J E R R I C A J A N E E N

Simple Garlic Roasted Chicken

This last Thanksgiving, I successfully roasted my first turkey! It was a huge thing, 14 pounds I believe... for just a party of three. A little over the top, but a huge accomplishment in my book. About a week ago Jordan and I went grocery shopping and I picked up two 5.5 pound whole chickens. Each of these would be much easier and more practical for three people.

This recipe is super simple, and one of the best to follow if you've never roasted a whole chicken before! It took me 30 minutes to prepare, working with a completely thawed chicken. 

(Actually, I realized just how new I was at roasting chicken... small font because because I'm embarassed, but I actually put the chicken upside down in the pan! You will want to follow the same directions but actually place the chicken breast side up... I wasn't paying attention, and I have the back side up. Oops. It was still super yummy, but no crispy seasoned skin on the breast meat! Sad. Healthier, but sad.)

Ok, here's the easy recipe:

Simple Garlic Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

- 5-6 pound whole chicken (thawed completely)

- 1 onion

- 2 large Idaho potatoes or 4 smaller, such as Yukon Gold

- 4 carrots (I actually used about 1.5-2 cups frozen sliced carrots since I had them on hand)

- 1 lemon

- 1 head of garlic

- salt & pepper

- 2 tablespoons butter, melted

 

Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Then, cut up the onion, cut the potatoes into quarters and slice the carrrots. Place them into the bottom of a large pan.

Next, ready the garlic and lemon. I roughly exposed all the cloves and gave it a very rough, thick chop. No need to peel. Half the lemon. 

Place the chicken on top of your veggies in the pan, and stuff the inside with the lemon halves and all the garlic. Shove it! It will fit, trust me. 

Next, rub plenty of salt and pepper all over that chicken! Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the veggies, too.

To finish preparing, spoon the melted butter all over the chicken skin. This will get the skin all brown and crisp while in the oven!

Place in the oven uncovered for 1.5 hours. That should be the perfect cooking time for a nice, tender chicken. To easily check if it's thoroughly cooked once the timer goes off, simply poke the chicken with a fork inbetween the leg and thigh, push a little around the punture and watch for the liquid that will run out. If it runs clear, it is done. If you see blood, it isn't done yet. 

Mine was perfectly done at the 1.5 mark.

Take the pan out of the oven, and take out the chicken. I placed it on a large, clean cutting board. Immediately cover the chicken with foil. Since I was low on foil (a.k.a. out of foil), I covered it with a clean dish towl. Let the chicken sit for at least 15 mins. This will allow the chicken to reabsorb the juices.

Place the pan of veggies back into the oven for 15 mins to continue cooking.

^ Place those back into the oven!

Once the veggies are done, or for me, once the boss man walked through the door - carve that chicken and dig in! Serve those 8 pieces with the vegetable mix.

Yum. Since a 5-6 pound chicken will typically serve about three people, we had plenty of meat leftover. I plan on recycling the leftover meat for tonight's meal! I scavanged and shredded all the nice meat I could find, and plan on making chicken tacos tonight!

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Steak Sandwiches

Another fun evening of cooking for me! I took a break from my crocheting and decided to spend a good hour in the kitchen for fun (could've been done faster, I bet, if I would've stopped texting), cooking up Steak Sandwiches for last night's dinner (and quite a few left over for Jordan's work lunches). 

Here is my recipe:

Steak Sandwiches

Ingredients:

- 1 yellow onion

- (2) two 12 oz boneless beef top loin steaks (New York Strip)

- Olive oil

- Salt

- Pepper

- 5 large Kaiser rolls

- Sliced sharp cheddar cheese

- Mustard Mayo

 

Mustard Mayo:

Combine:

- 3/4 cup mayo

- 2 tablespoons mustard

- 2 tablespoons sour cream

- salt to taste

 

To begin, cut the onion into medium rings, then cut each round into thirds so you're keeping the strips pretty large.

Set a skillet on medium-low heat, and add olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the oinions for sauteeing. Sautee for 15 mins, or until nicely carmelized.

Here are mine just put on the heat:

Now to work with the steaks. Make these are thawed all the through, as we will be cutting them into strips. (I cut mine into strips, as my husband enjoys steak cooked well done. If you would rather have a rare steak, keep the steaks whole. In a skillet on high heat with olive oil covering bottom, sear each side of the steak for one minute. Turn heat down to medium and continue cooking for ten minutes, flipping once at the five minute mark. Then cut into strips for the sandwich)

I cut off the thick excess fat, this is optional. Then I sliced up each steak into thin strips. Some of the strips were pretty long, so I chose to half those pieces. Again, that is optional.

