What I'm Loving Right Now

2015 has been a nice and easy transition. I am loving it.
We're off work today, celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I am quite thankful.

Here's a few things that I'm loving right now:

Gossip Girl--you can find them all on Netflix
I started (re)watching this show from episode 1 and it's just as addicting as it was the first time around. I've yet to see the final season so I am binge watching due to the fact I haven't seen all these "new to me" episodes. It's my guilty pleasure. 

Our New Gym
Jason and I joined The Club at Crossgates the week of Thanksgiving and we love it!
With our new gym comes one of the things that I'm really, really loving...

Yoga

Well, more so Yogalaties because that's what's offered at The Club.
I am obsessed. I love it.
Our instructor is great--she is so helpful.
I feel so good and I feel so many changes. It's awesome.
We bought some things to where we can practice Yoga at home now as well. It's about to become a staple in the Ellis household. 

The fact my hair is growing
The moment I cut my hair in May, I wished I hadn't.
Cue the biotin and I'm finally able to wear it down again!
Praises. 

Our New Daybed and Desk
For Christmas, Jason and I got a desk and it's amazing.
The nerd in me couldn't be happier with how our little office is coming together!
We also got an AMAZING daybed that I've had my eye on for literal years now. I am a happy, happy girl. Our newest room will have a post of it's own as soon as it's complete. 

My Mother
I am always loving and thankful for my mother. She gives, gives, gives, and helps, helps, helps, and I can only hope to be more like her. She is the most selfless person that I know. She's amazing & I love her dearly. She's making my pillows for our daybed and they will be beautifully amazing.

The Perfect Popcorn

I love, LOVE popcorn and sadly, it's one of those foods that we choose not to eat because of how processed it is. But lo and behold, this is where Whole Foods comes in! We found some organic kernels and I found The "PERFECT popcorn" recipe HERE. Thank you Simply Recipes, it really is perfect. By the way, I'm not saying it's healthy--it's whole though, not processed and I know where it all came from & I can eat it feeling good about that.

What you need:
3-4 quart pot with lid
1/3 cup Organic Popcorn Kernels
 (we got a huge bag from Whole Foods for a little over $3)
3 tbsp of coconut oil
(peanut or canola work as well but coconut is the healthiest)
1 tbsp of butter (or more to taste) this is of course optional
Salt to taste

What you do:
Heat the oil in the pot on medium-high heat.
If you are using the coconut oil, allow the solid oil to melt.
I add some salt at this point.
Put 3 or 4 kernels in the pot into to oil with the lid on.
When those 3-4 kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of kernels in an even layer.
Cover, then remove from the heat and count 30 seconds.
Once your 30 seconds are up, return the pan to the heat--the popcorn should begin popping soon and all at once.

Once it's popping consistently, be sure to shake the pot around a bit.
On Simply Recipes, she suggests keeping the lid a bit open where the steam can escape--she said it keeps it crisp and dry.
Once the popping slows, remove from the heat and pour into a bowl.
Then, if you choose to use butter, you can easily melt it in the now empty, but hot pan.
Pour butter onto popcorn and then I use the lid from the pot to cover the popcorn and shake it all around to get it good and buttery.

I will never go back to any other way of having my popcorn.
In fact, I've had it two times in the past two days.

My Q&A a Day Book
I love this little gem. I am a stickler for anything like this.
Year two has began for me.

My Husband 
The deepest part of what I'm loving right now, my Jason. I love this dear man. I am so thankful that The Lord gave me this sweet, sweet man. I can't even skim the surface of the many reasons I love him. I am DEFINITELY loving him right now, and every day that follows.

Think about what you love right now and appreciate it. 

"Easy" Primal Chicken Enchiladas

I say "easy" because they weren't really that easy. 

The recipe wasn't quite clear on some of the steps so I am going to add what we did to tweak it and make it a little more user friendly. 

When Jason and I cook, we make sure we make enough for lunch the next day and even sometimes, enough to freeze for those nights when we "just don't feel like cooking"--this one was no different. 

Mexicans, tacos, margaritas, etc. all of these are serious weaknesses so we had high hopes for this one! 

Ladies and Gentleman, 

"Easy" Primal Chicken Enchiladas 

Originally found on Mark's Daily Apple

On the original recipe, it was said this would make 6 enchiladas (crepes) but we changed some of the measurements to get 10 enchiladas so we would have leftovers. I will notate those changes. 

What you need:

2-3 cups of cooked chicken breast, steak, or turkey (we used chicken)

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (more if needed to coat all the top)

1 scallion (we didn't use this)

For the crepes:

1/4 cup of heavy cream or half & half (we used 1/2 cup of heavy cream because we wanted more crepes)

3 egg whites (we used 8 egg whites)

For the enchilada sauce:

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

 2 cups of water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp chili powder

I added (salt to taste)

What you do:

First, prepare the enchilada sauce. 

