Funky BCD

Ever heard of this BCD craze that's sweeping the nation? Until recently I had never heard of such a thing as Buffalo Chicken Dip. Boy, was I excited when I uncovered this little gem of creamy, cheesy, chicken-y goodness! I decided to make something fun (and incredibly HORRIBLE for us) since this is the first weekend of college football - basically Michael's favorite holiday other than Christmas! All you ladies out there, if you really want to please your man, don't hesitate to make this recipe.
Funky BCD

-1 8oz package of softened cream cheese (I use the reduced fat because you can't taste the difference and I try to spare calories where possible)
-1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
-1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles
-1/2 cup of your favorite blue cheese salad dressing
-1/2 cup of your favorite hot sauce (for this particular recipe, I really like Franks Red Hot)
-2-3 cups of shredded chicken (I just buy a whole, plain roasted chicken from the grocery store and shred it myself. Or, you can boil and shred a breast of plain chicken)

Spread the entire 8oz package of softened cream cheese into a 9inch pie pan. In a bowl, mix together the remaining cheeses, blue cheese dressing, and hot sauce. Pour the mixture over top of the cream cheese. Carefully mix in the shredded chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. I recommend serving this with tortilla chips, veggies, crackers, bagel chips, or almost anything you like!

If you aren't a big blue cheese fan, try either substituting more mozzarella for less of the blue cheese crumbles OR substitute the blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing for your favorite brand of ranch dressing. This will create a much less "funky" but still very delicious alternative.

While football is not always something Michael and I agree on since, after all, we are a House Divided, we definitely agree that this recipe is a repeat for any football party. Enjoy!

Home Sweet...Anywhere BUT California!

I am finally getting a taste for what it feels like to not live my life as a gypsy...and, just as I suspected, IT IS AMAZING! I cannot put into words how wonderful it is to work in my pajamas for a week and to see my Hunny Bear. I feel pure joy from eating a home-cooked meal (especially one cooked by soon-t0-be Mom Wayson last night...Zesty Grilled Talapia with Coconut Milk and Mango Rice) and crawling into my own bed at night. Traveling across the country for the past 11 weeks has been a brutal and interesting experienced. I learned a ton from the work I did in Santa Barbara but, more importantly, I learned that I really can get through some of the most stressful situations with love from my family, friends and a whole lot of prayer. One of the highlights from my consultant, road warrior lifestyle is that I got to taste some really amazing food. Here are some of my favorite food memories -

• Shredded Tri Tip Taces from Luna's in Camarillo, CA....so juicy from the all-day stewed meat that you can't even pick up the taco to eat it! Mmmm!
• Avocados on EVERYTHING! This FL girl loves avocados and they are everywhere in CA (even Subway!!).
• In-N-Out Burger...Get your fries AND burger "animal style" (special sauce and grilled onions. you will not regret this decision)
• Anything from SouthCoast Deli, but especially the eggplant parmesan panini

All I can say is thanks be to God for my youth and fast metabolism (and the 6-7 months I have left to work out before fitting into my wedding dress!). Glad to have 2 weeks off from travel before I hit the road again for the rest of the year.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Just a quick post to thank all those who made my birthday so special this year. Selfishly, I was feeling a little down about having to travel to California alone for work on my actual birthday. After a good little cry, I wiped the self pity out of my brain and realized just how many wonderful people I have in my life who always make me feel loved and special. Along with many other fun things that were planned around the time of my birthday, my dear fiance took me horseback riding! I had been hinting about wanting to go for quite some time. He took it upon himself to research the absolute best horseback riding place I have ever been to. The owner has only 6 horses. That way, he has the ability to really take care of and train them properly, unlike those other "pony mills" as I like to call them. My horse, Rocky, was half Clydesdale, half quarter horse....such a BEAST! Rocky was very well behaved for only being a 4 year old though. Michael's horse had bloodlines back to a champion racehorse. She was pretty speedy when encouraged. :)

We had a wonderful time, aside from the intense soreness in the days following. I can't wait for our next trip!! Thank you, Bear!

Raining On Sunday

So Michael and I spent yesterday boxing up my living room. I am getting ready to start a new adventure....moving out of my little apartment bungalow in Hyde Park and back to my old stomping grounds in Brandon, specifically Michael's parents' house. Very excited so spend more time with family when I am not traveling for work! Anyways...on with my story...so after a long afternoon of organzing, purging old junk, and boxing up only the necessities, we decided to go to a cute, semi-new restaurant just around the corner from my house. The weather seemed nice when we left so we decided, "What the heck! Let's walk the 4 or 5 blocks and enjoy some fresh air." Little to my knowledge that God had another plan in store for us. Halfway through our buffalo chicken sushi and cheeseburger spring rolls (yes....I know it sounds weird, but the restaurant is trendy and fun! Don't knock it until you try it!)....anyways....halfway through dinner the skies opened and on rolled in one of the worst storms Tampa has seen in a long time! Yikes! We ran our little booties on home and snapped a quick picture to remember our fun adventure by. Our favorite rainbow flip flops were almost ruined, but we managed to save them. Our fun reminded us that it's always the little things in life we easily forget, but enjoy the most....even if it is just running home from dinner, hands clenched tight strategizing over which is the dryest path to take.

