Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken

Hey everyone!

I'm loving roasted Chicken lately, so thought I would share with you are quick, easy and super juicy roasted chicken!

Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken

3-4 Chicken Breast {bone in or out skin on or off, doesn't matter}

1/4 c. Olive Oil

1/3 c. White Wine

3 Tlb. Minced Garlic {or 9 cloves, minced}

1 Lemon, Juiced & Zested

2 Tlb. Fresh Dill, Chopped

S&P

Dried Oregano

3-4 Tlb Butter

1 Lemon cut into 8 wedges

1. Heat oil in pan, add garlic and cook for 1 min, don't let it burn. Add white wine and cook 5 min. on medium heat.

2. Juice & Zest a lemon into a small bowl. Add chopped dill, S&P & Dried Oregano.

3. Place chicken in a 9x13" baking dish. Pour White Wine sauce over the chicken. Top each breast with 1 Tlb. Butter. Place lemon wedges through the dish to bake along with the chicken. {I like to squeeze them over the top a bit just before adding them}

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min.

Hope you enjoy & until next time...

Butter Dill Glazed Carrots

Hey everyone!

If you are like me, during the summer, you want to eat light by adding fresh side dishes. Nothing to me speaks more fresh than garden carrots or dill. I didn't want my carrots to have extra sugar or maple or brown sugar, so I created a recipe that would create summer carrots and still keep it simple and fresh...Makes a fabulous addition to any meal!

Butter Dill Glazed Carrots

1 lb. Carrots, tops trimmed 1"

1/4 c. Butter, Salted

1 Tlb. Fresh Dill, Chopped

S&P to Taste

1. Heat Butter in sauce pan until melted.

2. Add carrots {keep whole} and dill and saute for 5-6 minutes until tender.

3. Season with S&P to taste...

Hope you enjoy! Until Next time...

Gina K Designs June 2012 Release!

Hey everyone! Hope you are enjoying a gorgeous Friday! It's gonna be a beauty today here...hopefully I can get outside and enjoy the day with the boys!

Anyways, just wanted to share with you some stamp sets I've illustrated that have released with Gina K Designs!!! Be sure to head on over and pick yours up and see what else she has released as well!!!

Hello Sunshine Stamp TV Kit- RUBBER STAMPS VERSION

{I've only designed the Beach Images/Summer images of this set...the flowers are gorgeously illustrated by another illustrator!}

The Good Life

Life's a Beach

DANGER: Dark Chocolate Tort!!!

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!!!

So last week I was watching Giada at Home and saw a super easy recipe for a chocolate tort and thought to myself...hey, that looks super easy and delish! I had forgotten to write down the recipe, but remembered most of the ingredients and here's what I've come up with. Gotta put my own spin on things, but Giada is enough to inspire anyone!!!!!! I advise anyone who makes this to proceed with caution because it is EXTREMELY addicting, and EXTREMELY rich!!!

Dark Chocolate Tort with a Graham Cracker Crust

12 oz. Dark Chocolate Chips

3?4 c. Heavy Cream

1/4 c. Honey

1 Tlb. Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

1 Tlb. Orange Zest

For the Crust:

9 Graham Crackers

1/4 c. Emerald Almonds {I like the Cinnamon flavored ones}

1 Stick of Butter Cubed at Room Temp

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a spring form pan by lightly greasing the outsides and base with butter.

2. In a food processor pulse graham crackers until crumbled, then add the almonds and pulse until fine. Then add the butter & pulse until combined.

3. Pour graham cracker mixture into spring form pan and press down. Bake for 12 minutes.

4. Allow to cool completely.

5. In a saucepan, heat heavy cream, Butter & Orange Juice & Zest until just starting to boil.

6. In a medium bowl filled with 12 oz. chocolate, pour cream mixture. Let it sit for 10 seconds before you begin to stir. Once the mixture is creamy, pour over the graham cracker crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Hope you enjoy & until next time...

Free Monthly Budget Printable

Starting something new with me and my family. Life has been getting more and more expensive and lots of stuff we can cut back on to be sure that we blossom as a family as we want to. Hoping this helps us to grow closer as a family, live more frugally and more spiritually!

This is the Monthly Budget form we are using here at home and thought someone out there may find it useful for their own family as well, so I'm putting it up here in hopes that you can put it to use!!! If you have any tips or tricks for me as well, feel free to share!<---To print this, right click with your mouse and have it open in a new tab...

Until next time...

Venison Roast & Balsamic Roasted Potatoes

Hey cuties!

Wanted to share a few quick recipes with you guys that are absolutely delish! Hope you can find a use for these and remember, if you change them up in any way, please share so that I can taste yours as well!

Venison Roast {Serves 4}: 302 Calories, 1 carb, 15 g Fat, 44 g Protein

Roasted Potatoes {Serves 4-6}: 237 Calories, 35 carbs, 10 g Fat, 4 g Protein, but if you have the potatoes do 6 servings instead of 4, you get 158 calories, 23 carbs, 12 g Fat, and 3 g Protein {I like a bigger helping of spuds}

Until Next Time...

Cake Wreck!!!

Hello everyone...

