Homemade Chicken Taquitos {Seriously DELISH}

First off, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who commented, e-mailed me, text me, and messaged me after my post yesterday... ya'll know how to make a girl feel loved. I can not tell you how much all of your sweet words lifted me up. I feel blessed to have each and every one of you in my life... and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

Now on to some tasty business.....

I love taquitos... like A LOT. Always have, always will. As I was shopping around Costco and staring at a box of taquitos for $11.99 (can you say rip off)  I had an idea, and oh man did it work out to perfection. 

What you will need:

canola oil for frying

kosher salt (optional)

1 whole rotisserie chicken

taco seasoning 

corn tortillas

cheese (optional)

(1) Remember this recipe? I used the same recipe here. Remove all the meat, white and dark, from the chicken and shred with a fork. Sprinkle the taco seasoning all over the shredded chicken and mix well. 

(2) Heat up your tortillas in the microwaveable until the are nice and pliable and don't break apart when you bend them (I nuked mine for about a minute). 

(3) Over medium high heat, heat up enough oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet. Meanwhile, put a small amount of the chicken mixture into the tortilla. Roll up nice and tight and put it it seam side down on a cookie sheet. Repeat the process until you have used all the chicken mixture.

(4) USING TONGS, place the taquitos in the hot oil, seam side down. Repeat this process until the pan is full. Flip the taquitos over when they are nice and golden and starting to turn brown. 

(5) Remove the taquitos to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and sprinkle kosher salt over them (trust me).

Top with  guacamole, lettuce, sour creme, salsa or my particular fav... just cheese.

I guarantee these taquitos will blow any store bought and even restaurant taquitos right out of the water. These puppies don't last very long in our house. I'm serious you guys, I am obsessed.

This recipe makes a huge batch of taquitos (40 ish). I freeze the leftovers and reheat them in a 350 degree oven. Perfect for a quick (and DELISH) lunch or dinner. 

Enjoy!!

Much love and Blessings,

Linking up here!

Another one bites the dust...

When I found out I would no longer be able to play soccer anymore due to a string of knee injuries, I was devastated. My life was forever changed. I felt robbed. It took a huge toll on me and it took me over a year to get over the fact that my passion was no longer a part of my life. I turned to running to help ease the pain I was feeling, which was not physical pain but emotional pain. I never really spoke to anyone about the hurt I felt, I just ran. Running helped me find a new passion. It empowered me and gave me back my confidence. It allowed me to start setting goals for myself again and feel the thrill of achieving them. 

About a month ago my knee decided to take a turn for the worse. I tried to ignore it and push through my runs but it quickly became apparent that that was not going to happen. I made an appointment with my the Sports Medicine doctor. She poked and prodded and pulled at my knee and examined all of my x-ray's, etc. From the tests, she determined that my knee is deteriorating, which is normal after having so many surgeries, and that my ligaments are riddled with degenerative tears. She seems to think I have about three years max with this traitor knee of mine and then a knee replacement will be necessary.

WHAT?? A knee replacement at age 30?

To prolong the "life" of my knee she told me I needed to stop running, immediately. 

I felt the familiar feeling of hopelessness and complete devastation creep back into my mind.

She suggested biking or swimming as a new form of exercise.

She has clearly never seen me swim (I drown) or bike (I straight up fail). Two physical activities I despise.

How will I get my daily dose of endorphins?  What will I do for myself everyday?

I can slowly feel myself slipping back into that familiar "funk." That's a dark place I don't ever want to go back to.

Thankfully this time around I have the support of my hubby, my babies, and most importantly my faith.

{Source}


I know it may seem silly to feel such complete devastation. I can still walk. I am still healthy. I shouldn't be complaining. I am trying to focus on the things I have rather then the things I don't.

Why is that so much easier said then done?

{Print for sale here}

I wish I could end this post on a positive note with my usual upbeat outlook on a crummy situation. I just don't have it in me at the moment. I will snap out of it. In the scheme of my life, it is only a small blip. There is so much more to life, I know this. I just need to feel sorry for myself for a little while longer. ;)

Much Love and Blessings,

What I Wore- 5.12.2012

When was the last time I did a "What I Wore" post??? It seems like it has been forever, mostly because it has.

This was my Mother's Day outfit. Simple, really comfy, but clearly not stain proof.

If I wear white it WILL become stained by the end of the day. I think that is a mommy rule or something. Nothing white is immune to grungy hands, snotty noses, mac n cheese, and the like. This here stain was the result of my own delicious meal at Zocalo, an awesome Mexican restaurant in down town Sac. I decided on the Chilaquiles, one  of my fav Mexican dishes. I was trying to enjoy my meal and juggle a squirmy Taitum on my lap when she knocked my bite full of deliciousness down the front of my shirt. Sweet. Love it when I get a grease stain on my clothes that I know won't come out. 

