The Crazy Apron

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries Divorce

2011-11-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

You've heard about this right? Apparently Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce against her new husband, Kris Humphries. I'm all for marriage, and I happen to be in one that continues to exceed my expectations in every good way possible, but while I wish this couple all the best, I can't help but to say. . . DUH!

I don't know anything about their relationship other than what their show displays, but those episodes were almost painful to watch. Did you see them?? Was it the production team and editing that made Kris Humphries look like such a jerk? Did we only see the bad side of their relationship?

Look, I didn't know my husband for quite a year when we got married, and we were engaged a lot sooner than that. I know you can meet, fall in love fast, and get married almost immediately and maintain a successful, happy marriage. They said they were in love, I get it. I'm not saying things like this can't happen, but the show gave the impression they barely knew each other at all, and even that her family couldn't stand him, really.

Who knows what the reality of this show really is. The "jerk" side of this guy came off as a reality check to a friend of mine. She felt Kris Humphries wasn't a jerk at all, but a good dose of reality for Kim.

Either way, I really do wish them the best. And who knows that the next issue of People won't be about their reconciliation, or that it will turn out a total hype and they are actually very happy! I tend to believe they didn't do this marriage thing for show, and actually were in love, or thought they were. Marriage take humility, and if you don't have it, you have the opportunity to learn to have it! It's easy to assume you should just give up on marriage if the other party isn't doing their part, but it's difficult to force yourself to focus only on yourself and not what you feel your spouse is doing wrong. Hopefully these 2 will work things out. I wish them all the best!

Soul Cakes

2011-10-30T00:06:00.001-05:00

We're all about Halloween in our household, and this recipe is also all about Halloween. Read the history here, and then get busy making these bad boys!

My husband and I saw one of those cool Halloween episodes on Food Network last year and he's been trying to get me to make them ever since. October has been the busiest month for our business (and life in general), so I haven't done much Halloween cooking. In other words, I owe him. I owe him big time.

So tomorrow night, the night before Halloween mind you, I'll be making soul cakes so that he can wake up and eat them for breakfast on Halloween morning. So, with that said, I haven't made this recipe yet, but it looks amazing! I figured I'd share Caroline's recipe with you guys.

Please let me know if you try it and how it turns out! Email me your pictures, or comment and give me a link to your blog about it and I'll share it in a post. Life is all about sharing . . . and chocolate, but that's another post!

Here's one of Caroline's gorgeous pictures of her soul cakes, taken straight from her blog at Talks About Food: Check her out!!

Halloween Things to Come

2011-10-02T16:16:00.000-05:00

Hey Halloween people!! Look, I know you're probably here because you're looking for some really amazing halloween blog, and you came here, and you see a blonde cartoon chick with an apron, and a blog filled with all kinds of light blue, pink, and various flavors of cupcakes. This isn't the blog you thought it was, I get it.

BUT WAIT!! Please don't go! Let me exceed your expectations. I am obsessed with Halloween food, decorations, clothes, and everything else spooky. Last year, I changed my entire blog to just Halloween things, and this year won't be much different. I may look all girly, but there will be ghosts, pumpkins, food, crafts, and creepy things.

Here's a list of things to come in the next couple weeks:

* How-to guideline on making the EXACT pumpkin that is on the Halloween movies. This is an exact replica, and it now sits on our fireplace and haunts me when I play checkers with my husband every night. I hate that stupid thing, and I'll share it so your wife (or husband, or kids, or whoever else) can hate you too!

* Ghost food. I get that that makes no sense, but we're a little obsessed with ghost related things in my house, and I happen to love to cook. This means I make almost every meal in our house ghostly in the month of October. More to come..

* Sweet junk that will rot your teeth. Sweet halloween junk that is! Pumpkin desserts I make every year, how-to pumpkin things, peeps marchmallow things, and even healthy junk thrown in the mix (sorry but it's a must.)

* Random fall crafts. Sorry, but it's not just Halloween time, it's also Fall. Our church has a Fall Festival coming up, and I need to make all kinds of weird things, so get ready because it's coming!

* Random pictures of Halloween things I find and love. The latest is a peppermint batty.. like a peppermint patty but shaped as a bat. GENIUS.

* Pictures of junk in our house. Creepy things my husband loves to scare me with, and cute little decorations alike. LOTS of halloween things to come!

But as for right now, this 29 year old chick needs to get off the computer and do something meaningful with her life, like watch a Berenstain Bears Halloween DVD with her husband.PS: I also own this book:

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

10 Years Since 9-11

2011-09-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

Has it really been 10 years? Where did the time go?

Sept 11, 2001 -- I remember waking up to the phone ringing. My best friend called to tell me about how one of the twin tours has been hit by a plane. I couldn't hardly make her words out, but I knew she wasn't making any sense. We live in Texas, and yet somehow, I could hear the fear in her voice. She's the strong one in our group, and yet she sounded utterly terrified. Her voice was trembling as she mentioned what has just happened. I ran down the stairs of my parents house and turned on the news. Together, we watched in silence. All I heard on her end were sniffles and whimpers every now and then. Together, we watched the 2nd plane hit the other tower. We gasped together in shock.

To know people were dying right there, out of nowhere was more than I knew how to wrap my mind around. To see people jumping from 90 stories and above, because they had to choose between that or burning alive, was just too much for my 19 year old mind to comprehend. The image of people jumping still burns in my mind today, and I have chills as I type this. We continued to watch as the first tower fell, and then the second. We were horrified in knowing another plane crashed into the Pentagon, and then that another plane was in the midst of being hijacked and that it eventually crashed into a field. All we both knew to do was cry. I sat in a fetal position and felt myself shaking. I was home alone, my brother was at school and my parents were both at work. For us, it was just another day, as we were doing our normal routine. For them, it was the worst day of their life. I felt scared for my family's safety and even my own. We weren't anywhere near areas that had been hit, but were were affected. The whole world was affected. I needed to be closer to my family, and I didn't know how to even feel about this situation, other that total fear, disbelief, and extreme sadness.

