tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-527626091461520012011-07-08T03:49:50.738-05:00Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-41680463423341065942010-02-21T19:51:00.002-06:002010-02-21T19:58:47.583-06:00

In case you haven't noticed by the infrequency of my posts, I am on a blogging hiatus right now. I started a different blog for my law practice, and I think that will be where I will do a majority of my blogging for a while. The subject matter of that blog is quite different from this blog :)I started this blog to keep track of the different recipes that we tried when we tightened our grocery

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-32674435529583709862010-01-31T12:55:00.002-06:002010-01-31T13:04:36.767-06:00

We used one of our Christmas gifts, a Barnes and Noble gift card, to purchase "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Here is a link to it. We are not in love with this cookbook. The recipes are good (not amazing), but most of them require a lot of prep work, and the results are just average. We got this cookbook because we were hoping to find some healthy

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-9153824148231483552010-01-31T12:48:00.002-06:002010-01-31T12:55:18.743-06:00

I made Giada's Lasagna Rolls two months ago, but I'm finally getting around to blogging about them today. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I doubled the bechamel sauce, and I think that it was a good choice to do that. I also used store bought marinara sauce; I can't remember which brand I used, though. This was a great recipe, and it was fun to make the lasagna rolls. We ended up

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-74481533972162954622010-01-07T17:42:00.004-06:002010-01-07T18:03:34.708-06:00

To Die for Crock Pot RoastI love pot roast. It's one of my favorite comfort foods. This is a very simple recipe, but it calls for some high-sodium gravy and salad dressing mixes. In order to cut down on the sodium, I used half of each packet, and the roast was still good.We added a bag of baby carrots and 5 peeled and quartered potatoes at the end. I let just the roast, seasonings, and water cook

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-26321083537488263772010-01-07T17:24:00.003-06:002010-01-07T17:41:24.143-06:00

It's been a little over a month since I've posted anything. It was a busy month, though. We got a lot of snow, and had a lot of bad weather here. E and I also took a cruise, and got home a week before Christmas. The day before Christmas Eve, when I was driving home from work, I was rear-ended. I ended up having whiplash, and am still dealing with some pain and appointments from that. I feel very

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-65111289412149254092009-12-06T17:06:00.002-06:002009-12-06T17:15:31.444-06:00

Beef StroganoffYum! E loved this, and RatDog took his dinnertime begging to a new level when I made this.I didn't bother making the house seasoning, because I didn't want to have to store it. Instead, I just mixed up a little bit of salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Easy enough. Don't make the mistake that one commenter made; they used ALL of the house seasoning in this recipe, and ended up

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-6484694665741972552009-12-06T16:57:00.002-06:002009-12-06T17:06:03.659-06:00

E and I will be hosting Christmas for his family this year. We experimented with a couple of recipes to see if either one would work for Christmas dinner. It's going to be a tough decision :)Turkey LasagnaE loves lasagna, and I love goat cheese, so this recipe was pretty much perfect for us.I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I used dried parsley and basil instead of fresh, because

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-83678265341702497002009-11-14T17:40:00.000-06:002009-11-14T17:56:28.124-06:00

This is another favorite recipe of ours; we actually like a lot of the recipes in this cookbook. I recommend mixing up the marinade before you head to work, and let the chicken and marinade work its magic in the fridge during the day. Also, you should serve it with a peanut sauce. I recommend making the peanut sauce the night before, just to make things easier. Here is a link to a peanut sauce

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-77532414164471388962009-11-14T17:20:00.000-06:002009-11-14T17:39:37.487-06:00

When I was in high school and as a freshman in college, I was a vegetarian. I ended the vegetarianism when I traveled to Cuba for two weeks. It seemed like it would be inappropriate of me to request special meals when people there were living off of rations. My mom always worried about me getting enough nutrients. When I came home from college for winter break, my mom and I went to the book store

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-52340751784380624432009-11-14T17:06:00.000-06:002009-11-14T17:18:58.556-06:00

Oatmeal Butterscotch CookiesI made these on Halloween, in between groups of trick or treaters. A few times, E had to answer the door by himself because my hands were full of cookie dough. I also brought a few of these cookies to my grandpa while he was in the hospital.I highly recommend this recipe. We baked 2 dozen cookies that night, and I froze about 4 dozen cookie dough balls for later. Yummy

