Life gets BUSY….

So lately I’ve been slacking on Soapnights, there really is no excuse but I just have been feeling very overwhelmed with work, school and my new house.

Renovating a new house with my boyfriend has taken much more of our time then ever expected. Although we are absolutely loving it and it’s coming out beautiful, it’s a lot of work, time and money.

Happy New Years By the way…..

This year we took a trip for new years to a small town called Blairsville, Georgia. It’s a beautiful little town, and getting away from life for a while helped me relax a bit before starting the new year.

In life we sometimes get so busy we forget to stop and smell the roses ‘so to speak’. I’ve been so busy lately that with a blink of an eye it’s already 2012! When did life start passing me by? I have so much left to do before I turn 30 and this year is going to be my year.

Let’s start off with what I will accomplish before the end of the year:

Bachelors Degree in Psychology by June
Starting Masters in Journalism
Finish Remodeling my house ~ At least in the inside…
And…. A few things I won’t say because I don’t want to jinx them

That’s not such a long list, now is it?

Ever wonder what you will accomplish before your 30? 40? 50? I really don’t, I live in the moment and I try to focus on what is right in front of me at the moment, but getting older I do start to wonder and think about all the things I should have done by now that I’m still working on. So although this year is going to be busy I am going to make it an effort to write more on my site and if you have any questions or concerns you need advice on, I’m only an email away.

As for today. Happy Friday the 13th!!! Let’s start this weekend out with a SMILE~

xo
kristin nicole

Ingredients

* 1/4 pound good thick-cut bacon
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 cup medium-diced Yukon gold potato
* 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
* 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
* 5 extra-large eggs
* 2 tablespoons milk or cream
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
* 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, diced, plus extra grated cheese, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the bacon crosswise in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and yellow onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the jalapeno pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the scallions and diced Cheddar. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Cheddar and bake for another minute. Serve hot directly from the pan. (to see her recipe click on link foodnetwork.com-ina-garten )

My recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1/4 pound good thick-cut turkey bacon
* 1/2 cup of chorizo
* 1 tablespoon salted butter
* 1 cup medium-diced Red potato
* 1/2 cup chopped Red onion
* 6 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons fat free milk
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped curly parsley, & 1 twig of Rosemary
* 2 to 3 handfuls of mozzarella cheese, plus extra mozzarella and one palm full of Mexican mixed cheese, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the bacon in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat (If you use Turkey Bacon like I do, spray the pan with Pam first because the turkey bacon tends to stick to the bottom of the pan) for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and red onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the Chorizo for about 2-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the parsley and rosemary along with the mozzarella cheese. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Mexican mixed cheese and mozzarella cheese and bake for another minute.(Depending how much cheese you like). Serve hot directly from the pan.

Yummmm

Boy was this dish DELISH! I couldn’t believe how my inspiration for cooking this dish came from stuff I had at home mixed with Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. I definitely want to try Ida’s recipe, but I wouldn’t mind doing mine again either. I might even try a healthier version next weekend. Hope you enjoy, it’s a must try recipe. By the way, it says Omelet for Two but this is more for about 3 people. I only ate half of my slice.

xo,
kristin nicole

Shopping:

For the appetizer I decided to go for the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. First let me start off by saying Frozen Artichokes are hard to come by. I first started my shopping at Whole Foods, and they didn’t have any, so we headed to WinnDixie where I didn’t find them there either, so off to Publix, because Publix has to have them right? Ehhhh WRONG! They didn’t have them either, so as I ask people no one tells me that they come in a can, and I didn’t find this out until later when my boyfriends mom told us about it. So I bought baby artichokes because I couldn’t even find just one regular sized artichoke at Publix. I get home and find out that cooking this thing is going to take about 25-45 minutes. So we opted to return it and try buying the artichokes in a can at another Publix. While I was there, I decided to try and see if they had the frozen ones, and to my surprise, they did! YEAH for me, I can do the recipe as follows. So off to my house to start my first course.

BTW:

My other recipes included my Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette and for my side dish, Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs. They ask for Roma Tomatoes but I couldn’t find those either in Whole Foods, so thanks to the help of one of their employee’s I found out that Roma Tomatoes is the same as a Plum Tomato which they did have. Don’t worry folks, I didn’t just take his word, my boyfriend looked it up on the iPhone and found the same thing. And just in case you are ever wondering, Red Pepper Flakes is the same as Chili Pepper Flakes. (Another item I couldn’t find). So on to the recipes…

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

Ingredients

* 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
* 11/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
* 6 ounces cream cheese
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and serve hot. — Recipe courtesy Alton Brown (if you want to see the recipe click on link foodnetwork.com )

I followed the directions to a tee, and it did come out a little creamier then I thought, so if you don’t like too much cream cut the portions I say a 1/4 or 1/2 of what they ask. However, at first I wasn’t sure because it looked so creamy, but I have to admit, it came out DELISH! I added a few pitta chips on the side and get ready to dig in.

Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette:

Ingredients
Rib-eye Steak:

* 1 2-inch rib-eye steak, boneless
* 1 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Black Olive Vinaigrette:

* 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
* 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 1 garlic clove
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the Rib-eye: Preheat your grill pan on medium high heat. Coat the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with the Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes a side until the meat is medium-rare, remove from heat, and allow to rest.

For the Black Olive Vinaigrette: Combine the olives, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until mixed. In a small pitcher combine the olive oil and vegetable oil. Drizzle the oil into the blender with the machine running. Transfer the vinaigrette to a serving dish. Stir in the parsley and serve with the rib-eye. — Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (for the recipe go to foodnetwork-everday-italian.com )

At first I wasn’t sure I would like the Black Olive Vinaigrette because I am not a huge fan of black olives, although I don’t mind a few in my salad or on my pizza, I am not one to just pick them out and eat them. So I didn’t add as many olives as she required, just a few less, not much a difference and instead of 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil (btw vegetable oil is very similar to canola oil) I only added 5, but boy was it good. I just wanted more on top of my Medium Rare steak which by the way also came out DELISH! The Rib-Eye is simple to make and depending how you like it cooked that’s the only thing time consuming. If you like it like my boyfriend and I do, Medium Rare, then the dish only takes about 6-8 minutes on each side, depending on how thick you bought your Rib-Eye.

My Side Dish – Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs:

Ingredients

* 12 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
* 3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on paper towels to drain, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, gently toss the drained tomato halves in the oil mixture until coated. Marinate the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and Gorgonzola cheese.

Place the marinated tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fill each tomato half with the bread crumb filling. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly softened and the underside of the tomatoes are brown.

Arrange the cooked tomatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately. –Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (For recipe click on link Foodnetwork.com-everyday-italian )

Okay so my only problem was finding the Roma Tomatoes, also if you are only cooking for 4 people, 12 is way too many, 5 tomatoes are plenty. So I followed the directions and I used Gorgonzola NOT Parmesan as my cheese. It’s your choice but if you have never tried Gorgonzola I say try it, but make sure to get one that is not too strong if you don’t like a strong cheese, and if you do, go for it. But we opted for the creamer Gorgonzola. So because I used less tomatoes don’t use as many bread crumbs in your recipe. This plate came out good, but my boyfriend and I weren’t too in love with the bread crumbs, however the idea inspired me and next time I might use the garlic to season the tomatoes and the Gorgonzola cheese for the filling but I might add a few different items and leave out the bread crumbs. However, all in all the dishes came out DELISH!

I love trying new recipes and next Saturday I’ll probably try another.

xo,
kristin nicole

My mind struggles to think
I can feel every aspect in my mind trying to focus
but every time I close my eyes and try to think of nothing
I can’t!
It’s in constant motion,
constant thinking
negative thoughts, positive thoughts
but mostly just thoughts.

How can you get your mind to relax, to just not think of anything at all. Fully focus on nothing and let your body just relax.

Some say sleep is a form of relaxation.
Many people don’t remember their dreams, but I dream almost every night.
Mostly nonsense stuff that doesn’t even make sense.
When I wake up I feel exhausted sometimes, feeling like that dream had me running for miles.

My mind has control of me, my thoughts, my dreams my desires. How do you make it stop just for one second?
Just stop for one second so that I can breath with out feeling the pressure in my head.
Stop for one second so I can think straight.
When I read, I’m thinking
When I lie there, I’m thinking
When I dream, I’m thinking
It never just stops, it never just lets me relax, it never just lets me BE ME!

It’s like a fish in a bowl, swimming in circles for hours, for days until he takes his last breath. I sometimes feel like that, a routine, work, school, play, work, school, play. It never just stops, I never stop.

xo,
kristin nicole

–written by: kristin nicole — January 22, 2010 @ 10:15 am– Inspired by a dream, stuck in a dream–

Romance By Definition:

a. A love affair.
b. Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love: They kept the romance alive in their marriage for 35 years.
c. A strong, sometimes short-lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something: a childhood romance with the sea.

Is it overrated?!?

