Last post of 2009

What better way to say goodbye to a great year than to work on two more items for my blog?! Earlier today Rick and I decided to start the day off with a hike. We did this last year on New Year's Eve as well and thought it was a fun tradition to start. We decided to hike another train in the Mission Trails Regional Park-- Mesa Road. It wasn't as hard as the last hike we went on, but was still listed as a category 4 "challenging". It was a beautiful day for a hike, nice and cool weather still, but plenty of sunshine too. According to the website the hike is 2.2 miles one way. Some of the highlights of the trail were the pretty stream surrounded by rocks, and the "tunnel" that the vegetation formed.




After our hike we were off to lunch at Bud's Louisiana Cafe. I found this place on www.yelp.com and after reading all of the rave reviews I decided that this was the next place I wanted to eat at for my project. The first test was the sweet tea. It was sooo good! We knew that we were in for a treat. We ordered an appetizer of shrimp bourbon st- One dozen shrimp lightly coated with cornflour and cornmeal and flash fried, served with an orange marmalade horseradish dipping sauce. As well as our entree's...Grilled Chicken Po'Boy (Rick's)-Chicken breast dusted with Creole seasoning and grilled. Served with lettuce, tomato, and Caesar dressing. And Crawfish Etouffee (mine)-Crawfish tail meat pan sauteed with garlic, butter, thyme, and basil and tossed in our sauce of onions, celery, green peppers, and a light tomato roux. The food was outstanding! Even the caesar salad that came with my meal was awesome! We were left feeling very full and happy and both agreed that this was the best new restauraunt we have tried in a very long time. The only downside was that it was *tiny* inside, which made it feel kind of awkward to talk above a whisper. But we did overhear that they will be moving into a new, larger location.


All in all a great end to a GREAT year! See everyone in 2010!!!

#90 See a Movie Alone

This was an interesting task to complete on my list. Not necessarily a hard one, but one that does make a person slightly uncomfortable by putting you outside of your "comfort zone". But sometimes that is a necessary part of life. I think it's good to do things that cause a bit of discomfort every now and again. I'd like to think that it helps you grow as a person.

So I decided that today would be the perfect day to go see a movie all by myself. I've been wanting to watch New Moon again, I'm only working halfdays this week, and today was $5 Tuesday at the local movie theater in town. Everything just came together perfectly. I figured the theater would be empty and that would make this a little easier being that it was an early afternoon showing in the middle of the week.... well not so much. It was actually a pretty popular idea I suppose. It took me a good bit of time to find parking, and once I bought my ticket and soda I walked to my theater hoping that all the people were seeing the new releases. I walked into the theater for New Moon and was shocked by how packed it was.

Once I got settled into my seat though everything was fine. It did feel a little awkward trying to find a seat alone. It's always easier to have Rick with me, holding the snacks and leading the way. But at least I had no problem finding a seat for one. Overall it was a good experience. I'm glad I can say that I've seen a movie alone. Although I honestly wouldn't have ever done it if it wasn't for setting it as a goal on here.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Let me just start out by saying I'm *not* a huge tuna person. I know a lot of people love it and can eat it all the time... but I'm just not one of those people. I'll eat it very occasionally on a salad, and will only have it as a sandwich if it's my pesto tuna salad. But that's pretty much about it.

For some strange reason though I decided I wanted to find a good tuna noodle casserole recipe to try. I don't think I've ever had one in my adult life, and I honestly am not even sure if I had it as a kid. But this recipe I found at www.allrecipes.com is soooo good! It's been a while since I've had a meal so tasty. And it made a ton! I wasn't sure the leftovers would taste as good as the first night, but they actually did.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained
• 3 cups shredded American cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup crushed potato chips
• 1 pinch paprika

Directions

1. In a large pot with boiling salted water cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain.
2. In a large bowl combine the cooked egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, evaporated milk, tuna, grated American cheese, and chopped onion. Pour into a greased 1.5 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with the crumbled potato chips and the paprika.
3. Bake in a preheated 425 degree F (220 degree C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 659 | Total Fat: 31.3g | Cholesterol: 139mg

Granted this isn't the healthiest recipe, but it's okay to splurge every now and again. :) Also this was great as is. I didn't really change a whole lot, except that I sauteeed my onion and used a little goya seasoning when doing so. Also I used kettle cooked chips for a little more crunch. YUM!