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-83883478855240339812009-11-14T16:51:00.000-06:002009-11-14T17:05:56.754-06:00

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. Things have been really busy at our house. First, a few weeks ago, we returned our original set of pots and pans to BB&B. Because I am a receipt saver, I still had the original receipt - and it wasn't that hard to find. We bought them (using gift cards from our wedding) when we returned from our honeymoon in August of 2008. Unfortunately, the pots

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-35858133933020041152009-10-18T14:31:00.001-05:002009-10-18T14:50:38.171-05:00

Last week when I was planning out our meals, I saw this book sitting on our bookshelf. I don't remember buying it, and neither does E. This week, we tried 3 recipes from it:Pork, Pea, and Spinach Curry SoupChicken Peanut Stew (we really like a non-slow cooker version of this recipe from this cookbook)Cuban Black Bean StewNone of the recipes were bad, but they were all pretty average and somewhat

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-11230875684392683192009-10-18T14:14:00.000-05:002009-10-18T14:29:01.937-05:00

It's been a while since I've reviewed recipes. Both of these recipes were delicious.Slow Cooker Pepper SteakI followed the recipe, and it was really good.It was a little salty, even though I used lite/low-sodium soy sauce.I served it with rice.Chicken and Corn Pie with Cornbread ToppingThis was a delicious recipe.I made this enchilada sauce up the day before. I used a little over half of it in

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-2818229739399227752009-10-18T12:39:00.001-05:002009-10-18T12:53:18.572-05:00

I passed the bar exam and will be sworn in at the end of the month. That is a huge relief.I am thinking about starting my own law firm while continuing to work in my current part-time job. We will see what happens. I think that, as of right now, I would want it to be officially open for business in January 2010, but things could change. I'm nervous about the idea, but I also have a couple of good

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-21923795989282267632009-09-21T08:08:00.001-05:002009-09-21T08:52:06.968-05:00

On Sunday my mom and I co-hosted a baby shower for two of my cousins. It was nice to have the girls over, because some of my aunts and cousins hadn't been to our house before. Here are some of the recipes that we used:Rotisserie Chicken and Chicken StockI bought a rotisserie chicken on Saturday. I took it home, and E and I removed the skin and shredded the rest of the chicken. I put half of it

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-45234059365312993272009-09-17T17:09:00.000-05:002009-09-17T17:30:25.826-05:00

I have applied for 66 jobs since the bar exam, and have now received 11 rejections. That means that I still have a chance at 55 jobs :) Luckily, I started a new part-time contract position in my field to help pay the bills until I find a full-time job. I am learning a lot there, so that's good. I am toying with the idea of opening up my own law practice, but I feel like I need a few more months

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-40446067293903224502009-09-13T19:35:00.000-05:002009-09-13T20:01:50.741-05:00

Oven-dried tomatoesEven after forgetting to water it for 5 or more days, the cherry tomato plant is still producing tomatoes like crazy. We found ourselves with a "problem": what should we do with all of those tomatoes?I found a few different blogs that showed how to make oven-dried tomatoes. We love sun-dried tomatoes, but hate how expensive they are. This is a great alternative, and I read that

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-4657542083817852212009-09-02T10:37:00.000-05:002009-09-02T10:56:36.550-05:00

Well, our cherry tomato plant has been producing tomatoes like crazy. And despite my lack of gardening skills, it is still alive :)We found a couple of good recipes for using up cherry tomatoes... and we also tried out a new Mac and Cheese recipe.Chicken Pesto PizzaThis was amazing! I loved the way the cherry tomatoes tasted on this pizza. We did things a little differently than the recipe.First,

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-27599344152267740142009-08-26T19:01:00.000-05:002009-08-26T19:10:36.224-05:00

Since the bar exam (and since I had to resign from my previous job) I have applied to 40 jobs. I have been rejected by 7 of those jobs. Well, I have been expressly rejected by 7; who knows how many others have rejected me already, but haven't told me about the rejection.I'm not complaining. I'm proud of myself for applying to 40 jobs. The first 20 jobs that I applied to were major "reach" jobs;

