Amy

9 months later..

March 4, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

No, there’s no baby secret here. It’s been a little over 9 months since my husband and I got married. Yeah, time really is flying!

So, way back in the engaged days, we met with my photographer who had these GORGEOUS sample albums. I had no idea where she got them from, but my cheap self didn’t want to ask since she designed them (Sorry Amanda for my cheapness…). So, I googled the heck out of flush mount albums and found these.

I was still feeling cheap, so I couldn’t buy these on any old website. No sirree…I checked eBay and found ONE. One 8×10 10 page album (holds 20 photos) for $35. Talk about lucky….I was ecstatic and bought it up!

After the wedding, I knew that I wanted to print out 8×10’s for this album, but heck, I was broke and the price of 8×10’s on Mpix, which was recommended by my photographer, were WAY too high.

Fast forward nine months, I get an AWESOME email from Mpix saying 8×10’s are 50% off!!! So, I did not hesitate to print 20 8×10’s for $30 total. I printed them on metallic paper, because I’ve ordered those before and I think it just makes the colors POP. It’s not super metallic, just slightly shimmery. 🙂 I highly recommend printing pictures on that paper through Mpix. They have great sales pretty often on printing too!

So, just a disclaimer, I’m not good at taking beautiful pictures of albums, so just imagine these 1000 times prettier. They totally are!

I’m so glad to have finally finished this book. Since we don’t have a coffee table, it’s resting soundly on the mantle against the wall behind a wedding figurine we got. I can’t wait to show this beauty off! 🙂

Chicken Enchiladas

March 4, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

Ok, so I’m gonna give you all a crawfish break today. I just HAD to share this recipe ASAP, because it’s just awesome.

This is a different recipe than the enchiladas I am used to (the ones with red sauce), but I had some leftover crockpot chicken that we used for tacos the night before (which I didn’t photograph, but I will share the recipe) and wanted to make sure that I used up the leftovers. I found this recipe on AllRecipes and thought that it sounded pretty interesting. So, I decided to give it a try!

This recipe is very easy to put together, and was so yummy. My husband absolutely loved these, so I’m definitely going to have to make them again!

Chicken Enchiladas
Source: AllRecipes

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat (used shredded leftover chicken taco meat. Recipe below)

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

6 (12 inch) flour tortillas

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the green onion until tender (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, then stir in the green chiles, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.

Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Source: The Nest (Houston Nesties board)

Ingredients:

1 chicken taco seasoning packet

2-3 frozen chicken breasts

Fresh pico de gallo (12-16 oz.)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Sprinkle the seasoning packet all over the bottom of the crockpot. Lay the frozen chicken breasts on top.

Pour the pico de gallo on top and add the olive oil and water. Do not stir!

Allow the chicken to cook in the crockpot for 4-6 hours on low. Remove chicken and shred with a fork, then add back in the crockpot, stir the sauce and let it cook for 30 more minutes on low.

In a small bowl combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Crawfish Pies

March 3, 2010 by Amy 6 Comments

I absolutely love crawfish pie. Usually for a meal, it’s served as a regular pie in slices, but since the main course for the party was the actual boil, I decided to make mini hand pies. I made the filling the night before, allowing the flavors to meld in the fridge overnight. I definitely recommend doing this because the filling was firm to work with for making these pies, and also, the flavor was definitely awesome!

The only problem I have with this original recipe is that it calls for 1 cup of oil. This was WAY too much oil, in my opinion. I ended up spooning the oil/fat off of it and after measuring it, that was almost 1/2 cup of oil! My husband also pointed out that a roux is usually 1:1, which is essentially what you are making in the end to thicken the filling. So, next time, I’m using 1/2 cup of oil in the recipe!

Crawfish Pies
Adapted from John Folse

Ingredients:

1 pound crawfish tails

1/2 cup oil

1 cup onions, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup garlic, minced

1/4 cup tasso ham, diced

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

salt and cracked pepper to taste

Tabasco sauce to taste

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

2 packs of refrigerated pie dough sheets

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a 10-inch saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Add onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and tasso ham. Saute 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.