It shook my world.

As the days after passed slowly, more news came out. The plane that crashed into the field took down the terrorists. Details emerged that heroes inside the buildings were carrying handicapped and elderly people down 50 flights of stairs. As victims fought to get down the twin tour stairs, they passed fire fighters going up. Firefighters who never made it back down those stairs. Instead, they will forever be remembered as heroes. Stories about 2 men who worked in the 80 something floor came out. They saved people on their floor, and so many people in the floors above them, and yet didn't make it out alive. Instead, they stayed until the end, saving people who would have died otherwise. Spouses, children, mothers and fathers, and siblings all told stories about their loved ones calling them while on board Flight 93. How they vowed to save so many others by taking the terrorists down. Who knows how many lives were saved because of those brave people!?

I lied awake last night, praying for all the people who's lives were changed because of 9-11, and as the saying goes, "I will never forget!" I'll never forget to keep praying for them.

I'll never forget that there were so, so many heroes who's stories didn't make the headlines. There were so many victims who didn't live to tell about the hero that died trying to save them.

I'll never forget to keep thanking God for our ability to come together in the midst of something to awful.

I'll never forget each and every story of those who lost a hero, so that we could gain one.

Popcorn Chicken w/ Honey Mustard Sauce

2011-08-18T12:06:00.000-05:00


I normally like to take pictures of each step, or at least a few pictures of some steps, but this recipe is just way too easy.

For the chicken, all you need to do is grab a couple boneless, skinless, chicken breasts and cut them into bite sized chunks. Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk with a fork. Grab some flour (I use whole wheat) and put it in a separate bowl. Meanwhile, grab a skillet and add enough oil (I like walnut or canola oil, but olive oil works fine too) and heat to medium. You'll know the oil is hot enough when you drop a little flour in and it sizzles.

To begin making these little pieces of amazingness, just dunk the chicken into flour, then egg, the flour again. Place the coated chicken on a plate until they are all coated. Add them into the oil all at the same time, so they will be ready all at once. If you're making a lot, you may need to do this in 2 batches.


Honey Mustard Dressing -- Literally just combine honey with ground mustard. I usually do 2 parts mustard and 1 part honey. Agave nectar works fine, and yellow mustard can be subbed for ground, although the texture of ground mustard is my favorite. :)

Day 23

2011-08-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

So today is Day 23 and I've yet to lose anything worth being proud of. Instead, I've gained and lost a little here and there, which sucks, to be honest. I start tennis next week, so I hope that helps give me a push in a better direction. Even still, it's only 2 days a week, so it won't be enough of a workout to make any kind of meaningful impact. Ugh!!

Yesterday, my husband suggested we go for a bike ride, since our plans to play tennis got shot down (by both of us) and riding bikes seemed easier than driving around to find an empty tennis court. Boy, were we wrong. As we got a few streets down, my husband's tire went flat. As I slowly rode my bike back home, he slowly walked his. When we got home to air up his tire, we realized I accidentally broke the bike pump, which meant no exercise for us.

Let me correct myself, we COULD have played tennis, but we didn't. We COULD have worked out at home, but we didn't. Instead, we ate homemade peach milkshakes and string cheese.

Strange how I haven't lost weight!! Anyway, I get the best hits on my website from recipes, so I need to get back on the ball with that. I cook random things all the time, so why not share the good ones? Heck, I might even share the bad ones and warn you beforehand!

On another note, school starts back next week. 17 hours of school on top of trying to grow a business might just be too much for me, but I am going to give it my all!

Wish me luck!!

Iced Coffee to the Rescue!

2011-08-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

So I'm doing this crazy, "eat healthy" thing... Let's just call it what it is, DIET... and I am starving. I know better than to get myself into this situation, but I'm actually barely eating until dinner. The reason I feel this makes sense, is because staying more full during the day hasn't been working for me. I'm eating the right stuff, but I end up hungry later and out of calories. I'm tired of being hungry during dinner, and not having enough calories to fill up.

So I had 1/2 piece of salmon with some veggies for lunch. I would have had a full piece but I was running out the door. For breakfast I had 1 egg and 2 pieces of turkey sausage with coffee.

Lots of calories left for tonight, but I'm hungry and don't have many low calorie things... and then I realized I could have an iced coffee. YUM. Satisfies the sweet tooth I have, and also hypes me up for some work later in the day today. Here's the super shortcut to ice coffee. It's the 'cheaters" way, NOT the official way, but it tastes exactly the same to me!

Iced Coffee - Serves 1:
* 1 TBS instant coffee
* 1 large mug hot water (about 1-1.5 cups)
* Sugar (to taste)
* Lots of ice
* Tall glass
* Milk

Heat water and add instant coffee. Grab a tall glass and fill it with ice. Add about 1/4 C milk to the ice, and then add enough of the coffee/water mixture to fill the glass about half way. Add more milk, and then top off with more of the coffee mixture. Add sugar to taste. ENJOY!

Reality Check

2011-08-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

It's when you're trying desperately to lose weight that you need a reality check. Not a subtle something either, like a cute bikini you wish you could fit into, but convince yourself the one piece blue thing w/ a skirt, type swim suit, is just as cute. I mean a real reality check. Like that I experienced today.