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-7244807955380364222009-08-25T19:21:00.000-05:002009-08-25T19:44:37.939-05:00

5-Cheese Stuffed Shells with Homemade Tomato SauceHere is the recipe for the stuffed shells.The tomato sauce was a little more complicated. I found this "how to" and decided to use the tomatoes from my MOH and the "baby" tomatoes from the plant that my mom gave us. I sort of followed the eHow instructions, but I added an onion (also from my MOH), and 1/2 cup of red cooking wine. I also used fresh

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-32118692918864163982009-08-25T19:03:00.000-05:002009-08-25T19:19:55.644-05:00

I made this recipe for the first time when I lived in Jamaica for a summer. I spent a couple of weeks right outside of Ocho Rios with two Peace Corps Volunteers ("PCVs") , and volunteered at an environmental day camp. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad that I got to spend some time away from Kingston. Anyway, Jackie (a PCV who was "stationed" in Kingston) and I stayed with one of her friends (also

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-69356024698413710412009-08-17T09:40:00.000-05:002009-08-17T10:02:20.491-05:00

One of the best parts about the bar exam being over is that I get to cook again. It feels good to be back into a routine. I have been craving a lot of Italian and Greek ingredients lately, and the recipes that we have made definitely reflect that.Penne Alla VodkaAbsolutely delicious!We substituted crushed tomatoes for whole tomatoes; I thought that it would make the sauce have a better

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-32925928458054733252009-08-17T09:13:00.000-05:002009-08-17T09:29:53.663-05:00

I survived the bar exam. I won't find out whether I passed until October 8, so I am trying my best to forget about it. So far, I'm doing a pretty good job. I've only had 2 nightmares about it; way better than all of the nightmares that I had after 1L exams. Without going into too much detail, a certain part of my life isn't working out very well right now. Luckily, I have time to straighten that

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-73561030064055745662009-07-26T18:04:00.000-05:002009-07-26T18:21:40.780-05:00

I may or may not be counting down the hours until Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. I also may or may not have decided on my first post-bar-exam beverage :) I had a mini panic session about the bar exam today, but luckily a DQ treat fixed that. Studying has really taken its toll on me this week. I woke up a couple of days ago with some major upper shoulder pain; definitely a product of spending too much

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-91896100247118106182009-07-19T15:02:00.000-05:002009-07-19T15:19:33.863-05:00

I'm finally in the home stretch of this evil bar exam. I don't feel like I'll ever be ready, but I'm just ready for it to be over already. I can't wait to enjoy the rest of the summer, and to find out what it is like to live a life free from law school and standardized tests. Well, mostly free from standardized tests... I have another one coming up in a few months, but I'm not going to go into

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-17990542012053436562009-07-05T20:34:00.000-05:002009-07-05T21:00:54.987-05:00

It's been a busy week or two since I've updated this blog. I'm pretty worried about the bar exam, and I'm really glad that E is here to take care of me and RatDog :) He's been making dinner every night, making us chocolate malts almost every night as a bedtime snack, cleaning the house, going grocery shopping, meal-planning, doing laundry, walking RatDog twice a day (I only have to take him out

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-42782958410290060022009-07-05T20:27:00.000-05:002009-07-05T20:33:23.762-05:00

This recipe is courtesy of my stepmom. It's a great recipe :) Pretty easy to make, too.Ingredients:2 cups (packed) of fresh basil (do not chop)1/2 cup of EVOO2-4 cloves of crushed and peeled garlic (we used 2 cloves, and that was plenty; just ask the people who sit by me in class...haha!)1 tsp. of salt1/4 to 1/2 cup of toasted pine nutsFresh shredded parmesan cheeseHot cooked & drained

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-27184357424093778962009-06-29T19:04:00.000-05:002009-06-29T19:14:32.793-05:00

I'm really burnt out on studying. The stress surrounding the bar exam is making me question almost everything (except E & ratdog) about my life right now. It is terrible. I could not be productive today to save my life. I'm disappointed in myself because I had a plan for what I was supposed to get done today, but when I got home from class I worked on something else instead (not related to the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-28753278424628221772009-06-22T08:39:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:20:55.319-05:00