Recipe #2 - Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas with Dipping Sauce

Michael and I are both fans of all types of quesadillas, but especially my twist on the Chipotle Chicken variety. I will forewarn you though....these are pretty spicy! The kicked up ingredients can easily be substituted though if you are not as big of a hot head....

Ingredients
-1 lb. of boneless skinless chicken tenderloins or breasts
-1 package of burrito size flour tortillas
-1 package of finely shredded Mexican cheese blend (usually Monterrey jack and cheddar mix)
-1 small can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (found where the other southwest ingredients are in the grocery store)
-1 sweet onion
-1 small container of reduced fat sour cream
-lemon juice
-1/4 cup of mayonnaise (I only use Hellman's...Nana would disapprove otherwise)
-1/2 of a block of Queso Blanco (white crumbling Mexican cheese)
-1 poblano pepper

Directions
A few hours prior to dinner, clean the chicken to remove any leftover fat or tendons (GROSS). Set aside one of the chipotle chilis to use later for the dipping sauce. Marinate the chicken in the remaining chilis and adobo sauce. If you don't have time for this step or don't like spicy food, forget about the marinating altogether. When you are almost ready to eat, slice the onion into thin ribbon-like strips. You can use as much or as little onion as you like. This is NOT a science. :) Saute the onions along with the chicken until the onions are soft and the chicken is entirely cooked through. If you own a grill, you can also try grilling the chicken. I've done it both ways before and it turns out great. When the chicken is cooked through, cut it up into very small pieces. Set aside the chicken/onion mixture.

Now it is time to roast the poblano. You can do this a couple of different ways. Grill it. Broil it. Or Roast it over your electric stove top burner and pray that you don't start a fire. The other night I was feeling a little crazy so I opted for the 3rd option. Basically, you just want to char the outside skin of the pepper. It will look like you are burning it, but don't worry. When the outside is a bit "blackened," put the pepper in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Covering the bowl will create a nice steamy environment which will help loosen the skin from the flesh of the pepper. Just let it sit for a few minutes before you peel off the skin with a paring knife or your fingers. Slice the flesh of the pepper into thin strips. Set aside.

Now it's time to assemble the quesadillas! My favorite part! Lay down the first tortilla. Sprinkle about a handful of the shredded cheese while layering evenly. Next crumble a thin layer of the queso blanco on top. Add a thin layer of the chicken/onion mixture and the poblano strips. If you don't like it spicy you can leave out the poblano pepper entirely and it will still taste great! Then, sprinkle with a bit more shredded cheese and queso blanco and then cover with the second tortilla. It's ready for the pan now. I use a large non-stick skillet or Michael's quesadilla maker. Lightly spray some regular cooking spray on the pan. Cook the quesadilla for a few minutes on each side until the tortillas are lightly brown, a little crunchy, and the cheese inside is gooey. I like to press down on the quesadilla while cooking it in a pan so that it gets as thin/flat as possible.

Trick for flipping your massive quesadilla....if you are making it in a regular pan, place a large plate face-down on top of the quesadilla in the pan. Hold the plate firmly with one hand and flip over the entire pan with the other hand. The quesadilla will land cooked side up on the plate. Then you can just slide the quesadilla back in the pan to cook the other side. :)

Dipping Sauce
Very finely mince the 1 chipotle pepper you set aside earlier. You can even blend it if you own a food processor (I don't have one yet, but am crossing my fingers that we get one for a wedding gift). In a small bowl, add the chipotle pepper, 1/4 mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 2 Tbsp. of lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat. If you don't like spicy, you can always just use some mild salsa, guacamole, or plain sour cream as a dipping sauce instead.

ENJOY! I promise I can cook more than just Southwest/Mexican style food.... :)

Birthday Weekend

Friday

I was treated to a delicious dinner at Carrabba's on Friday night. I tried the Chicken Bryan for the first time, and it was amazing! Then we went to see Alice in Wonderland. It was pretty good. Definitely different.

Saturday

We hung out all day with my brother Brant before he had to go back to the Naval Academy. My brothers and dad played a TON of ping-pong. It gets pretty competitive at our house. Leslie and I played a lot of ping-pong later that night, and I will neither confirm nor deny that she may have beaten me once or twice. :/

I got an excellent microphone (soon) from my family for my birthday gift. I wanted one so I can record Leslie for some of my tracks that I am composing. Just wait...in a few years we're gonna be big!

