Delicious Dinners: Bruschetta and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

I wanted to share this recipe with you because I have made it half a dozen times and every single time.. it's a hit! My husband and I don't really care for traditional Thankgiving stuffing because we both think it is kind of tasteless (I know, it's totally un-American to not like stuffing... please don't hate us).

The funny part is everytime I make this meal and my husband sees me with a box of stuffing, he (without fail) reminds me that he doesn't like it. To which I respond, "I know my love. However, I have made this before and you love it." And he always eats eveything I put on his plate and asks for seconds. Ha! Take that. Now... if I could only get him to eat broccolli... Anyway, I digress.

This meal truly is easy to make, and prep only takes about 10 minutes. I love it for week nights because it's one of those meals that I can start as soon as I get in the door and then forget about it for 45 minutes while I change my clothes, open the mail, and say hello to my husband.

I found it on the Kraft Foods website, so I thank those lovely people for their creativity. Without further adieu, here we go:
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1-1/4 cups Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
8 small boneless skinless chicken breasts-- I halved this receipe for us and used 4 breast which was a little over a pound of chicken
1/3 cup KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing-- if you can't find this, just use an Italian dressing- and some extra pepper or red pepper flakes to give the dish a bit of seasoninb

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Mix tomatoes, 1/2 cup cheese and basil in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix; stir just until moistened.

3. Place 2 chicken breasts in large freezer-weight resealable plastic bag. Pound with meat mallet until chicken is 1/4 inch thick. Remove from bag; place, top-sides down, on cutting board. Repeat with remaining chicken. Spread chicken with stuffing mixture. Starting at 1 narrow end, tightly roll up each breast. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish. Drizzle with dressing.

4. Bake 40 min. or until chicken is done (165°F). Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 min. or until melted.

That's it! Four steps. Not bad, right? Like I said, this is a great "prep it and forget it" meal because once it's in the oven you really don't have much else to do. I hope you enjoy it and much as we have. Let me know if you try it and how it goes. Happy cooking!

Show Me the Benjamins, Mr. Tax Man

Over the course of the last week I have been stressing over taxes. I don't know why I have been so stressed this year, but I have been. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we bought a house, lived in two townships, merged some other assets based on our marriage, and oh yeah... we have to somehow get all of this information onto two pages of a 1040 Form in some semblance of order before April 15. Eek.

I seriously felt like this even just thinking about it.

Honestly though, I planned a wedding for 250 people with no professional planning help, and I feel like I need a tax planner just to help me with an average yearly return. What is wrong with me?

In the past, my dad has always done my taxes for our family. I tried to work with him on my 2008 return, but with living away from home, busy schedules, and other lame excuses, sitting with my dad and going line by line over my return didn't happen.

Fast forward to this year to where I am trying to rely less on my father to do things like get the oil changed in my car (and oh yeah, to do my taxes). And instead, rely more on my husband for these things, because even though my husband doesn't admit it, I totally believe that he feels less manly if I ask my dad to do something. That's an entirely different post... but, my dear husband, I PROMISE  I don't rely on my dad for these things because I think you aren't capable, it's more like a I don't want to bother you with something silly, because my dad is semi-retired, has TONS of time, and loves to help... but I promise, I'm working on it!

To make a very long story short, we got them done. All of them. I'll say it again. OUR TAXES ARE DONE. Hallelujah! I think the best part is that I actually know how to complete a tax return, so when next year rolls around, I will be a little more calm and independent through the whole thing.

I'm not going to lie- when I'm stressed, I shop. I don't always spend money, but regardless, I shop. I was on one of my favorite websites the other day, Organize.com, and found that they had a lovely section of tools to help with taxes. Although I didn't buy anything, I still thought that maybe if the tax fairy was listening she would place an order for me and drop these off at my door for next year.

And if all else fails...my sweet, lovely tax fairy... just bring me one of these! Ha!

Home Renovations: Closets are a Problem in our House

First, so I don't sound like an ungrateful snob, my husband and I are SO thankful to be homeowners. We have friends who live in cities where housing isn't as affordable as where we live, and live in rentals where they can't make changes. For that reason, we are THANKFUL to be homeowners and to be able to make decisions about improving our home.

But... closets are a enormous, tremendous, gigantic problem in our home. No, I am not being dramatic either.

Our house was built almost 100 years ago, and we have already done a good amount of work including a total renovation of our kitchen. We love the details that you don't find in newer homes, but it's easy to see that times have changed in clothing storage over the last 100 years.

The closet in our master bedroom is downright sad. It may have worked in the 1920's, but not so much anymore. We are currently working on it, and I will do a separate post on that when it's completed... but this is what our master closet looked like when we moved in.

No, I did not make that up. And it was this deep (barely wide enough for a pair of shoes):

So, I pretty much told my husband that this sorry excuse for a master closet simply wasn't going to work. We remembered that we have a really cool feature in our house that allows us to access our attic through a full set of stairs directly through our bedroom. Bingo. Hello new closet upstairs.

The only problem was that when we started this project, the attic looked like a traditional attic-- aka no doors, no shelves, just an empty attic. So... we got busy framing out some useful space in our blank empty canvas.

Here is where we started framing the closet. It's on the left.

Hanging drywall in the closet. Kind of a funny angle with our roofline.

 Finally, it's beginning to look like we have walls!

After some paint and finishing work, the racks and lighting go in! The racks are just Closetmaid brand from Home Depot. Nothing special, since we aren't going to be in the house forever...

It's crazy unorganized right now and we still need to add carpet and shoe racks... but it sure beats having ridiculous amounts of clothing piled up on the floor of your guest bedrooms and in tupperware containers. How did I even live like that? Such is the life of a newlywed who moves into her husband's bachelor pad, I suppose.