Oh well... good thing I buy such cheap clothes. My $8 Target tank was easily replaceable. ;)

Tank and Skirt: Target

Shoes: Nordies (ancient)

Belt: Local Boutique

Bangles: Forever 21

Linking up here.

Much Love and Blessings,

Lamp Revamp

Hi friends! As I mentioned in this post, I have been on a DIY kick. We will be having lots of visitors in the next month and having visitors always inspires me to have our house looking it's best. Nothing like a kick in the butt motivation to finish up my projects I have been "meaning to get to."

Our guest bedrooms are totally lacking in the lighting department. For one of the bedrooms I bought a lamp at Wal Mart because I am cheap I thought it was the perfect fit, only to get it home and realize that it lit up approximately 1/8 of the room. FAIL.

I remembered I had this little gem a friend had given me. I have learned to snatch up a free lamp no matter how hideous because beautifying a lamp is pretty easy and almost all lamps are redeemable! 

Check out the finished product. Such a great fit and I love the clean, sleek look. And of course my fav part was that this project did not cost me a penny. I had all of the supplies on hand! 

I started out by spray paining the base (she clearly needed it!).

While the base dried, I traced the lamp onto gray fabric.  I laid the shade on its side on the fabric and rolled it while tracing the top. I then rolled it back to the starting point while tracing the bottom. (This took me some time to figure out... not gonna lie.) I then cut out the fabric about an inch outside of the line. 

I hot glued the fabric to the lamp by hot gluing the straight side down and wrapping tightly around the lamp. I folded the unfinished end of the fabric under and hot glued that section for a seam and then glued the seam to the lamp. The extra fabric on the top and bottom I hot glued to the inside of the lamp.

Since I love clean and simple, I slapped on a pretty silk flower and a beautiful rhinestone embellishment and called it a day. 

LOVE!!

This inspired me to re-do the two lamps in our second guest bedroom. It is a total copy cat project but I love the way these lamps turned out even more then this first one. Ill post some pics as soon as I finish the second lamp!

Hope you are all having a fabulous week! I can NOT believe it is already Thursday! YIKES!

Much Love and Blessings,

Linking up here...

Homemade Hamburger Buns {A Bread Machine Recipe}

Hello lovelies!! I wanted to share with you the most DELISH recipe for Hamburger Buns. 

Truth be told, I made two batches of these scrumptious little morsels last week and we only had hamburgers once, so only 2 of the hamburger buns were actually used for hamburgers. The other 26 were devoured by a few carb-loving fools. They are THAT good. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups warm milk

1 beaten egg

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 3/4 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

1. Place ingredients into the pan of your bread machine according to the manufacturers directions.

2. Select the dough cycle.

3. When the dough cycle is done, split the dough in half.  On a floured surface, roll out each half into a circle about 1 inch thick. Using an inverted cup or a biscuit cutter,  cut out 12-14 circles. Place circles on a greased cookie sheet and cover and let rise until doubled in size.

4. Brush the tops of the buns with melted butter and bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. 

 These little lovelies are very unassuming but they are seriously life-changing, as in I will never buy store bought hamburger buns again. (That's probably a lie... but a girl can dream!)

Recipe adapted from here.

Hope your week is off to a great start!! Much love beauties!!

Blessings,

Perfect Love

4 years ago today I married the love of my life and my best friend.

These past four years have been the happiest of my life and I couldn't imagine our life any other way. 

Thank you for my three perfect gifts: yourself, Emmerson, and Taitum. Thank you for loving me even when I know its hard. Thank you for providing for our family and for the gift of being able to stay at home with our girls. Thank you for being the best father and husband there ever was. Thank you for making me laugh always. Thank you for being my husband AND my best friend. 

I love you beyond and I am so thankful to have you as my partner through this crazy, perfect life! 

Love,

Me

Teriyaki Chicken

Hello my friends! I have been a little MIA... I am in a DIY/Home Improvement kinda mood and I am going to the make the most of it while it lasts!! LOTS of fun projects!

I wanted to share with you a recipe that we are obsessed with in out house: Teriyaki Chicken. 

This is my fav recipe for Teriyaki chicken, and I have tried a TON of them! The sauce it absolutely delectable and makes this dish a 10. 

What you will Need:

2 tbsp. olive oil

Chicken Breasts (I used 12 tenders but you can use about 4-5 breasts)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 3/4 cups water

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

green onions (optional)

1. Cube chicken up into 2 inch pieces and Lightly season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil up in a large pan on medium high and brown chicken until the center is cooked.

2. For the sauce, mix soy sauce, 1 3/4 cup water, ginger, garlic powder, brown sugar, and honey together and  pour over chicken. Scrape the bits off the bottom using a wooden spoon.  Heat the sauce until simmering.

3. Mix the cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water together and pour into the sauce and stir to thicken. Simmer over medium heat for 5-7  minutes. 

Garnish with green onions and serve over sticky brown rice! YUM!!


Sauce recipe adapted from here. 

Much love and Blessings,