In a large skillet (olive oil covering the bottom) on medium heat, throw the strips in, season with plenty of salt and pepper, and cook until brown throughout. Stir constantly and take off the heat as soon as they are all browned. I didn't want to risk the pieces turning hard or dry if I left them on too long.

With the onions still sauteeing... mmm. Smelled delicious.

Brown! Take off the heat ^

Cut the Kaiser rolls into buns, and spread on the Mustard Mayo.

Add the steak strips to the bun bottoms; I used a pair of tongs, grabbed a bunch of meat from the skillet and shook off the excess oils and grease before adding it to the sandwich.

I topped the meat with the sharp cheddar, then with the yummy sauteed oinions (doing the same with tongs and shaking straight from the skillet).

Add the bun tops, slice in half and serve for easy eating!

Enjoy!

xo, Jerrica

 

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What I Wore - Date Night

Last night Jordan and I went out for the night. We did a little light shopping, we went to Build a Bear for the little one we're expecting in the summer, and we went out to eat at Olive Garden. I ordered an entree, but I definitely filled up on the delicious endless salad and breadsticks!

I am embracing the love of comfy pants! I seem to live in leggings these days, particularly simple black.

  

Well, I noticed I chose the same necklace I wore last time, oops. It's shows how much I love it!

What I Wore: Flowy color block top, Xhilaration by Target; Black leggings, Decree; Black & gold necklace, Charlotte Russe; Black & white wedges, Charlotte Russe.

  

 

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Jordan & I Build-A-Bear!

Jordan and I went on an extra special date Thursday night! The main part of the date was to go to Build-A-Bear to create a best friend for Bean! For those just tuning in, Bean is the baby Jordan and I are expecting this summer. 

We had so much fun! It was a hilarious time, as the place is build for three year olds, but we did it all! I can't tell if the lady at the store thought we were crazy, or if she was just laughing with us... we'll hope for the latter. As we went through the process (we were first time Build-ers), we made sure to document the experience really well, as we had a Shutterfly photo book in mind. Actually I put the photo book together yesterday and the order should arrive in the mail soon!

I'm excited we were able to both make Mr. Bear and document the process, because I have a feeling it will mean a lot to us & our little one for a long time!

I still giggle as I think about the whole process of creating a bear at Build-A-Bear... gosh. It consists of picking a "skin"...

...and taking it to get filled with stuffing. But it's so much more than just 'stuffing'. You can choose a sound to place in the paw (we chose to create our own sound; "Mommy loves you. Daddy loves you, too" in each of our own voices)...

(This is me messing with the sound recorder; Jordan requested that we go in the very back corner to record our voices... he was shy.)

...and you press your foot on the pump to help fill the bear.

You also choose a heart for your bear - which you rub between your hands for warmth, rub on your nose for good luck, rub on your heart for lots of love, and we got to rub it on our hair so baby has lots of hair.

After some minor surgery, Mr. Bear came to life and we got to give it a bath at the bath station (we did this mainly for Bean's "The Story of Mr. Bear" book).

We picked out a classy outfit & headed over to the computers to make a birth certificate for my baby's future best furry friend.

It was so much fun, but like I said, the workers probably thought we were crazy. It's good to be crazy sometimes, though ;)

I'll share the book soon. We added about 30 pictures of the experience, and wrote it out like a story for a young child! I'm excited to receive it and add it to the book shelf.

Most of all I'm excited for our baby to come meet his Mr. Bear (well, to meet all of us)!

xo, Jerrica

 

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I Made This: Infinity Scarf

Another project finished over a span of evenings. This infinity scarf is celery green and a creamy off-white.

If you are interested in purchasing this scarf, I would sell it for $12 + $5 shipping anywhere in the US. Contact me via email at [email protected]

Here's a photo to show the length when it isn't doubled:

Things I Love! Pinterest

Everyone has either heard of Pinterest, or is obsessed with Pinterest. I find it hard to admit that I'm 'obsessed', but I guess I do spend all my moments of boredom scrolling through the Popular pins. If my assumption is wrong, and you haven't heard of Pinterest, stay away or else your days or evenings may be very unproductive. All jokes aside, Pinterest is a place for organizing ideas & inspiration and haring it with the world.

