Recipe Review: Alice Springs chicken

I modified this recipe from Fabulously Creative. It’s a knockoff of the Outback steakhouse dish.

Cheese and bacon, seriously, how could you go wrong? I cannot wait to make this for ODB. WE LOVE BACON!

Recipe:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

Lowry’s Seasoning Salt (I used Anita’s seasoning instead)

6 bacon slices

1/4 cup regular mustard (yellow)

1/3 cup honey (I didn’t really use this, I don’t like honey, any sweetener would work)

2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dried onion flakes (didn’t have any, so I used garlic)

1 cup sliced fresh mushroom

2 cup shredded Colby/Jack cheese (I only used 1 cup and wish I had used 2, I actually went back and added the other cup after the fact, 1 cup over 6 servings isn’t much at all).

First, Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is in the refrigerator, cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside. ***Do not discard grease.***

Saute chicken in the bacon grease for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned. Place chicken in a 9″ × 13″ casserole dish or pan.

To make the Honey Mustard: In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise and dried onion flakes.

Spread some of the Honey Mustard over each piece of chicken, then layer with mushrooms, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.

Serve with the left over Honey Mustard Sauce that you made.

*I actually put a bag of thawed cauliflower on the bottom of the dish to add some bulk. It was divine!

I had a good day

Today is the best I’ve felt in forever. Yesterday wasn’t shabby, but today was pretty dang good. Did I mention that I wasn’t holding on to a ton of water either day? Yeah, that was a super huge plus!

I did about half my usual weights at the gym today, followed by a short swim. I made huge progress with the swimming, not being winded and doing more freestyle. Success! I was short on time because of my clinic today, so I was trying to just fit everything in.

On to the venue to set up for our aqua jogging clinic. I wasn’t able to get into the water last year. This year I almost didn’t make it because there wasn’t enough noodles and belts to go around (which reminds me all the noodles I bought last year are at my old house). We had a great turnout! No including our coaches, we had 17 gals and 1 guy. Fish really put us through the wringer with a 32 minute workout. At the end she gave the option to go without flotation. You better believe I tossed my noodle. It was HARD but good. I need to find a pool deep enough to do it in and be able to keep correct form. Today was a good reminder that it’s good cross training and not just for injuries. Plus you can do speed, intervals, and drills with it.

Afterward everyone went their own way. I went to lunch with one of my friends at WF. We were joined by 2 more friends later on. My boss had given me a $15 gift card there for covering her vacation. You better believe that whole dang thing went toward a salad. I even got the smallest container they have and I still made a $18 salad. Worth every penny because it’s 100% stuff I LOVE.

Now on to prep for the week and chores. It was a good weekend. There are a few things that would have made it better, like seeing Radney Foster, and more of my favorite people!

Down day

Today was a day of randomness and I couldn’t have loved it more.

Breakfast at my hotel, coffee, shopping, late lunch at a Burger dive, a little exploring all over town, random strolling through my favorite deli store, helping with a task, and some RNR.

10 hours of pure nonstop happiness. I need that more often. The more the better. I deserve more happy.

SXSW: Rachael Ray Feedback 2014

How is it that I have never been to this event? Maybe it has to do with the early start time and my former other half not doing mornings.

It was a lot of fun. Next year we will get there earlier. We only got in earlier than we should have, because I have a sweet friend. We still would have gotten in but it would have taken longer.

The drink lines were easy. The food lines were a mess. We may have not been at the end of the food line when we got in. It was hard to tell. But EVERYONE who got in, got food from what I could tell. When we left at 3 pm, the line was still all of the way around the block. OUCH!

Music was behind on schedule but well organized. Two outdoor stages. When one stopped, the other started. Well until Blondie. I am not sure why they didn’t get on stage on time. The music was good. Bob didn’t play enough but he played my favorite song of his. Rachael’s husband’s band, The Cringe was good, i’d never heard them. He called her out from the stage and it was super sweet. AWWW.

Here’s the scoop on the grub and the recipes that I think match with her descriptions from her signs and her talking about the food on Kimmel earlier this week :

Chow Chow

7 Hour Smoked Brisket

Whisky Wings

All of mine were sans bread. Guess what? Bread makes a great serving vessel. But so do fingers 😉

I will be making a couple of these things myself in the future! Yummers as she would say!

There was no dessert! I wanted dessert. Instead I had more grapefruit and vodka.

SXSW fails and wins

Fails

We were 5 people short of getting into Kimmel Live on Friday to see Lil Wayne and Willie Nelson
We were so tired from standing in line all day in the sun, that all 3 of us almost fell asleep at dinner
We didn’t get downtown for Rachael Ray early enough
It rained and rained and rained Saturday morning in line for Rachael’s Party
I dropped my drivers license on 9th street. Thank goodness the dude yelled for me and I ran half a block back to get it.
I had a realization that some of my old crowd is just that. I’ve been cut out I guess
The show I wanted to go to on Thursday was actually the day before

Wins

People watching is ALWAYS a win during SXSW
I did at least see Kimmel once and had a guaranteed seat and a good one at that
Parking. We easily found parking both Friday and Saturday. Shocking
We had a nice lunch at Hula Hut on Friday afternoon away from the downtown crowds.
My old intern DID get in line for Rachael Ray early enough and we were able to get in line with her
The RRFeedback food was delish. Free food, booze, and music. How can you go wrong?
Coffee before RR Feedback was a great idea. Until there was no bathroom for 3 hours
$1 panchos from my running stash were lifesavers Saturday morning
Traffic wasn’t that bad when I’ve needed to come and go from downtown
My schedule was very different than it had been in years past and I was completely content. I saw far less music but far more variety of talent and shows.

