Lemon-Chicken Stir Fry and MORE!

Another week, another day of food, drinks and dessert! I know to some I seem like I'm alienating myself by making dinner for myself and not really being social but I'm not too sorry for that. The way I see it is I could do one of two things; I could either not go out on the weekends and wimp and whine about it because I seem to have zero social life or I could make yummy foods and enjoy myself and alone time. I choose the latter.

So, tonight's feat: Lemon-Chicken Stir Fry, Homemade Raspberry Lemonade and Magic Cookie Bars for dessert. Yes, of course recipes and tips are to follow!
*STUPID BLOGGER WON'T POST THIS PICTURE RIGHT SO I'VE POSTED IT AS IS...*

This was the end result of Lemon-Chicken Stir Fry. Are you ready for this? Let me just say that it was delectible and I could not believe it actually turned out well.

Ingredients (produces 3 Servings):
-1 tsp Oil
-1/4 tsp Soy Sauce
-1 tsp Rice Vinegar
-Cilantro Flakes
-1 Chicken Breast
-1 Lemon

-1/4 Medium Sized Red Onion

-1 Clove Garlic

-10-12 Brocoli Florets

-1/2 Green Bell Pepper

-1 Large Red Pepper

-1/2 Cup Snow Peas

Begin by cutting the chicken breast into small strips and placing it into a large gallon-sized ziploc bag. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the bag of chicken (the juice should cover the chicken generously). Sprinkle the chicken with Cilantro flakes until an even coat has covered the chicken. Mix the bag and place in the fridge to marinate; leave it to sit for at least a few hours. The more lemon-tasting you want it the longer you should leave it but I left mine in the fridge for about 12 hours and it had a good taste to it.

Prepare all vegetables:

-Onions: Sliced OR Diced

-Garlic: Minced

-Brocoli Florets: Remove the Stalks, leave the florets whole

-Peppers: Sliced and cut into half

-Snow Peas: Left whole

Heat the oil in a medium-sized wok and add the GARLIC and ONIONS. Continue to cook the onions and garlic until they are lightly brown or caramel looking.

Add in the CHICKEN leaving the EXCESS LEMON JUICE in the bag (You can add the juice later for more flavor or if you want to add a little now that'd be fine too). Let the CHICKEN cook for 2-3 mins continuing to stir it occasionally. *I cannot say to cook until tan or white because the lemon juice will begin to turn the chicken white while marinating*

Add in the BROCOLLI FLORETS and allow to cook until they begin to soften.

Throw in the PEPPERS and SNOW PEAS.

Allow all this to simmer to trap in the flavors. Then add in the SOY SAUCE and RICE VINEGAR. **I am NOT a SOY SAUCE fan, but I added only a small amount to really set off the Lemon**

Allow the whole concoction to simmer on LOW HEIGHT until chicken is THOROUGHLY COOKED and the BROCOLLI is at the texture you want.

**Also, next time I will NOT add SNOW PEAS; I felt it just did not absorb the flavors at all, so why waste time?**

Serve with a side of ride and WALLAH! Party in your mouth!

Not a lot of work for a GREAT result!! I can't wait until I can have the left overs for lunch!!!

So, what about some Lemonade? This is a relatively simple recipe; the procedure may seem difficult but really, it wasn't. I did it all by myself in about 5 mins.

Ingredients:

-1 Cup Lemon Juice (Fresh Lemons it came out to about 5 Lemons)

-2 Cups Water

-6 oz. FRESH or FROZEN Raspberries

-2/3 Cups Sugar

Rinse the Raspberries and sprinkle with sugar. Then, using a Potato Masher or spoon mash the RASPBERRIES and let stand for 5-10 mins.

Using a FINE Strainer (The one I used is actually a sink strainer but I promise I bought it NEW!!) press the RASPBERRIES through the strainer to separate the seeds and extract the juice. This took most of the time; I used my fingers, a measuring cup whatever really works. You do NOT have to extract ALL of the juice but there should be a good amount of juice when you are finished.

Then add the Lemon Juice and Water and mix. Taste and add more sugar if too bitter.

**SIDE NOTE: I did NOT let the RASPBERRIES sit in sugar. I decided that I would add the sugar at the end to taste because I like MORE of a bitter taste...**

Now, what about DESSERT?

