Sunday Dinner

Hey y'all! This week has been CRAZY! I worked my regular shift (eight hours) Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday through Friday I worked ten hour shifts each day to make up for the snow day I took Friday. It wore me out! Saturday I took a trip to Huntington for Phi Delta Chi initiation and to see my parents and sister. I loved getting to spend time with them even if it wasn't for very long. I didn't get back to Lexington until pretty late Saturday night, so you can imagine my excitement to have a relaxing Sunday. Tyler and I made a quick Costco run, picked up a few things from WalMart, and got my car washed. We came back home and did the closest thing to relaxing.. sit on the couch and do homework LOL Hey, I'll take what I can get!

For lunch, we had some potato soup from Costco. We LOVE it. We also buy their chicken tortilla soup. It's pre-made, so you just have to heat it up in the microwave or on the stove. If you leave them unopened, you can keep them in the refrigerator for several months. They are the perfect size for two people to share. I put the soup on the stove and put some bacon in the air fryer. My cousin, Michelle, sent me a picture of bacon she had made in her air fryer, and it looked so good! I just had to try it! The bacon grease dripped to the bottom, and the bacon was as crispy as ever. It was delicious! I crumbled up the bacon and put it in with the soup. YUM! I also made some homemade sweet tea. I'll put my recipe for that at the end of this post! FYI: It is true that sweet tea tastes better out of a mason jar filled with ice! Just throwing that out there!

After more homework, I decided to cook us a good Sunday dinner since through the week I usually just make quick/easy dinners. We had fried chicken (made in the air fryer), homemade buttermilk biscuits, and sweet potato casserole. The chicken recipe I use is from a cookbook I picked up in Charleston, South Carolina. It is called "Carolina Family Reunion Fried Chicken."  Normally when I make it, I fry it in vegetable or canola oil. Since I just got my new air fryer, I wanted to see how chicken would cook in it. I have mixed feelings about it. I could fit three pieces of chicken in my XL air fryer, so I had to cook it in two batches. When I fry chicken, I make lots of extra pieces for Tyler to heat up later because he loves it so much! I let the chicken soak for several hours in buttermilk, then I coated it with flour and other spices and placed it in the air fryer. I cooked it on 360 degrees for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the breading on the chicken stuck to the fryer, so I lost some of the crispy part on the back side of the chicken. For the next batch, Tyler had the brilliant idea of putting a light coat of olive oil using a basting brush over top of the flour to keep the breading from sticking. It didn't completely solve the problem, but the second batch was much better than the first! I am going to do a little research on this to see how others fry chicken in the air fryer. All in all, it was good. The chicken was moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Also, neither of us could tell a difference in the taste of the chicken, which is the most important part. It truly did taste the same as when I deep fry it in oil! I am still trying to get the hang of cooking with the air fryer, so I'm sure with more practice, I can find a good way to fry chicken in it! 

So check out my "biscuits" LOL I tried making biscuits last weekend with regular milk instead of buttermilk, and they just weren't very good. This time I used buttermilk and decided to make "drop biscuits" instead of rolling them out and using a mason jar lid to cut them into circles. BIG mistake (pun intended). Y'all, these things are huge. I put them in the oven, and they just kept growing LOL You can imagine my surprise when the oven timer went off, and I saw these.. they're the size of my head LOL Tyler said they would be perfect to pour gravy over haha! They were actually very tasty, but I couldn't even finish half of one LOL Oh well, you live and you learn! 

Sweet potato casserole 

Air Fried Chicken 

Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

3 Lipton iced tea family size bags

1 and 1/2 cups of Domino sugar

1/8 teaspoon of baking soda

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Place the tea bags in a pitcher and add the baking soda. Pour the boiling water over the tea bags and let them steep for about 5-6 minutes. Remove the tea bags and pour in the sugar. Stir until it dissolves. Add another 4 cups of cold water to the pitcher. Refrigerate and enjoy! * This tea is a little strong and VERY sweet so adjust the recipe to your taste. *

I hope y'all enjoyed this quick blog post! Until next time.. take care! 

Deep frying with... air?!

Hey y'all! Several of you have asked me to do a quick review on the new air fryer I got the other day. This evening I used it for the first time to "deep fry" frozen french fries. Before I get into this post, I'll be up front and tell you that it is AMAZING! I'm also going to do a quick review on the NuWave oven, which I have been using non-stop lately! Tyler's grandma Barbara got it for us for Christmas two years ago, and I use it for EVERYTHING! The NuWave and now the Philips Air Fryer are definitely going to be staples in my kitchen!