You see, I grew up with one of the best people I've ever know, Katy. Katy lived right across the street most of my life, and she was my lifeline. She was (and is) one of the sweetest people I know, and she's just amazing all around. Anyway, as I'm trying to lose weight before I turn 30, certain obstacles have gotten in my way. I've gone out of town, you see, and I have eaten everything but people. I mean, really, I've eaten soooo much and I feel disgusting. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things (or so I think I am), but then it happens. Katy (who I still keep up with) gets tagged in some professional photos she had made. She looks UH-MAZING! I mean, she's always been beautiful, smart (she's practically a doctor, no joke), and in shape, but now she's also a personal trainer.

I have memories of working out with Katy when we were kids, and seeing these pictures of how beautiful and in shape this chick is makes me realize that all the pies I ate, calories I've consumed, and work outs I've neglected, have not paid off. For her, on the other hand, the healthy food she's eaten, work outs she's gotten up at 5am to do before medical school, jogs she's fit into busy schedules, and junk food she's given up have totally been worth it. Who's happier with their body? I'm pretty sure she is. And here's the thing, she's really worked for it! HARD! I've seen it first hand, and she never, ever, brags about it or makes anyone feel guilty for their bad lifestyles. She just lives right and looks amazing in the process.

Now, look around my blog. I dare you. There's a reason you'll find things like, "Muffins that taste like donuts," "Crispy chicken fingers," and "Fried pies." Yikes. Reality check.

So today, as I was telling myself (yet again) that I will somehow magically lose weight before I"m 30, but that today I will be lax because "I deserve it," I am changing my mind. It's a daily decision I will have to make, but I know it gets easier. And as is the norm with this lady, just seeing Katy motivates me to eat healthier. Not only because she looks great, but because I know we started off at the same place, and now we are in different places. Just seeing how amazing she looks and how much all her hard work has paid off motivates me!!

Now, off to eat a huge bowl of veggies w/ a side of salmon.

Day 5

2011-07-31T17:56:00.001-05:00

On Sundays we usually go to my mother in laws house, where we get spoiled rotten and filled with yummy home cooked food! The only problem with that is portion control. I always love the food, but I don't always know the calories, so it can be difficult to count them on days like today. Regardless, I try to save Sundays as a sort of "free day" where I limit my portion (or not, sometimes) and just keep my calorie count at more of an estimate.

Today though, we had something I will not only be duplicating, but also requesting my mother in law make me for my birthday meal! It was soooo good! She basically duplicated chipotle, but it was somehow way better. Yes you read that correctly, way better!

BREAKFAST @ 9am:
* chocolate oatmeal
* hot tazo passion tea

LUNCH @ 1pm:
* brown rice (with lime juice)
* lettuce
* pinto beans (canned)
* guacamole (avacados, lime juice, sour cream, seasoning salt)
* chicken breasts
* fruit (blueberries, kiwi, nectarines)

YUM. It was freaking amazing, to be blunt.

DINNER @ 7:30pm:
* Double Dave's whole wheat medium veggie pizza (2 slices)

Day 4 (of Losing 30 lbs before I'm 30)

2011-07-30T17:35:00.001-05:00

Sugar is OBVIOUSLY my downfall. I say, "obviously" because it's always my weakness, but it doesn't poke it's ugly head in my business until I'm trying to cut back. By that, I think I just mean that it's not so obvious when I'm not watching what I eat, but it sure is plainly obvious when I am trying to cut back a little. And it sucks. Badly.

By sucks, I mean. SUCKS. Sorry for the all caps, but now you know I mean business! I could just cut all sugar out, but I think I'd go insane. Plus, I'd like to use myself as a living example that you can in fact eat things like sugar,pasta, butter, bread, and olive oil and lose weight. You just have to keep a good balance of fruit and vegetables, or that's my belief anyway.

BREAKFAST @ 11am (Don't hate, it's Saturday!!)
* 1C cocoa organic cereal (think fruit loops, but chocolate.)
* 1/2C 2% milk

SNACK @ 1pm:
* organic ice cream sandwich

LUNCH @ 4:30pm:
* salad (baby sweet leaf lettuce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, and almonds)
* (5) amy's organic pizza bites

DINNER:
* cod (sooked in a skillet with butter, olive oil, salt, thyme, and lemon juice)
* rissoto (w/ butter, olive oil, salt, thyme, and arobolio rice -- not sure if I spelled that correctly.)
* broccoli (roasted w/ walnut oil, thyme. and salt)

SNACKS:
* string cheese (before dinner)
* tapioca pudding (after dinner)

DESSERT:
* homemade raspberry ice cream - (1 glass)

Day 3

2011-07-29T20:32:00.002-05:00

So today I've pretty much stayed hungry, and I'm not sure why. I mean, I did have a good breakfast or an egg, turkey sausage patty, small cup of coffee w/ a little half & half and sugar, and some whole wheat toast with butter. I also downed a big glass of water. We had a job to work this morning, and maybe I just worked some of it off (our job is pretty physically exhausting most of the time.)

I'm too lazy to separate all the food I ate today into categories, so I'll just list everything. Be warned, it was a lot! I'm still not over my calories today, which is convenient because I made Chris some homemade raspberry ice cream (yikessss!)

FOOD:

1 egg
1 turkey sausage patty
1 piece whole wheat bread
salted butter
coffee
half & half
sugar
sandwich (folded over, made w/ 1 piece whole wheat bread, 1 piece deli turkey, i slice cheese, 1 TBS organic mayo)
salad (made with baby sweet leaf lettuce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, and a punch of salt.)
string cheese
organic ice cream sandwich
taco (taco shell, ground turkey, taco seasoning, grated cheese, baby sweet leaf lettuce)
fritos (1.5 servings)
frito bean dip

2 lbs down.

