It's been a while....

So it's been a while since I last blogged.  What can I say...when it rains, it pours.  When I started this blog my plate was maybe a quarter full.  Now....even though it is not nearly full.... it is substantially fuller then it was when I started.  Speaking of raining....It looked like this today...

Not only was it raining...it was sleeting.  It's almost April in case you were wondering.

I decided to make one of my all time favorite "gross disgusting cold rainy/sleeting day" meals.  Chicken Pot Pie!  I've tried several recipes and created my own recipe from those.....here it is.....

1.   Chop up 2 pieces of celery, 2 carrots, and 1/2 onion.  Throw into a pot coated with olive oil and cook on medium heat until soft.

To slice up the celery and carrots, I use my hand held slicer.  I bought it from Home Goods and it has changed my life.  I think it was a whopping $3.00.  If you see one...buy it.  You won't regret it.

2. Add 2 tablespoons all purpose flour.

3.  Stir and let simmer for about a minute.  It will become very thick and pasty.  After stirring, add frozen peas (quantity based on how much you like peas).

4.  Add half a box of Swanson's chicken stock (it's sooooo good!)

5.  Let simmer for a few minutes.  If it's too thin, add a mixture of cornstarch and chicken stock. During this stage, add shredded chicken (not pictured...sorry...).   After letting it simmer for a few minutes, pour mixture into a pie dish.

6.  Cover pie dish with refrigerated pie crust.  I used Pillsbury because it was on sale....and also because it's delicious.

7.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until pie crust is golden brown.

8.  Refrain from eating right out of the oven because this stuff is HOT!  Let sit for a few minutes and then enjoy!!!!!

~Ashley

Chicken Bundles

As a quick preface.....

Last Sunday, my amazing friend made dinner for us.  She cooks every single night as part of her job and still decided to cook for us on her time off.  She made us Chicken Bundles and they were beyond delicious.

Back to present time now......

Today I arrived home, placed my shoes in my shoe basket (it's part of an organization thing that sometimes works) and heaved a sigh of relief.  I love the feeling of coming home.  Every time I walk through my door I thank God for providing me with such a wonderful home.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job.  Home just has a wonderful homey feeling that nothing else compares to.  Coming home today was even better because it has been a crazy stressful two weeks and my husband comes home early on Wednesdays.  As I settled into my afternoon routine of reading my mail coupons and deciding whether I should run or sit on the couch and read blogs (guess which one I chose...), dinner started poking its way into my mind.  I love to cook and usually dinner is way to wind down but tonight I just wasn't feeling it.  That's when an amazing thought passed my mind.  My friend made too much of the filling for the chicken bundles and she saved it so we could make more later.....what an amazing revelation.  Chicken bundles are savory goodness wrapped up in a crescent roll and they taste like heaven.  I don't have the recipe she used but there are tons of recipes online.  Also, my camera battery is dead so I pulled up an online picture.  Prepare for your mouth to water....

(Photo Credit: Google images)

Such an easy delicious meal.  Enjoy!

~Ashley

Smothered Pork Chops

I never ate pork chops a child.  Nothing against them, we just never ate them.  As I became older, I kept hearing people rave about pork chops.  I found it odd that people ate pork just like they would eat chicken or steak.  I only ate pork in bbq and on new years eve (my moms slow cooker pork and sauerkraut is amazing).  One day I was casually browsing various internet blogs when I found a posting for "low country smothered pork chops".  This casual finding is one that has changed my life.  This recipe is amazing....simply delicious.  I'd say it's one of my "last 5 meals of my life" recipes.  You need to make it soon...real soon.

1. Cut up one large green bell pepper and one sweet onion.  Put them to the side.

2.  Mix together flour, onion powder, garlic powder and salt.  Dredge pork chops in flour and put on a separate plate.

(This pork chop is HUGE compared to normal ones.  They were on sale so that's what I used.  I love leftovers so it works.)

3.  Place pork chops in a heated cast iron pan.  Brown on both sides.

4.  Put browned pork chops aside and place onions and peppers in the pan.

5.  Add garlic and let cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  I always buy chopped garlic.  It's fast and honestly I don't notice much of a difference.

6.  Push peppers and onions to the side and add pork chops back to the pan.  Place onions and peppers on top of the pork chops.

7.  Pour in half a box of chicken stock and 4-5 dashes of worcestershire sauce.  Cover with tin foil and cook on medium low for 45 minutes.

8.  Serve over rice or noodles.

9.  ENJOY!!!

~Ashley

A Love Hate Relationship

I have always wanted to become a runner.  You know...the cool people in the cute sports clothes happily jogging along the road.  I see them and secretly wish I was that cool person in the cute sports clothes happily jogging along the road.  The problem is...I am not a runner.  It's no secret.  I think it began in 7th grade.  I ate a huge pancake breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes) before the mile run and then tried to get my fastest time.  I won't go into details but lets just say it was not a pretty site.  To this day I will not eat anything before I exercise.  I've gotten over my embarrassment of puking on the track during my adolescent years and my desire to run has returned.  I started in the fall but stopped in the winter because I didn't want to break a limb slipping on ice (I'm clumsy).  I started back about two weeks ago.  The routine goes something like this.

I put Dexter's harness on.  He's usually waiting by the door.

(Notice the broken blinds?...........I love my dog..........)

I steal my husbands running shoes.

I take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm not in 7th grade anymore....

And then I head out.

I'm finally getting to the point where I look forward to my run after work.  By no means am I jumping for joy because I get to go running. It's more of an end of the work day routine.  Unfortunately getting used to running takes a while....I'm still out of breath.

~Ashley

Fridays

My coffee was delicious this morning and it didn't burn my mouth for the first time all week.  I graded and entered all of my students papers.  My favorite song came on the radio on my way home from work and I sang loud with the windows open.  I ran with my dog and didn't keel over after 30 seconds.  I came home to this....

........a clean kitchen.   Also.....it's FRIDAY!  I hope your day has been splendid!

~Ashley

Thunderstorms...

Two days ago, this popped up on the weather channel.

I am terrified of thunderstorms.  Not in a "oh they scare me so I'm just going to stay inside" kind of way.  I'm talking shaking in my boots boo hooing like a 3 year old.  In college, I was stuck inside of a mall during a HUGE thunderstorm and hid in the racks of clothes (I wish I was making this up).  On my flight back from Kenya, we landed in a lightning storm and I had my first hysterical melt down.  Yes...I was that crazy lady on the plan shaking and crying and screaming that I was never leaving the ground again...ever.  Needless to say, thunderstorms bother me.  Two days ago...the news got worse.

Now I may be terrified of thunder storms, but I am petrified of tornadoes.  They haunt my nightmares.  No joke.  Just last week I was sucked into oblivion by a tornado that hit my apartment complex (in my dreams of course).  In high school I saw a funnel cloud and nearly fainted while driving.

Is my fear rational?....No.  Is it annoying?.....yes.  During all of this, I was at school.  While at school I take the responsibility of watching over my 90 some students.  It is a bit difficult to act like a grown up when you feel sick to your stomach watching the clouds get darker...and darker...and darker.  One of my students asked me if I liked thunderstorms.  I quickly replied NO.  They then said their sister was scared of thunderstorms as well.  I said their sister and I had that in common.  They said their sister was 3.  I didn't feel any better.  Where does this fear come from?  I have no idea.  I can only hope that I will "grow" out of it.  Thankfully, 3 hours later it looked like this outside.

Stupid Thunderstorms.

~Ashley