What is so important to me (and I'm sure to all of you too) is saving time. When I get home from working all day, the last thing I feel like doing is staying in the kitchen all evening to make a meal that Tyler and I will eat in 15 minutes. Also, I like to keep the kitchen as clean as possible while I cook to reduce clean up time afterwards. The NuWave and Air Fryer meet both of these requirements of cooking quickly and without a mess!

The NuWave cooks just about anything without the need to preheat. It has a rack that mimics a grill, and when you cook meat in it, any fat/grease from the meat drips off of the grill rack to the bottom of the oven. I can come home from work, put frozen chicken in the NuWave, and in 15 minutes have it completely cooked without waiting for it to preheat. Today I made burgers and fries for a quick dinner. I bought pre-packaged frozen hamburger patties, and I put them in the NuWave. It automatically sets the cook temperature to 350 degrees, and I set the timer to 9 minutes for burgers. It comes with a guide telling you how long to cook your meat which depends on if it is fresh or frozen. After 9 minutes, I sprinkled a hamburger seasoning on the patties then flipped them. Then, I let them cook for another 9 minutes, and after they cooked, I put some cheese on them. I always line my NuWave with aluminum foil to make cleanup that much easier! I have wrapped potatoes in foil and cooked them in the NuWave, and they were delicious! Also, the NuWave comes with special pans that allow you to bake brownies, cakes, etc. using the NuWave. It is a huge time saver and so convenient!

Frozen Hamburger Patties

Cooking in the NuWave

Cooked Patties with Seasoning

Finished Product

Now, for the part you all have waited for... the Air Fryer. I am going to be completely honest with y'all. I burned the first batch of fries.. bad! They were jet black when I took them out of the fryer. I showed Tyler, and said, "Well, it works!" LOL We were cracking up. I made another batch and turned the temperature down and decreased the cook time. The second round was much better than the first. The Air Fryer took less than 2 minutes to pre-heat, and I cooked the fries for 7 minutes. They were very crunchy/crispy, and I honestly couldn't tell a difference as far as taste and texture is concerned. I didn't use any oil at all. I've been reading if you use fresh potatoes instead of frozen, you should coat the fries in about a teaspoon of olive oil before putting them in the fryer. I also put our hamburger buns in the air fryer for 1 minute, and it toasted the bread perfectly! I am already convinced this was a good purchase! I use my deep fryer A LOT for potatoes, hash browns, chicken wings... you name it, I have fried it LOL and if you need more convincing that this is the greatest thing ever, I found a recipe on Pinterest for homemade cinnamon sugar donuts in the air fryer. I told Tyler they HAVE to be healthy because you aren't using grease to make them.. right? Right!

Disclaimer: Do NOT cook your frozen fries on 390 degrees for 20 minutes LOL

These are the fries still frozen going into the Air Fryer

Finished Product with Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Toasting the Hamburger Buns

This is Tyler's Dinner Plate: A cheeseburger with onion straws, Hellman's mayonnaise, and a dash of BBQ sauce.. it's all about balance y'all! LOL All those toppings are okay because the fries were made without grease LOL

All in all, I would most definitely recommend the Air Fryer. We got an amazing deal on ours. We went into Williams-Sonoma and saw they were having a 50% off sale. We asked the cashier to get us one, and when he went in the back, they were sold out of the ones on sale. There is an XL version and a smaller version of the Philip's Air Fryer. The main difference is the size/capacity of the tray.  The smaller version was the one they had marked down to 50% off. We were so lucky because he ended up giving us the XL version for the sale price of the smaller one. It was just meant to be for us to have an Air Fryer! I plan to make some chicken wings in it soon, and I really want to try stuffed banana peppers! I will post about anything else I make in the Air Fryer. I hope y'all enjoyed this quick post on the NuWave and Air Fryer. Until next time.. Take care! 

Back Into the Swing of Things

Hey y'all! I just started at my new rotation site this week, and it is the beginning of my final semester of school. I have been in school since I was five years old, and this May will be my third and final graduation. At least, I think it is.. you never know what the future holds! LOL The start of a new semester brings the need for lots of preparation since I'll be busy with school and rotations. Last semester we focused solely on rotations; however, this semester we have a capstone course we have to do in addition to our rotations. I also pre-ordered a NAPLEX study book which I need to start going through. Oh joy! (insert sarcastic eye roll here) I finally finished all of my hospital rotations and now have two retail sites and a compounding elective. I am loving my current rotation. It is at an independent pharmacy, so it reminds me a lot of my favorite pharmacy ever - Man Pharmacy. I love all the people that work there! It has been great so far! 

