Pinned! : Chicken Power Bowls

I know I can't be the only one. My Pinterest is packed full of awesome ideas that I think I'll never actually do. So I'm going to start blogging my attempts at a Pinterest project two to four times a month. I started with this recipe I found on Iowa Girl Eats via Pinterest. It's a chicken power bowl. Basically a salad, but doesn't power bowl sound way cooler? 

Basically just throw together some chicken, roasted chickpeas, hard boiled egg, blue cheese, brown rice, and spinach. I just dressed it with a super simple vinaigrette. It's super good! I didn't follow the recipe really though, except for the roasted chick peas. I took two cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, and tossed them with a little bit of olive oil. I put them in an oven at 350F for about 40 minutes or until they were crispy. When they were finished I seasoned them with some lemon pepper and garlic salt. 

For the chicken I cut it into strips and cooked it in a skillet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic. I deglazed it with madeira wine. It turned out nice a juicy and perfect for a salad. The original recipe called for wonton strips, but my grocery store didn't actually have any. Which is probably for the best since we don't like to eat a whole lot of wheat anyway. I added some brown rice for that very reason, to keep the carbs up a bit, but without flour. 

So my first "Pinned!" project is a win at this point! Are you better than me about actually doing the projects you pin?

Daily Life

We had a mini vacation this week for my Brother's wedding. 

The wedding and our accommodations were at the Mayhurst Inn. Which was wonderful, and full of history. Mayhurst was built by Colonel John Willis, a great-nephew of President James Madison. The bed and breakfast's owners Pat and Jack were amazing. If you ever find yourself in Orange Virginia you should really look this place up! 

The Wedding was a black tie affair, so I probably took around a million photos of everyone dressed up. I'll spare you those. I do love this picture of Brian and I so much though! 

We visited Montpelier (James Madison's Estate) the day after the ceremony. Although the weather was rainy and awful, the house was still impressive. You couldn't take any pictures inside, so here's the view from the porch. Without cloud cover there are some pretty amazing mountains in the skyline. 

Before we left Virginia I managed to have some time to take my sister's graduation announcement photos! Fun fact, she's an honest to god rocket scientist!   

Brian's Dad's Birthday dinner! We got him The Blob on blu-ray. It was very well received. 

I attempted to make Chicken Marsala, but accidentally grabbed madeira wine. So we had some pretty tasty Chicken Madeira instead. Italian comfort food is my favorite. 

My very messy sewing space. I didn't manage to finish the dress in time for the wedding. Although I'm a zipper insertion and a hem away from being all the way done. I'll post more on the dress later in the week when it's hopefully finished! 

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are starring in the move Carol, which has been filming all over Cincinnati this month. It's so strange/awesome to see all the old cars, extras in costume, and oh you know MOVIE STARS everyday. Although I have gotten close enough to take pictures of the actresses in the movie, I feel like a total creeper and decided against it. But if you search #carolwatch you'll find some. 

Happy Monday! How has your week been so far?

Project Life 2014 - January

So this year for Project Life I'm not doing weekly spreads. I'm just printing off all my photos at the end of the month and grouping a few together to make some spreads. It's far more enjoyable and less stressful this way. Here's some of my favorite pages from January. 

1. A New Year

As per tradition we spend most of new years day recovering from the party the night prior. Then I pack up the Christmas tree that night. Most of the cards here are a mix between the Maggie Holmes Flea Market Mini Kit, the Dear Lizzy core kit, and We R Memory Keepers Blackboard cards. 

2. Family

Eating out at Quan Hapa with Brian and his father. Getting my Windshield fixed after it was so cold it cracked. Thanks Polar Vortex. Some information too personal to put online. Contrary to popular belief such a thing still exists. A Gift I gave Brian, and horrible weather all around. 

3. Dean Martin Burgers

After Finding this hilarious recipe, we decided to make Dean Martin's Burgers at a "slumber party". A Slumber party for our group of friends is basically just where you can have more cocktails than you should to drive and everyone crashes at someone's house. More cocktails than you should have and drive being one FYI. Brian also managed to slash open his hand opening a beer bottle that had a tiny crack in the neck. It basically shattered as soon as he tried to open it. 

Have you done any scrap booking yet this year? Are you using Project life?