The One with the Apple Pie and Toxic Fumes

This morning I woke up super sore, not sure why. It took me a while to get motivated, but after a while I got busy doing chores around the house. Cam's been craving apple pie, so that was one thing I wanted to get done; however, my oven was super dirty. That was another thing I had to get done, that I've put off for a while. I spent a couple hours scrubbing my oven, but couldn't seem to get it all. Meanwhile, I think I inhaled a bunch of toxic fumes...That's always a joy.

I actually enjoyed baking the pie. I made the crust a couple hours in advance and let it chill in the fridge for the time being. I called my mother (the master of all pie makers) and she gave me some tips. 

All in all, my pie turned out AMAZING! My favorite part was the crust. I used my mothers trick by spreading egg wash/milk over the top of the pie (to make it golden) and then I sprinkled cinnamon sugar over top. 

Isn't it beautiful?

Then I had to make dinner. I had been busy all day and still sore, I didn't feel like spending a ton of time on it. I still had some pork chops that I had bought the other day - so I dipped the pork chops in an egg wash, then a breading I made (I used flour, sage, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, and paprika) and then fried it in olive oil and butter in my awesome cast iron pot.

They turned out great! I made steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes for the sides.

Right now, we're watching The Avengers, which I love. I'll post recipes soon!

The One where I Get Physical!

So the last couple nights as I've been trying to get to sleep, all I could think about is how fat I am and how much I want to lose weight. I tried to think of the last time I was in shape which was probable back in high school when I was doing cross country and softball. However, I remembered back in 2009 after I had moved back home from Utah - I got in the habit of exercising every day for a half hour. I had started losing weight and I was feeling really good about myself. I then moved to Spokane, and met this super attractive man and fell in love. Long story short, I stopped exercising. 

So I got up this morning, donned my workout clothes, and headed upstairs. I know this is super embarrassing, but the workout video I used was that of Jane Fonda. Does it make it any better that it's a video from her earlier younger years, and not her most recent videos for senior citizens?

I did pretty good considering. I've done some zumba with my sister-in-law a couple times recently, but I more or less moved my limbs around like a drowning victim until the song ended. Today I was determined!

I haven't worked out this hard in forever and was completely wiped out afterwards.

Good news is, after I rested for a good 15 minutes, I made some pico de gallo and ate it with corn chips and I did some "content population" for one of Cam's companies while I watched some Psych (Best show ever!!). 

The One with the New Pot

I REALLY wanted cast iron cookware. Growing up, my mother always cooked with cast iron skillets. She made the best fried chicken ever!!!! It was simply seasoned and the outside was perfectly crispy. It warms my heart just thinking about it. Cam came home from lunch out with his dad yesterday and as I sat on the couch, he took his usual place laying by my side with his head in my lap. This is how we prefer to talk. I stroke his hair, and he is an exceptional listener when he's comfortable. I really wanted to make BBQ chicken that night. Normally, his mother makes it in a dutch oven and cooks it really slowly. It's delicious! I thought it would be over-excessive of me to use a dutch oven, so I told him I wanted to get cast iron cookware. He gave me a budget to stay in and told me I could go get one. I was so happy! I went to target and found the most perfect cast iron cooking pot. YAY!!!!

I'm pretty sure I heard angels sing when I took it out of the packaging. I'm going to use this thing like all the time! Cast Iron cookware is the MOST sensible cookware you will ever have. If taken care of properly, it can last well over a 100 years. I seasoned it by spreading oil over the surface, and then placed it in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 min.

I filled it with the best BBQ sauce ever!! (Longhorn of course!) Then I placed a bunch of chicken breasts (I have this weird thing against chicken on the bone...all the sinews) in the BBQ sauce. I then placed it in a 300 degree oven. a couple hours later I turned it up to 350 and let it finish cooking. It was so tender and yummy!

Cam got me these pretty pink flowers just because. (He's the best!) and I had to set the table perfectly, of course!

We had our friends the Peterson's over, she made the best Caesar salad. (I LOVE Caesar salad, it's like my other favorite thing!)