#18 Go ice skating

I love the holiday season for so many reasons. One of them would have to be the fact that the outlet center sets up their awesome ice skating rink. It's big, outdoor, and decorated for Christmas. They even have Christmas music playing over the speakers to really put you in the holiday spirit.

Last year was my first time ever ice skating. It was fun, but also a little scary. I didn't have any health insurance and was super paranoid about falling and breaking something. So I basically spent the majority of the time close to the wall of the rink for support. Not this time though. The scariest part is when you first get onto the ice. But after that you start to get used to it and it becomes like second nature. The biggest tricks that I learned are to keep moving...lol... when people start to stop for whatever reason they tend to fall. Also avoid the rockets-aka little kids. They seem to have no fear and will just shoot out in front of you. :)

I must say I absolutely love ice skating. I think it is for sure the best form of winter exercise. If only I had my very own ice skating rink....

#96 Buy a pair of Uggs!!!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

If this book is any indication of the rest of the series then boy am I in for a wild ride! There were sooo many twists and turns in this book that it kept me guessing. I love that! When I read these books I can't help but think back to being a kid and watching scooby doo...lol. I'm sure it's a weird thing to relate it to but I guess it's just the whole "mystery" aspect and trying to find out "who done it".

I had heard from some that while they love the entire series, that this book is the weakest. Well, if that's the case then I'm in luck because I *really* enjoyed this book. Especially the ending. I can't wait to read the next one!

Our chili dinner

was supposed to be an ugly Christmas sweater get together as well. Guess that's a pretty popular theme though because the thrift stores seemed to be sold out of ugly Christmas sweaters. hehe... so Rick settled on wearing just an ugly sweater, and I wore a Christmas top (although it was huge on me!) I figure that the combination of the two turns into an ugly Christmas sweater right?! ;)

Anyways, we had a few close friends over to celebrate the holidays with us and to enjoy a yummy chili dinner. I served my pumpkin turkey chili (which I posted previously) and a spicy chili. My friend Jaimie and her hubby provided some cornbread and yummy dip. There were also tons of sweets and drinks to go around. After enjoying the yummy food we played a quick game of apples to apples, some guitar hero, and texas hold em.

It was a fun evening filled with friendship and laughter and we felt so blessed to be able to do something with our friends to celebrate our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. and in our very first home.

Arrivederci...

Is Italian. Not French. I still don't know how or why I ever thought it was. But it was a restaurant I had been meaning to try. It's not a huge chain brand or anything, but they do have two other locations in San Diego. They recently opened up their newest by our house in a shopping center that Rick and I frequent. Every time we passed by I always commented on it. It always seemed to be filled with people, which is always a good sign.

So the other night Rick surprised me and said we were going to dinner there. I was excited and knew that it would count towards my blog so I packed my camera. Unfortunately we were seated in the middle of the small restaurant, and although it wasn't terribly crowded, I still didn't want to be that girl. So in my purse my camera remained :(

We decided to start with a calamari appetizer. Which was tasty, but really wasn't necessary, as we were also served warm bread with sauce. The bread was yummy, and the sauce had some heat to it which I always love.

We then shared an entree of Mezzelune all'Aragosta, which is half-moon shaped ravioli, filled with lobster in a saffron cream sauce. I loved that they brought it to us already split up. It wasn't the typical pasta dish that I'd normally order at an Italian place. The pasta itself was very good, and the saffron cream sauce just put it over the top. Had I not filled up on Calamari and soda I would have been like Rick and dipped some of that bread in the sauce too!

All in all it was a good little place. We were very pleased with the meal, and are glad that we tried it out, however we already have a little Italian place here that we go to and will probably remain loyal to them.

