Friday, July 10, 2009

A little cooking update!

Believe it or not I actually have still been cooking! I have taken a ton of pics of various new recipes that I have tried, but I just struggle w/ actually downloading them on the computer and than posting! Maybe some day.. maybe:)

This summer I got a fun new kitchen gadget.. a pasta roller and cutter! Matt and I have really been enjoying using it. It is EXTREMELY easy and the pasta tastes wonderful. I had never made homemade pasta before so it has really been a treat. Here are a few pics of us using it the first time. Our first attempt we just did a basic egg noodle recipe and for our second attempt we did whole wheat pasta.. both were delicious!




And for a quick recipe, this past Saturday for Fourth of July I made a key lime pie to take over to a party. It was sooo easy to make and tasted delicious! I must admit.. I did cheat and just bought a pre-made graham cracker crust:)



Key Lime Pie (recipe from Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
10 honey graham crackers
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp butter, melted
zest from ½ large lime
7 Tbsp freshly squeezed juice from key limes
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 9 inch pan.
-In bowl of food processor, pulse graham crackers and sugar until broken down into fine crumbs.
-Add melted butter and pulse until loosely combined.

-Remove bowl from processor and, using spatula, stir to combine butter well.
-Scrape graham mixture into pie pan and carefully press to evenly coat bottom and sides of pan.
-Place shell into oven and bake for 10 minutes.
-Remove from oven and set aside (keep oven on)
(like I said I skipped these steps and just used a pre-made crust.. its up to you!)
-In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir until combined well (this will take a minute or two, make sure the mixture is even).
-Carefully pour mixture into pie shell and lightly tap to evenly distribute filling.
-Place carefully into oven and bake for 15 minutes or until set.
-Remove from oven and let cool.
-Once cooled, place into fridge for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight to set.
-Serve with whipped cream.

~Well I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off work in about 30 minutes! Yay for Fridays!!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Another update...

I thought I would pop in and fill those of you in who are interested on what is going on w/ Matt and I.

A few weeks ago, Matt officially graduated from Seminary! We were so excited and I am so proud of him. The whole reason we moved to Kansas City (which will be 4 years ago in August!) was for him to get his degree and now he is finished! It was a great day/ week as Matt's mom made the trip from Wyoming to be here for the occasion. We even had a little celebration at our house that evening w/ some friends and family.









I made these cupcakes for the party.. aren't they cute?!:)


I have a lot more pics from the month of May that hopefully I will actually put up on my blog. I'm not doing so great lately actually getting the pics downloaded from my camera to my computer..

This past week has been kind of blah.. first Matt was sick and now I've had this nasty cold/cough that I can't seem to shake. It seems to be lingering on forever. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm 28 weeks pregnant.. yes 28 WEEKS! It just sounds so far along! It seems crazy that we are getting so close! The only other negative thing to being sick is that yesterday was my birthday and I spent it pretty much miserable all day. BUT I have such a sweet husband:) .. rather than going out he made me one of my favorite meals ever- biscuits and gravy w/ bacon:) I don't think it has ever tasted SO good:) We are hoping to go out Friday and do a little more celebrating. (I have all of these birthday coupons from restaurants and I can't let them all go to waste!)

So I guess that is all for now.. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Old Navy Flip Flops- $1!


Tomorrow only, Old Navy will be having their flip-flop sale.. solid color adult and kid flip-flops for just $1 each. I believe there is a limit of 5 per customer!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Time is flying...

Well another few weeks have slipped by without me blogging. I truly intend to be better at this but w/ a lot going on this has gotten put on the back burner unfortunately.

Here's a little update on us! I'm 24 weeks pregnant! Time (currently) is just clicking by! I have continued to be healthy for the most part and still having quite a bit of energy although I'm starting to get more and more restless at night, which I'm sure will only continue to get worse as the next few months go by! I love feeling the baby, she is moving around a lot lately and I can tell she is getting so much stronger! Such an amazing thing! We haven't really done a whole lot of "baby stuff" yet... I am just about done clearing out what will be her room. We did buy some paint (several weeks ago!) and are hoping to get the room painted sometime in the next few weeks. I have also started working on my registry list and we are hoping to actually go register by the end of the month! I gotta say.. trying to decide what to register for has been quite the job.. there is just so much out there!

In the meantime we have really been working on the rest of our house. It is really starting to feel like home:) This past weekend my mom was so wonderful.. she woke up early and left her house in the Wichita area at 5:30 in order to be in KC first thing Saturday morning to help us w/ yard work! She didn't have to but it was so great of her to come and help and its always nice to spend time w/ her.
Our yard when we moved in was quite overgrown and so we spent hours just raking and pulling weeds and filled up countless 55 gallon trash bags. After yard work Saturday and a full afternoon of cleaning on Sunday I was feeling pretty achy.. I guess that just comes w/ being around 6 months pregnant!

Sorry for the book.. now I'll move on to this week:)

Matt graduates this Saturday from Seminary! His mom will be in town Wednesday and we are really looking forward to spending time w/ her! It will be her first visit here since we have lived in KC!

My goals for this week:

daily quiet time

finish up laundry!

go through last little stack in baby's room so it will be officially CLEANED OUT! YAY!!!

grocery shop!

just to keep the house clean:) I worked hard yesterday!

workout/ exercise

continue w/ my healthy eating/ low salt diet:).. that really is a goal, so far so good:)

Meals:

Monday- leftovers at home before grocery shopping

Tuesday- either pasta or something on the grill.. I'll let Matt choose:) We also have our church group coming over Tuesday night for Bible Study so I will be prepping snacks for that.

Wednesday- pick up Matt's mom from the airport and go out to eat!

Thursday/Friday- not entirely sure what we will be going w/ Matt's mom in town. I plan on having the fixings for enchiladas and orange chicken.. But I also know we will be eating out some:)

Saturday- BBQ for Matt's Graduation!

I hope everyone is having a great May!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

We are officially half way!!

I'm 20 weeks today according to my due date! Time (so far) has really been moving pretty fast! We are getting more and more excited about our little girl:) I'm looking forward to this part of the pregnancy as we will start preparing and begin to get things ready for her.

Oh and people have been asking a lot about names.. yes we do have a couple in mind but I think that we are going to keep the name a secret until she gets here. Who knows, we might not even officially decide until she is in our arms:)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great weekend/ Easter!

Now my plans for this week include:

Menu:

Monday- Chicken Pasta dish (Pioneer Woman Cooks recipe)w/ sauteed broccoli and garlic bread- We are having company tonight:) and something for dessert...

the rest of the week we'll be eating the following.. just not sure of the order:
-chicken, black bean and cilantro soup w/ cornbread
-tostadas w/ rice, chips and salsa
-lasagna (heated up from the freezer)w/ veggies and bread
and.. possibly grilling out one night? We'll have to watch the weather! I think its actually supposed to be a decent week here!

Goals:

daily quiet time
work out 3 times
laundry!
hang new pictures up in bedroom/bathroom
get ready for my dad coming up this weekend!
work on a couple church projects

What's everyone else making this week? I love to hear new ideas!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Honey Mustard Chicken

If you are looking for a very simple, but delicious recipe.. this is it. W/ only a couple ingredients and a couple steps you can't really beat it. The chicken was so good and juicy. As you can see, I just served it up w/ some brown rice and green beans but this could be paired w/ a lot of other things as well...

Honey Mustard Chicken (recipe from Holly Furtick's Blog)

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 c melted butter
1/3 c honey
2 tbsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix butter, honey mustard and salt. Pour over chicken. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Enjoy!