Homemade is always the best

I love cooking! Honestly, I love food! I sometimes just wish things didn't take so long to make...for example, I really wanted a chicken pot pie but the store made ones (typically frozen) have very high amounts of sodium. So, I gathered all of the ingredients that I needed and set to work:

I bought some pre-cooked, cubed chicken at the grocery store and just kept it in the freezer until I wanted to use it. You can use left over chicken breast cut up, rotisserie chicken pulled off the bone, or try canned chicken in water. I use soup (1 can of cr of chicken and 1 can of cr of mushroom) because I was making a chicken pot pie and I like mushrooms as well. You can use cream of celery or two of the same or even a gravy base. I had a bag of frozen veggies that are the steam fresh kind you cook right from frozen. If you use other frozen veggies, you may want to cook them ahead of time. I also like to add potatoes to mine, so I sauted up some red potatoe chunks with olive oil, salt, pepper, and one of my fave spices~thyme. While the potatoes were on the stove, I made up a quick crust.

Pie crust is actually one of the easiest things to make and I'm glad my mom taught me a quick, easy recipe: Mix 2 cups of flour, 2/3 cup of shortening, a pinch of salt, and 5-6 tbsp as needed. This is enough to make a top and bottom crust. So I rolled out the two crusts, mixed all of the ingredients together, and ended up with this:

Then just bake for about 45 minutes @ 375 degrees and enjoy:) Do you like chicken pot pie? What are some of your variations on the recipe??

And since I was in the homemade mode I decided to get up the next morning and make myself some scrambled eggs & pancakes:

Roanoke Adventure

You would think that with Liberty University being in Lynchburg, there would be a lot of stuff to do and cool places to eat. Well, I guess there are some cool things, but it's not that big of a city as the nearby Roanoke and Charlottesville. Sara and I decided we should try and go to Roanoke one night a month to try a new place to eat and have a girls night. So far, we went one night in August and haven't been back, but we do so much other stuff together that it makes up for it. {lol} But, here are the few photos I have from that one fun night:

I'm not sure of the name of the restaurant we ate at, but the sushi in NC was much better! So was the service and the vibe of the place. After dinner, we went to a yummy spot Sara showed me called Bubblecake. They make all kinds of fresh, flavorful cupcakes and babycakes. I just saw on the news this morning that they are opening a 2nd location too!! The last picture is of a fountain that was near the restaurant and since I love fountains, I had to snap a photo...What do you like to do on a Friday night? Do you prefer to try out new places or stick with what you know is good?

A Helping Hand

So at my church we have three services a day and the production crew and band have to get there very early in the morning to set up and practice for the day. As part of the volunteer program this summer, I had to make breakfast for about 25 people twice. I didn't take a picture the frist time, but I made stuff to have breakfast burritos and a variety of muffins. This time I made french toast casserole and hashbrown casserole and I took pics. Working at Camp BaYouCa, I made this stuff often, but I had to make it on a much larger scale. This time around was much quicker. :) My friend Bethany would often help me make the hashbrown casserole and because the hashbrowns are frozen, it's torture on your hands because you have to use them to mix it up well:

Something Bethany always wanted me to add to the hashbrown casserole was meat. So, I decided to put it on top of the casserole and just wished she was closer so she could have some!! Looking at that hashbrown casserole makes me really want some french toast....so I might have to have that sometime this weekend...What are your favorite breakfast foods? Have you ever had hashbrown casserole or french toast casserole?

Work & Play

One Saturday at the end of July, I went with some work ladies around northern VA on a short wine tour. My friend Katie lives up in Charlottesville and offered that her husband would drive us around and we could spend the evening at her home since it's a little over an hour away. I didn't take anymore than the once picture below, and I'm bummed about it because we had a great time. We started out having lunch at Devil's Backbone and I had a delicious burger. Then we started hitting up different vineyards. Now, I'm not typically a wine drinker, so I ddn't think I would find much that I enjoyed. I do like the sweets and even some of the more semi sweet to dry whites, but I haven't found a red that I like yet. Too dry for me! After hitting up 4 or 5 places, we headed back to Katie and Ben's house and got ready to go out for some dinner. We went to a local place that Katie raved about at the outdoor mall in Charlottesville. I can't remember what I ordered, except that we had ordered nachos as an appetizer and I was so full from them, that I could barely eat it. I think it was a sandwich. Then we headed back to the house to play one of my favorite games: Geerheart. This game is super easy and super fun. Each person that plays makes up two or three clues and they all go into a bowl or hat. Then you split into two teams. Each team takes turns going through all the clues until they are gone in three rounds. The first round is like catch phrase: you can say anything other than what the clue is, the second round is charades: not talking, and the third round is like password: you can only say one word. But by the time you get to the third round, you have already gone through all of the clues twice, so even though you only have one word, it's pretty simple. If you have friends over and are lacking in the board games area, this is great! All you need is some paper, pens, and a bowl. Here is the only pic I got from the days events:

Have you ever been on a wine tour? What kind of wines do you like? What kind of games do you play with your friends?