MAGIC COOKIE BARS--Recipe with step by step pictures

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 to 2 PACKS of SMASHED HONEY Graham Crackers

-1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter MELTED

-1 or 2 Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

-Chocolate Chips

-Diced Almonds

-Shredded Coconut

-Preheat oven to 375 F.

Melt the butter and, in the cookie sheet, add to the crackers. Mix until most, if not all, of the graham grackers are moist. Press into the pan. **If you have a METAL Cookie sheet; I'd recommend using one of those. Disposable pans are GREAT, but they bend a LOT!**

Coat the crackers with the Condensed Milk spreading to make sure a even coat is applied. Usually about 1.5 cans will be enough for this.

Layer to your liking chips, nuts and coconut. Again, I do NOT like Coconut, but it helps you know when it's done in the oven so it's helpful...

Place it in the oven for 5 mins or until coconut begins to golden. Remove from the oven and place in the fridge to cool.

**THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY TO EAT THIS IS BY PUTTING A FORK IN THE FRIDGE WITH THE DESSERT AND TAKING A BITE AT A TIME**

It is soooooo good and might not be any left after tonight.

Looking ahead I have a few options for next week, I'm thinking either GERMAN SCHNITZEL, TUNA CASSEROLE or MEXICAN CASSEROLE... I'm up for any SUGGESTIONS though...

Love cooking!!!

Last week I started something and I think it's a great new thing; weekly cooking of bigger meals!

Now, why is this a good thing, I have a couple reasons for that. First of all, just because I'm a college student doesn't mean I have to eat like one EVERY day of the week. I can get tired of chicken quesadillas, pasta, ramen, mac and cheese and yes, I can even get tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For this reason I justify spending time in front of the stove to make a good meal usually with more vegetables and fruit servings than I'd normally get throughout the week.

Second, because I've not been living away from my parents for long I do not have a lot of 'kitchenware'. Instead of just going out and buying EVERY dish I THINK I might need I've put it off until I cook a meal that needs something I don't have. I figure it'll save me spending hundreds of dollars all at once :)

Needless to say I'm a little excited to keep cooking and blogging. I'll continue to let you know how it goes.

Up this week: Lemon-Chicken Stir Fry with Raspberry Lemonade and Magic cookie bars for dessert.

Single Awareness Day!!!

I need an idea or IDEAS! Every year February 14th comes around and I look for ways to spend it since I tend NOT to be with anyone romantically. Last year I hung out with a few friends, the year before I went to Brugges, Belgium.

So, WHAT do I do THIS YEAR????

A night of good food and good times

So, I've discovered a new hobby of mine, cooking. When I went home for the holidays I found that I actually enjoy being in the kitchen and if I'm in the kitchen it forces me to clean; because honestly, who likes to cook in a dirty kitchen?

So, coming home on Monday already I've spent two nights cooking rather good meals if I can say so myself; Steph might back me up for the pizza though :) So, I thought it might be fun to share the good recipes I find.

Tonight's feat: Pizza. I know, simple enough, but NO, this was DELICIOUS pizza.

This pizza was a Lime-Chicken, onion, jalepeno and bell pepper pizza.

So, I started with a breast and a half of chicken, weight wise I believe it was about 2/3 lbs. I cut those UNCOOKED into cubes or just smaller pieces that would be perfect-sized for pizza. **Now, just as a little disclaimer, know that I'm not much for MEASURING things out, but just add until it looks good**

I then take the chicken and throw it in a medium-sized bowl. I then take a lime and cut it into half and using half of the lime I squeeze the juice over the chicken and sprinkle with Cilantro leaves. Then, mix the chicken with the juice and leaves to make sure the juice marinates all of the chicken. Allow that to stand for at least 20 mins.

In a medium-frying pan lightly coat the bottom with olive oil (Vegetable will work as well) and allow to warm to frying-temperature (to make sure you have reached this point wet your fingers and flick the water into the oil; the oil should POP then you know it's ready). Leaving the excess juice in the bowl place the chicken into the pan and fry until lightly golden; all pink should be gone but the chicken will continue to brown in the oven when it's cooked. Remove from heat and let sit until the pizza is about to go in the oven.

I then started on the pizza dough; using the pizza dough you can find at your local grocery store in the package follow the directions on the pouch (This size of pizza took 3 pouches), I know, defeats the purpose of home made anything if you don't make your own crust but I am still a college kid; I can't make EVERYTHING from scratch.

