Try it, you'll like it!

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a while now and I am so glad I finally did! I was a little apprehensive about what it would taste like because I had never had quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) before. It was awesome!!! And Preston was a huge fan, which is always a bonus! :) Quinoa is a "super grain" and is really good for you. It's a complete protein,  an excellent source of fiber and contains lots of magnesium which is great for your blood pressure. And very tasty. Don't forget that. :) As my Mom used to tell me, "try it, you'll like it!".

Chicken & Avocado Quinoa Summer Salad

from Picky-Palate

2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed & drained

2 cups broccoli floretes

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breast

1/2 cup diced red or yellow bell peppers

1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado, diced

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Transfer to a large bowl, stirring every 5 minutes to break up. Let cool for 15 minutes.

2. Place broccoli, chicken, peppers, and parmesan cheese into a large bowl. Add quinoa and stir to combine.

3. To prepare dressing, place olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper into a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Pour over quinoa, stirring then gently stir in cubed avocado. 

4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings. 

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You have today and tomorrow until midnight to enter the GIVEAWAY!! Hurry hurry hurry! 

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Spiritual Exercise:

Read The Miracle of the Atonement by Elder C. Scott Grow

Alma 49, 50, 51

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Physical Exercise:

Run 1 mile, that's all I have in me today I think. :)

Chicken Tacos

Sorry for two recipe posts in one week but I couldn't help myself. These are seriously THE BEST chicken tacos I have ever had. Hands down. I can't take credit for coming up with this recipe but I can say I have eaten these multiple times and every time they have been a HIT! They are delicious. If you haven't already made plans for dinner tonight, you should probably just plan on making these. They are AMAZING! Here is what you'll need:

> 5-8 Chicken Breasts. (Depends on how many people you are making them for. I like to make a lot of this stuff because it is GREAT for leftovers.

> Mild or Medium Pace Picante Sauce

> Taco Seasoning

> Corn Tortillas

> Shredded Cheddar Cheese

> 1-2 Avocados

> Black Beans

> Sour Cream

> Cholula

> Lettuce

1. Start by placing your frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot with the pace picante sauce and taco seasoning and allow to cook all day. 

2. At the end of the day when the chicken has been thoroughly cooked, shred the chicken. Now you are ready to start assembling your tacos!

3. Start by heating the corn tortillas over medium heat. Something really yummy that one of my friends started doing with these was melting the cheese onto the tortilla before placing the other ingredients on them. Kind of like cafe rio and is super tasty! After the tortillas are heated you are reading to add the rest of your ingredients. We like sliced avocado, black beans, shredded lettuce, sour cream and a bit of cholula sauce. Seriously, you will die when you try these! So easy and SOOOO tasty! Thanks Haley & Meg for this awesome recipe! 

..Favorite summer meal..

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Spiritual Exercise:

Read The Spirit of Revelation by Elder David A. Bednar

Alma 31, 32, & 33

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Physical Exercise:

Run 2 miles

Crunches

Go for a swim :)

Ramen Stir Fry

This is such a quick, easy recipe and SUPER CHEAP! I like to make this when I don't feel like going to the grocery store or if I simply want to get rid of stuff in my pantry. You can add anything you want to this stir fry. Sometimes I add chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, etc. Here is what I added to it today based on what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

-2 packages of Ramen Noodles

-1 Tbsp. butter

-Salt & Pepper to taste

-Veggies of choice...I like peas and carrots

-4 eggs

-Teriyaki sauce

1. Boil Ramen Noodles for three minutes, drain and set aside. In a large frying pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and add noodles. Cook over medium heat. 

2. Add veggies, salt&pepper, eggs and teriyaki sauce, and one packet of ramen noodle seasoning. Cook until everything is thoroughly heated and the eggs are cooked. Stir continuously to evenly distribute all ingredients. Serve warm! 

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Spiritual Exercise:

Read The Sanctifying Work of Welfare by Bishop H. David Burton

Alma 26 & 27

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Physical Exercise:

Take full advantage of the day of rest. :)

Weekend Getaway

If you haven't noticed, we have a bit of a hard time sitting still. In a new place where there are so many things still foreign to us we can't help but to go and check em' out.

This time to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We were limited on time but determined to make the most of it. We were basically the definition of beach bums. We walked around the town for a good thirty minutes peeking in shops, considered going into the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum but didn't because it was so gosh darn expensive

 and then decided it was far too hot for any of this walking around nonsense.

So we headed over to the nearest gas station, changed into our suits and headed to the beach. Pure bliss after that.

We spread our towels out on the sand

took a little siesta in the sun

built a sandcastle, I indulged in my latest novel, and relished this one day of actually getting to spend time together. It was awesome.