Black Beans and RiceWe made this recipe using 2 "cans" worth of black beans from our freezer. The curry powder that the recipe calls for is a nice addition to a typical rice and beans dish. We also liked that the recipe uses brown rice, since it is healthier than white rice (I think). We also used crushed red pepper flakes instead of the fresh red pepper, just because we didn't have a fresh red

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-34389844306523370392009-06-20T06:25:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:20:15.230-05:00

Our friends, Rachel & Ryan, brought this salad to a friend's house a few months ago. It was delicious, and it seemed like a nice summer dinner. E & I recreated it at home recently. We got about 5 (big) servings of salad out of this recipe. Ingredients:1 bag of fresh spinach leaves (pre-washed)2/3 to 3/4 cup of pine nuts1 package of Original Craisins1 package of crumbled fetaCreamy Poppy Seed

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-80916089023882369392009-06-16T10:33:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:20:38.175-05:00

I woke up this morning with a migraine; my guess is that it was caused by a combination of the weather change and the SUPER uncomfortable chairs that we sit in at the bar prep course. I skipped bar prep class today, and instead went to get my migraine medicine refilled (because I must have taken the last pill some time last week).When I get a headache like this, I wonder if having surgery was

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-87020480831680029702009-06-14T19:21:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:21:16.849-05:00

Can't wait for the bar exam to be over. I really have nothing interesting to say; I haven't tried out a new recipe in a couple of weeks. I made a "to do" list for post bar exam life. A list of books to read and fun things that I can do, since I will have spare time (outside of work). I'm even being Type A about my free time :) Thanks a lot, law school.One of my friends on Facebook always puts "

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-19459262753696364782009-06-06T22:12:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:21:37.777-05:00

In my last entry, I was trying to write that because my state has a high bar passage rate, and I wasn't at the very bottom of my class, I have a good chance of passing. I read the sentence I wrote about 6 times before hitting "publish post", and at the time it made sense. Then a few minutes ago I realized that what I wrote made no sense whatsoever. I tried to edit it but could not figure out the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-80892762504310579962009-06-06T20:22:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:21:58.438-05:00

Studying for the bar is making me crazy. If I think about things logically (our state has an easy bar; an 89% passage rate or something like that) I stop panicking for a few minutes. Then I do a couple of multiple choice questions and realize that I know nothing. I'm wondering if the bar prep course that I'm taking (it shall remain nameless, but it's a popular one...so....) was a waste of my time

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-12207052004982571102009-06-01T15:24:00.000-05:002009-06-01T15:32:14.418-05:00

My mom makes the best sloppy joes ever. I think that sloppy joes are great, because they are a comfort food. Usually comfort foods aren't that healthy. I think that we made them a little healthier by using ground turkey instead of ground beef. Ingredients:1 pound of ground turkey1/2 c. ketchup (you can also add a little barbeque sauce to this for a spicier taste)2 TBSP vinegar1 TBSP dried onions

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-73269431737843689112009-06-01T15:09:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:22:38.624-05:00

We bought 5 pounds of ground turkey (on sale). It's supposed to be healthier for you than ground beef, and I am trying to eat a minimal amount of red meat (for health reasons), so we tried out a few different recipes. This recipe for turkey meatballs turned out great. They were a little garlicky, though. We ate them with a vegetarian version of this spaghetti sauce. We also made ground turkey

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-62681877620139485612009-06-01T14:05:00.001-05:002009-08-18T08:23:56.071-05:00

This weekend, Becca was in town, and we (Becca, E & I) ended up driving to visit Andy; he lives close to the town where the three of us (Becca, Andy, and I) grew up. It was so nice to be around my closest friends. My life has changed so much in the past 3 years; law school, moving to suburbia, getting married, and having surgery. These changes have been for the better, but it was still so nice to

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-11737529278313287882009-05-25T16:13:00.000-05:002009-06-01T14:55:51.509-05:00

In an attempt to lower our sodium intake and to save money, I made pinto and black beans in our crockpot. It worked out well. A bag of dried beans costs about $1, and it makes about 3.5 cans worth of beans. That's a good deal :) I made 2 bags worth of black beans and 2 bags worth of pinto beans (on separate days). Then I divided them up into freezer-friendly containers, and froze them.We have the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-24367837710815758392009-05-25T15:27:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:23:36.136-05:00