Add crawfish and saute an additional 5 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and using a wire whisk, stir constantly until white roux is achieved. Add tomato sauce and slowly add broth, a little at a time, until sauce consistency is achieved. (NOTE: You may not use all of the broth.)

Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes. Season to taste using salt, pepper and Tabasco. Remove from heat and allow to cool, preferably overnight.

In a small mixing bowl, combine egg, milk and water. Using a wire whisk, stir until all ingredients are well blended.

Using the rim of a cup, cut the pie dough into circles. Place about 1 tsp. of filling center of each circle.

Brush the edges of pastry with eggwash and fold over in a crescent shape. Crimp the edges closed with a fork and pierce the top of the pie to create vents for steam to escape during cooking. Brush eggwash over pies and bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.

Happy Craft Month!

March 2, 2010 by Amy 9 Comments

March is a great month! I get to have my birthday (gotta love birthday freebies haha), Spring starts and I just found out it’s National Craft month! Holler! So, I’m going to write a post about crafty stuff. 🙂

Crafting It Forward

As much as I hate to do this, I promised to craft it forward to 5 readers, and two people never got back to me after I emailed them. 🙁 So, I’m choosing two people again!

Random.org chose Teale and craftysmurfette!! Congrats ladies! I’ll be emailing you two shortly to get your addresses and some basic information from you two!

Sewing

So, uhm, sewing is pretty fun but HARD. I tried to make a tote bag that was 12×14 and well, ended up with something way smaller because I thought I could cut straight lines with scissors. I realized a little too late that the rotary cutter would be my BFF. Erg..

Check this out. It’s terrible…I’m pretty sure I’m starting over on a new project because I’m impatient. LOL! It was cheap fabric anyway…

Look at how much I stink..I messed up sewing the bias tape flush to the fabric. Boo…I pinned it too. The light pink stuff is supposed to cover the zigzags on the blue fabric, in case you were like me two months ago and are thinking bias tape what?

So, I’m moving onto another project. I don’t need another tote bag anyway…psh. Maybe I’ll put yarn in it for knitting projects.

Not craft related, but I think my dog is seriously a ham. She poses like a model for the camera….how can you resist those eyes??

Crawfish Cheesecake

March 2, 2010 by Amy 3 Comments

I remember when my husband took me out to this fine Italian restaurant, and we sampled some crab cheesecake as an appetizer. We were hesitant at first, but our waiter insisted that we’d love it. And, boy did we! It was so flavorful and delicious. 🙂

So, when I saw this recipe on Elizabeth’s Edible Experience, I knew I had to try it for myself!

This was a very rich dish. It would be great for an appetizer at a potluck or something similar to that. We spread the cheesecake on crackers and it was very yummy! I loved the flavor, and I hope to have the opportunity to make this again sometime soon!

Crawfish Cheesecake
Source: Chef John Folse (found on Elizabeth’s Edible Experience)

Ingredients:

1 pound crawfish tails, chopped

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

½ cup sour cream

3 tbsps cornstarch

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning

2 tbsps minced onions

2 tbsps minced celery

2 tbsps minced red bell pepper

1/3 cup sliced chives

2 large eggs

6 tbsps melted butter

1 egg white

2 cups crushed butter crackers (like Ritz)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, egg white and crackers. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes to crisp.

Remove from oven and cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.

In a mixing bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, salt, seasoning, onions, celery, bell pepper and chives. Blend well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add eggs and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl again. Fold in the chopped crawfish tails. Pour the batter over the cooled crust.

Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for another hour without opening the door. Cool on a rack for at least 4 hours. Carefully unmold. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Fondue Night!

February 28, 2010 by Amy 8 Comments

After college, my social life went way down. My friends and I all went our separate ways, so we could no longer hang out. I was sad. I’ve fallen out of touch with some gals, but I still have some true blues that I gChat with daily. 🙂

So, it’s rare for me to have a night out with some gals. After my husband and I got married, I went to my local board on The Nest and started talking with some fabulous girls in Baton Rouge. They would have get-togethers and a lot of them were IRL friends! Around Christmas, someone hosted a nestie party, and I finally chucked up enough courage (mind you, I’m shy) to meet up with these gals. 🙂 Of course, my husband was a little weary since these were Internet friends, but hey, I did meet him on the Internet too! 🙂

After the party, I felt like I made a few new friends, and couldn’t wait for the next GTG. Well, that was this past Thursday and we met at Melting Pot for cheese/chocolate. Yum! It was fabulous to chat it up with these gals, and enjoy some sinful eats.

