Margarita Chicken Recipe

I made this for dinner tonight for my boyfriend, and not only was it delicious, but super easy!

Margarita Chicken -- from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking

Ingredients:
-- 4 bone-in chicken breast halves
-- 1 can (10 ounces) frozen margarita mix (recommended: Bacardi), thawed
-- 2/3 cup tequila
-- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
-- 2 tablespoons chicken seasoning (recommended: McCormick's Grill Mates)

Directions:
Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Place the chicken and marinade in large resealable plastic bag. Squeeze out the air and seal. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

Set up the grill for direct cooking over medium heat and oil grate when ready to start cooking. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place chicken on hot oiled grill and cook 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until done.

INDOOR: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare chicken breasts as directed. Roast chicken breasts in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

I actually only used the margarita mix and the chicken seasoning (forgot the tequila at the store, and don't really like cilantro) and it worked out just fine. I put the chicken and margarita mix in a bag this morning to marinate in the fridge. I then put the chicken in a baking dish and sprinkled with chicken seasonging and ended up baking the chicken because I get a little nervous about grilling chicken.

The chicken had a very strong lime taste, and needed a little salt, but it was so good. I highly recommend it!

Movie & Book Reviews -- Alice in Wonderland and The Time Travelers Wife

I saw two movies this weekend. On Friday my Mom and I went to see Alice in Wonderland. It was really good, but we both felt that we needed to see it again because there were a few things that we probably missed.

(Image from Google)

What I didn't realize is that this movie picks up from the cartoon movie. In the cartoon movie Alice is a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in Wonderland. In this version, Alice is in her early twenties, and returns to Wonderland. I didn't realize this until the movie was almost over. I thought she was younger in the first movie, but it had been a while since I had seen that version. Overall, it was a good movie, and I recommend you check it out.

On Saturday, my Mom and I watched the Time Travelers Wife. I had just finished the book, and actually bought the movie about a month ago when it first came out, but wanted to wait until I finished the book to read it.

(Image from Google)

I liked the book, but thought it dragged on a little too much. I thought they could have cut out about 1/3 - 1/2 of the book and it still would have been pretty good. The movie actually was about 1/2 of the book, so I did like that part about the movie. The movie cut out a lot of her childhood, but that was part of the book that I thought could have been cut out anyway. There were a couple of things I wish the movie would have shown, but I think the movie did a good job of showing the main parts of the book.

Overall there were things about the book and the movie that I liked better than the other, but in the end I enjoyed them both. It's funny because typically I like the book version better than the movie version, but there were things I liked about both of them in this case.

I am glad that I read the book before watching the movie. The endings were both similar but different. I think I liked the ending of the movie better than the ending of the book. Of course I cried during both endings. I highly recommend at least watching the movie.

Pioneer Woman's Mocha Brownies

For our cookout this weekend, I made the Pioneer Woman's Mocha Brownies. They were so easy to make, very rich, but very good. I loved the actual brownies. The mocha icing was good, but almost a little too rich and sweet for me. I think the brownies would be great with some ice cream and some hot fudge syrup. I highly recommend you try this recipe, and I will for sure make it again sometime.

One tip, slowly mix in the coffee. I put all of it in at once, and my icing turned out really runny. I would add in a little at a time, or else you will have to add more powdered sugar. I had to add a ton of powdered sugar to thicken up my icing, and that might have been why my icing was a little too sweet. It does thicken up a little when you put it in the fridge, so that did help out a lot.

Pioneer Woman's Mocha Brownines

Brownies:
4 1-oz. squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mae’s Mocha Icing:
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh-brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

For brownies:
Preheat the oven to 325º F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick baking spray.

To make the brownie batter, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, being careful not to let it burn. Set it aside to cool slightly.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle in the melted chocolate. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Add the flour to the bowl and mix just until combined; do not over mix. Pour the batter in the baking pan. Spread it to even out the surface. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the center is no longer soft. Set the brownies aside to cool completely before icing.

