Taco Bell...but BETTER!

I am reluctant to say that on Thursday I went out to Hooters with Scott for dinner. I try my very best to not eat there, but when your boyfriends' friends are in town, you can't say no. So, thankfully, we made up for our typical Thursday on Friday. I am pleased to report that dinner was a smashing success! 

My travels through Pinterest never fail me when it comes time for inspiration for interesting and new dinner ideas. Last week, I found this recipe for Chicken Ranch Tacos and I knew instantly that we had to give it a try. I give many thanks and a shout out to Pedey from Do You Smell That!? for an amazing recipe! Without further ado, here is my culinary journey through tacos. 

Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Tacos

• 1 pkg of thinly sliced stir fry style chicken (cubed)
• 1/2 pkg to 1 pkg of taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup ranch
• splash of water
• tortillas (warmed)

------------------------------------------

lettuce

sour cream

hot sauce 

shredded cheese

extra ranch dressing

bacon bits

Season and cook the chicken through in a medium sauce pan on medium high heat. Add the taco seasoning to the pan and incorporate. Add a splash of water, and then add the ranch. Incorporate all together and you're finished! The entire process should take between 10 and 15 minutes. (cooking the chicken through is the longest part)

Finally, just assemble a taco like you normally do. Scott and I used lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce,bacon bits and some shredded cheese blend mix. We also used soft tortilla shells instead of hard taco shells, but that is only because he doesn't like hard tacos. One final note, my recipe differs slightly from Pedey's, but we used her recipe as a guideline, and I give 100% credit to her!!

On a side note, as self-proclaimed sous chef last night, Scott's contribution to the meal was a delicious side dish of sauteed cauliflower and green beans! His recipe was pretty fool proof with the star ingredients obviously being green beans and cauliflower...and whatever marinade was left in the fridge (which turned out to be a zesty sesame ginger dressing). He sauteed the veggies all the way through with the marinade, and put a lid on them to steam them in the final minutes of the cooking time. The final product should result cauliflower that's tender and green beans that still retain a bit of a snap!

Do you have any killer taco recipes you want to share? Or any recipes using tortillas? I think they are so versatile! Comment below and tell me about them! I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Pressing Issues - Vampire Diaries Season Finale

I have been out of commission as of late, because I have had a virus from hell, and I apologize for that. In fact, one of my friends suggested that it was T-virus and I was thoroughly convinced for a solid hour or so that I was turning into a zombie. On the bright side, today is a much better day and I finally have mustered up the strength to blog. Had I been techy enough to figure out the Blogger app on my smart phone, this entry would have been posted days ago. Alas, you are receiving it today, and I have been dying to discuss the season finale of The Vampire Diaries...no pun intended. 

So, last Thursday feels like an eternity ago, but the last episode of this season in The Vampire Diaries saga still has my mind reeling! I have so many thoughts about "The Departed," but they are mainly all questions. Is it just me, or does anybody else feel that we were left with more questions than answers? Enough gabbing though...I'll just get right to it! (Warning: for those of you who are not caught up on the season, there are spoilers in this entry!)

First things first, Elena is now a vampire! I was wondering when this moment would ever come, and I had a feeling that Plec would end the season with Elena's pre-transition. The biggest questions on my mind are how will Elena transition, and what will Jeremy think? For goodness sake, what will everyone else think?! I'm sure Bonnie will be pretty pissed now that her bestie is a vampire...which gives rise to another question; will Bonnie try to stop Elena's transition? Also, did Elena know that vampire blood was in her system when she forced Stefan to save Matt's life, and whose blood was it? What about the Salvatore brothers? How are they going to react to Elena's transformation? Clearly Stefan seemed crushed that Elena will now have to live a life that she never wanted. Will he live with regret the rest of his life for saving Matt first? Most importantly, how mad will Damon be, and is he going to lash out because of Stefan's choice? Of course, Stefan was going to respect Elena's choice, but free will is such a bitch. 

I have not forgotten about the love triangle that is Stefan, Damon and Elena! Now that Elena is a vampire, her thoughts that Damon compelled her to forget will all come back to her! Once she knows that she did indeed meet Damon first, will that change her feelings for him? What about the emotional bedroom scene from season two when Damon confessed his love for Elena...and then made her forget that too?! That clip had me in tears! Surely, Elena will have a hard time ignoring those thoughts. She may have chosen Stefan when she was human, but what about now? Not to mention, Stefan and Elena shared a kiss for the first time all season. How is that going to affect their relationship now? Will they get back together? Will they stay together?

More pressing issues on my mind: Caroline and Tyler, and Caroline and Klaus. Is Tyler really dead? Did Klaus' body really burn away completely in his coffin? Or will Tyler and his sire pull the whole switcheroo trick on us all? And for the record, how long will Klaus prance around in Tyler's body? Will he try to put the moves on Caroline, and did he already put the moves on Caroline when he said "goodbye" to her in the dungeon? If Tyler does come back, will him and Caroline still run away from Mystic Falls like they had originally planned? Which leads to my next question; what is the city council going to do about the vampire/werewolf problem now that Alaric outed everybody? What are all the other originals going to do now too?