Every morning on my way to work I drink a smoothie that I make using my Nutribullet. I eat breakfast when I first wake up, but I need something to hold me over until lunch which can sometimes be as late as 2:00 in the day. I thought I would share some of my favorite smoothie recipes and how to make these breakfast smoothies quickly. Here is a link to my Pinterest board where I got ideas for some of these smoothies.

I knew I would be rushed in the mornings once rotations started, so I spent the weekend prepping. I bought up some bananas, strawberries, fat free vanilla yogurt, and low fat almond milk. I already had chocolate and vanilla protein powder as well as some oatmeal. These are the main ingredients I use when making breakfast smoothies, but I'll include a recipe for my favorite green smoothie too!

First, I washed/rinsed all of my strawberries. I always wash any fruits and veggies with this FIT spray. It is organic and cleans the food really well. 

After the fruit has been cleaned and rinsed, remove the stems and place the strawberries on a lined baking sheet. Freeze the strawberries for about 30 minutes. By doing this before bagging up the strawberries, you prevent the berries from sticking together when they freeze in the baggie. 

After the 30 minute flash freeze, I added 5 strawberries to a snack size baggie and put them in the freezer.

Next, I peeled the bananas and cut them in half. I placed two halves in a snack sized ziplock baggie and put them in the freezer. If you cut the banana into small pieces, they will turn brown easily. You can leave the banana whole, but it is a little more difficult to blend it in the smoothie. I think the halves work best, and you can use one half of a frozen banana if you want to make a smaller sized smoothie! 

Here is a smoothie I had today! I'll post the recipe below. This is a peanut butter and banana smoothie. Since the bananas are frozen, it is already cold and ready to enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

1 frozen banana

1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

1 tablespoon of peanut butter

2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons of uncooked oatmeal

Vanilla almond milk

Put all ingredients into the Nutribullet blender cup and fill with vanilla almond milk to the max fill line. Blend and enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

1 frozen banana

1 snack size bag of frozen strawberries

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons of uncooked oatmeal

Vanilla almond milk

Put all ingredients into the Nutribullet blender cup and fill with vanilla almond milk to the max fill line. Blend and enjoy! (You can leave out the bananas in this recipe if you want a plain strawberry smoothie, but the bananas make the smoothies creamy.)

Green Smoothie

1 handful of spinach

1 snack size bag of pineapple

1 frozen banana

Coconut water

Put all ingredients into the Nutribullet blender cup and fill with coconut water to the max fill line. Blend and enjoy!

I love my Nutribullet because it is a quick and easy way to make a healthy and tasty treat. I used to use it to get my daily servings of fruit and veggies, and I would drink only green smoothies. Now, I'm using it to keep me from getting hungry at work until I can have lunch. I figured I would share my favorite breakfast smoothies that I have made with you guys. You could make these smoothies with any kind of blender, but I based them off of the Nutribullet because that is what I have.

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Prepping ingredients for smoothies isn't the only thing I've been doing lately. With the start of a new year, I decided to take on a new Bible study. I'm currently re-reading Seamless by Angie Smith. If you haven't checked out this study, I highly recommend it. I decided to do The New Testament in 90 Days. The reading should take no longer than ten minutes a day, and everything is already planned out for you. Here is the link to where I found this plan. I saw something online (I believe, ironically, it was on Instagram) that said imagine what we could be/do if we spent as much time seeking God as we do on social media. Wow. I don't know about y'all, but I love my Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Like, I LOVE it. It made me realize I need (and want) to LOVE reading my Bible, praying, and being a light to others. I need it, and I want it - so I'm going to do it! Join me?

  I hope y'all enjoyed this post! Until next time.. Take care y'all!

New Year Cheer

As most of you know, I love anything and everything Lilly Pulitzer. My friend Tamus said it best when she said it is more than just clothes - it is a lifestyle. A Lilly girl is fun-loving, considerate, generous, AND stylish. It is hard to not be happy in such bright and colorful clothes! I have been addicted ever since my first purchase - a pale pink Lilly dress with gold embroidery. Every year, they have two sales - The After Party Sale in August and The New Year Cheer Sale in January. This is serious business for Lilly Lovers everywhere. I'll explain...

Lilly announced via Instagram that the sale would be on Monday January 4th starting at 8:00AM. Sunday night my mom, sister, and I spent the evening preparing for the next morning when the sale would go live. We logged into our accounts, updated card information, and browsed the clothes making "wish lists." You might think this is crazy or a little excessive, but we are experienced veterans when it comes to shopping the Lilly sale. Nine times out of ten, the site crashes - oh shift - and you're left with the scraps by the time you can get access to the site again.  

