Saturday, July 16, 2011

Friendship

I have decided that the hardest thing to keep up is friendships. Good friends are so few and far between. I have had a lot of friends in my life who have come and gone... but it's the ones that are there through thick and thin that are worth it. I have been doing the study of the life of David this summer through Beth Moore. Jonathan and David were the ultimate friends. They stuck up for each other, they cried for each other, they had a bond that was just intense. I have been through some rough times, friendship wise, in my day and some great times. I'd like to give a big cyber-hug to all of my bestest friends out there. You know who you are. The friends who listen as much as they talk. The friends who have helped me guard my heart and who I have helped guard theirs. My BEST friend in the world is my sister Katie. She is the only person (besides Jordan now) who I can be 100% myself in front of... she sticks up for me, cries for me, laughs with me, supports me, helps me, guards me, prays for me... and do the same for her and would in a heart beat. Love you Katie pooooo! Thanks for being the best friend I could ever pray for. SISTERSHIP!!!!!!!

Randoms

I want to write a blog entry... but I don't know what I want it to be about yet?!! I'm just going to start writing and see what pops out.

Harry Potter. My goodness, I have been up to my ears in Harry Potter lately. I really wish I would have read the books because I want to know SO BADLY what happens! I have seen all of the movies within the last two weeks to get prepared for the finale... I don't know what's going to happen... who dies? I know someone dies... Please don't tell me... I have to be surprised. I hate watching commercials because I think it's going to give it away... I am also annoyed with facebook (which I'll touch more on in a minute) because everyone is talking about it! I DON'T LIKE SPOILER ALERTS!!! It's such a brilliant series though... I have to have to read the books. I read the Twilight saga for crying out loud... EMBARRASSING... and I didn't read POTTER? Man, I am missing out. Gotta get on that.

Facebook. Ok... I'm done with having cyber-friendships. I want to have friendships where I hear people's voices and see their faces and give them hugs... I know facebook is good for keeping up with people that I love that I rarely get to talk to or see... who live far away and such... but as far as people who I wouldn't really ever talk to or be real friends with... I gotta say, I don't really wanna be friends with everyone I've ever met in my life on there. I hate drama and gossip SO much and that is just a big fat serving of it every day. I have narrowed down my "friend" list and I really hope I don't offend people. I just want to be a real friend to those I am actually FRIENDS with... Sound good?

Twitter. I love twitter. Surprisingly enough. I really thought I would hate it... but I have started following some celebrities... and let me tell you... they're hilarious and worth joining. It's fun. :)

Anyways, my mom's here with Starbucks. BYE!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Baked Eggs with Tomatoes

Now this one... this one is one of my most favorite dishes. Before Jordan and I got married, I read through an entire italian food cook book I bought at TJ-Maxx called The complete book of Italian cooking by Carla Capalbo. One recipe stuck out because of how healthy and delicious it sounded! I gave it a whirl... and it was awesome!

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 20-30 min
Serves: 3 large or 6 small
Level: mostly easy!

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 lb tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
6 eggs
salt and ground black pepper
1 Tbsp butter
chopped fresh parsley to garnish
parmesean or mozerella cheese

Ok, so this book is calling for like freshy freshy, but I bought a pound can of chopped tomoatoes, used my can of chopped basil and parsley, and didn't use any butter. I also added:

1/2 lb of ground turkey
a few heads of broccoli chopped
a large handful of spinach leaves chopped

Step one:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, cook until soft and golden.
Step two:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Brown the turkey in a seperate pan and drain.
When the onion is soft and golden add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach leaves, broccoli, turkey, and basil.
Transfer mixture to baking dish
Step three:
Break the eggs one at a time and slip them into the dish in one layer on top of the mixture. The goal is to have the eggs, yoke unbroken laying on top of the dish. Then sprinkle either mozerella or parmesean over eggs. Cover the dish and bake in the oven. the book says for 7-10 minutes, but since I add so much extra, I bake mine for a good 20-30 minutes until the eggs ontop are set. Serve at once! Brace yourself for the deliciousness!
This also makes a great breakfast!

Stuffed Turkey Burgers!

So, forgot to mention earlier... Ground turkey is another one we have been using a lot. We sub it for beef... but sometimes ya do gotta have beef! :) Well I was searching online for, again, healthy turkey burgers... and I found this great one on, again, foodnetwork.com! Recipe by the Neelys!

Prep time: 15 min
Cooking time: 15 min
Level: EASY!!
Serving: 4

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or less if you have a husband who hates it)
1/2 vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp soy sauce
a little salt a little peppa
8 slices pepper jack cheese( we used mozerella)
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced into 3/4 in thick rounds
Olive oil
4 large onion buns or rolls (we used whole wheat hamburger buns)
lettuce

Directions:
preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Put garlic, onion, mustard, turkey, salt and pepper, and soy sauce in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon(or whatever). Divide the turkey into 8 equal-sized balls and flatten them into patties. Lay two slices of cheese on 4 of the patties and cover with another patty. Seal the edges so that the cheese doesn't melt out.
press down into the center of each patty which will keep the burger from puffing up.
Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. grill for 2 min per side. Toast the buns as well.
The burgers need to be cooked about 5 or 6 minutes per side! and done! Put the burger together how you like it!

They suggested making a Spicy Mayo Sauce, but we opted out of that... here is the recipe:
1/2 C mayo (eww gross)
2 Tbsp hot chili sauce (Sriracha)
1/2 lime, juiced
mix well.

Jordan and I LOVE this recipe!