BBQ Chicken Calzones

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
• 2/3 cup BBQ sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels; crumble. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce, and remove from the heat. Mix in the cooked bacon.
3. Roll the pizza crust dough out onto a greased cookie sheet. Press out to an even thickness, and then cut in half. Divide the chicken mixture between the two pieces of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the filling. Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Fold the uncovered portion of dough over the filling, and press the edges together with a fork to seal.
4. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned to your liking. Cool for a few minutes, then cut each calzone in half. Each serving is half of a calzone. These can be served with additional BBQ sauce if you like.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 565 | Total Fat: 18.7g | Cholesterol: 107mg


This was a really yummy (although a tad bit time consuming) meal. Really though the hardest part about making it was dealing with shredding the chicken after I boiled it. The only modification I made was to use Turkey Bacon instead of regular, and I didn't add cilantro as I didn't have any. Also I sprinkled a little garlic salt on the calzone before baking. I served it with a side of ranch for dipping and we were good to go. It was good and very filling.

November's "Us" picture

Taken Thanksgiving day at my parents house.

sweets for my sweet

This is the outcome of 6 hours baking with my friend and co-worker Antoinette today. We had been planning our baking day for some time now, and although we couldn't bake everything we had originally planned we still had a good time. These are only the goodies that I brought home, there was plenty more left at her house.

We baked some classics like peanut butter blossoms and sugar cookies, and also tried some new recipes like the Oreo truffles (aka lumps of coal) and some almond hug cookies-- those were probably the funnest to make as we really had to play with it as we went. LOL, sure did make for an interesting cookie.

I brought home so much that I have enough for us to enjoy a few at home, and to give to my parents, as well as to send Rick off with some to share with his co-workers. :)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

I'm not sure what's taken me so long to try out the Harry Potter series. You'd think with as much as I love to read that I would have gotten into it a long time ago. But it just never really caught my attention. Plus I sometimes get weary of books that have so much hype around them, for fear that they can never live up to it. But after hearing so many great things about the books, I figured why not give it a go.

I gotta admit I was a little scared when I first started it. It seemed very "young" even for a young adult book. But I remembered hearing from others that the books seem to grow as Harry does. So I pushed all that out of my mind and tried to just have fun with it and enjoy the book for what it was.

I just finished today during lunch, and I actually can't believe just how much I enjoyed it. It was fun, it kept me on my toes, and the main characters are all very likable in their own way. Oh and I never saw the ending coming! Which is always a pleasant surprise.

I will say though, the book made me kind of hungry! It seemed like they were always eating something. And I can now say that I know the reasoning behind those nasty jelly belly beans I once tried with a friend. (ewwww!) LOL

May the stars watch over you...

When I first picked up Brisingr a few weeks ago I thought that I was starting the last book in the Inheritance (or Eragon) series. I thought it'd be one more task for me to check off of my list... however after finishing the book I discovered to my surprise and delight that the story continues.

I can't decide which book I liked best so far of the three. I had originally read Eragon a few years ago, and while I enjoyed it I didn't give much thought to finishing the series. However Rick and I had a long car trip back in September, we were looking for a long book to enjoy, and I knew he'd love Eragon. After listening to the book my interest in the series was renewed. I jumped back into it and devoured Eldest. Although it was a bit slow at times due to the character development I enjoyed it a lot. There were so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming!

As soon as I finished that I headed to Borders with a great coupon and bought Brisingr. Again the book started out a little slow, there is just sooo much to the story! But again, it was amazing! There were some new devlopments which completely shocked me. And towards the end of the book I actually found myself crying. I don't do that often with books, but it is always a sign to me of a truly amazing book.

I now have my husband reading Eldest, and I can't wait til he is done with it so we can chat about it. And I know he's dying to read Brisingr so that he can find out what happened that made me cry.

This is the second time I've had to wait for a book in a series. I've never had that issue until this year when I read Hunger Games/Catching Fire... and I now find myself in that same sitaution. It's going to be hard to be patient and await this next book!

The Ugly Truth

When making "my list" I came up with most of my tasks on my own. I did however look through a few other 101 in 1001 blogs to get some ideas to fill in the gaps. When I stumbled upon the "watch 5 chick flicks I've never seen before" I thought it was a great one. Although I'm very into movies (I have a good size dvd collection, after having a habit of always buying dvds--even if I hadn't ever seen the movie. I'm proud to say that netflix has cured that issue, and saved me a ton of money! lol) there are a lot of "classic" chick flicks I've never seen, like pretty woman or beaches. So that was my initial thoughts process, to stretch myself a bit and see some older chick flicks and to not include any newer ones in here.

