Tawny's Tid Bits: August 2013

~ Homemade Marinara ~

We love pasta in this family! If I could have it day and night I probably would (with some variation of course).
Remember when I made the Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana? Well the website also had a weight watchers homemade marinara recipe. Well that's what I would call it, they called it Filetto di Pomodoro. By the way the Skinny Taste website is great. I just got an email for a Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Soup. Looks yummy and can't wait to try it.

What you'll need is:

2 (28 oz) cans imported crushed tomatoes (Tuttoroso)
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup fat free chicken stock
fresh basil

Just realized this can said .... in tomato puree... oops. :(

I couldn't find the exact brand of crushed tomatoes they called for, but I had no problem finding imported crushed tomatoes. A healthier way? Probably to buy my own organic tomatoes or grow my own. Maybe one day I will have a garden. :)

First you saute garlic in oil, add your onions and carrots and saute on medium for about 2-3 minutes, until soft. I got my finely chopped onions and carrots but using this thing called the ninja. LOVE IT!!! If you have one, you'll know what I mean! :)

Add your tomatoes and chicken broth and simmmer for about 45 minutes.
We were painting during this time and it smelt SOOO good!

I did not add the basil in there yet, because we weren't eating it at that time.
But if you are eating this directly after cooking it, then add it in about 35 minutes into the simmering part.

After it cooled down I put it in 2 containers and put in the fridge. I wanted to can it, but not sure how it would do. Might have to ask around about that one.

Although we didn't get to try it that day, but we did with some spaghetti (turkey burger and wheat pasta) a few days later. YUMMM is all I can say!!!

Stayed tuned for when I tried to make BAKED Mozzarella sticks and use the marinara. Needless to say the baked part didn't go too well, but the marinara was still a success a week later!

~ Insta-Recap of My Instagram ~

Can you believe it's almost the end of August?
Yesterday was a full day in the sun for us and today was gonna be staining and sealing our fence, but eh... I'd rather make wreaths! LOL! I've had 2 requests for wreaths. Also think I'm gonna try to set up a class for my friends around here to make Christmas wreaths. I know it's only August, but need to get going on this soon! Christmas is literally right around the corner!
Just a reminder on September 8th I personally won't be linking up, but the link up will be available for others.

If you'd like to join in on the link up, it's simple:

Follow me here or Blog lovin and on Instagram
Link up your post and make sure you add the button

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8-19-13 The best part about living near Nashville is being able to attend FREE block parties!!! Sadly Jake didn't come on stage until an hour past the time he was supposed to. So we stayed for a few songs then left, we didn't get to see Flordia Georgia Line or Dierks. :(

8-21-13 The start of a wreath I'm making. I actually am about 95% done. It was ALOT of pinning.

8-23-13 Sushi date night with the husband. They brought out my sushi with a flower, super cute! :)

8-24-13 It was the most perfect Saturday for a Golf Scramble! My friends son has Juvenile Diabetes and this is the 2nd year I've helped out. This is the first year I've actually seen the course (on the golf cart) and I told her next year I am sitting at hole 16 to take photos of everyone. I can't wait!!! It'll be some beautiful shots!

~ Cool Ranch Crock Pot Chicken Tacos ~

Lately I've been trying to find healthy recipes (for my picky self) on Pinterest and I have to admit I get side tracked when I just see stuff that looks good! Ooops!

Then I get side tracked on DIY crafts. But we will go there another day.

I few weeks ago I was looking for some crock pot chicken tacos. So I asked my food friend over at Fantastical Sharing of Recipes for some. She gives me this one and this one. Which I have to admit, look amazing!

However, when I actually decided to do it, I was mesmerized by a picture on Pinterest. Yeah... pictures will suck you in! Right?! Not to mention I'm a BIG fan of ranch. Ranch on everything is how I like it!

So, you can find this recipe here. Be sure to follow me here (if you please). :)

I threw the idea at the guys at work, they pitched in some money and I went to the store.

Here is what you'll need:
- 4 chicken breast (about 1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 packet of taco seasoning
- 1 packet of ranch dressing
- 14 ounces of chicken broth
- Any toppings you'd like

I used like 6 chicken breast and doubled everything else. Why 6, I ran out! Eek!

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot.

I started it like at 5:30 in the morning, unplugged it like at 6:30 and plugged it back in at 7:30 when I got back to work. You are supposed to set it on low heat for 5 hours.

After those 5 hours, shred the chicken and put back in the "broth". Then let sit for another 30 minutes or so.

Bamm, there you have it! Sorry for the sucky picture. I personally used corn tortillas, they did fall apart. Anyone have any clue how to prevent that from happening?

This fed these 4 men and me. With a little left over. They gave the 2 thumbs up, but then again is it hard to impress men when it comes to food?

Sadly I couldn't taste the ranch. It was a Pinterest fail in that department. But oh well! Still good none the less.

