Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started off with me being by myself since Ben was out of town (at a Bible Bowl tournament since they needed a male chaperone), so I went to church and out to lunch with my parents and Jenn and Scott. I had already planned to make dinner for Ben since he was getting home around 5, so before the service started I put a note in his car at church (he left it there before going out of town) in the morning that said, "Roses are red, violets are blue, I've made something delicious for you!" Just thought I'd get him wondering what was for dinner :) No fancy presents to each other this year, trying to stick to a budget.

I went home and began making pizza dough for the chicken alfredo pizza so that it would have time to rise. I started off trying to document the meal for you, but sort of forgot after I made the dough...oh well. Here is the dough (recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/herbed-pizza-dough/): start off with 1 cup warm water and 1 packet of dry active yeast. Let it set until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, olive oil, and seasonings (I didn't have "Italian seasoning" so instead used oregano, thyme, and basil):

Next, I added the 2 cups of flour, which starts off looking like too much...

...but eventually starts coming together.

Added the next cup of flour 1/2 cup at a time. At this point, it wasn't really sticking together, but was dry and flaky. The recipe said to add water a little at a time if it gets like this. I ended up adding a couple tablespoons at first, just until it all stuck together. After letting the mixer run awhile (gotta love the KitchenAid dough hook!), I tried stretching the dough like the recipe says. It would just tear apart instead of being stretchy and translucent. I let it mix for a few more minutes, but still, it wouldn't stretch. I decided I needed more water. I would say by the time I was done, I had added about 1/2 cup more water than the original 1 cup. But after the extra water and mixing, the dough was perfect and stretchy! I rolled it in a ball...

...coated it lightly in olive oil, covered, and let sit for a little over an hour to rise.

In the meantime, I cubed up some chicken breasts, coated with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and basil, stirred it up...

...and let it sit and marinate awhile.

Back to the dough. I didn't take a picture of the risen dough, but this is how it looked after splitting it in two and rolling it out into pizzas:

Already looks yummy! I pinched around the edges to make a little bit of a crust. Sorry to those who wanted me to make the pizzas heart-shaped :)

I pretty much stopped with the pictures at this point until the finished product.

The base of the pizza was alfredo, which I made from this recipe http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1855,140166-232207,00.html and it turned out really delicious and creamy and garlicy! I cooked the chicken, cooked some bacon and crumbled up after cooling, and cut up some roasted red peppers from a jar. Then I put a little olive oil in a pan, minced up some garlic and browned it, then added the chicken, bacon, and red peppers to the pan just to get it all mixed up with the garlic.

I brushed the dough with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, and put in a 475 degree oven for about 3 or 4 minutes (I didn't time it, just put it in a few minutes before putting the toppings on just to keep it from being too doughy). Then I coated the dough with the alfredo, poured on all the toppings I had cooked in the pan, sprinkled with red pepper flakes, loaded on tons of fresh baby spinach (it wilts down), smothered it in mozzarella cheese, and added a little bit of feta cheese on top as well. Back in the oven, and about 5 or 6 minutes later when the cheese was golden brown, I took it out...and oh baby...

I have never made such good pizza!! I think this would also be great with some pepperoncinis and olives, but Ben's not big on either of those so I left them off.

I made the easiest dessert- peanut butter crackers (at least the ones for Ben I used peanut butter- but I did mine first, the stacked up ones in the back using sunbutter since I can't eat peanut butter, and sunbutter uses sunflower seeds and is a great substitute!)...

...melted white chocolate (used half a pack of almond bark for the 16 crackers I made- heated chocolate 1 minute in glass bowl in microwave, stirred, heated another minute, and it was melted just right)...

...and dipped the crackers to coat!

Easy as can be and so delicious! Put them on wax paper to dry. I dipped mine first so they wouldn't be contaminated with Ben's peanut butter. Then with the little bit of white chocolate left, I mixed in some red food coloring, put in a ziplock baggy with the corner snipped off, and decorated Ben's cookies (left mine white so we could tell them apart).

