Still waiting!

I still do not have internet at home, so I have not been able to update in ages. Not much going on, but I've been able to do a lot of cooking! I am looking forward to sharing some of the goodies I've come up with lately.

Summer!

Summer is here! We had a 108* day, then a week of under 80*. It's been weird weather, that's for sure.

Katie is blossoming every day and blowing me away!

I've been cooking, but have not had internet to share some of my latest creations. I can't wait to get internet going again so I can document some of these meals! Fun stuff!

Kitchen Sink...... Casserole!

So I'm getting some amazing R&R. A friend of mine picked me up and brought me up to her place for a few days. Dinner time rolls around, day 2. We need to finish off the leftovers in the fridge, so I told my friend that we'd make a casserole with all (or most) of her leftovers. She gave me that look. That look that said how are you going to mix Italian, American, and..... Fajitas to make a casserole?!

Trust me. Taco seasoning is a very dear friend of mine.

Here's the list of food in the fridge:

Homemade Italian stewed pasta sauce with Parmesan and basil
Corn
BBQ Chicken
Rice
Olives
Cheese
Fajita mix: onions, chicken, peppers

So I chopped everything up into small pieces while my friend mixed up some Bisquick. Everything went into a bowl besides the rice and bisquick. Mixed in about 4T of Taco Seasoning, let sit for a few minutes. Here we have the "Kitchen Sink" :).

We greased a casserole dish and put the rice in the bottom and flattened it out. On top of the rice went the Kitchen Sink ;), then topped with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese. On top of that, went a few globs of bisquick biscuit dough.

In the oven it went @ 350* for about 30 minutes: 

See the layers? 

Literally: Gooey Goodness! 

Sopa?

Growing up, my grandma made what we always called "Sopa". It was noodles (usually penne), homemade chili sauce (smooth, not with chili seeds), and cheese chunks. Simple and delicious. I can guarantee you there were NEVER leftovers. 

Meanwhile, grandma's long gone and I can't find anything similar to her recipe because everywhere I look, sopa is soup. Anyway, I took my dad's advice and tried the same idea but used enchilada sauce since we couldn't figure out the chili sauce recipe. 

My latest attempt was my best yet. It was amazing when it was fresh, not so much when it was leftovers the next day. So make sure you eat it up when you make it! 

Here's what you need: 

Noodles (I used egg noodles this time)

1 can enchilada sauce (this time around it was verde)

Cheese (choose your favorite, and quantity is your discretion)

Onion, chopped

Santa Fe seasoning

While your noodles are cooking, sautee onion in a big non-stick pan. I have a 6 qt I use and it's perfect. Once onions are done (just barely still crunchy), add sauce. Allow sauce to get hot. By now your noodles should be/could be done. Drain, add to sauce. Sprinkle with Santa Fe seasoning (or just add pepper, dash of garlic, & salt). Once noodles are fully mixed in sauce, cook just long enough for everything to be HOT! Turn off burner, add cheese and fold in. Serve immediately. 

The fun in this recipe, is that the options are endless - you can use red or green sauce, homemade or canned. Either way it's delicious. If you like really spicy, go with a medium or hot enchilada sauce. You can use any noodles you like, and you can choose your cheese. I tend to prefer Mozzarella or Sharp Cheddar for this meal, but I still have my whole life ahead of me to try different cheeses. 

Hot summer day refresh.

So I decided to make "sassy water", something I saw on Pinterest. Sassy water had cucumbers, lemon and mint in it. So I added my own twist and as the days go by, I twist it up a bit with different ingredients. I have a new favorite summer drink, it's calorie free, and it. is. delicious. 

This was my first time making it. I used sliced cucumber, lemon, strawberry, and a few spearmint leaves. The cucumber is very dominant but I can still taste the rest of the ingredients if I allow myself to savor it. Sorta like wine tasting, but better *wink*

I have also made it with: 

• cucumber, apple, mint, and cilantro
• cucumber and lime
• cucumber, apple, lemon

It's hard to taste the apple, because cucumber still so dominant, but it's there! And it's soooooo refreshing! 

