Numero Dos

I am going to cut right to the chase because I am just so darn excited about it.....

We got our second win last night!!!  

The girls played so hard and really deserved this one.  It was back and forth for most of the game until the last 2 minutes or so when we pulled away to win 49-40.  It was nights like last night that remind me of why I love coaching as much as I do.  Seeing how excited the girls were after getting that win makes all of the headaches and frustration worth it.  Looking at our record you can tell we've had a less than stellar season, but we've chosen to focus more on the little battles as opposed to the big picture.  With such a young team it's hard (we're basically a jv team going up again seasoned varsity teams every night). But we are a completely different team than we were at the beginning of the year, and our experience is beginning to show.  These girls are going to be a force to be reckoned with in a year or 2 with 4 freshman getting as much varsity playing time as they are.   

Have we had disappointments this season?  Yes.  Have we lost a couple of games we should have won? Yes.  But that's sports. You win some and you lose some.  But as long as you can learn from your mistakes and improve because of them you're doing something right.  We still have 2 regular season games this weekend before our tournament starts, and I truly believe that we can win one of the 2.....if we play like I know we can and if the girls BELIEVE they can win.  For now we're going to celebrate because it just feels so darn good to win!

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

~John Wooden

Sunday Night Recipes

Since Sundays are the only day I am home most of the day and have time to think about making dinner, they have become my new cooking nights.  The past couple of weeks I have decided to try out  new healthy recipes that we can eat all week.

These recipes were the ones I cooked last weekend.  I actually picked the recipes out and got all of the ingredients the weekend before but never got a chance to make them.  Thankfully everything was still good, so I got to cooking while Eric was out hunting.

For our entree I went with one of my standby thrown together chicken dishes.  We'll call it Italian Chicken Bake (for lack of a better term).

Italian Chicken Bake

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thawed)

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1-14oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing for at least an hour. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place marinated chicken breasts in a single layer in the baking dish. Pour can of diced tomatoes on top of chicken, and top with cheeses and Italian seasoning.  Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. It's always delicious and EXTREMELY easy to make!

I also made a Tortellini Salad with Asparagus and Basil Vinaigrette.  The recipe on Pinterest called for homemade basil vinaigrette dressing, but my fresh basil is non-existant right now, so I used pre-made basil parmesan vinaigrette dressing from Kraft.

Tortellini Salad with Asparagus and Basil Vinaigrette

Tortellini Salad with Asparagus and Fresh Basil Vinaigrette (original recipe)

My Recipe

1lb asparagus spears

1-18 oz package cheese tortellini

1/2 cup Kraft Basil Parmesan Vinaigrette Dressing

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cut asparagus spears into 1 inch pieces and steam on stove for 5-7 mins. Place asparagus in strainer. Return pot to stove and bring water to a boil.  Cook tortellini according to directions on package in pot. Drain and mix tortellini, asparagus in a bowl.  Toss with dressing and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 mins. Right before serving, toss with tomatoes and parmesan.

It was delicious!  I would make it again.  It was a nice twist on your classic pasta salad.

For our "bread" I really went out on a limb for us. I've seen Cauliflower Breadsticks recipes floating around on pinterest from time to time, and thought I would try them one day, and last weekend I decided I'd take the plunge and make them.

Cauliflower Breadsticks

crispy edges.....yum!

1/2 head riced (grated) cauliflower

1 whole egg, plus one egg white, lightly beaten

1/2 cup 2% shredded mozzarella cheese

Dried basil, oregano, garlic powder, etc

marinara or pizza sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl and then spread and flatten mixture on to baking stone (if using a regular pan, be sure to grease it) with about 1/2 inch thickness.  If you want to get fancy you can shape it into a square or a circle.  Bake for 40 mins until the cauliflower starts to brown and dries out. Remove pan from oven and flip cauliflower.  Return pan to oven for another 10 mins.  Serve with marinara or other dipping sauce.....garlic butter and ranch would be fabulous but kinda defeat the purpose.

These were interesting.  I could definitely tell they were not bread, but they weren't all that bad.  Eric loved them which shocked me completely.  We may be adding this when we eat pizza now.

Now that I have my recipes from last weekend up to date, maybe I can get close to getting this weeks up before the end of this week?  I hope!

Weekend Recap

So I promise when I looked at the calendar yesterday it was Tuesday, and low and behold it's actually nearly a week later.  Where did the time go?! I am still not exactly sure.

Let's see...what we did this past weekend....I will give you 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count. It starts with Basket and rhymes with Mall.  We played games 6 and 7 of our 10 games in 3 weeks on Friday and Saturday night.  We played well but are still chasing our 2nd win. I have complete confidence that we can get our second win this coming week if we do what we're supposed to do.  Think happy basketball thoughts for us please!  Since last week was our last home games of the season our girls decided to do something special for us.  On Friday night they gas a cake and presented it to us at halftime of the boys game.  It was so sweet of them!  (and completely unexpected!)

It was a Costco cake so it was DELICIOUS! One of our girls designed it.  

Of course this came maybe half and hour after we finished telling them that if any of them even thought about getting involved in a fight after the game they would not be playing Saturday night....LOL.  Yeah about that fight....we heard before our game from students and a couple of teachers that there was supposed to be a fight between some students at our school and the school we were playing, so there was extra security at the game.  There was a fight at the game, but in was 2 girls from our school fighting each other in the stands in between the girls and boys game.  The fight came right at the beginning of a dance performance from a local studio.  They had to stop the performance, haul the 2 girls out and the dancers were able to start over.  Thankfully that was the only altercation at the game. I am not sure why these kids are incapable of behaving like civilized human beings.

As if I could not get enough basketball, I went with my SIL to see our Alma Mater, Huntingdon College play a big conference game on Saturday before our game, and they smashed the other team by 25 which means they are now tied for 1st place in their conference.  It was so great getting to see some of the girls and watch them play.

Going back always makes me miss it so much!  This was the first game I'd been able to make it to this year, but I am hoping to make several more before the end of the year, once our season is over.

And Eric?  Don't worry....he had a blast this weekend.  It was the last weekend of duck hunting season so he took full advantage of it, hunting both Saturday AND Sunday mornings....which meant he did a lot of sleeping during the day. But they had success and Hawk the Duck Dog did an excellent job "fetching up" the ducks!

Such a handsome boy!

Don't worry, the 2 little ones (Peanut and Hollow) got their fair share of action, too.  Since it was so pretty this weekend I made sure they all got walks...shorts in January?  Yes ma'am!

I am proud to report that I am still going strong with my Insanity workouts.  I am only one day behind (surprisingly) due to my busy schedule.  My plan is to do every workout (not stick to the days), so I may not finish in 60 days, but hopefully close to it. I am anxious to see if the soreness I experienced last week with the workouts subsides the second time I go through them this week....I am guessing no, but that's ok! If anything I will be in great shape for snowboarding next month!!!

We did manage to spend some time together this weekend.  He came to my game on Saturday (but I didn't get to see him much since I was coaching), and we had a movie night last night.  We rented The Watch.....funny movie but extremely bizarre.

I guess it's time to get this week started.  It's going to be another doozie with 3 away games, late practice, and out of the office meetings, but I am ready for it (and I WILL do insanity at least a couple of nights!)!

Happy Birthday Eric!

Happy happy birthday to my sweet, handsome hubby!  

I hope that last year of your twenties is the best one yet!  

Love you!