The Longest Day of Cooking of My Life Thus Far. Part One.

or, yet another detour on the long road to domestication. Or, isn't it true: pride cometh before the fall. I'm not even sure where to begin this post. I had illusions of grandeur apparently when I set out. I was going to share pictures of my perfectly executed, gorgeous prepared meal to take to my friend who recently had a baby. But alas, I have no photos.  And I didn't have a salad and I didn't wrap the gift either. Back Story:  You see, I missed my friends baby shower. Because I was super selfish all summer studying for that test and I have felt like a jerk, especially after she and her pregnant self and her husband found the time to attend my graduation party. And out of my shame, I didn't rsvp or email or call when I missed the shower.  Her baby was due on my man's birthday and I figured he would make his appearance right around his due date. But he came early. And spent some time in the NICU and I didn't even know about it. Umm, because I am not on facebook. Oh, and because I missed the shower. So my friend emailed me the day after my test was over to let me know her beautiful son had come into the world. I promptly called her and told her I would really like to bring them dinner and spend some time with her. And she graciously accepted! So I planned a meal on Tuesday. I decided on a less seasoned version of chicken spaghetti for a number of reasons:  1. I have experience making it.2. It's simple.3. It reheats / freezes and reheats well even for a person who does not like leftovers.4. Chicken is neutral and one of the things they eat.5. Pasta is comfort food. They have had a lot of stress.6. It's Handsome's favorite. I think it is rather delicious, too. And I found a tasty recipe for desert as well. Something I hadn't ever tried before, but thought it looked simple enough. So I scoured our cabinets and drawers, compared to the recipes, and wrote a list. I wanted to shop Tuesday evening, but I was tired. So it didn't happen.  But I woke up early and set out to the grocery store. I intentionally went to one of the stores a little farther from our house, because I just knew that there was a better chance that they would have all of the ingredients I needed and thus, would simplify the day even farther.  (Part Dos coming next week).  

Help! The Momma is Hungry.

Hi any readers that are still around.  How are you? Can you help me with something? If you have been a new mom, what were some of the best dishes or most helpful meals that people brought to you? Of if maybe you are just a thoughtful friend who has taken meals to new parents, you can share your go-to dish. I have only done this once. And I took a modified Chicken Spaghetti.

I'm on a mission. Taking a meal to a friend tomorrow. So...if you have any ideas (that won't break the bank) and that you would be willing to share I would appreciate it.  I'm back. I'm here. And I'm still writing,  

Smooth and Nourishing and Good for the Soul

So the Mr. and I are on a bit of a health kick lately.  We've upped our veggie intake. Decreased our carbohydrates. And increased our fruits. We have both also been exercising more. I love spring because I start feeling like I should eat lighter, get moving, and the combination of those always makes my clothes fit better. 
Its quite fabulous really. 
And this year.... we have this wonderful new machine in our home. It chops, dices, liquifys, and best of all: it SMOOTHS!
Its called a smoothie maker!! (OR some people might call it a blender).
I mentioned the other day that we bought bananas and frozen fruit the other night at the grocery store.
And we have so much frozen fruit in our freezer now that you won't find anything else in there. Just kidding, but we have frozen: mixed berries, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and pineapple. We also have fresh peaches, fresh bananas, fresh strawberries and fresh apples. 
Some combination of these with some sort of liquid has revolutionized my fruit intake. Because I typically have in the past had the best of intentions about eating more fruit... but what happens is that I buy it, bring it home, eat it when it isn't ripe, get grossed out, wait a few days for it to ripen, forget about it, and then find it mushy or squishy or moldy a week or two later when I'm scavenging for a healthy snack and end up having to throw it out (which sort of drives Handsome bonkers: you know something about wasting money on food that gets thrown out and starving malnourished children in other parts of the world).
And then I repeat the same process or you know, sacrifice my body's nutritional needs for the sake of getting along with my man.
But this: 

photo credit: Oster's website.

.... has completely changed our LIVES!

Its pretty wild how many machines have been revolutionizing my world lately! 

