Share your chicken and veggie recipes

Kerri asked for recipes on her blog. I decided to pick some of our favorite, easy recipes. Kerri mentioned that she liked chicken and veggies, so the recipes I picked revolved around that theme.I am using MckLinky for the first time and hopefully I won't be left looking lonely and pitiful. ;) Link up and share some of your favorite chicken and/or veggie recipes!

Baked Chicken
1 or 2 chicken breasts
Barbeque Sause or Italian Dressing

This recipe works well with either "marinades". It all depends on what you are in the mood for.
Preheat the oven to 450, cover chicken with sauce of choice(optional: add water for the BBQ), cover with aluminum foil and bake until chicken is cooked(approx. 30-40 minutes).

SO easy!

Roasted root veggies


3 large carrots, cut on the bias
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut on the bias
1/4 cup asparagus (about 4 stalks)
1 small onion
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 5 minutes. 
6. On a baking sheet, toss all the vegetables in the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add to the oven and roast for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring midway through baking. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Easy, delicious and healthy! Since I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago, I have eaten this 2-3 times a week. And now I think I want this for dinner. Ha


Chicken Rice Casserole

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
3/4 cup rice, long grain - raw
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp Italian Dressing
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Combine the two soups in a medium casserole dish. Add 1/4 cup water and the rice. Blend well. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Pour Italian dressing over chicken. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover and back in a 350 degree over for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and brown 15 minutes more. 
  
This is a large recipe but it makes for GREAT leftovers. One of the few leftovers that I can actually get T to eat. Ha

Chicken Stir Fry 
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts
 Teryaki Sauce to taste
 1-2 cups rice
Olive Oil
Veggies

Choose whatever veggies you would like and cut them into small, bite sized pieces.  
 Cut chicken into small pieces. Cook in oil. Remove chicken. 
Add veggies and cook. 
Add cooked chicken and sauce and continue cooking. 
Serve with prepared rice. 

I have started using brown rice whenever we have rice. I like the Minute Rice Ready to Serve bowls and I am going to try the boil in a bag brown rice. For SUPER QUICK AND EASY Stir-Fry for 1 person, try I ReadyServe bowl of rice, 1 box Green Giant Immunity Veggies and Low Sodium Teryaki Sauce to taste. Yum!

Chicken Bake

1-2 Boneless Skinless chicken breasts
2 potatoes - peeled and sliced
4-5 carrots peeled and cut
green beans - 1 can
italian dressing - low fat, 1/4 bottle

Spread chicken in the bottom of a baking dish.  Put potatoes, carrots, and green beans on top of steak.  Pour italian dressing over the top of the vegetables.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour, until potatoes and carrots are done.

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Scents of Walt Disney World

What are your favorite scents from Disney World?


I follow WDW Daily News on twitter and saw that they had updated a post on WDW Central that immediately caught my attention: Top 5: Scents of Disney World. 
I have always been one to associate scents with good memories and it always seems to make them more distinct. One smell can send you through a thousand memories. I love it!
These are the Top 5 that they listed on their post.  

5. Spaceship Earth (Burning Rome): A great smell that is distinctly “Disney”. A classic that most can recognize – it had to make this list!


4. Soarin’ (Orange and Pine): Soarin’ is one of my favorite rides ever. And anytime I’m in the “real world” and get a whiff of orange or pine scented air freshner or spray, it instantly takes me to Soarin’.

3. Monorail (Air Conditioner): You know the smell. You are waiting in line for the monorail in the hot Florida heat. The monorail finally pulls up and you enter the wonderful ice-cold monorail car that has that air conditioner-ish smell.

2. Hotel Rooms (Clean scent): You’ve walked up stairs or taken the elevator with luggage. Hunt your room down, and when you find it, you walk in to that clean smelling (most of the time) room that welcomes you to relax and turn on the TV to watch Stacy.

