Get Busy Livin'

Hi y'all! Thanks for stopping by my blog to read the first post this year! And why haven't I been blogging more? Cause ain't nobody got time for dat! I've been busy living life, working, spending time with family and friends, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Here's a quick recap of the highlights for January: Earlier in the month, our group of friends all headed up to Indiana for a mac-daddy ski trip. Problem was the weekend temperatures hovered around 60 degrees. There was zero snowboarding :( but the trip was filled with wine tastings, laser tag, water parks, and late nights celebrating or visiting the local casino. The following weekend, Rob and I went to Florida and shacked up with his dad to visit Rob's grandfather and other relatives. It was a very sweet trip and I'm glad we got to spend time with loved ones. We also had a fabulous date night at the Daytona pier that turned into a screwball comedy complete with a seafood dinner and drinking/driving go carts. Last week, I joined a free boot camp for women and I'm busting ass to get beach ready by March (did I mention we're cruising the Caribbean?!). I feel like I have to share how wonderful it is be apart of this group of women, no glam, all hard work and sweat working toward a common goal. Check it out here. Finally, tomorrow is my dad's 60th birthday! This is such a great accomplishment/milestone and my heart feels as though it could burst from happiness. Life is Good. No, Life is GREAT!

Next month is Corbin's 1st birthday (he's my adorable nephew), and I can't wait to see him again. It saddens me that he lives in Nashville and I only get to see him once a month, but it makes the visits bittersweet. Corbin definitely triggers a bit of the baby fever in me. AHHHHHHH!! He's the only child to ever make me want to have one of my own, but don't worry...Rob and I are holding off with kids for awhile. Duh! We just got married. We're still in the honeymoon phase and enjoying just ourselves. I treasure this time we get to spend together with not a care in the world...

The World Isn't Over?!

I'm sure, like all of you, it was a huge surprise the world didn't end on December 21st. NOT! Well, I'm still here and I'm still blogging. Every December post I've talked about my birthday, Christmas, some kind of ski trip, blah, blah, blah! Yes, I had another momentous birthday and Christmas this year. As apart of my December posts, I also discuss what I've learned for the year, and set new goals and/or aspirations for myself in the coming year. Perhaps you read this blog to give yourself some new motivations or ideas, or maybe you're just interested to see what goes on inside the head of a newly married, 28 (EEK!) year old brain and what she has to brag or complain about. Well, here are the top five things I realized in 2012:

5. "Choose your friends wisely, you become what they are..."

It's ideal to surround yourself with people who aspire you to be better than what you currently are. It's best to be a dynamic character, and always ready to change in a positive direction. Looking back over the year, you should be in a better position now than you were in the previous year.

4. "Turn your weaknesses into strengths"

It's self-explanatory, but if you find a weakness destroy it! When Rob and I got married I didn't cook very often, because most of the time I had no idea what I was doing. I decided I was done with that, wanted to experiment, and now he has to all but force me out of the kitchen. I love to cook for my man! And, of course there was the constant blogging about how I couldn't run if my life depended on it (read about it HERE). I decided I was done, made the choice and commitment, and in 10 weeks went from walker to 5K runner extraordinaire! You can attain whatever you set your mind to...

3. "Don't sweat the petty things..."

Sometimes it's easier said than done, but don't let the small, insignificant things get you down. Does it really matter anyway? Will Smith once said, "Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions." In the end, opinions are like butt holes...you know the rest.

2. "Happiness is only real, when shared..."

Yes, I'm quoting from the movie Into the Wild, but it's still true. I've never been happier in all my life, than I am now. Knowing my husband is with me until the end of our lives is a very special feeling. I also believe this is the reason why social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are so popular. People want to share their lives and have others respond with positive reinforcement, whether it be a compliment to boost our self esteems or just the general knowledge that people keep track of our lives by looking at pictures or reading posts.

1. "Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself."
Stop waiting for things to happen for you, and go make them happen. You are the single, sole reason for the way your life turns out. If there's something you don't like or want to change, it's up to you to make the necessary decisions and compel the change.