Well, I just got done watching the Ugly Truth with my husband and I honestly have not enjoyed a chick flick that much in a while. Maybe it was because Katherine Heigl has been one of my favorite actresses since Grey's Anatomy came out. Or maybe because Gerard Butler has not only impressed me with his looks (300) but also by starring in another of my favorite chick flicks (P.S. I Love You). Hmmm... probably a combination of the two? The movie was the perfect balance of everything: adult humor without being overly raunchy, goofy, smart, sweet, and it actually made me laugh out loud. It'd be wrong to ignore a movie as great as this, it is very much deserving of a spot on my list.

I haven't bought a dvd in a LONG time. This one is a must buy for me, and I already told Rick I'm adding it to my Christmas wish list.

Bucca di Beppo

I went from never hearing about this restaurant before, to hearing a lot about it recently. So when I got a sweet coupon in the mail earlier in the week for $10 off Rick and I decided to give it a try. They have 3 locations in San Diego, but we decided to go ahead and go with the downtown location. We're not huge into the downtown scene, we tend to prefer quiet evenings at home, but even still it's fun to get all dressed up and go downtown every once in a while.

It was a Saturday night so we were not surprised when we couldn't find any street parking. Luckily there was a parking garage nearby that wasn't ridiculously priced. We put our name on the list (it was a 2 hour wait!!!) and headed to the borders across the street. We couldn't have planned that any better! It was a great way to kill time, plus I had been intending to go to Borders anyway to use some borders bucks I had earned.

So with a half hour of wait time to still spare we made our way back to Bucca di Beppo's to see where we were on the list. Turns out they called our name already, so back on the list we went for another 15 minutes or so. Finally it was time for us to be seated, and we were shown our way to our table which took us through the actual kitchen. There was a booth in the kitchen for people to sit and watch, which I thought was pretty cool.

The atmosphere was loud, probably more so than normal as there was a huge party right by our table. They left shortly after we got there though, and the noise was then very bareable. We decided on an appetizer of Fried Calamari, and then we shared the baked rigatoni. The calamari was good, but nothing out of this world. I did really like the marinara sauce served with it, because it had a nice healthy dose of red pepper flakes. The baked rigatoni was very tasty in my opinion. It honestly reminded me of lasagna. The serving (small) was huge and we have plenty left over for tonights dinner.

While the food was good overall, I'm not sure it was at all worth the wait. I probably would have been very disapointed had we not had our coupon. But for me that is one of the hardest things about eating at Italian restauraunts... nothing on the menu ever stands out as spectacular, and it's one of the cheapest types of food to cook at home.

However our downtown dinning experience cost us little more than a fast food dinner (not including tip, and parking of course) so I really can't complain too much. I'm glad we tried it, but I'll probably just stick to Olive Garden.

October's "Us" picture

Better late than never eh? This pic was taken Oct 24th while waiting for our tour of the Whaley House.

The Whaley House

In honor of Halloween being right around the corner, Rick and I decided to do some fun activities to get us in the spirit. We had to start our evening with going to the pumpkin patch. After enjoying some cotton candy and finding the perfect pumpkin friends to take home we headed to Old Town to go to the Whaley House.

The Whaley House is a popular tourist attraction and happens to be a recognized haunted house. We paid for our tickets for our guided tour and headed in with our group. The tour itself was cool, the guides were in period clothing and told us the stories of the Whaley family and their house, they also told us about some of the sightings and experiences people have had there.

Mr. Whaley purchased the house in the late 1800's despite the fact that the property was once used as a gallows. They say that the house itself is haunted by one of the men that was hung at the gallows (Mr. Whaley was present for the hanging). The man was 6ft tall, which is very tall for back then, they didn't account for his extreme height when setting up the gallows and he suffocated for 6 minutes. They say his footsteps are heard roaming the halls upstairs. We were also told the tragic stories of some of the Whaley Family, including the death of their grandaughter who ingested an arsenic "cake" that was meant to help with the ant problem when she was 3, and the story of Violet Whaley (a daughter of the family) who commited suicide. Despite all the tragedy surrounding the family and the house, it also had a lot of other history for San Diego county as well. It held a court house, a general store, and a theater upstairs that some how managed to seat 150 people!

