Ashley Cooks Dinner... and Survives!

As I posted yesterday, I decided to make dinner for Josh last night. I had the "menu" all set and as I was getting ready to pull into Meijer for some last minute necessary ingredients, I got a text saying I should expect 1 maybe 2 extra people. Ok... no big deal, right? No need to panic. I'll just double the recipe and if it's too much we'll have leftovers. Then, when I get to Josh's house, I learn that there might be another extra person- (recap: planned meal for 2 people, ended up with 5) Luckily for me, that was really the only stressful moment! Plus, one of the extra people happened to be quite helpful in the kitchen! And now, without further ado, the pictures (You'll have to forgive the lack of magazine quality pics. I don't have the talent for that, and Josh's kitchen is a less than desirable background!):

Parmesan chicken - I cut the chicken breasts up into smaller pieces to make it easier to handle and quicker to bake. It was SO yummy and juicy!

Garlic Cheese Orzo - another delicious dish (if I do say so myself!). The only problem was that I lacked my garlic press and any other method to mince/mash the garlic, so there were some larger chunks. Oh well, it tasted reaaaalllly good! (Note the 70's golden yellow stove) I also steamed some broccoli, but that's not too difficult so I didn't feel the need for a picture.

Monkey Bread for dessert! You'll notice I forgot to take a pic before I snuck a piece right out of the center (oops...). You'll also notice my "potholder" for the night - a seafoam green hand towel. My boyfriend does not own a potholder. How is this possible?

The end result was a pretty satisfied group of people! Josh even said he liked when I cook and I can do it again. YAY!! Bonus: he and his friend did the dishes! My boyfriend is the greatest!

Quick Little Post!

This weekend was amazing! Friday night I had some quality Jenna time (Love that girl!!) and enjoyed a Maple Butter Blondie from Applebee's. YUM is all I can say. Then Josh had some people over and we rotated between his house, his garage, and his man-cave (another garage lined with beer cans and old scantily-clad girl posters that houses his pool table. Seriously, some of the posters are older than me. And I'm older than him... Not that I condone half-dressed women as acceptable wall art, but if you're gonna have them, get pics that don't feature leg warmers, and big hair...) while trying to dodge rain drops.

Saturday I woke up to no power at Josh's house, so I headed to Jenna's to shower and get ready for the day. We had a little Mary Kay party at her house and with freshly made up faces we headed out to Lansing. I scored the deal of the century at The Limited ($277 worth of clothes for $38! Seriously, I love a bargain!) and got some Victoria's Secret PINK stuff for my sister for her birthday (side note: since when is my sister old enough to turn 21?? Seriously feeling old...). Then Josh took me out to dinner at Corner Landing and we watched a movie at my place. He let me rent Confessions of a Shopaholic (who, it turns out, I totally can identify with... not $16,000 in credit card debt, but the emotional high of shopping. yeah, I know how pathetic that sounds).

Sunday I went up to Traverse City for the day. My stepmom has family up there and her aunt is home from Arizona. We had a yummy roasted chicken dinner, complete with her grandma's German potato salad and Texas sheet cake (words cannot describe the love I feel for said cake). We were on Silver Lake tubing in between rain showers. It was nice to see everyone again and see how the little cousins are growing up. They're just too cute!

Tonight, I'm going to attempt to cook dinner for Josh. I've got two recipes that I'm going to try: Parmesan Chicken and Garlic Cheese Orzo. They seem pretty easy so I'm not too worried, but there's always some anxiety that comes with cooking for someone for the first time (especially because he's such a picky eater!!!). The parmesan chicken is a Weight Watchers recipe and the orzo is from Rachael Ray. She say's it's 'good for you' but I'm a little skeptical... pasta + cheese doesnt usually equal health food, but I'll give it a try. I have yet to calculate the points value for the orzo, but the website says the chicken is 6 points per serving. A little high but not too bad. Plus, I'll probably have some fresh broccoli or green beans to add so that helps the health value, right? And then I plan on making monkey bread for dessert. Definitely not a Weight Watchers recipe, but it'll be ok. Everything in moderation (haha... famous last words). I'll try to take pictures of the finished product and post about it later : ) Dont worry, I am by no means going to become a food blogger. I'm definitely not qualified for that job!

I'm also working on a few posts that I'll feature later this week (Ok, I just reread that sentence and it sounds horribly pretentious, like I'm some magnificent blogger who "features" things... but I'm not changing it. haha). One of them is about what I'm reading/have read lately, one is about what wedding trends I'm falling in love with (not that I have any reason to start planning... I just like looking for now), and one will be a little catch up to show off some of the pics I've taken over the past 6 months and haven't shared. Stay tuned!