So, what does muah have in store for 2013? Well, I certainly like being more active than I was last year. I hope to at least maintain my running, and perhaps do more races. It's not only good for my health, but also for my self esteem and overall zen. Accomplishing a goal that was once thought to be "impossible" gives me a new sense of self worth, and causes me to crave more of it. I'm also going to attempt new things this upcoming year. In January, a bunch of pals and I are all heading up to French Lick Resort in Indiana (yes, it's really called that) to hit up the casino, perhaps visit the spa, do a wine tasting at the local winery, and attempt SNOWBOARDING. I love to ski, but I've always wanted to be a snowboarder. It looks waaaayy cooler than skiing, it's hip, it's new, and although I know it's gonna be painful I still can't wait! Check back soon to read allllll about that little escapade. Other than those few things, I haven't really decided what I could do to "outdo" this year, but that's ok. I'm not trying to find myself, I'm thinking of how I want to create myself :)

#Twitter

Well, it finally happened...I joined Twitter!!! <Horrified screams and gasps simultaneously erupt>. It just makes me feel old to know technology has continued to move forward, while I have chosen not to participate. Instead, I've dug my heels in and been dragged, screaming and kicking, across the floor until I was finally catapulted onto the Twitter bandwagon. I have to admit from the beginning I've been curious about Twitter. How was it any different from Facebook? Why in the world would someone care about following Lindsay Lohan? Why the hell is everyone using # signs? I'm in over my head, but not to worry. I decided to do what any respectable, top-notch scientist would do in my shoes...an experiment! Next thing I know, I'm signing up for an account and it all just happened so fast, I don't even know what happened. Anyways, lets see if I can say this right: Follow me on Twitter MJWesterling4 and check out my latest hashtag (Holy crap, I sound legit!) #freezingmyassoff for a giggle.

In other news, obviously I've finally gotten around to changing my blog address to incorporate my new last name. Score! Possibly some new visual changes are gonna be happenin' to this page too, as I bore easily. And, almost two months in, married life is absolutely wonderful (as it should be!). Though, it's definitely brought out my inner Rachel Ray as evidenced by my recent chronicles with the muffin tin! It's beyond addicting. Married life definitely suits me :)

Image from www.twitter.com

Muffin Tin Chronicles: Part 2

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Ok, I know I just posted several recipes last week, but I have a few more for you to try and they're straight from my muffin tin! Today's post includes a bruschetta appetizer, queso wontons and BEC hash brown cups (aka bacon, egg & cheese). These are all super fun, super simple recipes that can be made in very little time. So, lets cut to the chase:

Bruschetta Cups:

Prep: 5 minutes, Bake: 8 minutes 

Ingredients: square wontons, tomato, onion, minced garlic, mozzarella shredded cheese, basil, EVOO, s&p

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Dice up a tomato and some onion (red or white preferred). Combine in bowl with <1 teaspoon of EVOO, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss until well mixed creating a bruschetta mix. Spray each cup of a mini muffin tin. Line the cups with the wontons. Spray the wontons. Bake in the oven for 4 minutes, this will start to toast the wontons. Fill each wonton cup with a good amount of mozzarella cheese (as much as will fit). Put back in the oven for 4 minutes to melt the cheese. Pull out, and fill each cup with bruschetta mixture. Top with sliced basil. Viola! Yummy little bruschetta cups.

You won't believe how easy and delicious these are :)

Queso Cups:

Prep time: 10 minutes, Bake time: 5 minutes

Ingredients: block of queso cheese, can of rotel, can of chili (no beans), wontons

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, melt queso cheese in microwave. Add entire can of rotel and can of chili (no beans). Mix well and microwave again until well blended. Spray mini muffin tin and line with wontons. Spray wontons once lined. Put in oven for 4-5 minutes, or until toasted. Pull out, and fill each cup with queso mix. It's like having the chip and queso already made and put together in little servings.

I know this recipe is super easy and obvious, but when you put it in a mini cup it really adds the unique factor to it. Don't add as much queso to each cup either, as I did. It was really good, but messy.

