Categories
Cooking

Stuff It

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One night, I decided I was bored of the several ways in which I generally make chicken breast so I decided to butterfly a whole breast and stuff it in a way I hadn’t done before. In the stuffing we have… spinach, caramelized onion, Greek yogurt, Feta cheese, and a little salt. I had never thought to use Greek yogurt for stuffing chicken breast until now but it kicked some major ass. It kept the stuffing moist and creamy yet held together very well after cooking. The texture of the spinach was nice and the feta was a nice salty bite amongst everything else, especially the subtle yogurt flavor. I paired the chicken with a bell pepper stuffed with a simple mushroom and onion (mostly mushroom) sauté topped with a little bit of shredded gouda. The first thing I did for this dish was caramelize some yellow onion and put half in a bowl for the stuffing and left half remaining in the pan which I used to make the mushroom mixture. I added my mushroom-stuffed bell peppers in a 350 degree oven. In the meantime, I heated 1 tbsp. of butter and 1 tbsp. of olive oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. I dusted salt and pepper all over my chicken breast, including the cavity, and stuffed it. Next, I browned the chicken on both sides (this took about 3 minutes on each side) and put it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. The most important thing about this dish is not overcooking the chicken… it will not be very forgiving if cooked improperly. I actually checked the temperature of the thickest part of the breast outside of the oven to ensure it was right around 160 and then let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. This was such an enjoyable meal.

Categories
Animals

Snake-Belly

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Have you ever seen an x-ray of a dog who ate a snake? Check this one off of your bucket list, now you have. His name is Panda and he is a snake-eating Boston Terrier.

Categories
Life

Disney-Themed Wedding

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I am one of those people that loves weddings. Even if I were invited to someone’s wedding that I hardly know I would be that chick in the back silently crying as the couple says their vows. Not only do I love weddings, I love a themed wedding, let alone a Disney-themed wedding.

Categories
Life

Birthday Time!

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Today is my 27th birthday! I will be taking the next week off from posting. I just want to say that, so far, my week has been incredible. On Sunday I saw the latest Avengers movie and bought some kick-ass running shoes and insoles. On Wednesday, I went to Hollywood to see a couple of Finnish metal bands. Yesterday, I was able to go on a somewhat lengthy run for the first time since I got patellar tendinitis pretty bad a few months ago. The run was such a treat, I cannot even say. Tonight, I am seeing another live show, this time a couple of ska bands. Finally, tomorrow we are off to Disneyland for the weekend. It’s definitely not every year that I do this much for my birthday. I am super lucky. Cheers everyone and see you in a week.

Categories
Cooking

Chocolate Meeting

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At work we have monthly meetings where lunch and, usually, some sort of sweet treat is provided. Every once and a while I have the desire and energy to make a dessert to bring. This time I decided to do a variety of chocolates. There is so much one can do with chocolate. Chocolate cups are a great opportunity to get creative and utilize random things in your fridge or pantry. I made a white chocolate with fresh raspberries, a milk peanut powder chocolate with fresh strawberries, a semi-sweet chocolate with unsweetened coconut and dehydrated banana (you may notice the banana from an earlier post), and a 60% cacao dark chocolate with heirloom popcorn made with olive oil and topped with sea salt. I brought 12 of each and displayed them on a pretty 3 tier tray. I totally forgot to take a picture (that would have been nice) but remembered just in time to take a shot of the leftovers. The chocolates were a big hit.

Categories
Animals

Badger & Crockett

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Two of my favorite Australian Shepherds… ever. Not only are these two blue Merle litter mates absolutely adorable but they have tails! Aussie’s tails are normally cropped at birth but these guys have big beautiful bushy tails and its adorable. Also, they are very well trained. They know countless tricks and I love watching them just as much as they like treats… maybe almost as much.

Categories
Animals

Boomer

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Could this puppy be any more precious? His name is Boomer.