It was an interesting experience for sure, and was something that I was always too scared to do. The tour really wasn't all that scary, largely in part to the fact that we were in a good size group, and had tour guides. However I definitely wouldn't want to be in that place under any other circumstances.


The Parlor Room, which has the couch that Violet Whaley died on after Mr. Whaley discovered that she shot herself in the chest outside and carried her inside to that couch.


The Court Room, which is where the gallows used to be. This room was also used as a morgue. Notice the strange "lines" above the chair-- that is exactly the type of thing that they have on their display board of photos taken inside the house.

Cowles Mountain

One of our favorite things to do is to spend time outside, especially going on hikes. However a lot of times Rick and I will go walking at Lake Murray. It's one of our favorite places... a nice easy walk, and there are lots of ducks there that we feed. As much as we love it though I thought it'd be good to challenge ourselves a bit and to go on some "new" hikes.

So today we decided to tackle Cowles Mountain. It is part of Mission Trails (so is lake murray), and is a very popular trail. I've heard a lot of my co-workers talk about it, and after looking it up online I decided it'd be a fun one to try. Although we left pretty early for our hike it was warm, almost bordering on hot. And while I'm not a stellar athlete by any means, I do consider myself to be in pretty decent shape. This hike was just what I was looking for. I actually found it to be challenging. The trail was nice thanks to the amount of traffic it gets. But the hike was all up hill and with the sun beating down felt a bit intense. I'm proud to say we made it all the way to the top 1,500 ft high. It was obvious that the view would have been amazing, had there not been so much haze from a nearby fire. We were able to see the immidate surrounding area well, including Lake Murray. We had a hazy view of downtown San Diego in the distance, and couldn't see much beyond that do to the smoke.

All in all it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning, and we both feel like we got a nice workout. Here's hoping that I'll be sore tomorrow :)

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

I've been going through a bit of a pumpkin phase lately now that fall is here (is there such a thing as fall in San Diego though???). I LOVE pumpkin spice lattes! And I bought a bag of pumpkin spice hershey kisses too! So when I found this recipe online I had to give it a chance. I know it sounds like an interesting combination, but I didn't let that scare me away.

I made this for dinner last night, and although our weather isn't exactly "chili weather" at the moment Rick and I both enjoyed this! The pumpkin flavor was there, but it was very subtle. While we both agreed that we prefer the other chili recipe I use, this one will for sure be a keeper. We finished every last bite! Which is always a good sign :)

The changes I made to this recipe were to use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree as I couldn't find any at the store. I also added some beans and cumin as those are pretty essential to chili. I added one can of chicken broth, which I feel is necessary. Although chili is meant to be thick and hearty it probably would have been too thick without the chicken broth.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 dash salt
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 303

• Total Fat: 18.1g
• Cholesterol: 76mg
• Sodium: 336mg
• Total Carbs: 14.9g
• Dietary Fiber: 5.7g
• Protein: 21.3g

Tennis anyone???

Rick and I moved into our condo this spring, and ever since he's always wanted us to take advantage of the tennis courts in our little community. I played tennis for a few months in high school for my p.e. class, but other than that I've had no experience with the game. I kept putting it off, and putting it off. We'd decide in the morning that today would be the day we'd play, but by days end I'd have an excuse.

However thanks to my handy list I was inspired to make plans with my hubby and to keep them. So once a week we'd play tennis. It'd be after a long day of work, and I gotta admit that there was a time or two that I for sure didn't feel like playing. But my list kept me motivated, and I'd suck it up and play.

I love it. Sure, I'm not that good still. Although I have improved since we first started. I actually can make contact with the ball now...lol... and Rick and I can volley back and forth for a few minutes. I definitely have a long way to go, but like the saying goes "practice makes perfect". Even though this is one more task completed off of my list, I feel strongly that this will be a new hobby for Rick and me. While we may not play every week I am sure we will be getting much more use out of those tennis courts than we would have before. :)

#99 Coach Sunglasses!!!!

