Foodie Friday: Southwest Chicken

Because I am a total slacker these days... blame it on the wedding brain...  I have NO pictures of my recipe today... it's super easy though... and I promise to do better next time.

Southwest Chicken
-1 pkg boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and diced
-1 can sweet corn
-1 can pinto beans
-1 can Rotel tomatoes
-Cumin to taste
-1 cup cheese

Mix half of each chicken, corn, beans, and Rotel in an 8x8 pan.  Add cumin to taste.  Cover and freeze.

Now mix the rest of the ingredients (the other half of each thing) in another 8x8 pan... adding cumin to taste.

To Cook:
Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Spread 1/2 cup of cheese on each 8x8 pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Or until piping hot.

I love these flavors... and they are very easy to throw together.  This meal is great because you can eat one and freeze one.

Enjoy!

Olympic moment...

I have had a very busy busy week... but I wanted to share a one of my favorite things so far in the Olympics... this is not their Olympic performance... but it is still great!



More to come soon... I promise!

Foodie Friday: Chicken Biscuit Casserole

Not much to say about this one... I have had a crazy week, and the Olympics are on... so I wish I had some of this in the freezer...

Chicken - Biscuit Casserole

-3c. chicken, cooked and chopped
-3c. chicken broth
-4 carrots, peeled and sliced
-1 onion, diced
-4 celery stalks, chopped
-8oz fresh mushrooms
-2 cloves garlic, sliced
-1c peas, frozen or canned
-3T cornstarch
-1/3 cup cold water
-10 biscuits

Bring chicken broth to a boil; add carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms and garlic... simmer about 10 mins.

Add chicken, and peas... simmer 5 more mins.

Mix cornstarch with cold water in measuring cup... add slowly until chicken mixture has the consistency of gravy.  Remove from heat, cool.

To freeze: Pour into a dish... cover with foil... and freeze.

To prepare: Thaw casserole.  Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes... place uncooked biscuits on the top of the casserole.  Return it to the oven and cook 20 to 25 minutes.

*Note... you can use homemade biscuits or the kind from the can or freezer

The Games!

The Olympics are one of my favorite things!!  I will sit at home and watch just about any sport at any time of the day, simply because it is a part of the Olympics.

I think my overall addiction to all things Olympic started at the 1996 Atlanta Games... my family was lucky enough to attend many different events.  We saw team handball, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, tennis... we had such a wonderful time!!

I have so many memories from the '96 Games... like when we were going to see synchronized swimming (a little after this picture was taken)... and my mom almost got arrested.  Or how we walked 2+ miles to the Marta station in the middle of the summer because "it is just around the corner."

What I was most struck with during the games was the American spirit.  We were not north and south... Democrat and Republican... we were all AMERICANS... we all screamed U.S.A as loud a we could... and proudly waved our red, white, and blue.

So I am so pumped the Olympics are back... for the next 2 weeks... I will watch nothing but sports... and I am so excited about that!

Snow!!!

Well... we got it... we got a pretty good amount of snow here in Atlanta today.  One interesting fact... there was snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states today... they say people were checking the very tip tops of the mountains in Hawaii for any trace of snow... but they didn't find any.

The snow was beautiful today as it fell and stuck to trees and bushes... I watched most of it from inside our newsroom.  We do however have a huge row of windows... so when we open all the blinds it kind of feels like you are outside.

After I braved the icy roads tonight... I decided to snap just a few pictures...

This was the worst part of my drive... trying to get up my driveway... I decided to cut my losses and park somewhere else.

Pretty, untouched snow!

Foodie Friday: Poppy Seed Chicken

OK... so needless to say this week has been CRAZY!!!  And now they are forecasting SNOW for today... granted it is only 1 inch or so... but in Atlanta people go crazy over just a little... so today's recipe is short and sweet.  Remember it's Freezable February...

Poppy Seed Chicken

-1 pkg boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-1 medium size tub sour cream (I think 16 oz)
-1 sleeve "Ritz" crackers... or you can use the store brand like me
-Poppy Seeds (I forgot them in the big ingredient picture)

Mix chicken, soups, and sour cream in a large bowl.
Add poppy seeds to taste... I think I did about 2 tablespoons
Place in a container or ziploc bag and freeze

To cook:
Thaw the chicken mixture in the refrigerator all day
Crumble the crackers and spread on the top... you can also melt 1tbsp of butter and pour over the crackers
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

This is a favorite from our college days... serve it over rice... so good and easy!

