Becca's Backyard

Recipe: Apple Sour Cream Pie

2012-11-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

As I said a few weeks ago for Aloha Friday, it was my job to provide desserts for Thanksgiving dinner. Someone suggested apple sour cream pie. I don't like sour cream but I decided to try it because I wanted something new. I was not disappointed! I took the recipe from about.com.

Main Ingredients:
2 cups finely chopped tart apples (We used 2 Granny Smith apples)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 pie shell unbaked (We used a Pillsbury premade crust)

Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. Mix 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp flour together.
2. Add in sour cream, vanilla, egg and salt.
3. Add in chopped apples.
4. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie crust.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.

6. Change oven temp to 325 degrees.
7. Combine 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup flour.
8. Cut in butter.

9. Sprinkle topping over pie and return to the oven for another 20 minutes.

10. Eat up!

Menu Plan Monday #11

2012-11-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

Laura at Org Junkie runs Menu Plan Monday each week. 6 weeks in a row!

Monday - Spaghetti
Tuesday - Breakfast for Dinner
Wednesday - Dinner out to use Axxess Card
Thursday - Meatball Sandwiches or Meatballs over rice/pasta (using previously frozen meatballs from a few weeks ago)
Friday - Breaded Turkey Cutlets
Saturday - Make Your Own Pizza
Sunday - Fish Sandwiches or Almond Fish

I still want to make twice baked potatoes for a side dish :)

I will report back next Monday on if I stuck to my plan or not

Below is last week's report

Monday - Quesadillas with pesto and chicken - I made quesadillas with cheese and shredded chicken, and dipped the whole thing in dairy-free Uncle Dan's dip.
Tuesday - Stir Fry - I ended up going to yoga during dinner time so I had fried rice with the leftover shredded chicken added in.
Wednesday - Fish Sandwiches - We were really busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and ended up getting McDonalds/Taco Bell. :/
Thursday - Thanksgiving!!!
Friday - Gonna try to talk my family into Chinese food :) - We ended up at Islands. I got a turkey club wrap. It was pretty good.
Saturday - Maybe Italian food? - We ended up at IHOP because my mom really wanted breakfast. I ordered a turkey club LOL
Sunday - Paninis - We just had regular deli meat sandwiches. I added some pesto to mine :)

Madam Lu Chinese Restaurant - SB Axxess Blogging Year 4 #2

2012-11-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

I just got around to using my Axxess card for the second time...oops! We decided to try Madam Lu Chinese Restaurant, which I had only tried once before.

Crab and corn soup

Cashew chicken

Chicken egg foo young

My "bento" plate of food :)

The Axxess deal is buy 1 entree, get 1 entree free so we saved $11.95. Our total was only about $24 for the two entrees and a large soup!

The food was okay. The portion sizes were very generous. I will probably go there again if they are in the Axxess book next year, but I will keep going to my other favorites in the meantime.

Chip and Dale - My Leopard Geckos

2012-11-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

I love my little pets. Below are some pictures of Chip and Dale, who I rescued from an uninformed owner about 2.5 years ago now :)

Chip hanging out on my bed. Whoever says leopard geckos are lazy and uncurious is crazy!

Dale in my hand...browsing the internet LOL

Dale trying to run away from the laptop!

Chip in his little log. He loves to poke out his head or tail.

Do you have a pet that is on the "rarer" side?

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2012-11-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

My grandparents asked for chocolate chip cookies but that gets boring so I made bars instead.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
11.5 oz milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
2. Combine baking soda, flour, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat butter, both sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Add eggs in one at a time.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Spread into pan. This is hard...the batter is thick!
7. Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool in pan on wire rack.
9. Try not to eat them all!

I adapted the recipe a little from Very Best Baking.

Menu Plan Monday #10

2012-11-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Laura at Org Junkie runs Menu Plan Monday each week. 4 weeks in a row!

Monday - Quesadillas with pesto and chicken
Tuesday - Stir Fry
Wednesday - Fish Sandwiches
Thursday - Thanksgiving!!!
Friday - Gonna try to talk my family into Chinese food :)
Saturday - Maybe Italian food?
Sunday - Paninis

I want to make twice baked potatoes for a side dish still :)

I will report back next Monday on if I stuck to my plan or not

Below is last week's report

Monday - Taco Salad - My family got mad at me for mis-naming this. It is really salad with prepared beef in gravy in it...no taco seasoning. But it was really yummy!

