Finally something new???.....not so much

So, quite obviously, I have not been posting to my blog...actually I haven't posted since 2010. * awkward pause* so now I will give you a set of excuses that 'kept me from this' including (but not limited to) : I'm a full time student!!! I work 20+ hours a week!!! I need to have me time!!! OK, now that thats done let me be frank...I am failing as a housewife! And mostly for lack of trying. Although truly, the 'roles' in our house have shifted a little so its not entirely my fault! Jon is now home almost every day and I'm at work or school everyday so it just makes sense that he would cook...after all he's home and he's a heck of a lot better than I am! But no more excuses. Soon (hopefully, fingers crossed) Jon will be working more, I'll be working less and the whole "make dinner, keep the house clean, etc" will fall onto my (slightly unwilling) shoulders. So I better get started. I have a few home type projects I want to do over the next few weeks (which would be incredible if I did, seeing as how they've been on my to-do list since mid-July) and I am going to give it my all to complete said tasks. Ok, maybe give it 85% of my all for the first few days...I'm trying here!! So the list is as follows
1. My neighbor threw a shelving unit away (in the summer, its been in my closet ever since) and the shelves are in good condition, aside from the paint. They are half pepto-bismol pink and half lavender. Not exactly the easiest color scheme to work with. So the plan is to sand these down (only if absolutely necessary) and repaint them black. maybe even do a shiny/lacquer type coat...but I don't want to get ahead of myself here, after all I do have a few more projects in the works. So paint shelves. easy right? Lets hope so.
2. I have a calendar of Marilyn Monroe pictures. I am completely obsessed with her....ok obsessed may be a bit dramatic, but I do like her. so I want to put these pictures (the good ones) in black frames and make a sort of Marilyn collage (with a few other selected pictures) to hang up. Maybe in the bedroom so people don't think I'm too weird...then again I am posting this on the world wide web so maybe the living room would work... either way....cut out pictures, put in frames. Easy.
3. This should be the simplest of them all. I have an old expo white board from work and I want to paint it over with chalk board paint. I figure, the board was free, the paint's like 8 bucks and the kids would loooove it! Grandmas chalkboard is a hit, so I should have one..right? This should easily qualify as the quickest task...so maybe this one first?
4. The most difficult, and the one that will probably take more than a few weeks to finish.... I found a couch on the side of the road (this side of the road thing is becoming a pattern....come to my house sometime and ask what furniture I "found"). Anyway, the couch has a beautiful frame and is very 'sitting room in France circa 1930' (actually google '1930 couch' and you'll know what I'm talking about). The only (minor) problem with this couch is the fabric is a little worn. So I want to reupholster is. *GASP* (Sorry, the sheer magnitude of this project just hit me....). This is the task I am looking forward to the most/dreading more than all the others. It will take a lot of time but I feel like the end result will be so rewarding!! I can say "like that couch? yeah I did that". I'm going to qualify this one as too difficult to focus on but has a promising future.
So people, there is my (some of it at least) to do list home wise. Hopefully this weekend I can start on some of the projects. I'll post before (because i know your dying to see the pastel splashed shelves) and after (because I want to prove I can reupholster a couch) shots. Wish me luck!!! The adventure begins.

Dinner: Chicken Fajitas

 The adventure I have embarked on is, so far, going quite well. While I am not to the point of making dinner every night, I am making an effort! And you know what they say, A for effort! Anyways, I made a delish meal the other night and thought I would share because, after all, that is what this blog if all about! So on Friday night I tackled chicken fajitas. Anyone who has ever been to Chipotle knows the overwhelming deliciousness of the massive burrito and, as my husband is a huge fan, I figured what better meal was there to make? Speaking of Jon loving this meal, I thought i would let you all know that he was literally jumping up and down while I was making this! Something about fajitas brings out his inner 12 year old. Well, after that little tidbit, here is the recipe. I followed it pretty closely, though at the request of Jon, I added a few more peppers and onions. The seasoning turned out PERFECT! Just the right amount of spicy, and those of you who know me know that I do not like spicy! But they ended up being enough for Jon, who thoroughly enjoys the spicier things in life. And, with a little (ok ALOT of) sour cream, were mild enough for me! So, while you can always click on the 'recipe' link and find out what I did, I figured it would be much better to read on and see how I made this fantastic dinner.

For the seasoning I followed the recipe perfectly. I am no Rachel Ray so I figured, when it comes to mixing spices, I stick with the professionals. Just to reiterate, it was awesome! It smelled as good as it tasted! Anyways, I chopped up a green yellow and orange pepper, mostly because Jon just thought it was a grand idea. I also added about half an onion and then 2 chicken breast cut into strips. The cutting of the chicken into little strips was, by far, the worst and most annoying part of this entire recipe. (mental note: try to find pre-cut chicken...) Then I threw it all together (seasoning included) and let it sit for a good 20 minutes while I made the rice. I just used a box of spanish rice, but it did call for me to chop up a whole tomato so I figured it slightly qualified as 'housewifey'. Then I put the peppers/chicken/seasoning in a REALLY hot skillet, and when I say really hot, I mean seriously....it smoked for a second when everything went in. I let it sizzle for about twice the time the recipe called for, mostly because raw chicken freaks me out and I did triple the amount of peppers called for. Anyways, it turned out fabulous. I warmed tortillas, had some shredded cheese and sour cream out and Jon and I had quite the feast!

What a shame this picture isn't scratch and sniff!

Yummy spanish rice

make your own burrito....(not offered at Chipolte) :)

Had trouble closing this one!