In a medium pot, on medium-high heat warm butter and oil. 

Add all dry ingredients. 

Whisk in two cups of water and tomato sauce. 

Stir continually until sauce thickens. 

Adjust spices accordingly and set aside. 

In second skillet, heat chicken in a quarter cup of enchilada sauce. 

Bring to a simmer. 

For the crepes, 

In a mixing bowl, add all egg whites and half & half and beat well until blended. 

Heat up a small skillet and heat on 3-4. 

Spray with non-stick spray and add just enough egg mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. 

Allow to cook through, about 1-2 minutes. 

Repeat until all mixture is gone, you should get about 6 crepes (at least 10 if you use the measurements we did).

These crepes are so sticky! So be careful when getting them out of the pan. They will probably rip a little too, but you WILL get the hang of it! Our last 5 looked much better than the first 5. 

Forming & placing the enchiladas

Inside a 9x13 baking dish, place one of the egg crepes and then put a spoonful of the enchilada sauce on it, then a hefty spoonful of the chicken, and a small amount of cheese and then roll then like enchiladas and line the baking dish. 

When all are rolled, top them with the remaining sauce (we had A LOT remaining and I wish we hadn't put it all--use your best judgement (or preference) for this).

Sprinkle chopped scallions (if you choose to use them) and as much cheese as you like on top and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

This was our first time making these but even so, they were good. There's only room for improvement! I will update with any changes, etc. that we make! 

2014, You Were Amazing.

2014 was full of a lot of "firsts" for me as a married woman.
It was a really great year and I am actually a little sad to see it go but so thankful for all that I experienced and all that The Lord taught me. He uses every bit of our lives.

In typical fashion, here's a picture of some of the "bigger" things that happened to us in 2014.

January:

Our first time to celebrate New Year's Eve as a married couple.

 One of my longest time friends got married. She and I are the same age and so are our little sisters.
This is about 15 years of friendship right here.

Our first snow day in our home and the beginning of watching all the seasons of LOST

February:

Our first "married" Valentine's Day that we spent being very low key by going to our favorite authentic Mexican restaurant. 

March:

 Family wedding of Sarah and Brandon in Birmingham

and the sadness of my Grandfather passing away that same day.

Jason also took his first trip to Starkville

April:

Another family wedding for Emmy & Brian in Atlanta

May:

Aaron and Blair FINALLY got engaged ;)

 Along with our other besties, Melissa & Ian

Their engagement was also mine & Mary Claire's first time to take pictures of the actual proposal! It was nerve-racking beyond belief

I also chopped off all of my hair for Beautiful Lengths--which now, months later, I can't wait for it to grow back!

 Mary Claire went to Ethiopia and I got 36 people to write her letters to open while she was over there.

June:

 Jason and I accompanied my parents to their first ever music festival in Memphis. It was scorching hot and wonderful.

My first time for the Douglas/Ellis/Barnes Father's Day trip to Ship Island

Long time friend also had her first baby, Ms. Charley Adalynn Day! Our first baby to welcome to the group.

July:

Jason came on his first Griswold Family Beach Trip

August:

I began my 3rd year of teaching, Jason his 4th.

I got to meet one of my favorite singer/songwriters. 

Mary Claire & Grant got engaged

September:

Jason & I celebrated my birthday (or better yet, used my birthday gift) and spent the weekend in Atlanta for Music Midtown where I saw some of my favorite musicians perform. Not to mention, my 3rd time seeing my ALL TIME favorite, John Mayer.

October:

 We went to New Orleans as part of Jason's birthday celebration--the Louisiana Seafood Festival & Family made for a pretty amazing weekend.

 Our 2nd Annual BYOP

Yes, that's a power tool

All the pumpkin flavored food

We had our Reformation Celebration at church where we were "Waldette" and Agent Smith 

November:

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary in our favorite city, New Orleans

We saw Phantom of the Opera and ate a lot of delicious food

We heard Tim Keller preach at First Presbyterian Jackson

I planned my first Bachelorette Party as a Matron of Honor for Mary Claire

After my little afternoon yoga for Mary Claire's bachelorette, Jason and I joined The Club where we started doing Yogalaties on Tuesdays and Thursdays--I LOVE it.

I had my first Thanksgiving with almost all of Jason's family 

December :

We sang in our first christmas cantata at LPC 

 Mary Claire and Grant got married!

We ended the year at one of the most fun weddings we've ever been to! Dani & Neil got married on New Years Eve and it was awesome. 

What better way to end 2014 than with my husband and family? It was amazing.

Here's to 2015 and the great times to come.