I use it for just that, to organize ideas and inspiration that I happened to come across while scrolling through the site. Just for a fun short list of 5 Things I Love, I found five pins on my personal Pinterest that I keep around because they really inspire me! 

1. Book of Maps

I don't know how I would ever go about recreating this beauty, or if I could ever muster up the patience to cut out those intricate shapes. I do still dream of this sitting on my coffee table.

2. Pink Kitchen Cabinets

Jordan has put the kabosh on ever having pink kitchen cabinets, but I love the styling of this particular kitchen. While the cabinets are pink, the vibe of the room doesn't come off as Barbie. Maybe I can work on my convincing skills...

3. Crocheted Fox Pillow

I just can't wait until I can find the time to create something similar to put in the baby's room!

4. Hawiian Print Dress

This dress gives me the warm, sunny feelings of summer... but I would settle for spring right now.

5. Take Me to the Ocean

Well this definitely makes me wish for summer! Actually, I keep it because it reminds me of our honeymoon spot, and I can't wait until he takes me back... maybe not this summer but the next?

 

Couples in the Kitchen - Warm Bean Dip

Jordan and I planned for special at-home date Tuesday night! At first he decided that I wouldn't have to make any dinner, as he would pick something up on the way home along with snacks to devour during a Netflix movie. Well, about halfway through the day I changed the plans as I was stressing over both healthy pregnancy eating & the fact that my stomach wasn't feeling great after the oil-fried eggs in a basket I made myself for lunch. I told him it might be better if we skipped the frozen pizza or hot dogs and just cooked something at home. I gave him the option of a dinner ready as soon as he walked through the door, or a night of cooking together... and you know what he picked? Cooking together! I love this answer.

Same as last time, I didn't want to overwhelm our time together in the kitchen with a difficult recipe. Jordan would rather fill his stomach with his pretzel sticks and Mt. Dew while watching ESPN before sauteing onions and leaving something to cook in an oven for two hours while his stomach is empty. Maybe someday we'll get there, but for now, I take baby steps. Not all men are cut from the same cloth - Maybe your significant other is an aspiring chef, so definitely choose a recipe that would work well for the both of you! 

I gave him the option of a few recipes, and he chose the Warm Bean Dip. Since he doesn't make it home from work until about a quarter after 6pm, a quick meal is ideal as by this time we're pretty hungry, and we didn't want to wait forever to start our dinner & a movie. This recipe really is a thirty minute meal, as it takes ten minutes or less to gather and mix ingredients, and about 20 minutes to warm in the oven.

Here is our recipe:

Warm Bean Dip

Ingredients:

- 2 cans refried beans (16 oz each)

- 8 oz cream cheese

- 1 cup sour cream (or again, an 8 oz container)

- 1 packet taco seasoning

- 16 oz package of shredded cheese of your choice, we chose the Mexican blend

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

I was the ingredients scooper, and Jordan was the mixer. This whole recipe can be summed up in about two big steps! 1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the refried beans, cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning.

2. Pour into a 9 x 13 glass dish, spread out evenly, then top with all that cheese!

Well, I guess the third step would be to place the dish into the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melting and bubbling up.

Mmm. Ready to serve with tortilla chips! Dinner and a movie time :)

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Storage Solutions: Vintage Suitcases

Jordan and I live in a small-ish apartment. I have a hard time saying tiny or small, because I personally think we could have ended up living in a much smaller space, and there are many other couples out there (and larger quantities of people) living in smaller spaces than us. In the summer, the baby will make us a family of three all sharing this home. Our apartment consists of an entry way of decent size (our previous apartment did not have one), a separate kitchen, a large area that we turned into a dining room and living room, two bedrooms and one & a half baths. I can honestly say I am very comfortable with the amount of living space we have, even thinking about a baby coming to share it with us. Sometimes, though, storage space (better: lack of storage space) is a problem.

Houses seem to have all the nooks, crannies and closets for storage space. Don't forget about attics, and since we live in the midwest, basements. The apartment we live in, unfortunately doesn't have as much storage space as I would love. The entry way has a small closet, each bedroom has a closet, each bathroom has a cabinet under the sink, the small kitchen has as many cabinets as it can hold, but that's it. Maybe we've just accumulated too much stuff, but through adding creative storage, we've been able to make do.