Pizza.... everything!

So I had some Nasoya wonton wrappers and turkey pepperoni in the fridge.... I've been dying to make pizza wontons, so I made a special trip to town to get cheese. Mark this on the calendar, because I rarely go to town for ONE thing! Okay, so it turned out that I got more than one thing when I found Grands Crescent Rolls 2/$1!! So I figured I'd have some fun with it all while I was at it. 

I tried pinching the wrappers to 'seal' them but that didn't work, so I started using a fork to press the edges together and that worked almost too well. Upon frying them, they filled up with air and I was concerned they were going to pop at me, but they didn't.... 

I fried them in about 1/2" of EVOO in a non stick pan. The cheese melts down to almost nothing, but you can still taste it:  

Rather than putting the sauce inside the wonton and risking the sauce leaking into the frying oil and exploding on me, I served them in a bowl with marinara for dipping. Delicious! 

Now, for those Grands rolls I found on sale: 

I unrolled the dough rolls (keep in mind, the instructions say DO NOT unroll them). You kinda have to unroll them to make them even more perfect ;) 

Anyway, I placed two pepperoni and two tiny pieces of cheese on the strip of dough and rolled it back up: 

I used two cans of biscuits since I was cooking for 5 people. They looked like perfection going into the oven! Since my daughter's vegan, I made hers with soy pepperoni and Veggie Singles - the cheese melted and everything so you could hardly tell the difference by looking at it. She was super happy to be eating what everyone else was eating... *wink wink*

Finally.... I served these in the middle of the wontons. They were great dipped in the marinara, too! 

Zucchini pizza?

So, I've been busy doing this and that, and even cooking. I just haven't really had a chance to get on here and update with photos, so here goes!

Tonight I made the most amazing dinner. I think it had to do with the sauce. I don't know what brand it is, but it has a blank label that says something similar to Artichoke Walnut Marinara. O. M. G. I have GOT to find this stuff! I acquired it through a friend cleaning out their cupboards and it's been in my cupboard for a long time so I couldn't even begin to figure out where it came from originally. 

Anyway, I took a zucchini and sliced it long ways, about 1/4" thick. Also took an eggplant and sliced about 3/8" thick, and lathered both with sauce: 

Added cheese (Mozzarella and Cheddar)

Baked for about 8 mins @ 400* - or until cheese bubbles. 

I could not believe just how yummy this was. Even the eggplant was delicious! Who knew eggplant could be transformed that quickly! Katie even loved it (I gave her the zucchini/eggplant w/o cheese). 

Busy busy!

Today I got SO much accomplished! I got up with the plan to get something done, and boy did I! I had my cousin help me with Katie, and I decided to mow the lawns. Hah - funny. We have an electric mower that is about 1/2hp and bogs down super easy. I told my cousin that it shouldn't take more than an hour. Hehe... I mowed the front lawn... then moved on to the weeds in the driveway and side yard. Then I sprayed roundup on the stepping stones and pathway that was overgrown with weeds. I cleaned a bunch of trash up and made a few trips to the dumpster.... and felt great about the results of the front yard. I almost didn't even go to the back yard because I knew that would take twice as long....

Front yard: 

So rather than lose momentum, I headed off to the back jungle. This took FOREVER because not only is the grass tall, it's thick! So about 75 minutes into mowing, I finally finished the areas I'd intended to mow, then I figured I'd hit up some of the weeds against the fence and against the house. Hey look! There's a pool back there! Who knew haha. Ok, so I could have swept the patio, but I figured it's windy enough in the evenings, that'll get taken care of eventually.

Back yard...

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After the yard, I went inside and decided to eat some lunch. Earlier before I'd started mowing, I'd put some ribs in the oven (my first attempt). They turned out great! Not bad for my first try. I went a little overboard on BBQ sauce but it was worth it... 

I rubbed them with some S&P and paprika then put them in about 3/4" of water in the pan. Covered with foil then baked at 250* for about an hour and 20 mins. I flipped them and sprinkled some sugar on them, re-covered them and put them back in for another hour and 15 mins. Took the foil off and smothered with BBQ sauce and cranked the oven up to 400* where I baked them another 20 mins. Pure messy goodness. 