Have you tackled any home renovation projects? Tell me about them :)

The Stuff That Olympic Dreams Are Made Of

Lindsay Vonn. First American Woman to EVER win the Olympic downhill. Rock on, girl! 

And... from the Los Angeles Times: 

"Lindsey Vonn didn't just become the first American woman to win the Olympic downhill, with a time of 1 minute 44.19 seconds.

Vonn did it with a throbbing shin under backbreaking pressure, which is why, when she won, she cried nonstop for almost two hours."

OUCH. Such a cool story and I'm so glad she won.

Delicious Dinners: Easy Crab Cakes

For Valentine's Day, MrMarried requested a little surf and turf action for our celebratory meal. I have a perfect dinner that fits the surf and turf bill quite well, so I happily agreed to make it.

Get ready to feel like a chef to Hollywood celebs, because these crab cakes are so good, and SO easy,  they will honestly they will make you look like a professional. I can't remember exactly where I got the recipe from, but I know it was from the Food Network website a few years ago. So, here we go:

12 ounces crab meat, cooked
5 ounces bread crumbs-- I like to use garlic flavored bread crumbs
1 egg white
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon sambal-- sometimes I put this in, sometimes I don't. If I don't add it, I like to add a hint of garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives-- I have swapped in green onions before
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper, to taste
EVOO
1 bunch of arugula, washed and patted dry

1. In mixing bowl, combine the crab meat with the bread crumbs, Add the egg white, mayonnaise, sambal, chives, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Fold the ingredients gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the crab meat.(This gets a little goopy so you might want to have a plate ready to put the crab cakes onto)

3. Shape the mixture into 4 (my version makes 6-7) uniform cakes, they should be moist and just hold together.

4. Coat a skillet with EVOO and place over medium high heat. Cook the crab cakes untl browned, about 3-4 minutes each side.

5. Serve on a bed of arugula with a side dijon mustard.

Even though the recipe says it will yield 4 cakes, this last version yielded 7 for me. I find that they are much easier to flip in the skillet when they are in smaller cakes, so perhaps that's why my way of making them yields more than the recipe. Good luck! I hope you love them.

"Oh Canada, the True North Strong and Free"

Oh how I love the Olympics! The pictures that I have seen from Vancouver are breathtaking, and I have added it to the "Places MrMarried and I Must Visit" list. And how about the Canadian National Anthem? I love it. I almost wrote out the full song as the title of this blog post, but I thought that would be overkill.

Now, don't get me wrong I am one the most patriotic Americans that you will ever meet, however, I just love that the Canadians have a national anthem that the average person can actually sing. The US national anthem isn't exactly easy to sing, (and sing well).

Anyway... On Friday night MrMarried and I snuggled up on the couch to watch the opening ceremony, watch the nations parade into the stadium, and cheer for the USA. When Team USA entered and had these little babies on, I about fell off the couch:

How cute are these hats?! I was on a mission to buy one and wear it when we get our next snow storm- which in case you didn't hear, we get a LOT of snow around here these days. But, I unfortunately found out that they are a cool $75, and I quickly decided that there are much better ways to spend 75 bucks.

Instead, I will just watch and cheer without a moose hat for the remainder of the Olympics. Sigh. Okay, I am kidding, I will be fine without one. I think...ha!

Lovin' From My Valentine

My dear husband made my day on Friday by sending these beauties to my office. I was thrilled... too bad they were delivered at 1:55 and I had a FRIDAY AFTERNOON meeting from 2-5:30. Barf.

Attention all executives: Employees DO NOT want to participate in a 3.5 hour intensive marketing message meeting on a Friday afternoon. Just sayin'.

In all seriousness, I survived the meeting and it was so much sweeter to know that I had flowers at my desk waiting for me when I was released from prison the meeting.

I do have a question though. How the heck do you drive home with a vase full of flowers? I was a mess. Trying to steer and trying to hold the flowers upright. It was like an Olympic sport.

My Sweet Money Making Cash Cow

I don't buy a lot on ebay. I have probably bought and sold a total of 20 items since I started using the site. However, I do believe that ebay might be one of the best inventions to come out of the internet revolution.

My most favorite part of ebay are the used books, DVDs, media and other great finds that I have been able land. My most recent find was Eat, Pray, Love (the audio book version) for $6.90 with shipping.

Why was this such a great find, you ask? Well, I have a 30-40 minute commute each way to work. I've found audio books to be a saving grace to keep me sane during the drive, and they also expose me to books that I normally wouldn't have the time to read.

The only problem with audio books is that they aren't cheap.Case in point: A new version of Eat, Pray, Love at Amazon is $26.37

I would maybe pay that for a classic hardback novel that I would keep forever. Would I pay that price for a one time read-- or one time listen in my case? Heck no. And again... here comes the magic of ebay.

As I said, bought the audio book for $6.90 and listened to it while I was in the car. After I was finished, it sat in my backseat taking up space. So, I decided to see if I could resell the book. It did... and the book sold for $13.95.

That's right. I have found a "library" that PAYS ME to listen to audio books. I "rent" the book (and buy it from the seller) and then "return" the book (and sell it to someone else) and I MAKE MONEY. I know that a profit of $7.05 isn't really earth shattering, but I'll still take it.

Or... maybe I should just start going to our community library and rent audio books from them. Ehhh... maybe that's something I'll save for next month. For now, I will relish in my money making cash cow. Okay, I'm totally kidding on the cash cow.

Do you love audio books as much as me? I'd love to hear about it.