Yes, it looks like a 2 year old decorated them, but the chocolate was hardening in the baggy and I could barely get it to squirt out- except, of course, when it squirted out onto the cabinet and floor...

Yummy...needless to say, a day later, it's all gone (except I have a few cookies left)! I didn't make as many cookies as Ben would normally like, but I was trying not to overdo it since he's on a diet.

Ben didn't forget me either...he bought me 2 boxes of my favorite girl scout cookies- Samoas!

He knows what I like :) Funny how on a budget, we both went with food as our gifts...guess that's what we like the best!

Showerless

Well, I didn't shower today...and by that I mean the baby shower I was throwing Emma had to be cancelled! Around 11 last night, Emma called- she and Shanon had been in the car since 4:30 and still hadn't even gotten out of Georgia!! With the bad weather and traffic, they knew there was no way they could make it to Louisville for the shower the next morning. We were both really disappointed, but there was nothing else we could do.

But gosh darn it, I was all ready to blog about this shower...so I'm blogging anyway. :) Here is the cake I ordered, which is the cutest thing I've ever seen:

One layer is italian cream cake, and the other layer is strawberry (thought pink on the inside was a cute idea). Deena is going to Atlanta next weekend for another shower for Emma, so I froze the cake and she will take it with her then. Glad it isn't going to waste...hope it tastes okay after being frozen!

I ordered the cake to match the theme I had picked out on the shower invitations:

The girl I ordered the cake from had sent me some pictures of cakes she had done in the past. I chose the cake I did since it reminded me of the invitation, but I had her make the colors pink and gray, since those are Emma's baby room colors. I also had her change the pregnant girl on top to have a hot pink purse and shoes, to match the invitations. I think it turned out just darling!

On the bright side, I got some stuff cleaned up around the house, got some pictures hung, and have plenty of food to eat at home while Ben is gone!

Lake Tahoe

Ben and I just had a wonderful vacation skiing in Lake Tahoe! Ben's dad Carl took us. We left Thursday morning and got out there by around 2:00 Nevada time. We took a limo from the airport to the hotel, about an hour and a half ride...starting the trip off right!

The ski lifts are only open from 9am-4pm, so by the time we got to our hotel it was already too late to ski. Instead, we went to the ski rental shop, picked up our skis for the next 2 days, and headed to dinner at a nice restaurant in our hotel called Friday Station. I had horseradish encrusted salmon on a lemon caper sauce with rice pilaf and steamed veggies - it was awesome!

Ben had a filet with king crab legs, which he gave a 10 out of 10!

Carl had chicken lyon with a mushroom sauce, but I didn't get a picture. We also started off with a crab artichoke dip appetizer that was yummy, so needless to say we were stuffed by the end of that meal!!

There isn't much to do in Tahoe except for ski, so after dinner we pretty much just went back to the room, watched a movie (The Invention of Lying- funny idea and some funny parts, but also sacrilegious we thought so I wouldn't see it if you haven't already!), and went to bed.

Friday we got up bright and early and had a hearty breakfast at another restaurant in the hotel. Ben and I put on our multiple layers of clothing, our ski gear, and headed to the gondola, only a couple blocks over from where we were staying. This was my first time skiing in my life, but at this point my first impression was "these boots are really hard to walk in" and "this is so annoying having to lug all this stuff over here"!

The gondola ride up was about 2.5 miles long (at least that's what I heard someone say), so it was a decent ride and the view was gorgeous!!

At the top, Ben helped me get my skis on and we poled over to the ski lift. When we got off the lift at the top, things were already looking good when I was able to get off, make a wedge with my skis, and come to a stop without falling. Ben proceeded to give me the details on how to go left and right (which I had also looked up on youtube before coming...yes, I'm a dork like that), which we practiced on a tiny slope a few times before moving on to the official green slope. I was doing good so far and Ben was really impressed! The green slope was hard at first, and I fell down several times just learning to balance and go back and forth without picking up too much speed. Going too fast would also make me fall down out of fear and not knowing how else to slow down. The hardest part was standing back up after falling!