Last Sunday I graduated. Thank God law school is over! Of course the day after graduation we started bar prep courses, so I didn't get too much time to enjoy a school-free life :) I definitely will enjoy not having school after the bar exam, though. I've spent most of the holiday weekend with a cold/allergies. I even had an asthma attack during church on Sunday. I need to go to the doctor so I

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-58150219423756969912009-05-04T13:15:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:24:38.384-05:00

I just finished a take-home final, and now I only have 2 more to go until I graduate! I'm taking the rest of the day off to regroup and re-motivate. We haven't been doing a ton of cooking because of final exams; instead we've been cleaning out our freezer. We have some frozen soup, frozen mac and cheese, and a frozen pasta dish that are ready for us for dinner this week. I also have some

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-91815036230623992452009-05-02T13:30:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:36:39.731-05:00

E & I Netflixed the movie Hotel Rwanda and watched it during a study break on Thursday. Holy cats! I put that movie on my "to think about list" whenever I am feeling sorry for myself. We were "a little late to the party" because that movie came out in 2004 or 2005, and it's 2009. I also had my first day of work on Thursday. It went well. My boss said that he will be very flexible about my

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-7933192170969538772009-04-26T15:45:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:32:30.101-05:00

Here are some links to some good recipes that we have recently tried out.Crispy Yogurt ChickenReally good & different way to eat chicken.It takes a while to cook, so plan ahead.We served it with oven-roasted broccoli. Yummy!Ravioli with Balsamic Brown ButterVegetarianIt's pretty simple to make, and it's a crowd pleaser.We served it with garlic bread, and roasted asparagus. var gaJsHost = (("https

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-39773542964226715942009-04-21T07:03:00.000-05:002009-06-01T15:08:15.639-05:00

I had an interview yesterday, and it ended with me accepting a job. I haven't signed a contract yet, though, so nothing is set in stone. Still, it sounds like a great opportunity and like I will learn a lot. There is also room for growth. I will just need to figure out how to balance working and prepping for the bar exam. I will not be expected to work a lot of hours while I am studying for the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-67024182764096777742009-04-21T06:55:00.000-05:002009-04-21T07:02:30.775-05:00

E & I have a mini crockpot (The Little Dipper) and it is perfect for making this dip. It has a 16 oz. capacity. Yesterday I was craving Spinach-Artichoke Dip; I think it was the weather. Here is what I came up with:Ingredients:½ of an 8 oz. pckg of cream cheese (cubed)½ box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained1 clove of garlic, chopped½ can of artichoke hearts, drained & chopped½ cup of

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-84159658538333394332009-04-20T08:07:00.000-05:002009-04-20T08:24:00.675-05:00

Spicy Ranch Oven Fried Potato Wedges and Boneless Buffalo Chicken TendersThis was a pretty easy meal to make. The blog from which I got the recipe gives instructions on how to make both of them at the same time :)The only thing that I would change about the potato wedges is that I would use sweet paprika instead of smoked paprika. I'm not really a fan of the flavor of smoked paprika. Also we got

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-73802736001166702172009-04-20T07:52:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:30:44.552-05:00

E & I made this for dinner last night after pseudo-running our first 5K. It was pretty easy to make, and it was delicious!We started on the green beans first, because they have to bake in the oven. Once the green beans were in the oven, we started on the chicken. We timed it pretty well. The green beans were done about 3 or 4 minutes before the chicken. Not too bad :)E's Green Beans:

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-7302581833072249612009-04-17T08:06:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:27:59.513-05:00

I'm feeling a little flakey right now. Lots of projects/end of the year stuff to finish up, and not a lot of time. My somewhat decent eating habits have gone down the drain. I've eaten a couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies on my own in the past week. Drinking too much coffee. But at least I'm taking a multivitamin.I have some good recipes to post, but it probably won't happen for a few more

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-91048847610359306442009-04-04T18:25:00.000-05:002009-04-04T18:31:38.444-05:00

When I planned out my lunches for last week, I decided I would have avocado and provolone sandwiches (like a vegetarian sandwich that I usually eat at a sandwich shop). Unfortunately my version of the sandwich was blah! I hated to see my avocados go to waste, so I made a dip out of them. It's very good; even E likes it, and he doesn't always like chips and dip.Ingredients:2 ripe avocados (peeled

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-33606410394119165762009-04-04T18:14:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:37:52.646-05:00

My stepmom makes really good spaghetti sauce and pesto. She gave me her recipe for both, and on Friday I tried out the spaghetti sauce. I mostly followed her recipe and it turned out really yummy :)Here is my version of her recipe.Ingredients:1/3 pound of Italian sausage (browned & drained)28 oz. can crushed tomatoes.Medium onion, chopped1/2 green pepper, chopped3 cloves of crushed garlic1/4 tsp.

