Cupcakes and Hand Grenades

Crazy Good French Toast

2011-12-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

So, we have been doing e-mealz for a year now, and I love it. I love not having to come up with meals for us to eat every night and having the same thing over and over again. I think maybe one meal has been repeated all year and that was okay, because it was one of my favorites. I have repeated some of them myself, because we just loved them that much.

Tonight was one of those nights. I made some really awesome French toast. I am going to give you my variation on it, because the original recipe called for croissants to use for the bread and I just thought that may be way too rich.

Banana Pecan French Toast

French Toast
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
1/2 t cinnamon (I just sprinkled it in until it looked good to me)
1 loaf French bread sliced (I sliced my bread about an inch thick.)
3 T butter (for greasing the pan)

Whisk eggs and milk together. Stir in cinnamon. Butter heated pan. Dip bread in egg mixture on both sides and place in pan. Cook until lightly browned.

Syrup
1/2 c corn syrup
1/2 c maple syrup (I just used our regular syrup. Nothing fancy here.)
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 c chopped pecans
2 bananas, sliced

Heat corn syrup, maple syrup, brown sugar, and pecans in saucepan over medium heat until it starts boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for two minutes. Add bananas and stir to coat. Serve on top of French toast.

Smucker's Peanutty Snack Mix

2011-11-07T13:43:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe on the jar of our peanut butter and I thought it sounded good. Since I can't seem to find it online so that I can "pin" it, I am going to save it here.

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 c honey and nut breakfast cereal
1 cup honey roasted peanuts or roasted peanuts
1 cup mini pretzels
(optional: cayenne pepper to taste) (I would probably leave this out)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. Combine butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and cinnamon in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 35 to 45 seconds, stirring until well blended.
3. Combine cereal, peanuts and pretzels in a large bowl. Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture. Toss well to coat. Spread mixture evenly on baking sheet.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minute, stirring occasionally. Cool. Store in resealable plastic bag.

Muffin Tin Monday

2011-09-19T14:39:00.004-04:00

I meant to post some other things this past week, but obviously that hasn't happened. Here is our muffin tin meal for today.Plain yogurt, tomatoes, veggie muffins, ham, grapes, and mozzarella cheese.

The veggie muffins were a hit. I made them during nap time, and even though I forgot to get eggs at the grocery store today, they turned out okay. I added some applesauce and a little extra yogurt to counter my lack of eggs. They probably would have risen a bit more, but I'm not going to complain. The ham and cheese weren't really eaten today, but since we had a melt down in the middle of lunch, I guess that is understandable.

Muffin Tin Monday

2011-09-12T14:08:00.004-04:00

From left top: grapes, plain organic whole milk yogurt, pluots, colby jack cheese, whole wheat crackers, and ham (please excuse the dog chewed spoon. I didn't notice it until after I had taken the picture.)

I recently found the blog Muffin Tin Mom and thought her idea of using muffin tins for meals was a unique and interesting one. C really likes to have things in their places, so I figured having everything in his meal in its own separate spot would be right up his alley. I have fixed a couple of his meals this way and he usually eats them up. Today he really seemed to like the pluots, the yogurt, and the crackers.

Crafty and Free Storage Bins

2011-09-09T16:28:00.005-04:00

I found this storage bin while perusing Pinterest recently.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea, but since we cloth diaper I don't really have a problem with diaper boxes laying around. I do, on the other hand, have wipes boxes that were given to us with hand-me-down clothes. So, I thought that I could probably use those. Also, since I didn't want to buy anything, I decided to paint my boxes with chalkboard paint that we already had and line them with fabric I was given. So all in all, this project was completely free. I didn't even buy the original wipes!

Here is a look at what I started with and what I ended up with.

On the left is a wipes box that I haven't done anything with yet, and on the right is my completed project.

Here is a quick how to:
1. cut lid flaps off box
2. paint box with chalkboard paint (I painted 3 layers and alternated the direction of my brush strokes between layers)
3. sew liner for box (Here is the basic tutorial I used. I just didn't make ties for mine, because I am pretty much a somewhat straight line sewer and I didn't want to get too difficult.)

This is a picture of the progression of my boxes. (from left: plain box, one coat of paint, two coats of paint, and finished product.)

I'm not going to detail how to make the liner, because I am not the best at sewing and I doubt that I could explain it very well. This project took me a little more than two nap times, so that is probably about 3 hours total, not including waiting for the paint to dry. I haven't written on them yet, because they are supposed to cure for 4 days.

I am going to use these in our loft area that I am slowly (very slowly) turning into a play/learning space for C. When I finally get that finished, I will have to post some pictures.

June 2011 Ten on Ten plus one

2011-06-10T21:55:00.016-04:00

Today I participated in Ten on Ten from A Bit of Sunshine. I took a picture an hour for ten hours. It was nice to take pictures just to take pictures, and I ended up with a neat snapshot of my day.

8 Good Morning Sunshine

9 Freshly Made Bed
10 Nap Time
11 Sunning
12 Lunch
1 At Play
2 Project3 Present
4 Hands on the Wheel
5 Party Time
*bonus: 6 Party Girl

A Winner of a Dinner

2011-06-10T11:43:00.005-04:00

One thing I struggle with nearly every day is what to feed Mr. C. He will pretty much eat anything, so that isn't the problem. The problem is that I want to give him things that are good for him, but that are also easy for a baby with barely one tooth to eat. I have found a few websites that help me out a lot in this area, but I also like for him to eat what we're eating. It saves a lot of time to not have to make two meals.

Last night, from our e-mealz menu, we had chicken pitas. Well, I cut up the chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, cheese and pita bread and made a very pretty plate for Coleman. (Please excuse the quality of these pictures. Sometimes I am just too lazy to use the good camera)

I also struggle with knowing how much to feed him. Food is something I have gotten no help on from the pediatrician. I thought they would at least give some guidelines, but mine hasn't at all.

Anyway, I just have to say, that this meal was a total success. All of us were part of the clean plate club last night.
I want Coleman to be a healthy eater but I don't want him to be that kid who never gets treats. I guess I am still trying to find a balance as well as figure out what constitutes good meals for a one year old. Any suggestions?

Here are a few websites that have helped me figure out what to feed Mr. C and when:
Wholesome Baby Food: This website has handy printable charts for what foods should be offered when. I tried to offer most of the foods on the chart, but sometimes it had stuff that we never really eat, so I didn't do everything.
The Homemade Babyfood Recipes Blog: This has some fun and easy recipes that are tasty not only for babies, but for adults too.

Trip to New Orleans

2011-06-08T20:12:00.008-04:00

This past week we went to New Orleans. I thought I would share some reviews on our trip.

Amtrak

We took the train from Atlanta to New Orleans. It took about 12 hours to get there. It takes less time to drive there, but we figured with all the stops we would need to take for Coleman and the cost of gas, we would come out pretty even. We reserved a roomette for our trip. It was a little room with two chairs that faced each other. The two chairs became a bed and you could lower another bed from the ceiling. All of our meals were included while we were on the train as well. On the way there, Coleman had trouble sleeping for any length of time. I think the most was an hour or so. This made for a cranky baby. On the way home, we figured out how to lay down the seats, so he took much better and longer naps.

Leaving AtlantaSleeping on the train

Pontchartrain Landing
We rented the cottage at Pontchartrain Landing and shared it with my sister's family. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen/living room. The downside was that Jason, Coleman, and I had to share a room. We brought a queen size air mattress for Coleman to sleep on since we wanted something easy to pack and set up. It worked fairly well, but I don't think any of us slept very well the whole time we were gone. The campground was fairly nice. It had a nice pool and good washers and dryers.

First time swimming

It seemed like most of the time we were there we were eating at different places. Here are some of the places we went:
Tujagues The rehearsal dinner was here. It is located in the French Quarter and is one of the oldest restaurants in NO.
Reginelli's Really yummy pizza.
Central Grocery Tasty muffalettas. They are located in the French Quarter really close to Tujagues. There isn't a whole lot of space to eat, but I think it was worth the wait in line.
Johnny's Po-Boys We shared a shrimp po boy. It was quite tasty.
Gumbo Shop I think this was probably our favorite place. It served Creole food and a really good praline sundae.
Cafe du Monde A trip to NO isn't complete without a trip to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Definitely a place to stop.
Plum Street Snoball This was a short stop for us because it was raining. Apparently snoballs are a pretty big NO treat. This was the place my friend recommended. Snoballs are kind of like sno-cones, but the ice is very fine. We got the almond flavor, but they have a ton of different kinds.

Beignets from Cafe du Monde

Almond Snoball from Plum Street Snoball

Traveling with a baby
We had no idea how this trip would go. We knew that we would get Coleman totally off of his regular schedule and routine. For the most part, he did very well. He definitely didn't get the sleep that he is used to, but with a wedding to attend and everything, we didn't have much choice. We definitely couldn't do a lot of what we would have probably done had we not had Coleman with us. We had to work around nap times and everything. Coleman is really a trooper though and, for the most part, did really well. He likes to see new things and new people and he did a lot of that on this trip. We didn't bring a stroller with us because I don't really like having to push it around places. It just seems more difficult. Most of the time I carried Coleman on my back in our BabyHawk. While it wasn't always the cool option, it was nice to be able to move through crowds and go in places without having a huge stroller to push around. All in all, I think we had a good trip. I don't think we will choose New Orleans again anytime soon, because it wasn't necessarily baby friendly, but I am glad that we got to go for a few days.

Getting Ready for a Birthday

2011-05-29T22:20:00.003-04:00

Coleman's first birthday is coming up and we are throwing him an Eric Carle themed party. Coleman loves his Eric Carle books, especially Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not sure if all of them will get accomplished. I did make the invites to send out on Tuesday. They are inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I found a link here to some invites I really liked. I didn't have time to paint a whole bunch of paper, so I used different patterns and textures of scrapbook paper.

Here is the how-to:

Supplies:
assorted patterns, textures and colors of scrapbook paper
yellow scrapbook paper
4.5 in x 6.5 in cardstock folded in half
16mm round craft punch
scissors
coffee mug
pen
glue stick

1. punch circles out of the scrapbook paper
2. glue two lines of circles on the bottom of the front of the card
3. trace coffee mug circles on the yellow scrapbook paper
4. cut the circles out
5. cut the circles in half
6. glue half a circle onto the top of the card
7. cut rays for the sun and glue on the card
8. put message on the inside

I may decorate the inside in some way, but I'm not sure yet. I have to get the invite information printed and I'm not sure how much space that is going to take up. I found some cheap cards and envelopes in the dollar bins at Michael's, so I bought those and I will use the envelopes to mail the invites.

