Have you ever flipped through your favorite magazine (like Real Simple or Martha Stewart) or browsed through Pinterest and thought to yourself, I could totally do that!?!? But then you just add it to your To Do list and it ends up falling off your list because everything else seems so much more important?!
Ok- maybe it is just me… lol…. But since early this year, I have had this urge to bring out my craftiness again! It has been a long time since I have taken time to do a DIY project just for fun! Earlier this year I read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was pretty fantastic (and I definitely recommend it!) The book reminded me of the importance of taking time to do things that I LOVE and make ME happy. Whoa… yeah, that is hard for me as I am pretty much always thinking of the happiness of others before I think about myself. As I read the book, I realized that the times in my life that I have felt beaten down or burnt out was because I was not taking care of myself. I was not getting enough sleep and honestly I was not thinking about myself at all. How am I supposed to lift other people up if I am not taking care of myself first? So anyway, I had many, MANY aha moments while reading The Happiness Project. You should definitely check it out!
Besides being with Ryan and doing the work that I love to do everyday as a photographer and entrepreneur, I decided it is time for me to get back to crafting and doing random projects that give me a sense of accomplishment! ;) After sharing my plan with friends, many of them expressed interest in joining me!! What better than hanging out with friends while doing crafts?!? It takes me right back to the Craft Center at Bucknell! ;) Love that!
Since crafting and DIY projects bring me so much joy, we have decided to document them and include them as a part of our blog! After all- the blog is meant to share the stories of our lives… and this is all part of the everyday Liz and Ryan! ;) Hopefully some of our DIY projects will spark your own creativity, or at least give you a good laugh when we share the bloopers and projects that may not have worked! ;)
Be sure to check back in later this afternoon for my first full DIY Project!
Friday Favorites: Good Reads – Food and Wine Magazine.
We LOVE reading (or at least flipping through magazines and looking at the pictures). :) I can still remember heading to the library multiple times per week when I was in elementary school to pick out a giant pile of books to read for the Lyter Summer Reader’s Contest. 20+ years later, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to read as much as we wish. When we do have a free moment, the first magazine we dig out of our overflowing magazine basket is always Food and Wine. A magazine that combines some of our favorite things in its title is definitely a good read. One of my favorite things to do is to find a new recipe in the magazine, head to our local farmers market or Whole Foods, and then whip up an amazing meal. Checkout this post for the latest recipe we recently tried. If you have followed our Instagram feed for any length of time, you have probably seen a few of the creations inspired by Food and Wine Magazine. Plus, the layout and design is AMAZING! Food and Wine Magazine was definitely one of our inspirations for our new site and brand. Download the latest issue today and get cooking!
One of my favorite things to do is to flip through the latest Food and Wine magazine, look at the amazing food pictures, and then decide which recipes I want to try. The first step to cooking a great meal is to simply be able to read and follow directions. There are 1000’s of AMAZING recipes available online, many of which anyone can easily cook. Yes, great chefs can easily create something masterful from a bag of yams, gummy bears, and duck breast (just watch Chopped on the Food Network), but for the most part, we just want to enjoy a finely cooked meal with fresh ingredients. If you continue to follow along with our blog, hopefully I’ll be able to inspire you to try something new, give cooking a try, and to stop ordering take out every night.
There are probably plenty of studies on the positive health effects of cooking your own meals, but for us, it just makes us feel better knowing exactly what we are eating and how it was prepared. Plus, their is an amazing joy and sense of accomplishment in sitting down to eat a dinner you just created. So to kick off Ryan Cooks, we are starting with a super easy recipe we are calling Easy Chicken Caprese.
Recipe: Easy Chicken Caprese
Ingredients:
1/2 pound spicy marinated bocconcini (mozzarella balls), plus the oil from the container
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded 1/2 inch thick
Salt (optional)
Freshly ground pepper
1 pint heirloom cherry or grape tomatoes
Olive oil, for grilling
When we are cooking we always like to make enough for left overs the next day for dinner or possibly even lunch. Since there are just the two of us, 4 chicken breast halves will be more than enough. We knew we were going to be cooking the chicken right away so we purchased boneless air chilled chicken breasts at our local Whole Foods. Air chilled always just seems to taste a little fresher to us but any type of chicken breasts should suffice. The breasts we bought were already relatively thin, if your chicken breasts are larger, use a mallet to pound them to 1/2 inch thick.
If you are vegetarian, feel free to substitute tofu or portabella mushrooms in place of the chicken. Also, if you can’t find heirloom cherry tomatoes, regular grape tomatoes or diced whole tomatoes will do just fine.
Step 1: Prepare the marinade.
The great thing about this recipe is that the marinade is already made for you. Just remove the mozzarella balls from the oil and poor half of the oil into a glass pan or baking dish. Save the remaining oil for later.
