Reading.

Anyone who knows me knows that 90% of the time, you will find me with a book in my hand. Always. Its like my crack. I have no preference of a type of book. If it looks good, I am reading it. Okay wait, I lied. I don't like the trashy romance novels my Mom used to read. No thanks! (Love you Mom!!!) But anything else, I am there. I just recently got into reading Fantasy novels and man oh man, I love them. Currently I am reading The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. It's the 2nd book in a series. Super good but man...900 pages? Apparently there is no such thing as a short fantasy novel!

There are 4 that look just like this....

That is just one of the four bookcases that are in the house. Plus the countless boxes in the garage of books that "didn't make the bookcase" cutoff. And the other books just lying around various parts of the house. OH not to mention that last year for Christmas, I got a Kindle. Then for Valentine's Day, Other Chef got a Kindle. And yet we still buy books (and books for our Kindles). Like I said, OBSESSION!

My most prized book collection...

A dear friend of mine sent me these last year. They are a limited edition Twilight collection that was only released overseas. I have read the entire collection a long time ago but not these yet. Why? Cause I refuse to. They are just too...pretty. I won't open them. I won't even try to read them. They will sit on my shelf and look pretty. They are my most prized collection. I know that sounds lame cause I mean come on, its Twilight. But because of who sent them. They will be dear to my heart probably for the rest of my life.

Are you a bookworm? What is your favorite genre? Is your reading an obsession like mine? What are you currently reading? 

Prime Rib and I don't mix.

Saying that I am picky about my steak is the understatement of the year. I can't stand any type of fat, gristle, etc on my steak. I just can NOT do it. If I try to, I am gagging and come on, that is never a pretty picture. So typically when I eat steak, I gut the center out and leave a ring of nastiness (at least to me) on my plate. Always. Never fails. I just can NOT do it. The only steak I have been able to eat has been filet mignon. That is normally the best cut of steak you can get! But let's be real here. Its expensive. I wish I could afford to eat an amazing filet mignon every single night of the year. Cause trust me...I would.

Having said that I decided to make a prime rib on New Years Eve for dinner. A friend, we shall call him D, was coming over and apparently prime rib is his steak of choice. So to say that I was a tad nervous is an understatement. I'd never cooked this kind of steak before. In fact, my experience with cooking steak was next to nothing.

The recipe I used was extremely simple. Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Score. Put it in the oven at 500 degrees for 20 minutes and then cook for 60-75 minutes at 325. Boom. Bam. Done.

Or was it?

So I put the meat thermometer in and all these juices came out. I was like Umm, this isn't right...too much. Or not. Apparently, prime rib is supposed to be like that. Yeah I don't know! So I stuck it back in for 25 minutes. Wrongo. The thickest part was nice and juicy and pink but the rest...not so much. So needless to say it was overcooked. Good. But overcooked. D and Other Chef devoured it so I guess it wasn't that bad!! But all that fat...no thanks. I think I will stick to my filet mignon.

Prime Rib ready to go in the oven!

Delicious...but not to me.

Homemade red skin mashed potatoes

Fresh green beans steaming

Chicken Caesar Sandwiches (or why reading labels is important)

So I saw this recipe on a couple blogs and I knew I was going to try it. Okay, really I saw the recipe and I had some chicken breasts and didn't know what to do with it. There we go. I only had a pound of chicken breasts so I went to the store to get another pound and some slider bread, came home and started cooking. I cooked this on high because it was now 2pm and I didn't feel like eating at 7-8pm.

Around 530pm, the chicken was done. I went into the pantry and went to take out the dressing. Well...this is why READING LABELS IS IMPORTANT! I had Italian dressing...NOT Caesar. So I stood there contemplating on what to do. Do I run to Fred Meyer (which is literally right near my house) or do I just use it the italian dressing and see what it tastes like? After about 10 minutes of thinking and Other Chef convincing me otherwise, I went to Fred Meyer.

THERE I had yet another dilemma. Do I buy creamy caesar or just straight caesar? So I stood there for another 5 minutes contemplating that in my head. Did the recipe call for regular or creamy? Would it make that big of a difference? I just...don't...know. I ended up buying some creamy caesar and a bottle of Moscato for New Years Eve and headed home.

Went home, dumped in the dressing and the cheese, put it back on for 30 minutes and then served. Little Man is always critical of my cooking. Well any ones really. I have to warn people ahead of time that its not their cooking, I assure them. Its that he is SO DANG PICKY. I had him try a fork full and of course, he was like Oh I don't know about this Momma. Really? Really son?? So I told him tough cookies. He's gonna try it on a sandwich. You know what...Little Man ate two sandwiches. That's what I thought! Momma 1 Little Man 0.

The link to this deliciousness can be found here. For those that don't want to go to the link, the recipe is below!

 It really is amazing and we will be eating this again! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Oh deliciousness!

Tell me this doesn't just look delish? So easy to make too!

Recipe that I used:

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
adapted from Betty Crocker 

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 bottle of your favorite Caesar Dressing (I used Brianna's Asiago Caesar) OR 1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup plus one packet Caesar Dressing mix

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
12 french hamburger buns or buns of your choice (about 2 1/2 inch)


1.  Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker, cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours.
2.  Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon.  Place on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds.
3.  Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing (or cream of chicken plus dressing packet), Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top.  I only used about 3/4 of the bottle of dressing.  Stir until mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30-35 minutes or until mixture is hot.  
4.  Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto lettuce in each bun and serve! 

Chickbands Winners!!

Thank to you all that entered my giveaway for the Chickbands giveaway! 

The winners are!!! 

Amy with comment #7

Clarinda with comment #12

AND 

Nicole D with comment #18

Congrats to all the winners!! Contact me within 48 hours at soljerster AT gmail DOT com with your email addresses so I can contact Kara at Chickbands! 

Stick around because I have many more giveaways lined up for the very near future!! 

Unhealthy Weakness

Eating out.

This is honestly the worst freaking weakness I have. It really is.

You'd think that.

I have actually done extremely well with cutting back on the Starbucks. I haven't had a Starbucks coffee since November (before Thanksgiving I might add) so why is it so hard with the cutting back eating out? I will tell you why. Because it's so damn convenient! Last thing I want to do every single day is make a meal, then clean up, etc etc. Gets tiring day after day.

BUT I need to start cooking more. Not just for the sake of my ass but also for the sake of the blog. Because I miss cooking! I miss having delicious food making my house smell AMAZING! I actually miss cooking.

Dang, I actually do. Is that normal??

What are some of your weaknesses? What do you do to help cut back on them?

Merry Christmas!

First off, Merry Christmas!!! I hope that your day was filled with everything you wanted and also filled with laughter, family and love! 

Being away from family for the holidays has always been hard for me. I grew up with a rather large family so when it was only three of us, that was hard to get used to. I haven't been home with my family since 2004.

Yeah. Long time.

But today, as I sat in my jammies at noon, folding laundry, watching A Christmas Story for the 3rd time today...I realized I kinda like it. I hate missing them. Don't get me wrong at all. But the fact that I can do what I want, when I want to...is kinda nice. No hustle and bustle to get from one house to the next. No having to get ready to go immediately after breakfast. Just a relaxing, laid back Christmas with the family.

And that is what I think Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas!!! 

Just a Single Picture.

I made PW's Ultimate Club Sandwiches the other day..this is now my 3rd time making them. And I swear, they are even more amazing each time. 

You know you want one of these....