Recently

I've recently decided a few things...

One of the first things is I want to finish school in 2 years or less if I can. I'm tired of school. It exhausts me. It annoys me. It keeps me from doing what I do best...which is working of course and spending time with the people I love. I feel like school is something I can be  good at if I try REALLY hard. Which lately I have been. However, working comes naturally to me. I'm good at working hard. I'm good at learning my job and growing to be great at it.

Yes.I know. The importance of education...blah blah blah.

I have every intention of completing school and I will very happy once I finally get my degree.

But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Secondly...

I took Lilo for a walk at the dog park in my apartment complex the other day. There were big dogs there that wanted to eat her and while the people were very nice, it just wasn't Lilo and my's scene.

We need a yard so that I can sit and drink coffee....

or maybe a glass of wine.... 

and watch the bug terrorize anything that moves for as long as her heart desires...

I know right now is not the time, but someday I intend to be in the country again. I love it there.

No traffic.

No one living directly next door to you.

Its where I grew up and eventually it's where I would like to be again.

For now I'm happy living in the city. In an apartment where there is not a lot to worry about. I have my two plants out on the balcony and Lilo and I have plenty of room to go for walks outside.

but maybe someday I could have a nice big yard...a garden...and possibly a clothes line...

Totally not kidding about the clothes line. 

For now, I am content where I am. I have things I need to accomplish, then I will see whether or not my dreams of  living the country life are able to become a reality. It's possible that I could change my mind before then...so who knows? I'm just thinking out loud...

Plus...I definitely feel like it's ok to dream...

hmmm...I can almost smell the fresh air 

Southwestern Baked Chicken and Zucchini

I found a great recipe via my palm pre app that's called "what's for dinner?". It's great because I can type in ingredients and it pulls up recipes. This one was super easy and came out great. I improvised a little but mostly stuck to the directions.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• southwest seasoning (Emerils is a good brand)
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, divided
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped green chilies
• 2 medium zucchini, unpeeled
• Shredded mexican cheese

So I forgot to buy green chilies but I added some chopped red bell pepper and chopped fresh jalapeno (both of which were in my fridge) and they worked just fine. 

The southwestern seasoning I made myself from the recipe that I also pulled from the app

Emerils Southwest Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

A good reason to save your empty seasoning containers, just make sure you label them afterwards :) 

So once I preheated my oven to 350, I followed the directions pretty closely.

First you slice the zucchini and lay it in the bottom of a baking dish(the recipe calls for a 9x13 but something close to this works just as good) then you pour 1 cup of the enchilada sauce over it. Lay the chicken breast on top and sprinkle with the southwestern seasoning. Next pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the chicken and add the chopped veggies. 

This is what mine looked like at this point

Pop it in the oven and cook it for about an hour, about 50 to 55 minutes in you can add the cheese and let it melt.

When it's done your home will smell wonderful and you will have something that looks similar to this to eat for dinner....

Yummy!

                                      

My roommate wasn't the only one excited about dinner being ready...although in this case the excitement was in vain...

"Is that for me mom??"

Sorry bug, that's for mom and Auntie Krust.