How to Boil an Egg

Seriously. I found this on Pinterest and I thought, what kind of idiot doesn't know how to boil an egg? Apparently, I am an idiot!

I have always put the eggs in the pot, covered them with water, put them on the stove on high and once they started boiling, I would let them go for 10 minutes! Of course, my yolk would never come out all yellow and nice looking. It always had the grey tinge to them, and so I figured if I added vinegar to the water, that would work. Nope. Same results.

So I read through THIS post by Ashley and figured I would give it a try!

Here are her directions completely:

1) Grab your eggs (I’m using large eggs), and a pot. Pretty easy start, right?

2) Put the eggs in the pot and cover them with water, only about an inch overhead.

3) Put them on the stove and turn it on medium high heat.

Now this is where you NEED to pay attention.

4) As SOON as that water starts to boil (and I mean boil, not just a few bubble here and there), turn the stove off.

5) Set the timer for 10 minutes.

6) When the timer goes off, remove the eggs from the pot and put them in cold water. (Sometimes I put them in an ice bath, but I haven’t found that it really matters either way)

7) Let them sit for about 5 minutes and then dig in.

And here is her picture:

My eggs came out looking exactly like hers on the left side!!! I only had one egg that didn't want to peel properly, but hey! At least I didn't have grey yolks!

And for those who want to know why your yolks go grey: "That gray ring around the yolk is actually the iron in the egg yolk reacting with the hydrogen sulfide from the white… and only happens when you over cook it."

So there you have it!
Give it a try if you don't believe me!

The Force was Strong Today

For the past couple of weeks I have been participating in my friends' Star Wars T-shirt Friday. Basically, you wear your Star Wars t-shirt, take a picture of it and post it. He would then take it and add it to his blog etc.

Well, today I woke to find that The Force was pulling at me. Drawing me ever closer to wear one of my t-shirts even though it isn't Friday. The Force cannot be denied! So today I threw on my Return of the Jedi t-shirt!

I love it! My friend Christy found it and of course she knew I just absolutely needed to own it! LOL

So my husband came home at lunch today and proceeded to scold me because today isn't Friday. So I told him "... you just don't get how The Force works. It called to me and so I had to put it on!" LOL

Of course, I know I can wear my t-shirts whenever I want, but I also enjoy doing the whole Friday thing. And I have several others I can wear as well. :)

Yep, The Force could not be ignored today!

Swagbucks!!!!

I know there are a lot of people who currently hunt for swagbucks. Of course, there are those who have no idea what swagbucks is. Take a second to read and I will break it down for you. ;)

Click here to go to Swagbucks!

Swagbucks is a search engine like Google, just not as powerful. When you use swagbucks to search online, you have a chance to earn points, or 'swagbucks' which can be traded in for gift cards and other prizes.

First off, you should go to swagbucks.com daily and get your 4 bucks.
Install the toolbar, and you will get 1 bucks every day. (Works for firefox and IE).
Do the Daily Poll.
Do the NOSO offers (skip all of them to the end).

After you do those, then it is just a matter of searching with the engine! You don't really need to be searching for anything in particular. Most times, I search for things like "it's a small world" or "rocky top Tennessee". Like I said, the search engine isn't super powerful, so it doesn't really matter what you search for. We search throughout the day and sometimes win 3-4 times. Other days we only win 1-2 times, but it still doesn't take much to rack up your swagbucks!

Friday's are Mega Swagbucks days! This means that you will most likely win a prize higher than 10 swagbucks throughout the day. Be sure to search on Fridays! ;)

When you first sign up, don't forget to put in the captcha when you win, or else your swagbucks will not be counted. The captcha eventually disappears, and you might only have to enter one a week after that. (Swagbucks does this to ensure that it isn't a program running to find swagbucks.)

Swagbucks also has Partner Sites that you can use to search, keep in mind however, that the swagbucks you find on those sites are only usable on said site.

Swagbucks has many gift cards available for purchase! Our favorite is Amazon, so every 450 swagbucks = $5 Amazon gift card! We just go to the swag store and snag our gift card. It takes anywhere from 6-14 days for you to receive it, but it comes online, so all you have to do is enter the code in your Amazon account and bingo! Your gift card is ready to use!

That's basically it.
Enjoy swagbucks! Enjoy free gift cards!
Have a great day!