I have been making smoothies like a machine. Well, actually, that machine has been making the smoothies like a machine, but I've been combining cold berries and soy milk and pomegranate juice and peanut butter and yogurt and chocolate soy milk and have been sucking in the nutrients.  Oh, and I haven't so much been putting all of those together at the same time, but some combinations of different ingredients. 

These are a few of my favorite recipes so far:

Berry Berry Delicious Smoothie:

1/2 c. soy milk

1/2 c. pomegranate juice

1/2 c.ish of frozen blueberries. 

1 handfull-ish of frozen strawberries.

1 whole banana. 

De-thaw in the fridge overnight. Smooth away in the morning. (Oh and put the liquid in the bottom first. Then the chunkier stuff in second).

CBPB Smoothie (that would be the Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie)

1 c. of Chocolate Soy Milk

1 whole banana

1/4 c.ish of creamy PB

A few spoon-fulls of yogurt (or vanilla yogurt) or whatever you want. 

Smooth. And put it back in the fridge so it gets really cold. And plan on eating a light lunch, because this little smoothie is some kind of filling.

These aren't really my own recipes. But they aren't really anyone elses either. They are sort of me trying different things and seeing what I like after reading others smoothie recipes. And of course, compromising based on what we have. Unless of course its Saturday night and we need to get bananas on the way to the Red Box. 

Enjoy!

The Long Road to Domestication. Part III. AKA Progress.

Well, I'm not sure you are going to believe this... but we have already prepared two of the three meals I planned!

Thank you, thank you. You can hold your applause!
There really is something to having a plan! I definitely don't think I'll ever be a day-by-day planner, but making some decisions about a few meals each week and getting the correct ingredients and recipes for those meals ready to go is like completely revolutionary ya'll! I'm so excited.
So Monday evening we made up the fried egg sandwiches. Delish! And so super simple. Apparently Handsome makes them somewhat regularly (just with the egg and toast/english muffin) and I think he even enjoyed having bacon and sausage and cheese as garnish to his usual. Anyway, think this could go on a more frequent, intentional rotation and might even work for breakfast or lunch sometime. (And I totally want to make scrambled egg, cheese croissants sometime. Actually, I've been wanting to for a while, but I feel more equipped to tackle it now, so maybe soon).
But the real accomplishment has to be the beef stew I made Tuesday! I had some time to chill at the house in the afternoon so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. And I was able to get my great Mom on the phone at least twice, which was a definite plus, too.
So the other day I had purchased pre-tenderized beef for stew and I floured, salted, and peppered it to my hearts content.
I cooked that in a pot with butter, olive oil and a little garlic.
Then I added the onions.
Next I tossed in a bay leaf, 1 1/2 cups Barefoot Shiraz wine, 2 cups of water, celery, carrots.
Let it simmer.
Then let the whole thing sit in the oven.
And later I added some beef broth and the potatoes.
When we were just about ready for dinner, I cooked some extra wide egg noodles and tossed the stew on top of the noodles.

And there we had it: home-cooked dinner, two nights in a row!
Maybe I am moving forward on the road to domestication!

And yeah, I know. I totally should have taken a photo of the stew on the noodles in a bowl or something. But I can only progress in my life in one area at a time, so be patient with me.
I'm here. And I'm still writing...

Quasi-Meal Plan Monday.

My sweet husband will probably laugh when he reads this, and begin his own blog "This is the REAL Katie dot blogspot dot com" which he threatens to do regularly, because the man thinks you all should know the truth about the execution of my big plans whether they be projects or discussion about cooking him meals.

So in the interest of full disclosure on my own blog, I'll explain that this post is merely an aspiration. And I'll be upfront and tell you about my shopping extravaganza today. Okay, maybe extravaganza is a little bit far from the reality, but I went to the grocery store (with a bit of a plan) which is pretty much a miracle in my house. I have a lot more success at grocery shopping and cooking in general when I am not in school, so making a meal plan trip the week that classes begins is a little bit ambitious, but you know, I'm growing and maturing and trying to learn to love cooking eat at home a little more often. And even though Mr. Ruggedly Handsome could likely survive on chips, crackers, cheese, and cereal, I occasionally feel terrible that some weeks he has to. And truthfully, I'm not particularly pleasant if I don't eat protein at least once a day.