How to feel instant love

Just in case you are too blind to see it on a everyday basis, have a housewarming party.

The raging storm didn’t keep my friends away, which made me happy. Almost all of my North crew came over. My BFF came all of the way from SA!

A good visual that my cross collection really does need to go above my couch, but that’s a two person job. See that ODB, I know you are reading this and that’s a job for you to help me with!

Kitchen fun

I am a nerd, I made a clover on my 7 layer taco dip. that makes it Irish, right?

One of the food tables. Missing the two pizzas as well as the two crockpots of Irish Nachos! The nachos were a hit. Everything was gluten free minus the pizzas and pigs in a blanket. I also made a vegetarian and meat pizza and vegetarian and meat Irish Nachos. I had placecards on all of the food so people knew what they were eating. I have 3 GF friends and 2 vegetarians that were guests and I wanted them to know I took them into consideration.

Kicking myself for not taking pics of the nachos, they were so easy and good! Not to mention TWO rice krispie treat variations (regular and mint chocolate), and Lucky Muddy Buddies (complete with marshmallows from Lucky Charms).Not a bad bar if I say so! I got about 10 bottles of wine for gifts which aren’t pictured. Many bottles of beer, wine, and Tito’s and Deep Eddy were killed.

My friends were too much. I am overwhelmed with the gifts they gave. I am busy writing thank you notes, so everyone gets one the next time I see them. Many sweet things to make my house a home! I can’t wait to get everything fixed up and show and after decoration picture!

And yes Michele, my sister told me the fact I have no kitchen decor almost gave you a nervous breakdown. There WILL be decor when you and Evan come when school gets out!

Next time I hope the weather isn’t so bad, because my yard is pretty cool. It’ll be even better when I’m able to fix it how I want it!

Latest Good eats

Fresh eggs from a friend’s chickens. I am not sure I’ve ever had an egg layed the same day.

Burger night at the League! (Cedar Park, but there is one in Lakeway too) Buy on get one free on Monday nights. a LUNA favorite. We’ve had 3 special occasion non-LUNA events there and two meetings and the service has been great. Can’t wait until it’s warm enough for us to enjoy the outdoor patio after sweaty summer runs!

Bunless american burger, homemade horseradish pickles (AWESOME) and a side of broccoli. I’ve also done a whole sweet potato or asparagus (their fries aren’t GF). Their burgers are GOOD (and you know I am a burger snob)! I heard they have GF buns now, which I will have to try sometime. I could make a meal out of those pickles.

Seared tuna at Chee Zee. OMG is was so good. One of the best I’ve had, mostly because of the sauce.Chicken kabobs from Tarka Indian Grill with veggies and basmati rice.

Race Report: 3M Half

January 19, 2014-3M Half Marathon

20th anniversary of the race. I believe this was my 4th time. 3M was my first half. 3M is also my standing PR (2012).

Expo

I didn’t go. I’ve been before. It’s small and uninteresting to me. They allow packets to be picked up by waiver (which I love), so my mom got mine.

Swag

I am pretty much going to whine every year until they start giving full size boxes of band-aids again. It’s still the best swag bag you can get. Tons of 3M products. Sandpaper, tape, safety glasses, wrist brace, towel, earplugs, post-its, hand sanitizer, medical support wrap roll, a sample pack of band-aids, super glue, electrical tape. And the tech shirt.

Course

My standing PR is on this course. That was 2 years ago, which was the last time I ran the race. They changed the course last year again but changed it back to the 2012 course.

It’s billed as flat and fast. I thought it was in 2012. In 2014 it didn’t feel flat at all.

The course offered water and sports drink about every 2 miles. In the middle our friends at Clif (parent to LUNA) had gels. This year the course also had baby pools on the course to throw your wrappers in! I loved that. I only take gels at water stops, so I never have to worry about littering. The Clif stop unfortunately wasn’t near water for at least another mile.

There were actually protesters at the start and midpoint of the race. Apparently 3M kills forests. Last time I checked, so did every other company in the world. The only thing I worried about was they were on a bridge over the course at the midpoint, I am glad there was a cop watching them, I didn’t want anything thrown on me. And I am pretty sure their pre-printed signs were not recycled! Hypocritical much?

Post Race

The new trend in Austin is to have food trucks come and sell you food after the race. I don’t run with money and I also don’t throw any in my drop bag. Just as well, I almost never eat post race food anyhow.

There was enough at the finish for the average runner. Bagels, bananas, oranges, and chips. I took a banana, an orange, and a bag of HEB brand Doritos.

Simple Saturday Steak night

A few of my favorite things. Steak, sweet potato, and Savory Spices!

Sweet potato baked and topped with butter and Savory Spice’s Pasta Sprinkle (I love it on everything). Steak coated with EVOO and Savory’s Bohemian Forest spice for 8 hours before cooking.

I cooked enough for 2. Since there is only 1 of me, that means tasty leftovers!

Easy AIP salad

Not the most colorful salad, but it was tasty and flavorful. Mixed greens from Costco, bacon roasted Brussels sprouts, avocado, and bacon wrapped chicken breast (chopped very messily). Salt and pepper.