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-13942928395149256762009-04-04T18:05:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:37:30.460-05:00

I made a double batch of this soup today, using my mom's recipe. It made 16 servings of soup. E & I are eating 2 servings for dinner and freezing the rest in individual serving size containers. I added up the cost per serving, and it comes to 81 cents; I'd say that's a good deal. My calculation doesn't include the olive oil, salt & pepper, and any cheese that you serve it with, but it's still

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-7827499821521380552009-04-04T14:27:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:41:13.764-05:00

This week's weather has wreaked havoc on my head. I've had headaches on Tuesday, Friday, and another one today. I'm pretty sure that it's because of the schizo-weather. Snow on Tuesday, warm and sunny (like it should be) on Friday, and today the weather is changing again. Yowzers! It makes it hard for me to get my homework done.I hate to admit that I still get headaches after having surgery. It

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-75977615670473311512009-03-28T17:52:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:32:07.537-05:00

E & I have two different ways of making French toast. Sometimes we will just buy a bag of cinnamon swirl bread and use a plain egg batter to make it; it turns out pretty good. We also have a Better Homes and Garden Cookbook with a simple French toast recipe. We used that recipe today, since we had all of the ingredients at home.Ingredients:4 beaten eggs1 cup milk2 TBSP. sugar2 tsp. vanilla1/2 tsp

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-66474224129353199372009-03-28T17:37:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:36:14.574-05:00

We had some leftover ripe bananas and some frozen blueberries, so I used this recipe (awkward title, in my opinion) and made up a batch. We used frozen blueberries, and we substituted shortening for butter. They turned out good. Today I procrastinated homework and cover letter writing by cooking and baking. Oh well; we all need a mental health day sometimes :)

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-1817114426389613322009-03-22T12:40:00.001-05:002009-06-22T09:26:39.065-05:00

I've been trying to get in the habit of eating more fruit. They also say that blueberries & flax seeds are good "cancer fighters." I don't know if it's true, but I also call this my anti-cancer smoothie :)This recipe serves 1 person (using a pretty big glass).Ingredients:1/2 c. (more or less) orange juice1 TBSP of ground flax seed (I buy a bag of flax seed and then grind up about a week's worth

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-18287451414410891382009-03-22T12:29:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:25:31.752-05:00

We finally used our wedding mixer this weekend; I think that some people get married just so that they can get a Kitchenaid mixer. It's like a rite of passage :)E & I had been intimidated by ours, but it wasn't as complicated as we thought it was going to be.We used my mom's banana muffins recipe. Yummy!The recipe is supposed to make 36 muffins, but I probably overfilled the muffin cups, because

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-33996378727066361442009-03-15T12:55:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:39:51.498-05:00

We made up a 1.5 batch of chocolate chip cookies last night. We baked 1.5 dozen cookies right away, and then we froze the rest of the dough. When we freeze the dough, we freeze it in little cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. We freeze it overnight, and then when they are frozen into little cookie dough balls, we put them into a plastic bag in the freezer. It makes it a lot easier, in my

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-63745573949237361122009-03-15T12:24:00.000-05:002009-03-15T13:05:53.055-05:00

I knew that I was craving some kind of cheesy baked pasta, but I didn't want to use our normal baked ziti recipe.Rachel Ray saved the day for us with this recipe, although I changed it up a little.Ingredients1 lb. ziti (instead of shell pasta)Italian sausage (we had about 3/4 lb. left, so we just used that)2 TBSP. EVOO3 large cloves garlic (chopped)1 small yellow onion (diced) - I bought a new

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-30196727618914092172009-03-15T12:06:00.000-05:002009-06-22T09:26:09.641-05:00

I finally got over my sinus infection. Thank God. It was not very pleasant. Also, it's sunny and somewhat warm here, so that is nice :)I'm trying to be more optimistic about the job search. I've started applying to jobs where a J.D. is an asset but not a necessity. They are jobs that I would enjoy working at, and where I would still be helping people. Hopefully something will eventually pan out.