I hope you enjoy. If you try it, let me know how it turns out! :)

~ Insta-Recap of My Instagram ~

Happy Sunday morning ya'll!

I've been a little MIA lately here on the blog. August seems to be a super busy month for me! Birthday parties, painting, etc. You should see my calendar at work, I feel something is written on EVERY day!
September doesn't look too bad, just 3 runs (2 of them being mud), few birthdays, and a wedding.

Anyway, no worries.... I've got some recipes and I wanna throw at you. And I've been all over pinterest for jewelry crafts and holiday crafts, so stay tuned!

But here we are with the recap of my instagram! I also posted a few videos, those won't be on the blog, check them on out my account! Enjoy!

If you'd like to join in on the link up, it's simple:

Follow me here or Blog lovin and on Instagram
Link up your post and make sure you add the button

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8-13-13 Sarah patiently waiting for the vet. She had a pretty bad ear infection. I think I scared everyone on FB when I checked in simple because I didn't say anything, just checked in. I only checked in for a free nail trim! LOL!

8-14-13 The pro of living so close to Nashville. Free block party? Why yes, I'd love to go!

8-15-13 Authentic cannoli! I've only had a cannoli once in my life, before this, and that was like 2 weeks ago. These were amazing!!!! The other ones were too, but these were GREAT! I ate 3! Boo!

8-16-13 Steven loving on 1 of his girls! She is a big baby and not spoiled at all. :)

~ Weekly TV Roundup ~

Welcome to week 13 of Weekly TV Roundup!!
Angela and I greatly appreciate all the comments we've gotten during this roundup but due to the lack of interested (linking up) we've decided to end this link up. Sad though it was on the 13th week, totally not planned!
I personally will be back for Bachelor/ette stuff. Not link up though, just my thoughts.

Anyway, so if you'd like to join in on this last link up, please feel free to!

1. Follow Tawny's Tidbits and Adventures to Remember

2. Link up using our button, or link back to us in your post

3. Check out other's posts and leave a comment. Who doesn't love comments?!

True Blood - aired 8/11/13 - Life Matters

So it looks like Warlow isn't dead. Sookie bites herself to give him some of her blood. He wakes. Sookie gets mad at Bill for still wanting to use Warlow. She "throws" him out of faerie land.

Was Terry's funeral not the saddest thing?! Everyone spoke of how they met Terry. The tear jerker was Sookie!!! Ugh! And Lafayettes eyelashes... he was going all out!! Alcide comforts Sookie, will she change her mind about Warlow? Regardless, I'm glad they paid him that tribute, Terry deserved it!

Eric gets into the camp, he is high on that faerie blood, so practically invincible if you ask me. He lets out all the vampires which kill all the humans. He finds all the major "doctors" that had contact with anyone he loved and gave them a long death (until Bill came along). Eric finds Ginger (by her scream). Eric finds Jason and actually saves him, which I didn't expect considering I believe he is pissed at Sookie.

Bill was on the heels of Eric the whole time then realized he needed to be the one to save all the other vampires instead of finding Eric. He put himself in the room that meets the sun and had them all drink from him. Poor Rev Newlin had no blood to shield him from the sun, so he died at the hands of Eric. Funny part... when he seen Sarah at the top and said "I Love Jason Stackhouse" Oh gosh... hahahaha!!

Sarah gets away, barely, I really thought Jason was gonna kill her. Then he scratches his head with the gun, and I was thinking he was gonna kill himself (even though he had no reason to).

While all the vampires are off in lala land running in the sun, Bill is dieing until Jess comes along. James gives him his blood and he reunites with everyone else. Will James and Jess have a future now they are alive? Where is Eric going when he leaves everyone? Is he going to mourn his sister?

Hopefully alot of questions will be answered in the finale next week!

Dexter - aired 8/11/13 -- Dress Code

Hanah left Dexter in the middle of nowhere in a town over. She leaves Deb at the house, untouched.

Both Dexter and Deb do their research on Hanah, Dexter is the first to find her. Deb on the other hand gets her a$$ handed to her by her boss. She needed that though.

He finds her on a yacht with another guy (Miles), a nice yacht at that. He follows them to a private club, which Zach helps them get into. Dexter confronts her and she begs him to leave. Turns out, Miles knows EVERYTHING about Dexter. Or least almost everything.

She is married to this man and the reason she came to Dexter in the first place was to have Dexter kill him (all this is found out at their 2nd meeting).

Miles finds out they've met alone a 2nd time, he sends guys to beat Dexter up, then we see Miles getting very physical with her. Guess Dexter was on his way to kill him anyway, but Hanah beat him to it. He helps her hide it, only because he is still in love with her. The only woman he can be truthful with (only man she can be truthful with).

Deb put a tracker on Dexters car only to find them two after they dumped the body. Is Deb heartbroken again? I think now that she knows where she is, she will kill her.

