Happy Birthday To Me!!!

My 25th Birthday just passed on the 27th. I am sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but it has been non-stop bday celebrations since last week. We have eaten out 7 days in a row and I have had no time to prepare any meals and/or post anything. No worries though because Independence day weekend is approaching and I will definitely manage to get some new posts in. 

 So for my bday, Nick surprised me with Disneyland passes for the year. I was very much planning on going to work on Monday and after my usual 5 alarms went off, I stumbled into the restroom at my usual 6:20am to begin preparing for work, when I saw a card sittingo on the bathroom counter. I thought it was so sweet of Nick to have a card ready for me and it had a very sweet note, but it also said to look on the back, where it said "We are going to Disneyland. Come back to bed!" I was completely surprised. when I told him I had to tell my boss, he told me he already had told her two weeks ago, he had taken care of everything. Although I had the option to sleep in, I ended up not being able to fall back asleep because of my excitement. lol. So we went to Disneyland all day and I got to ride the new Ariel ride, the new Star Tours and many more. Pretty Awesome and yes my hubby is the greatest and it was an amazing surprise. So overall, my bday was fabulous and my bday week was amazing. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me.

Grilled Pizza

 

I have seen and heard of many grilled pizza recipes before but have never given them a try, until now. I believe it is safe to say that I may never go back to making oven baked pizza. Grilling the pizza was amazing, not only because we didn't have to use the oven and heat up our house, but because they had such a fresh and thoroughly good taste. What was a cool too was that we had individual pizzas rather than one large pizza, this way when I had some of my girls over, we were all able to create our own individual pizzas with exactly the ingredients we each wanted to use. They turned out delicious!

Blackened Chicken Stroganoff

 I found this interesting stroganoff recipe online based on the ingredients I had at my disposal. 

It turned out really tasty and it was a nice change from a basic stroganoff recipe, I definitely recommend this one.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

This is an easy appetizer that seems fancy and tastes like you put forth a ton of effort. They are so easy to make and more delicious and less caloric than bacon wrapped cocktail wieners. So if you are looking for a quick appetizer, then give these a try, they will not fail to impress. 

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever (Revised)

So I posted an almost identical cookie recipe a year ago but for some reason whenever I made them they turned out super cake-y and puffy. I like my cookies flat, so I have continually messed with the recipe to see if  I could perfect it. I tried different oven temps and adjusting refrigeration time but nothing worked until I started messing with the ingredients, then finally voila! Success!  I got them to the perfect consistency. My revised and delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe is below.

Jack Stuffed Chicken w/ French Fried Onions

 I went looking through my bridal shower recipe box again and found this recipe that my maid of honor's mother, Bev, gave me. The recipe looked simple enough and I happened to have all the necessary ingredients and then some. Of course I altered the recipe but mainly because I had lots of extra goodies that needed to be used. The end result turned out to be one of the most deliciously stuffed chicken breasts I have ever had. Seriously, this end recipe was soooooooooo good and I savored every single bite. So thank you Bev so much for introducing this recipe to me, I will make it often.

Strawberry Jam Pork Chops

Nick made us dinner tonight. He found this interesting recipe online and although he had his doubts when reading the ingredients, his mind was changed after reading the high reviews. After giving it a try, we both agree that this is s a pretty tasty pork chop. 

Chocolate Peppermint Andes Cookies

 While I was visiting with my friend Megan at her house last weekend, her roommate happened to make these delicious cookies. I only had a couple, but I quickly decided that they were my new favorite. Since both mine and Nick's favorite sweet combination is mint and chocolate, it took me less than a week to make my own batch. They are pure mint chocolate perfection.

Baked French Fries

 We felt like having some burgers tonight and so what goes better with burgers than french fries? Nothing. So I made some baked french fries. I have made or at least attempted to make some good homemade fries many times, but I feel like this was the first batch I truly successfully succeeded at making them correctly. In the past I had cut the potatoes too thin and so once they were done baking they were too flimsy and unable to stay firm enough for proper ketchup dipping. Therefore, my reccomendation is to make sure you cut the potatoes into thicker slices.

Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs

 

My friend Megan cooked this meal for us ladies for a girls night one night. Everyone loved it so much that we all begged her to share the recipe with us and of course she did. I finally got a chance to cook it tonight and it was just as delicious as it was then. The thing is that we had Nick's brother Luke over for dinner tonight and both him and Nick aren't too fond of ground turkey. Well I'm happy to say that not only did they like these turkey meatballs they liked them so much that they both had seconds. Huzzah!

"Lemonology"

I was looking through my recipe box that I got from my bridal shower about 2.5 years ago. I stumbled upon this hidden gem written by my friend Erica M. It is a perfectly wonderful marinade for any meat and perfect for the grill. Tonight I used it on shrimp and it turned out really tasty, I will definitely give this a go again with other meats.