So I called my mom and I read some recipe books magazines and I decided I would head to the grocery store to buy us some healthy snacking options and to go out on a limb (or more like the freaking Golden Gate Bridge) and buy some raw meat and veggies and other things that tend to go bad in my kitchen). And off I went, semi-list in hand. And now I am now home, and unpacked, and happy to say that this week, I should be able to "cook" dinner for hopefully WITH my husband three times.

I definitely won't say that I'm going to cook meal A tonight and B on Wednesay and C on Thursday, but without further ado, these are the meals I have ingredients for!

A. Beef Stew! Oh my gosh, its an undertaking I know. I think I'm going to adapt this Real Simple Recipe a bit, but I've definitely got beef chuck, vegetables, and a little bottle of wine ready.

B. Fried Egg and Sausage or Bacon Sandwiches. I went ahead and bought some sausage and fresh cheese and we already had eggs (and bacon). The fried egg part might actually be scrambled egg and cheese and salsa, but you get the idea. And I'm extra excited that we will even have the choice of wheat or sourdough English muffins (for the bread part), because we have a few sourdough left from the last time he went to the store and I just swoon over the wheat.

C. Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. Okay, so I didn't really do buy a lot of ingredients for this one, because we have a variety of pasta noodles at hand in our make-shift pantry, as well as spices, and we also have some marinara sauce, so all I bought for this was a little bit of ground beef.

But its a start right? Maybe someday I'll be super fancy and plan out an entire week worth of meals, execute in a proper fashion, and turn into Martha herself (or maybe Julie is the new Martha). Or hmmm, maybe I'd rather turn into Ree. Well, whatever, you get the picture.

So I'm here. And I'm writing (and maybe even cooking)!



Oh and as a bonus, for the day next week sometime when I'm starving and have no time, and no desire to go back to the store, I gathered up the few things I need to make a creamy chicken and noodles soup.

The Long Road to Domestication. Take II.

Just a little over 24 hours left to enter our giveaway!

Well, seeing as I did not embarrass myself enough by blogging about this incident, I decided it was high time that I share another. I do not cook that often, but I bake more often than I cook. Which mean I still only bake sometimes. But I like to bake. And I really like to eat what I bake. You get the idea.

So in my baking days, I have made brownies, cookies, and cakes... all usually without fail.

And I decided in the past few weeks, that I really couldn't go on living without tasting baking a very delicious Red Velvet Cake. So the other night we picked up a cake mix box (because I definitely wasn't going to bake one from scratch until I knew for sure that I like the flavor "Red Velvet"). And yesterday I figured, I wasn't doing much other than wrapping presents and chillin' (literally), so mixing up the cake and flipping on the oven to warm the old home little apartment sounded like a splendid idea.

So I whipped up the batter, which was beautiful in case you were wondering, I non-stick sprayed and floured my pan, just as instructed. I measured my ingredients correctly (I think). Essentially I followed the dang directions this time!

And things were looking pretty good...

Until I flipped both parts. And each split and had to be somewhat pieced back together with icing...

Which made for a very messy end product (minus one slice)...

Bummer huh? Oh well. At least I wasn't taking it to my husbands Christmas party last night. And even better than that is the fact that it still tastes pretty good.

I'm here. And I'm writing and baking, but not so well.

I Guess I'm the Turkey. (The Long Road to Domestication. Take I).