BEC Hash brown Cups:

Prep time: 10 minutes, Bake time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: Shredded hash browns, bacon or sausage, shredded cheddar cheese, eggs, parsley (optional), s&p, butter

**This recipe makes 12 cups/breakfasts**

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine hash browns and 1/2 cup of melted butter. Add s&p to taste. Spray a regular size muffin tin, and line each cup with the hash brown and butter mixture. Mold it to the sides and base of each cup creating a "nest." Bake for 15 minutes or until hash browns are golden. Add shredded cheddar cheese to each cup and bake for another 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. While that is baking, cook half a pack of bacon (you can also use real bacon bits or sausage). Tear into smaller pieces. Once the hash browns are done, pull out muffin tin. Put small pieces of bacon in cups. Crack a single egg per cup into each hash brown nest. Bake for another 15 minutes (depending on if you want sunny side up eggs, or more cooked increase baking time). Top with diced parsley for decoration. Viola!

Hash browns are toasting :)

All ingredients baking in the oven. Note: some of my eggs did bust, but all the flavors combine anyway, so no worries there.

Finished product and SUPER delish!

Thanks for reading about my muffin tin chronicles this week! Hope you get around to trying some of these delights, and let me know how they turn out!

Muffin Tin Chronicles

Welcome to the first blog post about my muffin tin recipes, which I will now deem the Muffin Tin Chronicles! I've recently become obsessed with baking everything and anything possible from a muffin tin. What made me oooo and ahhhh over such a simplistic, no-brainer idea? Well, it began with Pinterest, of course! I went to a Pinterest party and we all had to create a dish we had found on the website. I chose the first recipe below, and it was a great success! Along the way, I found more online and then purchased The Muffin Tin Chef book. I'm outta control now! I love it because it makes individual, little, easy-to-grab and eat bite size servings in a short amount of time. I haven't found one recipe I'd label a failure, and so I'll continue to post about my muffin tin experiments. Here's a few to get your mouths watering...


The Holy Grail of muffin tin recipes

The first recipe I attempted was Lasagna cupcakes. To simplify the preperation and ingredients list making it an easy-to-throw-together type meal, I have changed the directions somewhat. I like meals that are quick and easy without alot of prep time, so if you feel the need and have the time use fresh products.

LASAGNA CUPCAKES

Prep time: 15 minutes, Bake time: 18-20 minutes, Serving Size: ALOT

Ingredients:

1lb of ground beef, Wonton wrappers (round or square), jar of Emeril's roasted gaaarlic sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella shredded cheese, grated three cheese mixture (includes Romano, Parmesan and asiago) and fresh basil.

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown meat in saucepan, adding Emeril's sauce once cooked. Spray muffin to keep from sticking. Line cups with wonton wrappers. Spoon in meat/sauce mix on top of wonton, and sprinkle with mozzarella, three cheese mix, and spoon in ricotta. Put another wonton over this, trapping the mixture in between two wonton layers. Repeat step with meat, sauce and all cheeses on top. Continue doing this till all cups are filled or desired number is created. Bake 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and garnish with fresh basil.

The wontons soften to a pasta-like texture while it bakes, and the final product tastes just like lasagna without having the huge portion sizes. Viola!

Yummy lasagna cupcakes are always a hit!!

The next muffin tin recipe I attempted was a brunch tailgate for a football game. Everyone was in charge of bringing some kind of breakfast food to share, and I decided on a side hashbrown type dish. 

CHEESY POTATO BACON CUPS
Prep time: 20 minutes, Bake time: 25 minutes, Serving Size: 12-14
Ingredients:
1 pack of bacon (flavor doesn't matter), package of frozen shredded hashbrowns, shredded cheddar cheese, Emeril's Four Cheese Alfredo sauce, one egg, real bacon bits, salt, pepper.
Directions:
Lightly cook all of bacon in saucepan. Line sides of muffin tin with strips of lightly cooked bacon. Cut small pieces of bacon to line the bottom. It will be semi-difficult for it to stay, but it all comes out looking and tasting great. In bowl, combine 2.5 cups of hashbrowns, one beaten egg, 1/2 cup of alfredo sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, real bacon bits (as much as you'd like), and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon in portions of hashbrown mix into bacon cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

These cheesy potato bacon cups are perfect for breakfast or dinner, and are sure to catch some noses! For vegetarian version, substitute bacon for Morningstar Soy Bacon. YUM!

