Playoffs Weekend complete with a light version of Franks Buffalo Chicken dip

Welp, it's half time of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game between my Steelers and the Denver Broncos. I am experiencing a small fit of anxiety as the Broncos are up 20-6. I am pretty passionate about Steeler's football and I am not conditioned to seeing a score like this, ESPECIALLY against the Denver Broncos... I could rant for about a day. But we will just have to wait and see what the second half has in store for us.

On a better note - It's been an absolutely perfect weekend! Nick and I are taking advantage of the Playoffs and this amazing January weather (70s & Sunny) by spending our afternoons outside BBQing. I feel spoiled -- yesterday we made cheese filled hamburgers (completely worth cheating and having one) and today some amazing chicken legs. I am continually impressed with Nick's novice but delicious grilling skills. <3 I love my man!

In the spirit of football and barbeques, I made a light and scrumptious version of Franks Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip.

Light Version of Franks Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip (by: Kirsten)

8 oz package of neufchatel cheese, softened
1/2 cup Ranch Dip (1 McCormick seasoning packet made w/ 16 oz non fat greek yogurt)
1/2 cup Franks Redhot Original Pepper Sauce
1/3 cup low-far mozzarella cheese
2 chicken breasts, shredded
Cracked Black Pepper, to taste


Directions:

Place neufchatel cheese in baking dish (I use a 1 1/4 quart round ) and stir until smooth
Mix in ranch dip, Franks Redhot & mozz cheese to creamed cheese 
Stir in shredded chicken until will mixed
Top with Cracked Pepper to your desire & add some extra mozz if needed (Nick insisted on it for us)

Bake at 350 or until bubbly and heated through.

Serve with an array of fresh Veggies (celery and orange & yellow peppers are my fav) & Baked Chips for those who want a little something different.

This dip is addictive! Enjoy~

Our Set-Up:  Can't forget the Terrible Towel for some MUCH NEEDED luck!

Where in the world did 2011 go?!

 Welcome 2012
 

I am so happy for a new and exciting year. Almost a little embarrassed to be blogging on here again..its been almost 6 months without a peep...but I am back!! Happy Twenty12 to everyone who happens to stop by and have a read. 2011 was pretty amazing, actually my favorite year to date but I am excited and anxious for this new year. I have a number of things I want to focus on in 2012 to better myself, my relationship and the way I view life. Here's a list of some of my more reasonable resolutions...perhaps blogging these things will make me feel more accountable to stick to them.

 2012 Goals

*Start planning weekly menus to save time, $$ & calories.

*Fall back in love with Bikram Yoga (1x per week minimum).

* Take advantage of where we live, unwind from work with a daily beach walk w/ my handsome man.

*More Tea, Less Coffee 

* Photo a Day for the entire Year. (trendy...but I know I would love the end result)

*Stop making excuses and start making progress... this pertains to EVERYTHING

*Random Acts of Kindness

*Read More

*Explore the world of D.I.Y.

I've been off of work for the past 10 days. (&& it has been absolute Heaven!) I am sadly back at work today. With the big gray cloud of responsibility and late nights looming over my head, I had a "Come to Jesus" moment last night. Although work can be extremely draining and the addition of school to that busy 50+ hour work week, it has become all too easy to make excuses for myself. I am far too young with too many opportunities to not take advantage of every one that I can. I am ready to start 2012 off with a BANG!!

My favorite memories of 2011 in photo-form. 



2011 New Years Eve with my Love



Steelers SuperBowl!! We didn't win but we made it to the big Dance!!

Moving into our very tinsy but equally sweet home.

Pittsburgh with Mom for my Gram's 83rd Birthday!

Happy 27th Birthday to Nick! Stayed at the amazing ACE Hotel in Palm Springs.

4th of July Fireworks @ the Oceanside Pier



Our Favorite Band, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, came to the Casbah! Amazing Show!



My First Vegas Trip--Labor Day 2011

Halloween!! Nick got to choose our costumes this year --Frankenstein and his Bride <3

Our First Christmas Tree

The blurriest NYE 2012 kiss ever.. Still a perfect memory to start an amazing year - taken exactly at midnight!!



&& probably my most favorite thing about 2011 - Adopting these two sweet peas! Mojo (orange) & Billie



Hope 2012 is the best year to date for all of us!

See you Soon.. for real this time!

xoxo

-K

Failure

.... Not only did I wait until the last minute to order my Dad a gift for Father's Day (which has yet to come in the mail) and forget to bring his card to our Family BBQ (which I showed up late to).. I neglected to post on this here, the World Wide Web, how grateful I am for my Father.

Here's to you, Dad!

You are the most incredible father!!! Thank you for working harder than any man I've ever known and never letting our family go without.. even if it meant late nights and extra shifts. You have shown your love in more ways than I think you even realize. I am eternally grateful for the values you've instilled in our family and the example you've been to me and everyone who comes into your life. Thank you for showing me that someone who is patient, understanding, supportive and shows unwaivering love for their spouse and family truly does exist, and even more so, thank you for teaching me I am worth all of that and more.
Thank you for supporting my decisions and taking time to comfort me when life gets rough. And one more thing...Thank you for making Nick feel welcome in this family. It means the world to me!

I love you more than words can express. I am blessed to call you my Father. I love you Daddy! ~Happy Fathers Day!!

Thursday = Breakfast for Dinner Day.

It has been a very busy few weeks for me. Between Papa's birthday, a Palm Springs get away, playing mama to our new kitten and a new position at work.. I haven't made much time for blogging.. or any down time really.

This is short and sweet because honestly, I am exhausted and it's very possible I may be in bed before 9 pm this evening.