Day 2 (30 x 30 Challenge)

2011-07-28T16:30:00.000-05:00

So things are okay so far. I mean, as in, I could devour an entire cow, 1,200 cookies, 5 gallons of ice cream, and maybe a giant jug of sweet tea. Other than that, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything food related.

Mmmm, ice cream!

And let's face it. When you're trying to do the eat healthier/moderation is key thing again, you can have ice cream, cookies, cow, and even sweet tea, but is it really worth the calories? Heck no! I'll end up starving by 3pm, which let's face it, happens most days anyway.

Eating the right stuff is key. I need to throw in some more nuts, salads (since I looooove a certain kind of dressing I often make, but have been too lazy to mess with), fish, and even chicken. As for now, I'll eat what's in the pantry and fridge. As for now, I'll starve. I'm joking.. I hope!

When trying to eat better (and eat less), I try to stick with the basics. Real food, filling food, and tasty food. In the end, I'm much more satisfied, filled up, and don't crave sugar as often. Sugar... mmmmmmm, sugar!!! Sorry...

BREAKFAST (under 300 cals and very filling!):
* 1 egg w/ salt (70 cals)
* 1 turkey sausage (55 cals)
* 1 piece Nature's Own 100% whole wheat bread (50 cals)
* 1/3 C raspberries (aprox. 50 cals) -- these were smushed on bread instead of jelly or jam.
* Cup of coffee (0 cals) -- with 2 tsp sugar (30 cals) and 1 TBS half & half (aprox. 18 cals)

SNACK (under 25 cals):
* Tazo passion tea w/ 1.5 tsp sugar.. the perfect so called, "snack" to get me through Geology.

LUNCH (240 cals):
* Bumblebee tuna salad w/ 6 crackers (220 cals)
* 1/4 C raspberries (20 cals)

SNACK @ 4:30pm:
* Tapioca pudding cup (140 cals)

Day 1

2011-07-27T15:33:00.001-05:00

The countdown begins. I'll be logging msot of my days of losing 30 pounds before I'm 30, right here on my blog. I'll log everything I eat in that day, and will be updating it during the day. Help me Rhonda!!

BREAKFAST:
* Nada. I'm a huge advocate for eating breakfast, but I woke up late and headed out for an early lunch date with a girlfriend. Breakfast wasn't in the plans this morning.

LUNCH@11pm:
* Cheddar's chicken tortilla soup (bowl)
* Coffee w/ half & half and sugar (5 tsp because I had a cup and a half of coffee)

SNACK @1pm:
* Medium Green Tea from Sonic. Look, I'm very sure it's junky green tea, as in, has all kinds of preservatives. I kind of hate Sonic (yeah, I said it) and there green tea drink sucked, but I needed something to get me through class.

SNACK @ 3pm:
* Tapioca pudding cup. This one was also kind of junkie but I love me some tapioca!!

SNACK @ 5pm (Just cause I had a massive craving for cereal.):
* Cascadian Farms Organic wheat squares (think organic cinnamon toast crunch)
* 1C 2% milk

DINNER @ 6pm:
* 2 Falaffels
* 1/2 whole grain pita bread
* 1 TBS organic ranch dressing

30 Before 30

2011-07-26T19:21:00.000-05:00

Let me just get right to the point - I'll be 30 this year (Novemeber to be exact), and it kind of sucks. I mean sure, I'm a very blessed woman (or "girl", since using woman makes me sound even older)... I'm a very blessed girl. I'm almost 30 and I've been happily married for 5 years, all my loved ones are happy and healthy, I own my own home, both cars are paid off, and WHO FREAKING CARES, BECAUSE I'M ALMOST 30!! In reality, it's kinda scary. It won't be long before I can no longer say that I'm in my 20's.

So as I was driving through town today, I had a revelation: If I wake up the morning of my 30th birthday, and I know that I'm now, "in my 30's," I want to wake up and know that in some way, shape, or form, being 30 has transformed my life in some way.

Of course that's a little dramatic, but I'm determined. So how do I do that? Well, I lose 30 pounds, that's how!! I need to lose weight anyway, and even though i could certainly stand to lose more than 30 lobs, that 30 lbs would make me feel freaking amazing and would be a great step in the right direction! If I know that being 30 motivated me to do that, then I'm much more likely to have a massive smile on my face all day on my next birthday.

HERE'S THE RISK: If I don't lose any or enough weight, how depressing will that be???!! Even more motivation to lose weight.

So then hours after this revelation, I had another. I was sitting in the Chevy dealership, reading a local magazine article about a guy who's heavier than I am, and how much weight he's lost by doing a local boot camp. Ive never done any kind of boot camp, but my endurance sucks, to blunt. But the idea of being at a park at 5:15am and doing boot camp for an hour before my day starts somehow appealed to me. Plus, I know all the hard work would pay off and help me lose much faster. So then I started to tell my husband, who was sitting next to me, reading the lastest ESPN, that I was going to start a 5:15am boot camp.

But then, as I tried to share my new idea with my husband, I realized I couldn't get it out. See, I have this thing where I get these random ideas in my head and run with them. I'm spontaneous like that. In contrast, my husband thinks things through and hates surprises. He also hates getting up early, as do I. I know that he knows about all these crazy ideas I spring on him that never come to pass. The more I tried blurt out my 5am boot camp idea, the more I couldn't get it out. I couldn't really think of a way to be subtle about it..

"So.. I was thinking, 5am boot camp sounds fun!! -- Not subtle enough.

"Hey, look at this article. This guy lost like 40 lbs by going to boot camp at 5am. That sure does sound fun." -- No way would he think that sounded fun.