After a few runs on the green, I was making it down without falling, so Ben left me to practice and went on to a blue run. Ben grew up skiing, so of course he's great at it! He came back after a while to get me, and talked me into going up to the blue run since the scenery was so beautiful. I agreed, feeling pretty confident after the green run going so well (I'm in the red coat in the picture below).

Yes, the scenery up there was gorgeous...

...but after only skiing for about 2 hours, I don't think I was quite ready for the blue!! I freaked out and was really scared the whole way down, but only fell a few times and Ben was really proud of me for doing it.

We breaked for lunch after the blue, and we ate the sandwiches we had packed (we had gotten them from the place we ate breakfast) and Ben had been carrying around all day in a little backpack, saving us lots of money on the overpriced food on the mountain! After lunch, I was feeling really annoyed at the idea of having to ski again, so I told Ben I'd just sit there a while and he could ski. He kept coming back to check on me, but I never wanted to go back out, so I ended up going in a little hut they had there and getting hot chocolate and waiting. Ben did some more blues and a black diamond, so he had a blast!

When we went back to the hotel, Carl was surprised that I could ski at all since he was convinced that I would go all day and not be able to ski 20 ft. without falling over. For dinner we went to the same place we did the night before, where I got a salad with pomegranate seeds and some other fruits I didn't recognize, and a seafood pasta (no pictures this time). Ben got a ribeye and loved it even more than the filet the night before. Carl got french onion soup and the crab artichoke dip. Again, we were all stuffed! We went back to the room and watched the movie Love Happens. It was really cheesy and Carl made fun of it the whole time, which was hilarious!

Day two was about the same as day one. I was much better at skiing that day, went down the green all morning alone while Ben skied on the harder slopes, and I didn't fall a single time. I felt brave enough to try the blue again, so we went up there. I was much better than the day before, but still fell a few times. I was glad we had done it once the day before because this day it was snowing the whole day and you couldn't see the view at all! We did the blue run again, and I made it the whole way down without falling. However, at this point, my legs were burning like crazy after that run, I didn't know what to do since I had no desire to do the green again and no desire to do the blue either, so I left Ben out there again and this time just went back to the hotel. Carl and I had lunch, then Carl went to the lobby to watch a ball game and I took a nap until Ben got back. We had a buffet dinner, which I was pleased had sushi on it, and went back to the hotel room for a good conversation before heading off to bed. We had to get up at 3am the next morning to get to the airport on time for our flight, so we just went to bed early.

This was a wonderful trip!! Ben LOVES skiing and had a great time, although he thinks he would enjoy it more with someone who could do the black slopes with him. I was happy that I was able to ski, but decided that I don't enjoy it...too much work, too much pain, and too much snow!!! Still loved the trip, the experience, the great food, and hanging out with Carl though. Thanks, Carl, for a great weekend!

By the way, to see some more pictures, check out the Lake Tahoe link to the top right under Picture Gallery!

January Dinner Party

For Christmas, Jenn and Scott gave me and Ben 12 bottles of wine, one for each month, and a scrap book Jenn made of recipes she picked out to pair with the wine each month. Can you say freaking creative and awesome Christmas gift?! So Sunday night we had Jenn and Scott over to enjoy the January recipe and wine with us. The wine was a type of white wine cava called Brut Reserva (I remember having cava in Barcelona- it is a wine from Spain).

Look at the cute little ring Jenn made for the top of the wine bottle! The tablescape was blues and yellows. Couldn't wait to use my china and the cute little blue dishes Carl and Deena got me for Christmas!

Jenn made the cutest little recipe booklet...

The menu for January was lemon-paprika tilapia with potato-rutabaga mash. The sauce that you make to pour over the fish is made with the white wine, which makes the wine pair so nicely with the meal. I also made roasted asparagus and cherry tomatoes with a honey-citrus dressing.

I had never cooked fresh fish before (I know, how sad is that?), but my first attempt turned out great! I hate to brag, but everyone gave the meal a 10 out of 10. :) With dinners like this, I can't wait 'til February!