Ok, first off, if you haven't given me feedback about yesterday's post, please go there and do so! Thanks. (This is because Handsome likes the bracelet, Kelley likes the pearls, and Brittney likes the black necklace... which means I am in the same situation I was before I posted! And... time is still running out!)
Anyhow.
Now its time for a Thanksgiving-related story.
For Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to my Nana and Grandad's house, as my family has done almost every year of my life. Handsome joined us for the very first time and it was a fun occasion for everyone. Not all of my aunts and uncles and cousins were there, so it was definitely more relaxed than usual.
Now, you see, I'm honestly not that big of a fan of "Thanksgiving". I know its a nice idea an all: giving thanks. And I really do like the idea of giving thanks to God, but that is something I would like to do all year, and not just on one day. (That is too much pressure for me for one day). So its a good concept, Thanksgiving, but I just haven't gotten into it.
I even like America, so you would think I would like a holiday that is purely American. But I just can't get into "Thanksgiving dinner." Being a foodie, self-proclaimed, if the food that goes with a holiday or memory is not that great, the I don't get into it. Okay, so I am completely and totally superficial in this way. (And I'm not exactly proud about it, but its me, for now. I'm being translucent here. Please don't pounce on me for it). So Thanksgiving dinner. I think turkey is okay, I'm kind of "bleh" about dressing or Thanksgiving-style gravy. I don't have courage to try ambrosia or cranberry sauce again, as I really disliked them both the last time I did try them.
Now, I don't want you to start thinking I am really negative so there are a few things that I do like: for instance, mashed potatoes and rolls! (Call me a carb girl?) And I will say I love the casseroles. I like brocolli and cheese, asparagus, and green bean! Any of the three is good with me, and its primarily the only thing you find much of on my plate each and every year. (Funny that those are, of course, the most calorie-dense foods! Eh., what can you do? Its only a few times a year that I actually eat the stuff and I could use a little extra padding during the cold winter months anyway!)
So this past year, like most years, my dear mom made a casserole and an appetizer tray to take to my Nana's. She and my brother were running a little late so my dad, husband, and I all made the short two-ish mile drive to the family affair to begin chatting before the meal.
Oh, I suppose I should go into the backstory, that is the actual story, because this isn't a story about the actual dinner, but about the pre and post dinners.
My mom was busy cooking up a storm Thanksgiving morning and our lunch at my dad's parents is usually around 12ish. Or 1ish. My mom and I and brother and husband all thought we were going around 1ish this year, but turns out, our presence was requested around 12:30. So my mom had arranged or planned her morning schedule for a 1ish arrival, but around 11 a.m. I happened to mention something about the time to my dad and he said we were to arrive earlier than we had been planning. So now you can understand more why my mom and brother were running late. She had planned out her shower, cooking, etc. all based on the 1ish time and didn't find out in enough time to rearrange.
But rearrange we tried! My dad and I started scurrying around in the kitchen with her to prepare the deviled eggs and other things my mom had planned for us to take. In the process of getting everything ready, we likely probably created more confusion than we helped, but we definitely tried to speed along the process.
My mom was going to make both an asparagus casserole and a green bean, because she loves me very much and likes for me to have some variety on my plate, but I thought that in the interest of time we should just make one. So while she was in another part of the house, I gathered all of the ingredients for the g.b. casserole. Now, this may have been the first time in eleven years that I had looked at the recipe for it, and I'm not sure if my mom has a written out recipe somewhere or not, but I decided to look to the wisdom of French's Fried Onions and got those ingredients ready.
Its a very simple recipe really. All you need are a couple of cans of green beans, some fried onions, a little milk, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a bit of pepper (I think).
So I gathered and got together the appropriate measuring utensils as well. And off I went. I had helped aplenty!
Some time later I returned to the kitchen to find my mother assembling the casserole. And I promptly made the statement about how she mustn't forget the milk in it and she said something to the point (or at least I took it this way) that she didn't realize you used milk in it. (Now, looking back I think she was just joshing with me because its such a simple recipe) but let's just say I took her to heart.
So flash forward, post-Thanksgiving, and post-me-not-enjoying-enough-g.b.-casserole-to-satisfy-myself-for-the-year-apparently, to Monday afternoon. As I sat, dazed and confused from a strange Sunday drive averting some snow storms that took a few hours extra than normal, and an *almost* sleepless night as I finished another paper that was due, and this girl was totally craving the g.b. casserole.
So I text Mr. Ruggedly-and-oh-so-sweet-sometimes Handsome and said that in my tired state I thought we should get a rotisserie chicken and I would make the g.b. casserole for dinner. So we went to the store to get the ingredients once he came home from work and we came home and I whipped it up. And I definitely didn't bother with the extra step of measuring the milk, since apparently that is how my mom does it, and she probably for sure knows more than French's because her casserole is completely creamy and delish!
So I separated the g.b.'s from the juice and I stirred the juice in with the condensed cream of mushroom soup, just like I thought I saw my mom doing last Thursday. We found a nice casserole dish to bake in and before we both knew it, dinner was cooking and things were starting to smell wonderful.
We cut the chicken and I spooned up the casserole after it finished baking. It looked completely divine. I could hardly wait to eat it as I had been craving it for a solid like four hours after the idea popped into my little head.
But when I tasted the first bite, it was, umm how do I say this? ... Well, it was not so creamy at all. And it mostly tasted like g.b.'s and did I mention it was so not creamy at all?
And I'm not even going to mention that the chicken was cold by the time we were eating.
And that is the moment I realized that I must not try to tell my mom things about how to do things in the kitchen, because she has soooo much more experience than me. And she must have been kidding with me. And gosh. dang. it. WHY did I not just add the milk?
So the moral of the story: Don't act like you know more than your mother in the kitchen. And when in doubt (ok, here I wasn't in doubt, because I thought I was doing what she would do, but in the event that you haven't made something on your own before) at least follow the recipe the first time. Or better yet, call your mother.
I'm here. And I'm still writing...
post. script. What makes this even more ironic, is that we had a "how-to" writing assignment in high school. The assignment was to write a recipe that was important to you and your family from Thanksgiving and give a "how-to" make it story. So of course, I wrote about g.b. casserole since it is basically the only Thanksgiving food I eat. And my teacher thought it was totally lame, because people were sharing their secret family recipes for sugary sweet potatoes or stuffing that their great-great-great-grandmother made perfectly ever since she arrived to the Untied States on the Mayflower(!) and here I was, sharing a recipe that apparently, every, American family knows and uses all the time. So the shame I feel now is even heightened by this!
second. post. script. Mr. Handsome gobbled it right up. And he was so sweet saying how he liked it and then he even ate it for leftovers the next night.

