Five on Monday

I didn't get a chance to link up with Five on Friday, so I'm doing Five on… Monday? Let's all say it together… better late than never!

1. Pixie Pants
Right now I'm in that really awkward stage of post-pregnancy where nothing fits quite right. Shirts, pants, you name it-- it doesn't fit well. I headed to Old Navy last week to check out their new pixie pants because I thought they might be a good transition pant for these last weeks of winter and spring, and I was right! I was able to go up one size and feel very comfortable. They're a good streamlined pant and I'm able to pair them with lots of different types of tops. They're also a great price point! I'm glad to be wearing pants that aren't of the yoga variety, but let's be honest, I'm still wearing a lot of those too.

2. Sandwiches

This is a weird one, but I thought I'd add it anyway. Before I was pregnant with Annabeth, I can probably count on one hand the number of deli meat sandwiches I'd ever made for myself. They just didn't really appeal to me much. Then when I was pregnant with AB, I craved them hardcore. I would make myself subs and bake them in the oven to make them "pregnancy approved". Now that she's here, I literally have a ham and salami sandwich with colby jack cheese, light mayo, dijon mustard, and Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle every. single. day. I look forward to lunch so that I can have my sandwich. It's the strangest thing, but it sure is a delicious and easy lunch! Griffin usually joins me and has a "ham ham sandwich", as he calls it. It makes me laugh every time he says it! Also, this Sandwich Sprinkle is one of my favorite things; if you have a local Penzey's Spices, go grab some. It's delicious!

3. Mrs. Meyers Honeysuckle Hand Soap

I have to be honest… I'm not a huge fan of Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products. Eek! I know that's not a popular opinion, but I much prefer the candles and the hand soap. I honestly don't love a lot of their scents. Iowa Pine is a favorite around Christmas time and I love the Bluebell scent, but it can be hard to find. I recently grabbed a bottle of the Honeysuckle hand soap and I am obsessed. I have it in my kitchen and it is the perfect spring scent. Now, if only spring would show up and stick around. 

4. Pens

I'm sure I've written about my love of office supplies here before, but I'm about to wax poetic again. I love, love, love them. Highlighters, notebooks, Sharpies, spiral notecards, etc. Staples is my happy place! About a year ago, I fell in love with a new set of pens. I'd been faithful to Sharpie pens for a long time (and still love their pastel colored pack), but I grabbed a new brand on a whim during a trip to Target. The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens have made me a changed woman. They come in this handy little case that becomes a stand and it's so easy to throw them in your purse (or diaper bag) along with your planner. Most importantly, they write well! I love the super fine tip. I've used these to color code my planner and our family calendar that hangs on the fridge. If you're an office supply freak like me, get you some. 

5. St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Paddy's Day! We have corned beef every year, but we always have it in the form of reubens with lots of sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. I cook mine in the crockpot using this recipe (no coleslaw for us). It's easy and always yields a really delicious corned beef! The smell has been taunting me all day long. I'm eager for 5:30 to get here! Annabeth O'Haney says, "Happy St. Patrick's Day and have a great week!" 

Five on Friday!

I think my theme lately (and maybe throughout the next year or so) is better late than never! I haven't linked up for Five on Friday in a sweet forever, and I just made it today by the skin of my teeth, so I thought I might take a quick go at it while my kids are napping. Eek, I'm still not used to saying that I have more than one kid!

1. Siblings

I had to start with this… can you blame me? Annabeth is quickly approaching her one month "birthday", which I can't even talk about because how has it already been a month!? One of the sweetest things about bringing her home has been watching Griffin with her. Sure, we've had some challenges, but he is nothing but sweet and loving to his baby sister. It brings my heart the deepest joy to watch him be a big brother to her. He would kiss her and hold her all day long if we'd let him. There's something about watching answered prayer that makes me feel deeply grateful and a little weepy. I plan to share more of these pictures from our newborn shoot soon (it's on a long list of blog posts I hope to start chipping away at!), but can you even handle how sweet my babies are? 

Thanks to the fantastic Abby Veldman for these beautiful shots of our family! 

