Cherry Dump Cake

We had a going away dinner for two of my best friends Wednesday night. I made my famous fettuccine alfredo (click here for the recipe!). And for dessert, I made a delicious cherry "dump" cake. If my word isn't enough, ask the other 7 people who practically licked the entire pan clean.

Cherry Dump Cake



Ingredients:
1 dry yellow cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
1 stick margarine
1 stick butter

Directions:1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a greased 9x13 pan, dump one can of cherry pie filling and dump one can of crushed pineapple. Stir until combined.
3. Dump one boxed yellow cake mix over the pineapple/cherry mixture and spread evenly with a fork to remove clumps.
4. Thinly slice the sticks of butter and margarine and spread evenly over the cake mix.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until the topping is golden brown.
6. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Chicken Stir-Fry with Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

On Sunday, I informed my carb-loving husband that I was going to be incorporating low carb dinners into our diet. He just gave me "the look".

I told him I would be making stir-fry for dinner this evening and he asked if we could have fried rice. Rewind to the low carb discussion we had two days ago. So, I turned to Pinterest and found my solution: cauliflower fried rice.

Now, let me begin by telling you there are only two foods I absolutely CANNOT stand and try to avoid at all times: cauliflower and honeydew melon. In fact, this pretty much sums up my feelings toward cauliflower:

I may have been converted into a fan of cauliflower tonight. And the best thing? I let Nathan chow down on his bowl for a few minutes before I asked him how he liked the meal. Then I dropped the bomb that it was not rice he was devouring. He enjoyed it and the only noticeable difference to him was that the texture wasn't the same as rice. 

Chicken Stir-Fry with Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 large egg

8oz bag John Soules frozen grilled chicken strips

1 bag frozen veggies (I used Food Club Parisian Veggies)

1 packet Kikkoman Stir-Fry Seasoning

Directions:

For the rice- 

1. This is the recipe I used to prepare the cauliflower rice.

2. Heat a large saute pan or wok over medium heat and spray with oil. Add the sesame oil and saute onions and garlic about 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft. Add the egg and cook, turning a few times until set. 

3. Add the cauliflower "rice" to the saute pan along with soy sauce. Mix, cover and cook approximately 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is slightly crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.

For the stir-fry-

1. Heat a large saute pan or wok over medium heat and spray with oil. 

2. Add the bag of chicken and the bag of frozen veggies. Add packet of seasoning. Cook approximately 10-12 minutes.

Serve stir-fry over cauliflower fried rice and add more soy sauce if needed!

  

Quick & Easy Cajun Chicken Pasta

We were finally kicked into the "real world" a few weeks ago when we realized we had spent the last of the money we had saved on rent and received notice that his student loans were no longer in the grace period. 

Needless to say, my accounting brain kicked in and we are now "budgeting". I might as well get some use out of that $60,000 education, right?

It honestly hasn't been that bad. We've managed to almost completely cut out fast food and going out to eat (I'm down 7 lbs as a result)!!  I've also been going through the weekly grocery store ads where I've found great deals at HEB and United over the last few weeks. 

I created a Cajun chicken pasta with some of the items I found on sale.

Quick & Easy Cajun Chicken Pasta



Ingredients:
8 oz John Soules grilled chicken strips ($2.50)
16 oz bow tie pasta ($0.88)
1/2 jar HEB Saucy Cajun Pasta Sauce ($1.12)

Directions:
1. Cook chicken and pasta according to package. 
2. Add sauce to a small pan and add chicken.
3. Pour sauce and chicken over pasta and enjoy!

I served the pasta with salad and garlic bread.

Serves: 2
Total per serving: $2.25

Honey-Dijon Glazed Chicken Roll-Ups

I love experimenting and creating new recipes. I personally feel like a fraud when I find a recipe, do exactly what it says, and then post my own version on here. Tonight, I created my own recipe and the results were outstanding! 

Honey-Dijon Glazed Chicken Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

8 slices deli ham

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1 handful fresh spinach

For the glaze:

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp olive oil  

1 splash of Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Flatten chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place an even amount of ham, mozzarella cheese, and spinach on each piece of chicken. Roll up each piece and place in an oven-safe pan.