Another Something Delicious. Oreo Truffles.

So last weekend I had two "events" that required me to bring "something." One was a baby shower and I told a hostess I would bring something sweet and the other was Mr. Ruggedly Handsomes Church team v. church team softball duel and bbq. Seeing as I was making some sweetness for the baby shower, I figured I could just make double the fun and knock out both events with one recipe...

I have been wanting a reason to make those awesome cupcake pops Bakerella makes, so I really thought that is what I would do... that is, until I started going through her site! And happened upon these little round balls of fantastical joy for the mouth!
You may have tried them... or maybe you haven't. Either way, you should make them very soon because 1. they are super simple, 2. they don't require very many ingredients, and 3. oh. my. goodness. people will love you and sing your praises if you share. Okay, maybe they won't sing, but these little guys are a great ice-breaker and someone is surely going to want to be your new best friend for sharing.
I attached pictures, even though you can see them in at Bakerella!
Oreo TrufflesFor one batch you will need:

1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate bark

1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later. (I kept 14 because I doubled the recipe and had way too much cookie crumble left over.)

2. Crush remaining cookies (I started to do this in a ziplock but it wasn't working correctly so I whipped out my handy little food processor and did it that way. This was the part that was most difficult because none of the recipes I read told me whether it would work in a ziplock. Trial and error! :)) Then stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.

(It will look smooth after you finish with the food processor. Then you can add in the cream cheese!)

3. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (You can kind of see in the photo my cookie dough scooper... I used this to get the correct amount and then rounded them in my hands!)

4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration.

5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy! (You can see I topped some with the crumbled cookies, and others I left alone. I think they looked prettier with the topping, but they all taste very good!).

One batch makes about 36 truffles. (I doubled and ate a bit along the way and came up with 70 and had the perfect amount of dipping chocolate.)

