My 5 Must Haves

Some things that you will rarely find me without:

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1. A good book (or magazine)
I love to read, and I almost always have a book in my purse, or a magazine in my work backpack or gym bag. You never know when you might have some downtime (at an appointment, or when your computer crashes at work), when you can just take 15 mins or so to get caught up on some reading. I am currently getting ready to read How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal. Doesn't that sound like a great chick book?!?

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2. My blackberry
My obsession with my blackberry has gotten worse since I had my work email set up on my phone. A couple of times my boyfriend has been like "hello...can you focus on what we are doing!" and I am like "let me just check one more emai!" I also love though how I can quickly get online and check the weather, find an address, look up movie times, check blogs or twitter, and not have to boot up my laptop. I probably will never be able to go without a smartphone anymore, which is kind of sad.

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3. North Face Fleece
I am always cold, so I love to have a fleece or something to keep on hand. I love my North Face fleece because it is really soft and warm. I also have a slightly lighter one I wear in the summer.

4. My clipboard
At work I have this clipboard which has my To Do List, calendar, financial report and a copy of our master sales piece clipped to it. I take this with me everywhere I go, and it's like my brain. Whenever I am missing my clipboard, or one of the pieces I keep with it, I start to panic. It's a running joke at work, especially when people borrow one of my items. People are always like, make sure to return it to Jen, or she will freak out!

5. Pen/Agenda
I seem to always carry around a pen at work. I am one of those people who likes to click my pen, or I play with the cap. I think it's either a nervous habit, or something. I am sure that I annoy people, but for some reason I can't help it. This is my current favorite pen, which matches my agenda also, which I also can't live without!!

I am sure there are more things, but these are my top 5 (ok, maybe 6, ha!). What things can't you live without?

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter Pecan Rice

I have seen this recipe on many Menu Monday posts, and I just had to try it out. First of all, the cider glaze was AMAZING! Loved it! I will have to try this again, it was so good.

I was a little nervous about pan frying chicken (I get nervous about it not getting cooked all the way), but I just pounded them down pretty thin, and it worked out great. I wasn't crazy about the Brown Butter Pecan Rice, it was just ok for me. Next time I just might make the brown rice with some chicken stock.

I ended up making 2 chicken breast cutlets, and 1 packet of Uncle Ben's boil-in-bag brown rice, and it was enough for 2 meals.

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Browned Butter Pecan Rice (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
-- 1 (3.5-ounce) bag boil-in-bag brown rice (such as Uncle Ben's)
-- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
-- 1 pound chicken breast cutlets (about 4 cutlets)
-- 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
-- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-- 1/2 cup refrigerated apple cider
-- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
-- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
-- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation:
1. Cook rice according to package directions in a small saucepan, omitting salt and fat; drain.

2. While rice cooks, melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Add cider and mustard to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until syrupy. Add chicken to pan, turning to coat. Remove from heat; set aside.

3. Melt remaining 5 teaspoons butter in saucepan over medium-high heat; cook for 2 minutes or until browned and fragrant. Lower heat to medium; add pecans, and cook for 1 minute or until toasted, stirring frequently. Add rice and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss well to coat. Serve rice with chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Valentine's Day Wreath

Over the weekend my Mom made a Valentine's Day wreath. She sent me a text message with a picture of her wreath, and when I saw it, I had to immediatly make one.

This was so easy, and not very expensive. I got all of the supplies at Walmart, for a little more than $10.

Grapevine wreath -- $3.50
Peony bunch -- $5
Sock-monkey -- $3

I just cut the flowers off the bunch, with about 4" of stem, and stuck them in the grapevine wreath. I then wired on the sock-monkey. I know the sock-monkey is kind of silly, but I love sock-monkeys, so I just had to add it in there. My Mom put this in her's and we were thinking we might just remove the sock-monkey after the holiday, and we can then use the wreath for spring. We will just add a bow or more flowers.

This took me no more than 10 mins to make, and the best thing is, I can remove all the items, and update the grapevine wreath for the next holiday.