Yes, Food

I made a couple meals this week that were worthy of a blog post. Wednesday night, I made turkey burgers from the most amazing recipe my sister made up...and I must say, they turned out great! The turkey is mixed with spinach, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives (although I didn't have those), garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, egg, and bread crumbs, then made into patties and cooked in a pan with some olive oil. Then you toast the bun, and slather it with mayo mixed with basil, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper, then top the burger with feta cheese. Wow...you must try this!!! I also made a pasta salad with cheese tortellini, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and italian dressing. My sister had made a blog post about making a warm slaw with cabbage, apples, vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and garlic...she didn't give amounts though, so I just made something similar. It turned out delicious...not as colorful as hers, though, since I just used green cabbage instead of purple.

Tonight, I made turkey noodle soup with the turkey stock I made and froze after Christmas. We froze some turkey, too, so I got that out and mixed in some carrots, celery, garlic, roasted red peppers, and noodles. Yummy!

To go with the soup, I chopped the top off of some garlic, drizzled with olive oil, salted, covered, and baked until it came out nice and soft.

If you've never had this, it sounds really weird...but the garlic actually becomes really soft, and the flavor really mild, not a harsh garlic flavor at all. You just plop the cloves right out...

...and they spread like butter on the bread.

The only problem is, I now have tons of garlic left over! Guess I made a little too much...anyone know any good roasted garlic recipes???

IUS

Tonight I started my first class at Indiana University Southeast (campus in New Albany) toward my MBA. Actually, I signed up for the joint masters program, so I am actually going for an MBA (business administration) and an MSSF (strategic finance). I don't even want to go back to school, so why am I putting myself through even more?? I can't really tell you why...I'm a glutton for punishment, I suppose. It's only 5 more classes to get the MSSF as well, so I figured, eh, I could squeeze that into a spring and summer semester, so why no go an extra half a year for another degree? Remind me of this 2 years from now when I can be done with my MBA and don't care anymore about a second degree...

Thoughts on my first class (international environmental analysis): teacher is friendly, small class, I have to do a group project with a few other girls that all seem pretty nice, homework seems manageable...overall, not bad. Hopefully my managerial economics class on Thursday goes as well.

Thoughts on the campus: parking is nice because it is right on campus, but it is definitely limited!! I parked really far away from my class since that was all that was left, so that was pretty annoying. Campus is pretty small though, so I think I'll like it.

New Year's Resolutions

I made a post about New Year's Resolutions last night. This morning, I remembered to listen to a Dave Ramsey clip on making resolutions per the advice of Ben's siblings, and after I did I deleted my post on New Year's resolutions. My resolutions were good resolutions, but they did not follow the criteria set forth by Dave Ramsey in that they were not specific and measurable enough, so I decided to re-evaluate.

Dave Ramsey says you should make the following goals:

1. Career

2. Financial

3. Spiritual

4. Physical

5. Intellectual

6. Family

7. Social

He also says that your goals should be:

1. Specific

2. Measurable

3. Yours

4. Within a time limit

5. In writing

Dave Ramsey said that you are not the exception to the rule. This is the way that successful people evaluate their lives and make changes and so should you! Do this and you will see results!

And by "you" I mean "I" as well! Therefore, I changed my resolutions to be specific and measurable, I set dates for when I wanted these things to be accomplished, and I wrote them down. These resolutions now seem a lot more personal than they did before...but I don't mind sharing a few of them with you anyway:

Career goal- to take and pass at least 2 out of 4 sections of the CPA exam by year-end

Spiritual goal- to read the Bible at least 10 minutes every day

Physical goal- to finish the mini-marathon in Louisville in April

Intellectual goal- to pass at least 15 credit hours toward my MBA by year-end

I hope that helps and encourages some of you to set very specific resolutions this year. To hear Dave Ramsey talk about it, click on this link: http://a1611.g.akamai.net/f/1611/23575/9h/dramsey.download.akamai.com/23575/audio/mp3/mydrs_blog/01072009_goal_train.mp3