. Cut up butter in pieces and place all over previous said ingredients. Sprinkle packets of Italian seasoning over everything. Cover with foil and bake for one hour at 350.(You may want to spray just a bit of cooking spray on the side the potatoes. Mine stuck a little)

Smoked Sausage and Tortellini Skillet

A few months ago I was on the hunt for a recipe that was quick and simple. Working night shift, I don't always have the energy when I get up from sleeping to cook something for dinner before heading to work. This dish is simple and only takes one pan! I'm usually hesitant about one dish meals especially when there's pasta involved because the pasta normally likes to be a hog and suck up all the glorious sauce you make. This dish is not like that at all. The pasta is not a hog and it makes this wonderful, delicious, tomato and cream sauce. I got the recipe from one of my most favorite bloggers, Stephanie, from over at Plain Chicken. I made it again last night and I must say this one is a keeper boys and girls. I'm adding recipes to my binder (which will be in another post) to have and save for future meals I am going to fix my main squeeze. 

Stephanie said she used turkey sausage and I used polish kielbasa. You can really 

use any kind of sausage you want! This dish was simple and smelled amazing when cooking, especially the sausage. 

Look at all that yummy saucy goodness. It was even good leftover when I took it for my lunch at work. This dish is a definite keeper!

I ended up fixing me a few pieces of garlic bread to go along with it. Keep on the lookout for a post about my recipe binder soon! Happy eating!

Smoked Sausage and Tortellini Skillet

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch slices

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz tomato sauce

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

9 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

In a 12-inch skillet, brown sausage in olive oil. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in  remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer on low for 12-15 minutes. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Jute Wrapped Monogram Letter

This project is so cute! I love the simplicity of it but it's a super cute way to add some flair to your decoration. Once I figured out the hot glue gun issue, wrapping was easy. I made the mistake of using the glue on each side of the letter and that made it super messy and chunky. 

Once I started I got the hang of it. I messed up on the first one I tried and this time I only glued in one spot on each time around. There were some times I actually wrapped the jute around a few times before sticking some glue in a spot.

Super simple to do though. Start off with your jute in the back. All you need is a little bit of glue to hold in place. Wrap around once and dab more glue where you started. It's less messy and it won't look horrible like my first one did. Each letter you do is gonna be different. The only part that was hard with the Z was the slanted part but you can play around with how you want to wrap. Mine I ended up going over a few spots twice with the jute going the other direction but that gives it come dimension and character I think. Do what works best with your letter. Once I got it all wrapped I hot glued some flowers on I bought from Michael's and some ribbon on the back to hang it up with. I think it turned out quite nice! Once I really get the hang of wrapping the jute I think I might try and sell some at the yard sale my sister and I are having next month.

Happy wrapping!

Creamy Crunchy Chicken

Holy yum this chicken is delicious! Please don't let the picture discourage you from trying it. I am new to the food photography world so it doesn't look too good but I promise this chicken dish is worth trying! I got this recipe over at Taste and Tell. The "sauce" that cooks up with it is flavorful and creamy and just plain yummy! Make this soon! You won't be sorry :)

Creamy Crunchy Chicken

4 chicken breasts (6-8 oz each) (I actually used 3 so I would have more "sauce"!)

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sour cream

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Dijon, sour cream, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper. Spread the mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.

Mix together the Panko and the Parmesan. Sprinkle over the mayonnaise mixture.

Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes.

Craft Room Redo

After living in my townhouse for almost 2 years I finally have some sense and organization in my craft room. It's difficult because it also doubles as my guest room for now but I am happy with the way things have progressed. I wish I had a before picture to show you. There was absolutely no kind of organization and nothing had its own place that it belonged to. I still have a few things I want to do (taking an old shelf and redoing it for my little bottles of acrylic paint) but this will have to suffice for now. It's a lot more neat as well!

The wire rack that's in there used to be in my kitchen and housed appliances. Now I have a dry sink and was able to utilize this thing! I got multiple plastic boxes of multiple sizes and some baskets as well and organized the crap out of some things. I have mostly scrapbooking stuff, card making things and stamping supplies. In the boxes I separated all my stickers, stencils, clear stamps, markers/crayons/colored pencils, and odds and ends. This works out so much better than the system I had before (which really was none!) I have my stacks of cardstock on the top and on the very bottom underneath I have my scrapbook sets. In the basket up top I have all my tags, bags and notecards stored for easy access. I also have my box that's specific to my Cricut stuff and loose 12x12 cardstock in plastic bins made especially for them. I still have a few things to put away and I think eventually I might make vinyl labels for the plastic boxes. At this point I am happy with the way it looks and now I have more work room then I did before! I am still looking for ideas for my craft room so if you have any let me know! I have BIG plans for one when I get my own house :)

To Begin

I bought myself a big girl camera! I got it two weeks ago and I ended up getting a Nikon D3100. I love it so far. It's going to take some getting used to but I have had a chance to play around with it. This week we have been at the beach so that has been good to toy with manual settings. It's going to take me a while to feel really comfortable with it but I'm going to work at that :) Here are some pictures I have taken so far. 

My sister and I went to Baltimore last week to see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z in concert. We spent the next day on the Inner Harbor and were able to take the water taxi back and forth to different areas.

I hope once I really get comfortable with using my camera I can get in the habit of using it at least once a day. Carmel over at Our Fifth House made it her resolution to use her DSLR every day for a year! Plus she has some tips for beginners which I have been trying to incorporate. I will get there eventually with a lot of use and practice.

Chicken Paninis with Homemade Honey Mustard

Last night I wanted something simple to make for supper since I had to go into work. I had bought a rotisserie chicken the other day at Walmart and decided to put it to good use. One of my good friends had me over two weeks ago and made these chicken paninis using her stove top griddle. She topped hers with basil, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese. These are so versatile and can be made to fit all of your family's tastes. I had some leftover pepperoni from my tortellini pasta salad and thought they would be a nice addition. These are quick, easy and suitable to anyone's taste.

Chicken Panini

Sliced Italian bread

Shredded chicken or meat from a rotisserie

Mozzarella cheese (I buy the fresh balls or squares of it)

Homemade honey mustard (recipe below)

Pepperoni or other toppings you might like

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place buttered side down on griddle (I actually used my panini press) and top with chicken, cheese and other goodies. You can either spread the honey mustard on the bread slices or you can do like me and dip it :) Place the other piece of bread on top and let cook through til hot and cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Homemade Honey Mustard

2 parts mayo

1 part honey

1 part mustard

Some people add lemon juice but I normally don't. This is simple and good! Just mix together and serve. If you make a big batch just store in an airtight container in your fridge.