1. Water Rides (Chlorine/Water smell): Any ride that has water: Living with the Land, it’s a small world, Pirates of the Caribbean and the like. Walking into the building that houses the ride, you get closer and closer to the actual attraction and the smell of chlorine in the water lets you know you are there.

Some others that stand out to me...
- Turkey legs
- Smoke from Stitch's Great Escape(a not so pleasant smell, but definitely unique and distinct)
- Stink Bug smell from It's Tough to be a Bug(yet another not so pleasant smell).
- Rock N Roller Coaster - I don't know what the smell is or how to define it... but it has a smell. Yeah. I'm sticking to that.
- Carousel of Progress - Yes, it smells old and musty but I love it anyway. It's like you can smell the history as you go through the different time periods. 
- Apple Pie in Philharmagic - Oh how I love me some Philharmagic.
- The Christmas store smells(Downtown Disney and MK) - It's a deliciously happy cinnamon scent. 
- A Mix of the scents from the Main Street Bakery and the Ice Cream Shoppe. Between the sweets at the bakery and the waffle cones baking - yum!
- Casey's Corner - not sure if the "lovely" scent is the hotdogs or what. But you can definitely smell it on a hot summer day from a mile away. Sadly, it might make you lose your appetite. ;)
- The Grand Floridian - If elegance has a smell, the Grand Floridian has captured it.
- Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom - on a hot summer day wheneveryone everything smells yucky, their food smells so delectable and over powers most of the negative smells.
- Everest - The smell in the queue, most likely from the artifacts and items themselves, and the ride. It's a unique, rustic, almost rusty, smell. 

My goodness, I am sure I could go on and on but that are the first few that struck me. 
It's only been 2 months since we went and I already have Disney fever. Oh. Dear.

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Architectural Project

Project: To take this house and downscale it while still maintaining the architectural detail and integrity of the exterior and the features of the interior.

Sussex house

I will be eliminating the basement entirely because it is supposed to be a house plan that could be used locally. How many basements are there in Mississippi? ;) Plus it will take away a lot of unused square footage. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the back stairs? Take them out completely? Raise them to give access to the second floor? Ideas?

One of the main features I fell in love with was the kitchen/living space. It is large, open and such a good place for a family to gather together.

It is absolutely amazing. Points of interest:
- I like how they added cabinets along most of the walls (look at the 1st and 3rd kitchen pictures).
- Check out the ceiling - I love the wood accents!
- In the first picture you can see a small butler's pantry tucked away to the right side of the stove
- You can't see the pantry too well in the pictures but it is a large walk-in pantry (7'-0" x 7'-0" according to the plan, not square but more triangular because of the wall angles.
- I like the generous size of the bar and island.
- I am definitely keeping the second sink that is by the pantry.

1st floor. Honestly, how many families need 2 2-car garages? ;) Check out the size of the master closet and bathroom. Or the whole master suite for that matter. *sigh*

If you click on the link above it says there are only 2 bedrooms. Yeah, there are definitely 6, including the second master suite. And they aren't small bedrooms either. The second floor also includes a 3rd living area. 

The basement includes a ridiculously large recreation room with full kitchen, a playroom, a 2nd office, a ridiculous amount of unfinished storage and a home theater. How many "real" families actually need all of that? Note that I said need not want. ha

What is your favorite feature of this house? What should I keep and what, other than the obvious, is unnecessary?  

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Parmesian-Basil Tilapia

I knew I wanted something light but flavorful and my first thought was to bake a tilapia filet. We normally take a frozen filet, cover it in lemon pepper and bake for 25-30 minutes. But I wanted something different. And I found it! ;)

I got the recipe from Shape Magazine's website. Since it was just me eating, I halved the recipe with the exception of the olive oil. 
I didn't have any lemons or lemon juice so I passed on their version of the green beans and made my own.

