spontaneous (adj.):

1 : done or produced freely or naturally.  2 : acting or taking place without external force or cause. 3 : my word for the summer. However, my summer motto has evolved a bit from simply "spontaneous" to the next definition in my handy dandy dictionary: "spontaneous combustion (n): a bursting into flame of material through heat produced within itself."
No worries, I'm not bursting into flame (yet), but that's how I've felt recently. My schedule went from completely lax to nearly 40 hour weeks working with kids. Not that I'm complaining at all because my busy days have been very rewarding, but 6-8 hours a day in the heat can be exhausting. Juggling that on top of finalizing my schedule for senior year, getting my summer projects done, helping my parents re-do the house, and trying to manage a little time with friends can make it a little bit hard to maintain sanity. But in the midst of all the chaos, here's a little taste of the good life:

**I don't get to spend much time in bed during the day...but  Sophie's pretty good at keepin' it warm for me**

**Ruby Tuesday is amazing in and of itself  (btdubbs those white cheddar mashed potatoes are divine)**

**but it's always better when you have a super gorgeous friend to share it with**

**yum...minus the mischievous little finger.**

**and we ALL know how I feel about chocolate.**

Somewhere in there, I've done a wee bit of cooking...most recently, I've been obsessed with baked Macaroni & Cheese. I got the recipe from Cooks.com, but I revised it to my liking:

Here's what you'll need:

8 oz. Elbow Macaroni

12 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1/2 c. Butter

1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour

1 & 1/3 c. Milk

2 teaspoons Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Boil macaroni about 10-15 minutes, or until soft

3. Drain the macaroni and set aside

4. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Once the butter is competely melted, gradually add the flour and milk.

5. Pour half of the macaroni into a shallow casserole dish and cover with half of the cheese.

6. Pour half of the sauce over the first layer of cheese, cover with the remaining macaroni, followed by the remaining sauce; top with remaining cheese.

7. Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese is slightly golden brown

Wish me luck in my "week off"...and my behind the wheel portion of drivers' ed. 

Next week, it's back into the fray.

It's hopeless.

Generally, when one hears the word addiction, they assume the worst. But in my opinion, addictions can be either good or bad. What do addictions have to do with anything, you ask? Everything. Because I am hopelessly addicted to.....chocolate. Yeah, I'm sure many of you think you can claim the same, but you're wrong. My addiction is past the point of no return. You know how I said I cook what I like to eat? That's why I bake so much. And that's also why everything I bake is chocolatey. So it will come as no surprise that I've baked twice in the past two days and both times they've consisted of chocolate goodness. Sunday night, I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies & last night, I made a double chocolate cake...delish.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies:

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Sugar (I used Splenda for the sake of the dieters in my household)
1 Egg White
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 tablespoons Water
2 cups Rolled Oats
2/3 cups Whole Wheat Flour (All-Purpose works too)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips, give or take ;)

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cream oil and sugars

3. Mix in egg white, vanilla, & water

4. Add the oats, flour, salt, baking soda, & cinnamon

5. Fold in the chocolate chips

6. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes, and enjoy!

and now, for the double chocolate cake:

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 Egg, beaten

1 cup Milk

1 tablespoon White Vinegar

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

10 tablespoons Nestle Cocoa Mix

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 & 1/2 cups Flour

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x13 pan

2. Mix together all the ingredients except the chocolate chips; beat until mostly smooth

3. Pour mixture into the pan and bake for 15 minutes

4. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake for another 15-20 minutes

I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty good at experiments

Experimental cooking...it can be scary. Especially when your ingredient list becomes longer then your hair and the flames from the skillet in which you're cooking are high enough to singe it (your hair, not the list). So when I found a recipe for Steak & Mushroom Salad and decided I wanted peppers and Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes as well, an automatic feeling of anxiousness kicked in. But it worked. I'm not exactly sure what to title this recipe, but it's scrumptious and an apparent crowd-pleaser seeing as I fed it to one of the pickiest eaters I know.