"Who would be stupid enough to go to boot camp at 5am? Not me, that's who. I mean yeah, I could stand to lose some weight, and yeah I will turn 30 this year, but that's just too drastic. I like my sleep way too much. I mean sure, it would work, but it's not worth it, you know? I mean, unless I took it really seriously, which might then be worth it. I respect the guy for doing it, after all. I mean, I guess it wouldn't be worth a try. Do you think I should try it?" -- That might work, but I'm pretty sure he will think I'm insane.

But then I read the rest of the article, which stated things like, "running up stairs for a full hours,." and, "doing push-ups for 30 minutes straight" and decided I like my beauty rest. I also started cracking up laughing, at which point my husband just smiled and continues reading his mag.

ALL THIS TO SAY -- I will do this 30 before I'm 30 stuff. I may not be in boot camp at 5am, but I will work out more. I'll eat better. I'll eat less. I will lose 30 before I'm 30!! Who's with me?!

Cooking 101

2011-07-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

Cooking is my passion, which is why I surround this entire blog around it. In my sometimes non-existent spare time, I like to make myself useful in the kitchen because it makes me feel . . . well, useful. It's something my husband really appreciates, and it's something that makes me feel good on a daily basis.

Chopping up fresh mushrooms, pulling basil and lemony thyme out of my garden, and making homemade sauces out of basic ingredients somehow makes me feel like I'm doing something right. It also gives me control.

When other things in my life are chaotic, I can come home and enjoy every single dice of every single vegetable. I can toss them around in a skillet, mash some potatoes, and bake all kinds of fish, knowing my husband will smile when I put it on the table.

I don't even like to plan it out. I've tried, but I never stick to the plan if I try to think it through even 2 days in advance. It's that desire in me to be productive in an area I can have absolute control of. In that moment, I can make whatever I want.

So I wonder... why don't people like to cook? Do they think they don't know how? That's not true. No one is born to know how to cook and anyone can follow a recipe. Do they not desire to cook? Cooking is so underrated. Who doesn't feel great about themselves when the pull out a homemade pie, or even casserole, out of the oven? Does their audience not appreciate their homemade meals? We all need to feel our effort was not in vain. Are they too busy? This is the best excuse to knock out. We are all busy; well I mean, most of us anyway. But cooking can be such a wonderful stress relief.

Try it out! Grab a Paula Dean cookbook (some of my favorites are in her books) and try out a few easier recipes. If you're not sure what to cook, just ask yourself what you would order in a restaurant, and look up a recipe for it. Let me know how it turns out! :)

McDonalds Egg McMuffin Breakfast Sandwich

2011-05-05T22:06:00.001-05:00

We're big on breakfast around here, and this is one of my husbands favorites. It's super easy, and includes only common ingredients. It's fool proof!

Of course you can pick your favorite bread, but if you want to go all "McDonalds style," an english muffin is a must! To get the round shape to your eggs, you can use a biscuit cutter or something round that's about the size of the english muffin.

You'll need:
* 1 english muffin
* 1 slice of cheddar cheese (I used Kraft deli cheese slices)
* 1 egg
* dash of salt (totally optional)
* butter (optional)

To make:
Spread butter on each slice of the english muffin and throw in the toaster. Cook 1-2 slices of bacon between 2 paper towels on a plate in the microwave for about 2 minutes (assuming this is turkey bacon, if not, you're on your own with the cooking times.) Meanwhile, add a tiny bit off butter (or non-stick cooking spray) to a skillet over medium heat. If you're using a biscuit cutter to shape the eggs, spray it well or rub butter all over it, and place it in the hot skillet. Lightly beat an egg and pour it into the biscuit cutter. Let it cook a few minutes, or until the bottom of the egg is cooked (you can lift the biscuit cutter up to see the cooked bottom.) Once the bottom looks light brown, run a knife along the inside edges of the biscuit cutter to remove it from the eggs.

Once the biscuit cutter is removed, flip the egg (which should be cooked enough to keep it's shape pretty well.) The other side of the egg should only take a minute or so to cook completely. Grab your toasted english muffin, top it with the egg, 2 slices of cooked bacon, and come cheese. If the cheese doesn't melt right away, you can place the entire sandwich back on the skillet, or just put the whole thing in the microwave for a few seconds.

** Make sure your biscuit cutter is not plastic! No one likes plastic in their eggs -- not even Mickey-D's!

Mother's Day Summer Blueberry Pie

2011-05-03T08:15:00.000-05:00

This is a classic recipe for a Weight Watcher's Key Lime Pie, which I altered to make blueberry. I can tell ya right now, I'll never be sorry!! The key lime pie version is good stuff, but this is really good stuff. The only way I know to describe this, is that it tastes just like a jellybelly jelly bean.

The very cool thing is that you can easily alter this recipe to make it raspberry, cherry, strawberry, or any other flavor jello offers. You can even mix the fruit flavors up and do like a "strawberry banana" or a "cherry cheesecake."

As for me and my household, we will serve the blueberries (and the Lord, of course.)

RECIPE:
(1) graham cracker pie crust (or similar, see below)
(1) 1/16 ounce package berry blue jello
1/4 C boiling water
(1) - 8 ounce containter whipped topping, thawed
(2) 6 ounce contain

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water.
Stir in yogurt with wire whisk.
Fold in whipped topping with wooden spoon.
Spread in crust.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Let me just say that my husband was so in love with this pie, he went straight to zazzle and made a magnet out of it. When he kept going on and on about how good it was, I jokingly said, "Maybe you should make a button out of it." -- JOKING of course. His reply? "Heck yeah, I will!!" But he took it further. A button did not give this pie justice.. we now have a magnet on our fridge!