Spinach Artichoke Fontina Fondue (before/after)

S’mores Fondue (before/after)…gotta love the flambe! 🙂

Coincidentally, it was birthday season! We were celebrating birthdays for 3 of the gals so our waiter put candles in our dessert dippers. How cute!

Our waiter was pretty fun. He would chime in on the girl talk, as crazy and random as that was! (Hairy eyeball? Yeah google that phrase…it’s safe for work, but I never heard of it before!)

Hi waiter! He was pretty swift with making sure our glasses were full and our tummies were happy!

I gave one of my buds my camera to play with, and she ended up taking pics of everyone, so I thought I’d include them. Hope no one hates me after this..

Of course, I need to link to the photographer so you can see her ultra cute baby bump!

Oh yeah, and sometime during the dinner, I tweeted Bob Harper of the Biggest Loser to wish one of the gals (here’s her blog) a Happy Birthday. He still hasn’t responded…c’mon Bob! Sigh..

I had a great time, and it’s awesome to have some local gals to talk to/hang out with! 🙂 I don’t feel super lame socially as much anymore.

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Louisiana Saturday Night Celebration

February 28, 2010 by Amy 24 Comments

You know the band Alabama? I always found it funny that they sang a song about Louisiana Saturday nights since their name is, well, Alabama. Guess my rivalry between Bama and LSU will never die, eh?

This is my very first time doing a 24, 24, 24 event for Foodbuzz, and I could not be more excited. It was PERFECT timing to throw a party for family! Thanks so much to Foodbuzz for sponsoring this!

There are so many great things going on in Louisiana lately. Between the New Orleans Saints clinching a Superbowl win and Mardi Gras, I just thought it would be great to celebrate with family the traditional Louisiana way: CRAWFISH!

Oh yes, that silly crustacean that is also referred to as a crayfish or mudbug. We have been anxiously awaiting crawfish season, and we lucked out with a sack (roughly about 40 lbs.) from a local crawfish farmer for some crawfish foodie fun! I say lucked out, because it’s VERY early in the season and well, like the rest of the country, our winter isn’t exactly mild. Since it’s so cold, the crawfish basically go dormant. So, the crawfish are in short supply (and sadly, pricey). However, we just had to have some of this. It’s been far too long for us, and let’s just say we weren’t disappointed.

I’m sure some of you are insanely jealous and then there are some of you who are thinking, why crawfish?

Crawfish are insanely abundant in the swamps/marshes of Louisiana (when they are in season), and have been around since the native Americans and European settlers. Because of their abundance out here, they have remained popular for centuries and have sort of become tradition for family gatherings. In the Spring/early Summer, you can literally smell crawfish boil in the air in most neighborhoods. So many families do boils and LOVE it. It’s crazy that Louisiana supplies 90% of all domestic crawfish in the nation, yielding 75-105 MILLION pounds of crawfish. (fun facts via www.crawfish.org)

So, now that you can understand our state’s small addiction to this little creature, here’s what we enjoyed at the party!

Mini Crawfish Pies*
Crawfish Cheesecake*
Crawfish Boudin
Crawfish Boil (of course)
Decorated Crawfish Sugar Cookies*

* There will be separate blog posts about these items off the menu.

Since the pies and cheesecake had to be assembled the night before and the crawfish for the boil wouldn’t be caught until the next morning , we purchased some Louisiana crawfish conveniently peeled into 1 lb. bags. Let me tell you, if you have to choose between Louisiana crawfish and foreign crawfish, you should strongly consider Louisiana crawfish. It might be a few more bucks than foreign crawfish, but I will say, they are TOTALLY not the same. Louisiana crawfish has so much more flavor and the tails are usually much larger too, so if you are thinking of buying crawfish in stores, seriously consider splurging a few extra bucks and getting domestic crawfish.