For icing:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Mix until slightly combined, then add 1/2 cup of the brewed coffee. Whip until the icing is the desired consistency. If the icing is overly thick, add 1/4 cup more coffee. It should be very light and fluffy.

Ice the cooled brownies, spreading the icing on thick. Refrigerate until the icing is firm, and then slice the brownies into squares.

Happy Easter!

One of my favorite things about Easter are all of the beautiful Easter lillys and other pretty flowers that are all over the church. Today, the sanctuary smelled wonderful. Of course, it totally set my allergies off, but I didn't care. It was a great church service today as well.

Yesterday our family all got together (since my brother had to work today), and had a cookout. We also hid eggs for Jack to find, and colored easter eggs. Below are some fun pictures from the weekend.

Hope everyone had a very nice Easter holiday!

Jack found all of the eggs (twice!!)

Jack and Grandma reading one of his new books from his Easter basket.

Jack coloring eggs. He dropped the eggs in the cups and then pulled them out of the cups (with only a minimal mess!)

Jack and Bella posing with their eggs. Jack was learing to share his eggs with his little sister.

Miss Audrey posing for the camera.

Bella posing with some eggs. She really loved those bright colored eggs!

Pink Saturday -- 4/3/10

Happy Pink Saturday everyone! And Happy Easter!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, really mostly for the meaning of Easter. Typically we go to church and then have a nice lunch with the family.

One of our Easter traditions is that we have to wear a new outfit for Easter. I have had a new outfit I believe every year (except one year I remember it snowed, so my spring dress wasn't going to keep me warm, so I had to break out a pair of dress pants). The tradition is if you don't wear a new outfit, a bird will poop on your head!! My Mother claims that happened one time to her Grandmother, so it is a must to have something new!

This is my Easter dress from last year

This is me and my nephew Jackson. Isn't he adorable. I got this dress last year from Ann Taylor Loft and just absolutly loved the blue in this dress!

This is my Easter dress I am planning on wearing this year:

This is a Lilly Pulitzer dress that I got off of Ebay a few months ago. I had been looking at Lilly dresses for some time, but couldn't bring myself to paying full price for one. When I found this dress on Ebay for $39.99 (including shipping), I immediatly placed a bid. I figured I would be outbid, but no one else placed a bid, so in a few short days, it was all mine. I was so excited when I got the dress, because it fit perfectly!

I also got these sandals last weekend at DSW. They are wedges, and they look very cute with the dress. I am so excited that it will be in the 70's this weekend so that I can actually wear my dress and sandals and will still be comfortable.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and is having great weather as well! And please check out Beverly's blog for even more Pink Saturday!

Frugalista Fashion Finds

This week I found some great items, at awesome prices!

I found this dress at Ann Taylor Loft. It was originally $89.50, and I got it on clearance for, get this, $4.88! It is a petites, so it's a little short, and I had to add a belt, but I think it will work out just fine.

I also got these sandals at Target for $17.99

They look to me like knock-offs of Jack Rogers Navajo sandles. I love the white gold color and think they will go with many things. Just love them!

Tail Waggers Recipe

Just wanted to share my dog treat recipe that I talked about the other day. This recipe comes from my Southern Living Incredible Cookies cookbook -- yes a dog treat recipe came from a cookie cookbook =)

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups uncooked regular oats
1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups beef broth
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine first 7 ingredients (dry ingredients); make a well in the center of dry ingredients.

Whisk together broth, oil and 1 egg; add to dry ingredients, stirring until a soft dough forms.

Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 4 inch dog bone-shaped cookie cutter, and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Whisk together remaining egg and Worcestershire sauce; brush on cookies.

Position oven racks to divide oven into thirds. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours, placing a baking sheet on each rack. Turn oven off, and let cookies stay in oven with door closed 2 more hours.

Makes 40 (4-inch) canine cookies.