Kitchen Creations

Lately I have really gotten into cooking. I have always enjoyed cooking, but not necessarily the process of making sure I have the right ingredients, meat thawed and enough time to prepare and cook the meal. Well, a few months ago I had a revelation. What if I planned out our weekly meals and made sure, ahead of time of course, that I had everything I needed for these meals? Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?! Well, this has been a life saver, not to mention I think Leon has enjoyed knowing what his next meal will be before it's on the plate in front of him. Usually I make out our weekly meal list the weekend before based on what new meals I have found, mostly thanks to Pinterst (www.pinterest.com), the greatest thing on the internet since Google (in my opinion at least). If you're not familiar with Pinterest, I'll be glad to tell you all about it but there simply is not enough time for me to go off on a tangent about Pinterest. Also, I found this link today to a weekly meal planner (http://733blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/another-freebie-from-closed-shop.html). Think I'll give it a try next week! Anyways, I wanted to share several of the recipes I've tried out lately. And best of all, every recipe has been simple, delicious and affordable! These are just a few of the recipes, so if you would like any additional recipes let me know.

Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Shrimp

1/3 cup olive oil
1 lemon, zested then half cut into thin slices and other half into wedges

3-4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed

sea or kosher salt and fresh black pepper

spaghetti/pasta, couscous or rice for serving

1 pound fresh shrimp, medium-sized, deveined with tails off (you will want them this way, it's worth paying the extra couple of bucks)

5 cloves garlic, minced

I served mine with brown rice and a side salad. Here is a link to the full recipe and instructions.

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2011/04/roasted-lemon-garlic-herb-shrimp.html

Honey Lime Chicken

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes), plus the zest of both limes

2 Tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 pounds of chicken (I used boneless skinless breasts, but use whatever suits you)

Full recipe here:

http://theenchantedcook.blogspot.com/2010/08/honey-lime-chicken-inspired-by-sunset.html

I served my honey lime chicken with grilled squash. Just add a little seasoning and throw the squash on the grill in some tin foil until it is soft. Since it is colder now you can always put it in a baking dish with some EVOO, salt and pepper and bake it on 375 for about 30 minutes or until soft.

Crockpot Potato Soup

1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns

3 14oz. cans of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese {don’t use fat free. It WON’T melt!!!}

Full recipe: http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/search/label/soups

This was DE-LI-CIOUS!!! It made enough to eat for several days and it tasted just as good, maybe even better the next day.

Pumpkin Muffins

One Can of Pumpkin

One box of Vanilla Cake mix

*Mix the two together, pour into muffin tins and bake on 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes*

Yes, it is that simple and oh so delicious!!!

Again, these are just a few of the recipes I've tried out lately. I'll post some more later on, but in the mean-time give these a try and let me know how you like them!

Second Job...If You Want to Call it That



The entire squad after their scavenger hunt to find their uniforms.



A few months ago I started a second job, sort of, if you really want to call it that. For me it's more like an extra curricular activity since I enjoy it so much. What is it you may ask? I am one of the cheerleading coaches for Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). For many of you who know me you know I have always loved cheerleading. I cheered in high school and for two years in college at Troy University and I have always missed cheerleading ever since. Now, obviously I have not stayed in as good of shape as I once was and I cannot do most (all) of the tumbling I used to be able to do, but I enjoy teaching what I do know to this group of girls. It's a lot of fun most of the time, but also a lot of work and frustration at times when the girls are not getting a certain stunt or when they are frustrated with themselves. Overall, it has been a fun few months and myself and the other coach, who cheered at Auburn University for two years, have really enjoyed getting to know our squad of eight, energetic and enthusiastic girls. After their tryouts in September we planned a lock-in and spend-the-night event (per their request) for the squad. During the lock-in portion at the campus gym we worked on motions, jumps, stunting and basketball chants. The girls worked hard and caught on pretty quickly, considering several of them have never cheered or haven't cheered in quite a long time. After the three hour lock-in we treated the girls to Chik-fil-A and then ventured out to my family's fish camp, as we refer to it, and had a slumber party. We played several ice breaker and get-to-know you games and the girls all quickly warmed up to each other and myself and the other coach. We enjoyed a lot of junk food and made s'mores around the bonfire that I, yes me, started all by myself with out any lighter fluid or other flammable materials. Around midnight the girls finally started to get a little tired after all their hard work and laid out their sleeping bags on the bunk beds. I think it was around 3:00 a.m. when I finally heard the last whispers and giggles. However, 8:00 a.m. came quickly since several of the girls had to get back to town for class, work and other weekend activities. On our way back to dropping the girls off at their cars or dorms they laughed and talked about how much fun they had and how glad they were we didn't spend the night in tents, like I had sort of lead them to believe! They even said they wanted to do this again! I was so glad they had a great time and I look forward to the rest of the year with them. Their first basketball game is next week and I think I'm just as excited as they are for them to show off their talents.

Below is a video of some of the girls on the squad and a stunt they nearly mastered in about thirty minutes at practice Monday night! So proud of them!!