Slow-Cooker Chicken Gumbo

I had been trying to think of something yummy to make... so Jordan suggested Gumbo! Well, from what I heard about Gumbo, it can be very involved... I am not quite ready to be a multi-tasking cook... I get overwhelmed and very very messy! I really wanted to make it for him since he kept on suggesting it.. so I took on the challenge. I asked a couple of my cajun friends for recipes and looked up online "healthy gumbo" recipes. The one that I thought would be, I hate to admit it, the EASIEST was one from FoodNetwork.com posted by Robin Miller in 2006. I followed the recipe, mostly, then added a few of my own little zingers to make it our own!

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6-8 hours
Level: EASY!!!
Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 (10 oz) package frozen okra, thawed (or not, whatever) mmmm...
2 links andouille sausage, diced (THIS SAUSAGE ROCKED!)
1 C chopped onions
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (red pepper) (I added WAY more, we like it spicy!)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (I added more later, and a little salt)
2 C reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 C reduced-sodium tomato juice
2 C cooked brown rice
THEN! Jordan made a few changes of his own! He added:
1/2 lb shrimp (next time we'll use a whole pound!)
1 crab leg (for flavor... you can remove it or eat it at the end!)
Jordan likes it a little soupier, so HE added:
1 C water... ( I would have added another cup of broth myself.. for flavor.

Now! Comes the oh so difficult part...
THROW IT ALL IN THE CROCK POT! Mix it well... Cover... and Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. I cooked mine for 8 on low. Then pour it over some delicious cooked brown rice!

Jordan now has a new favorite meal... He said so himself! YEAH! Cooking healthy can be delicious and EASY!!! Try it... play with it... and let me know what you think! We LOVED it!

Just call me Susie Homemaker, I suppose.

I have been on a cooking KICK lately! I have been loving cooking, trying new recipes, experimenting and everything that comes along with it! (except the dishes) Jordan isn't an extremely picky eater, but picky enough. I really have to think about what I cook now. The purpose of the food you put in your body is more important than how yummy it is, I've learned being married to a health-nut. It makes it challenging to make yummy dishes. Basically, I have been cooking with a few staple ingredients: Chicken, beans, brown rice, vegetables, whole wheat pasta, spices, eggs... and basically that's it... it gets frustrating thinking of variety. I am lucky enough to have a few friends who have given me different ideas and recipes! I have tried some and tweaked them to make them a little 'healthier'. Believe me, I was extremely skeptical to make a few of these meals a little more on the healthy side... I thought it would make them taste bad or not be as exciting... I was wrong! Cooking healthy can be delicious and EASY!!! I'm going to post a few of my recipes and hope that some of you will try them and let me know what you think! I will put up pictures later, but for now, I'm going to post each recipe as a separate entry in case you would like to look one up later!

ENJOY! (and please let me know if you have any other ideas!!! they're welcome!)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

WOW!!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted!!! I am now MARRIED and my last name is no longer MacIver! I am now officially Lisa Marie Davila! YESSSS!!! It's about time! I am seriously so blessed! I am going to start blogging more when I get wireless in my apartment, but for now we just have one computer with internet and it's in the corner at a desk in the bedroom... I like to blog sitting on the couch with lots of time and with the TV on in the background. :) I'm going to be blogging about adjusting to married life and also about all of the new cooking adventures I'll be having. I am not a very experienced cook, but so far I have only butchered 2 meals... the rest have been at least edible or extremely appetizing! It's been fun! YAY marriage! ok.. more later! For now, I gotta go figure out whats for dinner tonight! AND take Jordan to get his birthday tattoo! Pictures to come soon!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

73 days, 20 hours, and 30 minutes!

Yep... I'm counting down the days until I'm Mrs. Davila! I am SO excited I can hardly contain myself!!! This has been such a whirlwind! Everything is going by so fast! I am glad I have already gotten everything planned! The bridesmaid dresses are bought, the accessories are a work in progress... My dress is bought and paid for! All of our major details are worked out! and most of the little ones too! Every sentence I write ends in an exclamation point! It's all so very exciting! and I use the word excited or exciting all the time! haha... ok, enough with the exclamation points.

On a more serious note... Please keep the Davila family in your prayers. Jordan's grandfather passed away in his sleep this past week. The family has been kind of shocked. They knew he wasn't in the best state of health recently, but for him to die now wasn't expected...It is kind of amazing when it happened though. Jordan's dad was scheduled to leave last wednesday to go to South Africa and his trip was postponed a week... Now he gets to be here for the funeral and burial. Kind of a blessing really that he didn't leave when he was supposed to.

Also, another very sad, very unexpected death occurred a couple nights ago. Mrs. Susan Owen died of a heart attack in the middle of the night. Her son is a very good friend of the family and has been for almost 15 years I think. She was my sister's and my Jr. high and High school principal. One of the sweetest, strongest women I have ever known. I pray that her family will rely on God's strength and love in this time. I am so thankful to know that she is in heaven now with Jesus! What a blessing to be in the presence of God! That's something to celebrate in this time of sadness...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Engagement Pictures!!!

My dear, dear friend Rachel Russo offered to take Jordan and my pictures for our wedding gift! She is SUCH a talented and gifted photographer! I am seriously so happy that she took our pictures. I feel really blessed by all of my friends and family in this time of wedding planning... everyone wants to help and be there and are offering services... it's so overwhelming! I couldn't be more thankful! :) Here are some of the pictures that the wonderful, talented, awesome Ms. Rachel Russo took.

(To see Rachel's other photos go to:
http://www.rachelrussophotography.com/ or to see her blog update on Jordan and I go to: http://rachelrussophotography.com/blog/?p=1482 )