I have a whole bunch more projects that I will be completing in the next few weeks to get ready for this party, so I will probably be posting some more soon!

Two Recipes, One for the Parents, One for the Baby

2011-05-27T20:28:00.004-04:00

I have found a fun site called pinterest and because of it I have found all sorts of things I want to try, both recipes and projects. I thought I would share a recipe I found there and one I found on a baby food site that both Coleman and I really liked.

For the parents:

Nutter Butter Banana Pudding Trifle

This is a tasty recipe that includes home made vanilla pudding and whipped cream.

For the Baby

Banana Oat Bars

These were super easy to make and extremely tasty. It was almost like a cookie for a baby. It doesn't include any sugar. I added dried cranberries and golden raisins to our bars. Coleman and I shared one this evening and I think it was a hit.

To Cloth or Not to Cloth

2011-02-15T19:16:00.002-05:00

The other day a friend of ours asked us about our cloth diapers and since the email I sent him had so much information, Jason thought it would be good to post here.

Why do we use cloth?

I don't have any huge environmental reason to use cloth diapers, but my main reason is that I hate buying things to just throw away. That idea is kind of what started me down the path of cloth diapers.

What kind do we use?

Most of our diaper stash is one size FuzziBunz. We really like these because you can adjust the size at the leg and they have many snap options at the waist. They should also last us until Coleman is potty trained. We do have some sized FuzziBunz that we were given that he should be able to use a long time as well. They aren't as bulky as the one size, but they aren't as adjustable as the one size.

Where did we get our diapers?

I bought our most recent diapers here: http://www.cottonbabies.com/. You can usually find a coupon code of some sort for that site. Another good site to go to just to learn more about cloth diapering is here: http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/. Their new to cloth section has a lot of information. You can also do a diaper trial there if you want to take a little time and figure out what kind of diapers you like before totally committing.

A good portion of our stash came from craigslist. You kind of have to stalk craigslist for a while to find what you are looking for, but they are there. I just did a search for FuzziBunz and found some for $10 each. That is about half off the price of new.

Here are some terms I come across during my research:
pocket diapers: these are what we have. They have the diaper part and an insert that soaks up
the liquid. You need that insert to use a pocket diaper
AIO: all in ones. These are probably most like a disposable. They come all in one piece, but
because they are all in one piece they take longer to dry.
Pre-folds: These are like the old fashioned diapers that require a cover. We didn't use any of
these, because I wanted to go with something that was super easy for Jason to
do. They are probably the cheapest route to go though.

Some things I didn't think of until we were cloth diapering:
cloth wipes: for a while we just used regular wipes and that is what the sitter uses, but at home we have a bunch of baby washcloths that we use. We just keep a squirt bottle by the diapers and wet the washcloth and throw it in our diaper pail with the dirty diapers.

detergent: You can't just use any detergent. We use regular powder Tide. There are some all natural soaps out there, but I didn't really want to have to hunt for soap or spend a fortune on it.

What do you do with a used diaper?

When we are home, we have a trash can with a lid that has a cloth laundry bag in it. I probably should have bought a large wet bag that fits into the trash can, but this works for us. If the diaper has any solids in it we scrape them off into the toilet and then put the diaper in the trash can.

If we are out of the house or when Coleman is at the sitter's, we put soiled diapers in a wet bag. It is basically a plastic lined bag with a zipper. I have been known to use grocery bags, but that probably isn't the most environmentally friendly solution. I bought our wet bag at Target for $10 or so. It gets washed with the dirty diapers.

How do we wash our diapers?

We do diaper laundry about twice a week. Once I went back to work it wasn't feasible to do diaper laundry every other day, so we bought some more to add to our stash. I run a rinse cycle on the diapers first. Then I wash them with detergent in a hot/cold cycle. If my washer did it, I would probably do a hot/hot cycle, but it doesn't. I then rinse the diapers again to make sure all of the soap is out in either a cold cycle or a warm cycle. It just depends on whether or not I remember to turn the dial. Once the diapers have finished washing, I hang them up to dry. If it is sunny and warm, I put them outside. That is the best method for removing stains. Otherwise, they hang out in out guest room/office with the fan on.

I think I am going to stop here for now. I just wanted to share a little bit of what I have learned in the short time we have been using cloth. I like that we never run out of diapers or have to make a late night run to Kroger. Coleman rarely gets diaper rash and they are just so cute!

Long Time, No Blog

2011-02-15T19:10:00.003-05:00

Wow, I was just looking back and it has been nearly a year since our blog was last updated. In some ways, that is hard to believe and in others, I can totally believe it because so much has happened. I could go into a long post about everything, but I don't think I really want to. I will give a brief synopsis of what has been going down since the last post.

On June 3rd, 2010, we welcomed our son into the world. Life has never been more hectic or more exciting. I am still teaching, but this will probably be my last year for awhile so that I can stay home with Mr. C. Some days I miss him so much it hurts. I hate that I only get to see him for a few hours a day during the week. Jason is still doing sales, but as of the beginning of this year, he is working from home. He seems to really be enjoying it and it gives him a lot more freedom.

Anyway, that is a short update. I am planning another post on some baby related stuff soon.

Mission Haiti update.

2010-03-20T15:54:00.002-04:00

Crazy Love Chapter Seven: Your best life ... later.

2010-03-13T10:42:00.002-05:00

Chapter 6 focused on your love of Jesus. Chapter 7 asks some tough questions about your FAITH in Jesus.

A major theme throughout Crazy Love is this concept of a comfort zone. We all live within self-made walls that dictate what we are willing to do on any given day at any given moment. In the video Francis Chan asks the question again, "What are you doing that requires faith?" Let's put this in more visual terms, something that helps me grasp concepts.

I think we live our lives in our comfort zone almost 100% of the time. Imagine yourself in a wide open plain. (Are you imagining?)Here's a plain for visual reference:

In the middle of this plain, we are pretty much guaranteed to not have to make any "leaps of faith". Things are just fine here. I'm OK, you're OK. Go to work. Come home. Comfort zone. Out there on the edge of our comfort zone is a cliff. If you go far enough from the center of your plain you'll hit a spot where you can't go any further without faith that God will catch you. It's not comfortable there. It's scary. Just look at Harrison Ford. He's freakin out, man. Human nature leads away from discomfort. Like it or not, God is all about you living life on the edge, letting it all hang out, and taking some crazy leaps of faith. Is this opinion? Did I just cook this up? Francis Chan confronts this concept head on in Chapter 7 by asking some tough questions that lead to an interesting place: the edge of your comfort zone.

Questions (rephrased from page 113)
Can you find fulfillment outside of God? What do non-Christians do to find fulfillment in life?

Can you please God without wholehearted surrender? Read Hebrews 11:5-7.

Will God catch you if you leap? Is it better out there on the edge?

Are you willing to trade some comfort to please God? Are you willing trade all of your comfort to please God? Are you willing to live without a plan or idea of what will happen tomorrow or next year?

Actions
What are some simple actions that require faith? (last paragraph on page 117)? Read Matthew Chapter 25, verses 31 through 46.

1. _______ the ___________.

2. Give __________ to ______________.

3. Look after the ________ and ______________.

Why do these things require faith? Why do they please God? Are they directly tied to our salvation?

Buffalo Wild Wings in Hiram

2010-02-25T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hello blog! I was thinking I needed an outlet and remembered our happy little blog. Tracie has posted so many pleasant little things that I now feel odd posting about any random thing, so I decided we could keep a food focus for today. The following is a lightning review (well, ok, it's more like a novella) of where I ate lunch.

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
5000 Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway
Hiram, GA 30141-2769
(770) 439-3744

View Larger Map

I had every intention of eating somewhere healthy today. In fact, that's how I justified not going home to reheat some pizza while I watched something mind numbing on Netflix. We discovered the new Blimpie that opened inside the ColdStone Creamery last night, so I headed there, with happy thoughts of $1.00 off a tasty sandwich (or so i had been told by the lady there last night). So, I turn into the parking lot (correctly, this time, not repeating my mistake of pulling through the Starbucks drivethrough lane and having to squeeze past some caffeine fiend jonesing for a fix) and there it was: Buffalo Wild Wings. Had I been there before? I can't remember. Seems like I tried to sell them some advertising once. Or was that the Buffalo's? Buffalo's has good corn. Does Buffalo Wild Wings have good corn? As these thoughts dance through my head my highly efficient auto pilot kicks in (NASA should study this mechanism and program it into their Mars rovers so they will go places and do things with almost no processing power required) and I find myself parked. And if I'm parked, then the car is off, the keys are out and I'm heading in (all autopilot, NASA. Can you see the potential?).

Here are my impressions:
A short cattle chute finds me in a large dark room with TVs everywhere and at least two projectors. I am instantly greeted by two young ladies. The staff are all wearing the typical black pants/black logo t-shirt uniforms that allow them to completely disappear in the darkness if they want to. It's a sort of culinary camo. I'm taken to a table. I do a quick turn, deciding which chair to sit in. There are a few people at the bar across the room. To my slight annoyance, every TV is tuned to an esoteric sports network (The Ocho?) and not a single one has closed captioning turned on. Am I doomed to silent sports? Which is worse? Silent sports tv or sports broadcasting on talk radio? I pick the tv closest and arrange myself accordingly. Country music plays unobtrusively. They have a lunch menu, so I order a Coke (let's make the best of this whole 'sports bar' thing, right?) and give it a look over. Tiny burgers or wings. Wings it is! Can I replace the celery? Nope. What sauce? Ummmm, medium? The Coke arrives, and it is good and strong. Now, I wait.

Fiddling with my phone, I am suddenly startled by blaring commentary from one of the TVs. Where is it coming from? Why doesn't it make sense? It must be coming from that one with the icy dart board on the screen. What is that? Curling? Hmmm, I'm down for curling. My mind shifts into overdrive, trying to make sense of the really loud gibberish. I soon decide there are two commentators speaking English and a gaggle of lady curlers speaking French/German/Curlish. It turns out curling is pretty cool. I watch the ladies do these crazy graceful Superman-esque gliding lunges, sending their "stone" down what should be called a curling lane (which would be located in a curling alley) while their lackeys try to make them look good by vigorously manipulating time and space with tiny brooms to 'curl' the stone into their opponent's stone. It's slow. There is no violence. But it's cool. I'm not sure it's a sport, but the Olympic Games are really just a series of TV shows, so if I'm entertained, then more power to the curlers. I change seats to face the appropriate curling screen, wishing someone would turn it down.