I have started to rearrange my blog, but what a giant pain in the rump it is. Right now I have switched my header out with a little something created by my amazing friend Blackout!

I know I have to get rid of the bicycles and red and green - but I also know that I do not want my blog layout to be solely Star Wars. I have checked around and talked to a few graphic designers - let's just say that I am definitely not going to go that way. Yeesh!

Recipes - I have a bunch that I need to post, but I don't want to post them until I know how my blog is going to look - because I have to make sure that my pictures will post on the proper orientation.

So yeah, that's all I have got right now.

Revamping the blog

It appears to me that my blog background doesn't exactly suit me anymore. So now I am on a journey to find and/or design it myself. I wish I still had Microsoft Access - that ish was awesome for playing out html and copy/paste to the 'edit html' section. Unfortunately, it bit the dust when my CPU with XP went bye bye.

Not sure what I am looking for or what I am going to end up with... perhaps I should contact some designers online and see what is what with them. I know some of them charge though, and that is definitely not what I am looking for.

So for now, I will sign off, but I must leave you with a little ditty.
By my friend, The Mighty Blackout, I give you:

http://worldofblackout.blogspot.com/ 

I can hardly wait until this is a t-shirt!! You know I am going to be all over it!

Chicken Mozza Ranch

I have been looking for a while now, for a good ranch recipe for my chicken. I have found some that add the weirdest ingredients and others that sound so completely bland. Finally today, I decided I was going to make my own ranch and chicken recipe.

This is simple and quick. Total cook time is 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear. (165°F )

Ingredients:
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved
1/2 cup ranch dressing (whichever you prefer)
1/2 tsp flour
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F
Combine ranch dressing and flour in a measuring cup. Mix well to ensure flour does not clump to itself. Sprinkle chicken breast halves with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a small spoon, coat one side of the chicken with ranch dressing and place in a shallow, 1 qt. or 1-2 qt. glass casserole dish. Once all pieces are placed in dish, use remaining dressing preparation to cover chicken entirely.

Bake in over for 40 minutes, (uncovered) or until chicken is cooked and juices run clear. (165°F) Turn off oven. Remove casserole dish from oven and top with mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and let the natural heat that is left in it to melt the cheese. About 10 minutes so the cheese has a chance to brown a little bit, but not burn.

Remove from oven and serve with whatever sides you like. I chose Sazon Goya seasoned rice and string green beans. Also, you can use the ranch and cheese mixture that is left in the casserole to top your rice or mashed potatoes.

Now, I am sure this isn't the most healthy dinner, but I am pretty sure that if you have ranch lovers in your family like I do, this will become a regularly revisited meal.

TamTam

Chubby Hubby Buckeye Peanut Butter Truffles

This was a brilliantly simple recipe! As long as you follow all of the directions, you shouldn't have problem. I found the original recipe over at Six Sisters' Stuff and didn't make any changes at all.

Yield: About 18 truffles
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Chill Time: 1 hour, total

1½ cups pretzel pieces
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup milk or semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

1. Put the pretzel pieces into a resealable plastic bag and crush into very small bits (a rolling pin works great for this).
2. In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt. Stir until all of the ingredients are completely blended and smooth. Add the pretzel bits to the peanut butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the powdered sugar and mix until completely combined.
3. Line a small baking sheet with wax paper. Using a small cookie scoop, or about 2 teaspoons worth of peanut butter mixture, gently shape into a ball with your fingertips. Place the ball on the wax paper-lined cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining peanut butter mixture. Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4. When ready to dip the truffles, microwave the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening together in a small bowl at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted and smooth.
5. Working one at a time, dip one peanut butter-pretzel ball into the melted chocolate and use a fork to roll it around, ensuring that it is completely coated with chocolate. Let any extra chocolate drip off and place back on the wax paper-lined sheet. Repeat with all of the peanut butter-pretzel balls.
6. Return the baking sheet to the refrigerator and again chill for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with a drizzle of melted peanut butter and crushed pretzels, if desired. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Please, please, please follow the directions outlined in Step 4. Do not think that you know exactly what you are doing and try to melt your chocolate in a homemade double boiler. And do not try to melt your chocolate in a saucepan over heat like I did. It will not work. Your truffles will not be appealing. The melted chocolate will result in the following:

Not to mention that your truffle will also resemble what looks like little doggie droppings, like pictured above. Trust me, the microwave really does work.