As a young girl, you watch all these movies that make you wonder, is Love really out there?!? Is there really that guy out there that will romance me and whisk me away into a fairytale ending?!? Unfortunately Life doesn’t work that way. There really is no Prince Charming to whisk you away into a castle, and you don’t become a princess over night. However, love is out there, that I do believe. But is Romance overrated?!? Do we expect men to ROMANCE us to wine and dine us until we simply just fall into there laps, giving them all our attention and love, Or do we just want Romance because that’s what the world tells us we want?!?

My thoughts

I think every girl wants romance, it doesn’t matter if that movie isn’t real, it just matters that a guy would try to make a night romantic, it just melts a girls heart. It shows how much the man cares or loves the women, and in every aspect in the girls heart, it tells her “He really does care”. To go out of his way, and make this a special night just for me?!? What more can a girl ask for?!?

There are some men out there that love to be romantic and constantly romance their women. However, there is that guy that just doesn’t see a point to romancing their women if they already have her. It’s not something you do to catch the girl, it’s something you do to show how much you love her, to show that you care enough to think about doing something so unexpected. I wouldn’t want romance all the time, it would kill the idea of being surprised every once in a while. But in a dark room, where your thoughts lie, you always dream about that one night, when the guy will come to romance you in ways you’ve never known.

Examples

The intimate setting of rose petals, candles, some massage oils, strawberries and campaign. (Something simple, that I’m sure most women would love).

I once heard a story about a proposal, it was so cute:

The story:

The girl got home from work to find a note from her boyfriend, it said pack 2 over night clothes for day and night and at 5pm a limo will be showing up to pick you up to take you to the airport. Don’t worry about where I’m taking you, just get ready. At 5pm sharp, there was a knock on the door, and the limo driver stood there with one single rose in his hand. He handed it to her and on the rose read a note: “From the moment I fell in love with you, I knew you were the one”. The limo driver took her bags and headed to the airport. At the airport she stood in the check in line and the lady at the counter logged her in and gave her another single rose. The girl looked around wondering how she knew who she was. There was another note “With every day that passes my love for you grows”. She got to the plane and to her surprise she was sitting first class. She boarded the plane to New York, and the flight attendant came up to her and handed her another single rose. Now she was freaking out. She asked if she knew her boyfriend, and the flight attendant just said no, she was just told to give this rose the person sitting in Row A Seat 2. Another note…”I know you are freaking out, but don’t, I’ll see you soon”. She landed in New York and a limo driver was waiting with her name, he took her bags and handed her another single rose with another note that read “I’ll see you soon”. She was starting to get nervous, what could all this mean. She didn’t think he would be proposing considering they had talked about it, but it just didn’t seem as if he was ready any time soon, so this had to be something different, right?!? The limo driver took her to Central Park, and told her to get on that carriage there. She asked the man if he knew her boyfriend and he said please hop on and I’ll take you to him. He handed her a single rose and a note that read “I’ve never known anyone like you, smart, funny, sexy, my best friend”. Has she rode her way through Central Park she saw candles lighting up the sidewalk and at the end of it was her boyfriend with a dozen Lilly’s and roses, as she walked up to him he got down on one knee, her hands began to shake because she couldn’t believe what was happening, he opened the box and told her how much he loved her, he couldn’t see himself with any other women, she was his best friend and he wanted her to be his wife. “Will you marry me”? With tears in her eyes she said YES!

Now that’s a Romantic Proposal!

So is Romance Overrated?!? Or is it just something we want to have?

What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ by Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out.
~ by Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) ~

xo
kristin nicole

Is it ever too late?

Sometimes in life we wonder if it’s ever to late to do some of the things we wished we had done when we were younger. Is it too late to go back to school and finish my degree? Is it too late to tell him/her I love him/her? Is it too late to buy those shoes I saw in the window? Is it too late to move to another city? Is it too late?

Nothing in life is ever easy, no one can tell you to turn right instead of left, and at the end of the day it’s never too late….

I hate to say I’m passed the age where I should have already received a Master’s Degree, let alone my Bachelors, but I’m in school and little by little working my way to getting that degree. I thought at one point it was too late, too late to continue and do what I want to do, too late to finish and too late to follow my dreams. I’m living proof that it’s never too late. Sure it’s taking me long enough, but I have to work full time and go to school, and although it isn’t easy each day moves forward and each day is a day closer to that degree. Going to school online I meet people who are a lot older than I am, also living proof, that ‘It’s NEVER too late’.

I still wonder about the ‘what ifs’, I wonder where I would be and what I would be doing, but in life ‘EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON’, and I truly believe that. (That’s another story I would have to tell you about another time…). But like I said….things happen for a reason. We meet people in our lives who cross our paths only to introduce us to people that will be in our future. If we sit here all the time wondering about the what ifs, and is it ever too lates… in the world, then life will pass us by and we’ll never know what could have been.