2. Nursing 

My nursing experience with AB has been a complete 180 from my nursing experience with Griffin. As a result, I truly need the right nursing gear, if you will, this time. Last time, I don't believe that my milk ever fully came in. This time is much different, so I'm in desperate need of some nursing tanks and bras.  Here's my question… as someone who is nursing exclusively for the first time, where should I go to purchase a good nursing bra and tanks? Should I go now at about a month postpartum or wait another few weeks until things "regulate"? Also, where do I go? I have to tell you, when I'm not pregnant or nursing, I'm rather… sizable… on the top, so right now things are a little bit drastic, if you see what I'm saying. It's not going to work for me to go to Target for a nursing tank or bra. Trust me, they don't fit. If you have ANY advice about this, please feel free to chime in! I'm really at a loss and am hoping to go shopping with my mom this next week for some appropriately sized things. 

3. Skinny Pop

Okay, listen. I like popcorn just fine. I love movie popcorn and I really love popcorn in our WhirlyPop, but we just don't make it that often because the pot is kind of awkward to clean and dry. A few months ago, my parents left a bag of Skinny Pop at our house that they'd grabbed at Costco. Griffin asked for some, so I opened the bag and happened to try a handful while I was pouring him a bowl. Oh. My. WORD. This stuff is incredible! It's light and perfectly salted and so addictive! But at 39 calories a cup, it's okay to get addicted! It's the perfect snack for me while I'm trying to work on losing the last of my baby weight, but I'm pretty sure I'm sabotaging myself by pouring some Reese's Pieces into my Skinny Pop bowl. But I can't lie; the combination is fabulous. I grabbed some individual sized bags to keep in my van for Griffin, but I have a feeling I'll be ripping into one soon. I've only seen Skinny Pop at Costco, Kroger, and my parent's local neighborhood market in Michigan, but I would guess you can find it just about anywhere! (It's in the organic section at Kroger, FYI.) 

4. Meals 

For the last few weeks, our friends have been bringing us dinner every other night. They did this when we had Griffin and it was wonderful, but it's a much different blessing this time. I'm literally busy every minute of the day right now. If I'm not nursing a baby, I'm meeting her other needs along with her brother's, cleaning up, or doing laundry. It has been such a relief not to have to worry about dinner. I truly believe it's one of the very best ways to bless a mom with a new baby, no matter how many children she already has! 

However, before Annabeth was born (and even the week after she was born), I was able to really stock our freezer with some meals that we could pop into the oven or crockpot after the meals from friends stopped. My basement freezer is filled to the brim with buffalo chicken meatballs, gumbo, chili, sloppy joes, vegetable soup, mostacholi from my mother-in-law, chicken and rice from my mom, and some other great meals. I'm hoping to do a post with the recipes and links so that it could be a good resource to me (and anyone else) for future freezer cooking! 

I've also cooked a few times since AB was born. I resurrected an old favorite, taco mac (leave out the cayenne if you don't like heat!), and utilized my crockpot for chicken and dumplings (cut the pepper in half!). Very different recipes, but we really love both! 

5. Apples

This is so random, but it makes me happy, so I wanted to share it. Griffin's very favorite fruit is an apple. He goes in phases with other fruit, but he'll always eat an apple. I pulled one out last night to cut it up for his supper and he started waving his hands at me saying, "No, no, no! I want to eat it like Mimi!" Mimi is my mom and when we're together, she and Griffin will typically share an apple a day. Sometimes they'll have it in slices, but often she will just offer him bites of her apple. He really went to town on it. I thought it was so sweet that he wanted to eat it like my mom; that kid doesn't miss a beat!

Happy weekend, my friends!

Day 2 :: Coupons & Cooking

Today was just a day of small intentional things.

Usually, we go to story time at the library on Wednesday morning. However, after just getting home last night from being out of town for four days, I felt like it would benefit both of us to just take it easy and have a slower start today.

That's not normal for me. Griffin loves story time and I love story time. We like being on-the-go. But today, we just needed Cheerios and coffee on the couch with a side of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I also knew I needed to grocery shop and I knew it would push both of us too far if we were to try story time and a full grocery trip.

So, as I said before, we started slow and I made my grocery list. I meal planned and wrote my list (which isn't abnormal for me), but I did a few things that I've been intending to do and haven't been.