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Lately I've been eating a lot of corn tortillas. Since I've been counting calories, corn tortillas are a great way to get substance without too many calories. The other day, I made homemade salsa. Been craving it and decided to just DO IT! So I made my own chips by slow cooking some corn tortillas in a non-stick pan with a little non-stick olive oil spray. Another snack was pico tacos - delicious, and super low on calories! Simply pico and tortillas... 

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For the volunteers, I made egg rolls and fried rice. I don't know how well it went over with them yet, but I know that my cousin and I tried them before we sent them over, and we thought they were great! The egg rolls I made by hand using Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps. I simply put rice, leftover ham (which I could have done without, personally), green onion strip, and cilantro leaf, then rolled them up. Here's the catch though - I BAKED them! Who knew, baking them was so great, and oil free too. I tried them both ways for the sake of quality, and while pan frying them tasted better, it was not working out with the quantity of rolls I had to make. This is a photo of the baked ones we sampled:

Smoked Tuna Quesadilla

My internet got "dumbed" down to dial-up speed. I had no idea I had a usage meter! So they cut me down to super slow and seriously, it took 15 minutes to upload the following two photos. 

I found a fun way to re-use some of our favorite clothes that I can't bring myself to get rid of... Katie's got a dolly that is pretty decent size, and it fits her 12m clothes almost perfectly! 

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Smoked Tuna Quesadilla

I made a quesadilla that a friend of mine inspired. I tweaked it a little bit and figured I'd share:

Smoked Tuna Pouch (Starkist Creations) - this also works with solid white tuna in water with a little liquid smoke!
Tortillas - works with corn or flour!
2 chopped Green Onions
1 tsp Lime Juice
2tsp Mayo
Wing Sauce
1oz Cheese (I use sharp cheddar).

I only used 1oz of cheese because really, you don't need much cheese for this. Pretty much only enough cheese to hold it all together, depending on the tortilla size. I used 13" tortillas for the photo here, so I was able to make a giant quesadilla which was really like 600 calories, but if you break it into 2 meals, or share it with someone, it's guiltless! I put the cheese down spread evenly, then the tuna mixture (mixed with the rest of the ingredients). I cooked on medium with a little non-stick spray - the key (I believe) is to cook it slowly. You don't want to burn the tortilla, and you want it hot enough to melt the cheese and get the tuna hot.

Crisp both sides, enjoy! You don't even really need dipping sauce because it's so yummy just the way it is! I am not much a fan of tuna, but this just melts in your mouth. Delicious!

Baked Citrus Artichokes and Dijon Lime Dipping Sauce

I bought some artichokes last week, and only today got around to cooking them. I was going to steam them, but decided to do something different. I don't think I'll ever steam them again, as long as I have an oven!! I baked them and they were osoyummy!

First I simply cut them in half, laid them open side up, drizzled a little olive oil (which, in hindsight, I could have left out), sprinkled some salt, put a lemon slice on it and sliced onions, and covered. I put them in the oven for about 15 mins on 375, then flipped them so that the moisture would stay in and the oil would drain out. Put them back in for about 15 more minutes (still covered). I want to try this with orange slices instead of lemon. I think it'd be just as good but completely different!

I made a dipping sauce that was *almost* guiltless, and SUPER yummy. I have a new favorite!!! I took about 1 Tbs of mayo, 1 Tbs of dijon mustard, and 1 Tbs of lime juice, added a little fresh ground pepper, and mixed well. This was the perfect amount of dipping sauce for 1 1/2 artichokes - yes I had a heck of an appetite tonight LOL!

I whipped up some grits for Katie, and had to try them as well. My first time making grits that weren't instant - weren't too bad but they could have been better.

Ink for my Bday?

So I've been wanting to get a tattoo. Since I'm turning 27 next week, I'd love to get one for my birthday. So up and coming - a few ideas:

70+ degrees? Yes please!