Tuesday - Grilled cheese with avocado and bacon - Successful minus burning it!

Tried cooking a sandwich like I saw them do at the hospital...

Tried my new avocado slicer (I made mush out of it LOL)

Burnt the turkey bacon in the microwave

And burnt the bread LOL But it tasted really good!

Wednesday - Baked potato bar :) - Success!

My potato with bacon bits, fake cheese, Uncle Dan's dip and corn

My dad's potato with sour cream, Uncle Dan's dip, corn, and pulled chicken from Trader Joe's

Thursday - BBQ hot dogs
Friday - Gina Chicken - We brought in Chinese food using my Axxess card. More on that in a later post ;)
Saturday - Parmesan tilapia - We had tilapia but we each used sauce instead of parmesan cheese.

Mom's fish.

My fish with bone sucking sauce, parmesan broccoli, potatoes :)

Sunday - Quesadillas with pesto and chicken - I babysat last minute and had the lasagna the mom made for her kids. It was really good!

Aloha Friday #48 - Dog Sitting

2012-11-15T22:58:00.003-08:00

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog . Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

What do you think is a fair rate to charge for dog (or pet) sitting?

I am actually dog sitting for two different families this weekend. One family wants their two dogs fed and walked for 20 minutes twice a day. I am staying overnight at the other family's house and doing 2 feedings for their 2 dogs, no walks. They are paying me different amounts so I just wanted everyone else's opinion on what I should be making.

PS If you live in the Santa Barbara area I would love to petsit for you :)

Hunter - My Cocker Spaniel

2012-11-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have posted pics of Hunter so I decided to put some up ;)

Hunter staring out the front door :)

Hunter wondering why I am bothering him

Hunter hanging out in my suitcase (yes, my dog is weird)

Belly rubs please!

Post surgery nap in his HUGE cone (he could reach his stiches with the small cone)

A tongue shot in the cone

Is anyone else like me? Do you take way too many pictures of your pet?

Recipe: Crockpot Turkey Meatballs

2012-11-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have never been a meatball lover but I need to eat some new foods so I decided to have meatball sandwiches for dinner one night last week. Below is the recipe:

Meatballs:
2 pounds ground turkey meat
1 small onion, chopped in a chopper
1 cup of crushed wheat crackers (about 3/4 sleeve)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)
1 egg

Sauce:
1 jar of grape jelly
1 bottle of bbq sauce
I also filled each container with water to make the sauce more liquidy

1. Mix meatball ingredients together. Make sure the mixture is firm enough for the meatballs to form.

2. Form your meatballs and put them in the crockpot in 2 layers.

3. Pour the jelly, bbq sauce, and water on top of the meatballs.

4. Cook on high for 4 hours and on low for 2 hours.

5. Eat up!

Just pretend this is a white roll instead of a hot dog bun LOL

Menu Plan Monday #9

2012-11-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

Laura at Org Junkie runs Menu Plan Monday each week. 3 weeks in a row!

Monday - Taco Salad
Tuesday - Grilled cheese with avocado and bacon
Wednesday - Baked potato bar :)
Thursday - BBQ hot dogs
Friday - Gina Chicken
Saturday - Parmesan tilapia
Sunday - Quesadillas with pesto and chicken

I want to make twice baked potatoes for a side dish one night :)

I will report back next Monday on if I stuck to my plan or not

Below is last week's report

Monday - Lemon roasted chicken - I actually made this! It came out a bit dry so I froze the leftovers to shred and put in salad, quesadillas, or something at a later time. The flavor was good tho! :)
Tuesday - Creamy avocado pasta - I made this one also! The avocado sauce looked like guacamole and mostly just tasted lemony. I wouldnt make this again. :(
Wednesday - Meatball Subs - I stressed over making meatballs from scratch and figuring out a sauce for them. I ended up using my mom's turkey meatball recipe and just made the sauce from bbq sauce and grape jelly, cooked in the crockpot. So delicious!
Thursday - Pizza night, hopefully we can make it at home using a free pizza crust coupon I won! - We ended up going to visit my grandpa a day early so I just had a turkey burger in the hospital cafeteria.
Friday - At the hopsital visiting grandpa - Hot dog for dinner.
Saturday - At the hospital visiting grandpa - Another turkey burger.
Sunday - Taco Salad - We were still in LA so we went out to dinner at a deli. I had a club sandwich and fries :)

Aloha Friday #47 - Thanksgiving Desserts

2012-11-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite dessert for Thanksgiving dinner?

