Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Howdy! I'm back with a really easy meal deal that provides the perfect amount for two people. When I moved in with Sean, one of the biggest challenges I had was learning how to cook for two; I always made waaayyy too much. Since Sean and I aren't the best at eating left overs, I had to learn to change my ways. This is one dish that I don't have to put much thought into that produces a good amount for these two newlyweds.

To start, get out a 9x13 dish and preheat your oven to 350*


Then, take two chicken breasts and cut them in half and line them down the center of the dish. You can recall back here where I bought this chicken, marinated it and froze it. It's nice to defrost the chicken and just throw it in already prepared. Love it.


Now you're going to throw a stick of butter in the microwave and melt it, you'll use this in a little bit. In the meantime, open a can of new potatoes. You can buy the pre-sliced taters or the whole ones, I bought the whole potatoes and quartered/halved them, depending on their size. I like doing this because the pre-sliced new potatoes are pretty small. Throw them next to the chicken when you're done chopping.


After that, open up a can of green beans. I used french green beans because Sean likes them better. You can put whatever green vegetable you want over here, broccoli, asparagus, etc. When they are spread out, throw some seasonings on top of your vegetables and chicken. I used ranch seasoning, garlic and red pepper flakes for some spice :) 

Then, since your butter should be all melted by now, shake in some Worcestershire Sauce (this is optional, but it adds some good flavor) and mix. This was the color of my butter mixture after I was done with this step; I didn't add too much, just enough to add some tangy saltiness to taste.


All that's left to do is pour your buttery mixture all over! Doesn't it look scrumptious?  



Cover the dish with foil and throw in the oven for one hour. Set it annnd forget it! Remember that infomercial? 

While this was cooking, I was busy in the spare room doing an overhaul to the closet... I'm throwing anything out that I haven't worn in the past year (which is reeeeally hard!). Why do we grow attached to clothing? Or is it just me? The really nice stuff I'm taking to Plato's Closet in hopes to make a buck, the rest is being donated to the Salvation Army. Bye-bye clutter! 

Anyhoo, after an hour, it's all done! Take the foil off to unveil your food and smell the lovely aromas. Mmmm I love this meal. So easy to prep and there's hardly any dishes to wash (score!). Serve it up and enjoy!



The cool thing about this meal is that you can make it work for the size of your family. Sean and I could be satisfied with one chicken breast, but I cooked two anyway... So, one chicken breast, one can of potatoes and one can of green beans could do it for two people. Have some kids? Throw in some extra chicken and veggies! Don't like green beans? Put in some other vegetable. It's easy, just make what you want :) 

-C Doc

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Chef Boyardee

Last night my Italian lover Giovanni Michelino (that's Sean Michael in Italian, I looked it up) offered to cook me dinner! So, I immediately jumped at the chance to sit and watch this train wreck masterpiece happen. And not to bash him (or burst his bubble, because believe me, it was huge last night), but all he really did was heat everything up... We're blessed with family that looooves to give us food. Apparently they all feel sorry for Sean so they feel the need to dish out their left overs; that way they have the peace of mind knowing that he's still getting fed... Trust me family, he eats.

Getting back to supper, he wanted to cook me an Italian feast. He had me pick up some Cavatellis at the store; to me (not of Italian decent), Cavatellis are little hot dog bun looking pieces of pasta, nothing special. To him, they're amazing and they're a treat (as if different types of pasta taste any different?). I don't get the whole debate on pasta... I literally watched his family argue over what kind of pasta they wanted for dinner one night. Isn't it just a floury substance with some tomato sauce thrown on top? Not to them... Anyhoo, these are Cavatellis:

He started by boiling the pasta and heating up the sauce. Then, after the meat mixture for the meatballs was all defrosted, he balled them up and fried them. It's the best way to eat meatballs; it's sooo good! After you're done frying them they end up looking like little patties, so I guess the term meatball isn't all that correct. And I have to point out the way he went about frying them...



Who fries any sort of meat with no shirt on?!?!? The boy has got a few screws loose somewhere. He even fries bacon without a shirt. That's just asking for it...



Once the meatballs were all cooked, the sauce was all heated up, the pasta was boiled and the garlic bread sticks were baked, it was time to get our grub on! Check it out:


Not too shabby! And just because I absolutely loved not having to do anything in the kitchen, I made him do the dishes too. I'll probably have to rewash them today but last night it made me happy not having to worry about washing them. So, that was my Monday night off. Tonight I already have dinner planned out (which I'll post about tomorrow); it's the easiest meal one could cook!