So the weather today is amazing. We have been outside soaking up the sun, cleaning up the yard. Katie is loving it! Unfortunately, with the sun, out come the snakes, so we have to be a lot more careful now than when it was cooler out.

I made a breakfast shake for mom today and it turned out great! It was apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, oatmeal, almond butter, and about 1 T of honey. I tossed in a little cereal for some crunch (Honey Kix) and even Katie loved it this time!

Nothing real new to report... just taking life one day at a time. I can't wait to get my photos back from the first batch of film I turned in!

April

So, my internet has been out for a few days. Good stuff! We finally got it back up and running last night and I'm starting to catch up. Nothing new to report... I haven't been cooking much so no fun recipes or concoctions to share... yet!

Spring is in the air...

It was a beautiful day today.

I made stuffed bell peppers and baked chicken for the volunteers I cook for 2x a week. I made the bell pepper filling vegetarian for those who don't eat meat on Good Friday. I simply made a bean/rice mixture and cooked it up with a bit of salt and olive oil, then added tomato sauce, sautee'd onion, TVP, and seasoned salt. Mixed it all together and stuffed it in halved bells, baked for 45 mins on 400*. Good stuff!

I scored a Canon EOS Rebel K2 from my grandpa. It's a film camera, so my photos are going to take awhile to get posted. I'm totally stoked and have already taken lots of photos. I have recently received a refresher how expensive it is to develop film. Ouch!

Then, I was in the mood to play with PowerPoint, since I don't have any new photos to post yet.

Breakfast smoothie?

So today, I wanted to fry something up for breakfast. Here I am, trying to cut back on coffee and eat healthier, and I'm craving something crunchy and greasy. So I sautee'd up 2 corn tortillas with a little spray olive oil and salt. I shared those with Katie, then figured I really should figure out something healthy.

I had some fresh kale in the fridge from the other day, so I figured I'd try one of those kale smoothies I've been reading about. Here's what I came up with, whilst cleaning out the fridge:

5 kale leaves
1 apple (I actually used about 3/4 of a small fuji)
1/4c rolled oats
1 small mango (pitted & peeled)
3/4c soymilk (I use 8th Continent plain)

At a glance it looks like an apple - LOL! I have got to get a show-quality glass for these pics haha :) 

I threw it all in the VitaMix and it made a perfect sized meal for me and I even shared it with Katie. I thought it could use a little crunch, so I paired it with a handful of sesame sticks.

Still the vibrant color that I have found kale to be so good for producing, and it does not look yummy per se, but it sure was delicious! The oatmeal makes a good filler and adds some texture, and the fruit and kale, being fresh and not cooked or processed made for a healthy breakfast!

Here I am, 3 hours later, and I'm still not hungry. Granted, I'm craving some processed food but that's because I am a junk food junkie, but I'm working on that.

Kale

I'm not sure if I've ever had Kale before. Probably as a kid because we gardened a lot, but I don't believe I've ever cooked it myself. So, last week I bought a bunch of Kale because I've got a pesto recipe in mind: not the recipe I'm about to share with you, but another recipe that I am still going to try with my leftover Kale!

This morning, I had some basil that was on the verge of going 'off', so I decided I was going to whip up some pesto with it. Turned out too watery, so I added a few Kale leaves to it. WHO KNEW!!! The amazingness that the Kale brought to the pesto was super!

I think what awed me the most, was the color. I've never made such a beautiful green pesto before, and it held its color through temperature too!

Here's what I did:

1 small bunch of basil
3/4c pine nuts + 2 T for toasting
1/2 olive oil
1/2c water
1 good size piece of fresh garlic
about 6 kale leaves
dash of pepper
salt to taste

This is a super mild pesto, so you don't want the garlic overwhelming the sweetness of the Kale or the kick of the basil and pinenuts. I also overdid it on the olive oil a bit - I probably used a cup. If the mix is too thick, just add a dash of olive oil to wet it up a bit.

Cook your favorite noodles, toast the leftover pine nuts. Drain noodles and put the pesto over them immediately. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. (I wanted fresh Parmesan cheese for this, but in all honesty, it is delicious enough without it).

Check out that color! 