I'm not big on graham cracker crusts (not big on white flour or that extra ingredients I don't recognize in the ingredients of the pie crust), and Cool Whip is one of those ingredients I avoid like the plague, since they too add a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. Jello is another item I refuse to keep in stock. So this recipe could be titled, "The Anti-Piper Pie" But here's the deal, I had limited time (since I put it off) to put something together for an Easter dessert, and this pie was super easy, so I made adjustments; albeit, not as many as I could have. Here are some ways to make this a tab bit healthier:

Add TruWhip instead of Cool Whip. I like to use fresh whipped cream when I can, but it gets watery too quickly for a pie, so this is the stuff I get on rare occasions when I can find it. It tastes great and has much better ingredients!

Instead of a graham cracker crust, try a granola crust. This brand is delicious, and they even offer a graham cracker crust.

Cleaning Service Waco, Tx

2011-04-25T13:56:00.001-05:00

You know how it is when you have family coming over. If you're anything like me, you feel like your house is always pretty clean, with minor things here and there that could probably be picked up, but for the most part -- it's clean! And then it happens..... You find out family is coming over. Or friends. Or anyone else with blood running through their veins, and you freak. Okay, maybe you don't panic, but I do. I start running around the house like a mad woman, trying to clean every tiny thing in my home I didn't realize I'd neglected. Imagine a chicken, and then imagine cutting it's head off. Imagine said chicken manically running around the house. That's me. Welcome to my home!

For years Christopher and I have secretly dreamed of running some kind of company that would serve the community, but also be good for the environment. More specifically, we wanted to do something we felt served God, which is where Green Cleaning came from. So what does a residential and commercial cleaning business have to do with God? Well, you must first understand a little about our history.

First of all, when we worked for Christian radio, we felt we had the best jobs in the world. We worked together, got to pray for and with people, and be on the air together. We also had the best boss in the world. We were all a great team, and enjoyed being used by God daily. But when the radio station switched gears and the local office moved, we had to pick a new direction. After months or prayer, Christopher and I knew this was our opportunity to do what we always dreamed of; to start something of our own. But how could we continue to serve God while running our own business in Waco? It wasn't long before we realized we could do what we had talked about years prior - we could start our own cleaning business.

Here's what we knew - we knew we worked great together, had the money to invest, and knew plenty of people that could walk us through the steps to functioning a proper business. We also knew our business could really make a difference in the lives of people. Most importantly, we knew our mission was to serve people by cleaning their homes in a thorough manner that would use products that are safe (lacking the dangerous chemicals), and are good for the environment God gave us. We've been excited ever since!

One of the coolest things about running Green Cleaning, is that everything has really fallen into place. Setting up the business was easy, as was finding the right employees, advertisement opportunities, and products. So far, everything has really fallen perfectly into place, which makes us feel we are doing something right!

Speaking of easy, the process of hiring employees has been one of the best experiences so far. We have extremely high expectations on who we want to hire. Growing up, I saw my parents go through all kinds of employees, as I saw how wonderfully they treated them, as did my husband with his parents business, so we like doing the same for our employees. I think we were more nervous about the employees than almost anything else. When they walk into someones home, they represent us. We knew we wanted someone we would trust alone in our own home, and someone who had experience and was a hard worker. We figured we would have to go through a process that could take months, but we were so wrong. After about 20 interviews in a day and a half, we found more valuable employees than we could hire. We were amazed and completely blessed with the quality of people brought before us. Now, we are working on expanding our business even further so that we can hire these people!

Christopher and I are really enjoying this business venture. So far, we've been blessed with opportunities left and right, and we prayerfully look forward to seeing how much more we can help in the community. We've partnered with Mix 92.9fm in their Mother's Day Challenge, and are giving away a free home or office cleaning. We know the impact our mother's have made in our lives, and we look forward to cleaning a mom's home as a big "thank you" for all her hard work!

www.greencleaningwaco.com

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

2011-03-17T08:07:00.000-05:00

These things were surprisingly delicious!! In fact, this will be the basis for all my future muffin recipes. It's incredibly light and fluffy, but also cakey enough to be a hearty muffin. Transform this into any other kind of muffin by omitting the caraway seeds and raisins, for a very easy and absurdly yummy breakfast!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 C sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and caraway seeds. If you have a sifter, this is the time to use it. In another bowl, beat the egg, buttermilk, butter, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in your raisins or currants.

Either grease muffin tins or fill them with cupcake liners (I opted for the cupcake liners since I'm lazy). Fill about 3/4 full (an ice cream scooper makes this job super easy!) Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until the top is a very light golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin (unless you use cupcake liners, then devour them immediately).

**NOTE: I didn't have caraway seeds, so I skipped over them. The Irish still know their stuff because these things came out perfectly!

Enjoy!

Swedish Pancakes (IHOP Copycat Recipe)

2011-03-16T22:18:00.002-05:00

IHOP Swedish Pancakes (aka: Crepes) - Copycat Recipe

So, have you ever had IHOP's Swedish pancakes? If not, then please leave my blog and never talk to me again. *Wait* Come back! I didn't mean it; really I didn't! But for those of you who have had Swedish pancakes at IHOP, you know where I'm coming from.

WARNING:: These aren't like typical copycat recipes that only slightly look or taste like the original, these truly taste exactly like IHOP's Swedish pancakes!

And they are super easy, too!

To start, pour everything except butter and flour together in a mixing bowl and whisk with a wire whisk. It works best if your eggs are room temp (let them sit out for a few hours, or place them in warm water for about 5 minutes).

In a cup or small bowl, mix melted butter with flour. This will help prevent lumps in your batter. Now, pour the flour/butter mixture into your egg mixture, and whisk until combined. Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium. You'll know it's hot enough when you drop a few drops of water and they sort of dance around the skillet.

Pour in just enough batter to cover the bottom (rotate it around to cover the bottom of the skillet if you need to). Let it sit still and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until it's no longer shiny.