So I've never been one who is really into labels. I usually don't treat myself to anything super crazy, usually a book or clothes from forever 21. But I thought it'd be fun to splurge a bit and get myself a nice pair of Coach sunglasses. I've NEVER spent a lot of money on sunglasses in the past. Usually just a cheap pair from the mall. The last pair of sunglasses I had my mom gave to me. I'm not sure where she got them from, but I loved them. However they broke in my backpack on our way home from our honeymoon (I guess I should count my blessings and be glad that they did not break on our trip there!).

Over the summer Rick and I went to the Coach outlet with my parents before lunch. I was just browsing and spotted a really cute pair that were just my style (they had pink rhinestones!). It was love at first sight. Unfortunately they were close to $100 and I just didn't have the money for it. It was a bit of a struggle for me. I used to just whip out a credit card like it was nothing. But since Rick and I have been together I have completely turned those old habits around. We don't use credit cards (and the balances I did have are all paid off! Woo Hoo!!!), if there is something that we want we save for it and pay for it in cash. So with a bit of a pout face I walked out of the store and said goodbye to those fabulous shades.

Fast forward to now... I've saved my "blow fund" (which is essentially our "allowance" that we get each paycheck to blow on whatever we'd like) for a whole month. As we made the trip to the outlet I couldn't help but wonder if they'd still be there. I actually started planning for what I'd spend my money on if they weren't so that I wouldn't be too disappointed. So we walk into the store, and I head directly to where the table was at. And there they were! My cute sunglasses...waiting for me... and ON SALE! I got them for a steal at $79 plus tax. They came with a nice case as well, and I'll for sure make good use of it to keep them safe. It just goes to show that there is nothing wrong with a little patience. :)

Spicy Orange Beef

One of my favorite things on my list is to try 15 new recipes. This won't be too hard for me, as I usually make at least one new recipe a month. I am looking to try things though that are a little bit out of the norm for me...one day I hope to even attempt sushi!

I found a recipe at www.allrecipes.com (which is the BEST place to find recipes online, in my opinion) for Spicy Orange Beef. I made this yesterday for dinner and it was actually very tasty. The only adjustments I made were to not use orange zest (it's already in the orange marmalade) and to add frozen brocolli and fresh carrots to the beef mixture. I served it over brown rice. Yum! I'd easily rate this recipe 4 out of 5.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound round steak, cut into thin strips on the diagonal
• 1/4 cup orange peel, cut into slivers
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake

DIRECTIONS

1. In a wok or skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef strips 1/3 at a time. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until browned, removing the done pieces to a plate lined with paper towels.
2. Return all the beef to the wok. Stir in orange peel, garlic, and ginger; stir-fry 1 minute.
3. In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch, broth, soy sauce, sherry, marmalade, and red pepper. Pour this mixture into the beef, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 1 minute. Serve hot.

Nutritional Information

Spicy Orange Beef

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 397

• Total Fat: 22.3g
• Cholesterol: 73mg
• Sodium: 1276mg
• Total Carbs: 22.8g
• Dietary Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 24.7g

My first completed task...

#62 GET OVEN FIXED!!!

I can not tell you how happy I am to have this done, and so soon! Since moving into our condo back in the spring I've had to suffer without an oven. The stove top has worked just fine, and for most people going without an oven probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal. While we've managed ok without it, I can't even count how many times I've wished it worked. I've missed making enchiladas and casseroles, and I have not been able to spoil my hubby with yummy baked goods.

I can't take the credit for the completion of this task at all. I was pretty much just the one to get the ball rolling with it. After talking to my parents about our oven situation I was able to arrange for my dad to come and help Rick figure out what the problem was. On my hubby's day off he and my dad spent all day trying to figure it out. Finally they figured out that a part had gone bad, and so they replaced it.

Now my days of being an ovenless bride are over! Woo Hoo!!!!

The Project...

So the idea of a 101 in 1,001 days blog isn't a totally new idea to me, as I already have my book project, which was to read a 101 books in 1,001 days (almost done!). But I've seen a lot of people with a list of 101 different goals, activites, etc. and I thought why not? This isn't by any means my bucket list, as I've never really thought of any huge life goals other than the obvious love, family, and travel. To me this is more of a really fun to do list for the next 1,001 days.