 I was very impressed with this dish and it is definitely going to be a new family favorite! 

Happy Days

Now that I finally have an oven again, I tried making spaghetti squash last night. I love spaghetti squash, when prepared properly. Wellll... let's say I forgot I had it in the oven. Boooooo! 

So, I made burritos instead. Good stuff! 

Katie's life revolves around bubbles, balloons and balls. I finally got her a bubble blower so that we can get a break from time to time. 

Wednesday, I am trying my hand at beef stew for the first time ever. I'll be reporting on that soon :) 

Haystacks!

Now that I'm cooking twice a week for the volunteers at Bingo, I should be able to add recipes and goodies here regularly. I'm looking forward to it!

Growing up, we had haystacks every weekend. They feed large groups fairly easily, and they're delicious. Today, I made a pot of beans, and figured since not everyone knows how to make a haystack, I'd build a little how-to on the typical haystack. This will be posted at the buffet table, providing I find a color printer between now and then! Dressing can be subbed for sour cream or in addition to, and a lot of people use cheese as well. This time, I'm making it my favorite way:

Fried Rice - YUM!

I just made the best fried rice I've ever had. Not to toot my own horn, but it was pretty darn good!

I used pre-cooked rice that comes in the little pouches. So brown basmati rice and quinoa mix for today's meal. I sautee'd onions, peas and garlic in sesame oil, then added in the rice and about 1/8c soy sauce. Fried it up until it was starting to stick, then added 2 eggs. Cooked thorougly, and enjoyed.

For a delicious vegan option, omit the eggs!

Even Katie liked it!

Painting

We spent the day prepping and painting. It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to prep a room for painting, then how long it takes to get really good coverage. We're not even doing 2 coats! We are doing 3 tone though: light purple on top, medium purple wainscotting, and a super dark purple trim in the middle. I believe we got everything done but the super dark trim. I'm stoked! Not my room, but I sure do feel accomplished and look forward to seeing it completely done.

I made breakfast wraps for lunch - SO yummy! I had flatbread in the freezer that I thawed out in the microwave. I scrambled some eggs, sliced some cheese, and used a veggie burger for "meat".

So, I laid slices of cheese (whatever kinds you want, the more the merrier!) in the flatbread, threw on the eggs, and put the veggie burger (halved so it took up more room) in the wrap. Rolled it up and grilled it so it was a little crispy. I sprinkled it with some Tapatio and voila! Delicious! Way better than a normal tortilla.

Monkey

So Katie's got this book. In the book are different animals with their names under them so she can learn different types of animals. So she points to the monkey, and I say "Monkey". She says (ever so calmly) "mommy". I say "no Katie, MONKEY". "Mommy". Love this kid :)

Been hanging out with my brother who's in town on leave from where the Air Force. Good times. I always forget how much he cracks me up!

I found some rubber boots for Katie at a thrift store - they're brand new! I got them for a buck, and oh were they worth it! She loves her boots, shoes, fleece sweater, and movie (Surf's Up). She still doesn't have much hair, but she's working on it! Here's a few photos from the other day:

Playing with her new toy

 Her eyes were especially green this day! 

 Blowing bubbles for Miley

Mmmmm... Quinoa noodles! 

Pic - haha.

So I went back today and took a photo of the sign - for the sake of misinterpretation.


....nope. I still think it means "additional" 30% off! :)

What does "additional % off" mean to you?

Today was pretty awesome. It was my mom's birthday - a big milestone birthday! I was teasing her all day that she was turning the big "21" because 50 is the new 21. Fun times! I took her to Starbucks for "breakfast" then we ran some errands, and we met my brother (in town from Montana!) at the Alehouse downtown where we had lunch for mom's birthday. She got a free beer and I got some yummy nachos!

Meanwhile, while mom was at one of her appointments today, I went to Sears. I go to Sears all the time. They have some really good sales regularly, so I like to hit the sale racks in the baby clothes, shoes, etc. Today, I was looking at tennis shoes for Katie. They were Avia brand, marked down from $19.99 to $7.99. Good deal, right? Well even cooler, there was a sign by the door that read "take an additional 30% off women's and children's clearance shoes and boots". SCORE! I was thinking great, now I can get 2 pair for about $10 for Katie!