First of all, I only planned for four meals for a full week. I truly enjoy meal planning and usually plan for 6 meals, but that typically ends with a high grocery bill, too many leftovers for 2 adults and a toddler, and a lot of wasted food. Seems like an easy solution, right? Cook a few meals and plan the leftovers for others.

The only problem? I don't like doing that. Leftovers aren't my game. But Tyler made the very reasonable suggestion above and I tried it last week... and he was right. So, even though I had a few other meals I would've loved to ideally make this week, I only planned for four. I know we'll have more than enough food.

Also, I used coupons. CRAZY. I have a stack of coupons that Kroger sends and some that I cut from magazines. Mama doesn't have time to have a coupon binder; I just save what happens to come my way. But I typically don't go through that stack before I grocery shop. I usually end up throwing away a stack of coupons at the end of the month that I certainly could've used, but didn't because I was too lazy to take 30 seconds to go through the stack before I go to Kroger each week.

So, I took those 30 seconds this week, and you know what? It saved me $11 for things I already had on my list. I know that's not much, but it made me feel like I'm at least being a good steward of the coupons I had on hand. Again... baby steps to being more intentional.

And I realize what you can see on this list makes it look like we eat a lot of junk and dairy. I promise my produce list is hidden!

Going along with the meal planning track, I had planned a meal with a few different sides tonight because we were going to have a dinner guest. That changed this afternoon and what I should've done was switch a meal for later in the week, but I decided to just go with what I'd planned.

Big mistake.

I'm just not in a season right now where it's reasonable for me to make a main dish and then a few different sides (that take considerable effort) to go with it. It's not reasonable with a toddler underfoot and it's certainly not going to be reasonable come January with said toddler and a newborn. It was a delicious meal and one that is very "company appropriate", but it's not very "Rachel's life with a crazy two year old appropriate" right now. And that's okay.

I can still be intentional about making good, healthy meals for my family. I can still enjoy cooking... and I do! It's okay if the side to our meal is a simple dinner salad with bottled dressing or something thrown on the grill with frozen sweet potato fries. It's even okay (and delicious) to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for supper. I need to be more intentional about setting myself free from this self-imposed expectation that every night needs to be a meal that takes effort and time. Tonight just about convinced me!

In case you're interested, we had Pioneer Woman's rigatoni with chicken, salad with creamy Italian dressing, and garlic cheese bread. Again, it was delicious, but phew! I felt like I'd run a marathon at the end. I'm no Ree Drummond. And I'm glad!

And with that, I'm off to bed. I have a big day tomorrow which includes hearing my sweet baby girl's heartbeat at my doctor's appointment!

 This is the second post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series.

Menu Monday

My friend Rachel does Menu Monday every week! I like to try and contribute when I actually remember what we ate the previous week.

It was a lighter week for cooking, but I sure was glad to be back in the kitchen. Due to a crazy last few weeks of February and then being in Florida for two weeks in March, I hadn't really cooked in 5 weeks. Crazy! We had leftovers for a few nights and ordered a pizza on Friday. I think pizza is always a necessity the week after you return from vacation, don't you?

Slow Cooker Ham and White Beans 

image via

I think I've blogged about this before, but it's one of our very favorite winter meals! I substitute three large smoked turkey tails for the ham and add the tiniest bit of brown sugar. Tyler always adds smoked tabasco to his bowl and we eat it with cornbread. We like our cornbread sweet with Trader Joe's creamed honey! 

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Burritos

image via

I made Molly's green chile chicken burritos on Tuesday and they lived up to the name! They were so creamy, but it was nice that I was able to use the less fat cream cheese. Tyler really liked these, but I have to remember-- I am just not a green chile fan! I usually find a recipe that sounds so delicious every few months with a green chile sauce or base and I always think that maybe my taste has changed, but no such luck. I want to make these again but I will use a red sauce and I know I will really love them then! We had them with fat free refried beans. As a side note, I used this method to cook the chicken and it was fantastic! I will definitely cook my chicken for recipes like this from now on.