So here it is....my list!
(Note: Items in italics are in progress, items in RED are complete)

Food Is Yummy!
1. Try 15 new recipes (11/15)
2. Try 10 new restaurants (6/10)
3. Buy a bottle of wine that is over $20
4. Go wine tasting
5. Take a cooking class
6. Try 5 new dishes at a restaurant (0/5)
7. Learn to make a yummy mixed drink
8. Bake a cake from scratch
9. Take a cake decorating class

Travel & The Great Outdoors
10. Visit 3 CA Missions (1/3)
11. Do 5 tourist activities in my own city (3/5)
12. Go to a new museum
13. Go camping
14. Go on 10 hiking day trips (2/10)
15. Stay at a bed and breakfast
16. Visit the Grand Canyon
17. Watch a meteor shower
18. Go ice skating
19. Go to a rollerskate rink
20. Fly a kite
21. Visit the CA state capital

For The Love Of Books
22. Read the Harry Potter series (7/7)
23. Read 5 relationship books (0/5)
24. Read 5 religious/spiritual/inspirational books (0/5)
25. Read 5 self improvement books (0/5)
26. Beat my NBC challenge score
27. Read the Sookie Stackhouse series (10/10)
28. Finish the Eragon series (3/4)
29. Finish the Wicked series (1/3)
30. Read TCOYF
31. Go to a book signing

Health & Fitness
32. Get a bike
33. Play tennis 1x a week for a month (4/4)
34. Go to yoga 1x a week for a month (4/4)
35. Try the cycling class at the gym
36. Participate in a 5k for charity
37. Take a self defense class
38. Buy Wii fit
39. Do the 30 day shred (14/30)
40. Get acupuncture

For My Handsome Hubby
41. Kiss in the rain
42. Learn more about dh's church
43. Learn how to shoot dh's pistol
44. Take an "us" picture every month (20/32)
45. Go fishing with dh
46. Play Texas hold em at the casino with dh
47. Have professional photos taken of us
48. Wear my 3 inch heels (instead of flip flops) on a date with dh
49. Bake cookies for dh to take to work 3x (3/3)
50. Learn to drive dh's truck
51. Buy a couples devotional

Grown Up Stuff
52. Match 50% of my current savings and put it into savings
53. Go through closet and organize, donate old items to charity
54. Fill digital picture frame
55. Order and organize photos
56. Create wedding album
57. Scrapbook at least 2 albums (0/2)
58. Check credit report
59. Organize recipes
60. Buy a bedroom set!!!
61. Unpack the last of my boxes
62. Get oven fixed!!!
63. Update passport

Giving Back
64. Leave $10 for someone to find
65. Leave a 50% tip
66. Donate $5 to charity for every item on the list that is not completed
67. Volunteer with an organization
68. Send a care package to a soldier

Friends & Loved Ones
69. Do something random and unexpected for Mom
70. Do something random and unexpected for MIL
71. Call a friend to catch up 1x a month (21/32)
72. Go on a "date" with a friend 1x a month (21/32)
73. Send 20 cards/postcards to friends (3/20)
74. Have friends over for a dinner party 3x (1/3)

For My Mind
75. Take a bowling class at the community college
76. Learn to crochet or knit
77. Learn to sew or quilt
78. Learn all of the state capitals
79. Join a book club
80. Attend 3 church functions (0/3)
81. Win at scrabble
82. Participate in NaNo
83. Complete 1,000 piece puzzle
84. Learn to shuffle a deck of cards
85. Take history of rock and roll

Entertainment
86. Get pro status on Wii bowling
87. Get Darkemoon and Glittermoon up to lvl 80
88. Frame my Bayside t-shirt
89. Go to a drive in movie
90. See a movie alone
91. Use sparklers for the first time
92. Go to a Charger game
93. Buy a cd without ever hearing any of the songs
94. Watch 5 chick flicks I've never seen before (1/5)

Just For Fun
95. Do something drastic with my hair
96. Buy a pair of Uggs
97. Buy a pair of jeans over $100
98. Buy a purse over $100
99. Buy a pair of coach sunglasses

For The Project
100. Encourage someone else to start the project
101. Celebrate accomplishments on 1,001st day!!!