Whew!!

What a week!  Apparently there is some sort of plague going around the office... let's just say Clorox wipes are my new best friend... anyway it has made my schedule a little loopy!

Couple that with planning a wedding... and needless to say, I have been a little busy!

Add to that, it has been freezing cold and raining forever it seems... all I can say is WHEW!!  It has been a long few weeks!  So here are a few random thoughts... from the last few days...

-Weight Control Oatmeal (the kind they show on the Biggest Loser) is actually quite filling... I am starting to enjoy it.

-It is really sad when you look outside and see a bright sunny day for the first time in a while, only to step out and feel the 43 degree temperature.

-I love avocados!!

-They now make peppermint mocha coffee creamer year round... FINALLY!

-There is so much more to planning a wedding than I ever dreamed!  But I am loving it... and more importantly, I am so excited about my life with Patrick!

That is what I have been thinking about this week... now back to the races!

Foodie Friday: Chicken and Wild Rice

I decided that this month I'm going to do a theme again... this is going to be "Freezable February"... all of these recipes are freezer friendly.  I have made them for Patrick over the last few months... I don't have a final picture... because I didn't actually cook them... I put them together then froze...

Chicken and Wild Rice Bake
-Adapted from About.com

-3 cups cooked wild rice

-3 cups chopped cooked chicken
-16oz pkg frozen French cut green beans
-17oz jar Alfredo sauce
-1/2 cup bread crumbs

Freezer Directions:
Undercook rice by 10 minutes.  Do not thaw green beans.
Mix all ingredients and place in baking dish.  Wrap well and attach a small bag of bread crumbs.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to cook it: thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  Uncover, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, bake at 350 degrees for 50-65 minutes until bubbly.

*When I froze mine I divided it into 3 disposal bread pans... that way there were 2 servings in each dish.*

If you don't want to freeze it...
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix rice, chicken, green beans (thawed), and Alfredo sauce in a large bowl.  Plane in a 12x8 casserole dish.  Sprinkle with bread-crumbs.
Cook 45-50 minutes until casserole is bubbly.

Rain rain...

Go away... come again... another day!

What a difference a year makes!!  This time last year we waited for rain, hoped for rain, even had prayer services for rain... I'm pretty sure if we thought a rain dance would work... there would have been dancing in the streets.

This year I feel like all it does it rain... we have caught up... and then some.  They predicted last year at the height of the drought that it would take many years to catch up... done!

We have another flood watch tonight.. 1"-3" possible... I guess this is teaching me a very important lesson... enjoy the sunshine... so next time it's sunny... I'm going to purpose to go outside and enjoy it!

Have a great "rainy" day everyone!!

The Rest of the Story...

I thought since I shared the main... really long... proposal story yesterday, that today I would share a few of the funny things that we figured out in the moments shortly after we got engaged...

-All weekend Patrick had been so worried about the weather... the chance of rain, temperature, wind... the works!  I thought it was a little odd... but didn't dwell on it... now I know it is because he knew we needed to be outside.

-I had no idea he was going to ask that weekend... he had throughly convinced me it was going to be at least a few weeks down the road... and in Raleigh... the Duke Gardens comes to mind.

-All day Sunday he would take the ring I wear on my right hand and try it on his pinky finger... I thought he was doing it to try to figure out my ring size.  He was really doing it then sneaking back into his room to try on the engagement ring to make sure it would fit.

-He thought I had him figured out... because I kept "stalling" at the Aquarium... I wasn't stalling, I just really like the otters.

-Patrick didn't eat much at lunch that day... he said he was feeling a little funny... now I know it was nerves.

-I thought for a moment when he knew the exact place to look for the geo-cache that this might be a set-up.  But, when we opened the box and found a tattered clue... I decided it was just wishful thinking... Not so fast, he purposely made them look weathered, just to throw me off.

-It wasn't until after Patrick said, "Let's go pick the clues back up to take home," that I realized he had planted the whole thing!  He made the clues, found the coordinates, made an exact replica of a geo-caching sheet... the whole thing!  WOW!!!

So just call me Paul Harvey... because that my friends is "the rest of the story."