MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #38

For more information on the fill-in, please visit Wife of a Sailor's blog.

1. How many pets do you have? And what type?
We have one dog...
Her name is Libby and she's a terrier mix of some sort.

And she's spoiled rotten!

We adopted her from the SPCA when she was 3 years old, and now she's about 6 years old. We love her very much, even despite her quirky little habits that we can't seem to break (jumping up on visitors, "talking" to you (aka barking), licking non-stop, etc.)

2. What are your favorite projects to do while hubby is away?
I became a little crafty while Hubs was away and made some holiday decor, home decor, and tried my hand at sewing (didn't go so well).

3. What are the must-haves in your deployment care packages?
Baby wipes, handwritten notes, powdered drink packets, shelf-stable snack food (granola bars, nuts, trail mix), DVDs, magazines & books.

4. If you could star in any TV show, what would it be?
I would like to be on The Bachelor, minus the competing for a random man's affection. So basically I just want to go on a vacation where I just get to lay around in mansions and go on fantasy dates (with Hubs) to exotic places for 6 weeks straight.

5. What was the biggest hurdle that you faced during your significant other's first deployment?
Keeping our connection strong. We were actually able to talk to each other a lot (almost every day) but sometimes it felt like we had nothing to talk about, despite the fact that we were separated. Also, as I've mentioned before, I tend to shut down as my personal way of dealing with pain, so I could be pretty cold towards him sometimes. It was tough but I was able to overcome it!

Victory Soup

I foresee myself being forced to make this soup again 3 more times in the next 3 weeks.

Reason being, my husband is extremely superstitious about Aggie football.

For example, as we were watching the A&M vs. OU game tonight, he refused to take off his shoes and socks until the end of the game because he was afraid it would change the tide of the game. Um, what?

Another example, he was drinking Shiner Bock beer during the first half when we were winning, then during the 3rd quarter he switched to St. Arnold and we started sucking, so he switched back to Shiner. Interesting coincidence? Nope, not to my husband.

And since we did end up winning against #8 OU tonight (WHOOP!), I foresee him demanding I make this same Chicken Taco Soup for the final 3 games of the season, in order to avoid "jinxing" our beloved Aggies.

Luckily, I will have no objections to this request, since this soup was delicious AND easy. That's a winning combo in my book!

This recipe was given to me by a coworker, which I tweaked to better suit our needs a bit. Trust me when I say, it is SO good! My favorite part is the extra flavor that the ranch & taco seasoning packets add to it.

Chicken Taco Soup

Source: no idea who the original recipe comes from, but I got it from a coworker

-1 tsp Olive Oil

-1 Onion, chopped

-2 Bell Peppers, chopped

-1 can Ranch-style Beans

-1 14.5 oz can Stewed Tomatoes

-1 can Rotel with Green Chiles

-3-4 cups of cooked, shredded Chicken (you could use any leftover chicken for this but we roasted 3 whole, bone-in chicken breasts at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes)

-1 packet reduced-sodium Taco Seasoning

-1 packet Ranch Dressing mix

-4 cups reduced-sodium Chicken Broth

-1/2 cup Frozen Corn

Toppings: plain greek yogurt (or sour cream), sharp cheddar cheese, chopped avocado, Fritos corn chips (or tortilla chips)

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Add bell pepper and onion and saute until tender.

Add all the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-45 minutes. (Side note: You could also easily adapt this for a slow cooker....just toss all ingredients in and cook on low for 6-8 hours)

Serve soup with toppings as you please. Enjoy!

Recipe makes enough for 6-8 servings, at least. We have tons of leftovers!

Oh and before I go, I just have to share this pic of my pup.

Lately, with the sun going down so early, I've resorted to taking food photos in our mud room, since we get the best bright light in there. In that room we have a little doggie door and my pup likes to stick her head through and check on what I'm doing when I'm in there.

You know, cuz she's too lazy to come all the way through the door.

And one more thing, these:

Are amazing. They're from Target, if you're wondering.

That is all.

Don't Judge a Recipe by its Ingredients

Okay I'll be the first to say that tonight's husband-less dinner was a random mish-mash of ingredients thrown together that is....well....just a little bit weird.

Enchilada Sauce + Chickpeas + Artichoke Hearts

But I can assure you, that although odd, the finished product was seriously GOOD and just what I was craving.