And apparently, you can make them with any flavor of Oreos or Nutter Butters in milk or dark chocolate are supposed to be yummy too!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

So I promised a recipe (some time ago) and it is finally coming!
Handsome's birthday was August the 8th. We were planning to be out of town from August 7th(ish) to August 12th(ish), so seeing as I had nothing really going on except trip preparation on the 6th, I decided I could prepare a birthday dinner for the man. I bought some bone in rib eyes and stuff for a salad, but most importantly I bought fresh strawberries, fresh rhubarb, pie crusts (I know I was cheating), and a few other necessary ingredients for the man's birthday cake...eh hemm, pie.
Mr. Ruggedly Handsome's absolute, most favorite dessert is Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Prior to dating the man, I had never even heard of this. And after we started dating it took several trips to a local dessert bakery for me to gather enough courage to try it... but I did and now some three or four years later I have finally made one.
Some time before his birthday, but after we knew we would be on a trip, the Mr. requested a pie for his birthday. The idea of making him a pie was not that exciting to me for two reasons: 1. I don't know how. and 2. I don't really like pie. Actually, maybe three reasons with the final being 3. Handsome's mom makes him this pie for his birthday each year and everyone knows a good wife just really can't compete with a good mother as far as the man's favorite birthday dessert. (Oh, we don't all know this? Well, my man's mom is a really good cook... but I digress).
I searched the web and came up with this recipe which I thought looked simple enough to attempt, yet also delisch.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
• 1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
• Unbaked pastry for two-crust 9 inch pie

The instructions say to cut up the strawberries and rhubarb into little-ish pieces. Mix together with the sugar, quick cooking tapioca, salt, and orange peel.

You let this sit for 10 minutes while the oven is pre-heating to 400 degrees. It will get gooey.

I rolled out one of the pre-made Pillsbury piecrusts and floured it just a bit (per package instructions because of the sugary-ness of the pie).

Then you fill the empty crust with the cut up pieces of strawberry and rhubarb mixed with all the other ingredients.

Here you need to trim the edge of the bottom crust. Then you will cover with the second pie crust...

Fold the excess of the top crust underneath the bottom crust once its on.

Then you have to press it together, make it pretty and cut slits in the top to let heat escape while cooking.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30-40 minutes. And cool on a rack.

If you cut it while its hot it will be runny and gooey... but if you wait until it cools, it will stay together a little better and you can enjoy a piece. (I like mine with chocolate ice cream... He likes it with vanilla.)

So there you have it... Happy Birthday Pie for the most handsome man I know. We enjoyed it. I hope you will too.
I'm here. And I'm still writing...
P.S. I got the recipe from Simply Recipes (and their pictures are a little better than mine :)...)

Deliciousness. In Fruit Form.

So in case you have been worried, my kitchen is fully stocked once again. We have more fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator that you can imagine. We have healthy snacks, unhealthy indulgent snacks, we have our old staples and we have some new things to try. 

One of those new things is called an Apple Pear, which is also know by many other names, including Asian Pear. At the grocery store, I found the adorable things on display, all bundled up with an inviting sign. I promptly picked two up, placed them in my bag, and proceeded to tell Mr. Ruggedly Handsome what I found. 
Me: "Honey, look what I've got... Apple Pears."
Mr. RH: "Oh good, apples and pears... but I thought we were going to get fruit at the Market" (another grocery store with fabulous produce).
Me: "Oh, no no, these are Apple Pears, not Apples and Pears. And this is the only fruit I got, but I wanted to get them while they are available." 
Mr. RH: "Oh Apple Pears is a fruit? What is it like?"
Me: "I guess its like an apple pear combo?"
Mr. RH: "Ok, so what is it?"
Me: "It's an Apple Pear." 
At this point, both of us realized we weren't communicating super well, so I pulled them out of my bag and showed him. Then he understood a little more.
I proceeded to try them ASAP once we returned home. And I liked them. Not my absolute-most-favorite-fruit-ever, like-I'm-gonna-cry-if-I-never-get-another-one, but they are good, and I would definitely get some more! 
So you say you have never seen an Apple Pear... well, let me show you.

See what a cute little protective blanket it comes in? 

Above you can see the little fruit all naked. 

And there you can see it beginning to be devoured. Get yourself one! And Mr. if you are reading this, the other one we have is for you so help yourself to it, and I won't report you as a perpetrator on my blog. Promise. 