Rosemary Baked Chicken

I picked this sauce packet up at Fresh Market a few months ago and it's just been sitting in my pantry. You bake the chicken, pour the sauce over the top, and bake it for a bit longer. Honestly, this was just kind of "eh". It had a good amount of flavor, but it was really lemony. It wasn't awful; it just wasn't my favorite, but it sure was easy! I served this with the best roasted broccoli ever... and I do mean EVER.

Mini Honey Mustard and White Cheddar Meatloaves and Ina's Mustard Roasted Potatoes

image via

If you haven't visited Tina and Crist's blog, you are missing out in a big way. It is one of my very favorites. I made these for some friends who came over for supper on Saturday and we were all big fans! Mini meatloaves are so fun and these had great flavor! I loved making them with panko and I followed Crist's suggestions and put all the cheese into the meatloaves. The potatoes were a perfect addition and we had green salad and Sister Schubert rolls on the side. You can never go wrong with the Sister. 

Crockpot Chicken, my mom's Cheesy Potatoes and Roasted Brussel Sprouts 

I made this for our little Easter lunch since it was just the three of us after church! I put the chicken in when I got up Sunday morning and it was perfect when we got home. Megan suggested it and we really enjoyed it. I paired it with my mom's cheesy potatoes (recipe coming this week!) and roasted brussel sprouts. I always forget how to roast them the best, so I asked Twitter how people like to cook them. I took a few different suggestions, combined them, and they turned out perfectly. I just tossed them in EVOO, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and a little garlic powder, then put them cut side down on a sheet pan in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes. They were perfect-- nice and crispy, just how I like them! We ate the leftover rolls from Saturday. This is a picture of Tyler's plate, but don't be fooled. I ate just as much, if not more. Oink! 

What did you make this week? Link up with Rachel!

Happy Monday! 

Chicken Pot Pie & Warm Cinnamon Apples

Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I fell off the 31 Days bandwagon. I did try, but we are in an interesting season of life right now that doesn't always leave a lot of room for a blog post at the end of the day. Since this blog is for me and my family, I don't want to feel pressure to post everyday if I can't make it happen. But I really do love blogging and am glad that I was able to complete some of the 31 days because it made me remember how much I do enjoy chronicling our day to day life.

We've also been throwing around the possibility of taking my blog private, which would mean that you would have to sign in with your email address to read. Again, I blog for our family and it makes me feel a little unsettled that anyone with Internet access can read and see pictures of our life. Nothing happened to make me feel this way, but it's something we've been throwing around.

Now, onto the real reason for this post-- food! Was there ever any doubt? On Monday, I made one of our very favorite winter meals-- chicken pot pie and warm cinnamon apples. This meal is comfort food at it's finest! The winter I was pregnant, my friend Emily gave me this recipe for pot pie and it's been a staple in our winter menus ever since. It's so easy and we usually eat the leftovers in a day or so. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken Pot Pie

serves 6-8

12 oz bag frozen mixed veggies

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

14 oz. can chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

3 cups cooked and shredded chicken (I always use a rotisserie chicken for flavor)

2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium high heat and saute onion for 2-3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until bubbly. That will happen quickly. Whisk in the milk, then the broth until smooth. Bring to a boil and let it boil untouched for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked chicken and veggies. 

Put one crust on the bottom of your pie plate. Pour filling into the pie plate and put second crust on top. Cut to vent. Cover edges with foil so the crust won't burn. Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is golden.

**I have never actually made this pot pie in a standard glass pie plate. This makes a lot of filling, so before I made it for the first time, I went to Target and bought a deep dish pie plate. This pie plate has straight sides, so it's deeper than your average pie plate. I'm pretty sure that mine is the same one in the link and I've gotten my money's worth! I would recommend it for this pot pie. If you don't have one, then I would suggest using a 9x9 square glass baking dish before using a regular pie plate. 

Warm Cinnamon Apples 

via My Recipes

serves 6

4 McIntosh apples (I used Gala because that's what I had-- they were great)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp butter 

Toss together first four ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Toss to coat the apples well.

Cook apple mixture, water, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover, but stir occasionally for 8-10 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Bon appetit, friends! 

My Thanksgiving Secret

I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays because of the combination of amazing food and family. I also tend to think holidays mean more to me now because of the long distance that is between Tyler and I, my parents, and my brother. I get so excited for the time that we get to spend with each other!