Best made muffin tin recipe yet!

I attempted this most recent muffin tin recipe last night for a sorority Thanksgiving potluck. I was the host of last nights party, so I wanted to be the person providing the "main dish" of Thanksgiving, which is turkey. I actually mixed two different recipes, one I found online for chicken pot pies (I substituted with turkey) and the other from my muffin tin cookbook. 

MINI TURKEY POT PIES

Prep Time: 20 minutes, Bake Time, 20 minutes, Serving size: 16

Ingredients:

1 can of Grand's Flaky biscuits, 1 slice of oven roasted turkey 1/4 inch thick (3/4lb), 1 package of frozen veggies (with corn, peas, carrots and green beans), 1 can of cream of chicken, 1 can of chicken broth, 1 stalk of diced celery, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Directions:

Cut up turkey into small cubes. Coat tin with non-stick spray. Cut flaky buscuits horizontally in half. Flatten out on cutting board. Line each cup with biscuit. In bowl, mix frozen veggies, diced celery, cubed turkey, 1 can of cream of chicken, 3/4 can of chicken broth, and all seasonings to taste. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

The mini turkey pot pies were alittle messy, but tasted wonderful. Keep in mind that biscuits rise as they bake, and don't overfill the cups with too much of the filling.

I may try using more biscuits to cover the top of the pies next time

Thanks for reading all about my muffin tin ventures. I know I'll have more recipes to share in the future, including mini fish tacos and bruscetta. Do you have any muffin tin recipes to share? I'd love to hear all about it!

Honeymoon in Europe

Honeymoons are always memorable occasions. Duh, its EPIC,whether you have a good time or not. You're newly married, and everything supposed to be lovey dovey as your share your first official trip as husband and wife. Our honeymoon was an 11-night cruise in the Mediterranean with stops in Italy, Turkey and Greece. This was Rob's first trip, technically, out of the country, because I don't really count the Caribbean with it being so close to the states. We traveled over a great, big ocean (the Atlantic, for those who don't know geography) to get to our port city of Civitavecchia near Rome, Italy.

Itinerary: eleven day cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, including ports to Italy (Rome, Naples), Turkey (Istanbul, Ephesus) and Greece (Santorini, Mykonos and Athens)

Cruise Specifics: Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Cruises

Weather: high 70s/low 80s during the day, high 60s at night

Planned Excursions: guided tours in Rome, Naples (Pompeii), Istanbul, Ephesus, and Athens

Most Anticipated Activity: seeing the ruins in Pompeii and Ephesus

Cruise Highlight: getting lost in Istanbul for hours, making friends with semi-nonspeaking English good Samaritans and traveling by taxi, metro bus, subway and water taxi just to get back safely to our cruise ship. We only spent $6 to do all of this lol.

Cruise Downer: catching the norovirus and throwing up for 24 hours, getting mud-butt, followed by fever, chills, headache, and joint aches and pains. It basically felt like I had food poisoning and on the way to in the bathroom I got hit by a bus. Most terrible 24-hour sickness of my life, but thank God it only lasted a day. Because of this sickness, I couldn't get off the boat in Mykonos, Greece :(

Best Souvenir Bought: Glass Turkish lamps handcrafted with colorful beads and designs from the Grand Bazaar in Turkey