My Mom has a wreath for almost every holiday, and I think I might follow in her footsteps. I already have ideas for St Patrick's Day!

Book Club Review: Ape House (Chapters 1 - 12)

I was so excited for the book club Book Beginnings and Bookends to start back up in February. The book we are reading this month is Ape House by Sara Gruen. I had just finished her previous book Water for Elephants, which was amazing, see my review here, so I was excited to start her new book. So far it has been great, and I can't put it down, but I am trying to stick to the reading schedule so it is easier to post the questions and not spoil anything for the other readers.

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So to give you a little background on the book, the book starts out with this reporter, John, for the Philadelphia Inquirer visiting The Great Ape Language Lab to see what they are currently doing with these bonobos (a great ape). It is amazing because these bonobos can speak in american sign language and have a two-way conversation, and were so much like humans. They liked M&Ms, and toys and to play games. They also built relationships with not only themselves, but their human friends as well.

After John returns home, an explosion goes off at the lab, and one of the lead scientists, Isabel, gets hurt, and the whole lab is just destroyed. The bonobos do escape unharmed, but they are scared and hiding in the trees outside the lab, and won't get down. We soon find that this was done by extreme animal rights activists and that they are threatening not only those working in the lab, but the president and others at the University of Kansas where this lab is located.

Right after the explosion takes place, John is flown back to the lab to research what had happened and get the story for the paper. One of his co-workers, who is very competitive and seems like a b$*ch, goes out there also, and starts getting sneaky, and getting more info than John, so John is quickly sent back home. I am curious to see how he gets back out there to break the case and find out really what happened, but I guess we will have to see what happens.

Questions:

1. What was your initial reaction to the idea of a language lab with bonobos who are capable of having conversations with humans?

I thought this was very interesting and was amazed at what the bonobos could do. I thought it was so cool to hear about them having conversations and building relationships with humans. I was even more excited to hear this part was based on a true story and that the author had actually witnessed it, not just a made up part of the story.

2. Isabel said early in the book that the apes know they’re apes and know that humans are humans, but they don’t see any superiority with either…What do you think the major difference is between the two?

Obviously I think the apes are a little more naïve than humans are. They don’t understand the stresses and the situations of the world that humans go through. They probably do not see superiority because they would not know any better.

3. What are your thoughts on John and his feelings towards Isabel? How do you think their relationship will play out?

I am curious to see what happens with the two of them. I think they both are in slightly rocky relationships, so depending on how close they get to each other throughout the book, this could possibly cause their current relationships to break up, or at the very least struggle.

4. How do you think Isabel will respond to the apes being taken?

Well she certainly flipped out when she found out, which was understandable. I have a feeling she is going to try and find the apes, and figure out how to get them out of wherever they are.

5. Do you think Celia is part of the team that ambushed the learning center?

I sure hope not, but at this point who knows. I feel like Isabel really trusts her, and I don’t want to see her get hurt anymore than she is, so I hope that Celia doesn’t do anything to hurt her.

6. What are your thoughts on John and his relationship with Amanda?

For some reason I really like John and Amanda together, but I am not sure why. So right now I don’t want them to break up, but I have a feeling they are going to have some struggles throughout the story. Amanda has issues with self esteem, and John seems to have trust issues. I just wish John would find a way to help Amanda with her issues. I think he needs to step it up and be more of a man. I was really disappointed when he didn’t go after her that night she broke the news about the job in LA. He just stood there and ate the food she prepared, and didn’t comfort her. I understand he was upset, but she was so proud and he totally burst her bubble about her good news. I was proud of him the way he helped her deal with her parents and how he just took off with her to Kansas while her parents stood there in the driveway completely confused.

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Chippers

I found this recipe on Picky Palate and it is A-maz-ing! I love peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips, or any kind of chips in them, but this recipe has you melt 1 cup of butterscotch chips and mix with the peanut butter, which give the cookies a really rich/sweet taste. Then adding more butterscotch chips make them even better! I highly recommend you make these, but becareful, you may eat the entire batch! My family went through the entire batch in 2 days!!