So this past weekend, I had a cake order for a rainbow birthday cake to help celebrate a little girl's 1st birthday. Everything that could go wrong with this cake, did go wrong with this cake. Fortunately for me, the customer was extremely gracious and understanding. I forgot to take a picture of the actual birthday cake {See, everything that can go wrong did go wrong! LOL} so I don't have anything of substance to show you, BUT...I can show you my 1st attempt at this cake and share with you the recipe! Even though it is a wreck, it is very tastey and I used the same recipe for round 2, so I'm sure it can be of use to at

least one person out here in cyber space!

Hope you get a laugh at my expense!

Vanilla Rainbow Layer Cake

{Adapted from Sweetopia birthday cake recipe}

Makes 6-9" thin layers or 3 thick layers

1.5 c. Whole Milk at Room Temp

7 Egg Whites at Room Temp

1 Large Egg at Room Temp

1 Tlbs Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp. Almond Extract

2-1/4 c. Sugar

3-3/4 c. All Purpose Flour {or 4 c. Cake Flour}

1-3/4 Tlbs Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

1-1/2 c. Butter at Room Temp

6 Tlbs Shortening

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pans {I use parchment paper and baking spray to grease pans}.

2. Combine 1/2 c. Milk, Extracts, Egg Whites & Egg in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Fluff flour in stand mixer using paddle attachment for 30 sec. Add remaining dry ingredients to include sugar. Mix for 30 seconds. Add butter & Shortening. Mix for 60 sec.

4. Slowly add remaining 1 cup of milk and mix until moist {About 30 sec.}

5. Add milk mixture in batches of 3 and mix for 3 sec. {Scrap sides of bowl after each addition}

6. Pour 2 cups of batter into pan and bake for 20 min. If more time is needed, bake 2 min. longer.

Vanilla Birthday Cake Whipped Frosting

Yields 3 cups

5 Sticks of Salted Butter

5 c. Powder Sugar, more if needed

4-1/2 Tlb. Heavy Cream

1-1/2 Tlb. Vanilla Extract

1. Cream butter in a stand mixer for 8 minutes (will turn white)

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low for 30 sec. Increase speed and mix for 6 minutes.

3. Frost the layers and cake, chill in fridge for 30 min. and frost again. Decorate with remaining frosting!

*Notes* If baking a rainbow cake, pour 1 cup of batter into 6 different bowls and mix with desired food coloring. Then pour colored batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 12 min. Allow to cool completely before layering and frosting.

**You can also skip a couple steps and just do 2 colors per layer, just be sure that each color uses 1 cup of batter...

Until Next time...

Spinach & Pan Roasted Tomato Spaghetti

Hey there!

Just want to quickly post a recipe I concocted last evening...I was craving carbs and didn't have time to run through my list of recipes after Zumba & weights last night. So I came home and used some leftover spaghetti noodles I had in the fridge for my dinner...It turned out so delish {yes, I'm tooting my own horn here: beep-ba-beep-ba-beep-beep} so thought I would share it with you all! Hope you enjoy and if you make it your own, please share, always looking for new recipes!!!

Spinach & Pan Roasted Tomato Spaghetti

Serves 1

2 oz. Spaghetti {cooked}

8 cherry tomatoes

2 c. Spinach

1 Tlb. Minced Garlic

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder {I like this stuff, you don't have to use it}

Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

2 Tlb. Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to Taste

2 Tlb. Grated Parmesan Cheese

~Saute tomatoes in 1 Tlb. Olive Oil. Add the Spinach and saute until wilted and tomatoes are just starting to pop.

~Add S&P, Onion Powder, Zest & Lemon Juice and let simmer for 2 min. Add remaining Olive Oil, season more if needed and then add cooked spaghetti noodles. Toss together and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, plate and top with parmesan cheese before enjoying...

Until next time...

Results of my Transformation Challenge!!!

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! Hope you all have a wonderful day!
It has been a while since I've blogged, but I wanted to share this with anyone and everyone. I know it may not be a big deal, but to me, it is a HUGE milestone! May 21st was the end of my 6 week transformation challenge. That last week was a buggar for me, but I still managed to get some pretty good results. Considering I haven't had much if not any good results since last August when I started my weight loss journey, I am pretty impressed and hope I can continue with this healthy lifestyle!!! Anyways, thanks for stopping by and letting me brag for just a minute or 2!!!
6 Week Transformation Challenge
April 1st Start Stats

Age: 30 Height: 5'2"

Starting Weight: 147.6 lbs

Body Fat: 36.7 {YIKES}

Metabolic Age: 48

Waiste: 32"

Hips: 39"

Muscle Mass: 88.8%

Core Fat: 34.9

My goal is to get my body fat down to 27% and my metabolic age down to 30...

May 21st End Stats

Starting Weight: 140.6 lbs

Body Fat: 28.7

Metabolic Age: 29

Waiste: 30"

Hips: 38"

Muscle Mass: 96.2

Core Fat: 25.9
So I've reached all of my goals and I'm beyond excited! Everything either went down or up, the weight didn't come off that much, but I changed my body and gained more muscle, which counts more than numbers on the scale...
Hope you have a wonderful day and can find time to start some challenge with yourself! It is all the kick start you need to succeed!!!