However, I have a confession.

As a (self proclaimed) foodie, this is horribly embarrassing. I hope that you can still like me despite the weakness I am about to share with you.

My favorite Thanksgiving dish, the one that I can't possibly live without...

Yes. It's cranberry sauce. And not homemade cranberry sauce. I'm talking the stuff that you see above. None of this "whole berry" crap. I want cranberry sauce that comes out of the can still looking like the can. I think the picture above does it justice. My mom is always kind enough to serve it because she knows that my dad and I loooooove it, but she always mashes it up and puts it in a pretty dish. I personally don't care what it looks like; I just know that this stuff is GOOD. I love the combination of sweet and salty and if you think about it, most food on a typical Thanksgiving table is salty. The cranberry sauce is the perfect bite of "sweet" that I enjoy having with all my sodium on Thanksgiving day.

There's my secret. Don't hate. What's your favorite Thanksgiving food, and how do you feel about cranberry sauce?

Muffins and Macaroni

When I got pregnant this summer, I got sick. I'm talking sick sick. I threw up almost everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, for about 4 months. It was not pleasant. I also lost my appetite and desire to cook. I still am slowly regaining the passion I once felt for food. Now, it's mostly because I'm tired that I don't have a desire to cook and bake, but I am feeling the urge much more than I was this summer.

I really love fall foods. Chili, cornbread, soups, stews, anything with pumpkin, I'm totally game. My love for fall food and the fact that I'm feeling like myself once again has caused me to make some new recipes lately. I am SO GLAD. It's like the cooking angels blessed my dry and weary soul and said, "Here! Here are some recipes that are simple but taste like heaven itself!" Cooking and baking have once again become a true delight.

The first recipe I tried was from the Tastebook that my girlfriends from small group put together. I was craving an easy and delicious muffin and decided to make Katie's Almost-Like-Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Honestly, they were the best muffin I've ever made. You can make them in one bowl and they are perfect on a cold morning or when you're craving a quick snack. I can't wait to make them again! I'm thinking that I'll make them Thanksgiving week and take some when we go to visit our families.

The second recipe was one that I had saved on Tasty Kitchen quite sometime ago. If you haven't browsed the website, then GO. GO NOW. There are thousands of excellent recipes and I have gotten so many that I will use for years to come. Our chili recipe is adapted from TK and we absolutely love it. Anyway, I had Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese bookmarked and hadn't thought to try it. Last week was a busy week at work, and I wanted something easy to make for supper. I decided to make the mac and cheese and I could not believe how amazing it was! I'll admit, I'm a sucker for the blue box mac and cheese simply because of how creamy it is! I don't love baked macaroni and cheese, either, so I never thought that I would find a recipe for homemade mac and cheese that fit my standards. This is honestly the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had. Even if you don't like butternut squash, you can hardly taste it-- make this for dinner tonight!

Almost-Like-Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Makes about 24 muffins

3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of cardamom (I didn't do this because I didn't have it)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
8 oz package cream cheese*
Chopped nuts** (walnuts, pecans) optional

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together except cream cheese and nuts. Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full. Put 1-2 tsp cream cheese in the middle, pressing down. Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (don't touch the cream cheese!). Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Do not touch the cream cheese until it cools, as it is very hot.

*Put the entire tub or brick of cream cheese on a piece of tin foil and shape it into a long log. Put it in the freezer while you mix and fill the pans, up to an hour. Unwrap and cut with a sharp knife. If the disks are too big around (mine were), cut thick slices and then cut them in half. This keeps the cream cheese in one big lump and also lets you push it down into the batter. I also think these will be great without the cream cheese. I'm going to try them without it the next time I make them!

**Starbucks uses chopped pumpkin seeds (if you can find them). I used walnuts and they were so good!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese (Printable)
Serves 4

2 cups small pasta (I wanted to find wheel shaped pasta, but used shells instead)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
¾ cups milk
½ cups butternut squash puree
1-½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons cream cheese
½ teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoons pepper
⅛ teaspoons paprika
Steamed vegetables of your choice

Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until pasta is tender (about 7 to 10 minutes). Strain and set aside.

Melt butter over medium low heat in a saucepan and add the flour. Whisk and cook for 2 minutes. It will resemble a paste.