Here's what you'll need:

Various Dried Herbs/Spices (equal parts of: onion powder, pepper, parsley flakes, basil, oregano, thyme, cumin, ground mustard, rosemary, garlic powder, celery seed)

1 tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard

2 teaspoon Lime Juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

12 oz. Sirloin Steak

8 oz. Mushrooms, quartered

1 large Onion, halved and sliced

3 Peppers (any color), sliced

Here's what you do:

1. Defrost & barely brown the sirloin, then slice it

2. Combine all the dried herbs in a bowl and whisk together with olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, lime juice, & Worcestershire sauce

3. Put steak strips in a large freezer bag and pour herb mixture over it; set aside to marinate

4. Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the peppers, onions, and mushrooms; cook until the onions become translucent

5. Place the vegetables in a bowl and heat some more oil

6. Place meat in the skillet, being careful not to spill too much of the marinade into the skillet

7. Cook meat until cooked through but still tender and serve hot

8. Heat the marinade and serve as a gravy along with the veggies and mashed potatoes, rice, or mashed cauliflower.

**apparently, it was really good. And that guy lookin' at the camera when I distinctly told him to ignore me? yeah, that's the picky one.**

We Like it Oriental

As a general rule, when I'm in the kitchen (as I am at this moment), everything turns out Italian or chocolate...because when I cook, I make what I'd like to eat. However, when my mom and I are in the kitchen together, the special stuff comes out. Ya know, like the seasonings whose labels are all in foreign languages? Yeah, those...we use a lot of 'em. So today, we're making Lemon Chicken (Sarah's Secrets) with Soy Sauce & Sesame Seed Roasted Broccoli (Kalyn's Kitchen). This post could potentially be a bit more poetic and thought-out, but it just so happens that I'm writing this while Mom's at the stove, getting attacked by the oil-spitting chicken. So if I seem a bit distracted, I beg your pardon. Anyways, my life is pretty much at a five-star level right now, but the particulars of that are relatively [not] extraordinary so we'll stick to the recipes.

First, the Chicken:

Here's what you'll need:

1-2 lbs. Boneless & Skinless Chicken Breast, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
Sea Salt & Fresh Black Pepper
2 large Eggs, beaten
1 & 1/4 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds
(we didn't use these...it seemed redundant with them on the broccoli as well)
5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Here's what you do:
1. Combine the lemon juice & soy sauce in a large bowl, add the chicken, and let marinate for at least 15 minutes
2. Set up 3 bowls: one filled with flour, salt, & pepper, one with the eggs, and a third with the panko & sesame seeds
3. Coat each slice of chicken lightly with flour, dip it in the egg, & coat it well in the panko mixture.
4. Heat half the oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot; reduce heat to medium-low and add the chicken. Saute until cooked through and browned.

and then, the broccoli:

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 T sesame seeds, toasted

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (this is important...it kinda doesn't help if the oven isn't on, as I just learned)

2. Place the broccoli in a large bowl, mix all the other ingredients, and pour over the broccoli

3. Arrange in a single layer over a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes; turn and roast another 5 minutes

I may be picky...

...but it saves me a lot of trouble. Over the past few days, I've begun to realize just how picky I am...for instance, I'll only use hair ties that are tight rather then stretched out, and the color of the hair tie CANNOT clash with my outfit. It may sound a bit crazy, but the little things are important to me. Another thing I'm very conscious of is what goes on my face, from the substance to the color and even to the utensil used to apply my specific skincare products. And I've come to the conclusion that I absolutely cannot stand cotton balls. They're atrocious! Last night, I used one to take off my eye makeup and woke up 10 hours later with a horrendous itch in my left eye...after about ten minutes of rubbing my eye and prying it every which way to find the source of this terrible annoyance, I found it. It was none other then a sneaky little white fiber from a cotton ball. Shocker.

By now, you probably think I'm crazy. But I'm not, I promise; and, I'm about to prove it to you.
Survey the picture below very closely.

Cotton ball vs. Cotton pad

Am I the only person who sees those teensie weensie itsy bitsy pieces of cotton that aren't intact with the rest of the cotton ball??? THOSE are the devilish little creatures that find their way into my eyes when I'm sleeping...now, I'm sure you're asking yourself: "why in the world am I reading this?" That one is not my problem...but others may be asking: "hm...well, what would be the solution to the cotton ball dilemma?" The solution is simple: cotton pads. They really make a world of difference.

Moral of the story? There really isn't one. But I'll make one up: Don't settle for less then you deserve.