Thinking Of You

If ever asked the question: "Would you rather be blind or deaf?", I chose blind every time. I am a huge music lover! So, this summer when my pal Sara kept asking if I wanted to go to some concerts, I was fully on board. I have never been huge on concerts and I can't say I have been to more than a dozen of them. Typically, I go to them when I am invited and it's free for me. {grin} We weren't picky about where we sat though, so we went with the cheapest seats in the house. The concert was a couple hours south of here in Raleigh, NC. We drove downt the night before, checked in to our hotel, and went to find some yummy dinner. Let me just tell you, this is the best shrimp & grits I've ever had:

They were so smooth and creamy and flavorful!! We were looking for seafood and after a google search didn't return much, we ended up picking the 42nd street Oyster Bar & Grill. Being that most of the menu was seafood, it was semi expensive and if you are on a budget, I wouldn't recommend it. If you are in the area and looking for a great seafood place and you plan to spend about $50 for two people, then you will love it! As mentioned int eh name, they do have a raw & steamed oyster bar. I didn't get them this time, but I am a fan of steamed oysters.
The concert wasn't until the next evening, so we got up early and headed out to a fun breakfast spot. Sara is a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, so she had already scouted out a place she was wanting to try: Mad Hatter's Bakery. This place was yummy and had good portion sizes that were healthy and reasonably priced (about the same as a panera combo) and I picked something I knew I would like: Egg's Benedict:

I also grabbed that carrot bran muffin to eat later since we weren't planning on getting lunch, but having an early dinner before the concert. Not far from here, we headed over to the outlets and did some relaxing shopping and wandering around. I was able to find some birthday presents for friends and stay within my budget, which is always a plus! After hitting up all the stores we wanted to, we headed to lunch. Now, I have to preface this by saying I never thought I would want to eat sushi, but Sara was just itching to ease me into liking it. I made sure I wasn't going to try anything that wasn't cooked though. We went to Shiki Sushi and got their just in time to still get something off the lunch menu, making it a not too expensive meal. We started wtih calamari (how could you go wrong?):

Then I had my shrimp tempura (on the left) and spicy tuna tempura (on the right):

I have to say, with the green wasabi, I am a fan of the cooked things, but I don't like imitation crab, so I don't know if I will ever eat that kind...but I look forward to trying more:)
We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to go 80's so this is what I wore:

The concert was super fun and I was not ashamed at all to sing along to all of the pop hits! I don't even own a Katy Perry CD, but I enjoy all of her music. My pictures didn't turn out too well being that they were taken from my phone and the lighting was always changing. But Sara got some online and put them on her blog (check the June archives~I'm behind I know) about our trip if you want to check it out. Happy reading bloggers!! 

Summer Salad

Since moving to Lynchburg, there have been two restaurants that I have come to really love. The reason for this is because they remind me of Florida and places that I would have eaten at there. One of those places is called Neighbors Place. They have all different kinds of menu options from burgers to sandwiches to salad to pastas. They have a variety of different prices and offer a full bar, which makes it popular for people looking to go out, as there are no "bars" in Lynchburg. This summer I went there with my friend Sara & her husband Bryan and got one of the most delicious salads I've ever ordered out. It was full of fresh spinach, egg, bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, mushrooms, and my balsamic dressing on the side. I even got some grilled salmon on top. If you are looking for a good meal in Lynchburg, head to Neighbor's Place and enjoy yourself!!

NYC the Final Frontier

So, as I mentioned in the last post, we were about to eat some dinner after a loooong day of walking around the city and sightseeing. We ate at a place recommended by a friend of Sara's called Five Napkin Burger. They have several of these around the city and it was delicious! It's a gourmet burger place that is always busy, so we waited at least 40 minutes to get a table. It is a little but more pricey than your everyday Chili's or Applebee's though.

I'm sure that the burgers weren't on the healthy side either, but "when in Rome." {haha}
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep. Sunday morning we decided to take it a little but slower and slept in for a little while. We headed out for a late breakfast at my favorite NY eatery. Now, eatery might be too strong of a word. Ever since I can remember, my uncle Jeff has worked for Amtrak and gone to many different cities as his route often changes. One of those cities is the ole NYC and he shared a great place to get bagel sandwiches with me a few years ago on my first ever trip to the Big Apple. It's called Al & Am's Grocery. It literally is a small store with a deli counter that is about 8 feet wide and 30 feet deep. It's just a couple blocks up from Penn Station and we were able to head there from the train and grab our yumminess.