Above: Here's the batter shiny (uncooked)

Below: The batter is no longer shiny and flips pretty easily.

Try not to use a metal spatula to flip them, since it might break your crepes.

And don't cry over a few messed up crepes! They taste just as good, and just learn from them! If your crepes break apart, just make the next crepe a little thicker (add a tiny bit more batter).

Let the other side cook for about 30 seconds, if that. It tends to cook faster. Here's what it looks like when it's done.

Now, just roll it up and top with the sweet sauce!

For the (amazing) sauce, you'll need linginberries (found at H-E-B in a jar already mixed with sugar). Mix 3 TBS of the berries with 1 pat of butter in a microwave safe bowl. Mix together and pour on your crepes. You can also just throw some warm lingonberries on your crepes for more of a tart kick.

Enjoy!

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs with a wire whisk. Mix in milk, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and melted butter.

2. Preheat a small skillet to medium heat. Pour a thin layer of batter, about 2-3 tablespoonfuls, on the center of the pan. Quickly pick up the pan and tilt it as needed so that the batter forms a thin circle.

3. Cook until batter turns opaque and the shininess of the wet batter disappears. Flip and cook the other side until it is lightly browned.

Lingonberry sauce:

1. Place about 2-3 TBS lingonberries in a microwave safe dish. Add a pat of butter and heat until melted (about 20 seconds). Stir and pour over warm Swedish pancakes.

Southern Cornbread

2011-02-21T13:45:00.001-06:00

Cornbread is one of those things that is a must when you're making chili... at least in our household, anyway! Cornbread is simple to make and typically a guaranteed crowd pleaser for the young and old. It can even be relatively healthy!

If I'm going to allot calories on cornbread, I want it to fit into one of 2 categories:

A. It needs to be super fluffy, and preferably white-ish.

Or..

B. I want it very yellow, mealy, and not sweet at all.

There's no in between because cornbread is very serious business!! But really, my momma makes the best cornbread I've ever had, but I can't seem to make it like her. She also makes the best spaghetti I've ever had, and my husband says the same thing. Oh, and add chili to that list, too. She makes the best chili I've ever had, although my husband's is a very close second.

*Ahem**

Anyway, here's the "B" version of the best cornbread I know how to make, and by far one of my top 2 favorites I've ever had. Try it, there will be no regrets!!

Here's what you'll need:

Cornmeal, baking powder, flour, a tiny bit of sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and oil (or melted butter).

Now just dump it all together. Yes, you read that right. Throw everything into the bowl at once. You don't need to mix the dry ingredients first, make a well and pour in the wet. There's no need to even scramble the eggs first. Just truly throw it all into a bowl in whatever order, and stir!

See, all mixed up! Now it's time to get your hot skillet ready. If you happen to have an iron skillet, you are in luck because it will kick this recipe up several notches! If not, don't fret, this will still taste wonderful and you'll still cry happy tears!

But, if you do have an iron skillet, throw it on medium heat and melt about 1 TBS of butter (or enough to cover the bottom) and rub up the sides a little. Once the butter is melted, pour the batter into the skillet and keep the temp on medium. Let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, and then put the batter filled pan into the oven. The whole purpose of this is to give the cornbread a nice crust, and continuing to cook it int he same skillet in the oven will only helps things along!

If you don't have an iron skillet, just butter an oven safe dish and pour your batter in and place it directly in the oven. You may not get that crispy crust, but you'll still get delicious cornbread!

And this is what it looks like coming out of the oven!

Serve it up as a nice snack or along side some husband or momma chili!

RECIPE:

1 C Cornmeal

1 C Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1/2 C Oil (Canola, Vegetable, or melted Butter)

2 tsp Baking powder

2 TBS sugar

1 C Milk

** (1-2 TBS butter for skillet)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400. Heat an iron skillet (or oven proof skillet) over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add about 1 TBS butter (or enough to cover bottom of skillet). Meanwhile, mix all ingredients together (stir about 50 times, or until well incorporated). Once the butter is melted in the skillet, pour in the batter. If you don't have an iron skillet, just butter a baking dish (like an 8x8 glass dish) and pour your batter directly in. Place in oven for 30-35 minutes. The top will be slightly brown. Butter and serve warm!!

Tips:

*Instead of sugar, you can sub in honey or agave nectar, or other sweeteners. You can also leave the sweetener out, although I highly suggest adding a tiny bit.

* Use stone ground cornmeal if you can find it. The mealy/grainy texture is exactly what makes this cornbread so delicious. It gives it texture and makes it less cake-like. It also tastes a lot better and is much healthier!

* Leave your eggs out for a little bit to help the batter mix up better. I often forget and it won't make a difference in the results, but it will mean you have to stir less.

Enjoy!!

BOO!

2010-10-31T10:47:00.003-05:00

Did I scare you?

Happy Halloween!

You know what's missing from this picture? My husband. I mean Linus. I mean my husband. Let me explain: my husband is going to be Linus for Halloween tonight, and I have been busy making his shirt. Last night we painted a red shirt with black paint, and today we'll be finishing up the back. I still can't decide what to be. I wanted to be Lucy, but my hair is too long and doesn't flip out like hers (at least not that I'm willing to admit, that is). Plus, I don't have a dress like she does. So maybe I'll be a 50's chick. Or an 80's chick. Or a nerd. Or ...or...or, Lucy. 

I HAVE NO IDEA! Suggestions welcome!

Anyway, here are some of the things we've been cooking up in our household lately. I left my camera cord at home, and since I'm not currently at home, these are just a select few ideas you can make today. I'll be posting more throughout the day, so check back!! The next set will be at lunch time today!

(Click on each title to take you to the step by step directions)

Caramel Apple Spider Cider

Think apple juice, ice cream, apple pie spices, and YUM. Plus, it looks cool!