After what seemed like a pretty long wait (how long does it take to deep fry some wings and french fries?) my food arrived. Holy cow, that's a ton of wings! The fries are thin cut and seem to be cut fresh in the kitchen, giving them a happy home made texture/taste. The wings were good. It seems like wings are wings, but I did appreciate that the sauce didn't melt my face or stain my fingers permanently. They came with two ramekins of ranch (or bleu cheese) dressing which was very good. Over the course of my stay at Buffalo Wild Wings my eating experience has gradually gotten better. The food is good and hot. My drink is refilled THREE times (in my opinion, this is what I tip for). Someone finds the remote and turns down the curling to something softer than deafening and I get to eat in peace, enjoying my fried food tour de force. Heck, I even tried the celery. To my shock and dismay, it tasted fine, proving that my taste buds have been dying off since my childhood when sharp cheddar made my eyes water and anything green tasted like grass (celery) or horse poop (green beans). In the end, my food costs $10.37 and I tip $2.00 plus the change, so $13.00 out the door. Not a cheap lunch, but hey, I have five wings left over in the fridge at work, I drank some darn good Coke, and there was curling. I give the place 2 out of 5 Cupcakes and 3 out of 5 Hand Grenades.

Some Recipes

2010-02-21T17:25:00.003-05:00

When I posted just a little while ago, I forgot that I had some recipes that I wanted to post as well. I get to writing about Coleman and totally forget everything else, so forgive me.

Yesterday I made these Cinnamon Bun Pancakes. Oh, man, were they good. They tasted like cinnamon buns and pancakes all in one.

Ingredients:

1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons White Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
2 whole Eggs Beaten
1 cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
¼ cups Butter, Melted
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Directions:

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon with a whisk. Whisk well to make sure everything is combined.

In separate large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, corn syurp, butter and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium/low heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. Brown on both sides.

Serve warm with icing drizzled over the top.

These were especially easy to make since Jason and I bought our two burner griddle pan. I highly recommend it.

I have been asked a couple times for my chili recipe, so I thought that I would share that as well. I have been known to double and triple this recipe and I usually cook it in the crockpot, but it can be cooked over the stove.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground chuck or turkey

salt and pepper to taste

2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic and onions

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp cumin

salsa (any kind. I just pour some in to add a little spice. Maybe 1/2 c to a cup)

Directions:

Brown meat with salt and pepper. Drain.

Add tomatoes, spices, meat, and salsa to a large sauce pan and cook for 20 min or so on medium. (this can also be done in the crock pot)

Serve with Fritos, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. This is also good with basic Jiffy corn muffins if that is what you happen to be craving at the moment.

And finally, I think I am going to make this and surprise Jason when he comes home tonight. I made it at my first Apples of Gold Bible study and Jason said it was the best apple pie he has ever had.

The Mom's Apple Pie to End All Mom's Apple Pies

1/3 c sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3 TBS flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

6 large Granny Smith apples (pared, cored, and sliced)

Short and Tender Pie crust

2 TBS butter

Topping:

1 c lightly spooned all-purpose flour

1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 stick butter

Directions:

Combine sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in large bowl, pressing out any lumps. Add apples and toss well to mix. Pour into pie shell and dot with butter.

Topping: Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Scatter topping thickly over apple filling.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until crust and topping are nicely browned. Cool before cutting.

An interesting tidbit about apples, baking apples have rounded bottoms (think Granny Smith) while eating apples have more pointed bottoms (think Red Delicious). You can eat baking apples, but it isn't good to bake with eating apples. Now you know. :)

Pie Crust Recipe

1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c shortening

3 to 4 TBS cold water

Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until fine crumbs form. Add water a tablespoon at a time, mixing briskly with a fork just until pastry holds together. Do not over mix or pastry will toughen. Roll out on floured surface to a 13-in round. Fit into a 9-in pie plate. trim overhang to 1 inch; turn under flush with rim. Pinch to make the crust edges fluted.

I just remembered that I used all of my cinnamon yesterday for the pancakes, so unless Jason stops by the store on his way home, we won't be having apple pie this evening. Oh, well.

All Sorts of Stuff

2010-02-21T16:39:00.004-05:00

Since I have been off work for the past week, one would assume that I have gotten a ton done around my house. This just isn't the case. I did finally get most of the loft cleaned out for the second time and yesterday Jason worked his tail off putting dirt in our front planter and re-planting my rose bushes.

Last weekend we re-ordered Cole's crib. The perfect one that I liked so much and that we thought there was one left of, didn't really exist, so we had to go with something else. I definitely don't like it as much as the original one, but this one was a little cheaper and it is still fairly unique. Hopefully it will actually be here in a few weeks. On Monday, our friend Jay came over and painted a tree on the wall in Coleman's room. I think it looks awesome. Jason and I sat up there the whole time and watched him paint.
Jason made a video of the process as well.

So, the last piece of larger furniture that we need to buy for Cole's room/our house is a glider of some sort. I am hoping we find one for a decent deal on craigslist, especially since we got such a good deal on our dresser. I feel like we are doing pretty well for getting the room ready.

Finally, here is a picture of me Jason took a few weeks ago. I guess I need to get him to take another, because even though I don't feel like I am bigger, I probably am.

This was taken at 23 weeks.

25 weeks, 2 days (where has the time gone?)

Wordle

2010-02-05T18:25:00.001-05:00



I just wanted a place to save this.

wordle.net

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-01-23T15:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, this showed up on my doorstep. I couldn't just leave it there, so I had to bring it in. Once it was in, I claimed it as my own. I like it. :)

So, two weeks ago I said something about posting some big news. Well, right after that good news, I got sick and did not feel like doing much of anything for a few days, so I figure, better late than never and I will post now.

On January 13, we went to the doctor and had an ultrasound. We finally got to see our little one.

Here he is! If you are having trouble with figuring this picture out, his head is to the right and you can see his profile.

Apparently he really likes to be curled up.

And, I saved the best for last.

Here you can see his face. I think he is going to have Jason's nose. We really weren't expecting to get to see a 3-D picture of Cole. It was so nice to get a sneak peak of our little one. Now we are working on getting everything ready for his arrival.

21 weeks, 1 day

A Decade in Review

2010-01-05T17:16:00.002-05:00

I saw this on a blog and I thought it would be interesting.

Jason and I started dating less than a month before the start of the decade, so technically we have been together for 10 years now.

2000: I finished up my junior year of high school and began my senior year. I went to Malawi on a missions trip over summer break.

2001: I went to Paris, France on a missions trip with the seniors at my church and to New York with Model UN at school. I graduated from North Cobb and started Berry College.

2002: I continued at Berry. I worked for a professor in the education department. That summer I stayed in Rome and worked at Berry. I traveled to Canada with my family over summer break.

2003: Still at Berry and still working for the same professor. I began junior block and had my first teaching experience.

2004: My family went on our last big vacation together. We took a Caribbean cruise and traveled to Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. John, and Aruba. Began my student teaching that fall in Rome. I lived with two roommates in a house off campus. Jason proposed on December 19.

2005: I finished my student teaching, finished my portfolio, looked for a teaching job, graduated from Berry, got a teaching job, and married Jason all before June. We moved into an apartment in Kennesaw and I started work as an ESOL teacher.

2006: We moved to Carrollton and lived on a farm in what could be considered a barn (there were tractors inside it, just not in the attached apartment). While it was nice to have cheap rent it was a pain to live so far away from family and friends and my job, so we began our long search for a home of our own.

2007: We bought our first house and moved to Dallas! We also got a second dog (Chloe).

2008: I began working on my masters in early childhood education and I could be found driving almost an hour twice a week to take classes at Berry.

2009: We got pregnant and I had a miscarriage (not a fun thing to remember, but a huge part of my life for the year). Jason got a wonderful, miraculous job. I finished my masters and got a pay raise. I got pregnant again. God told us that this one would stick through a pastor friend. We got to see our little one moving around and we heard its heart beat. I walked in my graduation from Berry for my masters degree and got my hood.

That is just a brief synopsis of the past decade. I couldn't remember everything, nor does anyone really want to read everything. A couple interesting things to ponder. I graduated 3 times in the past decade, so somewhere around my house are three separate sets of graduation robes and there should be 3 diplomas, but I'm not sure my high school one ever made it to my house. I also lived in 4 different cities in Georgia. Not too strange for some, but I didn't move at all in the decade prior to this one.

That is all for now. Tune in next week for some super exciting news.

I stayed up way too late on a school night.

2009-12-08T18:23:00.004-05:00

Written on Tuesday.

Yesterday, I made the crazy decision to go see Pioneer Woman in Buckhead and get her to sign my cookbook. Every other book signing I have ever been to has not taken that long, so I didn't expect this one to be any different. I mean, not that many people in Atlanta could read the same blog? Right?

Wrong!

We got there at 6:00, which was the earliest that we could have gotten there and were given green wristbands. Little did I know, these were not the first color that were being called. They had given out orange wristbands hours beforehand. Some people had even gotten there that morning to procure their bands. Who knew? I sure had no idea.

We got upstairs and then we saw the crowd. At this point, I probably should have turned around, but for some reason I still thought that it wouldn't take too long. After standing around for a little while we found an empty chair. That is where we hung out until about 10:00 when green c was called. After all that time we finally got to get in line. Around 10:30, we finally reached the front of the line and got to meet Ree. She was really very nice. It was kind of hard for me to believe this because by then, I was not feeling so nice. My pregnant self usually goes to bed around 9:00 and sometimes sooner.

Overall, I am glad I went. I think it is kind of neat to have a signed cookbook. I probably won't do something like that again though, because it was a bit too much for me.

Here are some pictures:

Jason was a trooper. He stuck by his crazy pregnant wife and was one of only a handful of guys that were there.All the books we lugged around all night to get signed.

This is Jason showing me how excited he is.
My green wristband.

This is me, way past my bedtime, waiting in line.
Look! We made it. Here we are talking about how I am pregnant, but she didn't want to ask because she didn't want to be wrong.

The final shot with all my signed books.

Things are Looking Up

2009-11-17T18:20:00.002-05:00

Well, I have decided to make it official. We are expecting a new little Satch in June. I haven't wanted to make an official announcement until after my doctor's appointment today. I have been kind of marking this week as a milestone. I felt like if I made it to yesterday and today I would have really made it. Now, I'm sure that my worries and fears are not totally going to go away, but hearing that fast little bump, bump, bump finally made it seem like we were going to make it. It was also reassuring to hear the doctor say that the chances of us losing this one have gone way down since we have made it this far. So, we are looking forward to meeting our new family member at the start of the summer.

