Fancy Blog!

Today my blog got a makeover! I love it. Thank you Julie, you are so crafty! :)

The challenge is going pretty well for me so far. I reallly wanted to cheat last night and eat some peanut butter M&M's (sooo good!) but Matt wouldn't let me. He said, he is kind of doing this too and if I ate them in front of him it would be hard for him to resist. I looked at him and smiled for being so great and not letting me. haha So, I didn't cheat. Tanna told me to tell him thank you for her! I'm glad he is much stronger than I am and can really keep me accountable.

I have been spending a lot of time this week with Robin and Adalyn helping her out and keeping her company since right now I am not working. It gets pretty boring at my house (my husband would beg to differ and could probably tell me 10 things I should be doing right now!) BUT spending the days with them is much more FUN! I meant to take my camera over the other day so we could take pictures, but I forgot. Robin always dresses her in the cutest outfits! I will take pictures next time.

Well, I am off to make dinner..

Have a good night friends!

Recipe #1 Spicy Chicken and Bean Salad

Alright ladies and gentlemen, here is my first recipe..It is SO GOOD! Matt LOVES it and I am sure from here on out I will be making it multiple times a month. The best part is, its easy to make! So, here it is.........

Spicy Chicken and Bean Salad
(This recipe usually serves 2-4)

You will need-

2 cups diced chicken

1 can of black beans

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1 Tablespoon Lime juice

1 Medium Avacado

Salad greens (one bag)

Cheddar cheese

For the dressing, you will need-

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Garlic Clove (minced, which is 1/2 teaspoon)

2/3 Cup Olive Oil

Now, what I do is make the dressing FIRST in a small bowl. Then I cover it and put it in the fridge unil I am ready to use it.

Then, I take the chicken (I use frozen) and let it dethaw in a bowl for about 45 minutes in Cold water. (I am giving you a step by step because the first time I made chicken, I had to look up how to cook the chicken! :) Then, I cook the chicken (I cook it in a skillet). I put a small amount of olive oil in the skillet and cook each side for about 7 or 8 minutes each, until I know it is fully cooked.

After you cook the chicken, dice it up. Then, I drain the beans in a strainer and rinse them out.

Mix the chicken, beans and bell pepper, then toss with the lime juice.

Put the salad greens in a large bowl. On top of the salad greens put the chicken, beans and bell pepper you mixed together.

Then, pour the dressing over everything and toss the salad. When you are finished, refridgerate the salad for 1 hour. (I also like to sprinkle the cheese on top!)

Let me know what you think! I love this recipe!!! :)

Sister's

I decided to blog about my sister Audra today because I am really missing her! There is nothing better than sisters. We are best friends. She is one of the only people I can spend every moment of the day with for weeks and not get tired of.

Before the wedding, my sister came and stayed with me for 2 weeks. It was great. We have the same sense of humor, and laugh about everything. We can talk about anything, joke about anything and MOST of the time she won't get mad. The best part is, we get each other. When one is in a bad mood, we know exactly what to do or say to cheer the other up. We like the same things and music. Before the wedding, we would drive in the car together and I would ramble on and on about the wedding and she would listen to everything. I miss her so much some days, especially when I am home alone.

She is hands down THE most beautiful girl I know, yet it doesn't phase her. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a great listener, and believe me..I love to talk!!! When we were younger, she also did everything I told her to do! hahah that made for some goooood times! I thank God every day for giving me a sister. There is nothing better. What a blessing! :) I have never found anything stronger than the bond between me and my sister. It will never fade. She was the maid of honor in my wedding, and I will be her matron of honor someday (I can't wait for that!!)

Audra...I love you more than words can explain! Being your big sister has been the best :) I miss you soooo much and can't wait until you graduate and we live closer to each other!