These crawfish pies were so yummy! The tray of these were gobbled up, and just came together so easily. I will admit, I used pre-made pie dough, but hey, the filling made up for it BIG time! I was a little happy to have some leftover filling to freeze and make these again sometime soon!

This savory cheesecake was pretty darn easy to put together too. We ended up using this as a spread for crackers, and it was just so flavorful. We didn’t really eat it as a cheesecake though, since it was a very rich appetizer and we had to save room for the crawfish boil!

This is crawfish boudin. We like to buy this from a local cajun meat shop. I love this shop because they just know how to put a twist on the most basic things to taste perfectly Louisianian. If we had a long day at work and no time to cook (or just feeling lazy), it’s easy to pop something from there in the oven and enjoy it within an hour!

Back to boudin. Boudin is basically a rice dressing stuffed in a casing. The main ingredient is usually pork, but this meat shop makes fun types like red beans and crawfish! While it looks like sausage, most people find the casing to be unappetizing. So you just end up eating it out of the casing, which easily peels away.

We enjoyed our boudin spread on crackers. It was delicious!

We timed it to where we enjoyed appetizers while boiling these little fellas.

They went from this:

To this:

After they were done, we did not hesitate to fork out the newspaper and dig in! Crawfish boils aren’t usually strictly crawfish. Personally, we boil ours with lemons, onions, garlic, corn, potatoes, mushrooms and sausage. It’s fun to have a little variety in there!

And of course, for spice wimps like me, since these bad boys are boiled in a LOT of cayenne pepper and spices, there was plenty of french bread to calm down the burning taste buds! We purchased this bread at a produce stand that is known for selling great local foods. I love supporting local businesses, especially when it’s dealing with food, because it’s much fresher, flavorful and sometimes, even CHEAPER than buying at just your typical supermarket.

This boil was definitely enjoyed by all. We had a little bit leftover, which we’ll be peeling and freezing to use in another cajun dish sometime soon, but out of the sack of about 40 lbs., it was mostly gone! I guess we were hungry!

After the clean-up outside, we all went inside to hang out, let our tummies digest and enjoy a platter full of decorated crawfish cookies! Or, at least offer it out to those who saved some room for some! Stay tuned for how I made these. I am pretty happy with how these turned out, since I didn’t have a crawfish cookie cutter!

Thanks again to Foodbuzz for sponsoring this party. My family had a wonderful time catching up and enjoying this fabulous Louisiana staple! I hope this boil is first of many for this crawfish season! YUM! 🙂

Yummy sewing inspiration

February 26, 2010 by Amy 3 Comments

I tend to get slightly obsessed when I start a new hobby. I’ve purchased yards of cute fabric and tons of fat quarters already. I’ve only sewn two things: the clutch and another bag (post coming soon on that). It’s pretty crazy.

Sewing is so practical though. It’s a hobby I can justify for, easily. I can hem our pants, which saves money, sew pillows for the couch in fabrics that are yummy, PJ pants that are long enough for my legs, etc. It’s just easy to justify spending time on, because the things you can make are very useful for everyday life!

I find myself drooling over free online patterns and things in Etsy shops, and making lists of what I want to make next. I tend to find most of my inspiration via Google, but lately, I’ve started to look into this site.

CraftGawker is for ANY craft project. Basically, if you take nice pictures, unlike me, you submit your picture to CraftGawker and if they like your picture, they put it on their site. Then, craft junkies like me click the picture and are sent to the source of the picture: whether it be a tutorial (hopefully) or Etsy link (blah..I don’t wanna buy your craft, I wanna make it! I know, so selfish and cheap!). 🙂 It’s very neato-mosquito if you ask me.

At the bottom of the site, there are categories, so you can go specifically to knitting projects, bags, jewelry, etc. I love it.

