JenMarie80

Moving...

2012-05-24T10:05:00.001-05:00

Not my physical home, but JenMarie's Cafe has moved. Please visit me at www.jenmariescafe.com I'm really excited about this move. Right now, this site will remain as is for reference on my older posts, I'm not sure if I'll figure out how to move the info over. Hopefully, I will get them moved and this site will automatically redirect. For now, please give me some linky love and click on the

Flower Beds Finished!

2012-05-23T12:33:00.002-05:00

I never thought that our front porch project, that we started last year, would take so long to totally finish.... The fireman had built these flower beds with timber a week or more ago and we've been picking out plants, digging up dirt, adding soil, laying landscape fabric, planting plants and mulching.... Here's where we have the plants lined up where they should go. I like the boulder at

Garlic Kale Chips

2012-05-21T11:35:00.002-05:00

I was pretty hesitant about how good Kale Chips could be. I had heard about them from Shutterbean and they sounded interesting, but I was a little hesitant. Okay, a lot hesitant. It sounded healthy and all, but um, ew. Then, my friend Jana said she was going to try them, and I was excited cause I could see if they were any good or not. Cause she's a good judge of yummy foods. She liked them

Planting Flower Gardens

2012-05-17T12:26:00.000-05:00

The kids only have through half of next week before they're out of school. I still can't get over how close summer is. The fireman and I have been busy working on our flower gardens. I know, the plan was to do the fence next, but we got ahold of a garden tiller and didn't want to lose the chance to use it for free. Also, part of my Mother's Day gifts were all these pretty flowers. So, the

Buffalo Chicken Breasts

2012-05-14T10:05:00.001-05:00

I really wanted to call this recipe Hot Breasts, but I thought that might be bad for the search engine... You know, like Hot Wings...but with chicken breasts? I was trying to make a healthier version of Hot Wings, but I still wanted a little crunch, so I did do a quick flour and fried in a little oil. Not deep fried, not seriously encrusted. You could if you wanted to, but this is just a

Rhubarb Crisp

2012-05-11T10:17:00.002-05:00

You know how at Halloween, it's like incredibly important that you buy candy corn? Cause you just can't get it any day of the year. It's a once a year opportunity. Rhubarb is like that. You can't got the the freezer section and buy frozen rhubarb. That'd be weird. But also awesome. What is it about rhubarb that makes it so wonderful? I think it's cause it's tart, like cherries,

Velvet Chocolate Pudding

2012-05-09T16:18:00.002-05:00

I really wish I could spoon some of this into your mouth. I don't think you'd believe me otherwise. This pudding is rich and decadent and super duper chocolatey and actually, shockingly very low carb... I want to eat this pudding every night. And luckily, since it's quick to throw together, I could... In a saucepan, throw in cocoa, salt, sweetener, and cornstarch. That's it. Whisk it

Enchilada Pie

2012-05-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, I didn't like Mexican food, which doesn't make sense now. Now, it's one of my favorite things to eat. Between that and Italian, I could live on weeks filled with spaghetti and chimichanga's. For Cinco de Mayo, I made a large portion of Chimichanga's and this enchilada pie. Normally, I make enchilada's the real way, where you fry the enchilada's dipped in the red sauce. It's

Roasted Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas)

2012-05-07T13:09:00.002-05:00

I love trying new recipes with the fireman. It's fun and something we can do together. And he's crazy when he cooks, just so you know... Sometimes things get thrown... This one involves beans, baked until they're crispy and crunchy and then seasoned with whatever you want. What is it with me and garbanzo beans lately? First, I make a Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake, which by the way, I had NO

Fried Cabbage & Zucchini

2012-05-02T14:19:00.002-05:00

This is another one of the fireman's dishes. He made this for us last night with my Pork Roast and Mashed Turnips. My poor fireman has been at my beck and call lately. Ever since my foot surgery, I've been not cooking as often. He always cooks about 50% of the time anyway, but for a good two weeks there, he was the only one cooking/cleaning/getting kids ready for school/homework. I don't

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake

2012-05-01T09:11:00.003-05:00

I know this sounds soooo weird, but I'll tell you what. The fireman said this is one of the best chocolate cake's he's ever had. It did not last long in the house. It's so moist and delicious. It's total craziness. It's so good you can't stay out of it. I literally ate half the batch the first night. Then, my parents came over and between them and the fireman and I, we polished it off.

Skinny Ms. Fitness

2012-04-26T11:04:00.002-05:00

Today, I'm just sharing something that I love. I found this on Pinterest a while ago, a link for an 7 Day Challenge for Summer Arms. I really liked the idea of doing 7 days of hard workout to achieve some serious muscle change. I can do 7 days. So, I went to the website and what I really love about the website is that all of the exercises come with a youtube type video so that you can

Completion of the Brick Wall!