3. In a bowl, mix Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, and Worcestershire sauce. Spread evenly over each roll up. 

4. Cover with foil and bake at 275/300 degrees for about an hour. 

I served the roll-ups with mojito lime marinated squash/zucchini and baked potatoes. 

Slow Cooker Jalapeno Popper Chicken and Macaroni & Cheese

Graduation is over, we're home from vacation (against our will), my degree arrived in the mail a few days ago, and I'm officially in this "real" world everyone keeps talking about. You know what, though? I'm having a blast. We even went on a double date with two of our good friends on a TUESDAY NIGHT this week (GASP!). When I was in school, my social life could pretty much be summed up with the lyrics "Who goes out on a Monday?" from The Chainsmokers' song #Selfie...but replace the Monday with Monday-Thursday.

In my last blog, I discussed my husband's possible job opportunity. After many prayers, it looks like he will be staying in Abilene (huge sigh of relief). However, he did receive a raise and was offered a salesman position at our current place of employment. We are looking forward to beginning this next chapter in our lives, and are looking forward to focusing on our marriage. Planning a wedding, getting married, and being newlyweds trying to survive the first year of marriage, while also trying to finish school, probably wasn't the smartest idea we've had- but we made it!

As promised in my last blog, I AM BACK! AND I have two new recipes for y'all! Tonight I will be making slow cooker jalapeno popper chicken and my famous slow cooker macaroni and cheese! The perfect comfort foods for this rainy day!

UPDATE: This meal was DELICIOUS. I ended up placing the chicken breasts in a separate pan, sprinkling the breading over the tops of the chicken breasts, and broiling them until the topping browned. There was a TON of extra sauce. We drizzled the extra over the chicken breasts and the leftovers would make a wonderful enchilada sauce! I posted the picture below, but beware, it may cause your mouth to water!




Slow Cooker Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Ingredients:
6-8 boneless chicken breasts
16 oz sour cream
2- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
12 oz jar diced jalapenos, drained
2 cups bread crumbs
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese and sour cream.
2. Add cheddar cheese and jalapenos. 
3. Add chicken breasts to the bottom of your slow cooker.
4. Spoon the mixture over the top of the chicken breasts.
5. Cook on low for 6 hours.
6. When chicken is finished cooking, preheat oven to 400°.
7. Combine breadcrumbs and melted butter and spread over the top the chicken.
8. Bake until the topping is crispy. 

Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

24 oz macaroni

2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream

2 cans Campbell's cheese soup
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Cook pasta according to directions.

2.  In your slow cooker, combine the milk, sour cream, cheese soup, salt and pepper.

3.  Add macaroni, mix well. 

4.  Cook on low for an hour or two, only stirring once or twice.

In case you're wondering what's for dessert...it's my mom's famous white chocolate raspberry bundt cake...stay tuned for the recipe!

I'M DONE! I'M DONE! Well, almost. Oh, and a new recipe!

I've made a list. I've checked it twice. Although I cannot determine who has been naughty or nice, I can determine that I AM DONE WITH CLASS WORK FOR MY UNDERGRAD DEGREE! I'm not talking about a figurative list, either. I'm talking about the list I made a few weeks ago of EVERYTHING I needed to finish before finals. Now, the only things standing between me and that $60,000 piece of paper are time and three more finals that I will take next week. I'm almost in tears as I write this. How can this be? It seems like just yesterday I was starting my first semester at Hardin-Simmons, and now I'm literally done with everything, with the exception of finals. Surreal does not even begin to describe it.

The last three days have been a blur. I sat down at our kitchen table Sunday morning around 8 am and didn't leave the table until 5:30 that evening. I mean, let's be honest- I got up to eat, drink, and use the restroom. But, I did not do anything else expect try to finish everything so I could mark it off of my list. Exhaustion got the better of me, though, so it took until today for me to finish everything. 

I also have to brag. I took three classes this semester which required me to give a presentation or a speech. I gave my last speech last week, we gave our last group presentation today, and I gave my last short topic presentation this evening. I mentioned in my last post that I had not given a speech or presentation since 8th grade. I am (was/still kind of am) scared to death of speaking in front of people. I'm extremely shy in front of people I don't know (people who know me are probably laughing at that), but I really am. But, I survived, And you know what? I made a 98 on my last speech! 

