Island Time

I'm traveling to Barbados today for one of my best friend's weddings on Friday so I will be unplugging for a few days and focusing on bridesmaid responsibilities + relaxing on the beach when time allows me to do that.  Learning from past trips, I really need to live in the moment instead of worrying about online things and work emails which stress me out. Feel free to follow my adventures on Instagram when I happen to get some Wi-Fi access!!

Other than the wedding festivities, we have plans to swim with the turtles, drive around the entire island (which takes 3 hours) and spend Halloween night out and about with friends. I look forward to reading everyone's Halloween/weekend whereabouts next week.

Happy hump day my pretty friends! I hope Friday gets here quickly for you! xoxo

Chicken & Broccoli Rice Casserole

This is one of the more complicated recipes I've made recently only because it requires several different moving parts and pans to cook the chicken, broccoli and rice separately before assembling the casserole but it's worth the few extra dishes. Chicken & Broccoli Rice casserole it a great recipe for the Fall and can feed 8 to 10 people.



Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 head of broccoli
1.5 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups shredded cheese
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste

What To Do:
1. Boil chicken breasts with poultry seasoning for 15 minutes or until cooked fully. Once chicken has cooled, cut into small bite-size pieces.
2. Cook rice according to directions on the package. I used instant brown rice to speed up the process a bit.
3. Cut broccoli florets off the stem and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour 1/2 cup water evenly over the broccoli and cook in microwave for 4 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 backing dish with nonstick spray.

5.  In a medium skillet, melt butter and add chopped onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cream of chicken soup and whisk in the milk, flour, and eggs. Finally add 3/4 cup of shredded cheese along with salt and pepper and whisk together until smooth. Cook for another 5 minutes or until thickened.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked chicken, rice, broccoli and soup mixture and mix well with a spoon.
7. Pour mixture into baking dish, top with remainder of shredded cheese and then sprinkle panko breadcrumbs over cheese.
 8. Bake on 350 for 35 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Low Key Weekend

The weekend was fairly quiet so nothing crazy to write about. We are traveling later in the week for the 3rd wedding I'm a bridesmaid in for the year so most of the weekend was spent shopping for odds and ends (sunblock, swimsuits, gifts for the bride) and organizing what to pack.

One of the things I bought the bride-to-be was this Soft Cotton Bride Sleepwear Set for under $25. I put together a whole gift bag for her with lingerie, perfumes, sleepwear and other bridal things.

On Friday I went to happy hour with some coworkers and then just relaxed at home for the rest of the evening with K and Lola, which was much needed!

On Saturday, K and I headed out to do some shopping and then had some empanadas for lunch at a small Colombian restaurant close to home.

On Saturday night I went to a charity event for the Special Olympics of Florida which I've attended for the past 5 years. The event included live music, Black Jack table games (with funny money), silent auctions, and food tastings from some of the best local restaurants. It was fun walking from tent to tent trying different tapas and I also got black jack on one my hands so I won a gift card to a local sports restaurant. It was a really fun night out with K and some of my coworkers.

 

Sunday was spent relaxing, blogging, food prepping and packing for our trip. I also tried out this Triple Cream Brie with Wild Mushrooms from Trader Joe's which is amazing with pita chips! If you like mushrooms and brie cheese then I definitely recommend it.

How was your weekend? Linking up with the lovely Biana.

Friday Weekly Recap

I'm excited Friday and the weekend are here but I have to say this week was a pretty good one. You don't hear me say that too often because I'm, more often than not, overwhelmed and stressed out about work. But things this week just went smoothly and my stress-level had a chance to run normally.

The best part about this week was celebrating Kerri's birthday yesterday with the ladies after work. We met up at Parkview to have some wine flights and catch up. Fun times as always with Kate, Pamela and the birthday beauty Kerri!

Some other happenings for this week:

Tried:
I went to check it out a new Asian Boba Tea place on my lunch break. The coffee boba (which has fruit jellies at the bottom) was so amazing and I'm not kidding when I say it's better than Starbucks.

Accomplished:

The second best part about this week: passing my photography exam and becoming a certified photographer!!

Now, I just need to practice, practice, practice and learn my camera's settings 100% before I feel fully confident with my skills. 

Watched:

On Wednesday our team got to leave a little early for Back to the Future Day and head to the movies to watch the trilogy. We also had a work costume contest. Of course, I forgot to dress up. 

Ate:

I just discovered the Teriyaki Chicken bowl from Publix which is made fresh on the spot and, for only $6.99, it's a nice and affordable lunch or dinner. 

Feeling:

Loving:
Dog treats from Chewy.com have been a life saver for helping to train Lola. When she's doing something naughty like jumping on top our patio table. I just say "treats" and she'll go running to the pantry where I store them. It's probably the only way to get her to stop what she's doing because #spoiledbulldog.

Browsed:

The Loft has 50% off this week online and up to 60% in the store. Who doesn't love a good sale, especially for good quality clothing? 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Booties & Scarves

Florida has been getting it's first taste of Fall mainly at night which means it almost time to pull out our sweaters, booties and scarves. I love booties with a medium height heel and just bought the first pair of studded ankle booties in gray since I wore my other gray pair to the ground. All of these booties are under $75 and look very comfortable yet stylish. I also own a black pair like the bottom left one which I've only had a chance to wear a handful of times.

1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 * 6

 I own several cute scarves but there's only a small window here in Florida when a thick scarf is needed so most of mine are on the lighter side but it's good to own a few of each especially for traveling to colder temp places. All of these are super cute and very affordable in the under $25 price range.

1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 9 * 10 * 11 * 12

Over the next few weekends, I'll slowly be putting away the summer clothes and pulling out all the cute Fall things.

Where do you shop for affordable boots/booties, sweaters and scarves?