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Chippers

-- 1 stick softened butter
-- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
-- 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
-- 1 1/4 Cups smooth peanut butter
-- 1 Cup melted butterscotch chips
-- 1 egg
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla
-- 1 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
-- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
-- 1 Cup butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Melt butterscotch chips over a double boiler until melted. Add melted butterscotch chips and peanut butter to beaten butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.

2. Place flour, baking soda and salt in bowl; mix to combine. Add to wet ingredients until just combined then pour in butterscotch chips. Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough, roll in sugar then place onto baking sheet. Press tops with tines of a fork if desired. I did it both ways and both are great. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are cooked through. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

4 dozen cookies

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe through Rachel's blog, and I think she found it through another blog, but when I went back to try and find it I couldn't. It was pretty good, and uses yogurt instead of cream, so it's not too bad for you.

I'll admit, the soup itself is kind of bland, but the toppings are what really make it good. I also discovered that mixing Kansas City Steak Seasoning with it really makes it pop! I discovered this one time when I made potato skins, and the recipe called for seasoned salt, and I only had steak seasoning on hand. I highly recommend trying it to help punch things up a bit. I also used  bacon and cheese, but you could also use salsa, tomatoes, sour cream, or really anything you desire.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
-- 1.5 tbs olive oil
-- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
-- 2 cloves garlic, minced
-- 2.5 lbs potatoes, diced
-- 3 cups chicken stock
-- 1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions:
Set a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the oil, onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins, or until the onions are just starting to become translucent.

Add the diced potatoes and simmer for another couple of mins, then add the chicken stock. Let the stock come to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 20-30 mins, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

The recipe then calls to transfer half of the soup to a blender, but I just used a potato masher to help break up some of the potatoes. I like my potato soup kind of chunky, so I didn't do this too much.

Serve immediatly with your choice toppings.

Office Space

I have been spending way too much time at work lately. Right now there isn't much that I can do about that, but I thought it would be fun to spruce up my office space a little with some fun things that would at least make it cozy and fun.

A couple of these things I already had, but over the last couple of weeks, I have made a few changes to make things a little more fun.

I apologize for the not so great cell phone photos. First I was trying not to disturb anyone since I did this at work, and we have horrible lighting at work. Without giving too much away about my work (we had to sign a privacy statement basically saying we won't say anything about our work or our clients in any social media forum), I work at an advertising agency, and our designers like it to be somewhat dark. I guess it helps with the color on the screen. It can be a little depressing at times, but all the more reason to bring in bright, colorful fun things to decorate my "pod" as we call them.

This fish light was left over after someone left our company, and I thought it was so cute, so I had to swipe it. I also love pictures, so I have some fun picture frames with a picture of me and my boyfriend on the beach (reminds me of good times when I am working so hard!), and a picture of my pup.

This is my ribbon board, which I made a while back (I posted about it here), and my bamboo plant. I am so proud of my bamboo plant and the fact that it has grown so big, and to be honest that I have kept it alive for a couple of years. I am not sure if you can tell, but on the lower left side there is a little white flower. The plant came with these fake flowers in it, and a few years ago, it was the hight of that flower. It has grown so much!

As I mentioned, I love pictures, and the walls of our pods are these weird plastically and fabric panels. I just took some left over foam board, and taped up some of my favorite pictures. The little sign at the top was left over from when another person left a few years ago. (I feel like there is this trend of me swiping stuff when people leave...ha!)

I just got this cute pen cup a few weeks ago at The Container Store.

This sign I ordered from Lydia and Pugs. I love her stuff, and when I saw these dog pictures, I just had to get one.

I also just ordered this from etsy.com. I loved those "Keep Calm and Carry On" signs, and we totally need that type of inspiration here at work. When I came across the "Eat a Cupcake" sign, I thought, now this one is just totally me!

My Grandma made me this cross stitch picture a while ago, and have had it at 2 jobs so far. I just love it, and it reminds me of her!

Hope you enjoyed looking at my workspace! If anyone happens to have any other fun workplace ideas, please let me know!