Another issue that is bugging me is Bonnie. When did she become so devious? Why did she switch Klaus and Tyler's body, and why the hell has she continued to help Klaus? I'm curious to see what is in store for Bonnie in the following season. How far will she tap in to her dark magic? Will her ancestors ever forgive her? Also, who does she have the hots for...Jeremy or Jamie? I hope she gets back with Jeremy! Was I the only one who thought that they were a cute couple? Aren't Bonnie and Jamie kinda related? Last time I checked, that is called incest. Anyway, what about Abby? Will she play a role in Season 4? 

Finally, the most important question of them all: when on Earth will season four start, because I don't know how much longer I can wait. Also, sorry for the novel! I told you I had a lot on my mind. If anyone has any answers to my questions or any more questions to add to the list, please please please comment below and share them with me! I really want to hear what my fellow TVD fans are thinking!

The Perfect Rainy Day Meal

So, I'm normally not the biggest fan of Melissa d'Arabian, from the Food Network, but yesterday she made a meal that had my mouth watering. Now, I'm determined to duplicate it myself! I can't guarantee that this meal will be on tomorrow's agenda, but I do guarantee that I will be making it in the near future and documenting the process. She described it as the best cold, winter meal, but since south Florida isn't graced with the joy of winter, I think it will be perfect for a great rainy day in. We're supposedly in the peak of rainy season anyway. 

Enough of my ranting, though; let's talk about the actual recipes at hand. On her show 10 Dollar Dinners, yesterday, Melissa whipped up a tantalizing Croque Madame and Roasted Tomato Soup. Basically, a Croque Madame is just a glorified grilled cheese and ham sandwich with a fried egg on top. The French always know how to make things fancy. Seriously, this recipe seems so easy a caveman can do it! There is no fuss, no muss with making a bechamel sauce, and there is no need to use a panini press either. So, friends, here are Melissa's recipes for her succulent Croque Madame and delicious Roasted Tomato Soup

http://bit.ly/KFP85C

http://bit.ly/J4zTAt

The best part about this meal is that if you don't like eggs, you can omit that too, and then you have a Croque Monsieur! Also, tomato soup is probably one of my favorite soups, so saying that I was excited to watch Melissa make it was an understatement! 

My only critique is that Melissa's tomato soup looked a little opaque instead of the bright, vibrant red shown in the picture. If you all have any tips or tricks to solve this problem please comment and let me know! 

Do you have your own tomato soup recipes that you would like to share? I'd love to hear them!

Merrica!!

Nothing says America better than the dinner Scott and I created Thursday night: pizza, beer and chicken wings! For a minute, cast aside all you know about apple pie, baseball, and big, juicy hamburgers, because our meal screamed red, white and blue! Scott liked dinner so much that he turned to me that night and said. "We should just dedicate Thursday nights to different types of pizza each week." What a great way to reach my goal weight of 500 pounds...not!! Anyway, if you're craving a good ole' Americana meal like we were, here's our tricks to whipping it up in like Rachel Ray would say, "under 30 minutes." 

All the ingredients in these recipes are open to your interpretation. Scott and I use what we like from Publix, so you can use any variation of these ingredients from any vendor you prefer. Have fun with it!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• 1 pkg Pillsbury pizza dough (the scary kind that you have to crack on the counter for it to pop open)
• BBQ sauce of your choice, we used Bullseye Original (about half the bottle)
• 1 pkg chicken breasts (3-4)
• bacon (about 3 or 4 slices...or however much you like! Bacon makes everything better!)
• 1 cup mushrooms (chopped)
• 1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
• 1 pkg mozzarella cheese

Spread out the pizza dough on a baking sheet. It usually forms a rectangle, but you can always get creative and make what ever shapes you want. I bet it would be cool to even make a couple of individual pizzas! Then, just follow the cooking instructions on the package. While you're cooking the pizza dough, in a medium sauce pan, start sauteing the chicken breast. Don't forget to season them with salt, pepper, and anything else you like to season your chicken with.  Also, fry up the bacon, either in a skillet or throw it in the microwave. Once the chicken is cooked, dice it up. The pizza dough should definitely be done cooking by now, so you can start assembling...Yeah, the fun part! Spread out the BBQ sauce, mushrooms, onions, bacon, and chicken on the dough. Finish by sprinkling on the cheese and bake until the cheese is golden brown (everything else is already cooked, so it shouldn't take long at all). When it's all finished you'll have a baking sheet full of bubbly, golden, cheesy deliciousness!

Buffalo Wings

• 1 pkg frozen chicken wings
• buffalo sauce, we used Ken's, but again, use whatever you like (about 1/2 bottle)

In a large sauce pot, bring water to a boil. When the water is at a rolling boil, dump the bag of chicken wings in and cook about 10-15 minutes. The chicken wings will start to float to the top when they are done cooking. Drain the wings and put them in a baking dish and coat them with the hot sauce. The wings are already cooked, so you are just throwing them in the oven for another 10 minutes, so the sauce sticks to the wings. I found that if you broil them for the last 2 minutes of cooking, it will crisp the wings up a bit. And there you have it, friends! Next time, I try out chicken wings, I'm not cutting any corners, I'm going to fry them. When we baked them straight after boiling, the wings weren't as crispy as I preferred. If you all have any great wing recipes, I would love for you to share them with me!

Last but not least, I have a new love...and it is blueberry beer, especially Wild Blue. It capped off the meal perfectly. If you are a fan of fruity-ish beers, I highly recommend you try it!