Recipe: Skillet Chicken Breasts

The one food item I try to always keep in my fridge when I'm at college is chicken breasts. I also recently discovered the use of chicken thighs for most of the same recipes. You can do pretty much anything with some good chicken, such as this recipe I concocted one day this past semester.

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts or thighs (as many as you want to eat/save for leftovers)
Olive Oil (few tablespoons)
Soy Sauce (enough to provide a marinade base)
Onion Powder
Parsley Flakes
Garlic (I use the jar of garlic pieces available at Walmart)
A dollop of honey

Instructions:

1. Marinade your chicken in the ingredients listed above for at least 5 minutes or longer depending on how much chicken you are planning to cook.
2. Pour chicken and marinade into a skillet or frying pan and cover. Cook on medium to medium-high heat 2-5 minutes, depending on amount of chicken meat.
3. Flip chicken and cook (covered) for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Remove pan from heat and determine if chicken is cooked through by flaking with a fork or cutting the largest segment in half. 
5. Enjoy with steamed rice, spaghetti noodles, green beans, etc. I also like to sauté onions or bell peppers in the leftover marinade. 

Photo: I Believe I Can Fry's Flickr page - CC BY-NC 2.0

Chicken-Themed Teacher Gifts

As a future teacher in a Teacher-Education program, I know a bit about teacher gifts. And let me tell you: your (or your child's) teachers do not need another Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul book. But they might be able to enjoy something they could eat for lunch. And of course, English teachers love puns.

I devised this cute gift idea to give to the high school teachers who worked with me in my pre-student teaching program, but I think any educator would enjoy it. First, it's a simple microwavable lunch. Second, it's a mug for reuse or to leave at school for days when coffee is needed. Third, it's a bunch of puns. Success.


I started by purchasing small, simple mugs from Walmart. I purchased Campbell's microwavable soup (chicken noodle, of course) at the same time and made sure the soup would fit inside of the mug. I also purchased chicken-themed kitchen cloths and towels.

I then stuffed the towel into the mug and stuck the soup on top. For one of the mugs (since it was too large to fit in the small bags I had purchased), I wrapped it up using tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. For the other mugs (small enough to fit in the gift bags), I used the towel as makeshift tissue paper for the bag. Either way, the gift ended up super cute.

But here comes the best part: the card. I designed the entire gift with a chicken theme, so the card was, of course, full of chicken-related puns. Since I was completing my pre-student teaching, I wrote the cards thanking the teachers for their help in preparing me to become a teacher one day, but similar cards could be written for your (or your child's teacher), thanking him or her for taking your or your child under his or her "wing" or acting with "tender" loving care, etc. Creativity rules with puns!

I used Avery.com's Design and Print Online Studio to create these cute postcards using Avery Postcards (# 3381) that you can find in office supply stores.

Food is always a plus for teacher gifts, as are pens and pencils and personalized stationary. Just make sure your teacher has no allergies or food concerns before gifting food.

Enjoy the puns, friends, and gift-give to your hearts' content!

Literature and Fashion Combine

I have always enjoyed modern allusions to classical literature. As a soon-to-be English teacher, I find that modern literature and real life circumstances relate to classical literature so well. And then I found Polyvore. The basic gist of Polyvore is to find interesting clothes, accessories, and home decor items and combine them in unique ways to make cool outfits. I wondered if there was a way to make outfit combinations that represented certain pieces of literature. That's when I got on a roll. See sets I've made and sets I love at my profile and visit my Pinterest page for work-related clothing ideas.

The Great Gatsby | Literature Styles by deannalexis featuring straight leg dress pants

Fahrenheit 451 | Literature Styles by deannalexis featuring tailored blouses

Moby-Dick Evening | Literature Styles by deannalexis featuring a white shrug

Moby-Dick Weekend Getaway | Literature Styles by deannalexis featuring tory burch jeans

Road Trip Packing

My grandmother and I just returned from a six day road trip to Niagara Falls and back. Before we left, I looked for resources on Pinterest that would help with packing. You can see my road trip Pinterest board here, and I have consolidated and expanded upon many of my favorite resources and ideas to write this post.

1. You do not need a giant suitcase. That will be much too difficult to lug into hotels at every stop. I used a small, carry-on suitcase for clothes and shoes. I used my small Vera Bradley duffel bag for toiletries, makeup, undergarments, and accessories as well as a tote bag for things to do in the car, like my knitting. I carried my clutch purse within my Kavu purse, so I had both handy.

2. Pack smart. I used many resources from Pinterest, including this diagram of a useful packing scenario. I also think that using trial-sized bottles of my shampoo, soap, face wash, and eye makeup remover was an excellent idea.

