Hair-do's and (dental) Hygiene

I want to introduce you to my friend Kate over at The Small Things Blog: http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/

Ok, she's not technically my "friend" BUT I often spend at least an hour per weekend on her blog - which is more than I spend with some of my friends per week, so there.  Plus, if we knew each other in real life, I think we actually would be friends.  She's super down-to-earth, relatable, trusts God, and is a savvy business-woman. I admire how she's taken her skills to the next level and built her own little empire.   Oh yeah, and she kind of has a southern accent, to boot.

Some people like to read blogs about crafting, decorating or remodeling.  I LOVE to watch hair DIYs, and now that my hair is longer, I can actually do some of this stuff.  If I'm trying something new w/ my hair, chances are I got the idea from one of her videos.

On to (dental) hygiene -
So this week, I got my first REAL filling.  I call it a REAL filling because the first filling I got was on my top teeth, so I only experienced a short acting, very local, numbness.  But, when you get one on your bottom teeth, it's a whole new ball game.  And, I'm kind of dramatic.

What the heck?  No one warned me!  Clearly, I should have worked from home for the remainder of the day.  I felt like I had a baseball in my lower lip, my right side of my tongue felt 3x the size of the left, and I talked with a lisp for a solid 3 hours post filling.  Oh yeah - and I am also highly dependent on coffee, so I proceeded to drool all over my chin just a few times that day in front of a few different people.

Joy - So NOW, I floss EVERY NIGHT.  I would encourage you to do the same.  And I know exactly where this cavity came from: noshing on Dots while watching all those Oscar nominated films this fall. I'm ashamed of myself.

2 Trader Joe's Discoveries and 1 Yummy Chicken Dinner

I don't do "cooking" posts too often. Mostly because I forget to take pics of the food AND to me, cooking is a little bit more "assembly" than anything else.  But, I've had some recent successes that I want to share with you all because they are super easy AND Kevin loves.

To start, two recent Trader Joe's Discoveries:

First, I got some of this greek yogurt feta dip to make the broccoli go down more smoothly after I was getting a little tired of my other greek yogurt option:

One night, when staring at a pound of chicken breast of which I had no plans for, and a hungry husband asking "what's for dinner?" - I came up with the idea to split the chicken breasts and STUFF them with this dip. It was the BOMB.  Def making again. So easy (sorry, forgot to take a pic of the final product.  Surprised?).

Nothing gets me like the samples they do at Trader Joe's.  The same day I picked up the above dip, I also tried this soup they made with their "Superfoods" Frozen Veggies + Turkey Kielbasa + chicken broth = super yummy Kale + quinoa + sweet potato + carrot soup!  Only thing I would do next time is to not add the full turkey kielbasa, maybe just half.  

And I got to use my new dutch oven for the first time, to boot!

Ok, in hindsight - not the greatest pic - but it's good, trust me, and there's more kale in there than appears to the eye.  Maybe next time I'll make it with fresh veggies instead of frozen.

AND for the grand finale!  It's super easy Lemony Chicken.  I think I got this from Pinterest, but as per usual, I modified.

Step 1: Take 2 lemons, slice 1 up and juice the other (in a bowl).

Step 2: Spread a little olive oil in a roasting dish and arrange sliced lemons at the bottom of the dish.

Step 3: In the bowl with the lemon juice, add 4 TBS of olive oil, 4 minced cloves of garlic, salt & pepper.

Step 4: Toss green beans and red potatoes (that are quartered).  Arrange in roasting pan.

Step 5: Roast the veggies in the oven for about 15 min at 450.

Step 6: While veggies are in the oven, tenderize the chicken (this is important or they won't cook right) and toss in the lemon/olive oil mixture.

Step 6: Chop up some onions the way you like them.

Step 7: Add chicken + onions to the veggie mixture that's already been in the oven for 15 min.  Roast at 450 for another 30 min or so. 

Step 8: Eat!

If it weren't for Monday being around the corner, Sunday nights would be my FAVORITE!!