Looking For A Buyer

The first week of April I purchased a groupon for a Sunrise hot air balloon for TWO on a weekday thinking that we would have plenty of time to use it and be able to cross it off our bucket list as well as make my wishes come true (I've been dying to this!!)  Well, I was wrong.  I tried to book a reservation with this place 2 days ago and turns out, I probably should've done it 2 weeks ago or more. This place is booked until the 2nd week of June and this is just WEEKDAY reservations. The weekends are booked until August.  I never knew that riding in a hot air balloon would be as popular as it is. SO, now I am needing someone to purchase these tickets off of us since we are moving at the end of this month and won't be able to use them.  I'm really bummed about it, but hey -- who knows.. maybe one day I will be able to ride in a hot air balloon. It would be awesome to do it in California because of the scenery, but possibly anywhere will be just as good too.

If you are interested or know anyone who is interested in purchasing this groupon from me, feel free to contact me below with a comment.
This is a $438 value, but the cost paid is $198 - so I am asking what I paid for $198 OBO. This groupon does NOT EXPIRE, but the value of the groupon ($198) does expire on April 1, 2014. The place is located in Temecula, CA.

This would be so fun to enjoy it with your spouse or your close friend/relative. It would a good way to celebrate a birthday, or anniversary, or possibly an engagement!

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie….

A few days ago Matt was craving some tollhouse cookies that you can get pre-packaged from the store. I didn't feel like going out and buying them when I knew I had all the ingredients at home to make them for free + I told him my cookies will taste better.  Since I am a picture-holic here are some pictures below.

The two dozen cookies I made didn't last very long but they were delicious…..take that tollhouse!

Grilled Chicken Topped with Roasted Tomatoes Salsa

I made this meal the other night to mix up our everyday pasta that we normally do. I'm trying to use up all the food we have before we move in three weeks to our new home in Florida (oh, did I not tell you about that?! We bought a house! We are new homeowners. Our first time buying a home was just perfect - it really was an outstanding experience; but you're not here to read about that, you want to know more about this dish I made….maybe I'll write about our home in another post!)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients for chicken marinade:
2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh oregano (doesn't have to be fresh, but that's what I did since I had it on hand)
1/2 tsp. rosemary

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. of thyme
1 garlic clove, minced


Ingredients for Tomato Salsa
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp.  salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 medium shallot, diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tbsp. oregano


Start by putting all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade in either a bowl or a ziploc bag. Put your chicken in the marinade then place it in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes.

Whenever you want to start to use your chicken, prepare the salsa by starting with the tomato. After it is chopped, place it on a baking sheet with foil. Then add the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put it in the oven at 400* for 20 minutes until it just starts to brown.

Prior to cooking in the oven.

Cook the chicken on the grill for 5 minutes on one side, flip over and 5 minutes on that side. Close the lid for about 10 minutes, and then flip again. Make sure you don't overcook it because you don't want dried out chicken!

Place the rest of the ingredients for the salsa in a pan that is coated with cooking spray. Then add the tomatoes that were in the oven to the pan. Turn the heat on medium-high for 1-2 minutes.

Put chicken on plate and top with salsa. Make some pasta on the side or roasted green beans.

Best part about the chicken? It is only 310 calories per serving.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Over White Rice

This recipe was delicious and very simple to make - thanks to the famous Crock-Pot!

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time:  4 hours on High or 6 hours on low
Servings: 5

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts  (on the bone)
1 (10 oz can) of cheddar soup
1 (10 oz can) of cream of chicken soup
1 (14 oz can) of chicken broth
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of garlic salt
1 cup of sour cream
5-6 cups of broccoli - I just used a steam fresh bag of broccoli you can find in the freezer section
Rice

Putting the cheddar soup, cream of chicken soup, broth, salt, and garlic salt into the crock pot. Turn on desired temperature setting.
Place chicken breasts in pot with water. Allow water to boil and turn down to medium heat for roughly 35-40 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Shred chicken into pieces. Place chicken into crock pot.  (You can always just use boneless skinless chicken breasts and place in the crock-pot in the beginning without cooking, but I only had bone in chicken.)

When it's getting closer to the finish time, about 5-7 minutes before you want to eat, place the steam fresh bag of broccoli in the microwave. Make your rice however the box or package says to.
Add 1 cup of sour cream to the crock-pot, stir. Then add the broccoli, stir, and enjoy.