So I go to the register and the guy said he'd have to ask his manager. The manager laughs at me and says no, they're as low as they're going to go. He muttered something about them being super cheap already, what more did I want?

I told the cashier I'd put the shoes back. As I was leaving the store, I noticed the manager a couple rows of shoes away. I grabbed the sign that said "take an additional 30% off women's and children's clearance shoes and boots" and handed it to him. I advised him "You may want to take this down then because it's misleading". He ARGUED with me! He said that the 30% is already taken and it's included in the ticketed price. I informed him that it shouldn't say "additional" then. And he said "Well, I can't control how you interpret the sign", and promptly hung it back up.

Maybe I got a bit carried away, but I was pretty ticked the guy laughed at me and practically called me an idiot without saying the word. Not only that, what ever happened to "the customer is always right"? I know I'm not always right, but the guy was just plain rude even before I started trying to push my point.

Pre Pregnancy Jeans FIT!

Today was my cousin/roomie's birthday. Went to town and walked downtown Livermore. I had Katie stripped down to a dress and diaper, and she played in the fountain with some other kids. It was super cute - she ended up getting soaked. I'd post photos but I left my camera in the car so hopefully I'll get pics up next post!

My brother came into town from Montana today. He's going to be here for a few days so we're looking forward to hanging out with him! 

I did a mega-cleaning in my room which allowed me to get a TV hooked up and set up Katie's easy chair. What a relief! I have a floor now! I can play Bible stories for Katie! Good stuff. I don't put her in front of the TV often, but when I do it's gotta be worth it.

That being said, she watches a movie with my cousin every couple days. Her latest favorite is "Surf's Up" - she loves the music! I walked in the room and Katie was dancing on the bed to the music. Wish I had my camera!

Her new favorite pastime is bubbles. Not just any bubbles, but bubble gum bubbles. If someone is chewing gum, it better be bubble gum because she won't let up until you blow her a bubble..... or ten bubbles :)

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I tried on a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans that haven't fit me right for years and guess what? THEY FIT! They're a little snug but they sure are a lot more comfortable than they were last time I tried them on and couldn't even button them! Score!

I haven't stood on a scale since December, just days before New Year's. I don't *feel* like I'm losing weight, but my pants are telling me otherwise. Yay!

March already?

I can't believe it's almost March!

I'm 1 week down in my Criminology class. And referring to my last post - I don't have 29 classes left. Try 13 and a half classes left! AND I found out I get to do my electives "short cut" version. My advisor said I can write an essay and that could make up for an electives class, so not only would I not have to pay to take the full class, I could GRADUATE EARLY!!!! I'm SO down!

So, now the question is, what do I write about? There are so many interesting topics, I think I'm going to pick several. However, I have to use "Dr. Kolb's Model of Experimental Writing" method to write them, a method in which I'm not familiar - YET.

Katie girl has been growing so fast! She talks like crazy - she says "mama" alllllllll the time and I love every bit of it! She ran for the first time this past weekend, and it's so. stinkin. cute. She doesn't do it very often but when she does - watch out! She just knows she wants to move fast and her little legs won't go as fast as her mind has her moving. She even gets frustrated with herself sometimes because she doesn't go as fast as she wants.

I got her her first pair of Airwalks yesterday. They are size 4W, and they barely fit her. Come on now, she just graduated from her 3's, and now she barely fits 4's? If they'd had 5's I would have got them but they didn't. Oh well.

Katie LOVES her shoes. She says "Shoessssss?" first thing in the morning and if she loses one during the day, oh boy watch out! She says UH-OH and fusses until her shoes are back where they belong - on her feet or in her hands. She also loves purses. She takes nana's purse whenever she sees her and puts it over her shoulder, waves byebye, and heads for the door. Mama's in trouble!

Round 2

I'm on to my second class. YAY! I haven't got my final grade from my Interpersonal Communications class yet, but I'm stoked that it's behind me. One class down, 29 to go! (At least, I think it's 29). I've already started Criminology.