To end this post, I will leave you with the song "Sisters, sisters...There were never such devoted sisters!" If you have a sister, you know what song I am talking about! My grandmother tried to get us to dance to that song every Christmas..Audra, maybe this Christmas we can show it to Matt ;) haha

Trip to San Antonio

This past weekend Matt and I went down to San Antonio for our "last trip of the summer"! We met our friends Andrea and Tristan down there Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. Our hotel overlooked the riverwalk and we had direct access to it, so that was fun! When we got there, we went and walked around the riverwalk. It is so pretty, especially at night! Friday night, we ate on the riverwalk and afterwards went dancing and had some drinks.

Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to go to the Alamo! Matt had never been there before, so he thought it was pretty cool. It was air conditioned inside, so that was a plus.

Saturday night we went to a restaurant called, "La Hacienda de Los Barios". Matt really likes Bobby Flay and he has a show on the Food Network called, "Throw down with Bobby Flay". If you don't watch it, Bobby Flay goes to all different kinds of restaurants and challenges them by making their signature dish in a "throw down". At this restaurant, Bobby Flay challenged the restaurant by making their famous "Fluffy Tacos" (his own rendition of course). Well in that challenge, the restaurant won! So, we had to try these while we were down there.

Here we are eating them..and I have to say, they were awesome!!

After dinner, we went back to our hotel and walked around the riverwalk some more!

We had a great time!!! It was so good to see Andrea and Tristan and spend some quality time with them.

ALSO...Today was the beginning of Challenge 3! I can't belive we are on the third one! I am going to do the maintain challenge since I am at my goal weight. I went grocery shopping today, so this week I should have a good healthy recipe to share with you all! Have a great week everyone!! :)

Blogging about cooking

After the last post, I got a lot of comments (in person and on here) about my cooking! After talking with my friend Kelli, we decided that I should start blogging about what I cook. By no means am I saying that I am a great cook..I just really enjoy it and thought it would be fun to share some of the things I make with all of you! I'll will put the recipes on here and take pictures of the preparation and final product. I will probably do one or two meals a week starting out. Let me know what you think! I think it'll be FUN :)


Here we are eating blackened catfish and rice! Yum! (Yes, I photoshopped this picture so that both of us could be in it!) haha

Cooking with Laura

So, since we have been married and I have SO much time on my hands..I decided to start cooking. Now let me give you a little background on "me" and the word cooking! All through college, I never did it. The best meal I knew how to make was spaghetti. I think it was because I had no one to cook for and I found it boring to cook for myself. I was also working a lot and it was my first year of teaching, so I was really busy. My mom always tried to teach me, but if you know me at all, you know I like to do it myself! :) haha Fast forward to now and I am really enjoying it. I find recipes online and make them! It is so much easier than I thought. I also have a kitchen of my own to cook in too, and that makes it more enjoyable. The first meal I made was blackened catfish with rice. It was good..The seasoning was a little much, but that's what cooking is all about right? Trial and error! The next meal was..crab wraps, then spicy pasta, and tonight is spicy chicken and white bean salad. Of course I don't make these meals every night..Cooking can get quite expensive..I need to learn how to make meals in bulk so we can eat them all week. Maybe that will be my next challenge! :)

Something funny..About a week ago, I made dinner and asked Matt, "How is it?" He replied, "good!" Then I asked him, "Did you ever think I would be this good of a cook?" To which he replied, "No!" hahaha There is hope for me!

Baby Adalyn

Well, things have been pretty uneventful around here lately! Just spending a lot of quality time together as a married couple! :)

Something very eventful happened last week for our friends Casey and Robin though! They had their first baby girl, Adalyn Grace, last Wednesday! Robin and Casey are very special friends to Matt and I. They were both there when we got engaged last March and were (all three) in our wedding! :) They are both great friends and I have no doubt they will be amazing parents to Adalyn! Congratulations you two! We are beyond happy for you and your new family of three!

We went and visited Adalyn Grace last Thursday and here are some pictures!

She is so tiny and perfect!

I love her (and buying her things!) :) Little girls are the BEST!

I love this picture! He looks so sweet staring at her! :)