Day 20: Food blog!! Chili Lime Drumsticks with fried rice!

Day 20: Didn't feel well again today, but I made a YUMMY dinner tonight. Missed seeing my sis. Have to try again. Got to cook dinner for Cj, my mom, and my friend Clint tonight. Will be uploading tonight's recipe with more photos below Enjoy-


My recipe serves 4 (includes 3 drumsticks each, fried rice, and side of sauce) this meal also was less than a 1$ a serving! If you try please let me know how you liked it!

ingredients you will need: 
14 FAT drumsticks
Salt & pepper
4 table spoons of melted then cooled butter
a lime (for lime juice) you can also just buy some lime juice I like fresh squeezed myself =)
1 table spoon of chili powder ( I actually used a lil less ) 
1 table spoon of sugar (not pictured I forgot)
1 clove of garlic chopped ( i used pre-minced garlic in a jar )

First things first DO NOT FORGET TO DE-THAW YOUR CHICKEN way before its time to actually COOK dinner. =)


preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 


Making the Sauce:

Cut your lime in half 

Squeeze your lime juice into a bowl

 add your chili powder. 

I then added the melted butter (cooled), garlic, and sugar.

Rinse drumsticks, pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Place in a baking pan. Next  pour the sauce over drumsticks; turn them to coat. Cover with foil and bake for 50 mins (I 

ended up cooking ours for about an hour and 15 mins) 

Turning every so often and basting meat in the juices.  Let rest for 10 minutes, then serve hot; or let cool, cover and refrigerate to serve cold.

Also I served the YUMMY juice in little shot glasses for each plate! My friend liked pouring his sauce over the fried rice. I enjoyed dipping pieces of the chicken in it. Yumm!

Day 19:

Day 19: Felt sick and slept my WHOLE day away. Loved seeing my sister last night. Thanks baby for taking care of me today and being the sweetest to me!

Day 18

Day 18: Drove ten hours with my mom today to Lexington to see Tyler. He made me this necklace. We miss him so much. I love you Tyler!!! 

Day 17: Grocery Day

Day 17: Grocery day- 
I went grocery shopping today after my photo shoot with Carol Rott.. I asked CJ to pick out his favorite grocery item this trip (what got him most excited) his pick is on the right. His block of cheese- haha MINE was a Orange BBQ Pork Chop meal I'm excited to try out!

So here was this trips bounty 

I only spent 55$ I say that's a plus with ALL that meat! 

Had a shoot with a great friend Carol and newly wed husband Jordan. It was a lot of fun even if we were being drizzled on by rain! =) I had the opportunity to ANNOUNCE them as husband and wife before even some of their parents knew! How fun is that to be that involved! Tee hee I had fun with a few sneak peaks tonight. Here they are:

 If you want to see more pictures from this shoot visit my Facebook

Congrats guys, you were adorable. 

I have to drive HOURS with my mom to Lexington Prison to visit my lil brother Tyler Leach. I miss him so much, it hurts so much to leave him when we have to but at least I am able to touch his shoulder, his hand, a tight quick hug. At least we have that. I love you lil brother. 

My point to all that rambling is that I have to drive a DISTANCE at 7am so TOOTLES! I'm going to bed! =)

Day 16:

Day 16: CJ and I haven't been "innocent" in a long time. Apparently though I'm not the modest one, he is. I had to talk him into this FOREVER! hahaha! When I showed him post edit he was like, that's hot. hahaha
P.s. we drew our own signs... awe-


Work tomorrow, not much else to say =)

Day 15

Day 15: My dentist appointment got pushed to the 29th. and I did not feel well today. When I finally got hungry I made us some ham egg and cheese sandwiches. =) CJ volunteered to be my model ♥

Day 14: Valentine's Day Date.

Day 14: CJ and I went to the place I had my first corporate photography job, Woodland Hills Mall. My second paid job ever and at the time my highest paid job. That opportunity really set me up in the right direction. 
We spent time window shopping waiting for our movie to start. 

Valentine's day dinner Our Way. I use to bring these awesome Philly cheese steaks home to CJ when I worked at Starbucks here in the mall. Since we were early to our movie we decided to get some AWESOME food!

yumm!

Not the BEST picture of myself, but my beautiful baby took it so I will over look it =) 

Next we headed to the movie theater. We got a SUPER good parking spot, good job babe! The movie was really good. Made CJ and I both think. We asked each other personal questions about ourselves the whole way home. Things that if we were ever in that situation we would want our spouse to know and tell us about ourselves. I really like it. I did not like the ending though **Spoiler Alert**  I really disliked how she never re-gained her memory. I understand it's based on a true story where that was the actual case, but when you've spent 9 years with the one you love, its world crushing to even imagine them loosing every memory you shared with them let alone never re-gaining those memories. How hard that would be. FAVORITE part you may ask?? during the wreak where she flys out of the windshield, so amazingly done. Even though its terrible it was at the same time breathtakingly done. Beautiful.