Katie's amazing me more and more every day. She listens to me. I can ask her to close the door for me, take the trash to the trash can, pick something up and hand it to me: AND SHE LISTENS! It's SO COOL!

We have been going to the park a lot lately. It was almost 80* today so we took advantage of it and went to the park. It was beautiful today and while I love it, I kinda miss winter. Not, by any means, the cold. I miss the rain we never got.

I haven't been cooking: stove is out and water heater is out. So I have been spending a lot of time in town (bad idea, since I love to shop!)

Lately, I've scored some mega deals though on some spring outfits for Katie. I went to Kohls yesterday and got some tights, 4 shirts, 1 outfit, and a cupcake tablecloth (V day clearance) for $17 - charged it and got 20% off! Today, I went to sears and hit the tail end of the Presidents' Day Sale. Scored 3 complete outfits and a pair of shoes for $17. Score! Now, I've maxed out my spending allowance for the month but at least Katie's gonna be stylin' :)

Here are some fun photos from lately:

Soaking up some sun:

 See that white knuckled grip? She does not like the swing.

 She doesn't like the swing, but she'll play daredevil in our room!

 Dancing in her pack n play. I set it up last week for the first time since I found our bedroom floor. She LOVED it - until she realized she was sleeping in it. Now it's a battle.

 See my little shoe diva? She LOVES her boots/shoes.

 Casper loves Katie. Unfortunately, Katie likes Cookie better so Casper gives her the lovin' and she ignores him and goes after Cookie!

 Can you find the baby in the bath? This is how we roll at Nana's house!

 Microsoft, watch out!

 Uh-OH!

One thing.... after another.

Well, on top of the oven going out, the water heater went out. Good stuff!

I'm going into my 5th week of school starting Tuesday. Almost have my first class behind me! Woot! It's harder than I had anticipated, but not impossible.

My car got new shoes yesterday. I had some Falken's that only lasted 20,000 miles, so I went back to America's Tire Company and they warrantied them for me. I got a $100 credit per tire to get new tires! SWEET! I knew there was a reason I love America's Tire :)

I picked up the Wonder File at Ross yesterday. I got it for $5 and I'm totally looking forward to using it. I sure hope this helps me keep all my papers in one spot! Now I just have to buckle down and DO IT.

Busy busy

I have been so busy lately. Between school, the internet only working about 6 hours a day, enjoying my beautiful little ray of sunshine, and getting life in general figured out I've been having a hard time getting online. Katie and I have both been sick. First the stomach flu, then now we're down with a sore throat, cough, and congestion. It really stinks because there are no cold meds for babies :(

I haven't been able to cook much - the oven broke! Only the broiler works: the bottom heat element doesn't work. Boooooo :( have you ever made pizza under a broiler? It makes for a soggy crust that's for sure. I had to bake with the oven open - what a difference from the "CLOSE THE OVEN SO THE HEAT STAYS IN!"

Katie has been amazing. She learns new things every day. She watches me drink my coffee and she blows on it for me and says "HOT!". She loves her Morningstar sausages and chick'n nuggets, and lately she's been indulging in apples quite a bit. She loves it when I give her a half an apple (cored/peeled). She walks around nibbling on it for what seems like hours, but she's getting faster at it. I think she ate a whole half in under 30 minutes this morning.

When she sees one of our (many) cats, she says "meow?" and the dogs are still "dada". She gets so excited when she sees the horses that she still doesn't know what to call them, she just gets super happy and giddy.

Tomorrow we have to drive to Sacramento. Ugggggg. Won't even get to see friends because we're sick. Bor-ing!

Big girl!

My baby is growing up. She was sitting in her high chair this morning with some diced prunes, pears, and some crackers. She had a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other. She refused to eat food with her fingers - even her crackers! She ate all her prunes (3 total, diced in quarters), and half her pears (2 slices, diced), and one cracker - WITH HER FORK! She loved it! That was the first time for her that she used utensils on her own and she was so proud. So am I of course :)

I made mac n cheese from scratch today and OMG it was fantastic! It was simple, and it took me about 10 minutes. I couldn't even get pics because I don't have my camera and my housemate is gone with her camera. Darn!