3. Wear items more than once and use variations.  

I chose to pack five T-shirts, two skirts, one dressy shirt I could wear with either skirt, one pair of jean pants, one pair jean capris, one jean skirt with black leggings, one pair of white shorts, one pair of jean shorts. I also packed undergarments and pajamas. For shoes I wore tennis shoes and packed dressy sandals and Chaco sandals. I also brought one long-sleeved shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, and my rain jacket. 

I did not need all of that. In fact, it would have helped if I brought along another T-shirt and skipped either the long-sleeved shirt or the hooded sweatshirt. I wore one dressy skirt when we went out to a super nice restaurant and I wore the white shorts with a semi-dressy blue/white shirt and a navy cardigan when we went to a moderately nice restaurant. 

I did wear some items more than once, like I usually do when at college, but I carried a laundry bag with me for items I did not want to wear again. When I got home, I just dumped the laundry bag into the washer!

4. Picnic. 

We choose to eat out only at our prime destinations or when we were meeting friends: Lancaster, PA, Hershey, PA, and Niagara Falls, ON. At via destinations (along the way), we had picnics at rest areas and the occasional gas staton parking lot. 

Before the trip, we went to The Fresh Market in our town and stocked up on fresh fruit, sandwich bread and fixings, a rotisserie chicken (that we ate one night when our hotel room had a full kitchen), snacks (like apple chips, hummus, and Raisenets), and water bottles and sodas. We carried these items in a large cooler in the backseat and got bags of ice at about every other main stop. We also had a small cooler to carry cold items or random things up to our room. Almost halfway through the trip, we stopped at an Amish farmers market to refresh our fruit supply. 

Picnicking saved us money and time and gave us some fun experiences, like eating with the "Thinker" statue in Philadelphia, PA, which I found really funny.

You can see our entire trip route and more pictures on our TrackmyTour page here.

End of the Semester Leftovers

For those of you college students with kitchens in your dorms or apartments, using up leftover food can be a hassle, and it's always a bad idea to waste food you bought with your own money. Here's some tips:

Use www.allrecipes.com to locate recipes that contain whatever ingredients you have.

- I made Banana muffins with the flour, sugar, and mushy bananas I had leftover from previous projects. I got to share them with my literature class and use up leftovers.

Make Trail Mix!

- Got half a box of a cereal, some raisins, chocolate chips, Goldfish, granola, a bag of popcorn, or anything similar? Mix it up and share it with friends! Make sure you have equal amounts of sweet and salty.

- I mixed together Raisinets (chocolate-covered raisins), a bag of popped popcorn (let cool before mixing), and some toasted wheat chex cereal and poured into snack bags to eat during this stressful exam week.

I hope this helps you eat up all those leftovers so you have nothing to waste!

Craft: Tea Bag Wreath

With some help from my tea-drinking friends, I have created a wreath of tea bag wrappers which we used to decorate our small apartment. It's really easy, and a good way to use all of those wrappers that you don't really need anyway. And it didn't cost us anything! See how we did it:

Pieces of cardboard leftover from a box my mom mailed me made our matting.

We tried a couple different strategies. In this one, the tea bag wrappers were layered up and down.

In this design, we decided to do more of a fish scale layering. We went with this design.

 And after hot-gluing the pieces of cardboard together and the tea bag wrappers to the cardboard, we have a finished product! We used command strips to fasten it to the wall.

Pinterest Works: Necklace Tangles

As a Christmas present, my parents gave our family a cruise for Christmas! We'll be heading down to Cozumel and the Cayman Islands in couple days. When we were finalizing plans and beginning packing, my mom turned to me and said: "How can I keep my necklaces from tangling?" I didn't know how to respond, but she promptly asserted, "I'm sure Pinterest has an idea!"

She was right, of course.

Just thread your necklace through a drinking straw (bend it or cut it to make it fit for shorter necklaces) and store it away.

Source: Uploaded by user via Alex on Pinterest

It's a great idea and I'll be using it as soon as I figure out what I'm going to wear!
Thanks Pinterest!

Recipe: Holiday Leftover Pork Stir-fry

When my family gets together on Christmas Eve to open presents, we always get a nearby local restaurant to cater dinner. Ham, pork, various southern sauces, sandwich buns, and sweet tea make up our Christmas Eve fare. This super quick recipe comes out of a desire to eat something other than another pulled-pork sandwich. Leftover pork or turkey? Stir-fly!

