"No One Is Born a Great Cook, One Learns By Doing" -Julia Child

Well Julia, I certainly have taken your advice so far this week.

Spencer and I are completely ourselves again, which is such a good feeling. We've beat our leftover grogginess that always seems to accompany illness, and are back to our usual routines. I have really been itching to actually try some of my pins from Pinterest, and this week we did not one, but two of my fabulous finds! I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now. I do like to think of myself as being able to hold my own in a kitchen, but if I were forced to be entirely honest, I am much too impatient to see lengthy and involved recipes through to the end. We also happen to live in an apartment with a very temperamental oven, and temperatures tend to be more of a guessing game. It definitely adds excitement to our lives! But even with those two, er, obstacles, in my way, Spencer and came out the other end looking like pros.As I go on, I'll include the links to the websites I used, as well as a couple recipes that we used on our own. Take this as proof my friends, if I can make a recipe turn out right, then all of you most certainly can.

The first Pin we dared to test was one for homeade soft pretzels. Spencer was craving them, and I love a good excuse to dunk anything in Nacho Cheese, so we went for it! They turned out lovely, and they were SOO easy to make. The link is here, if you want to give it a try. I highly recommend following the recipe step by step, we had no troubles and they tasted delicious! Here is the final result:

The next Pin we used was actually more of a tip than a recipe. It was for Fajitas. You really can use anything you want in the recipe itself, the trick though is to throw it into the oven on 375 for about 20-25 minutes instead of cooking it on the stove. Maybe I'm not as bright as the rest of you crayons out there, but I had literally never thought of this. It's genius AND gives you your hands to do other things while it cooks! My favorite part though is that the vegetables are still crispy, not at all soggy from sauteing them in oil.  Here's a step by step of what I did:

Ingredients:
1 Gallon Ziploc Bag
1 package Fajita Seasoning (any brand is fine, I used the cheapo one)
1/4 Cup Water
2 Chicken Breasts, cut into strips
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1/2 Onion

Optional:
Tortillas
Cheese
Sour Cream
Salsa

In the ziploc bag, add thawed chicken breast strips and package of Seasoning, with 1/4 cup water. Seal bag completely and shake to coat chicken well. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Cut up vegetables and add to baking dish. (I used a 9x9 Glass Casserole Pan) open Ziploc bag and poor contents over vegetables. Use spoon to mix until vegetables are well coated.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Remove from oven and serve over tortillas and with toppings of choice. Enjoy!

I plan on doing at least one more this week, so check back! Also, this is my very first time adding a recipe to a blog, so if you have any advice for me, please don't hold back! Love you all, we hope you're having a great day!