Ingredients:
Margarine
Flour
Milk (I'm going to try this next time with soymilk so Katie can eat it!)

Noodles
Cheese of choice

First, I got a 16oz bag of rotini noodles boiling. I wanted a noodle that would retain the cheese.

In a small (8") frying pan, I sautee'd a small onion, sliced thinly. 

Next, in a 10" frying pan, I made a roux/rue/howeveryouspellit: melted the margarine then mixed in the flour. It turned into a paste but I let it cook for a few minutes whipping it the whole time. After about 3 mins of cooking the flour/butter, I added milk and salt/pepper to taste.Whipping constantly, I cooked it until it was the consistency I wanted it. I think I could have used more milk to make it go farther but I think this was perfect. Take it off the burner if you have an electric stove!

Once the rue was the consistency I liked - sorta like applesauce - I mixed in the onions and about 1/2c shredded mozzarella/provolone mixture and about 1c diced monterey jack cheese. Then mixed all that with the now drained noodles.

Once it was all mixed together, I put it in a casserole dish and topped it with crumbled Club crackers. I baked it at 400* for about 10 minutes - just enough to give the top a crisp and melt the cheese.

I so wish I had pics!! It turned out perfect!! There are leftovers though, so I might get some yet.

Butt-kickin'

Short update: School is kicking my butt. I missed one day of class because our internet was down, and it really discouraged me. I even considered dropping out because I feel so overwhelmed. *sigh*.

Hap-py

Katie's new thing is to start dancing, chanting, and beat-bopping at bedtime. She fights going to sleep like crazy. Tonight, she kept head banging and chanting "hap-py, hap-py!" She was blowing kisses and dancing on the bed. It took a couple of hours to get her to sleep. While it's exhausting and sometimes frustrating that she fights sleep like the plague, it's super adorable and sometimes she gets me laughing so hard, I forget I'm supposed to be firm with her to get her to sleep!

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I've been doing okay with school, so far. My first big assignment is tomorrow. Let's goooooo 6 page paper! Not only that, we just got assigned our "learning teams" in class so I'm going to learn a whole new way of studying. I'm sort of looking forward to it, but I'm also sort of stressing over it. One day at a time.

Sweets

Today, I had some more fresh raspberries that Katie wasn't eating. Of course, once I wanted to start cooking with them, she wanted to eat them! After I convinced her they were all gone, I was able to start cooking.

First, I started with cheesecake cupcakes. I was going to mix in some of the raspberries but totally spaced on it. Oops! They turned out fantastic anyway, and only took about ten minutes to prep! I got the recipe from here but I'll post it as well how I made them.

You'll need to make a graham cracker crust, so crumbled graham crackers, brown sugar and butter mixed together and pressed into the bottom of your cupcake cups.

Now, for the filling, you'll need:

2 packages of room temp cream cheese
3/4 c powdered sugar
2T lemon or lime juice
1tsp vanilla flavor
2 eggs

Mix together in a mixing bowl. I used my electric mixer and once I broke through the cheese I was able to mix on high for about 3 minutes. It'll be a little lumpy but don't worry, that bakes out.

Spoon into cupcake cups. Bake at 350* for about 18 minutes.

Here's what they bake out to. Super smooth and yummy! 

Let cool, then chill. I didn't "chill" them, I only let them cool. I think they'll be a lot better once COLD!

 

Now, my one regret was that I did not add brown sugar to the crust, so the graham crackers crumbled out and didn't stay together. Next time, I'll add brown sugar to hold the crust together. 

 

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 Now, I reduced the raspberries with some orange liquer and strawberry soda. About 5 minutes after they started boiling, I added about 2/3c of sugar.

I used the leftover graham cracker crust for the raspberry whateveritis.

I poured the raspberry reduction over the crust, then placed some Grand's biscuits on top. Baked at 325* for about 20 minutes. We enjoyed it with some Reddi-Whip!