• A few slices of already cooked meat, such as pork or turkey (cut into stir-fry strips or cubes)
• About 1 cup of veggies (either frozen or leftover from the holiday dinner)
• 1/8 of an onion, choppped
• 1 bag instant rice (or about 2 cups of your favorite rice or rice substitute)
• Soy sauce
• Garlic powder or another seasoning to taste

1. Start cooking the rice as directions indicate or per your preferred method.
2. Add a bit of olive oil to a medium-sized skillet on medium-high or high heat.
1. If using frozen veggies, go ahead and put them in the skillet and cook until they are pretty much cooked through. Then add onions and continue to cook. Stir consistently.
2. If using fresh or thawed veggies, add onions just prior to adding veggies. Cook until all veggies are cooked through.
3. Add a small amount of soy sauce to the veggies, stir, add salt and pepper.
4. Stir meat into the skillet and add more soy sauce. Sprinkle a pinch of seasoning of your choice over the stir-fry. I would use either garlic powder or garlic salt.
5. Serve warm over rice.

Enjoy!!

Favorite Love Songs

Don't take the title of this post too seriously. If you, like me, have fallen into the category of hopelessly-single-but-faithfully-waiting-for-the-guy-God-has-for-you-while-[seemingly]-everyone-else-is-getting-married, this is the post for you.

Here I have compiled a list of my favorite love songs of various genres, many country, many Christian, some serious and some not-so-serious. I hope it inspires you, single ladies, to keep waiting for Mr. Right. I hope, for those of you preparing to say "I Do," this list could serve as ideas for your reception, guest gifts, or marriage playlist. Enjoy!

Funny and/or Upbeat

• "Hold On" - TobyMac
• "Let a Country Boy Love You" - Jon Wolfe
• "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - The Georgia Satellites (fun and southern - love it!)
• "Falling in Love" - Ben Rector
• "Lucky Guy" - Mockingbird Sun
• "She Is" - Ben Rector
• "Guys Like Me" - Eric Church
• "You and Me" - Ben Rector
• "Take Me There" - Rascal Flatts

Fun to Dance To

• "Dancing in the Moonlight" - King Harvest (So much fun to dance to!)
• "Why Don't We Just Dance" - Josh Turner
• "Never Gonna Let You Go" - Ben Rector

More Contemplative

• "Country Boy's World" - Jason Aldean
• "Enough to Let Me Go" - Switchfoot
• "Who Are You When I'm not Looking" - Blake Shelton
• "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" - Thompson Square
• "Head Over Heels (In This Life)" - Switchfoot
• "Lead Me" - Sanctus Real
• "Dancing in the Minefields" - Andrew Peterson
• "God Gave Me You" - Dave Barnes / Blake Shelton
• "The Day Before You" - Matthew West / Rascal Flatts

Super Slow

• "When You Say Nothing at All" - Allison Krauss
• "Oh My Dear" - Tenth Avenue North
• "Beloved" - Tenth Avenue North
• "I'll Be" - Edwin McCain
• "You and Me" - Lifehouse
• "Daughters" - John Mayer

Father-Daughter Dance Possibilities

• "Butterfly Kisses" - Bob Carlisle 
• "And Then They Do" - Trace Adkins

Rock-esque Love Songs

• "Falling In" - Lifehouse
• "Life After You" - Daughtry
• "Show Me What I'm Looking For" - Carolina Liar

Praise and Worship (for worship at a Christian wedding)

• "Made to Worship" - Chris Tomlin
• "Happy Day" - Tim Hughes

I hope to keep adding more, so stay tuned!

Recipe: Egg Drop Cookies

Looking for an easy recipe for something fun and simple to make for Christmas bake sales? My family has been making "egg drop" cookies for as long as I can remember and it's always something we look forward to at Christmas time. Here's my adapted recipe:

3 egg whites (save the yolks!)
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (or extract)
1/2 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, or other additions (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix egg whites with a hand-held mixer on medium-high until they are frothy.
3. Slowly stir in vanilla flavoring, salt, and sugar while continuing to beat/mix the mixture.
4. Continue to mix until the mixture is stiff, creamy white, and thick. 
5. Fold in chocolate chips (or other ingredients)
6. "Drop" onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted around the edges. Remove from oven.
8. Let cool for 2-5 minutes, then remove from parchment paper and enjoy!

Of course, everyone has their own variations: Check out these recipes with chocolate peppermint, mocha chip, peanuts, and fruit-flavored Jello. These cookies are also called meringue cookies, although they typically don't taste like meringue (they get the name from the shape).  Enjoy!

Recipe: College Student's Easy Mac and Cheese

Looking for an easy, one-pot, on-a-budget mac and cheese? Try this!

Ingredients: 

• Dry Pasta - I prefer shells (2 cups, about 1/2 of a 1 pound bag/box) 
• 1-1.5 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 cups shredded cheese - I prefer medium cheddar
• 1+ tablespoon Milk
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Bring water in a pot to a boil on the stove. (How much water? Fill a medium pot half way.)
2. Add pasta.
3. Keep stove on high and allow to boil for 5-6 minutes. Turn heat down if it starts to boil over. 
4. Drain. Return to pot. Keep stove on low.
5. Stir butter, cheese, and milk into the drained noodles. Add a pinch of salt and pepper for taste. 
6. If needed, continue adding milk or cheese in small quantities until a desired thickness and color is reached.
7. Enjoy!