-C Doc

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

New meaning to picture window

As promised, I'm back with another project that got done this past weekend. We recently got our wedding photos back with full rights to print whatever pictures we like so, off to Walgreen's I went! I printed off my favorites to start out and found the perfect place to display them. Let's begin.

Many moons ago (OK like three months ago) I found an old window on Craigslist for $10. I loved it so I went and bought it. One week later, Sean found an old window a little smaller than the one I bought in his dump trailer. He hung it up in our living room and bragged about the fact that his was free. Such a one upper, that boy... Anyhoo, we hung the one that I bought in our dining room right above our dining room set that I refinished.

We hung it by the hinges that were already attached to the window. The wood had a few rotten spots so we reinforced the hinges by using newer and longer screws and attached it to the wall using some anchors.


It's nice to have it hang by the hinges because the window is able to swing up, which makes it easier to clean and easier for projects such as this one!


Also, as you can see, there is a decorative vine going across the top. My awesome mother-in-law gave it to me :) They sell them up in North Carolina in a little cabin that is located in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. The vine was attached to a stick which was then attached to the window with some finishing nails.  Bada-bing-bada-boom. I think it adds the perfect touch of texture and color.


So, for the project, I wanted to hang the pictures like clothes on a line, it sorta goes with the vintage feel (I think?). Plus, it's really easy to switch out pictures. We all know I'm all about easy... Which brings me to the materials needed for the project. Just duct tape, twine and wittle-bitty clothes pins.


I know what you're thinking.... is she really using duct tape? How cheap. How ugly. And to that I say yes, it's cheap and ugly. But you won't see it and I'm allll about saving a buck. So, I started out by marking where I wanted the twine to hang and I marked it with a pencil. No worries on trying to hide the mark, do you see the condition of the wood? You can't even notice it.


After that, I measured out the length of the twine and stuck it on the back of the window using the duct tape. Can you see the pencil or duct tape? I didn't think so! :)


Next is the fun part! Hanging the pictures, which I did with the little clothes pins; easy-peasy. Here's the finished product!



***Sidenote: It's insane how lighting and the time of day plays such a big part in pictures. In the picture on top, the wall color looks pink/purple, the one below it looks yellowish/beige. Crazy. Damn you iPhone for making me look like such a horrible photographer...

I love our picture window :) I think it's a cute and creative way to show off the best day of our lives. I may end up backing the pictures with some scrapbook paper to add a little flair. But only if I get a wild hair. Now I'm going outside to get a little fresh air (because I'm obviously losing my mind...).

Before I make this any worse, I'm out!

-C Doc

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

One Big D

Hi all! Did you have a lovey-dovey Valentine's Day? I sure did; I got flowers sent to me at work! With a mildly sarcastic card that read "I finally got you flowers" from Sean. Haha does it get any more romantic? (Probably) but my boy did good, the tulips and little roses were beautiful!



This past weekend was full of preparing for Lyndsey's bridal shower that's happening this weekend and crafts that make our house feel more like home :)

For the first craft, I got some things that we had sitting around the house all wrangled up and decided to throw them together. I had multiple white frames left over from our wedding so I snatched up the one that we used to display our bar selections:


As you can see, I'm working at my favorite work station... the stove. It's flat, it's got good lighting, it's easy to clean and there's an electrical outlet within arms reach. Perfect.

I also used a small piece of burlap that was left over from decorating for Lyndsey's shower, a piece of scrapbook paper and a wooden "D" that I had intended to use for a wreath but it was too heavy, plus I didn't know how to attach it to a wreath made out of twigs... sue me.



As you can see, it was already painted a light brown but, I wanted something different. I found some stainless steel spray paint that El Hubbo and I used for a previous project. So, I propped up the "D" on a pair of Sean's jack stands and set it in the dead grass and sprayed away.... excessively. So excessively that the paint began to pucker and look all kinds of crazy. At first I was bummed and thought I ruined it, but then I thought it looked sorta cool! So I continued to spray. spray some more. and then spray even more on top of that until I got this crazy texture:


I think it looks pretty cool (much cooler in person). I left it outside to dry for a while and worked on the frame in the meantime.

I started this process by taking all the guts out of the frame and laying my cut piece of burlap over the backside of the frame. I made sure to cut it bigger than what would be displayed so I could work with it.