Expected due date: June 4, 2010

Jason's Banana Pecan Pancakes

2009-10-25T20:20:00.003-04:00

Jason is kind of the breakfast maker in our house. He will get up and make biscuits from scratch along with eggs and bacon. This morning, he made Banana Pecan Pancakes. He got the recipe from our favorite Betty Crocker cookbook.

Here it is:

2 large eggs
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. milk
2 c. mashed ripe bananas (4 medium bananas)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 c. chopped pecans (if you aren't much of a nut lover, like me, you can use less)

1. Beat eggs in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except pecans just until smooth. Stir in pecans.
2. Heat pan over medium heat. Pour slightly less than 1/4 c. batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancake until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook until golden brown.

Lucky for you that Jason did the cooking, because he takes pictures of the things he cooks. Enjoy!

Good Old Betty Crocker

2009-09-10T19:27:00.002-04:00

Have I ever mentioned what my favorite cookbook is? My favorite cookbook is this:I have no idea if the original "Big Red Cookbook" is exactly the same, but this edition has to be my favorite. My mother-in-law gave this book to me on my wedding day. I think she wanted to make sure her son was well fed. From the start, this has been my go to book when I need to learn how to make something. When Jason suggested that "we" needed to learn how to make mashed potatoes, I used this book. From it I learned that once you drain the cooked potatoes, you should return them to the pot on the stove to steam off any excess water so that your potatoes are nice and fluffy. This book includes pictures and helpful hits if your food doesn't end up exactly the way it is supposed to. I have cooked many things from this book. If there is ever something seemingly basic (like biscuits or mashed potatoes) that I don't know how to cook, I can be assured that this trusty cookbook will have it in it.

Well, now you know my little secret. I follow directions really well and if you have ever had my chili, the base of it comes from this cookbook. I just tend to add some other stuff in. :)

If you know someone getting married soon, definitely try to pick this one up. Unfortunately, I don't think it is in print anymore, but you can get it on Amazon for less than $10.

Without further ado, a couple recipes that I have made recently. (all from Betty Crocker)

Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBS sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

1. heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening using pastry blender or two knives, until mixture looks like fine crumbs (Jason edit: make sure all of the dry ingredients are mixed well before adding the shortening) Stir in milk until dough leaves side of the bowl. (dough will be soft and sticky)
3. place dough on lightly floured surface. (I more than lightly floured mine, because the dough was so sticky, I'm not sure what Jason does) Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 to 2 1/4 inch round cutter (we use one of our juice glasses). Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart for crusty sides, touching for soft sides.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes (longer if you are using stoneware) or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

*note on making biscuits. This is something I learned this week, because I made these for the first time. Jason usually makes our biscuits. Jason says that you want to roll out the dough to the thickness that you want the biscuits to be. They don't rise a whole lot. This may be something everyone else knows, but I didn't, so I made very thin little biscuits. We used them as the tops and bottoms of our breakfast sandwiches.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/8 tsp, because my nuts were salted and I didn't want my cookies to be too salty)
1 pkg (6 oz) white baking bars cut into 1/4 to 1/2 in chunks (I used white chocolate chips)
1 jar (3 1/2 oz) macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped (I had a bag of the nuts, so I measured about 4 oz in a measuring cup and then chopped those up. It seemed like enough)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla, and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (dough will be stiff.) Stir in white chocolate and nuts.
3. drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Jason said these tasted like they should be in a bakery or that you could sell them. They really are good.

A Spaghetti I Actually Liked!

2009-09-01T20:48:00.003-04:00

So, I have never really liked spaghetti. I like pasta and tomato sauce is okay, but I have never really liked the whole spaghetti combination together. Poor Jason does like spaghetti and I won't make it for him. Well, since I have been able to be at home in the evenings and I have been cooking dinner almost every night I have been trying to come up with new things to make. Well, I found a recipe for creamy chicken spaghetti. I decided to try it. Good news for Jason is that I actually liked what I made.

Here it is from my head:

1 lb. chicken diced
1/4 c. Italian dressing
2 c. pasta sauce
1/2 block low fat cream cheese
spaghetti (I used wheat pasta and I couldn't tell a difference)

1. Cook the spaghetti
2. In a pan heat the Italian dressing.
3. Add the chicken.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, add the pasta sauce and cream cheese.
5. Cook until cheese is melted.
6. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top

I think I liked this better because it was creamy. I really like any kind of cheese too, so that probably made it better to me.

Last night we also had strawberry cake. I will have to post that recipe another time, because I don't want to get up and get it. Just know that it is one of Jason's favorite desserts and it is super easy and yummy.

Mmm Fudge

2009-08-16T15:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Jason visited his cousin in Rome and while there ate some fudge that his aunt had made. So, in addition to the three books he brought me to read, he also brought me the recipe for the fudge. Well, since he said that the fudge was so good, I made it today. I think we are going to take it with us to our Journey group tomorrow. I am also thinking about making some more to take to school tomorrow. We'll see, because I also have made granola and I oatmeal cookies today and I still have to cook dinner. It doesn't take long to make though, so we'll see.

Without further ado, fudge.

Yvonne's Fudge Recipe
1 lb. Confectioners Sugar
(3 1/2 cups for those of you who would like to know and whose husbands come home with a 2 lb bag)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
4 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (I don't really like nuts in things, so this is optional. I added some chopped walnuts on the top of half of the fudge after I put it in the pan for those who like that type of things)

Directions: Combine all ingredients except nuts and vanilla in saucepan. Stir. Heat on stove until mixture turns from dull to shiny (it will also get thinner). Add vanilla and nuts (optional) and stir. Remove from heat and pour into buttered pan to set.

There it is. Easy as can be. I'm sure it will taste as good as it looks.

Zenni Optical Review

2009-08-14T11:40:00.002-04:00

Well, I finally got my glasses from Zenni Optical, and I have to say I am pleased. I ordered three pairs. One metal framed similar to the ones I already had, one rimless titanium framed pair, and a plastic pair that I got tinted lenses for. I really like all three pairs. I think my biggest fear was that the lenses would be too big and I would look like I had bought my glasses in the nineties. I genuinely like the shape and style of all of my glasses. I also received good customer service from Zenni Optical. After I placed my order, they sent me an email making sure that what I had entered in as my prescription was correct. They probably wouldn't do this for everyone, but since one of my eyes is nearsighted and the other is farsighted, they wanted to check and make sure that I had entered in all the numbers correctly. I emailed them one more time when I hadn't heard that the glasses had been shipped after a little over a week. They emailed me back within 24 hours to tell me that the glasses had been made and were on their way to California and that once the arrived in California I would be given a tracking number. A few days ago, I got an email with the tracking number. Strange thing about that was that I never actually got to track my package (I personally think it has something to do with USPS and not Zenni). When I checked last night, my package info had been entered in, but the package wasn't in the system yet. So, I was pleasantly suprised to find my package in the mail today. Each pair came with a plastic glasses case and a glasses cleaner. My prescription changed just a little, so I don't think it is going to take me long to get used to my new pairs. All in all, I am pleased. I don't think I will have to order any more pairs, because I genuinely like all of the ones I got. I can definitely reccommend Zenni Optical for inexpenisve, but still nice glasses.

Homemade Granola

2009-08-03T11:54:00.002-04:00

Since this is my last week of freedom before school starts back, I am using my time doing all sorts of things that I don't usually do during the school year (I am hoping to do more cooking during this school year, because I will have a lot more time). On my list today is homemade granola. Jason bought a huge thing of yogurt and we have a ton of fruit, so what is better with that than granola? I used a new recipe website to find an easy granola recipe. I picked it, because I had everything in my kitchen already. I am going to need to buy more oatmeal soon, because I have gone through a huge thing in about two weeks. The website I used is called Tasty Kitchen. People can post recipes. There were numerous granola recipes, but I chose to make Basic Granola. From the smell of what is cooking currently, I think this recipe is going to be a winner. I already ate some of the uncooked granola and it was excellent. So, here is the recipe.

Basic Granola

Added by angelinthekitchen on July 30, 2009 in Breakfast

Prep Time 5 Minutes
Cook Time 45 Minutes

Servings 8

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
½ cups Chopped Pecans
¾ cups Slivered Almonds
¾ cups Brown Sugar
¼ cups Water
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoons Table Salt

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.

2. Combine oats and nuts in a large bowl.

3. In a small, microwavable bowl, combine sugar, water, vanilla, and salt. Microwave on high 2-3 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved and the mixture resembles maple syrup.

4. Pour syrup over oats and stir until oats and nuts are coated.

5. Divide mixture among the two pans and spread into a thin, even layer.

6. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden and a bit crispy.

(You can stir the mixture occasionally so that it browns more evenly and the nuts don’t burn. I also rotate my pans between oven racks a few times during the baking process.)

7. Let cool completely before storing in airtight containers or resealable bags.

I don't wanna

2009-07-29T14:07:00.002-04:00

I just made an appointment to get my eyes checked. It has been way too long. I haven't been to the eye doctor since before my senior year of college. Which means, my poor glasses have seen their day. A huge reason I haven't been to the eye doctor is because of the cost of glasses. I am still wearing the last pair my parents bought me. I never really realized how expensive glasses are. I know I could have insurance and all that, but I didn't really think I would need it. (In hindsight, I guess I was wrong.) Anyway, I am going tomorrow to get my eyes checked and then I am going to order my glasses online. I have been a little wary of this, because I don't want to end up with some cheesy pair of huge glasses, but Jason said I could order as many pairs as I wanted until I was happy. How am I going to do this, especially when I just said that glasses were way too expensive? Well, I am going to try out Zenni Optical . I have been fighting Jason on this for about a week, but when he said I could get as many pairs as I needed until I was happy, I gave in. I like the shape and size of my current glasses, so I am going to order a cheap pair that is similar to the ones I already have. I am also going to get some rimless titanium ones to try out. Those will probably be a little more "out there" for me, but I tried some on the other day and I liked them. I am also going to get some sunglasses! This is most exciting for me because I have only had one pair of prescription suglasses in my life. I am going to do some fun plastic frames or something for those. The only problem I now face is actually going to the eye doctor and having them look at my eyes. I have issues with this, especially when they want to blow that air in your eyes. I really wish I could get away from them doing that to me. I will report back on my experience with ordering glasses online. Maybe it will really work out and I will save a ton of money on glasses. Who knows?