Monday morning my alarm went off at 7:30AM. I made a cup of coffee, ate a quick breakfast, and woke my sister up for the sale. The two of us crawled into my bed with our laptops and cell phones logged onto the Lilly website/app. We patiently waited for it to go live and kept hitting the refresh button. I must have refreshed my computer as soon as it went live because my computer played a cute little song and a screen popped up saying I had 900ish people ahead of me in the virtual line. I was ecstatic. IT WAS LIVE! My excitement dwindled when I saw the small print that said your wait time is over an hour. My disappointment was quickly replaced with gratitude when my sister refreshed the website on her computer, and she had 6,000ish people ahead of her in the virtual line. Whew! 

We yelled for my mom to hurry and log onto the website before it was too late (not naming names, but a certain Lilly Lover prefers sleep over a good deal LOL). Mom grabbed her computer and phone and headed up to my room. We rearranged ourselves, and all three of us sat in my little bed waiting for me to get access to the website. We figured the best strategy would be to place one big order from my account and everyone pick out what they want at the same time. As soon as I gained access to the sale, it was like a game of supermarket sweep - only better because it was Lilly! 

Kelly, knowing the urgency of the situation, would quickly notify me when she saw something she wanted and shout out the size she needed. I would add it to the shopping cart and move on. Putting an item in your cart does not reserve it, so you have to check out quickly or you could lose the items you selected. This sale is so big that within minutes the most coveted items are sold out. My mom, unfortunately, didn't quite comprehend the need to be quick about selecting her merchandise. This was my mom during the sale: "Wait, go back up to that shirt." "Let me see that in the other color." "Do I already have that?!" "That isn't a very good deal!" "Click on it again so I can make sure." "Hmmm, nah I don't want it." 

She was driving us crazy! LOL The whole time she was so indecisive! We would be yelling, "DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT?" Then a countdown would begin... "5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. Mom, we have to move on!" After ten minutes of intense shopping, we checked out. Shew.. we did it! After the order was complete, we scrolled through our items to see everything each of us picked out. My poor mom only got one white v-neck shirt. WHITE. Not even a Lilly pattern. LOL We felt so bad for her! By this time, Kelly had moved up in the virtual line, and her computer was next in line to gain access to the website for round two. We had to make sure my mom got a few cute things! She was having a rough time with the sale. Remember when I mentioned I had 900 ahead of me and Kelly had 6,000 ahead of her? My mom had 20,000ish ahead of her! She didn't stand a chance! After you check out you are put back at the end of the line. After we completed our first order from my account, I went to the end of the virtual line and had 45,000 ahead of me. I told y'all this is serious business LOL Girls go crazy for this sale! 

My mom ended up being able to leisurely shop from Kelly's account after we completed our first order from my account. After we finished shopping, I got on Instagram to see what other Lilly Lovers scored from the sale. I saw where Lilly posted a picture saying "DON'T THINK - JUST SHOP." I told my mom this is what Kelly and I had been trying to tell her all along. We just couldn't find the words to describe it. You don't have time to ponder on each item. If you like it and it is in your size, it goes in the cart! LOL I feel we had a very successful haul from the New Year Cheer sale. I received confirmation that the order will be here TOMORROW! I can't wait to try everything on! 

Here are the items I got from the sale:

I have these pants in white, solid navy, and the Lucky Charms print. I love them! They have a great fit, they're comfortable, and they last forever! I've worn the same three pairs of pants for YEARS!

Recently I developed an obsession with palazzo pants. They are so comfortable, but you still look put together when you wear them. I love the colors in this print!

I got this top because I can wear it with ANYTHING!

I love the print Blue Lagoon, so I made sure to snag a couple items in the print while they were on sale!

These racer tanks are so comfy and light in the summertime!

After the rush from the sale wore off, I decided to get back on the computer and browse a few online Lilly boutiques to see if they offered anything at a discounted price that wasn't on the Lilly website. Y'all, I struck gold. I have been wanting the Lilly one piece bathing suit since it first came out, but I could not bring myself to pay $128.00 for a bathing suit. I just couldn't do it. Of course, the bathing suit eventually sold out, and I couldn't find it anywhere. I tried all the major department stores that carry Lilly, Amazon, Ebay.. I looked everywhere. It was gone. Forever. LOL Okay, I'm being a little dramatic, but I was really sad that I had no hope of getting that bathing suit someday. To my surprise, when I logged on to The Pink Pelican's website, there was that bathing suit on the first page of items. I just about had a heart attack! My dad bought it for me after I explained to him how rare this item is and just how much I wanted it. Truly, I think he just liked the idea of a one piece instead of a bikini for his daughter LOL I cannot wait to wear it this summer!

