Just Desserts

For as much as I say I'm not a huge fan of baking, I LOVE sweets. So it almost being Valentine's Day I thought I would share a few of my favorite sweets.  

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

Bakerella Red Velvet Cake

Ina Garten Angel Food Cake

If you want to cheat you can buy the mix at Williams Sonoma

Martha Stewart's Coconut Layer Cake

13 months

How to Roast a Chicken

It was a cold and wet weekend and all I wanted to do was curl up by a fire and eat some good old comfort food. I believe the perfect winter meal is a roasted chicken. And it boggles my mind how many of my friends don't know how to make one, or they assume it is difficult. It is quite possibly one of the easiest things to cook. Here's my version, and it turns out perfect every time. 

Ingredients:

1 5-6 pound roasting chicken

2 T room temperature butter

2 lemons, one halved and one sliced

1 large bunch fresh thyme

5 cloves garlic

5 springs of fresh rosemary

freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F. 

Remove any giblets that may be in the chicken. Rinse chicken thoroughly. Generously salt and pepper the inside and outside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon cut in half, garlic, springs of rosemary and thyme. Insert sliced lemon slices under skin covering the breasts. Brush the outside with butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. 

Place chicken in roasting pan, breast side up. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife between the leg and thigh. Remove, and cover with foil. Let chicken rest for 20 minutes before serving. 

Serve with roasted vegetables. 

This is adapted from Ina Garten's Roast Chicken recipe. You can view her recipe here. 

A Week's Worth of Recipes

I was putting together my grocery list for this upcoming week's dinners and thought I would share what was on the menu. I have cooked according to my meal plan and it has worked out great. Easy grocery shopping, spending less money, not wasting food and not having to worry about what's for dinner. 

I'm no Martha Stewart, a week's worth of meals includes left overs on Thursday, with Friday and Saturday left blank as we usually go out with friends or eat at family's.  

So here's our week {4 days of meals}

Sunday- Chimichurri steak & chicken with green salad {see recipe below}

Monday- Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata {Cooking Light}

Tuesday- Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake {Picky Palate}

Wednesday- Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers 

Thursday- Left Overs

Chimichurri Steak and Chicken

Season steak and chicken with salt and pepper and grill.  

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, peeled

dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Puree all ingredients in food processor. Transfer to bowl. Serve sauce with prepared meat. Sauce may be kept in refrigerator for a couple of days. Best served at room temperature. 

Spring Wardrobe

It's still January. This is technically only the second January I haven't been working 70+ hours a week in public accounting but last year with a one month old the month seemed to go by pretty fast. But this year it is going by quite slowly. And I'm ready for Spring. All of the stores are getting in the first of their Spring clothes and from what I've seen so far, it looks like there are going to be fun, bright colors! Here are a few outfits that I think would be really cute {click on image to go directly to source}. 

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

** If you have never searched Polyvore, I highly recommend it for some great clothing suggestions. I have found that the easiest way to search for what you are looking for is to select "collections" from the drop-down menu within the search icon. 

J Crew

J Crew

Banana Republic

Gap

Gap

Gap

Gap

And since most of the day I'm wearing workout clothes, here are a few cute things out there right now 

in that department:

In Stride Jacket

Scoop Neck Tank

No Limit Tank

All from Lululemon 

{clearly I'm a fan of Lululemon}. 

Favorite Things - A Few New Fonts

It's been a while since I've posted some favorite fonts. Here are a few that have caught my eye recently:

Hammer Keys

Apple

Znikomit

Indenture English Penman

Ecolier

All are free to download at dafont.com

2012 Home Goals

Did you make goals for the New Year? My husband and I always jot down a few things we would like to accomplish. We tend to categorize them, financial, family, work, house, etc... Maybe if I put my house goals out their for the whole world to see I'll be more likely to follow through with them. So without further ado:

1} Plant a garden that produces vegetables we can eat. We have a great yard with lots of sun and I really want to plant some fruits and veggies this summer. 

2} Organize all the closets. Currently they are in a scary state, especially mine. This is primarily because my closet is actually in my daughters room. Houses built in 1945 were not big on storage for clothes. So there are my clothes, shoes, Christmas decorations and old baby clothes all in the closet. It needs to be organized. 

3} I know I'm jumping way ahead on this one as it probably won't be completed until late this year but I can't wait to turn the baby's room into a toddler room. I really have my heart set on bunk beds. 

I've linked up at The Nester. Check out others House Goals here.