So Little Time: Chicken French & Reading

Hello again! Hope your monday has treated you well. I wanted to quickly share my amazing dinner that I made myself tonight, Chicken French!

Savory and probably not too great for you, but still hit the spot on a cold monday night.

I added a bit of caprese salad on the side but it really isn't too appetizing to my stomach right now. At least I tried.  

Chicken French

quick and easy

**I did not use measurements so these are estimates**

1-2 thinly sliced chicken breast

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 eggs

oil for pan

1. Crack two eggs in a dish large enough to fit chicken breast. Add lemon.  Let breast soak in egg for 1-2 minutes.

2. Combine flour and spices in separate bowl and place chicken in dry mixture. Allow for chicken to become fully dusted with flour

3. Place in pan on medium heat. Make sure pan is coated with oil.  Once chicken is placed in pan, add desired amt. of white wine. 

4. Thoroughly cook on both sides until chicken is cooked through. Time will vary on thickness of breast.

Last Friday night I made something else worth sharing:

Sweet Potato Fries (Healthy-ish)!

These babies are oven baked to perfection

What you'll need:

1 large sweet potato/ yam

salt to taste

pepper to taste

olive oil to coat

Hardware:

Aluminum foil

Cookie Sheet

Just chop, mix and pop in the oven for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

Miscellanea: Scarf

A scarf my mom made me! So great for the chilly weather today

Early Christmas Loving

Happy Monday and welcome to Thanksgiving week! The semester has absolutely flown by and I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is this Thursday.  As I sit her procrastinating getting ready for my 9am class I am realizing how happy I actually am in Rochester.  The move was the best decision I could have made and a much better fit both academically and socially.

So how am I celebrating this semester? Going all out for Christmas!  I raided my parents basement Saturaday night and returned to Rochester with many goodies.  In my possesion includes a small tree, many santas, a wreath, LIGHTS, garland, Rugs, Tablecloths and candles.

The candles may not have been the best idea since they caused the smoke alarm to go off last night but we will work on it.  I figured I would start our Monday off as a festive one and I do not care that I am skipping over the importance of Thanksgiving and all the wonderful turkey I am going to be eating.  What are you doing for the holidays? Do you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?

Turkey Trotting: 5m

I did it! Today I ran my first ever 5 mile race! No, not a 5k, but 5 miles.  I believe that this is actually the first time I ever completed five miles on my own too which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself.

I am thinking back to when I first started running, the Summer of 2010, I hated it. I had never liked running and as I believe I have mentioned before, I was NOT a runner.  Well, low and behold (however that saying goes), I am a runner. 

The 5m race was something I decided to run in both to motivate myself and get me pumped for the half marathon training...What a great accomplishment, I am so ready for the next big challenge.

Okay so here is a recap of the race:

I was woken up at 7am by mom and my lovely dog. She is currently wearing a cone on her head so she doesn't bite her foot off and looks ridiculous.  I scarfed down some peanut butter toast and a few bites of apple and drove to Pittsford.

The weather on the ride there, a mere 25 minutes, was warm muggy and rainy.  Not the best running weather.  Luckily it cleared just in time for the race to begin, great luck.  I took my usual position, not too far forward not too far back and began..

Mile 1: I started out extremely fast, at least for me. I made it to one mile just passing the 8 minute marker, 8:02. Half of this was uphill and I knew that I was going to burn out.

Mile 2: Slow and steady, I reached her around 16:30 something...Not bad, legs starting to get a bit tired

Mile 3:Successful, and glad I made it there! That was about a 5k now only 2 more to go.  I kept trying to push myself further and harder but the course was very hilly and difficult to speed up. I think I reached here around 24 or 26 minutes? It was by far my slowest mile.

Mile 4: wow, writing this is so exhilarating, mile 4.1 and up was all new territory for me! I finished strong to mile 4 at 32 something, again I have no idea.  The rest was pretty much down hill to five.

Mile 5: Everything was sore and hurting and the thought of walking kept running through my mind.  By this point I had stripped down to my long sleeve shirt and tucked it under my bra, lets just say it was steamy out there!

Crossing the finish was amazing and I am so glad I pushed myself further to do 5 miles.

9th in 20-24, 42:30 minutes and an average 8:30/m, beast!

**side note. I always wanted a cute turkey trot shirt and I was stuck with this: Not Cute. Not Festive. I was very upset...

Dinner tonight really needed some protein and carbs. I am exhausted and sore from the race. My mom had taken me to simply crepes for breakfast and by the time we finished shopping at the mall I thought I was going to faint.  The mall was a really bad idea since I was so tired and worn down from the run but I just HAD to go. My 21st birthday is coming up soo soon and I NEEDED something cute to wear.  Also, if you notice anything different about my photos, they were taken from my new iPhone! Happy early birthday present from my mom! yay!