Nick has been bugging me to make pancakes the past few weekends. I've managed to cram way too much into my weekends to want to wake up and make pancakes before starting the day.

This afternoon I realized pancakes are about as simple as it comes and I was not in the mood to plan anything elaborate for dinner, so Pancakes for dinner it was......Chocolate-Chip pancakes, turkey bacon, apple-chicken sausage, a scramble and hash browns. Seems like a feast and maybe it was, but once I got started I remembered how fun and delicious breakfast is.

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal to eat out. I figure that's probably because I never make time for a tasty breakfast. My breakfasts usually consist of a yogurt and some fruit or a microwavable oatmeal shortly after I get into the office... God knows, I am not going to be the person to have a bowl of cereal, let along an egg at home before leaving the house at 7:30 a.m.

So, after Nick and I enjoyed our breakfast for dinner tonight.. I am officially going to do Breakfast for Dinner each Thursday night (if life permits) so I can try some of the delicious breakfast recipes I have been saving over the past year!  I am reallllly looking forward to it... stay tuned!~
I suggest you try Breakfast for Dinner next time you're stumped on what to prepare for your hungry household.

Sharing is Caring.

I've been taught since I can remember that Sharing is Caring. I obviously care for you, so first and foremost, I am kindly asking you NOT to throw away those brown mushy bananas left behind in your fruit bowl. (I know how it goes, they are only .19 cents a piece and it's easy to bring home a bunch of 8 at that price.) This is when you will thank yourself for overbuying and ME for sharing this amazing recipe.

I love me some Banana Bread...unfortunately, I was put on this earth with an allergy to Walnuts! I am always looking for banana bread recipes that don't sound like they will be lacking if I forgo the walnuts. So, I came across this delicious recipe from Our Best Bites. Go ahead, try it! I PROMISE you will not be disappointed.



CHOCOLATE SWIRLED BANANA BREAD

2 c. flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
¼ c. butter, softened
1 ½ c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3-4 medium bananas)
2 eggs
1/3 c. plain lowfat yogurt or sour cream
½ c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups and level. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream sugar and butter. Add bananas, eggs, and yogurt, beating until just blended. Add flour mixture. Beat on low until just moistened. Microwave chocolate chips in a medium bowl for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 c. batter to chocolate, stirring until well-combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter (so you have stripes of plain and chocolate batter) in an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters with a knife.
** this is where I sprinkled about 1/2 cup of brown sugar on top. It made a delicious crunchy topping.**



Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (give or take a little; I’d probably set your timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes to be safe) or until a knife comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan and then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.


Please make this. You WILL thank me!

I heard (maybe discovered it myself) that peanut butter spread over the top of a warm slice of this delicious banana bread is as close to heaven as you will get here on earth.~ dead. serious.

First Attempt at Pork Chops

I've not had many encounters with pork chops throughout my life. I can think of maybe once or twice that I had them growing up and I'm not even sure if I had liked them at the time. I found some on super sale at Fresh & Easy and thought I would give them a try anyway....they were truly too cheap to pass up. I searched the internet for some recipes that sounded tasty, but couldn't come to terms on one, so I mixed a few of them together and the final product was actually pretty delicious!

Easy Italian Pork Chops

(may not be pretty, but sure are delicious)

Ingredients-

1 cup cornmeal (flour will also work)

Salt

Pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons  milk (Almond milk was all I had, and it seemed to work just fine)
1.5 cups Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh parsley
red pepper flakes

garlic powder

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-6 pork chops depending on size

Directions-

1. Preheat Oven to 325 F

2. In a small bowl, mix cornmeal and chopped garlic with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Trim excess fat from rinsed pork chops and dredge in cornmeal mixture. Let sit.

4. In a small bowl mix together eggs and milk. In another small bowl mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, red pepper flakes and garlic powder. (I've learned that using personal preference on things like red pepper and garlic powder also turns out a little better. I used just under a tablespoon of each)

5. Heat olive oil in large oven safe skillet over medium heat.

6. Dip dredged pork chops in egg mixture and then into the bread crumb mixture. Repeat once. Place coated chops into skillet and brown each side 3-5 mins depending on thickness (mine were very thin, 3 mins was sufficient)

7. Place oven safe skillet with pork chops in preheated oven and cook for 25 mins or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.



I served my chops up with some garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. Papa raved all night long =) There's something about his raves that make me feel especially accomplished.
~Bon Appetit!

Kitty Perfect

Papa and I are now truly "Mama and Papa" to this sweet little girl!!!


I am absolutely over the moon about her! She is a Seal Point Siamese mixed with Tabby, so not only gorgeous, but as soft and cuddly as they come. Maybe I am biased.. but she really has to be one of the prettiest kittens I've seen.. and to think up for adoption. She was rescued from a hospital in Escondido, Ca, where they Euthenize! I can't imagine anyone in their right mind killing something so tiny, sweet and innocent!

I got the kitty bug last week and had to get a kitten asap. (I don not know why I am like this, but once something is in my head.. it's a done deal.) I started looking online and in the PennySaver with my heart set on a RagDoll kitten, which are gorgeous cats, but it seems silly to buy a "name brand cat" when there are so many to save.

I came across an organization called "SPOT-Saving Pets One at a Time" and found a ton of babies that would melt any normal persons heart... and No, I do not consider cat haters "Normal People", I am convinced they must be missing a chromosome somewhere in the mix. On a better note, I really encourage anyone looking for a kitten or puppy to try and exhaust their adoption options first. There are TOO many loving babies that don't have the love and comfort of a home that they deserve.

We are naming her Billie, after the amazing Billie Holiday and as soon as she weighs enough to be fixed and can come home with us, we plan on spoiling this little joy... rotten!