I then did the typical sauce, cheese, whatever, used a fresh jalapeno, 1/8 red onion and half a red and green pepper to finish for the toppings. I recommend NOT sauteeing the onion because again they will cook IN the oven ;). I then de-seeded the jalepenos because this is NOT suppose to be a spicy pizza, just a DELICIOUS one.

Ten minutes later this beauty comes out:

It really was delicious, the thing about it was that the chicken gave it a sweet-tangy kick to the otherwise spicy veggies.

Add a side of fruit, who wants salad when you already have a few veggies on the pizza? We then added an Orange Julius to drink and wah-lah! Delicious, somewhat nutritious meal... RIGHT? I think so :)

Recipe for Orange Julius:

6 Oz of frozen orange juice concentrate

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

12 Ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until fully mixed; if you want to save your motor you could add in ice cubes one at a time.

I hope you enjoy, I can't wait to do this again, maybe next I'll do my spicy chicken burittos :)

New Year, New Blog... SORTA

Alright, so it's a new year which means it's time to re-vamp the blog a little.

So, change #1: As you can see I have once again changed my picture at the top of my page. I'm going to continue to change that picture once a month and hopefully they'll be good pictures that I've taken from my trips or daily life.

And change #2: I'm changing my posts for blogs. My travel blog has turned into a blog of little things that I do daily almost. From here on out, the travel blog will be for things that were planned out and took me more than 30 mins to travel to. Such things like the zoo, Germany, Las Vegas, California. Things I don't always do. Hopefully this will make for more posts and pictures for this blog.

I'm really trying to blog more regularly this year and to get caught up soon. So stay tuned and you can venture with me on this life of a gypsy college kid.

Work + Hard X (2 SemestersX Short Semester)=Graduating by December 2010

It might be a bad sign that after the second class of my first day I've already gone in to talk to my advisor about what I can do to lessen the amount of time I have to spend here at school.

I walked into her office, announced that I am bored and tired of school then demanded she tell me what it is I have to do so I can be done with school by December. Ok, so I might not have demanded, but I did ask and this is the consensus:

Spring 2010-18 Credit Hours. NO I'm NOT trying to kill myself but last semester I was bored with 15 hours so I stepped it up a little bit.

Summer Session #1 2010-7 Credit Hours. Finish the pre-reqs for my internship and do them in 5 weeks at the beginning of the summer making for another LONG break... just like I like them!

Fall 2010-12 Credit Hours. 6 of those will be my internship and hopefully I can get the other 6 to be on Tues/Thurs so I can intern M/W/F.

Now, internships. I was planning on going to Germany for 6 months while doing my internship there but it presented 2 major problems as I've mentioned before: 1-Pushes my date of graduation back to May 2011 and 2-No longer has me as a full time student starting next semester which means I have to start paying back student loans. NOT wanting either of those I've opted to stay here in AZ somewhere and intern with a local company though it'd be preferred if they had gov't ties.

Yep, day #1 of school isn't even half over yet and already I'm plotting for the next two semesters. HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Life, an ever changing variable

So, I know it's been almost 3 months since I posted ANYTHING on this blog but I thought it's time for an update.

These past few months have been full of some ups with a lot of downs. I found out the job that I want does NOT require a degree and have been placed in the position to decide if I would or would not finish out school. In the end the decision was to finish it. The final decision was just to finish it. I've got only a year left and why quit when so close right?

So the thought of internship came about; where am I going to do it? I got an opportunity to go back to Germany and do my internship at one of the biggest military hospitals in the world and the largest outside of the US. It would be an amazing opportunity and line me up perfectly for the career I want to get into once I finish school.

If I took the internship however it poses one small issue, it would push back my graduation by six months and I'd have to start paying off loans come this fall. So, plan B comes about; if I can graduate by December I'm going to do my internship in the states and push for graduation within the year.

The past few months I've been trying to get adjusted into full time school work instead of full time work work. I've done ok, but needless to say I'm a little over school. The work just doesn't seem like it's worth it.

The next semester will be one of the most crucial ones yet. If I do well with this one I'll be ready to wrap it up.

Now comes to plans for AFTER school. I'm still looking at going with the military doing the whole civilian thing. I've already started looking into jobs around the country and have found openings in Georgia (the state), the DC area, California, a couple in Arizona; the opportunities are out there, but hopefully they continue to come about for the next year so I can jump right into it.

Life is an ever changing thing isn't it? One minute you are riding high and the next minute you are picking up the pieces trying to figure out where to go next.

More blogging to come as I continue to figure this out...