My place of peace

This past weekend Jeremy and I had the opportunity to go to the Memphis Tennessee Temple! This is the first time I have gone through a temple this small.  It's so different from all the temples I have been to in Utah.

I love going to the temple.

 No matter where I am -- Utah, Alabama, Tennessee, California --I can still feel peace in my heart.  The temple is the only place where I can go and feel absolute peace.  It's a place where I feel blessed to go to and feel the love that Heavenly Father gives me. 

My heart swells with joy and happiness as I'm inside temple walls. 

How lucky I am to be a member of this church and be able to experience this, which is one of the best feelings anyone can and will ever feel in their life. This past week three of my family members have been in the hospital for some serious stuff.  And it's been hard knowing the pain that they are going through during this time. No matter what is going on in my life and the hardships that I'm going through, I know that when I'm in the temple I can feel God's arms around me comforting me. 

Turkey Meatball Sliders

This week I made some Turkey Meatball Sliders!

 This is the second time I have made this recipe and of course, I love it! 

It is really good, yummy, and easy. 

 I like this recipe because it is really simple and it doesn't make a big mess! 

haha I hate having to clean up after dinner. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 cup Panko
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 large egg
• 2 TSBP chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 cup marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 8-10 honey wheat slider buns, toasted, for serving
• Basil leaves, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, Panko, Parmesan, garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, egg and parsley. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 2-inch meatballs, forming about 8-10 meatballs.

Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until all sides are browned and meatballs are cooked through.

Preheat oven to broil.

To assemble the slider, place 1 meatball and a spoonful of marinara on the bottom of each bun. Top with mozzarella and place into oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve immediately, topped with 1-2 basil leaves and covered with the slider tops.

Tip: Cover the meatball with marinara sauce on top. This will add better flavoring and will taste better.  I also used the Sweet Hawaiian rolls which adds some sweetness.  

Yields: 3-4 Servings

Author: Damn Delicious

the land of the south

Chef Natalia

I've never been much of a cook.  Let me rephrase that: I don't cook. PERIOD.  Now that I'm done with school and I have more time on my hands, I've been trying out some recipes.  

Clearly my chicken is a little too blackened.  Honestly, I should have taken a picture of Jeremy's instead because his was perfect.  The only thing I changed from the original recipe was adding the slice of avocado. Other than that, this was a great recipe and y'all should try it out!

Ingredients:

• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Paprika
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
• 2 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup of Quinoa
• Juice and Zest from One Lime
• A dash of Salt and Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

1. Combine all the dry seasonings in a small bowl. Mix them together and then season both sides of each chicken breast.
2. Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over medium/high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for seven minutes on each side with the lid on.
3. Add the chicken stock and quinoa to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium/low heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.
4. After the chicken breasts have cooked all the way through, remove them from the pan and let them rest for seven minutes before slicing them.
5. Add the warm quinoa to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.
6. Serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the quinoa. If you find the blackened seasoning too spicy, you can add a quick and easy avocado cream sauce to cool it down.
7. Just place the flesh from an avocado along with two tablespoons of Greek yogurt in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Author: Sarcastic Cooking

Recipe type: Entree

Serves: 2-4

Total Time: 30 mins

free LDS blog buttons

As I was designing my blog I KNEW that I wanted a button to let readers know that I am LDS. 

How can you get one of these adorable buttons?

1. You can create a profile on mormon.org 

And then it will give you the option of selecting an icon/button.

or

if you don't want to create a profile, the designer of the buttons has links available. 

2. You can get designs here on  Linday's blog.

There are different designs and styles available, but my personal favorite was this one. 

So go ahead, click the button to learn more about my religion!

finally a home

We have been working hard in trying to transform our little apartment into a HOME.

Every week it seems like there is something extra we are getting. 

Finally we are close to being done with a couple of more things to get.

Our new wall art from Hobby Lobby! (half off)

I'm trying to do all of the art in our home. EXACTLY HOW I WANT IT. So that's something I've been working on including re-watching all the seasons of PLL before the new one premieres on Tuesday!

So excited. 

• In 2010 I got glasses for the first time. And finally this week I GOT CONTACTS.  Today is my second day wearing them and it's pretty weird knowing that I have things on my eyes.  Don't laugh but I'm having the most difficult time getting them on and off.  I know everybody does it, but literally it's taking me FOREVER to do it. 

• This week Jeremy had his first tornado scare.  I'm used to because of living in Alabama, but he's never been in a tornado before.  When the sirens went off he was freaking out and all he kept saying all night was, "I should have gotten renters insurance." Hahaha he would.  Don't worry, we are okay and the tornado didn't end up hitting our area. 

Time for bed.

Until next time.

Just because

I'm lounging at home 

and then suddenly

 I hear a  knock on the door. 

I open the door and to my surprise,

There is a handsome man holding flowers for his wife.

He got me flowers just because.

weekly updates

So I'm going to try to do weekly updates on us! I know it's hard to keep in touch with everybody now that we live away, far, far, away.  On second thought, maybe monthly updates? We'll see. 

• We have officially been living here for a month.  It doesn’t even seem that long.  It was a hard move considering that we had nothing moving in.  We have had to buy all new furniture for our place which is an overwhelming task.  And not to mention that we had to put together our furniture (well, mostly the husband did this). 

• This week we volunteered for a performing dance company here in town.  We were part of the backstage crew.  I’ve never been part of the theatre scene but this was really fun.  We had to switch the set in between scenes.   The show was about 2 hours long.  My favorite part of this was the TALENT!  It was so beautiful to watch all these young girls perform something that they have been working on for months.

• After this we went to eat to Macaroni Grill.  I haven't been to Macaroni Grill in YEARS. Yes, YEARS.  This Macaroni Grill is right down the street from where we live, not even half a mile away.  Hello, I will be there more often!  We haven’t had date night in a while so it was night to go out on the town. 

• I finally caved in and decided to buy two things of face makeup.  I had been eyeing the products for a while and decided to finally purchase them.  When we walked out of the store, it was dark and we unloaded the cart as fast as we could.  Later that night I realized that I hadn’t pulled out my new treasures.  I walked around the apartment looking for them.  I kept asking Jeremy if he had hid them. And he kept saying no.  I kept telling him to fess up and give them to me.  He said he didn’t have them.  Then I went to the car and didn’t find them.  OH NO! WE LEFT IT IN THE CART. Ugh.  This is so frustrating to lose something AFTER you purchase it.  Has this ever happened to you?