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-43080264403989372312009-03-03T11:05:00.000-06:002009-03-03T11:09:01.943-06:00

It's my spring break (yay!). I have a cold (not so yay!). Every time we see our nieces, they are sick. And every time we see them, I get sick a couple of days later. Coincidence? Probably not :) It definitely makes me worried about having kids of our own.I mailed off a demand letter this morning. I also am trying to get myself to start on the official bar application. I have all of the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-22556247691161089172009-03-01T15:50:00.000-06:002009-03-01T15:55:24.864-06:00

It's spring break for me! Yay! Unfortunately it is not spring break for E. So we are only having 2 dinners together at home this week. Boo :(Tonight we are having Panama Pork Stew and garlic bread. The stew is cooking in our crock pot right now and it smells delicious. It looks like we will have plenty of leftovers for lunches this week too. We are using leftover Cuban pork roast (that we froze)

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-83992538485610291082009-03-01T15:39:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:25:03.177-05:00

Italian bread is on sale at the local grocery store. $1 for a BIG loaf. E & I eat a lot of garlic bread, but we know that fresh bakery bread doesn't keep very well if you leave it sitting out (yuck to moldy bread). We usually freeze it, and then thaw it, slice it, and make garlic bread.Then I read a recipe for "Freezer Garlic Bread" and decided to try it.Ingredients:1/2 loaf of Italian bread1/2

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-16966263101636008142009-03-01T15:28:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:35:11.613-05:00

I drink a lot of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, I usually drink Swiss Miss. I think it is probably not the "healthiest" hot chocolate ever. So when I ran out of Swiss Miss on grocery day last week, I decided that it was time to try making my own. I know I wanted a recipe that doesn't require milk (in case I don't have any around). I found this recipe and it sounded good.Ingredients:2 cups powdered

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-20453178365705832912009-03-01T15:20:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:34:42.326-05:00

I found this recipe on Walgreen's website; it looks like it's a recipe for people with diabetes. Luckily, neither of us is diabetic, but ground chicken was on sale.I do not recommend buying the ground chicken that we bought. I think it would have been worth the extra 70 cents for ground beef. Both of us found crunchy pieces of meat in our tacos. Ew!!!E is a trooper and he ate the leftovers. I am

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-59218106339153294142009-03-01T15:01:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:30:23.069-05:00

I made this served with rice and frijoles negros for E's birthday weekend. (Note: you will need to marinade it for 12-24 hours before cooking it, so you need to plan ahead.) We ended up with a whole lot of pork roast. With the leftovers, I ate a pulled pork sandwich one night (I cooked it in a saucepan with some BBQ sauce). Then we froze the rest. We are going to use half of the leftovers tonight

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-71462068105283883252009-03-01T14:50:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:39:00.177-05:00

E & I got a waffle maker as a wedding gift. I LOVE waffles. E didn't love them as much as I do... but then on his birthday weekend, I used my mom's recipe and made some Belgian waffles for him. He is now a waffle lover.With our waffle maker, this recipe makes between 5 and 6 waffles. And if you buy some strawberries & whipped cream and some bacon and/or sausage, you will have an even better

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-79391669962226709172009-03-01T14:40:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:35:47.699-05:00

This recipe made good use of some salsa we already had in our fridge, the leftover tortillas from the burritos, and the rest of the Monterey Jack cheese. It also made a good dinner (and lunch leftovers). The rest of the ingredients were inexpensive.Ingredients1 - 15 oz. can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained1/2 cup of salsa (we used the Archer Farms Medium salsa - cheap at Target)1 tsp. of chili

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-62537986265435784792009-03-01T14:29:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:27:26.791-05:00