Except for the fact that I decided I am unfortunately NOT one of those girls that can pull off beach hair. Mine just gets snareld, matted and all sorts of nastiness which = not cute. If anyone has any tips on how to combat nasty beach hair syndrome, feel free to let me know. I plan on going to the beach many more times before the summer is over and I would be quite the happy girl to know how to pull off beautiful beach hair.

Anywho, we soaked up the sun as long as we possibly could and then hunted down the yummiest little hole-in-the-wall seafood joint. Very fittingly, it was called Mr. Fish.

I thought it was all sorts of tasty but Preston, on the other hand, didn't think it was anything to write home about. I got snow crab and thought it was wonderful! There is just something about dipping crab in butter. SOO GOOD! Maybe if I'm lucky he'll let me go back there if we ever venture back to Myrtle Beach. It was such a fun trip. I will definitely be coming back someday when I can spend a little more time than just a day. We spotted at least ten different mini golf courses, unlike anything we had ever seen before. Complete with life-size pirate ships, airplanes, dinosaurs, giraffes - you name it! If that isn't reason enough to go back and visit, I don't know what is! :)

Home boy's got skills

I have the sweetest husband there ever has been. After a long day of work, and I mean long, he comes home and asks if he can cook dinner tonight. Um.... yes! Is that even a question??

He gets home at like 10:30 every night people and he still wanted to do that. Am I lucky or what? And it's not like I had nearly as hard of a day as him, not even close! I have the option of tanning while I do my work, and he on the other hand, doesnt quite get that luxury.

So I, being the nice wife, let him cook dinner! And let's just say that the man is a master in the kitchen!
He was limited on ingredients but still managed to whip something up that was delicious!

We called it garlic rosemary chicken. Yum. Served with rice and steamed veggies. Simple yet so satisfying. This man of mine is the best I tell ya. I'll keep him around for a while.:)

All I can think about is food, apparently.

Farmer's Market, Uptown Charlotte

I just realized that all of the pictures I have taken lately have been of food. That may or may not be a good thing. ha ha. But when you live the life that I do lately, there isn't much more to think about or worry about throughout the day. Let me just give you a little run down of a typical day for me out here in North Carolina. Preston and I typically wake up between nine and ten, and depending on whether or not there is time, we go to the gym. We then eat breakfast (always a breakfast shake. sorry i don't have pictures to document that. haha) and then get ready for the day. He heads out the door at noon for work and I head to the pool to soak up some sun. I know some of you might think that is lazy of me but I figure, why not? I haven't heard back from any of the places I have applied to yet so while I wait I might as well work on my tan while indulging in my nerd books! I can't wait to be done with the Fablehaven series. While those books are entertaining, I could really use a good love story! That's beside the point. Back to my daily agenda. For the rest of the afternoon I usually sew, do laundry, wash dishes, prepare dinner or facebook/blog stalk. Eventful huh?!? Yesterday was super fun though. I went to Panera with some of the other wives out here and it was so much fun!! They are a great group of girls. (Yet again, my fun revolves around food. haha)

I have managed to think outside the box and break up my routine once or twice since I have been here. Last weekend I went to a Farmer's Market in Uptown Charlotte. It was awesome! I got a couple of really yummy things and I can't wait to go back! I swear, their produce is way better than what you find in a grocery store. It was in such an awesome location too! Right in the middle of downtown. I loved it.

 Sweet Corn. love it. I'll be back for more next weekend. 

 My treasures. Those strawberries were TO DIE FOR.

Preston and I also managed to have a date night this past week. Its hard for us to really ever spend time together with his work schedule so it was really nice to go out to dinner. We went to TGIFridays! We were hoping to try some authentic North Carolina restaurant but everywhere was closed so we went there. It was great! Date nights with the hubby are seriously the BEST!

 Green Bean Fries. Love.

 Cajun Shrimp Pasta. LOVE!!

 A little disappointed in the Oreo dessert. It was waayyy smaller than I was imagining but still tasty. 

 Looks like someone enjoyed his dinner! 

Full tummy=happy wifey! :)

And while we are still on the topic of food, I have to share this yummy dinner I made the other night. It wasn't anything special but it was really good. I marinated chicken in this spicy mango marinade, sauteed some zucchini and yellow squash and served it over rice and it was so good. If you are in need of a quick, easy and cheap dinner, I would highly recommend this.

Try it, you'll like it! 

Well, I feel like that was kind of a rambling, boring post but thats all I've got this week! I have all the time in the world to blog lately but the problem is I just don't have anything to blog about! Guess I'll have to start getting more creative! Thanks to the two people for humoring me and actually reading this!!! I appreciate it! :D