Bald Eagle Trip

In February we ended up having a beautiful weekend- I think it was like 60-some degrees, so we drove over to Alton and Grafton in Illinois to spot bald eagles.  Dustin has been wanting to go for years...and this is not really my cup of tea....so when the weather was so gorgeous, I was actually excited to get outside and do something!

So we get to Alton and find a spot where a tour bus is stopped and people are all watching.  I quickly notice how EVERYONE has binoculors except for us.  We walk up and look in the direction they are spotting these eagles....and see nothing!  There were some trees on the other side of this lake that I guess they were looking at.  I thought someone may be nice and offer for us poor saps to use their binoculors, but no such luck.  So we leave and decide to find a different spot....so at this point I'm a little annoyed with Dustin cause I'm like why didn't you tell me we needed binoculors?!  He says as a kid they would come here and went to some dam and were up close right in front of them, so you didn't need them.  So then we start driving aimlessly looking for this spot he remembers as a kid.  I quickly stopped that cause he can't remember how to get to a place he went to last week, let alone from 20 yrs ago!

So I suggest we drive along the river road and head up to Grafton and go to the state park and try to get some information on the best sites to go to.  On the way up there, we spotted an eagle sitting high up in a tree, so finally a little excitement!  We get to the park and no eagles, but it was still fun to just walk around.  It's not every day that you have snow on the ground, a gorgeous blue sky, and warm weather!  Here are a few pics from the park:

So we decide this whole thing kinda sucks and the eagles must be hiding out, so we decide to head back home.  Then holy moly, I had my head out the sunroof for like a 10 mile stretch cause there were eagles flying around everywhere!  They were all really high, so my photos didn't turn out well, but you get the idea!

Now, would I do this again or recommend it?  Definitely not worth it if it's cold out.  If it's a nice day, I'd definitely go do it again....and would be better if Dustin knew where that dam was at and if you are still able to get a great view there.  There were also a few wineries, ice cream shops, etc. that it would make a cute day trip too!

Double-stuffed cookies

I had a night in to myself, so decided to bake a few treats.  I had seen an idea on the internet to make chocolate chip cookies, but put an Oreo in the middle.  Sounded good to me!  I had some frozed dough in the freezer, so I let that thaw out and then just patted the dough around the oreo.  They turned out REALLY BIG cause it took a lot of dough to surround that oreo...and then they melted in the oven into ugly shapes....so they didn't really look the best, but sure did taste yummy!  I baked mine at 350 degrees for about 12-13 minutes.  They were best warm....so grab a glass of milk and dunk these monster cookies in and enjoy!

My 2 ingredients:

Before baking:

Right out of the oven:

Insides:

Guest Bath and easy/cheap home decor

Our guest bathroom is very small, but we like the modern look of it and it fits in very well with our loft.  Everything in here came standard when we built the place.  I used some leftover candles from our wedding to decorate the shelf below the mirror....and then have just used rolled up handtowels and decor on the shelves.  It really is multi-purpose cause we don't have room to store much, so is always handy to be able to store something and let it serve as your decor! 

 We had picked this shower curtain out cause the husband loves blue and the different shades of blue seemed to fit with our vanity.  We also painted the ceiling of the bathroom to an aqua color that was similar to the vanity top.

Then I had a blank wall with only a towel bar that needed to be filled with something.  I went to Lowes/Home Depot and just picked up a lot of large paint swatches in the blue/aqua/gray families.  I then cut them down to the same size and placed them in these floating frames.  This is such a cheap thing to do and is so simple, that I hope someone else can use this idead if you haven't seen it somewhere.

Easy Swiss Chicken

WOWSER- this dish hit the spot tonight!  I had just read on Plain Chicken's blog about a Swiss Chicken recipe....it sounded perfect cause chicken is my most frequently cooked meat (and was on sale for $1.99/lb this week) and we LOVE swiss cheese.  She adapted it from Paula Deen and I made a hybrid between her and Paula's version.  Below is  how I made it and it turned out so good that I don't think I'd change a thing!

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Salt and Pepper
4 slices Swiss cheese
Shredded Swiss- about 1 cup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup stuffing mix, crushed
cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spred melted butter in 9x13 casserole dish. Add the chicken to the casserole dish and season with salt and pepper. Layer the cheese slices on top - I broke my slices in half and covered each chicken and then I broke up my last slice to fill in the missing areas.  I used some shredded swiss to also help get the chickens thoroughly covered in cheese, which I would recommend doing cause it melted in with the sauce and gave it all a great flavor.

In a medium bowl, combine the soup and wine, season with salt and pepper, and pour over the chickens. Sprinkle the smashed stuffing mix on top and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Easy Appetizer and Casserole

Here are 2 recipes I've done in the last month that were EXTREMELY easy and tasty.  Sorry I didn't get pictures of either one :(

This first one was an appetizer/side and would be great for a party.

Feta Cheese Bake

• approx. 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• 1 can pizza sauce
• crushed red pepper flakes
• Toasted bread

Using a shallow baking dish or pie dish, pour the pizza sauce into the dish.  Add a few shakes of crushed red pepper (or more if you like a little kick) and spread somewhat evenly around the bottom of the pan.  Crumble the cheese into the pan.  I baked about 30 minutes in 350 degree oven.  I had bought of loaf of french bread, sliced it and put in the oven to toast a bit.  Dip the bread in the cheese/sauce and enjoy! 

Note:  For a stronger cheese flavor, this would be excellent with goat cheese.

This next recipe was one I made for dinner and we loved and seriously took less than 3 minutes to assemble- however it does take a while to cook!  It's perfect for us cause I can quickly put it together after work and throw in the oven while we are at the gym.  Then it's ready and waiting when we are home.

Hamburg-Tot Casserole

• 1 lb hamburger meat
• Tator Tots 
•  red onion
• 1 can cream mushroom soup

Using a 8x8 or 9x9 pan, press the raw meat into the bottom of the pan.  Spread the soup over the meat.  Cover with some diced onion.  Pour as many tater tots heaping onto the top as you can!  Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.