Next, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, thoroughly “toss” the chicken in the marinade making sure to evenly coat all four breasts. Now is a good time to wash your hands and clean up anything the chicken may have touched. Finish but adding freshly ground pepper. You may also add a pinch of salt but we decided to opt for a lower sodium version and stuck with just the pepper.
Cover the chicken and place in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours. After the chicken has had a chance to thoroughly soak in the marinade, remove from the refrigerator and let it return to room temperature. Letting the chicken return to room temperature will allow for more even cooking.
Step 2: Cut the tomatoes and combine with mozzarella.
While the chicken is marinating, cut the tomatoes into halves.
Combine the mozzarella balls, tomatoes, and remaining oil in a dish. Toss to evenly coat the tomatoes and mozzarella balls and set aside.
Step 3: Cook the chicken.
Heat a grill pan to high heat. Using a brush, coat the pan with olive oil to prevent the chicken from sticking.
Once the grill pan is hot, place the chicken breasts on the pan to begin cooking. The chicken should take about 8-10 minutes to cook. Turn once at about 4 minutes. Turning more than once throughout the process will often lead to over cooked and dry chicken, so resist the urge to flip continuously. If you are using an actual grill, the chicken may cook more quickly.
Now is a good time to grab some plates if you haven’t done so already.
Step 4: Plate and enjoy!
Once the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through, transfer to a plate.
Add the mozzarella balls and tomatoes, grab a fork and enjoy!
The original recipe I followed can be found in the September 2012 Issue of Food and Wine magazine or online here. You’ll notice they suggest cutting the chicken into small slices and serving in a bowl as a salad. This is a great option if you are preparing the meal in advance. I couldn’t wait to try my creation so I skipped the final step and served the chicken whole with the tomatoes and mozzarella as a side! :)
I love food, and I LOVE cooking. In fact, I may enjoy cooking more than actually eating! Ok, maybe not, but it’s a super close second. There is nothing better than sitting down to enjoy a nice dinner that you prepared. Just a moment ago it was baking in the oven, or roasting on the grill, and all your hard work has paid off. Taking the first bite, warm and juicy and full of flavor, it is pure heaven! If I didn’t love my job so much, I would probably become a chef, or at least own a food truck. Being in the kitchen is just so relaxing and fulfilling. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have a super amazing, and smokin’ hot sous chef like Liz! :) Even better than cooking for yourself is being able to cook for family and friends, just make sure they are willing to try new recipes that you may be attempting for the very first time! Seeing and hearing their reaction after they take the first bite is so exciting. I like to think I am on Iron Chef America or Chopped (I definitely need to get a customized chef’s jacket), or any of the other great Food Network shows. Ok, so I probably still have a long way to go before Bobby Flay challenges me to a throw down, but a guy has got to have dreams right? :)
Unfortunately we can’t cook for everyone that reads our blog, but what we can do is show you how easy it actually is to cook a great meal. So we decided to create a new blog series called Ryan Cooks. A few times a month, we will be showcasing an AMAZING meal most likely from a recipe found in Food and Wine Magazine and every once in a while a Liz and Ryan Original. We will provide the recipe, step-by-step instructions, and some great pictures to help inspire you to become the next Top Chef. But most importantly, we will provide you with some inspiration and tips to that should help you become a better chef, have fun cooking, and live a more AMAZING life! Be sure to check back this afternoon for the very first installment of Ryan Cooks!
Good morning everyone and Happy Friday! Each Friday we are going to start of the day with what we are calling our “Friday Favorites.” Each week we will highlight one of our favorite things, something that we just can’t live without, or something that helps us to live a more AMAZING life. So without further adieu …
Friday Favorites: In The Kitchen – Our Starbucks French Press.
One of our absolute favorite things is walking into one of our favorite coffee shops and being surrounded by the AMAZING aroma of coffee. As soon as you walk in the door the scent of freshly ground beans, brewed coffee, and espresso, washes over you. It’s like a caffeine jolt to your senses. Waking up and driving immediately to the nearest Starbucks or up to the AMAZING Artifact Coffee doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. So, the next best thing is brewing coffee in our Starbucks French Press. Each morning we start our day by grinding some fresh Ceremony Coffee, boiling water in our green teakettle, and then brewing the perfect cup of coffee in our press. The aroma quickly fills our first floor as the coffee bloom builds. After 4 minutes it’s time to break the crust and press down the grinds. What’s left is a perfect cup of coffee and a fabulous coffee house aroma to start our day. The bold flavor is something you just can’t get from a regular old coffee pot. The extra effort is truly worth it. Get yourself a French Press here and learn more about how to make a perfect cup of coffee with the Intelligentsia App.
And to start of our first Friday Favorites and to commemorate Liz and Ryan launch week, leave us a comment for your chance to win a bag our favorite Ceremony Coffee to go with your new French press!
