Hey, Good Lookin'! What'cha Got Cookin'?

I've recently been doing quite a bit of cooking.  Cooking that is ultimately put into the freezer and saved for later use...largely because I'm a creature of convenience. I am still experimenting with recipes from SkinnyTaste.com, which is an awesome website full of healthy recipes that don't taste like cardboard...which in my opinion is the best kind of healthy!

I now have Turkey Zucchini Burgers, Spicy Black Bean Burgers, Baked Chicken Nuggets, and Spinach Chicken Rollatini's sitting in my freezer, just waiting to be used.  I also made some Cauliflower Fritters, which by themselves are less than exciting, but once you put some sort of sauce with them, they're not bad...though I don't think I'll make them again once I've made my way through them.

Tonight, I had some leftover spinach and chicken from making the Rollatini's, so I created a Chicken Florentine Pasta featuring garlic-seasoned chicken and homemade cashew pesto.  I am pretty proud of how delicious it was, and will be more than happy to eat the leftovers over the next few days.

I still have a few things on my list to make, such as Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups, Oven Roasted Cauliflower, Sweet Barbacoa Pork, Insanely Good Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (sounds insanely good), Skinny Scalloped Potato Gratin, Raspberry-Lemon Muffins, Applesauce Nut Bread, Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken, and any other tasty items that appear to be interesting.

First order of business though is to mix up some Black Bean & Corn Salsa for my trip to Bear Lake on Saturday.


* I added links to the recipes, just for you, Jannifer  :)

Nothing to do with Margaret Thatcher

I am SO good at putting off my homework!  In my defense, I abhor economics, and that is really what I am avoiding.  I currently have to write a number of essays on certain subjects, and after a while, my brain begins to hurt, trying to word everything in a way so that not only does it make sense to the person who will grade it (they all understand economics), but so that I don't confuse myself any more than I already am on the subject.

In other news, I received a promotion at work a little over a week ago.  And by "promotion", I mean that I now have more responsibility with no increase in pay.  My company does do raises in July, so hopefully I will get a little bit more than the normal increase.  So far, the transition has been a little frustrating...there is a system I am supposed to use for my job, that hadn't worked until last Thursday, and I became thoroughly confused and had to have my co-team lead talk me through my frustration.  Hopefully it will be good.  I was enjoying not being in a supervisory position for once, but apparently that's not a privilege I am meant to enjoy....since I can't recall not being in one for a period of more than a year.  C'est la vie.

Our apartment looks so much better now!  Boxes have been emptied and removed, things may not be in their permanent place, but they are at least put away somewhere, which is a HUGE accomplishment!

We have ducks for neighbors

First off, Blogger has changed its format for composing posts, and it threw me off.

Secondly, Kelly and I are officially moved into our new apartment!  Yay!  Not that we don't still have a number of things still sitting in our old apartment waiting to be brought to their new home, but let's not focus on that.  We still have to clean our old apartment as well...but let's not focus on that either.

The new apartment is good, though it's taking a bit trying to adjust to the smaller size, figure out where to put everything, and not go crazy in the process.  One room gets situated, only to have empty boxes thrown into it while trying to get another room set up.  I've decided that my bedroom is going to be the last beast that I tackle, largely due to the fact that I have things scattered around the apartment in various boxes that have yet to be identified.

BUT...we have a washer and a dryer!  Can we insert an excited, happy dance here please?  They were set up today just as I was getting off work, and I was thrilled!

Hopefully things will calm down and we can get completely settled soon.  Here's hoping!

Oh...and there are ducks that live on the property. And apparently its mating season...yikes!

We've Got You Surrounded

We are once again maneuvering our way through a maze of boxes throughout our apartment.  We've done this little dance around this time for the last 2 years, and 2012 is no exception.  I am looking forward to a time when I don't uproot every 12 months, but as yet I do not know when that time will be.

the lease is up

The lease on our apartment is up at the end of this month.
We have wanted to get out of this apartment since roughly around day 1 of occupancy, so this time of year has been awaited with much anticipation.  Coupled with this change, is the fact that Kelly is graduating from her Masters program as well, and has been looking for teaching jobs.

A few weeks ago, she was offered a position in Duchesne County, teaching at a school out there.  For those of you who do not know where Duchesne County is...it's a long way from just about anywhere.  Every aspect of the position was great, save one.  You'd be living in the middle of nowhere, and you'd be breaking up this colossal duo.  So I guess two aspects were less than favorable.

So we both individually considered our options.  I began looking at single bedroom apartments, and Kelly began her research on the goings-on in Duchesne.  Frankly, not much was going on in Duchesne, but we decided it would be best to get a first-hand look at the social scene in the area, so we took a trip to check out the local singles ward.

To make a long story short, Kelly is NOT moving to Duchesne.

She did however accept another job offer.  Kelly is officially the newest teacher at Mound Fort Middle School in Ogden. YAY!  Not only is she NOT moving to the middle of nowhere, we are still going to live together (gluttons for punishment, what can we say?).  We looked high and low, in and out, up and down...you get the idea.  Right now we are waiting to hear back from an apartment complex in Layton, and with any luck, we will be moving out of this place in a matter of weeks.

Crazy!

Crazy awesome that is.

Three Strikes and You're Out!

First time under anesthesia was a success....not sure you can beat going to sleep and waking up with the procedure completely taken care of.

My appointment was for 9:30 this morning, so I took the day off of work...and have subsequently been watching episodes of "Psych" on Netflix.

I only tossed my cookies 3 times, which in my book is a resounding success...sad though that is.

In other news, I finally had a Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon arrive in the mail today, so I can at last purchase a juicer!  Exciting to you? Unlikely.  Exciting to me? Incredibly.

High on OJ

I thought there was something slightly off with my orange juice this morning, but I wasn't entirely sure if it was the orange juice or the bottle I was drinking it out of.  I have since determined that my orange juice has fermented, which is not entirely pleasant.

On an unrelated note, I am seriously craving sushi.