So I'm here. And today I'm eating,

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the nutritional value of the Apple Pear, Serving size 122g
Amounts Per Serving - % Daily Value*
Calories 50  
Calories from Fat 5  
Total Fat 0g - 0% 
Saturated Fat 0g - 0% 
Cholesterol 0mg - 0% 
Sodium 0mg - 0% 
Total Carbohydrate 13g - 4% 
  Dietary Fiber 4g - 16% 
  Sugars 9g  
Protein 1g 
Vitamin A 0% 
Vitamin C 8% 
Calcium 0% 
Iron 2% 

Another. Dinner Post. Chicken Georgia

(Update: 6:46 pm. Dinner is not going to be cooked by me tonight. I've just spent the last hour-ish, crying about my returned draft. Needless to say, Prof didn't like it. Not one bit. It apparently needs a lot of the work. So...prayers for me for the next five weeks would be greatly appreciated. And sorry for being a Debbie Downer. Or Katie Cryer I suppose.) But this recipe still looks pretty fab if you ask me. Or Paula. :)
So I know I have been posting a lot about dinner lately (well, two nights in a row), but I'm just gonna go ahead and do it again. Thats three nights of (actually) cooking at home!
I have had a relaxing morning this morning and I saw Paula Deen make this recipe that looks fabulous: Chicken Georgia. And thought its somewhat similar to what I made Monday night, I think I'm gonna make it later today.
It is so simple and it looks really delicious! recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese 

Directions

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Cook and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Another Meal Post. Burgers in our Backyard!

Tonight Mr. Ruggedly Handsome is grillin' like a villain', or perhaps I mean Bobby Flay. What a perfect solution for enjoying our uncharacteristically nice weather (lately, it's been in the 40's or something absurd!). 
I love, love, love it when he grills. So much deliciousness. I'll likely post photos later. (Update: Totally forgot to take pictures before I scarfed the meal down. Bummer.) 
Hamburgers, with cheese, lettuce, pickles, and and I'm gonna slice up a tomato to salt and pepper on the side (and on the burger, too). Can't wait. If I would have been on my game I would have sauteed (don't know how to spell it) some onions, but alas, I went for a run to relieve some stress. Dinner will be wonderful either way.
My husband spoils me. 

The Middle of the Early Morning.

It is 4:56 in the morning. I have been awake reading blogs since about 4:36. I was awake for a while before that but I didn't want to get up yet. I imagine I'll go back to sleep here in a little while...but I think I need to be more tired when I go. 
I woke up burning up and sweating... I tried to cool myself down with water, fewer blankets, taking off layers, but I just couldn't find a combination that worked. Possibly because I think I was actually really cold! Or something strange and perhaps, covering my head would have been the solution.  Because right now I have on sweat pants and a sweat shirt with a blanket wrapped around me and I'm still cold! I'm thinking about getting up off the couch to go retrieve the beanie I keep by the bed, but I don't want to disturb my sleeping husband.
I'm glad that I started reading blogs at one point because it gives me something to do in the middle of the night when I am having difficulty sleeping. And I'm encouraged in my faith by the blogs I read. I'm encouraged in my cooking and homemaking too. I'm encouraged in the day-to-day activities of bloggers lives. I'm encouraged in my marriage. And I'm glad to have some sort of creative outlet too. 
P.S. Dinner was alright--I think I will make this again. It was close to fabulous, but I think I used too much lemon juice. I didn't have a fresh lemon, but I have this fabulous lemon juice that Handsome purchased for our Tilapia marinade, so I decided to just guesstimate how much juice would come out of one lemon! And essentially, I think I just used (entirely) tooooooo much. Other than a little bit of unnecessary tang, I think it was a decent meal and would likely be better if I tried it again. Mr. Rh even saved the remainder for lunch today. 
P.P.S. I think it was my first ever attempt at cooking with wine. I was a little nervous (because I rarely even drink wine... so I was thinking I might not like the flavor or that I might do something wrong) but it wasn't nearly the wild adventure I had anticipated and I just might try it again too because I'm not as intimidated now. 

Dinner.

I'm going to make The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Scallopini  for dinner tonight...
mmm.
Can't wait. 
But shhhh.
Don't tell Handsome.

Almost-healthy. Indulgence.