Scariest Moment: I did get nervous being lost for so long in Istanbul, and there was a definite communication barrier. At one point, Rob asked our good Samaritan how we were going to get to our ship. She replied, "Boat tomorrow." Rob flipped out and exclaimed, "TOMORROW?! Boat TODAY!" Needless to say, she thought we were talking about the water taxis, not a cruise ship. She gave us directions in Turkish and we somehow made it back unharmed. This experience was both the highlight and scariest moment of our trip lol.
Best Moment: There were too many awesome experiences to only pick one as my favorite. We got a relaxing couples massage, robbed the casino of thousands of dollars which ended up paying for all our expenses onboard, we had dinner at a specialty restaurant on the ship where they cooked us lobster right at our table, we saw an entire city made of marble at Ephesus, we had a romantic dinner while watching the sun set in Santorini, and we got to bask in a two week vacation with just ourselves and the open sea.
Worst Moment(s): It's always us missing our kitties at home. Especially this time, as we were gone for almost two whole weeks. The norovirus was also pretty bad.
New Things?: I loved arriving in Istanbul to see that we weren't in Kansas anymore. It was a completely new country with new sights, sounds, smells, and culture. Mosques were everywhere and five times a day you would hear the call to prayer. The Turkish people were so friendly, I'd definitely visit again.
Most Disappointing: It was super disappointing to visit Athens, Greece. I was really excited from the start to see the Parthenon, travel around the city of Athens, and to taste the fabulous cuisine. But, Athens was a super dirty place, the majority of the people we met were very rude, and after seeing Ephesus, Athens wasn't very cool at all. It wasn't preserved as well, they were reconstructing everything so it didn't seem very original, our tour guide was monotone, boring, and at times extremely rude to other fellow cruisers, and the food was just ok. I expected more Athens! Not a place I have to see again before I die...
Worst Money Spent: The $110 we had to spend to buy a new camera when we dropped ours at Ephesus :( 
Best Money Spent: the entire trip :)

The Parthenon in Athens, Greece

Pompeii at the base of Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, Italy

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey

The Colloseum in Rome, Italy

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

The town of Oia in Santorini, Greece

The legendary Amalfi coast in Italy (this is actually Positano, a town about twenty minutes north of Amalfi)

All in all, it was a remarkable honeymoon and I can now mark several items off my bucket list. I'm not sure when we'll travel to Europe again, but this cruise has allowed us to figure out which places we like (Amalfi!) and those which we don't have to visit again (Athens!).

I'M MARRIED!

I'M MARRIED!! Yay! I'm so happy to finally be Mrs. Westerling! Rob and I are finally back from our honeymoon, and between doing six loads of laundry, opening all the gifts, writing a gazillion thank you letters, and cleaning up the house I'm finally getting around to blogging about all that's happened in the month of October. We went on a two week honeymoon cruise to the Mediterranean, so you'll have to tune in next week when I can get around to blogging all about that ;-)

Now, to the good stuff. The wedding was absolutely indescribably perfect! Seeing my dream come alive, all my hard work put into substance, it was a thing of perpetual bliss all culminating into a single day. Sure there was stress, and as soon as I saw everyone showing up I got a little nauseous (true story!), but all in all it was quite the memorable party. The best part was seeing all my family and friends there to support my marriage to Rob. Although everyone told me how quickly the whole day flies by, they really didn't convey just how fast it actually goes. More like warp speed, or a day on super fast forward. So many people came from all over the country just to see Rob and me. Although I tried to speak with everyone at least once, I am still super disappointed most people didn't know just how much I appreciated their presence on that very special day. It was a super hectic, fast paced, chaotic day and I really do thank all those who were able to come. 

Below is a little sneak peek from the wedding if you missed it from Facebook. Photos courtesy of the absolutely amazing Joe and Kathleen Atkins of JOPHOTO (more info). Wedding venue took place at Maple Grove Inn and was coordinated by Vicki Lafollette (more info). Flower arrangements designed by Flowers by Tammy. Cake created and designed by Linda Crowley of Culinary with Jazz (more info). Party rentals provided by Campbell's Tent Rentals (more info). Disc Jockey was Jim Ogle of Ogle Entertainment (more info). Wedding environment and vision created by ME! And crafts, programs, and photo booth made by Rob.

The Ladies!

The Cake!

The Kiss!

The Look!

The Westerlings :)

Thanks for reading! Check back soon to hear all about our adventure in Europe. I promise it'll make you laugh :)