School's Out and I Have Been in the Kitchen

2009-07-27T15:19:00.003-04:00

Since I am in the three weeks that ultimately makes up my summer vacation, I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking. I have missed cooking. With both of us in school, cooking dinner and anything else was pretty much out of the question. Yesterday, after we got back from our camping trip I made a lot of yumminess. So, without further ado, my recipes from last night (and of course the changes I made to them).

Five-Cheese Skillet Burgers

Prep Time:

10 min

Total Time:

20 min

Makes:

4 servings, one burger each

What You Need

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 egg

2 Tbsp. ketchup

1 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend, divided

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 pkt. SHAKE 'N BAKE Extra Crispy Seasoned Coating Mix

4 hamburger buns, split

Make It

MIX meat, egg, ketchup, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the Worcestershire sauce and coating mix. Shape into four 1/2-inch-thick patties.

PLACE patties in nonstick skillet on medium heat; cover. Cook 5 min. Turn burgers over; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cook, uncovered, 5 min. or un

til burgers are cooked through (160°F).

SERVE in the buns.

Now, the first time I made these, I actually had everything on hand to m

ake them. Yesterday though, I didn't have any more Shake n' Bake (or the Kroger brand). What I did have was an old biscuit, so I put it in my tiny food processor and made bread crumbs. I added these to the hamburger mixture until the mixture wasn't sticky anymore. These burgers were definitely good and I have now made them twice. I think that they will become a regular at our house.

Now, on to the side dish. After we went camping, I had a whole bag of red potatoes that I needed to do something with. So here is what I came up with.

Crash Hot Potatoes

This is yet another Pioneer Woman recipe. You can find the recipe here.

I actually did follow this recipe nearly perfectly. I didn't have the herbs though, so I used some Italian seasoning. It would probably be just fine without anything but the salt and pepper. These potatoes are so yummy. They are soft and crunchy. They did take a long time to make. I'm not really sure how long it took my potatoes to cook in the boiling water, but they pro

bably should have cooked longer. I also don't have a potato masher (I guess I need to add that to my list of things I need for the kitchen), so I used a glass. It worked pretty well.

Now, on to dessert.

After sending Jason to the grocery store, I made yet another Pioneer Woman recipe. I have made these before, so I know they are good.

Oatmeal Crispies

You can find the recipe here.

In the recipe, it says to refrigerate or freeze the dough and then cut it into slices. I haven't done that any of the times I have made it. I just use my handy dandy cookie scoop and scoop out the dough onto my stoneware cookie sheets and bake them. Because I use stoneware to make my cookies, I have to cook them a little longer. The first batches probably cooked 15 minutes and the later batches cooked for 12 minutes (because the stoneware was already hot).

Here is what I am planning for tonight. I am going to use boneless chicken breasts though, because I am not in the mood to deal with bones.

Italian Chicken Simmer

Prep Time:

10 min

Total Time:

45 min

Makes:

4 servings

What You Need

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 chicken leg quarters (1-1/2 lb.), skin removed

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

1/3 cup tomato paste

2 small red peppers, chopped

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend

Make It

HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, cut apart chicken legs and thighs. Add to skillet; cook 10 min. or until lightly browned on both sides, turning occasionally.

ADD tomatoes and tomato paste; mix well. Stir in peppers; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 20 min. or until chicken is done (165°F), stirring occasionally.

REMOVE from heat. Stir in Parmesan; sprinkle with shredded cheese. Let stand until cheese is melted.

I will probably make some rice to go with this and if the salad that I bought last week is still okay, we will have that as well.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum......or Dallas

2009-07-13T12:59:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday we took to motorcycle to Cartersville and met my parents for lunch. We had plans to go on a ride with them for about an hour or so. Yesterday evening, we ended our ride at my parents' house and had dinner. Around 7:00, we had to go, because we wanted to make it home before dark. So, off we went. About the time we got to White, the bottom drops out. There is thunder and lightning and torrential rain. We had pulled over at a closed gas station and decided to try to wait it out there. While huddling under the metal awning, a lady stops and asks us if we are okay. Of couse, we said yes, but I was not really enjoying being under a metal roof in a lightning storm. She told us to get in her car and she would take us to her brother's house around the corner. Now normally, I would not ever, ever do this, but when you are in the middle of nowhere stuck in a storm, you pretty much do whatever it takes to take care of yourself. So, Jason and I piled into the front seat of her mustang and went to her brother's house. We spent the next hour and a half waiting out the storm. They were so nice. She offered to drive us all the way home (about an hour's trip) so that we wouldn't have to ride in the rain. We didn't want her to do that, so we just sat around for a while and talked to some people we probably never would have had the opportunity to meet. Around 10:00, we finally made it on our way again and we finally made it home around 11:00. So, a trip that normally would take about an hour and a half took us 4 hours, but it was definitely interesting. We arrived home cold and wet, but not necessarily regreting the experience.

I passed!

2009-07-10T15:10:00.002-04:00

So, my orals were today. Prior to today, I was pretty well freaked out by the whole process. I was supposed to go in front of a panel of three of my professors and basically tell them what I learned. This is not high on my list of fun things I would like to spend my time doing. So anyway, I went and talked to my profs for about an hour about various aspects of my schooling and my portfolio. After that, I left the room for them to decide my fate. After what seemed like an eternity, they opened the door and told me that I had passed. After that I filled out all of the paperwork so that my transcript and everything could be sent off to update my certificate. I won't actually get my diploma until December, but I will get my pay raise as soon as all of the paperwork is finished. Needless to say, I am quite excited and relieved. Now I just have to write a research paper, write my autobiography, complete some fact cards, do a presentation, finalize a notebook, write a final paper, and go to my last 4 class sessions. Easy, huh? One week left and it will all be over!

Shell Shock

2009-06-24T13:42:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here in a little bit of shock. I think I just finished my portfolio. "Why do I only think this?", you ask. Well, for one it is very hard to believe that I am finished two days before it is due. For another thing, it has so consumed me for so many weeks that I feel like something is missing from my life. I have poured so much of myself into finishing this degree and this project that I am having trouble coming to terms with the fact that it is almost over. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to continue taking classes or anything, but it is hard to realize that I may be coming to the end of a journey. I have plenty more work to do this semester, but I am just going to take a few moments to rest and reflect on the fact that this journey is almost over and another one is about to begin. What that new one is, I'm not sure. I have a guess, but only God knows for sure where He is taking me. I am just willing to follow Him right now.

Here is a quote I put in my portfolio. I think it sums up the process completely. I found it with a picture I used for my cover.

"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end."
~ Ursula K. LeGuin

Some New Recipes

2009-06-19T15:28:00.002-04:00

I have been getting the Kraft weekly emails with recipe suggestions for a few weeks now. Since I have been avoiding working on homework today, I decided to open the email up and see what I could find. Well, I found two recipes that I decided to make today.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Prep Time:

5 min

Total Time:

25 min

Makes:

4 servings, one sandwich each

What You Need

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 onion, sliced

1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 French bread baguette, 16 to 20-inches long (about 10 oz.)

4 KRAFT Singles

Make It

COOK chicken and onions in skillet on medium-high heat 8 min., stirring occasionally.

ADD barbecue sauce, water and sugar; stir. Reduce heat to medium; cover. Cook an additional 7 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF).

REMOVE chicken from skillet. Shred chicken with fork or chop into small pieces. Return to skillet; stir until evenly coated with sauce. Cut baguette crosswise into four pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise in half. Fill with chicken mixture and Singles.

* As always I didn't follow directions exactly. Apparently I have trouble with this. I also really like to use my crockpot. So, here is what I did. I put the chicken, water, some of the barbecue sauce and brown sugar into the crockpot. After letting it cook for a while, I shredded the chicken, added more barbecue sauce and some dried onion flakes (I didn't have an onion). I also didn't buy any French bread, so I used some hogie style rolls. I also used cheddar cheese because I like it better than Kraft singles.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

Prep Time:

20 min

Total Time:

38 min

Makes:

32 servings

What You Need!

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2/3 cup milk, divided

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme

1/2 cup PLANTERS Salted Peanuts

6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350°F. Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until blended; press 2/3 onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 14 min. or until center is almost set; cool 3 min. Meanwhile, mix peanut butter and remaining milk.

SPREAD peanut butter mixture onto crust; top with small spoonfuls of the marshmallow creme and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate; press gently into cake mixture.

BAKE 18 min. or just until center is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

* I was watching "That Thing You Do" while making this, so I made a few mistakes. Luckily for me, this was a very forgiving recipe and still turned out great. One thing that is important to remember is to wait for the crust to cool before putting on the peanutbutter. I forgot and it made it really hard to spread the peanutbutter. This is a very rich dessert, so make sure you have milk (if that is what you like) or water on hand to wash it down.

Now, maybe I should actually get some more work done. Jason has diagnosed me with a severe case of graduate school senioritis. I believe it.

A New Journey

2009-06-17T14:05:00.002-04:00

For the past 7 months or so, Jason has been doing sales for a local publication. It has been straight commission. That comes with pluses and minuses. There is virtually unlimited potential for making money. The problem most recently has been that the people that he has sold advertising for have not paid. This leaves us in a fairly sticky situation. Anyway, last week, Jason went to an interview at a company here locally. It is probably about 3 or 4 miles from our house. They were interviewing for a marketing assistant position. He went for a second interview yesterday. Well today, he got a call from the company. He didn't get the marketing position, but they decided to create a position for him working with the owner of the company. I am so excited for him. He should still be able to go to school, but he will not be working on commission any more which is excellent news for us.

I am almost finished with school myself. I have most of my portfolio completely done. There are still a few things that I need to work on, but it is more done than not. This is good, because in the next week I have two tests and a paper due besides my portfolio. I am so glad that I have been working on this for the last month or so. It has probably made it a little less stressful than if I had waited until the last few weeks. That would have been crazy.

Please keep praying for Jason's job. I know I am excited about the prospects.

Farmer's Market and French Bakery

2009-06-13T11:09:00.002-04:00

This morning we woke up really early and went to the farmer's markets in Dallas and Marietta. The one in Dallas is really small and we only ended up buying some wildflower honey and some peach bread for Jason's breakfast. Then we went to the one on the square in Marietta. It is a lot larger which is good, but parking is always a problem. It was really crowded this morning too. I'm not sure if this is because we got there about thirty minutes after it opened or not. We got some tomatoes (my tomato plant only has marble sized tomatoes on it), two potatoes, some broccoli, and the best smelling cantaloupe ever. After the farmers market, we went to Douceur French Bakery. This is the second time I have been there and I really wish it was closer to my house. They have the prettiest cakes and pastries. We got an almond croissant, pain au chocolat, and a baguette. Last time we were there we got the yummiest fruit tart. Sometime we are going to go for breakfast or lunch. They have the best sounding food and I haven't had a croque monsieur in so long.