Here’s some sewing things that I’ve taken a liking to lately. These are from CraftGawker and multiple sewing blogs. 🙂

Project

I mean, seriously, how awesome are all of these ideas? There are tons more, but these are my favorites. 🙂

I also have an ultimate sewing goal in mind, which I’ve been waiting YEARS to finally do, after seeing a friend buy one for (gulp) $300 from someone who made it for her. Big savings if I can DIY, but I’ll keep you hanging and let you know about that project in another post. 🙂

Is it OK to be Fat?

February 24, 2010 by Amy 17 Comments

This is sort of ironic. I wrote about the judgey stares at the mall, and when I was halfway watching Nightline last night, I heard the anchor ask “Is it OK to be Fat?” I was glued from then on.

They had 4 panelists debating this issue. Kim Bensen, who has lost over 200 lbs. and MeMe Roth, who I had never heard of before (and don’t ever care to hear of again…you’ll see why), were on the side saying it’s NOT OK to be fat. Crystal Renn, who is a plus size supermodel, and Marianne Kirby, who has written a book on fat acceptance, were advocating that it is OK to be fat.

Both sides had solid arguments, but sometimes MeMe and Kim had my blood boiling. First of all, Marianne Kirby is a big girl like me. You could literally see some moments in the debate where MeMe and KIM (Hello?! Weren’t you “fat” before? Stop being judgey..)had a face of disgust looking at this girl.

MeMe kept making comments that being fat is not acceptable. You can control it…she kept pushing that anyone could be the ideal weight.

I don’t know about that. Her definition of ideal was just plain wrong to me.

“There’s a lot of studies looking at staying at a lower end of BMI [body mass index] perhaps giving us longevity and healthier longevity,” said Roth.

BMI…one of the most unreliable measurements of ideals, to this woman, is the ideal. SERIOUSLY?

After watching this debate, I wanted to seriously become BFF’s with Crystal Renn. I agree, that while being unhealthy is a bad thing, fat is not a bad thing. Fat to society is SO broad, and like she mentioned in the interview, she’s a size 12, in the best shape of her life. The size 0 she once was, was UNHEALTHY! I’m sure a lot of society considers Crystal Renn to be fat, but hey, she’s making mega bucks being a gorgeous, confident woman with curves. You go girl!

I’m sure some of you might not agree with me, so what say you? Is it OK to be fat?

Thank You Mall Shoppers

February 22, 2010 by Amy 7 Comments

I am sooo happy to be a part of a society where people are so quick to judge. (sarcasm) Just yesterday, I forgot one of the MAIN reasons I hate shopping: people judge.

I’m obese. I know it, but I also know that I’m a person just like you. This especially applies to the people who were shopping at American Eagle yesterday as I went in there with my sister who is a size 6. Thank you Mr. Manager for asking how my day was, and offering to help me, despite probably noticing that I am NOT the proper size to fit in your clothing. However, to the girls who gave me side eye when I would look at a shirt (for my sister’s bday, mind you), I am a person too. I’m not a freak of nature, although people like you try to make it evident that I do not belong in your SUPER special regular sized clothing store.

I remember in college this was a frequent aspect of shopping at the mall with friends. I’m the big girl of the group, but I would go shopping with my friends who fit in smaller sizes and offer a “yay”/”nay” on the outfit. That’s just what friends do. I’d get the stares all the time when looking through shirts for my friend who wore an XS or asking the associate if they had this in her size. Oh MAN, the look on the employee’s face when I would ask that.

I got the stares ALL the time, especially in places like Hollister or the horribly over-scented Abercrombie where I had to suck in to get past all the racks in the store (enter humiliation). Not to mention, I’m 5’11”, a towering giant in a sea of shorter women. So, I’m easily noticed.

By the time all my friends were done shopping, they’d offer to go with me to Lane Bryant. I was already just drained and depressed from being the fat girl in the group of friends who couldn’t buy that super cute cardigan that my friend got to buy, so I’d just offer a “thanks, but I have enough clothes” line. A little white lie.

For those of you who are quick to judge people who aren’t of normal size, seriously, think about what you are doing. Most of the time, people my size have NO self esteem and really, are we bothering you that much? It’s not like I’m bumping into you or doing anything to bother you because of my size. Just seriously, I’m a person too. Please try to remember that.

Amy

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