I came home from work today wanting to make some sort of Indian-inspired, vegetarian chickpea and tomato dish because that is most DEFINITELY something that my husband would turn his nose up at normally.

The only issue with this craving was that I had no recipe and not many ingredients on hand....so I just winged it and used what I had in the pantry and/or fridge.

One of those things hangin' out in my fridge was the majority of a can of enchilada sauce, leftover from when I made enchiladas. I figured that could be the basis for a semi-homemade spicy tomato sauce (Sandra Lee would be proud).

I also had some artichoke hearts that were calling my name...so I tossed those in too. Why not, right?

Served over jasmine rice and a few mixed salad greens and I called it a meal!

Chickpeas and Artichoke Hearts in a Semi-Homemade Tomato Sauce

Source: Me

1 tsp Olive Oil

Half an onion, chopped

Half a red bell pepper, chopped

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can of red enchilada sauce

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup of chicken broth

3 artichoke hearts (canned in water), coarsely chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add chickpeas, enchilada sauce & garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the chicken broth and artichoke hearts. Let the whole mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit. Serve over jasmine rice and salad greens, if desired.

Before I go I just have to share this picture of our little furball.

We call this her "smile face" and it always makes ME smile in return.

She sure is enjoying having "her" side of the bed back to herself now that Hubs is gone again. Enjoy it while it lasts, Libs!

I'm gonna get back to watching The Waitress on Lifetime now. Even though this movie got horrible reviews and it's a little weird, I have always loved it. I'm a sucker for a movie about pies! Makes me want to jump up and bake a "Bad Baby Pie" or a "Naughty Pumpkin Pie". :)

Have you ever made or eaten something that has odd ingredient combinations? How was it?

Better Than Martha's Chicken {What's for Dinner? 3/8/2010}

Parmesan & Parsley Crusted Chicken Breasts
w/ Goat Cheese & Basil Orzo

We didn't plan on changing this recipe at all, but we accidentally bought skinless chicken breasts instead of skin-on. At first I was annoyed but then we realized we could adapt it and hopefully make it work out okay. And guess what? I actually think our version looks and sounds BETTER than the Martha Stewart version. Take THAT, Martha!


Parmesan & Parsley Crusted Chicken Breasts
Adapted from this recipe

Prep: 10 minutes Total: 55 minutes
Serves 4.

Ingredients


* 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
* 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* Grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 4 bone-in, skinless chicken breast halves (about 3 pounds)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and zest. Season the chicken breasts with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Beat one or two eggs and place in a shallow dish.
2. Dip each chicken breast in the beaten egg and then into the parsley/breadcrumb mixture. Place in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan sprayed with Pam.
3. Bake until topping is golden brown, chicken is cooked through, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees, about 30-45 minutes.


Goat Cheese & Basil Orzo
Source: Me

Ingredients:

• 1 cup orzo
• 1 tsp salt
  
• A handful of baby spinach, chopped or torn into pieces
  
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Cook orzo according to package directions. Once cooked, drain it and then immediately return it to the hot pan. Toss in the spinach stir into the pasta so it wilts a bit. Then put in the goat cheese, basil, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and salt & pepper. Toss and then eat!


This is what we deal with as we eat dinner at night {and yes, we do frequently eat off of the coffee table...don't judge. At least there are placemats!}. She sets her face on the table and then sticks her tongue out like a lizard hoping to find some food.

A Man and His Dog

A bonding sesh {short for session...duh} featuring Hubbs & The Dog, with a supporting role by the Dave & Busters plush Gig 'Em thumb:

What is that you have there? It looks like....a toy? For me.



What if I high five it? Do I get it now?!?

Fine! Then I'll just take it from your forcefully!

Notice the ridiculous amounts of A&M things in these photos. Exhibit A) The shorts. Exhibit B) The plush gig 'em. Exhibit C) The dog collar.

Yes....we bleed maroon.

Spaghetti on Ya Head

Spaghetti on ya head,

Spaghetti on ya head,

Lookin' like a fool with spaghetti on ya head

Can you spot it?

Now you can.

The result of a dog who likes to lay on our feet and beg for food while we eat. And sometimes it ends up on her head instead of in her mouth....bummer.

Comfy?

Libby's favorite place to sleep outside:


Silly dog.

{Excuse the brown grass and weeds!}

Merry {Belated} Christmas!