I am in my last semester of school. I am so ready to be done, but I think my professors are trying to see just how much I can handle in six weeks. In two weeks, I have to turn my portfolio in. I am a little nervous about this, but hopefully by then everything will be in excellent shape. So, since I am having to put nearly all of my focus on school right now, I doubt there will be any good recipes or anything from me for a while.

Spanish Rice (or is it Mexican Rice? I have no idea.)

2009-05-28T19:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I made my version of Spanish rice. I took a recipe from thepioneerwoman.com and made it my own. Why? Well, first of all, I like to, and second, I didn't have all of the stuff that I needed to make the real recipe, but what I ended up with was excellent. So, here it is:

Spanish Rice

1/2 cups white rice
3 cups chicken broth
1 or 2 tomatoes, diced
1 onion diced (I used onion flakes, because I didn't have an onion)
diced garlic (I used dried)
1/2 package taco seasoning mix (I was too lazy to get out all of the other spices and make my own)
canned veggies (normally I would just use black beans and leave it at that, but I didn't have any, so I used kidney beans and corn. I drained the corn and drained and rinsed the kidney beans.)

1. Use the chicken broth to cook the rice in. (I'm not going to go into much more detail, just cook the rice)
2. In a pan cook the tomato, onion, and garlic (If you are super lazy, buy the canned tomatoes with garlic and onion. They will work just fine.)
3. Add the taco seasonings to the tomatoes and let the mixture cook down.
4. Mix veggies into tomato mixture to heat up.
5. Mix rice and veggie mixture together (I usually mix it all up in a big bowl)
6. enjoy!

I'm sure this recipe is not very clear, but if you can figure it out, it is super good. It is one way I can get Jason to eat beans. He doesn't seem to mind if they are mixed in things. You can find the original recipe that I adapted here. If I haven't posted it before, the Mexican lasagna in this recipe is also awesome. You definitely have to half the recipe, because it makes a ton.

Strawberry Ice Cream

2009-05-25T20:56:00.004-04:00

So today was Memorial Day and we had a picnic with our Journey group from church. I made ice cream. I love homemade ice cream. It is like the best stuff ever. Since I was at my parents this morning without my usual ice cream recipe, my mom found one for me in her Southern Living cookbook. If it is by Southern Living, you can be sure it will be good. This ice cream started with making a custard. I was a little wary of this, because it contained eggs, but it all turned out okay. One recommendation that I have though is that while making the custard, after putting in the sugar mixture, stir constantly. I burned mine some by not doing this. Here is the recipe:

Strawberry Ice Cream

2 c sugar divided

1/4 c all purpose flour

dash of salt

3 c milk

4 lrg eggs, lightly beaten

3 c pureed fresh strawberries

3 c whipping cream

1 TBS vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

- combine 1 1/2 c sugar, flour, and salt; set aside

- heat milk in top of double boiler until hot; add a small amount of milk to sugar mixture, stirring to make a smoth paste. Stir sugar mixture into remaining milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thinckened. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring often.

- stir about 1/4 of hot mixture into beaten eggs; add remainging hot mixture. Cook one minute stirring constantly, Cool.

- combine strawberries, remaining 1/2 c sugar, whipping cream, and flavorings; stir into custard

- pour into freezer container of a 1 gallon ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturers instructions. Mixture does not need ripening.
Yield 3 quarts.

Enjoy some this summer!

I am going to hide under a rock for the next year or so.

2009-05-21T21:22:00.001-04:00

That is all.

Kraft Budget Wise dinner

2009-05-14T17:54:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to going grocery shopping and getting the stuff I needed for the 1 bag 5 dinners thing at Kraft. You can find it here. I did one of the chicken and beef bags. Since I am home alone tonight, I got to choose what I wanted to make and of course I did not start with Monday's meal. I didn't even do Thursday's because today is Thursday. I made Tuesday's meal of chicken fajitas. Before I talk about that though, I wanted to mention the grocery trip. I had a very short list, and if I hadn't had to buy anything else, my groceries probably would have fit into one bag. I was really proud of myself for this trip, because I had about $50 to spend and I spent $50.02. I saved over $12 with coupons and my Kroger Plus card. All in all it was a good trip.

Now to the chicken fajitas. The recipe called for stir fry veggies. I grabbed a bag from the produce section and I really think that what I had would be better for Asian stir-fry, but I don't like peppers and onions, so it worked for me. As I was cooking, I thought it smelled and looked more like an Aisan meal than a Mexican meal. I still liked it though. I put cheese and sour cream on my tortillas with the chicken and veggies. All in all, it was a decent meal for me. I have no idea what Jason will think about it.

Now I am off to either clean the kitchen or work on my portfolio. Neither one of these options sounds really good to me right now.

One Semester Left!

2009-05-09T10:59:00.002-04:00

I finally finished my spring semester at Berry. I thought it would never end. It was definitely one of the most difficult semesters of my life, personally and scholastically. I took two classes this semester. One of them was difficult in that I had to find time to test a single student multiple times. The other one was difficult in that the professor was unclear in grading and assignments. She also didn't really teach all semester. We have had presentations every week since February. Needless to say, I consider the class a waste of time and money, especially frustrating since I have been paying for my classes.

Anyway, it is all over. I will have my master's finished in July. I am so excited to be finished. I am ready to move on. This summer will be tough, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

Today we are going to ride the motorcycle to visit Jason's mom for mother's day. Jason hasn't really been able to ride for a week or so because of the non-stop rain we have been getting. He has been working on his bike though. He likes a project. :)

Sunday we are going to my parents'. The guys are all making dinner. It should be pretty good. I am looking forward to seeing my family. I haven't seen them since before Easter. They just live too far away.

Now I am off to eat some leftovers for lunch. Yum!

A Slight Complaint

2009-05-05T18:22:00.002-04:00

So, lately I have been getting doctor and hospital bills for all of the lovely stuff that has gone on in the last month or so. It seems like every day that I get a bill I also get a catalog, magazine, or some other baby related mail. It is like some cruel joke someone is playing on me. I have no idea how I got signed up to receive all this stuff, but my goodness does it mess with my head. I have been doing so well in the moving on department that it is not really nice for companies to send me cute baby stuff, especially when I have to get bills that remind me on the same day. My plan is to just keep giving this stuff away. It has good coupons on it and all. I can't use them, because I do not need to set up a baby registry or buy strollers or clothes or furniture. I wish I could just call one number, tell them what happened, and move on! I will never forget my first little one, but the constant reminders of how far along I should be and what I should be doing are not good.

That is all. Sorry for sharing the frustration.

A Pretty Good New Find

2009-05-04T15:32:00.003-04:00

I found something yesterday that I think we will be trying in the next few weeks. Kraft has posted 1 Bag, 5 Dinners recipes and shopping lists. You can find them here. I have a hard time planning ahead, especially with both of us in school two nights a week. The other nights, I just don't really feel like making anything amazing and the one night that Jason is in class when I am not, I don't want to go to all the trouble of cooking for myself. Maybe I'm just lazy, I don't know. Anyway, I can follow these basic recipes and buy basic ingredients and have five meals. I did notice that they did not include sides, the shopping list was for only main dishes, so if you are anything like me and do not have a lot of extra stuff just sitting around, you will want to include on your list sides to go along with the main dishes. I will probably have to edit some of the recipes/menus, because there are just something we don't like. I will try to remember to report back and tell you how that goes.

A Couple Yummy Recipes

2009-04-26T19:11:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I posted some recipes, so I thought I would put some up there today. All of these are from The Pioneer Woman and are so yummy. She definitely doesn't do low fat. :)

Here we go:

Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich

She doesn't have this one nice and typed up for me to copy and paste. Basically, the sandwich is chicken breast with lemon pepper seasoning, pepper bacon, and cheese. The cheese and the roll/bun are up to you. I used wheat hogie-style rolls and colby cheese. I also didn't want to fork out $6 for the pepper bacon, so I used regular. If you are making this for more than two, I would totally recommend the pepper bacon. I cooked these on the grill, because Jason had been craving grilled chicken. They were definitely a hit.

Spreads

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup margarine
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 to 8 ounces chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together brown sugar and margarine. Add egg and mix together. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.
Spread dough onto cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown.
Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute.
Remove and spread melted chips over the top.
Cut into squares.

A couple things on these. I would totally use a mixer! I had a lot of trouble getting the butter to mix in with the brown sugar. It could have been that I was using butter and not margarine, I don't know, but it was not easy. Also, it seems to me that real butter is okay to use. It was all I had, so I used it. I think these are good, quick any time cookies. They were easy to mix up and really tasty.

Cinnamon Rolls

Another one I can't copy, but that is okay. Just let me tell you that these are excellent. The recipe seems daunting at first, but after starting the process (and I do mean process) it is fairly straight forward. I made these with Whitney from my Bible study and neither of us is a hugely experienced cook. Instead of the maple icing (which looks wonderful) we used store bought cream cheese frosting. This worked really well as well. The recipe makes a ton, so be prepared to share or freeze what you can't eat.

I guess you can tell where a lot of my inspiration comes from. I like a lot of Pioneer Woman's recipes and I like to share them with everyone else. :)

Update on our lives:

Jason bought a motorcycle this weekend. He is really excited about it. I have two weeks of classes left. I also got the due date for my portfolio and the date for my orals this past week. I have about two months to get my portfolio finished (started as well). I am a little worried, but I have a plan to get it done. I went to the doctor again last week to draw more blood. I really think my levels will be down this time. I really hope so. It is hard having to sit in there, not that I am jealous of all the pregnant ladies, but because it brings it all back. I finally came up with a non-crazy way to memorialize the brief life of our little pumpkin. I am planting two rose bushes in front of my house and I am going to find a little statue of a child to sit by them in memory of the little one that was taken from us too early. This is a way better idea than the tattoo that I contemplated in the days after we lost our pumpkin. :)

Well, Jason has made it home in hopefully one piece, so I am going to get dinner ready for him.

Spring Break!

2009-04-07T18:52:00.002-04:00

Spring break couldn't have come at a better time. I really needed the break. I wish Jason could take a break with me, but the flyer business doesn't stop. Yesterday I went to Rome. I met my mom and my nephew at Schroeder's for lunch. I got my favorite and some of Zach's chicken fingers. After lunch we went to Berry and got flowers. They had so many pretty plants. I got some petunia and marigolds (of course). I also got some other flowers that I can't remember the name of and some New Guinea impatiens. I can't wait to plant them outside, but I have a feeling it will be a little while. The weather is too unpredictable right now. Earlier today we had snow! My little plants couldn't last through that. So, our house will look like a florist shop for just a little bit longer.

