Outer Banks

Pretzel Chicken + Updates

Hey there! I promised to share the pretzel chicken recipe I mentioned in my last post.

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Pretzel Chicken with Honey Mustard

Ingredients:
2 cups coarsely chopped pretzels
12 chicken tenders (about 1 lb.), halved crosswise
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees . Place the crushed pretzels on a large plate. Set a rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Thread a piece of chicken onto a 6-inch skewer. Repeat with 23 more skewers. Brush the chicken all over with 1/4 cup mustard. Roll each chicken skewer in the crushed pretzels to coat. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
2. Bake the chicken skewers until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir the honey into the remaining 1/4 cup mustard and serve on the side, for dipping.

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I also created a doggie meal for Lola on Saturday! It’s really simple and only requires three ingredients that most people have in their kitchen.

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Potatoes, Carrots, and Eggs

Ingredients:
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 carrots
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Cut carrots into small pieces. Place potatoes and carrots into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 8 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and cool the mixture until room temperature.
2. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir to mix. Microwave for another 30 seconds, or until eggs are set. Cool until room temperature.
3. Combine potatoes, carrots in eggs, and serve!

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Three life updates:

#1. My brother moved back to Pittsburgh and is getting married in July!

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My brother and his fiance, Racquel

My older brother was living and working in State College, PA and moved back to Pittsburgh about a week ago. He bought a duplex in a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, and is getting married in July. He’s also going to begin working with my parents for our family’s real estate business. So now, instead of living two hours away, he now lives about 15 minutes away from my family! I am so happy to have him back home again.

#2. I’m doing my internship. 
I’m not going to go too in depth about my internship until it’s over, but I’m writing, researching, and editing for 30 hours a week. It’s challenging, but I like it and the experience I’m gaining in the writing field. I’m learning a lot! I’m also learning that it stinks to work 30 hours a week for free ;-). I’m still teaching spinning, so life has been busy lately!

#3. My family is vacationing in the Outer Banks again this summer!

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I’m so excited to spend a week in North Carolina again soon! Growing up, my family didn’t go on a vacation every summer, so it’s definitely a blessing to be able to go now! I really appreciate it.

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Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Where do you like to go on vacation?!

Thanksgivings past

I don’ know about you, but I love to look back at pictures or blog posts from exactly a year (or two.. or three..) ago. Looking at old pictures and blog posts helps me to remember fun times and emotions that I felt.

Because Thanksgiving is on Thursday, I decided to look back through my blog and my Facebook and try to find one picture that perfectly describes Thanksgiving that year.

I found pictures on my Facebook from 2008-2012!

Thanksgiving 2008

This picture makes me smile.Hannah and I both painted our bedrooms rooms lime green over the Thanksgiving break. I remember this moment so well: None of Hannah’s furniture was moved back into her bedroom yet, so we decided to have a dance party. We plugged an iHome into an outlet and blasted music while dancing around her empty lime green room. We took this picture while we were dancing.

Thanksgiving 2009

My mom, sister, and I went Black Friday shopping in 2009 and I guess I was really excited about coupons! When I look really closely at the picture, I can see that the coupons aren’t for clothes or electronics. The coupons are for McDonald’s coffee. LOL. We shopped a good bit and had a ton of fun out in the craziness that is Black Friday.

Thanksgiving 2010

My family visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina for Thanksgiving in 2010. It was the most amazing (and totally weird) thing to be by the ocean and eat seafood instead of turkey for dinner. My parents wanted to take a picture of my brother and I standing in front of the ocean but he surprised me and picked me up before my mom took the picture. I remember that he didn’t put me back on the ground right away. He spun me around and around until I was dizzy and pretended to throw me in the ocean. I remember screaming and laughing so hard.

I also had started my blog by 2010! Here and here are my Thanksgiving posts.

Thanksgiving 2011

For Thanksgiving in 2011, my brother was living in State College, PA and had dinner with his girlfriend (now fiance!). My parents + Hannah went to New York to visit my aunt and uncle. I stayed home and hosted Thanksgiving dinner for Jimmy’s family at my house. We all had dinner, watched Pupmkin Chunkin, and played Twister. I remember being so nervous before the dinner and feeling so relaxed afterwards!

My Thanksgiving blog posts from 2011 are here and here.

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This post was so much fun to write and I absolutely loved looking back in time and remembering all of the fun Thanksgivings I have experienced with friends and family.

For Thanksgiving 2012, my aunt and uncle + 3 cousins are coming from NY to Pittsburgh to stay with my family for a few days! Last time I saw my cousins was for Easter in 2011. I’m really excited to see my family again! I know it’s going to be crazy and fun to have ten people (plus two dogs and two cats) living in my house for a couple of days!

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?