I then took the piece of scrapbook paper, cut it to size and shoved it, along with the backing of the frame, in place.



Now, because real burlap is ten different kinds of crazy and the threads go whatever way they want to go, I flipped it over and pulled it taunt with the fabric that was hanging out, like so:


Once it's pulled tight and there aren't any more bulges in the fabric, cut the excess hanging out. Ta da!


Once the "D" was all dry, I placed it in the frame to scope out where it looked most centered and used some super glue to keep it in place. Using hot glue crossed my mind but because the "D" had some weight to it and the burlap wasn't the strongest, I used super glue that would adhere to the burlap and the scrapbook paper underneath. This "D" wasn't going anywhere.


After pressing it down to adhere to the burlap and the paper for a little while, I let it sit to get a good bond. Awe, bonding time :)


I waited for about 30 minutes, held it upside down to test it and it was dry! For now, it's sitting on our entry-way table. Once I get some shelves up in the bedroom I'm going to display our moniker in there, but until then, this is it's home:



Project cost: $0.00  Love it!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project that got completed over the weekend :)

-C Doc

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Unromantic Valentine's Day Gifts

Happy Heart Day to all you lovers out there! Tonight my boy-toy and I have plans to go on a double date with our friends Ricky and Nicole to Rumba Island Bar & Grill, a local restaurant that specializes in authentic island cuisine. Sounds superb to me! I'm so excited because I don't have to cook and deal with dishes. Last year I made one of Sean's favorite meals, steak, sweet potato and spinach salad. And, because I knew it was his favorite and I knew he would love it, my luck would have it that he would be three hours late for dinner because of his stupid job... So, I had to reheat the meal in the microwave causing the sweet potato to go mushy and the beautiful rib-eye to become as tough as shoe leather. Thanks Bright House.

So, since Sean got a new truck and we're in the stages of spoiling it making it more functional for his businesses, I thought I'd add to the functionality of the big beast by getting new speakers for it! Ok, so it wont help pull a trailer or aid in any of his work, but I'm still excited for Sean to open them up! Who doesn't like some good loud music? When we were driving the truck home after buying it, we rolled the windows down (all four of them!) and blasted the music and, unfortunately, our ears received the wretched sound of what seemed to be blown speakers. Dangit. The fact that he can't blast his music is all the more reason for me to be 100% positive that he'll love this Valentine's Day gift. Bazinga!

I gotta hand it to myself, I've been doing good with the gift giving lately. I'm pretty proud. I also got him some board shorts because he lives in them and the ones he currently has are kinda trashed from working in them so much. He even proposed to me in board shorts.



Ok, ok... so we were on an island... he still wears them everywhere we go. and I mean everywhere.

I may not have gotten him the most romantic gits... but function is better than thoughtfulness sometimes. Especially when it comes to dudes! What dude wants a romantic gift anyway? Getting him things that he needs shows much more love and appreciation, I think. V-day isn't just about giving/getting gifts, though. It's about showing that person that you care, and, because I'm vain, I care that he looks good in his new shorts while getting into his truck with some bangin' speakers. So there you go, happy heart day.

I hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating the love that you have with that special someone. and if you don't have someone special, then I hope you have a fun time loving on your cuddly pet... and if you don't have a cuddly pet, then hug a pillow or something. there's gotta be something near you that needs some lovin'... As for me, I'll be huggin' on that cutie pie husband of mine. Even after these crazy five years, those eyes and that smile are enough to still make me all gooey inside :)



Bye bye love birds!

-C Doc

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Sign, Sealed, Delivered!

I'm ashamed.... I did not get around to painting the beloved nightstands this weekend. Partly because I didn't have time (lie), but mostly because it was so windy. Who am I kidding, the weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend! And while I was busy all day Saturday throwing a bridal shower (which seriously took all day long), Sunday was a bit too windy and spray painting outside on a windy day seems awfully counterproductive. Am I right? So, I worked on another project that desperately needed to get done. I guess the weekend wasn't totally wasted...

To the few of you that actually read this thing and attended my wedding (thank you for the support!), do you remember signing this board?



Well, guess what... It wasn't just a board. Nope. It was the top to a bench!


I only brought the top of the bench to the wedding for everyone to sign because I didn't want people signing down the legs and in crazy places. Knowing our friends, that totally would have happened. For our wedding, I wanted something different for everyone to sign, something that we'll be able to see everyday and something we'll be able to use (yay for a little extra storage!). I really love how it turned out, too. It really finishes off this particular corner of our living room.