Today I went to lunch with the girls from my journey group. We had such a good time. I am glad that we are finally meeting people who live close by. I like seeing my friends in Kennesaw and everything, but I don't always want to drive that far to hang out with someone. It is also nice knowing that is we need anything, we have some friends close by that I know wouldn't mind us calling.

Tomorrow I have to go back to the doctor to get my blood taken. I don't think they are going to have to do anything else, at least I hope they don't. I'm a little tired of all the poking and prodding. Please pray the my hormone levels are at 0. I don't want them to have to do anything else to me. I am ready to move on and the more I have to go back to visit them, the more it reminds me of all we lost.

I can't think of anything else that is going on right now. I am ready for this semester of grad school to be finished. It is really trying to kick my tail. There are a lot of little things that I have to do and a couple big projects that need to be done that I don't feel like I have much guidance on. Oh, well. I will pull it out, I'm sure.

Finding our way back

2009-04-04T14:27:00.003-04:00

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. I know that it has helped us this week. We (at least I) am still having ups and downs, but we are working through it. I know it is going to take time.

I am officially on spring break. I have so much I want to do and so much I need to do. I want to get some flowers and make my house look pretty. I also want to hang out with some friends and get my guest room back in some semblance of order. I need to write two papers and work on at least as many if not more artifacts for my portfolio. Summer is just around the corner and I need to get my portfolio done. I will officially be finished with my masters in July. I won't walk until December, but I should start reaping the rewards in the fall.

There isn't much else happening here. I just wanted to tell everyone thanks. It really has meant a lot to me to know that I have love and support from so many people.

There is a Light at the End of this Tunnel

2009-03-28T21:10:00.002-04:00

To the two people I know who read this:

We lost our little pumpkin today. We are very sad, but everything will work out okay. I don't really want to talk about it right now, but I wanted you to know what was going on in our lives. Please pray for us.

Thanks.

Yummy recipe

2009-03-24T16:52:00.002-04:00

Every once in a while I get the Kraft Food and Family magazine. This issue seemed to have a lot of recipes for cheesecake type desserts. Since by Bible study group was supposed to come to my house on Monday, I decided to make one of the recipes. Here it is:

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies

Prep Time:

20 min

Total Time:

50 min

Makes:

20 servings, 1 brownie each

What You Need!

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

20 maraschino cherries

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package. Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla with mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded Tbsp. into center of batter in each cup, pressing down slightly into batter. Bake 30 min. or until centers are set. Cool.

SERVE topped with COOL WHIP and cherries.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Variation

Prepare using PHILADELPHIA 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese and COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping.

Cheesecake Brownie Babies

Prepare as directed, omitting peanut butter.

Oh my goodness, these things are delicious. We didn't have small group at our house, so Jason and I have eaten way too many of them. They are like a Reeses peanut butter cups. Anyway, I really recommend this recipe. I think it is awesome. I didn't include the nutrition info, because I just don't really want to know. If you have to know, you can find the recipe here.

Not much else is going on in the world of Jason and Tracie. Jason finished his first class at North Metro. He is now a Photoshop master. I registered yesterday for my last semester at Berry. I am so ready to be done. This semester has been difficult and exhausting. I'm sure it is not just school, but a combination of work, school, and everything else. It is a little too much for me right now, but I just have a little further to go. I can make it.

written to the tunes of Guitar Hero

2009-03-01T18:51:00.003-05:00

Jason and I haven't had a light in our refrigerator for longer than I can remember. I know with this fridge, we haven't had one for over a year. I don't think our nasty fridge before this one had one either. Friday we went to the store and got a light. For less than two dollars, we fixed our $75 refrigerator's light problem. Why did it take us this long? I have no idea. It is kind of silly. Now we are surprised every time we look in the fridge. I guess I had no idea that fridge lights were fairly standard things. I didn't know you could just pick one up at the grocery store.

Today I had to pay bills. I usually really hate having to do this, but I looked back at all of the bills I paid last month and found that we have cut a lot of stuff off of our monthly bills. Most of what I have to pay is our general living expenses. We canceled our DirecTV. I paid off two credit cards. We no longer have a motorcycle to pay insurance for. It is all pretty cool. For the first time in a long time I feel like we are doing okay. I thank God for Jason's job and I know that things can only get better.

I bought some clothes at Old Navy online today. I hope they are comfortable. I was so uncomfortable in all of my work pants last week that I just had to find something else. It is not like I am really all that big or anything, so I don't know what was up last week. I have been comfortable all weekend. I kind of dread having to go to work tomorrow and wearing uncomfortable pants.

We had snow today! It was really coming down during church. When we got out of church the parking lot was all slushy. I just wish it had kept going. By the time we got home there was hardly any in our yard. I am kind of hoping everything will freeze over tonight and we won't have school, but chances are slim to none. That won't stop me from checking first thing in the morning. :)

I think that is all. We have been so busy. By the end of the week we both just want to crash. It is tough on us to both be in school during the week. Luckily I will be done in July. I can't wait. I will be walking in December. My mom insists. I was contemplating not walking, because I didn't figure anyone cared. I was wrong. I mentioned something about it when I was at her house and she said that of course I would be walking. I wanted to, but I'm glad someone else wanted to see it. So much will have changed by then. I am looking forward to where our little family will be.

Exciting Times

2009-02-19T10:13:00.004-05:00

I didn't realize that it had been so long since this site had been updated. Oh, well. There is just too much going on right now.

I am out of school this week. I have enjoyed it, but I came down with a bad cold. I think I am about over it though. Thank goodness. I can now enjoy the rest of my break. If only I didn't have to go to class tonight.

Last weekend we had some exciting news, but I am not quite ready to share it with everyone yet. It is fun though.

We have found an awesome Bible study group through our church. It is so nice to have friends close by. They all came over to our house on Monday for our small group time. I made them chili and it seemed to be a hit. I have no idea though, because I couldn't taste anything.

Jason and I went to the Coke museum for my birthday. It was so much fun. We hadn't been to it since they opened the new one by the aquarium. Definitely worth the trip. Here is a picture of us with the Coke bear.I am almost finished with my classes. I have to take 3 this summer and do my portfolio and my orals and then I will be done. I am so looking forward to it. I won't walk until December, but I will have completed everything to finish up my masters in July.

Random thing I learned the other day. Traditionally, you are supposed to put two spaces after a period when typing. I had never heard this before until I came across something that said that they were changing it to just one space. I have never put two spaces after a period in my life. After asking other people this question, they said that they always do this. I asked Jason and he said he never knew it either. Did we miss something in our schooling? I have made it this far without doing it, so I guess I am okay. :) Just an interesting tidbit to think about.

One Blessed Child of God

2009-01-27T17:39:00.002-05:00

I have been having the best week. On Sunday, we met my parents and my sister's family to celebrate my birthday. My parents gave me new tires for my car. They are so awesome. On Monday, Jason had to take my car to the shop to get new brakes. While it was a huge, unprepared for expense, it is okay. We will be able to pay for them in no time thanks to Jason's great job. Jason also got us season tickets to the Cobb Symphony yesterday. (mentioned below) We went to an awesome small group last night with people who are similar to us. It was wonderful. Today, I finished testing early and went to pick up some supplies at one of the other schools and was able to leave about 30 minutes early. When I got home I had a letter from the Georgia Student Finance Commission. I had applied for a scholarship in the fall and did not receive it. This new letter awarded me the scholarship for last semester and this semester. It basically pays for most of my tuition. While this has already been paid, I shouldn't have to take out any more student loans to finish my masters. My book for my class tomorrow also arrived this afternoon, so I was able to do my homework. All in all a decent week and..... I have tomorrow off! I am celebrating my birthday with a day off work.

Now to find something to feed my belly for dinner.

Job Perks

2009-01-26T16:51:00.004-05:00

Today, Jason closed a deal with the Cobb Symphony Orchestra. The Georgia Flyer donated advertising to the symphony. In exchange, Jason got us season tickets to the symphony. I am so excited. Anyway, I am in need of a dress and with that, some suggestions on where to look and what to look for. I really don't have anything nice to wear. I don't really dress up for work or church, so this is one of the first opportunities I have had in a long time to get all dressed up. We are planning on going for Valentines Day, so I have to start my search now. Yea!

*edit*

I may have totally jumped the gun, but I found a dress! I looked at J. Crew, because I always like their stuff, but just can't afford it. Well, they are having a pretty good sale. All of their sale stuff is 30% off the sale price with the code EXTRA30. I have no idea when this will be over, because their site is having issues. Anyway, I found a dress. Regularly, the dress was $165. I have never had a dress that cost that much, except for my wedding dress. On sale it was $50, but I got it for around $47 including shipping and tax. Needless to say, I am so excited.

Here is the dress. Let me know what you think.
It is J Crew's silk chiffon Sophia dress. I love the words silk and chiffon. I think it will be so pretty. I wanted a more subdued color, but my sale choices were this or a bright yellow color. I have a feeling yellow would not look so good and we will be going for Valentines Day, so the color is fitting.

I have to go get ready for small group now. I am just way too excited about all of this.

Happy Birthday Jason!

2009-01-11T15:01:00.003-05:00

In honor of Jason's 26th birthday, I thought I would post the recipe for his favorite cake. Jason doesn't really like a lot of sweet stuff, so this cake is right up his ally. It doesn't have frosting. It uses Cool Whip instead. Now, this is a family recipe, so my directions are not going to be all nice and put together, but I will make it better than how it is written on my recipe card.

So, in honor of Jason's birthday and the two people who gave me the recipe (Jenny and Granny June) here is:

Strawberry Cake

1 box strawberry cake mix (make as directed on box)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 Tbs. corn starch
3 oz. box strawberry Jello
1 box sliced frozen strawberries (defosted)
1 container Cool Whip (I usually get the bigger one, because it is better to have too much than too little)

1. make strawberry cake as directed in box. Bake in 13x9 sheet pan.
2. once cake is out of the oven, let it cool while mixing the sugar, water, cornstarch, and Jello in a pan over medium-high heat. Boil this until thick. (all I can say is that you will notice a difference. It becomes kind of like a syrup)
3. poke holes all over cake. Don't worry about being neat. The more holes the better, and any crumbs will be covered over with Cool Whip. I tear mine up pretty good.
4. pour the Jello mixture over the cake
5. cool cake in refrigerator
6. once cake is cool, pour strawberries over the cake and top with Cool Whip
7. If this is your birthday cake, put the appropriate number of candles on the top
8. serve and enjoy

This is a very yummy cake that would be very refreshing in the spring or summer. I can't say I have ever had it at that time though since my wonderful husband was born in January.