Pumpkin pie is my all-time favorite but I am in charge of dessert this year and want to make something in addition to pumpkin pie :)

Recipe: Noodle Kugel

2012-11-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

I make noodle kugel all the time but I have never put it on my blog, so I am finally doing that. This is so good that everyone should have the recipe!

Kugel:
1 pound wide egg noodles
16 ounces sour cream
16 ounces cottage cheese
1 cup milk
1/4 pound butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Topping:
1 cup corn flake crumbs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Boil noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain noodles and pour into a bowl.

2. Melt the butter in the casserole dish, then pour the butter into the bowl.

3. Add in the cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and salt.

4. Stir everything until well mixed and pour into the casserole dish.

5. Mix the topping in a small bowl.

I crush the cornflakes in a baggie.

6. Sprinkle on top of the kugel.

7. Bake at 350 for one hour.

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday #8

2012-11-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

Laura at Org Junkie runs Menu Plan Monday each week. 2 weeks in a row!

Monday - Lemon roasted chicken
Tuesday - Creamy avocado pasta
Wednesday - Meatball Subs
Thursday - Pizza night, hopefully we can make it at home using a free pizza crust coupon I won!
Friday - At the hopsital visiting grandpa
Saturday - At the hospital visiting grandpa
Sunday - Taco Salad

I want to make twice baked potatoes for a side dish one night :)

I will report back next Monday on if I stuck to my plan or not

Below is last week's report

Monday - Fish with Bone Suckin' Sauce - skipped this because I wasn't home. I had a club supreme sandwich from Jersey Mike's instead.

Tuesday - Breakfast for Dinner - we made pancakes which were delicious. There were a lot so I froze a few!

Wednesday - Bringing something in for my mom's birthday...maybe chili dogs or Mexican. :) - We ended up bringing in Chinese food. We ordered chicken fried rice, sweet & sour fish, and chicken egg foo young. Because I used to work in the same shopping center as Mandarin Palace (the best place in SB), the owner threw in free wonton soup! Yay!

Thursday - Hamburger on a sandwich thin - I ended up at the hospital visiting my grandpa for 2 days. I had a delicious pesto turkey panini in the hospital cafeteria though LOL

Friday - Lemon Roasted Chicken (trying a recipe from Budget Savvy Diva) - I just had a light dinner of leftover Chinese food from Wednesday. I was exhausted after a 3 hour drive home.

Saturday - Creamy Avocado Pasta (trying a recipe from Simply Being Mommy) - I ended up dogsitting and having a TV dinner. I will move yesterday and today's foods to the future!

Sunday - Bringing in Chinese to use my Axxess card - We ended up getting McDonalds because I wanted a free glass LOL

Six Word Saturday - #29

2012-11-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Show my Face blog hosts Six Word Saturday each week. I love this meme, because it is so simple yet can tell so much. 2 weeks in a row, yay!

Here's what you do: Describe your life (or something) in just six words.

Taking the day off, long week.

My grandpa went into the hospital Tuesday night and we were there Thursday and Friday. I just want to relax now that we are home and he is on the mend (but still in the hospital)

That's my grandpa on the right :/

Aloha Friday #46 - Games

2012-11-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Do you like playing games of any kind? If so, what is your favorite game?

I love Mario Party on Wii, I love all card games, and I like most board games (where I dont have to draw).

Italia Pizza & Pasta - SB Axxess Blogging Year 4 #1

2012-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Yay for a new year of Santa Barbara Axxess with new restaurants! We started off with Italia Pizza & Pasta in Goleta. They just opened within the last few months and we hadn't tried them out yet. Wow, they are delicious!

I ordered the Mama Celeste special which was just penne pasta in a pesto cream sauce with chicken and a side of garlic bread. So tasty and such a big portion!

My dad ordered chicken piccata...and this is the lunch size! He said it was really lemony and yummy.

We both had enough food to take home which was awesome. My dad's meal was free on the buy 1 get 1 free deal, so we saved $8.95. They also offer 10% off on all future visits...yay! I definitely plan on returning here and would highly recommend it!!!

Do you like going out for Italian? If so, what do you order?

Menu Plan Monday #7

2012-10-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

Laura at Org Junkie runs Menu Plan Monday each week. I have taken almost 18 months off from doing this and I really want to start again!