E & I have been on a strict grocery budget lately, and in order to stay within our budget we have been eating around themes. Right now it's been a mostly vegetarian Mexican theme.We used this recipe, courtesy of Rachel Ray. It was really yummy. It provided us with a good, and pretty easy to make dinner. And we had leftovers the next day for our lunches :)Ingredients:1 TBSP. EVOO1 clove of garlic,

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-39089365684770776362009-03-01T14:25:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:28:50.751-05:00

It's been a busy month. I've managed to put off a lot of schoolwork this month, and yet I still haven't managed to update my blog. I'll make up for it by posting several recipes :)

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-69767119949648240442009-02-05T09:04:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:34:00.054-05:00

E and I got an ice cream maker as a wedding gift from Chrissy. Things have been a little hectic, so we used it for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday!My grandma Ercyl makes fabulous vanilla ice cream, so we used her recipe. Making ice cream requires prep work.Prep work:The night before you are going to make ice cream, put the "bowl" of the ice cream maker into the back of your freezer. It needs

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-75538463487116803092009-02-05T08:34:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:32:51.929-05:00

On Sunday night, Eric and I decided to cook some Dominican-style food.The menu:Pollo guisadowithArroz con habichuelasI got the recipes off of Aunt Clara's Dominican Cooking website.The pollo guisado recipe was okay, but nothing special, so I'm not going to post it here. I do recommend using her recipe for rice; I had forgotten how to make my rice turn out "Dominican style", and I was very

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-223644129072903752009-02-01T09:01:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:31:07.768-05:00

The job market, our house and its issues, and this weather have been making me feel pretty down lately. I felt so happy after my surgery was over, that I am disappointed in myself for letting my emotions swing down so quickly. Yesterday we had our first January thaw (I think). It was great.E & I went out for lunch and talked about how our goals need to change. The plan was originally for E to go

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-19875691017389038092009-01-29T10:51:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:33:33.774-05:00

Last night I had dinner with some old friends from high school. I showed off my new "neck straw" (aka my CP shunt). Tried to explain how it works, but I don't really even get it. It was fun to see them; I wish we all had more time so we could hang out more.This morning I've been dealing with some bad customer service issues; when we bought our new washer and dryer, the customer service in the

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-83919469173221272982009-01-27T17:18:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:27:02.892-05:00

I got home from the bank today, and saw that Ratdog had an accident in our basement. I went to clean it up, and dropped part of it...and accidentally stepped in it! EW!!! I threw that sock away. I'm really glad that I was wearing socks.We got one of the bills from my surgery today. This one was from the anesthesiologist. I just want to get all of the bills so we can know how much we need to pay

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-59023319194978028972009-01-27T11:09:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:38:17.020-05:00

Our favorite ratdog is not feeling well today. When I took him outside he looked for grass to eat so he could soothe his tummy. Unfortunately for him, the grass is covered with snow. He found a branch on one of the bushes in front of our house, and tried to eat that. I yanked it out of his mouth pretty quickly.He woke us up at 3 a.m. last night with some very loud hiccups. Very obnoxious. I hope

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-22805162209367811722009-01-27T10:33:00.001-06:002009-06-22T09:34:24.400-05:00

These are some of our "fall back" recipes. We've made them quite a few times without disappointment :)3-Cheese Macaroni and CheeseIt is delicious. We use a LOT less salt than the recipe calls for (either no salt or 1/4 tsp of salt), and we also don't use the bread crumbs or the fresh parsley. If we make up a batch of this, we divide it into thirds and freeze 2 containers of it for another night.

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-29483002105805970032009-01-27T10:24:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:37:05.030-05:00

On Sunday night, E made this soup for dinner. It was delicious and provided us with plenty of leftovers for the week. We used soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Our only recommendation is that if you substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce, do not add as much salt as the recipe calls for. Almost 2 teaspoons of salt is crazy, and would send E's blood pressure skyrocketing.

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52762609146152001.post-77077412510877907222009-01-27T10:07:00.000-06:002009-06-22T09:31:43.125-05:00

Last week I met with the CEO of my dream job. She told me (which I already knew) that due to the economy they are not even filling open positions right now. It was extremely depressing to hear. She had no solid career advice for me. She was only able to tell me about all of the other employers who are also not hiring. I can only hope that things improve by October when I get my (hopefully

Rattlesnake Lizziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03048316578132130191noreply@blogger.com0