Slowly add milk. Whisk until combined. Next add everything thing else. Stir until combined. Add sauce to the pasta and stir!

Note: I got home late when I made this, so I used butternut squash baby food! It was perfect, although I can't wait to roast and puree my own squash for the next time. I'm sure it would intensify the flavor in a great way. I also steamed some broccoli and added it to mine. It was incredible! The other person in my house didn't want any in his. I told him he would regret that decision. Jury is still out on whether he did or not.


I hope that these are helpful to you! Let me know if any of you decide to try your hand with either recipe. What are some good recipes you've been making this fall?

What's for Dinner?

T's boss is in town and is coming for dinner tonight. This is the first time I've had to make a meal for someone I don't know. Add to that the fact that it's his boss, and I'm a little bit nervous. Since I got pregnant, I haven't been great at cooking full meals because I'm so tired and sometimes food still makes me sick. Thankfully, I've been feeling a lot better in the past few weeks so I'm up to the challenge. I've also been cleaning like a maniac, which feels suprisingly good. My house is spotless right now-- I wish it would stay that way! It's amazing how good it feels to accomplish something when you've felt terrible for the better part of four months. Here's what I'm making tonight.

Pioneer Woman's Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce

Oh my word, these called my name when I saw them. I gave Tyler a few choices for the main course and this is the one he chose. I married a good man.

(Photo Credit: The Pioneer Woman)

Spinach Salad with Yellow Pepper and Tomato
I'm making the salad easy on myself. I have a few fun salad dressings that I'm going to offer to spice things up a bit.

Cole's Garlic Bread

I grew up on this garlic bread. I know it's not homemade, but oh, it is SO good. It always reminds me of my brother because he is obsessed with it.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Recently, I received a beautiful Tastebook that my girlfriends and I put together. I actually have a blog post brewing about the book, but my sweet friend, Katie, put this in there. We obviously both like Pioneer Woman recipes! I am so excited to try it because I love asparagus in anything. Love you, Katie!

(Photo Credit: The Pioneer Woman)

Croissant Pudding

This is another recipe from our Tastebook from my friend, Emily! I am really lucky to have amazing girlfriends who are excellent cooks and bakers. We like to eat well and this is a great recipe.

I am excited about my dinner! I love having people over and serving them good food in my home. Say a little prayer for me this evening; I'm really hoping everything turns out well. If not, well, at least I'll have a good story! Ha! Mostly, I'm thankful for a beautiful home and a hard working husband with an excellent job that makes it possible for me to do my job (until June a teacher and then just a momma!). It's such a pleasure to be his wife and to serve him in this way. I'm very blessed! Have a great evening!

A Post About Nothing

I haven't been a good blogger lately. I blame it on the busyness of spring! However, I thought I would share a few bits of wisdom with those of you dying to know what is on my mind. All two of you-- hi, Mom and Dad. 

1. Last night, I got busy working in the kitchen and straight up burned my dinner. I was really bummed because not only was I looking forward to the dinner I was making but I have never burned dinner in my married life. Chicken 1, Rachel 0. I made up for it by gorging myself on chocolate chip cookie dough until I wasn't hungry anymore. My stomach thanked me when I was trying to go to sleep and all I could think about was how I was going to vomit. Food and I had a love hate relationship last night which ended in mostly hate. Today should be better.

2. Anyone have a webcam that they'd like to give me? My friends Mandy, Sara, Amie, and El have been chatting for a few weeks now and I am still the only one without a webcam. I know, it's as if I'm living in the 1800s. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself and where better to express that then on my own personal blog? I'm over it now. But seriously, I need to see their faces, so I guess I'm not really over it.

3. Last night, my favorite Real Housewives came back! I absolutely love the Real Housewives of New Jersey because they are absolutely hilarious and ridiculous. Teresa (second from left) is my favorite. She's got these four little girls who are drama queens (and oh so cute) and she just deals with it all on her own. She also calls her husband "Juicy Joe" which has led me to want to find a similar nickname for Tyler. I am open to suggestions. Speaking of Tyler, when he came up to bed last night, I was watching RHNJ. Teresa was talking and he insulted me deeply when he said, "That woman makes me want to punch myself in the face." We're working on that martial issue as we speak. Monday nights just got a whole lot better in my house. Well, for me.

