Chicken and Rice Casserole

Made this delicious meal last night! It can be found on tasteofhome.com. It turned out amazing! I had to make a lot of changes and to work with what we had. I also did an experiment!!! 

Things I did differently:

While making my shopping list, I use an app called Food on the Table for convenience, I did not note that the kind of cheese called for was Velvita. So instead I purchased a whole bage full of mozzarella. When I made the meal, I said "oh well!" And just went for it anyway! 

I also hadn't realized I was almost out of rice. So we only had about 1 cup of rice instead of 4. 

One more thing to note, I used a KitchenAid mixer to shred 3 lbs of chicken earlier in the day. So instead of using cubed chicken, I used shredded.

My Experiment:

I cooked the casserole in the microwave! That's right! The microwave! It's been very hot lately, and especially living on the third floor, with a westward facing home, my kitchen gets VERY hot! I've been trying not to cook until the sun goes down, but it doesn't help much. I had thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if I could cook this without using the oven? ... Wait... Maybe I CAN!!! After purchasing a microwave for Christmas, I did something I don't normally do. And that is: read the instruction manual. I remember there being recipes for casseroles in there... So I quickly found the manual again, found the pages with casserole recipes on it, and reviewed the cooking instructions! They all said the same thing: cook for 16-18 minutes on power level 6. So I tried it! And it worked! Dinner was a big hit!

Apartment Living Frustration!

Have you ever lived in an apartment? Has it been a while? Are you currently living in an apartment? Oh the woes of apartment living! I just realized in the last couple of days how sick of it I am!

I realized the space is not my own. Which means changes and major modifications are out (like more counter space, or re-wiring the kitchen/family room so that if both computers are on, and the lights are on, we can run the microwave or the heater without blowing a fuse). It also means that the landlord, repair guy, or pretty much anyone else can just come right in. Practically unannounced, with no warning besides the doorbell! This happened yesterday. The repair guy came over, SURPRISE, and had to work on something electrical (nothing to do with our wiring problems, of course). He said he needed to turn off all the electricity. Ok, fine. So save what you're doing and turn your  computer off. Ok, fine. Sav..... OFF! Aaahhh! We hadn't even finished saving our work before the power went off! Let alone turning off the machine!

The other big an obvious problem is the neighbors! Sometimes you luck out and have great neighbors! Usually you end up with people you barely know, let alone like. On top of that, if you're in the basement, you will ALWAYS hear the upstairs neighbors. Whether they're sliding furniture, invited elephants over for game night, or just play their music so loudly in the mornings that it wakes you up! Btw- a good rule of thumb with music and apartment living: if you can hear it in the other room, your neighbors can hear it too!

Long story short... I'm pondering a new place to live. Hopefully I'll luck out and have great neighbors, but if not, maybe at least I'll get ones with music I like!

Any tips or ideas about how to ask (for the second time) to turn the music down?

What a day...

Have you ever had one if those days where you wish you had something to do? I mean besides the laundry, the dishes, every day boring stuff. I've had two days like that in a row! But after thinking "Ooh poor me" I suddenly remember I HAVE SOMETHING TO DO!  Yesterday it was go visit a friend. Today it was meet another friend for hot chocolate.

And you know what? I did it! Both days! Even though i was feeling tired and grumpy, I got out of bed, showered, and got dressed! I even did makeup and hair! And I looked awesome!

I believe that having stuff to do every day is important to our mental health. And hygiene. Yay for keeping ourselves busy!

Doggy outfits

So, I've pretty much always have had pets. Dogs, cats, fish, horses... and I've always judged people who dress up their pets. (Specifically their dogs) I officially apologize for my previous judgements and now see the error of my ways.

Growing up we had big dogs. We had a German Shepherd-Black Lab mix, then a Husky. Big dogs don't need clothes. (Except for possibly Halloween) About 2 months ago we adopted a small dog. Only 15 lbs. He loves to be covered in blankets. I just thought he was funny until I realized, HE MIGHT BE COLD!! I frequently wear sweaters and hoodies in my home because I get cold. Duh!

So today I went to the pet store and picked out a sweater for my dog. :-D I think it looks really nice on him and I'm pretty sure he likes it. At least he hasn't tried to chew it off yet. Lol!

Essential oils

Sometimes, I surprise myself. Like that day (last week) that I spent a significant amount of money on essential oils.

You see, about two months ago we moved. Knowing that we would move back soon, we made a deal with a friend to keep some of our stuff in her unused basement. This was a good idea.

The not so good idea was packing without prioritizing. We just started packing! Eventually we ran out of space and had to leave some things behind. We ended up with some things we didn't need (like the dish towels I don't like), and without some things we did need (like the shoe box full of medicine).

Which brings me back to essential oils. I've wanted to switch over for a long time... I've just thought "when I run out of medicine, I will." Well, I have something to tell you: you NEVER run out of medicine!

I bought a nice set of essential oils and have been using and loving them for the last week! The best part? If I have a minor issue, instead of thinking "I can power through it, I don't NEED medicine!" I think, w"hich oils would be best for this?" And then I get some. No more suffering!

The Daily Dish

Today's dish will be Hawaiian Beef Dish! The recipe can be found on tasteofhome.com. This is a dish I fell in love with shortly after I married my wonderful husband! We were dying for some variety from the chicken routine, and this popped off the page of my cookbook!

In the past this recipe has gone over very well with my little family, and I expect the same tonight. However, my cooking style is changing a bit! I'm learning to 'cook' in the microwave! I tried it for the first time last night! (See my post from yesterday)

The big change! Instead of cooking the hamburger on the stove, I'll be heating it up in the microwave! I'm not sure about how to get around doing the sauce on the stove, but we'll see!