For large storage options we've added various furniture items, and other ways of creating storage that I will share with you in a later blog post. But sometimes I find myself with small miscellaneous items, that I don't use often, but without a space to store them. That's where the creative interior decorating comes in - my solution was vintage suitcases. I had started collecting blue, small ones awhile back. At first it seemed like a good idea, then it kind of turned into a bad idea, as I didn't have a specific use for them at first & they just created unnecessary clutter. One day, it all just finally fell into place: we had put a black tall bookshelf up next to our fish tank, but we didn't have books to fill it... more specifically, zero books. I placed the suitcases on the shelves, and really liked the quirky style it gave the dining area. There was no logic in keeping the suitcases empty, so it only made sense to use them as storage as well as decor.

The bookshelf has since turned into an unofficial "wet bar" of sorts, an idea that once again only came about because of lack of storage - this time, in the kitchen for stemware.

The top half is looking great, while the bottom half looks a little sparse. You really can't tell when you're standing/sitting in the dining room, though and the view is blocked by the dining table and chairs.

Each suitcase has a hidden purpose of holding storage. Most of the items are sewing-based, but other suitcases hold blank stationary and notecards, and misc odds and ends that wont fit in the traditional junk drawer.

I have two more places in the apartment that vintage suitcases are being used for storage. 1. A small green one next to the couch that hides current crochet projects, for eazy access when I'm watching TV in the evenings. 2. Two large vintage suitcases that I inhertited from my great granparents, that are stacked in the nursery, yet to be filled with storage items (but I certainly intend to use the large spaces inside of them, probably for craft supplies)!

 Here's the full thing, and all of it's storage glory: (excuse the horrid iPhone photo quality)

Thinking about storage actually makes me feel like I need to go around and add to my donation pile to get rid of some of the clutter around here. Sigh. We'll see if it ever ends.

xo, Jerrica

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Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Another yummy meal made for the husband two nights ago. Jordan and I are big fans of the way this recipe turned out, also! It was so delicious, we had a couple more bowls as our snack before bed!

Here is my recipe:

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground beef or pork

- 8 oz egg wide noodles

- 1 can tomato sauce

- 8 oz sour cream

- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

- 1/4 cup green onions

- Shredded cheddar cheese

- Crushed red pepper (optional)

- Salt

- Pepper

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Begin to brown the meat, while also bringing water to boil for the noodles.

Once cooked, drain the meat and return to the heat. Add the tomato sauce, salt & pepper, and crushed red pepper for an optional kick. I keep those extra handy little packets of crushed red pepper from the pizza places, so I just placed the contents of one into the skillet. Mix well, then lower the heat to let the mixture simmer while cooking the other ingredients.

Once the noodles are boiled, drain and move to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the sour cream, parmesan, and more ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Add the chopped green onions and mix again.

We will begin to layer the ingredients. In a glass pan, add half the noodle mixture. On top, spread half of the meat mixture. Top with shredded cheese. Repeat once more to finish off the ingredients.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until all the cheese is nice and melty!

Serve to you and your loved ones and enjoy! 

 

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I Made This: Batik Receiving Blanket

 

Are you actually telling me I bought fabric & completed the project it was intended for... all in the same day? This never happens; the first half of that sentence hardly happens. I have stacks of long forgotten fabric that prove it. 

As for this receiving blanket I made... can you tell I'm loving a certain subject lately? All things BABY related :) With Jordan and I expecting a little one of our own this summer, I have been thinking ahead and buying a few (or lots of) things here and there. We don't currently know the gender we are having, but I do know one thing, I've about had it with the boring selection of pale blues and pinks you have to choose from for babies. I'm not the type to be seen with a pink ruffley stroller or carseat, and I'm going to avoid the boy-ish train covered bedsheets as much as I can.

I can't help that I want my style to reflect on the items I will be carrying around for the baby... so I've begun making my own items! As time-consuming or unnecessary as that may sound to you, it's actually been really fun. It helps that many baby items are fairly easy to create or sew. As you saw in an earlier post, I have already made a previous receiving blanket out of a remnant of fleece.

I love that I can pick the colors, shapes and sizes! Take a look at my newest blanket for my baby Bean:

 

It was really fun to put this one together! 

I bought all the materials this morning at JoAnn fabrics... for a total of $3.78; which is awesome is you think about the price of A. a custom receiving blanket, and of B. having an activity to do this afternoon. Since the baby will be born in the summer, I felt it was okay to leave the blanket as the thin one layer of fabric. I finished the edges of the 36'' x 36'' blanket by sewing bias tape around the border! I even took the time to sew the bias tape on correctly, pins and all. It's exciting.

  

I can't wait to make something new for this baby of ours :) 

xo, Jerrica

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