4. I made Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding for our small group gathering tonight. I am so thrilled to get together with people I love from our church and just spend time talking and eating. I highly recommend this recipe-- it is incredibly easy and just plain good. Anything Paula Deen makes is amazing. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to find the particular cookie that this recipe calls for, but lo and behold they were just sitting there with their Pepperidge Farm friends waiting for me to take them home! Sometimes I get unnecessarily nervous and it's irritating. I'm working on it.

5. Oh, you wanted another picture of Lola Pearl? I'm happy to oblige. This sweet thing is just the essence of perfection. She is so yummy. Does this picture not just melt your heart!? My uterus hurts when I look at this picture. Deeeeeeelish.

 

6. On a much more serious note, please continue to pray for the people of Nashville. I can't imagine how it would feel to have your home destroyed by a flood. T has family in Nashville and as far as we know, they are safe, but some are still dealing with flooding in their homes. Please pray for all of those affected by this devastation.

That's it for now. Happy Tuesday!

Bunco Night!

When I was in college, I had a high school friend who would host a Christmas party every year. It was a great way to reconnect and see my friends who were spread out all over the country. At these parties, we would always play Bunco. It was always so much fun and provided a lot of laughs. A few months ago, I started hearing about women who get together and play Bunco once a month. After talking with my friend, Caitlin, we thought it would be fun to get a group of girls together to play. We worked through some logistics, sent out an email, and I'm thrilled because tonight is our kick-off! I'm really looking forward to it because I don't know all the girls and it is always fun to meet new people. Something else that I love about Bunco is that you can do theme nights! I love me a good theme. Some fun themes include pajama night, a Mexican or a luau theme, camoflauge, etc. If you have any good ideas for themes, let me know! My creativity can be a bit limited at times.

Tonight, I'm making two new appetizers for Bunco that seem really easy but delicious. I'm also making my old standby, bruschetta. That always seems to go over well. I wanted a cold and a hot dip and I am pleased with my selections. The Internets haven't failed me yet! I also figured that everyone likes dip. What is not to love, I ask? I could eat dip every day and be the happiest camper on the block. I think that's why Trader Joe's Three Layer hummus makes me so darn happy. The only problem with said hummus is that I might be known to get a little hostile when someone else tries to eat it. Some might compare it to a mother bear protecting her cub. I just love it so much, almost with a motherly love. I may have some issues. Yet to be determined. Anyway, here are the dips!



White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip

• 1 15-ounce can of white cannelini or navy beans
• 1 small jar roasted red peppers, or about 1 cup, drained
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Juice from half a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Serve with baked pita chips and veggies.



Spinach Artichoke Dip 

• 4 cloves roasted garlic (I am using preminced roasted garlic from the supermarket)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo-style pasta sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In an 8x8 inch baking dish, spread the roasted garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, Alfredo-style pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and cream cheese.

Cover and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm with pita chips.

 
I don't think I'll be disappointed. What are some of your favorite appetizers?

A New Recipe (for me, at least)

We're back from Florida! We had a wonderful time with some of our best friends, Chad and Meg, and were so sad to leave them. It was a glorious ten days filled with fun and I'm absolutely going to blog about it once I get my pictures uploaded. I actually left my camera battery charger in Florida, but Meg grabbed it for me and is going to hold onto it until I see her in about a week and a half. It was much easier saying goodbye knowing that I'll see her in a few weeks!

We got home late Monday evening after the flight from HELL. United Airlines, you are officially dead to me. If I walked by you in the desert and had a full water bottle, I would give you NONE. The flight from hell left me rendered absolutely speechless as well as starving, so for dinner, we enjoyed some Taco Bell and KFC from the drive-thru. We are nothing if not classy. Last night, I got home from work and cleaned out the fridge from our vacation and proceeded to go a little too far and really clean out the fridge. I'm horrified to say that there were a lot of expired items in there. I threw away a lot of stuff and wiped down my fridge and I feel like the world is a better place today. We went to the supermarket and got a lot of the basics that we needed as well as the fixings for our dinner-- QUICHE!