That tea is also delicious. I first had it when I spent the summer in China the year after I graduated college. They also have this kind of tea that is warm and, when you open it, the air reacts with molecules in the drink to make it cold. We ate our little meal at one of the places in NY that is dear to my heart: 30 Rock:)

Almost all of my favorite shows are on NBC and a couple of them are even filmed in Rockefeller plaza. We went to the NBC store and got our Jimmy Fallon shirts and my Parks & Rec sweatshirt. They had some other great t-shirts too:

We eventually made it over to our Broadway show as I described a couple of blogs ago. Since we didn't eat lunch, we were starving when we were done! So we headed to a pizza place just a couple blocks away called Carve at a recommendation from another work friend. They had GIANT slices of pizza with all different kinds of toppings, a build your own salad bar, and a glass case with delicious cupcakes in it too!! We each got a salad:

And a slice of pizza:

And a cupcake for later that night when we got to the hotel:

And any trip wouldn't be complete with Sara without stopping at a Godiva store:

Sara has a special kind of membership and gets free stuff almost every month. So, of course, we each had a truffle and a chocolate covered strawberry. :)

So, next time you are in NY, take the time to hit up some of these great places...or let me know about somewhere I should make a point to go next time!!





NYC Part Deux

As I mentioned, NYC has some great shopping and food. Sara and I took off Friday from work and took the train up to the city. We got off in Jersey and checked into our hotel. Side note: If you are ever thinking about going to the city, stay in Jersey! It's way cheaper and you can take the metro into the city for only $10 roundtrip!!

After dropping off our bags and forming a plan of action, we headed out to get some dinner and visit Macy's. I have been to Macy's before, but the one in NYC has 7 floors of amazing deals!! I got some great puma yoga pants and sweat capris for less then $15 each...If you know me at all, you know I love PUMA!!

That pic just above is a whole floor dedicated to women's shoes....I think that's what heaven will look like;)
We then headed out to find a yummy place to eat some dinner and ate at the Houndstooth Pub because we were exhausted and it was closed...and it smelled really good as we walked by...We didn't get a pic of the food there, but here is the city at night:

This pic was taken just outside Madison Square Garden and Penn Station just before we grabbed our train back to the hotel for the night. Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head back to the city to try out this delicious place we had heard about called Max Brenner. We wanted brunch and that's what we got. First, let me say that Max Brenner is a chocolate store. They have everything there! The smell when you walk in is intoxicating and you just want to lick everything, literally. I ordered a mimosa and a Mexican omelet. The omelet came with a side of potatoes and (I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of this before) a small dish with melted chocolate and a small dish with melted white chocolate!! It was soooo yummy:)

If you like chocolate this place is super cute, so make sure you visit!! From brunch we wandered around looking at several other stores including Tiffany's. I have looked here before, but I have never made a purchase here. Well, I decided it was too good to pass up and got myself a super cute necklace.

I also looked at the rings while I was there. {wink} The ring that I most liked was a solitaire, 1 carat, emerald cut, gorgeous ring!! I tried it on, and then when I was told the price I almost choked. I didn't snap a picture because they probably would've charged me for it (lol) but it was $10,500!!! As nice as I thought it was, I think that is a huge waste of money to spend on a ring when there are way more important things in the world to buy or give your money to charity or something. Anyway, after Tiffany's we headed to FAO Schwarz:

Then took a carriage ride through Central Park:

And had a great dinner right across the street from Justin Timberlake's restaurant:

Our actual meal was soo yummy too!! More to come in the next post on that meal and the rest of the weekend:)

NYC

When you are asked where you are from and you respond NY, people always assume the city. I grew up in upstate NY and don't claim to be from the Big Apple. I do enjoy a visit there every now and again. When my friend and fellow blogger Sara, told me that she had only been there once around Christmas, we quickly made plans for her to go again in the spring! Our first priority was to see a broadway musical. We got tickets for one of the cheaper shows because the trip itself was costing so much overall. We ended up seeing Wonderland. It was like a modern day Alice...I thoroughly enjoyed it and was even more psyched to learn that we were going to the last show! It was being taken off broadway because it wasn't as popular as people thought it would be, but again, I really liked it!!

As I mentioned, we were able to go to the last show of the season and we had a great surprise at the end. I didn't get any pictures of it because I was too busy clapping and crying, but the two main characters got engaged on stage:) It was so awesome to be a part of and I loved every bit of it!!
Being that NYC has so much more to offer, I have to do another post about the great food and shopping as well....stay tuned;)