Omelete gone wrong. Ham, onions, tomatoes, and toast. I may have burned it and the omelet fell apart but trust me, it tastes the same.

Crumbs.

Last weekend my mom and her girlfriends took a trip to NYC...without me. Selfish, yes I know, of me I mean. I have a problem with jealousy.  To lessen the pain and sting of her amazing weekend she returned promptly with cupcakes from Crumbs Bakeshop!

I have always had some fascination with Crumbs and Georgetown Cupcakes since the "cupcake" business exploded a few years back.  An entire business dedicated to cupcakes? Pure genius.

She brought back a dairy free vanilla with chocolate frosting cupcake which was sadly a bit dry. I'm not sure if this was due to the day or so it took to get it or if I am able to blame the baking... At least the frosting was yummy!

Ah German Chocolate. This could have potential but somehow decided to go very mushy and way took moist. Two extremes, not my favorite. I think I could make a better cupcake myself.

At least it was a nice thought! And they look nice! I would have to go and actually try them in the city next to the gorgeous christmas tree or something to really write a thorough review. As for now, I don't actually think they're worth it...

S'more Brownies & An Apology

Late nighters are not my thing. Procrastination typically is not either. However, after an amazing weekend with BPG, Brendan and friends I am faced with the dilemma of completing tons of work so I can enjoy my Thanksgiving break, work and stress free.  I understand that many folks choose to catch up over Thanksgiving break as they prepare for the final weeks of school but I prefer to relax, eat turkey, be merry and prepare for the upcoming holiday season. 

That being said, I may not be around as much as usual but I do hope you tune into reading whenever I am able to post. Don't lose faith in me just yet folks, I'm still here.

To keep up with a little posting I am taking a break, aka procrastinating, from reading about Managed Care and HMOs. Fun reading? No.  At least I was able to push through 6 out of the 10 pages for my paper that is due Friday!

If you're missing summer at all, try these:

S'more Fudge Bomb Brownies

Once you try one you'll want Some-more. haha, yeah I really am that pathetic. Seriously though, these babies

Ingredients

1 Brownie Mix (I chose Ghireadelli Double Chocolate!)

1 Package of Graham Crackers

Large Marshmallows

3 Hershey's Bars (Dark Chocolate)

1. Bake Brownies in a 8x8 pan, use the instructions on mix to do this.  If you prefer taking the time for homemade brownies all the more power to you

Options:

2a. After brownies are fully cooked, remove from oven and place hershey's bars on top. Top these with Marshmallow so that entire surface is covered. Place in oven on top shelf & broil on high until browned! **This method causes chocolate bars to melt into brownie while browning the marshmallow, creates a very oozy gooey "fudgey" brownie.  May require refrigeration!!

OR

2b. Remove brownies from oven and place marshmallow on top so that the entire surface is covered.  Place in oven on top shelf & broil on high until browned (2-3 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled remove from pan, add chocolate and graham cracker!

I went with the first plan and the result was an ooey gooey Fudge Bomb of a S'more Brownie!

They look like perfectly cooked marshmallows from your bonfire!

Cut and enjoy! For added yumminess I added a graham cracker to the bottom of each so that you could eat it as a real s'more. I am addicted.

I cannot give full credit to these since I tried my first S'more brownie in the Adirondacks with Brendan this summer. Jo Jo of course great a great meal for the weekly Saturday picnic and included these as dessert!

Caramel Corn

I never really took much liking to Caramel Corn until I came across this recipe by How Sweet It Is which incorporated any and all favorite halloween candy.  I immediately fell in love.  What a triumph to make my own caramel and turn it into an ooey gooey popcorn treat?

I made this last week but am just posting now since it was a secret santa sort of gift for my Baller-ina.  (Baller-ina's are secret gift givers to get all of BPG pumped for the big semester show.)

Check out the recipe over at How Sweet It Is and give it a try.

For the candy I chose Crunch Bars, Kit Kat, Snickers and Milkyway. The different chocolatey textures really added to the whole mix.

I also figured I should throw in some of my nutrition interest when I recognized this new "easy read" label. It breaks down the main nutritional values for you in big bold print. Makes me not want to eat this candy anymore!

Light Corn Syrup. An evil enemy. This stuff is ridiculously sticky and thick. yuck! Sure does make a good caramel when mixed with butter and brown sugar though!

Finally, mix everything in together and volia! Caramel corn :)