Pinterest Works: Gnats

Hey everyone! Like many of you, I love Pinterest. Lots of great ideas organized with colorful pictures. So. Great. I want to blog about the ways I have used this interesting website and its many ideas in real life, and I'm going to be titling those kinds of posts with "Pinterest Works" so you can find them easily.

I have been living in my new apartment-style dorm here at college for three days so far. Yet in that short time, my quad-mates and I have discovered we have a problem: gnats. Little fruit-fly gnats. Ick.

Thankfully, Pinterest quickly provided a solution that I believe is working. We'll see in the morning! It's apple cider vinegar (some sources say adding a couple drops of dish washing soap helps) in a jar with a funnel (we used a mason jar and an extra syllabus taped together). It traps the gnats in the vinegar. Success!

Next Project: Gloves!

Well, I'm back from my wonderful trip to Asia and I've been knitting a pair of gloves for a friend of mine. This is my first attempt at gloves and, let me just say, I'm learning a lot of knitting techniques. For example, this is my first time knitting an entire project on double pointed needles! 

This is the pattern that I'm using. It makes a design on the back of the gloves, but because the yarn my friend gave me is self-striping, I 86ed the design part and kept everything else. Here is a picture of the work in progress, and once I finish the second glove, I'll put up a final picture. It's not perfect, but I think she will still like them. I head back to college this Saturday, and I hope to have most of the second glove completed by then. 

Until next time,

Alex

Sewing A Zipper into Knitted Fabric

After knitting up this clutch wallet, I needed to sew on a zipper. I read over some advice forums and posts online, and then I set about to do it by myself. Below are some pictures for my Knitter's Way to Easily Sew on a Zipper. Make sure, for this pattern, your zipper doesn't open at both ends. One end should open and the other should have a stopper.

You'll need:

• Your finished product
• Your zipper (7" long for the clutch wallet)
• Matching thread
• Sewing needle
• Yarn/Tapestry needle
• Scissors

Hold the zipper (unzipped) up to your finished product and find where you would like to sew it in. If I was making another one, I'd move the zipper a bit to the right, so there isn't a gap where the zipper stops. More about that later.

Next, holding the zipper up to the side of the knitted fabric, sew using this method, in which you go back up through each previous down stitch. (For more information, see the Pickin' and Throwin' Blog, where that method is from and where I got some ideas.) I found it best to use a double strand of thread. (Sew through the bulky edges created by the line of stockinette.

Side View

Top View

Now, it turned out my zipper was a bit too long, which is good. I folded the excess zipper into the bag and sewed it in along the edge. When you sew the next side of the zipper, you'll start at this same end, but use a new length of thread. 

Inside View

So one side is done! Proceed on to the next side. (Make sure to unzip before starting to sew.)

Then noticed I left too much room between where the zipper stops and the end of the enclosure begins. (Remember when I mentioned that before?) So I opened the bag and sewed the two ends of the zipper together. This gives them support.

Sewing the ends together

And then it's finished! Make sure to snip all leftover strings and bits of yarn. Enjoy!

Top View

Side View

Top view with money inside

Knit this Easy Clutch Wallet

I came up with this pattern when I needed a small wallet to hold my foreign currency for a trip. Enjoy the pattern and my tips for finishing the wallet while I finish completing this blog. You can also check out my personal blog here and my 30 Before 30 Project here.

Yarn: Worsted weight
Needles: Straight size 8
Notions: Yarn needle
For Finishing: 7" zipper, thread, sewing needle

• Cast on 28 stitches
• Knit 1 row
• Purl 1 row
• K1, m1 (using the backward method), k until 1 st remains, m1, k1
• p2, m1, p until 2 sts remain, m1, p2
• Pattern row 1: *k1, p1, repeat from * until row is completed
• Pattern row 2: *p1, k1, repeat from *
• Repeat the two pattern rows until desired length is achieved (knitted fabric will be folded in half)
• Knit pattern row 1 again
• p2, p2tog, p until 4 sts remain, p2tog, p2
• k1, k2tog, k until 3 sts remain, k2tog, k1
• Purl 1 row
• Knit 1 row
• Bind off 28 stitches (relatively loosely)
• Fold in half and sew up the two short sides using a yarn needle and excess yarn
• Sew a close-bottom zipper into the long side. (See my post on sewing in the zipper and finishing the wallet.)

See this project on Ravelry!

Under Construction

This blog will be under construction until August 2012. Please come back then! I will be posting an occasional post before it is officially completed. Thanks!