It’s never too late to live your dream, buy those shoes in the window or tell that person you love them. Don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop believing in hope, and have faith and strength to do the things you want to do in life. I’m not perfect and sometimes I get scared to move to the next step in life, but if we don’t keep walking forward, then we’ll miss out on all the great things life has to offer us. With every hard moment in life a good moment is right around the corner. With every little fear inside of us, lives the strength and hope to keep us moving forward. It’s never too late to do the things we want to do in life. Life is too short, don’t live it wondering if it’s too late, just get out there and go for it.

xo,
kristin nicole

Dreams do come true….

Dreams are what our hearts desire. We dream about the future and what we could have. When we are kids we dream big, we believe everything and anything is possible, somewhere a long the way we somehow lose that faith, that anything is indeed possible.

Sometimes I get anxious, I try to think positive and believe that anything is possible. If I think positive and believe in the future, it will happen. If I give it my all, the possibilities will become reality. As I try to believe in my words I get anxious, I think it comes from being scared. Scared about the ‘what if’s’ in life, scared that dreams don’t actually come true.

When you dream big you become big. Some think that if you dream big, you are only looking towards a bigger disappointment. But isn’t dreaming about what you want in life the goal we have to try to achieve, and if we fail, doesn’t that mean that we have to fight stronger, move forward and keep fighting for that dream? If we give up on our dreams, then what do we have to look forward to? No one ever said that dreaming big was easy, no one said that your dreams would come true the moment you think of them. We have to fight for our dreams, work hard to achieve them and remember that anything is possible. If we believe in ourselves, if we believe that anything is possible and that dreams can come true, then we live a life much easier than those who believe nothing good can come from dreaming big.

I never really thought about what I REALLY wanted in life, what my dreams were, or if I ever really had a dream that was so big it can make me happy. When I stop to think about where I am in my life right now, I realize all the things I didn’t do up until now, but I also realize all the good that I have in my life. Without heartbreak, struggles, fear, we don’t become the people we are supposed to be. Each morning we get up, we have a routine (either work or school, or some other type of activity) we then get home to either take care of our kids, study, cook etc and then we go to sleep to start the day all over again. But do you wake up going to a place you are happy with? Do we settle for contentment or do we fight the big fight called LIFE?

I want to fight, I want to dream and I want to believe that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE. I want to become who I am destined to be. I’m going to dream, I’m going to work to make those dreams come true and one day you will see that no matter what happens in life, dreams can come true.

~ Don’t ever stop believing in your dreams, because when you stop believing in your dreams you stop believing in yourself. ~Kristin Nicole

xo,
kristin nicole

Random Thoughts:

Pain is something we all feel at one point in our lives. When you hurt inside it’s a pain that is unexplainable, a pain that blinds us from what is really in front of us. Sometimes when we hurt we eventually move forward, we eventually see that the pain was for a reason, other times the pain turns into anger. Life is a journey that we are all on together, a journey we have to figure out on our own. We cross paths with people in our lives that change who we are, we either grow from them or we stay stuck in the paths we are crossing. I believe that we meet people in our lives for a reason, we might not see it in the moment, but they are there for one reason or another.

Sometimes we feel lost, and confused and we aren’t quiet sure where to go from there. I knew someone who was lost, this person forgot who they were, they weren’t happy with themselves or their life and they pushed everyone they knew away. Closing one door leading them into a depression I couldn’t get them out of. When someone tells you that they don’t love you anymore, you try to come up with reasons why they loved you to begin with, when a person stops loving themselves the only thing you can do is let them find their own way back. How do you help someone who doesn’t want to be helped? There is no guide book in life to tell us how to act, what to do, where to go, there is no help guide to tell us how to love or what to do when we feel sad or upset. We live this life for a reason and we try to figure it out along the way.

At times I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I have a vision of what I want to do, but fear holds me back at times, wondering if what I really want will ever truly happen, if I’m good enough for what seems to be the impossible. I try to think positive and I love to feel like anything is possible, but there is always that little negative voice inside who stops us from making our dreams come true. Why do people always second guess themselves, why do we feel like there are some things in life that just can’t happen?

My friend gave me this quote from Steve Jobs which I find to be refreshing, I have it up on my board at work so that I can see it and remind myself of the possibilities life has to bring.

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of our life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. ~Steve Jobs (2005 Stanford Commencement Speech).

xo,
kristin nicole