Fondu night

I've been a blogging fiend here lately, but there are just so many things that have been going on that I want to share! Tonight a friend of mine, Abbie Carpenter came over and we had a little girl time over some fondu (girl time... including Alex).  We talked about life, relationships, religion and friendships.  We hadn't seen a lot of each other lately so it was VERY nice to have some time to catch-up on each others lives.  I also wanted to say that we had the best fondu... ever. We had a little fondu set courtesy of Alex's grandparents, but it's actually very simple to make even without a set!

Ingredients we used:
Chocolate Chips
Milk (optional, but it makes it more creamy)
Strawberries
Bananas
Pretzels
Marshmallows
Apples

To melt the chocolate, just put it in a sauce pan on low heat and stir frequently.  If the chocolate appears to  be melting unevenly, add some milk and stir more frequently.

As far as the fruit goes, simply cut it up in sizes that you feel fits you best, and that will be easy to dip

Put the chocolate in a bowl, dip the fruit, and enjoy!

Lemon pepper chicken salad

So in the spirit of my New Years resolution to get fit (read about here!) I've also decided to track my new cooking adventures through different recipes.  I am certainly not the best cook, which is why I'm so lucky to have an Italian boyfriend who enjoys cooking more than anyone I know.  Granted most of these recipes will be from him, I'm also going to take a journey in cooking myself, and perhaps broaden my horizons and try new things!

I may not be the chef, But i'm certainly Alex's muse! I am always willing to come up with new ideas and meals for him to try,  and he's always up for the challenge.

Alex took the time out of his busy busy day to cook a special and scrumptious lunch for me, and he also decided to share the "how to's" on my blog! So, here it goes...

Ingredients:

3 Chicken tenderloins              Olive Oil
Lettuce ( I use romaine, but    Balsamic Vinaigrette
it doesn't matter)                    Croutons (Rothbury
1 onion (red, sweet, yellow,      Farms are really
whatever you prefer)              good and
1 tomato                                 Really cheap)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese   Cracked Black Pepper          
Lemon Pepper Seasoning (The McCormickGrinders are awesome and provide great flavor)


First, using a medium frying pan on medium heat, saute chicken in about 1 tbs Olive oil.  Apply lemon pepper seasoning allow chicken to cook.

While the chicken is cooking, cut and wash the romaine, dice the onion and slice the tomato.

When chicken is mostly cooked, cover the bottom of the pan with the vinaigrette and allow the chicken to finish cooking and the dressing to reduce.

When all of the above is complete, the cooking is done.  The following is how to prepare the salad with an appealing presentation:

Bunch the lettuce in the middle of the salad bowl
Add diced onion sparingly
Place sliced tomato around the perimeter of the lettuce
Sprinkle cheese generously around salad
Place cooked chicken on top of the salad
Apply desired amount of dressing and Croutons to the salad
We also decided to pair our meal with Crystal Light Peach Tea

So, try it yourself! Or... if you're as lucky as me you can have a handsome man cook it for you ;)

Next step: ENJOY!