Why Not?

Hazelnut Honey Mustard Chicken

So tonight, I kind of just winged it for dinner. Not kind of, I completely winged it, no recipe, no idea, just started putting things together. I actually used to do that as a little girl. I would grab my stepping stool so I could see over the counter, grab a pot and all our condiments and spices. Then just start dumping everything together and mix it all up with a spoon, until my mom would catch me. Then of course, I would get my cute on, smile and say in the most adorable way, "I cookin' mommy!"

Ahhh those were the days! The days when I thought I was cooking, but it didn't really matter because mom was going to do the real cooking later that actually tasted good. Where now I actually have to cook and make sure it's good because I'm a big girl now :)

So I started mixing honey and mustard, and thought to maybe add some spice to it. I looked up and there happened to be a jar of Cumin in front of my. Why not? Sprinkled some of that in. Then I minced some ginger root and threw that in. Again, why not? Afterwards, I knew that I wanted to coat my chicken breast in something after dipping it in my honey mustard. So I looked around my section of the pantry, and could only find slivered almonds or crushed hazelnuts. Hazelnuts, why not?

So after I dipped the chicken in the ginger honey mustard and then coated it in hazelnuts, I put it in the oven at 400 until completely baked. While that was baking, I needed a side. Asparagus! So I cut off the ends and put them in a baking pan, but they looked so lame. So what did I do, I experimented! I somehow decided that it was a good idea to pour probably 1/4 cup of apple juice into the backing pan with a dollop of butter, laid my asparagus down in the "apple butter" if you will, then topped it with sliced onions, and sprinkled a little bit of garlic powder on it all. I mean, why not? So then I threw those in the oven with the chicken.

I would give this dinner a 6.5 out of 10. It was definitely good, and I will definitely make the chicken again with some alterations to the recipe. Maybe less Cumin spice or a completely different spice. The asparagus didn't retain much flavor as I would have hoped but I want to try again. Maybe put foil on top so the apple juice will get caught and will be sucked up by the vegetable. We'll see because why not? Right?

Pintrest Challenge: Smartie Pants

My mom is starting nursing school on Tuesday, and this will be her first time going to college. I am so proud of her that she is following a dream of hers and continuing to learn and grow, even as an adult. So for all those years that my mom supported me through school and sent me care packages, I thought I could return the favor. It's not much, but I made her this little Smarties candy package that was inspired from Pinterest.

I bought a package of Smarties candy, a small card that usually ties onto gifts that you write "to:" and "from:", and a container of foam flower stickers.

I stuck a small purple flower into a large pink flower, then topped it with a green dot. Wrote the little saying, "Good luck smartie pants! (not like you need it!)"

Here is the end product, hope she likes it! Good luck Mom!