Now I have to get ready for his party. Chinese food and strawberry cake. Together at last!

Check out my Brother-in-Law on CNN!

2009-01-09T18:22:00.001-05:00

Darren is a tour guide for Dialog in the Dark. Here is the video.

Miles Today

2009-01-09T16:25:00.002-05:00

Today has been a beautiful day. It started out cold, but it is in the 60s or so now. Even though it was so nice today, I didn't even think about going to ride my bike. When I got home today, all I wanted was a snack (apples and peanut butter) and to play Tetris. Jason got me a Tetris game for Christmas and it is a lot of fun to play. Well, while I was eating my snack, Jason called me and told me that I should go ride my bike. I did and I rode about 6 miles. It might be closer to 5, but, regardless, that is still a lot. I am a little wary about riding on the SCT by myself, because a few years ago a lady was killed on the trail in my county, but I figured there would be enough people out today that I should be fine. The only weird thing was that a guy in the parking lot told me that I should be careful riding by myself and that I should get mace. Maybe I will look into that. There just isn't much place to put stuff like that in my ridiculous bike pants. :)

Last night was Jason's first night of class, so I was on my own. I decided that I wanted to make something good and different for dinner. I went to Kroger and wandered around looking for something yummy for supper. As I was passing the organic aisle, I noticed that they have a ton of soups in boxes. This led me to find a package of Pad Thai ingredients. I love Pad Thai and my middle of nowhere Kroger doesn't carry the brand I used to buy (not organic), so I haven't made it in forever. They also haven't carried my bean sprouts either. Anyway, I grabbed that and from there tried to figure out what I wanted to put in it. Usually I put chicken, but since it was just me, the world was open to me. Also, I didn't want to buy a package of chicken. Underneath the Pad Thai was some tofu. Again, since I was just making it for me I put that in my basket. Then I went in search of bean sprouts. Low and behold, they had my sprouts (mung bean sprouts for those that don't know). I got those and some peanuts and made my way to checkout and then home. All in all, my foray into organic/all natural cooking and tofu was a success. I really enjoyed my Pad Thai and Jason even ate some, tofu and all. Now I have to figure out what to do with the other half of my tofu.

New Year, New Changes

2009-01-06T15:58:00.003-05:00

There are a few new changes happening in our little family this year. It has kind of been an interesting start to a year. I'll start with the smallest one, but one I'm not sure I was really ready for.

Change number 1: Last week, Jason canceled our satellite tv. We currently have so much hooked up to our tv that we do not lack for entertainment. We were basically keeping the satellite because I wouldn't call an cancel. Well, they told Jason that we were paid up until the 25th of this month. That gave me a little time to adjust to not having the tv. When I came home for lunch today, I sat down with my Lean Cuisine to watch a recoded episode of J&L plus 8. For some reason, the satellite would not connect. Oh, no!! They have already disconnected our service! I didn't realize yesterday when I was cooking I was watching my last Gilmore Girls re-run on regular tv. Now I have to do some sort of computer voodoo to make it work. Things are oddly silent right now. I am going to have to make sure there is something I want to watch on our Netflixs queue or I will be out of luck.

Change number 2: Jason registered for art classes at North Metro today. He will be taking a Photoshop class two nights a week starting Thursday. I am really proud of him, but it means that 3 nights a week we will be spending in classes. I guess I need to start buying packable food and snacks, because it looks like we won't be eating dinner at home for awhile.

Change number 3: I'm going to call it my two degree shift (this is reference to the sermon at West Ridge on Sunday). Jason gave me a bike rack for my Xterra for Christmas. I realize that I live only a few feet from the Silver Comet Trail, but a big barrier to me riding Jason's old bike was all that it took to get to the trail. By the time I rode my bike through the neighborhood and off-roaded to the trail, I didn't want to ride. Anyway, Saturday was our first chance to ride on the trail after getting the bike rack. We rode 6 miles. The two degree shift I want to make is to ride at least twice a week. I would have ridden yesterday or today, but Jason and I have had some miscommunications about which car to drive and I have not had the car with the bike rack until it was too dark to ride. Tomorrow though, I am riding my bike!

Other updates: I am beginning my second to last semester of my Master's next week. By golly, I am so ready to be finished. Last semester almost did me in. Between work, my practicum students, and my own schoolwork, I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I am hoping that won't happen again this semester. We will see. Luckily we have more breaks this semester than we did in the fall. That will help.

I think that is all of the changes that are going on in our lives right now. I'm sure there will be more. This is only the sixth day of January (Happy Birthday Beth!!!)

New Year's Yumminess

2009-01-01T18:10:00.002-05:00

Jason and I had quite a Christmas week. It started Christmas Eve and didn't really end until New Year's Eve. Needless to say, we both did not want to go out for New Year's Eve. I did want to have some fun though. I made a bunch of appetizers and set them up on the table for us to much on.

Here is the menu:
chicken wings
fruit with fruit dip
carrots with ranch dressing
hot artichoke dip
cheese and crackers

Here are the recipes for the fruit dip and the artichoke dip. I got them from my absolute favorite cookbook, Betty Crocker's Bridal Edition Cookbook. My mother-in-law got it for me when we got married.

I will include the changes I made to the recipes as well (I can't leave well enough alone).

Creamy Yorgut Fruit Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I didn't let mine soften, so I beat it in the mixer a little longer)
1 container orange yogurt (I couldn't find orange yogurt, so I used vanilla)
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg (I don't have an 1/8 tsp measurer, so I just put a couple dashes in)
2 Tbs coarsely chopped pecans [optional] (I actually really liked the nuts in this dip)
Cut up fruit (I had apples, grapes, and pineapple)

1. beat cream cheese in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in yogurt, marmalade, and nutmeg until smooth. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. spoon mixture into serving bowl. Top with chopped pecans. Serve with fruit.

I left mine beating in the mixer on medium for a while. It made it fluffy. I did this mainly because I didn't soften the cream cheese, but I really liked the texture after it had mixed awhile.

Hot Artichoke Dip
1/2 cup mayo (you can probably use Miracle Whip/grossness too, but I don't like it, so I didn't)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used shredded)
4 medium green onions, shopped (I don't really like onions, so I just used some onion flakes)
14 oz can artichoke hearts, chopped
crackers or bread

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix mayonaise and cheese in small bowl. Stir in onions and artichoke hearts. Spoon in 1 qt. casserole.
3. Cover and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.

I mixed everything in the corningware dish that I cooked it in. It saves me from having to watch a bunch of dishes. After I mixed the dip together I thought it looked a little bland (maybe this would have been helped by the green onions) so, I sprinkled bread crumbs on top of the casserole. It didn't affect the taste, but I thought it made it look pretty.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

2008-12-22T12:01:00.002-05:00

So, I have a mild obsession with reading blogs. I don't know why, but I do. One of my favorites is: http://thepioneerwoman.com/. It combines photography, decorating, cooking, and other randomness. Basically, it is right up my ally. Anyway, I have made a few of her recipes and they were really good. Today I had to bring something to work for our Christmas breakfast, so I went to Pioneer Woman and found her recipe for French Breakfast Puffs. Let me tell you, they were yummy. I think I am going to make them for Christmas brunch at Jenny and Jack's house.

Here is the recipe:

French Breakfast Puffs

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening (Crisco)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 sticks butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside. Pray. In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening, then add eggs and mix. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden. In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

No idea why I am doing this

2008-12-21T15:56:00.000-05:00

http://oneday.brighterplanet.com/users/9924/passes/public/YP8-TAQ

Relief

2008-12-16T19:51:00.003-05:00

I got my grades for this semester. This semester has been the toughest for me yet. Luckily I only have one more semester to take while I am also working. I will finish up this summer when I am not working. Since I had such a rough semester, I was just hoping my grades came out okay. I really didn't know what to expect in either of my classes. Neither of my professors really had a good grading system. I like getting clear letter grades on things and having due dates. It makes things less stressful. Anyway, I ended up with an A and a B. I no longer have a 4.0, but I guess that was asking too much a the graduate level. At least I get a good long break before I have to start back.

Dinner tonight: Nachos

Tortilla Chips
Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Ground Chuck seasoned with Taco Seasoning
Black Beans
Sour Cream
Salsa (ours was Raspberry Chipotle)

Layer chips and cheese on plate or aluminum foil. Cook chips in microwave or oven until cheese is melted. Layer on meat, beans, sour cream, and salsa (or anything else you might like) and enjoy.

Super easy and yummy. Thanks for the idea and the groceries, Jason!

Beginning of a Blog

2008-12-15T18:16:00.002-05:00

Tonight we had the most amazing dinner. Earlier in the day I emailed Jason and asked him what he wanted for dinner. He said coconut shrimp and mashed potatoes. Well, I can do mashed potatoes, but I have never been very successful in the shrimp department. Anyway, Jason found a Rachel Ray recipe for coconut shrimp and we were off. Needless to say, it was awesome.

Here is the recipe:
Coconut Shrimp

Ingredients

Canola or safflower oil, for frying
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt, eyeball it in palm of hand
2 pinches ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder, available on spice aisle
1 lime
1 cup shredded coconut
2 egg whites
1 pound large fantail shrimp, deveined and peeled -- ask for easy peels at fish counter

Directions

Heat 2 inches oil over medium high heat. A cube of bread should brown in a 10 count when oil is ready.

Season bread crumbs with salt, cayenne pepper and five-spice powder. Cut the lime into wedges and reserve.

Toss coconut with seasoned bread crumbs to combine. Lightly beat the egg whites. Dip shrimp in the egg whites, then coat with the coconut breading. Fry shrimp 5 minutes in hot oil until evenly golden and crispy. Garnish with lime wedges and serve.

We served it with Outback's Orange Marmalade Dipping Sauce. Also a winner.

Here is the recipe: (I think next time I make it, I will probably half the recipe, because we had a lot left over.)

Outback Orange Marmalade Dipping Sauce
Ingredients

1/2 cup Orange Marmalade

1/4 cup stone ground,Dijon "country" mustard

1/4 cup honey

3-4 dashes hot sauce

Directions

Combine all ingredients in small bowl.

Chill at least an hour before serving.

Enjoy

I served the shrimp with the mashed potatoes and salad. All in all, this was a very successful meal.