Sunday

Leslie treated me to an entire day of relaxing and hanging out with my Love! It was a MUCH needed day of rest, and we watched a couple movies before she made us DELICIOUS chipotle chicken quesadillas!

I am expecting that recipe up on this blog VERY soon...hint hint. Thank you for a wonderful birthday, Love!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Michael's birthday is 2 days away and I am SOOO excited (and not just for his Mom's insanely delicious carrot cake either....if any of you have had the pleasure of tasting this miracle of sweet deliciousness then you know exactly what I am talking about)!!

I can't wait to share so many more birthdays with the love of my life. God has blessed us tremendously!

I love you, Hunny, even though you really are getting old! :) JUST KIDDING! xoxoxo

Engagement Pictures!!

On February 12th Michael and I embarked on a journey through tall grass, swamplands, and cow poo all for the sole purpose of capturing our love, silliness, and sometimes even ill-tempered division on film. After much hard work from our AWESOME photographers, Julia and Tyson Brown, our photos are finally ready for all to see!!! We are very excited to share these with our loved ones....even the pictures that are pretty goofy and even a little intimate.

You can view some of the best ones by clicking on the following link.

http://tysonandjulia.com/blog/index.php

Or....if you are feeling bored and want to see all 348 photos, navigate to the proofing website.

http://tysonandjulia.com/proofing/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=10070

Recipe #1 - Not Your Average Taco Night

So this is my first official food blog! YAY! The other night I was in the mood for a good ol' classic: TACOS! Southwest style food is always comforting to me, probably because of my huge love of anything with loads of cheese on it. I remember eating tacos regularly growing up. They were delicious but pretty generic...ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa...you know the drill. So I decided to put a healthy and very tasty spin on this tasty treat.

Ingredients:
-1 box of crunchy taco shells
-1 small sweet onion
-1 can of black beans (drained)
-1 to 2 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar
-1 lb. of ground turkey
-1 taco seasoning pack
-1/2 of a small jar of taco sauce
-1/2 of small can of diced green chilies
-1 has avocado
-shredded iceberg lettuce (I get the pre-shredded bag...way easier!)
-1 bag of shredded cheese (I use the mexican cheese blend, but cheddar would work)

Black Beans: I added the black beans to a small pot with half of the finely diced onion and the balsamic vinegar. I know the balsamic vinegar sounds weird, but I learned this trick from a friend and it is AWESOME in black beans. Just gives that little zing! Once the beans had been simmering for about 10 minutes, I mashed them with a hand mixer (you could also use a hand potato masher). They should be about the consistency of refried beans. Set aside.

Turkey Filling: After sauteeing the remaining half of the finely diced onion and green chilies for a few minutes, I added the ground turkey. Break up the turkey into small bits so they fit well in the taco shells later. When the turkey was almost completely cooked, I added the taco seasoning and taco sauce. Set aside.

Avocado: I removed the avocado from it's skin and mashed it in a bowl until it was completely smooth (lots of fun after a long day of work). I added a pinch of kosher salt, too. Set aside.

Assembly: Put a thin layer of the beans in the bottom of the ever-so-slightly toasted taco shell followed a thin layer of cheese, turkey mixture, another thin layer of cheese and then topped it off with the lettuce and avocado. I suggest layering the cheese with the hot beans and turkey so that it melts and has that gooey-ness we all LOVE. The crunch of the lettuce and the taco shell really complimented the creamy texture of the beans and the avocado, too!

I think tacos are GREAT for everyone, even the pickiest of eaters because there are so many variations. I have always been skeptical about subsituting beef for ground chicken or turkey, but in this recipe, you won't miss it. These turkey tacos are packed with lean proteins and good fats so you won't feel that guilty about eating them either!

Hope you enjoyed my first foodie post! Many more to come!

My Lovely Fiance

So, originally Leslie wanted to start a blog so she could record and comment on recipes she tries. I am so blessed to have a fiance and soon-to-be wife who not only LOVES to cook, but is DARN GOOD AT IT!!! Her chicken parm is simply the best you will find anywhere, and anything new she tries turns out phenomenal!

Even though this blog is going to be more general in the future, I will make sure that her cooking prowess is recorded here too for your (and my) benefit. I love her so much, and I think this blog will be something fun for both of us to do.

Our First Post

Oh my goodness!! For such techy nerds can you believe that we never took a few moments to create our very own blog?! Who needs Facebook anyways?!

There isn't much else to share tonight, but we hope you enjoy sharing in our journey. Thank you! We look forward to telling all (or at least some) of our stories as we continue planning our wedding and loving life together.