Tried and True Pinterest Recipes

Hi. I've been a little MIA this week. Part of it is that I spent three days visiting my husband who is currently doing a med school rotation in another part of the state. Dr. T and I spent a lot of time apart before we got married because he was away at school and I was living in our hometown educating the youth of America. So we're used to being apart. Except that during the past year we've only spent about three days apart, so I got kind of accustomed to being around him. I miss him. I also miss the things he does for me like picking up my cups and dishes after a meal and taking out the trash and doing my laundry. Seriously, I haven't done laundry in the three weeks since we parted.

The other reason I have been MIA is that, in true Louisiana fashion, I've been drinking four out of the last six days. This state is bad for my liver. But so good for my soul.

So since I figured no one would want to hear about four days of alcohol consumption I thought I'd share some tried and true Pinterest recipes that I've found. I love to cook. However, before my days as a married woman I'd never cooked more than grilled cheese and red beans and rice. Insert Pinterest into my life. I figured anyone could follow a recipe, right? So I took to the kitchen with my laptop never far and made things that were actually edible. Tasty, even! Here are my three favorite and most often used recipes that I've discovered on Pinterest and some notes of my own little touches that I add.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Via kraftrecipes.com

This recipe is all over the interwebs in various forms. This is my favorite version because it uses cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese. Sue me, but I hate ricotta cheese with a fiery passion. The texture is just gross to me. So two points for this recipe using cream cheese. My addition to this recipe is that I add a handful of Italian seasoning to the mixture. It's pretty bland without so I'd definitely recommend it. I also always sautee my spinach in olive oil and garlic before adding it to recipes.
Click for recipe  


Chicken Enchilladas

Via asweetpeachef.com

I lurvvve Mexican food, but I'd never eaten enchilladas before trying this recipe. This is my husband's favorite thing for me to cook, but I don't make it very often because it can be a bit time consuming if you don't already have chicken cooked. I usually don't completely cover the tortillas with enchillada sauce or cheese because I like the ends of the tortillas to get super crispy.
Click for recipe



Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Via rachaelraymag.com

This is delish. Rachael Ray can kind of get on my nerves, but I do have to say that I learned some basic cooking techniques from watching her on "30 Minute Meals" and this recipe is super yummy. I don't really measure when I make this recipe anymore, so my version is probably a lot cheesier than what the recipe calls for. I also turn the broiler on for the last two minutes of cooking to get a super crispy crust.
Click for recipe





So there you go, my top three fave recipes I've discovered via Pinterest. Once we get into the new apartment I will be trying out a lot of new recipes that I've come across lately, so I will definitely post the winners out of those. I also plan to start taking pictures as I cook and posting in depth recipes and instructions, so stay tuned!

Prayers and Unicorns

Y'all. This past year has been hard. 365 days and some change ago I was a high school English teacher, surrounded by my family and friends, and a New Orleanian. For most of the last 365 days I've been none of those things. I will never be at least one of those things ever again. I tried to roll with the punches as every single thing about my whole life changed. And for a while I was good with rolling. But some days were hard. Really hard. Call your mom and sob, "I want my old life back" hard.

It was on days like that that I had to convince myself that someday there would be a reward for the rough times. Someday something would work out the way we hoped. The way I prayed. Someday there would be something good.

That someday might be here. One small piece of the puzzle might fit the way we want it to fit. There are, of course, larger pieces that I hope end up fitting the way we want, but this small piece would make me so very happy. It would go a long way to helping the larger pieces fall into place one day.

It's very probable that this will happen. But I can't let the words of what it is leave my lips until I'm certain that it will. So until then we could use some prayers/thoughts/good vibes/unicorns that it will work out.

And if when it does work out, I'll let y'all know what it is.

*Steps up to microphone*
*Taps mic*

Is this thing on?

*Waves*

Hi blog readers!

My name is Courtney. I've started this blog partially because I love to write and partially because one day my husband said, "Hey, you should start a blog. You like cute things. And lots of people follow you on Pinterest."

This is true. Somehow, over 2,000 people follow me on Pinterest. I'm not really sure how that happened. Hopefully even some small portion of that number will read this little blog.

I am also blogging to chronicle the crazy stressful smash you head against the window delightful journey my husband and I are on while he is in med school. He's about to start fourth year, or what is known in the med school world as the time when you fill out lots of residency applications, pay lots of money for said applications, go all over doing electives and interviews, wait, wait, wait to see if you've matched with a residency program somewhere, and then one day (hopefully) find out where you and the wife who left her job, family, friends, and delicious hometown cuisine behind to follow you will be living for the next three to five years of your lives. It's kind of like riding one of those giant amusement park roller coasters that has a name like "Cyclone of Death" or "Screamin' Thunder" over and over again for four years of your life.

But fear not, this blog will feature other things besides me panicking and freaking out until Match Day. I'll post the progress as I decorate and DIY up my new apartment (it'll be the third new apartment in the third city I've lived in during the past nine months, but who's counting?), my job hunt as I look for and (hopefully) find a fabulous full-time job, random adventures with my best friend (which will include thrifting, couponing, a road trip to Houston to see the Backstreet Boys, and general hilariousness), and in general just chronicle this little day to day thing we call life.

Since we'll be sharing this little corner of cyber space together, here are some things you should probably know about me:

-As of June 9th, I will be 28 years old young.
-Exactly a week after that I will no longer consider myself a newlywed as I will have been married for one year.
-I don't drink milk.
-I lived in the Caribbean for two months.
-My husband and I have been together for seven years.
-I used to be a teacher and I've taught every high school grade at one point or another.

-I don't own a pair of tennis shoes. The closest thing I have is a pair of leopard print Sperry boat shoes. I'm that kind of person.
-I am a New Orleans girl through and through.
-I have a slight addiction to Coca-Cola.

-If left to my own devices I would monogram a large percentage of my clothes/home decor.
-My favorite color has always been pink and it looked like Pepto Bismol threw up at my wedding (in a good way).
-I currently work the front desk at a bridal salon part time.
-I am trying to remind myself daily that even though the past year of my life has been crazy, I am very, very lucky.

So there you have it, factual yet slightly random facts about me. If you're so inclined, follow me as I live my sweet, Southern life!