Parmesan-Encrusted Tilapia
4 skinless tilapia fillets (1 pound total)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried basil
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
 
Directions
Preheat the broiler. Cut the tilapia fillets lengthwise into two pieces, then pat dry with a paper towel and season to taste with pepper. In a small bowl, combine basil and Parmesan cheese; set aside. 

Heat olive oil in a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté the fish for 3 minutes or until brown. Flip the fillets over and remove the skillet from heat. Dust the tilapia with the cheese mixture. Place the skillet under the broiler to finish cooking the fish and slightly brown the cheese, about 3 to 4 minutes.

I don't have an ovenproof skillet so I placed it in a baking dish. It adds an extra dish to wash but totally worth it. ;) It was delicious, light and refreshing!

Clegg's Kitchen Green Beans
I love me some green beans. I like them to be flavorful. I suppose you could say I am picky when it comes to my green beans. But I blame it on my mom for making them taste so good. ;)
For every one can of green beans, add one chicken bouillon cube. Sprinkle with onion flakes. Bring all 3 ingredients to a boil. Stir to break up the cubes and reduce heat until ready to serve.
Yum!

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The Day is Here

The day has come for mom and dad's trip to Disney! I feel so giddy and excited, you would think I was the person who was going for the first time. :)
Their plane comes in late tonight, around 10:45pm. So once I get off work tonight, I will go check us into the hotel and make a wal-mart run for mom so that when she gets here she can just relax and enjoy it. I bought cast member lanyards with character pendents for each of the little guys. Winnie picked Lady and the Tramp for her character, Josh picked Goofy, D'Lynn wanted Chip and Dale and Caleb picked Donald. All of the little guys except for Winnie will be getting Disney Dollars as belated/early birthday presents since they have birthdays while Trevor and I are working at Disney.
I am SO excited that I only got a few hours of sleep. And I am cleaning and running around in a frenzy trying to get everything done. Sounds pretty ridiculous, huh?
I am looking forward to having several days off and getting to really enjoy Disney as a guest. I was able to get Friday - Monday off. I am not sure which parks we will be going to each day, I think we are just going to wing it. But, fortunately, we have learned the ins and outs of getting the most out of our time in the parks.
Well, I guess I will go find something to do before I go into work at 11. Hopefully time will fly quickly today at Hollywood Studios so that they will all be here before I know it!

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Family Vacation

Ok, so it really isn't much of a vacation for me... BUT my parents and the lil guys will be coming to Disney World October 16-21(next week!).
I am beyond excited about this for many reasons. The main one being that I miss my family terribly and I can not wait for them to be here and get to see and experience some of the things I experience here everyday. It has been many, many years since my parents came to Disney World(early 1990's) so my younger brothers and sisters haven't gotten to come. That is probably one of the most exciting things in my opinion - getting to be here for their first views of the parks and helping create some of that magic for them. All of us will all be staying at the All-Star Music Resort. We opted for one of the value resorts because with my discount it was $100-$200 less per night than the other places which can accomodate a group of our size. During October they are also doing a special for cast members with the Disney Dining Plan. For adults it is $20.99 per night and somewhat cheaper for children(which Caleb only made by a year). This includes 1 table service meal, a quick service meal, and a snack per day. It's quite a steal considering you can't even eat at a table service restaurant for that price(unless, of course, you are dining on water and appetizers only). So we are VERY excited to be tasting some of the finer foods at Disney.
Here are some of the places we plan on eating:


The Hoop dee Doo Musical Revue! We have category one seats which means we should have a really good view of the stage. I am really excited about this one. :)




Teppan Edo of Japan in Epcot.Goodness knows I love Japanese food!




The Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. Mom and I talked it over and thought it would be fun to do character dining and this is what we ended up choosing. I am even more excited about the fact that I know several people who are "friends with characters" at the Crystal Palace! Which means that I might get pictures with characters that I actually know which is always a fun experience.

We have one more dining reservation but I don't think we have decided what to do with that one yet. We shall see.

