Easy Fried Rice

I have to have a few Asian recipes up my sleeve right? This dinner is a regular at our house. It's easy and pretty quick to make! You can always alter it by using the meat and veggies you like best, or not using meat at all. This recipe makes quite a bit so feel free to half it. Ty and I always have leftovers, but we don't mind!

Ingredients
3 cups cooked rice
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup vegetables (I used a bag of mixed veggies)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
 pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste

Directions
While you are cooking the rice, begin cooking the chicken in a wok or a large pan. Once the chicken is cooked, toss the vegetables with the chicken until they are cooked through. Turn heat off for this pan. In a separate pan, scramble the eggs. Once the rice is ready, combine it in the wok along with the eggs. Now that everything is in one place, turn on the stove again to medium low and add sesame oil and soy sauce. Start mixing, and do it at a quick pace to avoid burning rice at the bottom. Remove the pan from the heat and add pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to your taste. P.S. it tastes better with chopsticks. Makes about 5-6 servings.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a sweet tooth! I love baking desserts and then, of course, eating them. However, I took a little break from baking when the nausea came my first trimester of pregnancy. Not only did I not have the energy to bake, but I lost interest in eating desserts (WHAT?) I know, crazy. At least it was better for my diet. Well now that the nausea is gone and the energy is back, I can get back into it. This cupcake recipe is not too shabby if I do say so myself. Hope you like it! Chocolate + cream cheese = yum!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting:

CUPCAKE:

½ cup butter

1 ½ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup baking cocoa

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup milk

½ cup water

FROSTING:

4 oz cream cheese

¼ cup butter

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ - 3 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar together. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. The batter is a little thicker than cupcake batter usually is so don't worry about that. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes. Makes 20 cupcakes.

While cupcakes are baking, make the frosting! Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until it is the consistency you like. I like the frosting thick, so if this frosting is too thick for your taste, add a little milk. Also, if you like lots of frosting, then double the frosting recipe (or 1.5 it?). Wait for cupcakes to cool before applying frosting. Enjoy!

Valentines Weekend

 It has been a fantastic Valentines weekend! So Thursday, actual Valentines Day, had a little less hoopla than usual because we planned our real party time for Monday. Tyler bought me flowers of course and a yoga mat! Now you may think that's a strange Valentines gift and maybe a rude hint to get into shape BUT it's perfect for me as I've been doing yoga nowadays. It's hard for me to get up and run as much as I used to so I have needed to find another form of exercise. I love it so far. I'll go more into yoga another day. Anyway, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden which is always good. Can't go wrong there. Afterwords we redboxed a very romantic movie called Monsters University. You can laugh, but seriously there was nothing good to rent and I've been wanting to watch it. I regret nothing.

 Valentines couple photo! Gotta have one.

 Flowers and yoga mat

On Saturday, things got real colorful in Sierra Vista. Tyler and I, with some good friends, ran the Run or Dye 5k. If any of you have been to the Hindu color festival in Spanish Fork, Utah, then you have an idea of what this race is like. It was the color festival in race form. So Awesome!

 Before the craziness

 AFTER!

The group (left to right): Anthony, Michelle, Me, Tyler and AJ. 

Monday, we went to see Imagine Dragons in concert! Our saved up Valentines activity. It was such a fun night. We had to drive 2.5 hours to get there because it was in Phoenix but it was worth it. Before the concert we want to Cafe Rio which I have greatly missed since the don't have one in Sierra Vista. Then it was time to blast our ears. We had 2nd row seats which were quite fantastic! Imagine Dragons was so good live; if you ever have the chance to see them, do it! They really know how to put on a show.  Here's some pictures from the show! 

Weekend Outfits

I love clothes. Love, love love! So every once in a while I'll post some pictures of outfits I like and where I got them. The weekends are where I actually get dressed up. At work every day all I wear are scrubs so I definitely look forward to looking somewhat decent for the weekend.

This was my Valentines Day outfit. It may look more like a 4th of July outfit but I just love rich red and blue together. I use to fuss over making sure all my accessories matched perfectly, but as you can see that isn't a priority for me anymore. And hey, people are wearing black and brown together now for heaven's sake! As long as it looks good, why not wear it?  Blue top from Target, festive red skinny jeans from Rue 21, black wedge boots from Marshalls, grey bag by Michael Kors and rose gold watch made by Guess.

Here's an up-close shot of my beautiful watch that Ty got me for Christmas. I love how the numbers shown are not the usual 12, 3, 6, and 9.  A little unique but not outrageous.

This was my outfit for Sunday Funday. Dress from Nordstrom, statement necklace from Down East Outfitters, bracelet from Charlotte Russe, nude pointed-toe strap heels from Payless.

Down East is one of the stores I miss. There is one an hour away from us in Tucson. For my birthday Ty took me shopping up there and I found a Down East so of course I had to get something, so I found this lovely statement necklace. I love this pop of color with all the yellow and gold going on in my outfit.

Charlotte Russe is my favorite. They always have good jewelry deals. Here's my gold-colored link bracelet.

Gotta love shoes. I was with Ty looking through Payless and I told him I needed nude-colored high heels. He grabbed these and I loved them! Who knew he had a good eye for ladies' shoes?

Pregnancy Thoughts

This is my first pregnancy so I thought why not write a bit about it?? Well I am currently 16 weeks along and so far so good. Of course, the first trimester was hard on me nausea-wise, but I've tried really hard to stay positive. Hey, I'm not vomiting and I'm growing a little human for crying out loud. Those thoughts kept me going. I know it could be a LOT worse. Anyway, second trimester has been awesome. I can actually exercise, eat more, and I just feel better all around. It's still hard to be away from my family who's back in Utah. I miss them a ton especially now that I'm embarking on this new adventure. But, I've gotta say, Tyler has been the best husband! He puts up with my raging hormones, doesn't judge me when I eat french fries every other day, and is always willing to get me whatever I need to feel comfortable. He is so so excited about this baby just like me; he's going to be a great dad. 

A week and a half ago we went to a doctor's appointment and heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time! It was such a special experience to hear our baby. In 2 weeks we'll find out the gender, so look out for that update!

So that is a little update on my pregnancy. I'm still hardly showing a baby bump; when I start showing I'll post pictures! We are just so excited for this new addition to our family and couldn't be happier!

The best "that moment" moment ever!

The first ultrasound at 6 weeks. If you have trouble seeing it, it's the little bean hugging the right side of my uterus haha.