Merry belated Christmas to everyone! I'm having a VERY merry one thanks to this guy:

Isn't he HANDSOME?!?! He makes my Christmas merry and fulfilled. Having him home is the best Christmas present I could have asked for.

The second best Christmas present is the one he got me: a Canon Rebel digital SLR camera!!! I've been wanting one for years now so I was so excited when I opened it on Christmas day. I've been having a blast taking pictures of everyone and everything....

Libby giving me the stink-eye.

Libby watching Alex's dad shovel snow...I love this one.

The close-up, detail pictures are my favorite!

I can't wait to take pictures of my food...this camera makes everything look delicious!!


Snow + Christmas + Husband = Best.Christmas.Ever.

It has also been a very...eventful...couple of days, but that's a whole new blog post that I'll have to take time to write out later. Let's just say it involved a blizzard and a LOT of time on an interstate. :)

Libby's Story

WARNING: This is really a purely selfish post to show off how cute my dog is.
See what I mean?!? Libby is a 4 year old Terrier Mix {a.k.a. mutt...but we don't tell her that}. We adopted Libby from the Houston SPCA a year ago. As I was walking along looking at all the dogs lined up in their cages at the SPCA, I came across Libby who looked totally different from all the Labs, Golden Retrievers, etc. And while all the other dogs were barking like mad and going crazy, Libby was just politely sitting there with a big "smile" on her face. She was the perfect size {about 35 pounds} and I totally fell in love with her when we took her to the "play area" to "meet her". She was so loving and had a really happy air about her.

So, we adopted her! How could we not with a face like this?!?
The details on Libby's previous life are a little sketchy. All we know for sure is that her previous owners gave her up to the SPCA because they were moving, and I guess they couldn't take her with them. I still fail to realize how someone could give up a dog like Libby for such a dumb reason, but I'm glad they did so we could get her!

We also think that Libby was a stray before she was adopted by her previous owners because she has a "tattoo" on her belly that is a female sign with a slash through it. The vet told us the tattoo signifies that she has been spayed and they usually only tattoo dogs with this symbol if they are strays or homeless so that their future owners will know she's already been spayed. So my poor Libby probably had a pretty interesting life before we found her. Another sign that she may have had some abuse in her past was that she was VERY "head shy" when we first adopted her {a.k.a. she always ducked whenever we went to pet her...as if she was scared we were going to hurt her}. I hate to think of what might have happened to her in the past. :-(

But, luckily we found her and now she has a great life. She gets to lounge on furniture and sleeps in the bed with us {spoiled}.

She has a few "quirks" but those are part of what we love about her. When we first got her she had a serious jumping problem but we've been working on that and she's gotten a lot better now.

She also likes to "talk back" to us like the spoiled little brat that she is. For example, if you tell her "No!" she sometimes growls back at you. Not in a vicious way, just in a funny way. Or when you aren't paying enough attention to her she'll growl at you as if she's saying "Pet me or else!"

She also likes to "sing". If you start howling she'll howl right along with you. It's pretty funny.

Finally, her most annoying but also lovable quirk is her licking. One of her nicknames is "Licky" because she never. stops. licking. It's crazy! And she'll lick anything...legs, hands, faces, furniture, the bedspread, the floor, etc. Sometimes she'll even lick so much that her tongue gets "stuck" on the thing she's licking. It's hilarious but you really have to see it to believe it.

But with all her quirks, we really couldn't have asked for a more perfect dog. She came potty trained, she's eager to please, she's not much of a "destroyer", she loves to sleep, she couldn't hurt a fly {good for future little ones} and she's super cute.

Oh and Libby loves playing dress up...Pretty in Pink Libby

Patriotic Bikini Libby

Rocker Mohawk Libby


Princess Libby

{Libby would like to thank her "Aunt" Andrea for most of these dress-up ideas. She misses having her Aunt around!}

I would like to encourage everyone to adopt their pets instead of buying them from pet stores or backyard breeders. It's usually cheaper to adopt and they come spayed or neutered and usually with all their shots already. www.petfinder.com is a great website to use to find dogs up for adoption. You can even search by the breed if you're only interested in a certain breed!

If you can't adopt a dog right now but you want to help out, I recommend volunteering at your local animal shelter. Or donate food, money or supplies to the shelter! They can ALWAYS use extra hands and/or supplies.