I was complaining in a group text to my husband, mom, dad and sister that I just want graduation to get here and I want to go to Port Aransas. My sister told me to enjoy it and that the anticipation was all part of the experience and excitement. She was right. I'm finally figuring out that a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears have gone into my education the last three years and now that everything is winding down, it's time to enjoy it. Pretty soon, it will be time to start the next chapter of our lives. The song "You're Gonna Miss This" comes to mind....

Before our wedding, my sister made a scrapbook for me that had pictures and letters the people closest to me had written for me to read while I was getting ready. One letter that has stuck with me, especially this semester, was the one my cousin, Krista, wrote advising me to just breathe. "Breathe" is something my mother tells me almost on a regular basis, and I think it is so important. All of that to say, I am going to continue to breathe and enjoy the next week and a half! 

Now, how about a recipe? 

Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger meat

1 can of corn

1 can of Sloppy Joe sauce

1 bag of frozen tater tots

Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Brown the ground beef, add corn and sauce. Pour mixture into an oven safe pan, top with tater tots and cheddar cheese. Bake at 375 degrees until tater tots are crispy and cheese is melted. Enjoy! We topped it with mustard and it was delicious!

There is nothing healthy about this recipe. In my defense, I did say in my last post it would be the end of May before I would begin posting "healthy" recipes! :P

Just an Update and Ramblings About Life

Well, it's been over two weeks since my last update. Stress and lack of time have somehow managed to creep back into my days and make life hectic. 

With that being said, we've barely cooked. What we have made (sandwiches, $0.60 macaroni, and hot dogs) aren't worth posting about. My husband and I are very fortunate to live 15 minutes from my mom and dad, AND my grandparents, who have literally fed us almost every day over the last week and a half. 

I know we're supposed to enjoy every day as if it were our last, but over the last month (and probably for the next two weeks) I am in survival mode. Graduation is 19 days from today. NINETEEN. I may be the type of person who worries about everything, and though I usually welcome change, I am panicking.

I've been in a school setting for over 17 years. I've been a student, a daughter, a friend and recently a wife- in that order- for as long as I can remember. Now what am I supposed to do? Then you take into account that for the last two summers I've either been in summer school or planning a wedding and no longer have a clue as to what people do during the summer. Not that I'm complaining about that. In fact, I am EXTREMELY excited to rediscover how to enjoy a normal summer. 

Now throw into the mix the fact my husband MAY have a job opportunity that could change our lives as we know it. We've seen each other almost every day for the last three years, and now we may not be seeing each other for more than 20 days out of the month?!? However, if everything works out (we've been saying lots of prayers!) this opportunity may allow us to pay off all of our student loans ($10,000 for him and an upwards of $60,000 for me) in just a FEW YEARS. We would have to sacrifice our time together; however, we have tried to see it as an opportunity to sacrifice now in order to not have to suffer later on in life. God has a plan and we have chosen to continue to trust His plans for our lives. 

I read a blog post about graduating the other day and thought I would share the part that stuck with me:

"Above all else, I’m scared. I don’t know what this next journey will bring to me. Saying goodbye to happy hours, skipping class, and making the best worst decisions is one thing, but saying goodbye to ourselves is another. Azar Nafisi summed our almost post-college feelings perfectly: “You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place. You’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.”

My biggest challenge right now is giving my last speech tonight. I spent 7 hours yesterday writing it, a few hours this morning rehearsing, and have to give it tonight around 6:30. I somehow managed to make it from 8th grade to senior year in college without giving a speech. That should tell you how much I enjoy talking in front of other people. I've chosen to just try and enjoy the last few weeks of college. It's bittersweet and it's scary, but it's also very exciting. 

AND in 20 days we'll be sitting on the beach, so there's always that to look forward to!

I am looking forward to having more time after graduation to focus on cooking and living a healthier lifestyle. This will probably be my last post until the end of May, but I'll be back with lots of delicious new recipes, I promise!