Vince finds out his daughter works at a topless bar, sooo funny when he finds out! Haha! He managed to get a spot open at the department for her, but she'll make less money.

Poor ~~Haley~~ Cassie, she is found dead. Our only assumption is to think Zach killed her, which is probably right. Not sure what Dexter will do with him. I mean, that was uncalled for. She was an innocent.

~ Insta-Recap of My Instagram ~

Welcome back everyone! I had a rather busy week! Bachelorette finale, Love and Theft, drive to Nashville, and painting! FYI, we are still painting, that's why I'm super early on this link up! 9am super early? YES!! LOL!

I also created a new button! I'm super stoked about it! Hope you like this one better! :)

If you'd like to join in on the link up, it's simple:

Follow me here or Blog lovin and on Instagram
Link up your post and make sure you add the button

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8-6-13 Patiently waiting for Love and Theft! Those tickets were $12! Excuse the big unicorn on my forehead (that's what my husband named it).

8-8-13 Maggie got someone my Taco Bell and she decided to leave a little cheese for later! :)

8-9-13 I'm on an Angry Orchard kick! We got a sample pack, so far I've liked 3 of the 4. I have to admit, I didn't try the 4th one, my husband said it tasted like the smell of our new car.

8-9-13 5am I was starting crockpot chicken tacos for work. They turned out pretty well. I have to say that I should have used some mild taco seasoning or added something with a little spice in there!

~ Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana ~

Pretty spiffy name there huh? Let's take it apart thanks to the dictionary! :)

Rollatini is a dish consisting of thin slices of poultry or meat rolled around a filling, especially of ham and cheese, and baked in a sauce.

Alla.... not quite sure. I got a lot of different explanations.

Parmigiana means cooked with Parmesan cheese.

Whatever the words meant when I first seen the picture, I could care less! Ha! The picture looked amazing. I got this recipe from www.skinnytaste.com I highly suggest getting on their mailing list. I've gotten a few amazing recipes that I can't wait to try.

What you'll need:
     8 thing chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
     1/2 cup whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (I couldn't find wheat)
     1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese, divided
     6 tablespoons egg whites or egg beaters
     5 oz frozen spinach, squeezed dry of any liquid
     6 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese
     6 oz part skim mozzarella
     Olive oil non stick spray
     1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce
     salt and pepper to taste

You'll want to wash and dry your cutlets and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 450. Lightly spray your baking dish with the non stick spray.

Your making 3 different bowls of stuff here. One for the stuffing, one for the outter part (crust?), and then egg whites so the crust sticks.

Combine breadcrumbs and 2 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese in 1 bowl and 1/4 cup of egg whites in another.

Shred or finely chop about 1.5 oz of mozzarella and combine with the rest of the Parmesan cheese you have, spinach, 2 tbsp egg whites, and ricotta cheese.

I probably had too much spinach.

Lay your chicken down on a working surface and spread 2 tbsp of spinach cheese mixture on each cutlet.

Loosely roll each one and keep the seam side down.

Dip chicken into the egg mixture, then into the breadcrumbs and then place seam down in a baking dish. No toothpicks are needed for this. The breadcrumbs kinda seals in the cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, top with sauce then the mozzarella (I cut into slices).

Pre cheese meltage!! :)

Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling, like 3 or so minutes.

~ Weekly TV Roundup ~

Welcome back!

Part of me just wanted to roundup Bachelorette, but I wasn't sure how much I'd have or EXACTLY what would happen. So I still took notes on True Blood and Dexter for the hell of it! :) By the way, my little notebook is almost full with notes! :)
I believe True Blood has 2 more episodes and Dexter has like 5 or so. Then of course this is the end of the Bachelorette until January 2014. Which we all know it'll be the Bachelor then. Who will they pick?

Let's get started!

Wanna participate?

1. Follow Tawny's Tidbits and Adventures to Remember

2. Link up using our button, or link back to us in your post

3. Check out other's posts and leave a comment. Who doesn't love comments?!

True Blood - aired 8/4/13 - Dead Meat
We begin with Eric and Bill fighting, verbally. He tells Eric to leave but does learn that Sookie has Warlow. Eric finds Sookie, sees that she comes from another "realm". At the end we see that Warlow seems to be sucked dry but was the before he fed from Andy's daughter?
Alcide is challenged by 3 in his pack, but doesn't kill them. I'm guessing he just leaves the pack. I'm assuming that because he brings the girls back to Sam.
The Hep V is in the True Blood and they start giving it to the vampires in gen pop. Rev Newlin befriends James and for some reason he tells him not to drink the blood. Doesn't say why, just not to drink it. Well then Sarah finds out, "tortures" Newlin and he tells who told him. James and Rev. Newlin are in the white room. Then eventually come Pam, Tara, Willa, and Jessica.. How does Eric end up in there too? How does he end up giving his blood to them before it's too late?
Does Violet not look like Lilith? I think Violet will have a bigger part as the story line continues besides her claiming Jason.
Before Sookie makes her decision to be with Warlow forever she gives a last ditch effort at Sam. Sam denies her and we learn Nicole is pregnant, although Nicole doesn't know yet.
And the most brutal part of the episode is when Sarah kills Ms. Suzuki. I mean, that was brutal! Didn't see that one coming, did you!?!

