Sunday Dinner: Chicken with Olives and Lemon

Ahhhh 3 day weekends, gotta love 'em. For some reason this weekend all I've wanted to do is cook, bake and straighten up the apartment. Basically, I'm feeling domestic.

So for dinner tonight I wanted to go with something delicious, quick, easy and healthy. Enter: chicken with olives and lemon. This is the first time I've made this recipe, but I think Vlady and I both agree that it's a keeper (although the olives were left off of his half of the dish, seeing as he doesn't care for them)! I served this yummy dish over orzo that I seasoned with salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a tiny bit of lemon zest. Also, I sprinkled a little bit of parmesan cheese on mine and I really loved the extra salty, cheesy bite.. but Vlady left it off of his and loved it just as much.

This recipe is originally from Cooking Light, but I've made a couple of modifications (re: measurement changes in ingredients). For the original recipe, go here.

Chicken with Olives and Lemon
Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, halved crosswise
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (or about 3/4 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (or about 3/4 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 15 oil-cured olives, pitted and sliced (I used green Spanish olives and they worked great)
• 1 medium shallot, sliced
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced

Directions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. 2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Shake to coat chicken. Marinate 15 minutes at room temperature. Arrange chicken mixture in a broiler-safe 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken evenly with oregano and the next 4 ingredients (through shallot); top with lemon slices. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
3. 3. Remove chicken from oven. Preheat broiler to HIGH.
4. 4. Place chicken 3 inches from broiler element; broil on HIGH for 3 minutes or until chicken is browned and done.

Before going in to the oven

Finished product

Be on the lookout for the recipe that I served for dessert (hint, it's one of my favorites)!

Confessions of a Shopoholic: Week 2

Man, this no shopping for 6 months thing is so much harder than I thought it would be.

No joke.

I don't know if it's because I'm forcing myself to not buy anything for the first time in while (I did this once also a few years back, but for a shorter period of time), or if it's because all of the gorgeous spring stuff in stores is taunting me.. or maybe it's because it was Fashion Week here in NYC last week, so I feel extra heightened to all things fashion right now.

Either way, I'm struggling. I haven't cheated yet though, I swear!

There are some very generous people in my life who have bought me a few small things though, and I am very grateful for their generosity! While visiting home a few weeks back, my sister wanted to show me this boutique she'd found that she knew I would love. It had adorable clothes, accessories and shoes, and everything was priced really well. So yup, she was right.. I loved it all! But.. I had to make the decision to not try on a single piece of clothing (I picked up numerous items thinking I'd try them on 'for the fun of it', but changed my mind realizing that was the first step towards purchasing).

While in the store (which is in Raleigh and is called Vestique, by the way) I had been oogling this gorgeous, purple tribal print scarf for a while (see below). I was sort of doing a dance where I'd walk over to it, pick it up, try it on, put it down, then walk away.. and repeat. Sticking to my guns though I decided that I wouldn't buy it, no matter how much I loved it. But many thanks go to my amazing mom, because she offered to buy the scarf for me (it was only $18), and although I was hesitant at first, I gave in and it became my Valentines day present!

Also, speaking of Valentines day presents: my wonderful boyfriend was sweet enough to buy me two pieces of jewelry from my FAVORITE designer when she popped up on RueLaLa one day. It was torture to look at all of her beautiful pieces marked 60% off and not buy everything, but Vlady offered to get me a couple of things, so I ended up with a sparkly red bangle and a rose gold chain link necklace. He's a good boyfriend.

So all in all.. I'm having a hard time with this. I'm sure it will get easier, and as I get busier with work in the coming months I won't even have time to THINK about clothes, much less shop for them!

Oh, I did actually buy ONE thing recently.. but it's not for me. Let's just say I'm going to have a stylin little niece!

**Sorry for the horrible picture quality! I took a screen shot to send the picture to my sister, and that's the only picture I could find of this adorable outfit! Tatum will be so stylish this summer :)

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Hi, my name is Leah, and I am a shopaholic.

There, I admitted it.

I've always had a love affair with fashion and shopping, but things have been different ever since I moved to New York. When I lived in Raleigh I loved browsing fashion magazines and boutique racks just as much as I do now, but since moving here I think I've taken it to a whole new level.

See, when I lived in Raleigh I was afraid to take the looks and items that I loved in the magazines and interpret them into my own wardrobe. I could fully appreciate and envy the outfits that I saw, but when it came to recreating them I never had the guts. While I feel like New York is the best place to have fun with my style, in Raleigh I always felt like I looked silly if I wore anything that was a little more "out there".  So I stuck to the basics, added a few fun pieces and accessories, and never ventured too far outside of the proverbial fashion box.

This is why I was so excited when I moved here and thought, "I can finally start dressing in a way that is more ME." I still read fashion magazines and numerous blogs as inspiration, but now when I walk in to a store I'm no longer afraid to try on pieces that are different and unique. I wear things that I never would have worn before, and instead of feeling out of place I actually feel more comfortable (and fun)!

Unfortunately that's also meant that I've done a serious overhaul of my closet, and that means I was spending too much money. I am pretty good at finding great pieces for cheap (and sometimes for really, really cheap), but it was still adding up. Another outcome of my style turn-around is that I now have a very full closet, and I'm pretty sure that if I were to try and put one more item of clothing in there the whole thing would explode. I'm not kidding.

Although all of the pretty spring items are now coming in to stores, and I'm dying to get my hands on some new stuff (like anything in mint green or tangerine, never thought I'd say it but I'd love a few pieces in those colors) I have decided to challenge myself by going cold turkey for 6 months. That's no clothes, purses, shoes, accessories, jewelry, nothing until July.

Sigh

This will be hard, but necessary.  Time to go "shop" my closet... wish me luck!

Oh, and if you need some inspiration of your own check out any one of these amazing blogs (just to name a few):

Kendi Everyday

See Jane.

Atlantic-Pacific

Brooklyn Blonde

What I Wore

J's Everyday Fashion

Gal Meets Glam

Sterling Style