Work today was long (10.5 hours) but it went by farely quickly and that always makes work 100% better. Extra magic hours were tonight and I didn't get off until midnight. It is super late and I am headed to bed. Good night!

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Growing

"I'm growing. I don't like it. 
I'm growing, and it hurts. 
I love You, but I'm tired. 
Guess I've got a lot to learn." 
- Growing by Wayne Watson

So much is changing, I don't even know where to begin.

WORKI have officially moved to Hollywood Studios to work in QSR(Quick Service).

CAR
The Patty broke down(yet again) today. We'll find out soon what is going on with it. Since we ride the bus to and from work, it is not as pressing to get it fixed as it would be otherwise. Right now we are just waiting.

SCHOOLI am actually sad that I am not in school for the fall semester. But only a little bit. :)
I miss buying school supplies. For some odd reason, I just LOVE shopping for school/art supplies. But I know I need this break. Hopefully I will be finished with one degree by this time next year if I can get everything scheduled the way I need to. And then I will get to work on my second degree but I think things will be a lot easier once I get that first degree because I will have a (hopefully) better paying job and be able to take my time getting my second degree

ME
I am actually really happy with who I am and where I am. I have been enjoying our days off and having some really amazing dates. After all, we are in the happiest place on earth.
I am finally getting a good balance of work and housekeeping. In fact, I made a wonderful mexican dish tonight and it felt GREAT! I am sick of eating/seeing fast food. I want good home cooking. :)
I have lost weight! I have not gone back to weigh myself since a week or two after we got here... BUT I have dropped several sizes and lost a good many inches on my waist. I feel so much more comfortable with myself and in my own skin. I have always felt very self-conscious about my weight, especially when both of my older sisters are very slim. But I lost the weight and I am still eating good food. Strangely enough, all of this was without working out. I simply "slimmed down" my portion sized and chose to eat a little bit better. I haven't had time to workout with the way we have been working 50+ hours a week but the busy pace and the work has helped me slim down.

FRIENDS
This is an area of my life that is really weighing on me right now. While I want friends, and I know that I need girl friends to hang out with and talk with, I am at a different point in my life than most girls in my life. I have learned that there are many types of friendship. Friends for a Lifetime. Friends for a Reason. Friends for a Season.
I miss my "normals". The group of girls from Pinelake that I was constantly with during high school. These girls have been such a support to me through everything and though we don't talk every day and we don't all get to see each other very much, whenever we do hang out it is like we have never skipped a beat. That is the type of friendship I need. These are the Lifetime type of Friendships.
I miss my Alpha Delta Pi girls. These ladies made my last year at USM bearable. I hated USM before but once I met these girls I finally felt comfortable and had a sense of belonging on that campus. But very few of them talk to me. I understand the distance... but somehow I feel so excluded from everything that is going on with them now. They all bonded during sisterhood week and then recruitment... now they are all going back to school while I am here in Florida. I think that this group of friends could both qualify as friends for a Reason or a Season with a few sticking out into the Lifetime category. I will never regret joining a sorority and it was great while it lasted. I wish it had lasted longer, but like I have said before, I feel like I am at a different point in my life than most people my age.
I am making some wonderful friends here but I know that most likely they will all only be friends for a Season. After all, several have already left and the rest of us will part ways before the month is out or in January. It's hard but definitely worth the friendships that are formed. I will never forget the ICPs that I worked with in Tomorrowland. I miss the Europeans and their lovely accents. But the people I will miss the most are "my" Chinese girls. These girls have endeared themselves to me in a way that few people ever have in my life. They are truly kindred spirits who I have waited my whole life to meet. And I have already shed a few tears over them leaving though they aren't leaving until the 22nd/29th. *sigh* Such a struggle. I am not the type to distance myself or miss out on meeting people and becoming friends. But it is hard knowing you will have to leave them in a short time. It isn't like college where you will be with the same people for the majority of your college career. It has definitely been a learning and growing experience.

I think that is enough rambling for today...
I am growing, things are changing... It's life :)

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