2012-04-25T09:12:00.003-05:00

Finally another one of our projects has a nice big red X next to it. Not really, we don't really have a master list with X's, but that would be really cool! Although my fireman would probably kill me.... I got to take lots of fun photos cause I was laid up on the couch at home recovering *read drugged up* while another fireman friend of my fireman who owns a side business doing something with

The News in Crutches

2012-04-23T14:33:00.001-05:00

Ok, so a few things I've learned in the last week: Crutches are made by Dr. Evil. Ice doesn't always reduce swelling. Pain pills don't necessary dull your pain, sometimes they just remove you from your body. Sleeping with one heavily wrapped club-foot is a pain, literally. Propping your leg on every hard surface you encounter will result in may bruises up and down your shin and calf. It's

Brown Sugar Acorn Squash

2012-04-18T12:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA. I am currently recovering from foot surgery; corrective foot surgery for my flat feet. I will soon have pain-,free feet/shins, which after nearly a lifetime of leg pain sounds like heaven to me. Especially since I'm all up with the working out and have been walking/running nearly every day. And because I'm drugged up right now, I can't say that this post will make any sense

Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders

2012-04-12T15:17:00.001-05:00

I have been wanting to make this recipe for like weeks! I'm so glad I finally did. It's not difficult or complicated or anything. I don't know why I waited so long. Just a throw-together type marinade and a quick skillet cooking and it's on the table. Perfect for a weeknight meal when you don't feel like cooking because everyone at work is asking you to do things fast because they can't do

A Backrest For Ohio

2012-04-11T12:09:00.003-05:00

I know a lot of you aren't motorcycle riders, but hopefully my occasional motorcycle post doesn't bore you too much. I just enjoy it so much, and it's a part of my life, so it's hard not to share. By the way, I named the bike Ohio. Because we drove there to get her, so that's her name. It's not as pretty as the other names I was kicking around, but the girl suggested it and it just fits.

Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin

2012-04-10T10:20:00.001-05:00

We tried this for Easter Dinner. I found this recipe online at Pinterest and was so intrigued I had to try it. I also had to adapt it a bit, of course. By the way, how addictive is Pinterest?! It's kinda like hashbrown casserole, but with squash! So, it's low carb, but still savory, rich and cheesy. We really loved it! It's sweeter, because it's squash. There is natural sugar in squash, and

The Road Taken

2012-04-09T10:59:00.001-05:00

Since it's now Spring and the weather is wonderful, the girl and I have resumed our hiking expeditions. I love them. They complete me. I run on the treadmill, and still continue to do so. And when I say run, I mean, walk at a very fast pace at a slight incline and then right in the middle, I run for 2-3 minutes, just to get my heartrate up. I don't mean that I actually, like run, for a large

Sweet Vanilla Crepes with Warm Raspberries

2012-04-06T10:38:00.000-05:00

These aren't authentic crepes. There's nothing fancy about them, except the awesomeness. When it comes to food like this, I don't claim that they are the best, or the most authentic. But, shut the front door, they're good! And easy. And fast. The boys don't eat food like this. So, when the girl and I had a night to ourselves, I was trying to figure out what to eat. We weren't terribly

Stunned Speechless

2012-04-04T13:32:00.003-05:00

Today I am stunned speechless. Okay, truthfully I've been stunned speechless for a few days. Naturally Sweet Recipe's Holly, Chelsea & Anne gave me an award! I really don't know what to say. Let's try. "Someone's actually reading my blog! Awesome!" "Someone thinks I'm cool!" "Someone other than my mom thinks I'm going to amount to something." and "They like me, they really like me!"

Honey Oat and Seed Bread

2012-04-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

This bread is vegan, high in fiber, naturally sweetened and honest to goodness, the best bread I've ever made. You could sell this stuff. It's just that good. It's sandwich bread, pain de mie. Which just means sliceable bread. It doesn't crack and crumble, even when sliced thinly. It's the amount of sugars that are in the bread that allows this. It's actually, the best. bread. ever. The

My Honda Interstate

2012-03-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

So, last Friday, we had my old bike loaded and ready to go. When I got home from work, I worked out, fed the girl, showered, packed and waited for the fireman to get home from work. He had taken his last 12 hours off, so he got off at 7pm instead of 7am. The fireman relieving him got there a bit early, though so he was home by 6:35. He got his shower and we were off! We dropped off the girl

Congo Bars with Sea Salt a/k/a Unspeakable Badness

2012-03-27T14:22:00.002-05:00

My new goal is that I'm allowing myself once per week to eat some unspeakable badness called dessert. I'm not going overboard here, but I'm gonna eat what I want, just once per week. It still follows the Dukan Diet, 1-2 celebration meals per week. And I'm going to try to stick to that, but once a week? Unspeakable badness. Last night I pulled out my 'WANT' folder where I stick all the

Adobo Chipotle Beef

2012-03-26T14:27:00.002-05:00

This recipe blew my mind. I bought some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce a while back. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I knew I wanted to try them. The Pioneer Woman uses them with stew meat, so I thought I'd try that, so this is inspired by her recipe, Spicy stewed beef. Although, instead of buying stew meat, I bought a roast that was on sale and cut it up myself. Way to save some