Dexter - aired 8/4/13 - A Little Reflection
Dexter has been following Zach and sees him ending up at Vogel's house. Dexter questions Vogel and she requests that he not kill Zach until he has proof. The proof is the photos he finds at Zach office. Vogel then wants to teach him the code. And I'll stop there with that story line. :)
Batista wants Quinn to be sergeant, but seems to be pushed to make Miller the sergeant. Which seems logical, the signs point to her. When Quinn learns he wants to break the Norma case, so he now follows Zach which puts a damper in Dexter's plans.
Vince basically ruined his relationship with his daughter by trying to get her 5k to "help" her. I do believe she isn't there for his money, just to start a relationship with her dad.
Dexter goes on a date with Cassie, can we say awkward. I know why she brings ANOTHER date to Jaime's birthday party.
Deb does some undercover work for her boss. Who else thinks he has the hots for her? Will Elway be the one to out Deb and Dexter?
Back to the Zach, Vogel, Dexter thing.
Zach looks like he is going to kill Sofia, but actually goes to kill is dad. Dexter asks him why (after he drugs him) and he says that his father is killing his mother (drinking). Dexter asks him more questions, Zach explains, Dexter rips the wrap off of him. Is he willing to take him under his wing? Can he hold his temper?
Then the big BANG... Hannah is back? Waaa........

Bachelorette - aired 8/5/13
First off, super sad that Reality Steve was wrong. I'm not sure what happened there. I was still rooting for Brooks, thought he'd come out of the limo and everything! Reality Steve has only been wrong once, he did change his "winner" once. He is getting so much crap for being wrong. Poor thing! Will I continue to read his blog? Yup! Will I let what he says influence who I think wins again? No!
Anyway... let's start from the beginning.
They have the rose ceremony, I didn't think that Chris was gonna accept the rose. But come to find out he was just a little sad for her and wanted to console her!
Drew had the first date, you know right from the beginning that it wasn't gonna go well. She didn't even get off her horse to greet him!
Drew ends up going home, sad day for him, he was totally blindsided. But I like his thoughts on the situation, he wants her to be happy. He wants someone to love him like he loves her. Kudos!
Chris's date is next, the meeting is totally different with him. She even said she felt different. They have their full date, dinner and everything.
Chris meets the family the next day. Nate brings on the hard questions, go figure, right?! He also asks for her hand in marriage, her dad agrees.
You can still see the emotion in her when Nate asks about Brooks. So sad!
It's funny how they all seem to talk about Drew like he is still there, sly to let no one know she dumped him already.
And finally, we see the finale dress. Since we haven't seen it yet, ABC kept the finale from us. Love that dress.
At this point, I'm still thinking Brooks is coming out of the limo before Chris gets there. And... I was wrong.
She wants to tell Chris everything before he proposes, well the highlights. You can tell that he thinks he is getting dumped when she stops him from getting down on 1 knee. The best thing she said was that she was basically so blindsided by Brooks leaving she didn't know what was right in front of her. Ahh.... tears! YeS!
So... they are engaged!
Oh... and Sean and Catherine. Sounded like they set a date, but aren't telling the public yet. Will it be televised?
Onto the ATFR!
I get to when the commercials start before Brooks comes on stage. And my Directv goes OUT! Like whole rebot! Which knocks off the recording! Why? No CLUE!

We pick back up mid Drew. 9:24 to be exact! I missed the whole Brooks thing. You can bet I will be watching when ABC puts it online. Until then, I can't say anything about it because I don't know what happened. :(
They are still happily engaged, she is moving to Seattle, they will have their own place. He says on live TV that he broke the confidentiality agreement, his family knows. Will ABC do anything? Probably not. I only say that because they already won when Reality Steve was wrong. LOL!
The legitimately look super happy! Newly engaged couple! Ya know the type! Hope they stick to it!
And the next bachelor is..... Juan! He will be a good one and a sincere one at that for sure! I just don't think I can see that man cry. Ya know? He seems to happy go lucky!
Regardless, looking forward to January!

~ Insta-Recap of My Instagram ~

Just a friendly reminder that I personally won't recap my Instagram on September 8th, but will have the link up up and running for everyone else!

If you'd like to join in on the link up, it's simple:

Follow me here or Blog lovin and on Instagram
Link up your post and make sure you add the button

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