Chocolate is one of my best friends. We regularly get together for afternoon snacks and desserts and other fun times. We laugh together, we watch movies together, sometimes we cry together, and we have a particularly sweet relationship for at least several days out of each month. We are true to one another and have been present with one another at both the best and worst of times. 
I basically like all forms of it... Actually, no, thats not true. I don't settle for a chocolate candy bar very often, because I just know it won't do the trick. Its like cheating because I'll have to have more, better quality chocolate later to make up for the mistake I made on a whim at the grocery store check-out line. (Not always true if we're thinking about Twix or KitKat, but this is ordinarily the case). As with most candy bars, tI'm not a big fan of plain chocolate chips or Hershey's kisses, but if either are included in baked goods, it is a totally different story. 
When I'm in desperate need of a chocolate fix (like a I'm-gonna-flip-out-in-two-point-three-seconds-if-I-don't-have-some-chocolate), my go-to is the Ghirardelli Brownie Mixes. Oh. My. It's the most delicious thing to ever come out of a box. Usually I satisfy the craving by making the batter, and savoring a spoon-full or two. (Yes, I know the health repercussions I could suffer form eating raw eggs in batter, but that doesn't stop me.) This type of situation usually only occurs two or three times a year. And one of those moments might be coming soon... 

But I will share with you my newest chocolate obsession. Introducing...

Chocolate pudding, with freshly halved strawberries and a little whip cream! Can I say so fabulous and so easy! And even the slightest bit healthy tasting because of the fruit. Ok, just kidding, but still. This is my newest fresh, delicious spring obsession. And it is fairly "budget-friendly" becuase strawberries are reasonably priced (and you only need a few), pudding is a heck-of-a-deal, and with the small amount of whip cream I use, it's completey affordable too. Just thought I'd share.

*If you haven't tried the brownie mix mentioned above, you must. You don't have to try the raw batter, but make the mix, cook the brownies, and hide them, so you can enjoy days and days of deliciousness that tastes homemade. Actually, tastes better than most homemade brownie recipes I have tried. Just my opinion. The only downside is that it's not exactly budget-friendly, but if you only make them three times a year... 

Chicken Soup for a Not-Feeling-Very-Well-Physically Body and Soul.

Handsome was sick earlier in the week. Poor boy. He doesn't get sick often, so when he does, it usually hits him pretty hard. One night I decided he probably needed some chicken soup, because he was feeling well enough to eat something, but most things didn't sound too good to him. My mom's chicken soup always makes me feel better, whether I'm recovering from a stomach virus, a head cold, or some sort of emotional hurt. So that (with some variation) is what I made him. 
I used Swanson's broth, because I definitely didn't think about it early enough in the day to make my own. I also bought a few ready-to-go items, so that my prep time would be shorter and so Handsome would have something in his precious tummy sooner. (Did I mention that earlier in the day I forced him to finish my mint Oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen, which wasnot a good idea...so I definitely had some making-up to do, and I needed to do it quickly). 
Here is a general recipe of what I did, in case you don't have basic (use ingredients mostly ready at the store) Chicken Soup recipe.
You need:Chicken. I shredded a few legs and the breast of one Rotisserie chicken. (I really liked the taste / texture of it shredded.)Cut up one half of one white onion.Cut up six stocks of celery. Cut up about one small bag of baby carrots.3/4 of one bag of wide egg noodles. 2 boxes, and 2 cans of chicken broth. 2 regular potatoes, cut into bite size pieces.
I essentially just poured it all together and let it cook for maybe an hour-ish before we sat down to eat. The carrots were not as soft as I would have liked, but by the next day (I let it cook for a while after we had dinner)...they were doing well. We have plenty of leftovers. (So much, actually, that I might invite you over. Oh, except our house doesn't fit a lot of people. And that would probably require a plane flight and a little more notice anyway). I froze about 1/2 and we have been eating the others for dinner. This recipe is good for the budget! 
Anyway... I was proud of myself. I know it is not the fanciest or most difficult soup, but it hit the spot for these two lovebirds on a cold, and a little bit sick, week. 
Here are pictures: (I had to take them myself, and I don't know much about lighting at this point... so they would have probably looked a little nicer had Handsome been the camera operator and feeling better...but you still get the idea.)

So, if its cold at your house, and your up for a relaxing night in, I hope you will be inspired. And I would add green beans the next time I cooked it, but I didn't think to do so that 

Have a great weekend!