All in all it was a delicious meal and, from Jon's reaction, I have a feeling I will be making much more of this. Check back soon for my next adventure!!!!

tip: koolaid clean :)

Found a cheap easy way to clean up all that grimy buildup in your dishwasher!!Kool Aid!!! who knew that a delish drink doubled as a cleaning agent? kind of worrisome that we drink the stuff...oh well, check it out!!!  clean your dishwasher with kool aid!

Random Tip

Fantastic website... Pure Awesomeness ...type in the ingredients you want to use and those you don't want to use and it gives you recipes!!!
(I cannot take credit for this, it was Amanda's find)

Dinner: Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a bit of a late post, and for that i am sorry. While I am attempting to be an amazing housewife, I don't have the extra time needed to post as much as I would like. Oh well, better late than never! So on Sunday I made dinner and it was WONDERFUL!!!! I made chicken noodle soup in the crock pot! First off, I'd like to give a shout out to the crock pot. Amazing piece of machinery! Such a simple way to make an awesome meal! I had to work on Sunday so I didn't want to come home and rush around trying to make a meal worthy of the ultimate housewife. I didn't use a recipe, just browsed a few recipes to figure out the basics of what I needed and then made it my own! (Speaking of browsing recipes, amazing site for just that: AllRecipes.com) After finding the basic ingredients, and figuring out the cook time, i got started. I had to be at work at 8am on Sunday morning so i decided to get everything done that i could, and then throw it all together before i left. It was perfect! I chopped up all the veggies, cut up the chicken, added some cilantro, and put it in some Tupperware and into the fridge! I even mixed together the broth and seasoning before hand so I literally just had to add it all together in the morning! 

yummy veggies and herbs 

Pre cut chicken

oodles of noodles :)

It was all incredibly simple and honestly, while I was chopping up the veggies, I felt a little like Rachel Ray!!
So basically what I used was:
chicken breast cut into cubes
celery, carrots and onions all chopped
fresh cilantro (a friend recommended it and it worked out perfect)
chicken soup seasoning that I found in my cupboard (which inspired the idea for chicken noodle soup in the first place)
salt/pepper
egg noodles that were (according to my husband) made by the Amish
CROCK POT!

So, as I already said, I got everything ready the night before and went to bed filled with anticipation! Upon waking in the morning, I put everything in the crock pot, turned it on low and left for work. By the time I came home, around 4ish, the house smelled AMAZING and Jon was already asking when it would be done so we could eat it! I added the noodles about and hour before it would be done and waited not so patiently. In all it cooked on low for about 9 hours, and it was the perfect amount of time! The chicken was tender and juicy, the veggies were soft and almost melted in your mouth, and the noodles were perfect and had soaked up some of that delish broth! I also made biscuits, I know they don't really go with chicken noodle soup, but I had just gotten a recipe from my mom and i was dying to try them out!

Mile High Biscuits (courtesy of mom)

The Soup Being Featured in This Post

Jon Enjoying Every Bite

The entire meal was so fantastic that I was shocked it was actually made by me! Surprise! I've got some serious skills! Thank goodness for amazing moms who inspire us to cook fabulous meals! On a unrelated note, I made a dinner menu for the next week and got all the ingredients I need! I am hoping this preemptive action will inspire me to keep this 'housewife-iness' going! We shall see, but for now I have conquered chicken noodle soup a la crock pot and I am actually excited to use some of my new ingredients on my continuing journey! Check back soon to see if this future housewife stays on the right path!

My very first post...

It all started today. After a long trip home from visiting family, I got the crazy idea to do something housewifey. Not quite sure where the idea came from but there it was...so I held on to it and followed through. All this time I had thought that I simply didn't have the 'skills' to be a housewife. I couldn't cook, I despised cleaning and decorating took just to much time and money. But here I was, standing in my kitchen about to embark on a brand new adventure. In all reality, I did have the tools necessary to cook well. My mother, after all, is one of the best cooks out there. I don't remember a night growing up where we didn't have a delicious home cooked meal. Now as an adult I desperately wish I could go back to my childhood and take notes on how one perfected housewifing...after all, I did have one of the best examples. But alas, I didn't, so here I am...forced to begin this in my early 20s, 5 years into my wonderful marriage. I have found, in the last few hours, that I do in fact have that talent of 'throwing dinner together' and this delights me to no end! I have always been jealous of those who can go into a cupboard, find some random ingredients, and make something delicious. My mom of course has this quality, as do a few of my close friends, and now its my turn! I believe all those years growing up, and the last few years around those friends, have finally culminated into the brand new, more housewifey, me! So tonight I took the first step. It was a small one, not much to brag about, but for me it was quite a leap. I went from running out to grab some McDonalds to making a full meal. like I said, I went simple, but after 7 years of fast food, I'd like to think my husband quite appreciated it! It was a simple parmesan chicken with foccacia bread and noodles, but it turned out fantastic. Not much of a recipe to post here, just breaded the chicken breast in a parmesan mix and threw it on the George Foreman for about 15 minutes. The bread actually came from a box (alas, i am not a full blown bread maker as of yet) but turned out quite well! http://www.great-recipes.com/traditional/sundriedtomatocheesefocaccia.html i used some olive oil and garlic salt mix to dip it in and it tasted wonderful! I also did noodles but, on a totally unlike me health kick, I tried whole wheat noodles and they weren't that great. I'm more of a white, starchy, egg noodle type so this was to be expected. In the end, the chicken was amazing and tender, the bread was warm  and soft and the noodles....well they got thrown away. The most amazing part of this whole ordeal? I actually cleaned up after myself when dinner was done. I would say that i am on quite a roll. We will see if this last, but for now, tune in again to see where this adventure takes me next!