Believe it or not, even though I love to cook, I'd never made quiche! It was surprisingly easy. I took the Pioneer Woman's recipe and modified it a little bit. Even though it took awhile for me to make (read: we ended up eating at 9:45 PM-- AWFUL), it was amazing. T and I both took it for lunch today and I am already looking forward to having it. Here is my recipe that is based on PW's recipe. I really can't take any credit. 

Pioneer Woman's Quiche-- Rachel Style

          {Image from Tasty Kitchen}          

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into fourths
• 1 frozen package of spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
• 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
• 16 oz lump crab meat
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 whole pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 7 whole eggs
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups grated Swiss cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Cayenne pepper

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Melt butter in a skillet. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Add the asparagus and cook for a few more minutes. After the spinach is thawed and squeezed of all excess water, add it to the skillet and cook for a few minutes. Salt and pepper the mixture to taste. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 20 minutes.
• Roll out your pie crust into a deep dish pie pan. EMPHASIS ON DEEP DISH!! A regular pie pan will NOT work. I got a deep dish pie pan at Target a while back and it has been a great addition to my cookware.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the cream. Add the grated cheese, some salt and pepper, and just a dash of cayenne pepper. Set aside.
• When cooled, add the vegetable mixture to the egg mixture with a slotted spoon. Stir gently to combine. Add in the crab meat and stir again gently, just to combine.
• Pour into your pie pan and press to submerge the ingredients. Cover it loosely with foil and put it on a pie pan to bake. Check it at about an hour, but mine took about and hour and twenty minutes. Just make sure it's not too jiggly.
• After you take it out of the oven, let it sit for about ten minutes. Enjoy!

You could do so many things with this quiche! I'm hosting our Bunco group in a few weeks and I think that this will be something that I'll make for an appetizer-- hey, I could make mini quiches in muffin tins! Since it has eggs and vegetables in it, I feel like it is something you can eat at any time of the day. I left out the bacon (as well as some other things), but I do want to try this with some sort of meat the next time I make it. T really enjoyed this and said that he couldn't wait to take it for lunch. I would say that my mission was accomplished.

I hope you're having a great week!

Educating Myself

Lately, I feel like America has really latched onto the discussion of food. I believe it to be a very timely discussion since it is my opinion that much of our preventable illnesses in America can be helped with a better diet. Now, please don't think that if you're sick that I believe it's because of your diet. I know far better than that. I was a very sick little girl and still continue to have health problems to this day that I know have nothing to do with what I eat. However, I think there are some things that can be prevented if we eat correctly.

Two of my favorite bloggers who actually happen to be two of my lovely in-real-life friends have been tackling this issue in recent weeks. Lindsey and Hayley both have been talking about the different ways that they are looking at and considering this American "food crisis", if you will. I just love these two and I'm so looking forward to the day when we can all go for lunch and just talk. Maybe next time you're in Indy, Hayley! I'm so willing to make the drive so we can all meet up! :)

I absolutely loved Food, Inc. and I have these books on hold at the library so that I can continue my food education. If you've read any of them (or have read any that apply and that I don't have on here), I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

       

  

Michael Pollan was a large part of Food, Inc. I am really looking forward to hearing his written perspective.

My sweet friend Libby got this for me for my birthday last year. I am really looking forward to diving into it as soon as my work load slows down a bit. Hayley and my aunt also recommended it, so I know it's got to be good. I also think that the book cover is very eye catching. If I remember correctly, it's about eating food that is grown locally. I am so looking forward to visiting some local farmer's markets this summer and finding one that I really love! I think I have quite a few friends in the area that I could convince to come along with me on this search.

Another recommendation from Lindsey. I have to admit though, every time I look at the cover I think of Cher from Clueless. Ha!

I am planning on starting a vegetable garden as well as doing some landscaping around the house this spring. I think this will help in our vegetable rich diet-- both in price and quality! I definitely feel like a dummy when it comes to this since I have never done any sort of gardening. Again, if you are a gardener and have any good suggestions for books or resources, I'd be most grateful!

Well, there you have it. Just some of my thoughts and some books that I plan to read on the topic. I am finding that I enjoy being educated about something before I really jump into it wholeheartedly. Ha, who would have thought?