Tasty Thursday

I am absolutely in love with the website Pinterest.  If you haven't joined yet, let me know & I will send you an email invite.  It is is a site where you "pin" things you see online that you like to your own boards on the website. You can look at my boards here.  It is a really neat site because you can repin the things you see on your friends board that you might want to try too. I pinned several different recipes and today I decided to try a couple.

The first thing I made was Baked Zucchini with Cheese.

  This was so simple and very tasty.  I took a medium sized zucchini and sliced it into about 1/2 thick pieces.  I sprinkled garlic salt on each one and then baked them in the oven on 350 for 10 minutes.  Then I took them out and sprinkled shredded cheese on each one.  Finally, I put them back in the oven for 3 minutes and then they were done!


While the zucchini was baking I started making Chicken Bacon and Ranch Quesadillas.  I used a tortilla and covered it with shredded cheese.  On half of it I covered the cheese with cooked bacon, cooked chicken strips and some more zucchini that I cooked in a skillet.  Next, I put the tortilla in a skillet on medium heat for about a minute.  I then poured some ranch dressing on the chicken & folded the tortilla in half and cooked it on each side for about a minute and a half.  This was amazing!! My favorite ingredients in one simple dish, couldn't ask for much more.

The finished meal; Tortilla, Zucchini & Banana Peppers. 

I didn't follow the recipes I found on Pinterest exactly but if you would like to then just go to my boards and you can go to the blog that has a more specific recipe.

Fun Decorating Finds

I've been looking for things to make my bedroom a little more decorative.  Of course with starting grad school that means finding things that aren't very expensive. I've been looking at thrift stores or on clearance aisles and have found some pretty neat things.

This is a chalkboard wall sticker.  I use it to write things I need to remember to do. I found this on sale at Kohls for around $7.  It didn't stay on my wall well the first time I put it up so you can see I put white thumbtacks on the sides of it to make it stay. I haven't had anymore problems with it staying up.

This is my wall shelf thus far.  I need to add some greenery or something to the base of it.  I found the flameless candle at Mega Thrift for $1, the green vase for $1.99 at Goodwill and the vase is light blue with white polka dots which I found for $1.50. The flowers I all got on sale at AC Moore and Michaels.

These wall stickers are in my bathroom.  They match perfectly because I have a light blue and lime shower curtain and a hot pink bath rug and hand towel.  These stickers were on sale at Michaels for $1.20 each!  They have a lot of other words you can get in other colors.

This is a wall mirror.  I found it at Mega Thrift for $1.99 and my mom had some artificial flowers that I sat on it to spruce it up some.  The hook at the bottom I will probably use eventually for hanging necklaces on.

Supper Time

Now that I'm settled into my apartment I've been enjoying being able to cook.  Tonight I cooked a really good meal that I thought I'd share.  I first made penne pasta using italian herbs and cheese cooking creme.  All you have to do is boil the pasta, drain the water and put about 3 tablespoons of cooking creme into the pasta.  It's really simple and a different way to eat pasta.  To go in the pasta I also baked some chicken.  I took 2 chicken breasts and seasoned them with Rotisserie Chicken seasoning by McCormick.  I baked the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes on 425.  Then I just cut the chicken into small pieces and mixed it with the pasta.  I love cheese so I also sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on top. If your not a real cheesy person then the cooking creme probably has enough cheese in it for you.  I really think this is one of the best dishes I have made. It was nice that it didn't require a lot of work or ingredients.

On a side note, I don't recommend Old Paso Tortilla Stuffers.  Yes, they sound good and are a fast way to make tacos, but a quick run to taco bell would be cheaper and taste better.

A short vacation

My family and I got home from the beach yesterday afternoon.  The week absolutely flew by, I couldn't believe it was already time to leave.  The rain set in early in the morning so we left a little earlier than planned but that was alright because Michael and I went shopping!  The best things about our beach trip were:





We go see the one show almost every year.  I always enjoy it because they have a few different songs each year. My favorite songs are when they tap dance.  It makes me wish I would have stuck with clogging when I did it several years ago.

 

The Voyager Dolphin Cruise was also pretty neat since this year we actually saw dolphins.  Last year when me and Michael went it rained so hard while we were out that I was definitely ready to get back to shore.   We stood at the back of the boat for most of the trip.  The crew threw out a net and caught several shrimp, tongue fish, squid and sand dollars.  Once we got about an hour out in the ocean we got behind a big shrimp boat.  Right behind the boat were several dolphins.  If it weren't for that shrimp boat we probably wouldn't have seen any dolphins again this year.

While trying to find a place to eat one night we ended up a good 40 minutes from our condo.  At this point Michael just says to pick somewhere so I see this sign and the words "Voted  Best Ribs in Myrtle Beach" and we decided to stop.  We got seated fast and were given bread to start us off.  We split a full rack of ribs that fell right off the bone. Our meal also came with two sides so I got Au Gratin potatoes and Michael got fries.  My potatoes were great, and the fries, well fries are fries!  It was very tasty place to eat and wasn't too expensive.  I would definitely recommend this place if you are near it.  If you take your receipt to the Pacific beside it you get 10% off but it smelt like smoke in the Pacific so we didn't stay in there but for a minute.

Overall, I was glad we were all able to go to the beach this year.  The weather was very nice until Friday when it rained.  While I was there I also found out that I got into the Special Education program at NC State.  I knew I would be going there regardless because I was admitted as a Non-degree seeking student but to already be in the program makes things much easier and cheaper!