Recipes #14 and 15: Healthy Mac & Cheese and Frozen Blueberries in Yogurt

I've been meaning to try out a few new recipes, so check out these:
Creamy Greek Yogurt Mac & Cheese.
It was a really easy recipe.
Ingredients
8 oz. (about 2 cups) elbow pasta
8 oz. (about 2 cups) shredded cheese
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
2 cups fresh spinach
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
I didn't have elbow macaroni, so I used rotini. I also didn't have spinach, so I used peas (I love peas!).
Here's how mine turned out; probably needed more cheese. Otherwise, quite tasty.

Next, I tried this recipe for frozen yogurt covered blueberries. They did have a nice fresh sweetness. So, as you'll see mine didn't turn out as pretty; I tried. :)
Both recipes I found on Pinterest. Yes, I'm an addict! ;)

Has anyone tried any of the recipes I shared? I'd love to hear your feedback. Be brave! ;)

Divergent

I just saw the new movie, Divergent. It was pretty close to the book, which is normally my pet peeve. It was just over two hours, but moved along nicely.

Most of the actors they cast were about how I'd imagined the characters, except Al. He wasn't quite what I pictured for that character. I thought Ashley Judd, was great as Tris' mom. *Spoiler Alert: The scene where she was killed nearly made me cry. Needless to say, I can't wait for the next movie.

This series is my second favorite compared to the Hunger Games Series.

I need another good book series to read. Any suggestions?

Catching Up on New Releases

I finally saw the movie, the Internship with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. It was about two laid off salesmen who apply for and get accepted as interns at Google. They have little to no tech skills and get in a group with other outcasts. With those two actors I expected a funny movie, but it wasn't as funny as I'd hoped. It also had some inappropriate scenes that didn't add to the movie or plot any. It definitely wouldn't be a movie you'd watch with kids. Against all odds, the group finally gels and they excel on team challenges. In the end, despite all the challenges, the team wins and are offered jobs at Google. Happily ever after.

I've been wanting to see the movie, the Book Thief and I finally rented it. It's set during the time of WW2. It takes place in Germany. A mother takes her two kids by train and on the way the son dies. Apparently, she was taking both kids to be adopted by a German couple in their 50s. The wife is disappointed to not have a son. The little girl, Liesl can't read, so her new dad teaches her. She makes friends with a boy at school who is her neighbor, Rudy. Soon her family takes in a Jewish young man, Max. They do this because the boy's dad died saving the life of the girl's father. The father, Hans has promised to help the family. They nurse Max back to health. He lives in their basement. They barely have enough food to eat.
Liesl loves to read and steals a book from a book burning. Her mother does the laundry for a rich leader and Liesl returns the clean laundry. The wife lets her read books in their giant library. The leader finds out and fires her mom from the laundry job. So, Liesl crawls in their library window and "borrows" books.
Max becomes ill again and Liesl reads to him as he's unconscious. Hans gets sent into war. Max gets better, but realizes he must leave for the safety of the family. His leaving is hard on everyone especially Liesl. All the town has to go for safety to shelters for air raid drills. Liesl tells stories to pass the time to her neighbors. Bombs hit one night while everyone is sleeping in their homes. The whole town is reduced to rubble. People dig in hopes of finding someone alive. Liesl is pulled from the rubble. She soon finds the bodies of her parents who have been pulled from the rubble. Rudy is pulled out. He starts to confess his love for Liesl, but she tells him to rest. He dies.
Two years later, the story picks up. Liesl works in the business of Rudy's dad. One day, Max walks in. The story ends by saying that Liesl had a great life. Such a good movie; I encourage you to see it!

Allegiant

I'm a huge fan of the Divergent series. I've been dying to finish the last book, Allegiant. It was so different from the other two books. I feel like Allegiant really has a lot more twists than I expected. It pretty much had me on the edge of my seat. It's over 500 pages and a quite addictive read. :) I just finished it, last night. Wow, not the ending I expected! It leaves no room for an additional book. It doesn't quite end like I would've liked. I can't wait to see the movie now. The protagonist, Tris is brave, headstrong, and real. Her life experiences are beyond comprehension. Her relationships are all really complex. What drew me to the series was how she reacted in tough situations; she was incredibly selfless. I guess, I realize a little adventure and a story of a selfless person could be an inspiration for me.

I will say this series is similar to the Hunger Games series, but not quite as good. It's going to be a long wait for all three movies. :( Is anyone else planning to see this movie?

Recipes # 12 and 13: Italian Chicken and Chicken Avocado Patties

I read somewhere about marinating chicken with an Italian dressing packet. I marinated two chicken breasts with an Italian dressing packet overnight. I cooked them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. I think, next time I'd add some pats of butter and cook it for 35 minutes. It did have a nice flavor though.


Next, I tried a recipe I recently found on Pinterest; Chicken Avocado Patties. It was a very easy recipe and I really liked it.


The ingredients were ground chicken, an avocado, panko/bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. It wished the recipe told how much salt to use since you can't sample raw chicken. I had to cook a few test them and add more salt twice. I used more than a pound of chicken. I probably ended up with at least half a teaspoon of salt.

First, I cut the avocado in the skin, added the bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chicken.

After mixing it, I cooked them on medium heat in a skillet.

Here's the finished project; super yum! It would be really nice paired with some rice and mixed veggies.

Spring Break!

I'm officially on spring break! I finished my mid-term this morning. I'm taking the week off work. I plan on reading, cooking, cleaning, digging out my summer clothes, a shopping trip to KC, going to the movies to see Divergent, and relaxing!!! I'll finally have time to finish the 3rd Divergent series book, Allegiant.:)

It's Not You, It's Me by Louie Giglio

The temps on the cold, March Sunday are below zero, so it wasn't wise for me to venture out into the cold to go to church. :( Instead I stayed home and watched a video from Louie Giglio that I hadn't been able to finish some time ago. He made some great points and helped give me perspective. It's mainly about dating and life. Check it out: e He encouraged listeners to do several things:
1) Ask-those close to you for 2-3 things they see in your life that are keeping you from being the person God wants you to be. You can't get mad at them or try to defend yourself.
2) Confirm-if several people agree on the things you should change it must be true. Tell them what others said and see if they agree.
3) Plan-figure out how you're going to work on those things.
4) Act-put the plan in place.
5) Ask again, if the plan isn't working, come up with a new one.

He said something that resonated with me, "the key to becoming is beginning."

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I have. Any thoughts on it?

Recipe #11: Melt in Your Mouth Chicken

So, I'd been making a lot of dessert recipes lately, but had neglected making "real food." Last night, I made "Melt in Your Mouth Chicken." Odd name, I know, I didn't come up with it. Yes, I was brave and tried another Pinterest recipe. :)

Here's the recipe:

Very simple, as you can tell. It turned out really moist and flavorful. It doesn't say how much chicken to use, but I used two chicken breasts and had enough of the mixture left over for another breast. I hadn't previously cooked with greek yogurt before and was quite pleased with the results. I would say that next time, I'll use a little less pepper. It got a little hot for my taste. Try it, I think you'll like it. Let me know.