After the movie finished CJ and I shared a kiss while waiting for everyone to move. All in all, it was an amazing night with my baby. 

My mommy bought me the 4th book in a series I love for Valentines day. I love her so much! =)

Day 13

Day 13: 
“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”

conserving, saving the world one shower at a time lol


Not much went on this day. So I thought I'd add another tasty recipe I made for CJ. 

Mediterranean Chicken Packets

This method of cooking makes the chicken aromatic and succulent. It also reduces the amount of oil needed since the chicken and veggies cook in their own juices. 

ingredients: olive oil, 2 chicken breasts, mozzarella cheese, 2 zucchini, 2 tomatoes, pepper, a lemon, and rice or pasta.

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces of foil about 10 inches square or bigger depending on the size of your "breasts" =) Brush the foil squares lightly with oil and set aside until required. 

Step 2: Slash each chicken breast with a knife at intervals. then either slice your mozzarella cheese (if whole) or like me use shredded and STUFF your cheese between the cuts. 

Step 3: Slice and divide the zucchini and tomatoes between the pieces of foil and sprinkle with black pepper. (also add any other seasonings that appeal to you) 

Step 4: Place the chicken on top of each pile of vegetables. I used fresh lemon juice on top of each chicken plus salt and pepper on top. Next wrap in the foil to in close the chicken and vegetables, tucking in the ends. 

Step 5:  Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven, 400 degrees C, for about 30-hour depending on the size of your chicken mine took an hour. YUMM!

Step 6: To serve, unwrap each foil packet and serve with you rice or pasta

It was really good.

*Good cooking tip, place food on the shiny side so when wrapped the dull surface is facing outwards. This ensures that the heat is absorbed into the packet and not reflected away from it. 

Day 12: I had a photo shoot at the zoo today. A valentines day surprise for a fellow photographer friend of mine and her man. He also surprised her with a picnic in their "spot" in the zoo. SO SWEET! Had a great day. CJ geared up for this snow, he is ready to make *BANK*

Here are some behind the scene shots from my shoot

Samantha is a fellow photographer friend of mine. She had me do her Vday pics for her at their "spot" the Tulsa State Zoo. 

Im the gray blob there to the left above

Found out how hard it was too shoot in the rainforest section my freaking lens kept fogging up. made everything fuzzy...

posing! man my booty looks undesirable in this shot...

yep thats me, on the ground. lol 

Day 11: 
Her lips on his could tell him better than all her stumbling words. 
-Margaret Mitchell
Today Cj and I both got to see our dads. Mine came down from Springfield and he went an visited his father. Amazing to see my papa and a surprise at that! =) 
I made my mommy's stew today for the first time. Below I will be posting pictures of my process and explaining the steps to the best of my abilities. I have been extra emotional the past few days, including today. Don't know what's gotten into me but I hope it fades. Photoshoot tomorrow. Excited!! While taking today's photo, Phoebe and Sookie decided to crash the first take. 
See here:

awesome job ladies! NOT!! =)

The stew was awesome btw! Let me know if you try it!

ingredients: potatoes, 2 cans of corn, 2 cans of mushroom, can of kidney beans, can of carrots, can of green beans, can of peas, 1 lb of ground beef, V8 juice or store brand, (like me, I'm cheap ha!) and lastly I added a fresh zucchini.

Now this is how I did it, it may be better for you to do it differently but for this blog post I'll just go with how I did it. Step 1: Peal your potatoes, use as many as you like I like to have a hefty amount so I use many if you don't want that much try using half as less. 

Step 2: cut your potatoes like so. Again I personally like big chunks of potatoes so I like them around this size. Go ahead while you have your knife out and chop up the zucchini the same way.

Step 3: Now brown your meat in your stew pot. I brown the meat with the potatoes alone to give the potatoes a jump start. 

Step 3: While meat is browning add seasonings to your liking I personally added the following: 

season salt, chili powder, garlic salt, salt, and I grind my own black pepper.

Step 4: add all the rest of your veggies:

zucchini, carrots, peas, corn, mushrooms, green beans, and kidney beans.

Final step: add desired V8 juice to stew (not all of it, taste it before adding too much. you can also add some the next day to make it not so thick) and cook on low until potatoes soften. add salt and pepper to taste. 

Day 10:
"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories." —George Eliot
This quote reminds me of times like tonight. When Cj and I enjoy sitting next to each other watching TV and surfing the internet. CJ used to HATE my cell phone, how I could never put it down. Now that he has an AWESOME cell phone with the internet at his finger tips... I kinda feel his pain.. lol