To those that have never shopped a Lilly sale, it is unlike anything you've ever experienced before. Lilly clothes are stand out pieces that last a lifetime. People still collect vintage patterns from the 70s to this day. I look at purchasing Lilly as an investment. These clothes are going to look great for years! They are expensive, which is why I stock up during the sales. I rarely pay full price for something from Lilly. When these items are on sale, the prices are comparable to prices of brands people buy every day; however, the quality is so much greater. I always have and always will love Lilly Pulitzer! If you did shop the sale, I would LOVE to know what items you got! Until next time.. Take care y'all! 

Auld Lang Syne, Y'all!

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year! Tyler and I spent the evening in with takeout. We originally had plans to go to Cole's, a local restaurant in Lexington. I had my outfit picked out and was ready for a fun night. Unfortunately, I've been sick the last week or so, and I just didn't feel up to it. When I woke up on NYE, I felt a little better than I had been feeling the last few days. I cooked a hash brown casserole for brunch, did my Bible study, went to get my nails done, and picked up a few things at the grocery store. I think going from not getting out of the bed for 3 days to being out and about for 4 hours put me down for the count. When I got home, I was nauseous, exhausted, and just didn't feel like squeezing into my fringe skirt and sky high heels LOL Tyler picked up some food, and we watched football until it was almost midnight. It wasn't what we had initially planned, but it was still a great way to ring in the new year! 

When Tyler and I stayed at The Biltmore, we had a delicious hash brown casserole there, and I have been trying to find the recipe ever since. I stumbled upon this on Pinterest, and it seemed pretty similar to what we had there. I made it, and it was awesome! Super easy too! Click here for the link to the recipe I used.

My new journal from my grandmother that I've been using for the Seamless Bible Study

My nails for New Year's Eve

My adorable parents sent me this selfie before their NYE celebrations, so...

...I sent this one back to them of me on the couch LOL

Today I cooked a "good fortune" meal for Ty and his parents. My family always makes cabbage rolls on New Year's Day, but Tyler and I don't really like cabbage rolls. I decided I would start a new tradition for us and make Hoppin' John - a southern dish prepared to ring in the new year. I found several variations of this recipe on Pinterest, but I tweaked it to be something Ty and I would enjoy.

The dish is a combination of bacon, kielbasa, green pepper, jalapeños, cajun seasoning, black eyed peas, and rice cooked in chicken stock. It was so good! Ty added some tabasco sauce to his to kick it up a notch. I also made some greens and corn bread muffins. I had a time finding a can of black eyed peas in Lexington. Our local Kroger was completely sold out, and Tyler went this morning to Meijer and bought the last two cans they had. It was our lucky day! I looked up the tradition of having this meal on New Year's Day, and I found that black eyed peas are consumed for luck, the greens represent money, and the golden cornbread represents gold. We covered all the bases with our meal LOL The bowls I have the food in were a gift from my little Ashton. They are Kate Spade, and I LOVE them! 

Hoppin' John

Greens

Corn Bread Muffins

After we ate, we relaxed for awhile. Then Tyler wanted to go to the gym. That's fine and all, but the problem was he wanted me to go with him. We compromised and took a walk in our neighborhood. We jogged on the way back, and Tyler said I can now say I have gone for a run every day this year LOL

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2015 was a truly spectacular year for me. So many wonderful memories were made. At the top of that list is becoming Mrs. Courtney Adkins! Here are a few of my favorite moments of 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store!

Valentines Day at Castle Post

Kentucky Basketball Game for Ty's Birthday

Seeing my sister perform as an Alpha Xi at Greek Sing 

Pinning ceremony at MUSOP

Annual trip to The Omni Homestead

Celebrating Bree and Heath's wedding

Bachelorette party at Glade Springs and Daniel Vineyards

Bridal Shower

Wedding Rehearsal

Walking down the aisle 

My bunch on our wedding day.

Private dinner on our honeymoon in Jamaica 

Go Herd!

Labor Day cookout with family and friends

Celebrating my 26th birthday

Lauren's Bridal Shower

Lauren's Wedding

New car!

Tyler being recognized as a "Rising Star"

Dinner at Tony's

Wine and Design with my favorite girls

First married Christmas!

I became an aunt! Meet the adorable Bo Duncan.

As you can see, I had an awesome year. I'm going to wrap this post up with the absolutely precious picture of baby Bo. I will always remember he was in Taylor's tummy at my wedding. I can't get over that jaw line, and I am so glad he has dimples! I love him so much, and I haven't even met him yet (stupid cold!) I'll be going home soon to visit with family and friends and to finally meet that sweet boy! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and I pray for peace and blessings for you all in the upcoming year! Until next time.. Take care y'all!