Please excuse the crappy phone pics!
I found the bench on Craigslist. It's actually an old piano bench that these people refinished and gave an antique/shabby-chic sort of look to it. The top flips up and provides a little bit of storage. I keep all of our table runners and centerpieces that I decorate our table with for the different seasons/holidays in there. The grey and white bench matches our house perfectly and I had vinyl decals made for the top to symbolize the start to our new chapter in life :)

Here's where the project part came in... After having the bench signed by everyone, we obviously want to preserve the memories and lovely messages that everyone wrote to us. It needed to be sealed. And what better/easier/cheaper way to do it than by using my trusty Modge Podge!
Modge Podge is pretty much a glue, sealant and varnish all in one. As my girl Bethenny Frankel would say, it's amazeballs. You can use this stuff for a ton of different craft projects you can even spread it on toast!

So, outside I went. Since it was gusty out, and spraying painting in windy conditions is just plain dumb, I brought out the board, flipped up a bucket and put my horrible paint skills to good use.


This stuff is practically fool proof. Why, you ask? Because it dries perfectly clear. Any horrible painter (like myself) can use this stuff and look like Picasso. You can do a few thin coats, or just slap it on like you would put apple butter on a biscuit.

*** 7 gnats died in the sealing of this project. I think the wind blew them into the sticky substance...plus gnats are just plain dumb. They were easily scraped from the surface with no buggy remains left on our bench. RIP you stupid bugs.

It takes a while to dry and it puts a milky film over whatever you're painting, but, have no fear! It'll dry clear :)

See the streaks over the black letters? 
After letting it dry overnight, I took some horrible pictures with my phone to show you how it turned out.


See the subtle sheen it put on it? Not only are these memories sealed, but it makes it easier to clean! Tad bit dusty? No big deal, just wipe it off.

So, there it sits. Sign is sealed and delivered and back in its spot. This project is officially marked off the list :)


P.S. - I'm silently celebrating the fact that this is my fiftieth post! Yippee!

-C Doc

Friday, February 8, 2013

KISS


Not much went on this week that's worthy of writing about. I'm hoping that this weekend productivity levels are raised and some stuff gets done around the Dockerty household. Cleaning goes without saying, but I'm hoping to revamp these nightstands that I got for a whopping $5 a piece!



When I was growing up, my parents taught me to live by the motto KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid! In keeping with that motto, my goal is to only involve two steps in this revamp: degrease and paint. The degreasing step gets all the crap off the laminate and prepares the surface for paint. And, because I’m the world’s most horrible painter, I will be using spray paint to cover up the cheap wood look that the nightstands currently posses. That…is the goal. Whether or not that goal gets accomplished, or even done correctly (and looks good), remains to be a mystery. I’m hoping that this simple paint job is all that it takes to take these puppies from drab, to fab :)

Wish me luck and have a great weekend!

-C Doc

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Super Deeeee Duper!

Did y'all happen to catch the Super Bowl? What a game. Although I didn't really care who won, I was sorta going for the Niners; but, you can see how well that went...


Though Ray Lewis was a cry baby, I'm glad he got to retire after winning the Super Bowl. That's one hell of a way to go out. Congrats to him and the dirty birds Ravens.

Now on to the important part.... the commercials and halftime show! How bout Mrs. Bootylicious?!? Beyonce rocked it. And all I can say is, thank goodness there weren't any wardrobe malfunctions because that would have made for one heck of a show!


And how about Destiny's Child making an appearance?!? Us girls squealed like a bunch of crazy teenagers when they came popping out of the stage hahaha!


As for my favorite commercial, it was hard to decide; but for me, the Taco Bell commercial stole the show. I thought it was hilarious; mainly because it gave me some insight as to how my friends and I will be when we're older. Crazy.



And the most disgusting award goes to Go Daddy. No explanation needed.


Ugh.... Gross. And what was up with that power outage? Conspiracy perhaps? Who knows, but it's probably the first time that the lights went out in New Orleans and there wasn't any looting... Talk about progress! Way to go N'awlins!

Since Super Bowl is a holiday, we did what we do best. cooked and ate. alllll day long. Here's some of the feast:






It was a successful day. Minus loosing the ball in the tree. No worries, we got it back :)



Hopefully next year they make the Monday after the Super Bowl a holiday because waking up at 5:45 wasn't fun at all... I'm still trying to catch up on sleep.

-C Doc