"Ghostly" Hot chocolate

Think dark chocolate, white chocolate, and even some kind of creative mix. Add your favcorite chocolate for a super easy, super fast, and super delicious drink! Decorate some marshmallows with some edible markers (by Wilton or any other brand, found at Michael's and maybe Hobby Lobby), and let them float on top, or put them on a craft stick for easier dunking.

Vampire's Blood
Look, I'm really not into all the "gory" aspects of Halloween, but this is super easy and not all that gory. Other than the fact that it is, in fact, vampire's blood. Yeah, other than that.

And later....I'll be sharing ...

Halloween Chili
Spider Dip
Caramel Apple Dip
Halloween Cake Balls 

Ghostly Strawberries 
and more that I can't remember right now.

Stay Tuned!!

Caramel Apple Cider Spider Stew

2010-10-19T10:51:00.001-05:00

Caramel Apple Cider Spider Stew 

Guess what. This is not what you expected with a title involving "Stew," am I right? Good! 

But let me tell you.. this stuff is so good and so addicting! The addicting factor is triggered by the ease of this recipe. It's embarrassing to even call it a recipe, since it involves so few steps, but I'm all about ease. I'm also all about ice cream, which is just another reason I love this recipe!

Ice cream. Apple juice. Apple pie spice. Perfection.

Told ya.

Good luck having just one. Good luck having just 2.

You'll think to yourself, "Why didn't I think of this?"

 Here's how to make it:

Ingredients: 

Apple Juice

Caramel (or vanilla) Ice Cream

Apple Pie Spice (found at my local walmart)

Directions:

Place one scoop of ice cream in a clear dish or glass. Sprinkle on a generous sprinkling of apple pie spice, and pour in enough apple juice to barely cover the ice cream. Eat with a spoon and enjoy this creepy looking concoction! 

The very cool thing about this recipe is that you can get creative with it! 

"Ghostly" Hot Chocolate (Uh-Mazing!)

2010-10-15T17:02:00.002-05:00

Or dark. Or caramel. You can really be creative with this recipe! Just grab your favorite type of chocolate..be it baker's or chocolate chips, and get ready to make some YUM. And make it tonight. TONIGHT.

It's Friday night and we're headed off to a high school football game. It's tradition for my husband to have hot chocolate after watching a high school football game, and since I'm all about tradition (and uh, chocolate), we'll be having this tonight! Besides, my husband says this is the best hot chocolate he's ever had.

MAKE. IT. TONIGHT. Trust me on this.

You'll need milk, chocolate and cinnamon (which I forgot to picture). Yeah, that's really all you need. Now, you can spruce this up by adding a splash of heavy cream near the end. Or even vanilla, or another type of flavored extract. This is so universal, get creative with it!

Plop the chocolate and cinnamon into a saucepan over medium low and get ready to stir. If it's not melting fast enough, you can turn it up to medium, just watch it closely. You don't want it to boil.

Okay, so I didn't use white chocolate when I took these pictures. I was trying something different. While I love the semi-sweet bakers chocolate in my hot chocolate, my husband swears by white hot chocolate. Use what you and your peeps love!

Melted! Now you're ready to get your marshmallow on!

Like my picture says, if you'd like to add some spook to your heavenly, or um ghostly, hot chocolate just add some melted chocolate into a bag and pipe on some eyes.


Like zis! Here's the recipe... Ingredients: * 4 squares of Bakers chocolate (or about 1/4C chocolate chips, more/less to taste) * 2C Milk * 1 TBS cinnamon Add to a saucepan over medium heat until chocolate is melted. Poor in your favorite mug and top with a marshmallow. My husband loves for me to put the marshmallow on a stick (like a lollipop stick) so that he can dip it in his hot chocolate. Optional Additions for Added Yum: * Vanilla (or other flavor) extract * Different flavored chips (caramel, etc) * Peppermint stick to serve in mug * Cinnamon stick to serve in mug * A splash of heavy cream or half and half, added near the end for added creaminess.

Spider Pumpkin Craft

2010-10-13T14:46:00.002-05:00

This is the little guy my poor husband woke up to, a week ago Saturday.

Poor husband!! Here's how to make it!

Step 1: Paint a small pumpkin black. Acrylic paint works great. I used black nail polish since that's what I had and it was spur of the moment.

Give it a second coat if it needs it. Mine did.

Step 2: Grab something red and glue it on for eyes. I used a red pipe cleaner, since that's all I had, but if you have dots of some kind that would be ideal. You could even cut red (or white) dots out of paper. If you use a pipe cleaner like I did, cut off an end and glue it on as eyes.

Step 3: Go outside while wearing orange halloween boxer shorts with owls on them, a pink valentines day t-shirt, and overs sized pink slippers, along with a crooked ponytail from the night before, and snap off at least 8 twigs that are about the same size. Wave to the neighbors as you go back inside, and remind yourself that they've seen you in worse conditions. Shiver at that thought, and pretend it never happened. Now, if the twigs aren't the same size, that's ok. Either cut them down to just about the same, or be crafty and leave them be! Now you can just break them in half, or about 1/3 of the way down.


When I say "break" the legs, I just mean to break them enough where they don't snap in half. (and if they do, because one of mine did, you can be lazy and tape them back together...like the poor little leg in the back right). Now just tape them onto the spider pumpkin guy, and that's it! You're done! You may pass out from the paint fumes, but at least you'll have made a cute little spider pumpkin!

Lots of fun to make! Let me know if you have questions.

.. 

Questions like, "Who in their right mind would want to get up early on a Saturday morning to make a spider pumpkin with stick legs?" To which I would answer, "I never claimed to be in my right mind."