Monday - Fish with Bone Suckin' Sauce
Tuesday - Breakfast for Dinner
Wednesday - Bringing something in for my mom's birthday...maybe chili dogs or Mexican. :)
Thursday - Hamburger on a sandwich thin
Friday - Lemon Roasted Chicken (trying a recipe from Budget Savvy Diva)
Saturday - Creamy Avocado Pasta (trying a recipe from Simply Being Mommy)
Sunday - Bringing in Chinese to use my Axxess card

I will report back next Monday on if I stuck to my plan or not

Long Overdue Winners

2012-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of winners to announce! :)

Congratulations to the winners of Chicken Soup for the Soul - The Magic of Mothers & Daughters:

Alison - alison.fees@xxx.com
Andrea - andrea2russia@xxx.com
Na - simplyreading@xxx.com

Congratulations to the winners of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Stay at Home Moms:

Valerie - vmkids3@xxx.com
Na - cambonified@xxx.com
Amanda - rayptc@xxx.com

Winners have been emailed and have 72 hours to get back to me confirming their email addresses.

Congratulations to the winners of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Say Goodbye to Stress:

Andalene - abrennan09@xxx.com
Fiery Na - cambonified@xxx.com
Erika - msanderson79@xxx.com

Winners have been emailed and have 72 hours to get back to me confirming their email addresses.

Congratulations to the winners of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Here Comes the Bride:

Melissa - mthayer85@xxx.com
Marianne - mitzi_wanham@xxx.com
Joann - joanndownie@xxx.com

Winners have been emailed and have 72 hours to get back to me confirming their email addresses.

Six Word Saturday - #28

2012-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Show my Face blog hosts Six Word Saturday each week. I love this meme, because it is so simple yet can tell so much. I hope to start participating every week again!

Here's what you do: Describe your life (or something) in just six words.

Hoe down time - my job rocks!

I work for a woman who organizes programming for kids with special needs. She does dances, sports, and more! This weekend is our annual hoedown with over 200 attendees. It is so much fun!!!

Aloha Friday #45 - Blogs

2012-10-25T22:00:00.004-07:00

What is your favorite thing to read on other people's blogs?

I love giveaways, recipes, and pictures :)

I want to start blogging again and want to make sure everyone is interested in what I am posting!!

Test

2012-10-24T11:15:00.001-07:00

I want to start blogging again but I need to know if my email subscription is still working.

Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

2012-08-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yay, another giveaway hop! :)

This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Buried in Books. There are currently over 200 blogs participating!!! The giveaway hop goes through September 7th so you have almost a week to enter.

I am giving away a $10 Amazon GC. After you enter my giveaway, be sure to check out the linky below and enter all of the other giveaways!

Please please please only enter using Rafflecopter. While appreciated, blog comments will not count.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am sponsoring my own prize.

Aloha Friday #44 - Favorite Beverage

2012-08-30T21:06:00.001-07:00

What is your favorite beverage? It can be alcoholic or not...

Ignoring calories, it would definitely be chocolate milk! I could drink that forever...especially the refrigerated Nesquik kind!

Chicken Soup for the Soul - Here Comes the Bride Giveaway

2012-08-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

The wedding day, and each day leading up to it, is a special and exciting time. In this collection of 101 heartwarming and hilarious stories, brides and grooms, families and friends share their memories of the big day. With stories about everything from the proposal, to the planning, to actual wedding day events, the honeymoon, and all the joys and frustrations in between, this book will delight and encourage any bride or newlywed. A great gift for bridal showers, engagements, and weddings!

The book is divided into 10 sections, including The Ring, Meet the Parents, The Honeymoon, and more. Up In Flames is a sweet story about many people working together to give a bride her perfect dress. You're Getting Married Where? is a great story about a couple that gets married in a cemetery chapel! A Month to Change Your Mind caught my eye because I figured it would be about a proposal....and I was right!

I am pleased to offer a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Here Comes the Bride - 101 Stories of Love, Laughter, and Family to 3 winners.

To enter Rafflecopter giveaways, read the directions for each task, do each task and click "I did this" after completing each one.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was sent a copy of the book to review and the company is sending out the books to the winners. All opinions are honest and my own.

Aloha Friday #43 - Volunteering

2012-08-02T21:52:00.002-07:00

Do you volunteer?

I work for a woman who organizes programs for kids/adults with special needs of any kind. She does dances, baseball, bike camp, and more. While I work for her, I also volunteer for her sometimes. It is so rewarding to help these people achieve awesome things :)