Sunshine and Fog = Beautiful Pictures

A couple weeks ago I had taken a Monday and Tuesday off just for kicks. Well it worked out that Tuesday Chuck also had the day off so we decided to head up to my Grandparents to visit. We hardly ever see them now that they don't live closer and with Chuck's new work schedule it's almost impossible for us to find a day off together to go up there!

Anywho on the drive up it was just gorgeous so I had to pull over and take some pictures. And I just had to share! Strictly a picture post but enjoy!

I LOVE this picture! I just wish my camera didn't have the little red marks at the bottom but I just thought this was so pretty!

This is one of my favorites! Even with sun super bright I just love how the fog is still hanging low!

Sunshine!!

It looked like this cloud of fog was literally sitting just over the top of that house but it was clear in the rest of that area.

This is another favorite because the fog is burning off but you can see the outline of the trees :-)

This is what the sky looked like on our way home!! It was really eery looking but so pretty at the same time!

Anywho thanks for checking them out! I thought they were too pretty not to share!

Rosie the Elephant

I finished our last book club book for 2010!!! YAY!! This means I am only one book away from completing my 2010 Reading List! YAY!!

I just finished reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen which has been reviewed as an awesome book.

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Well the reviews are wrong I am sad to say, or at least in my opinion. I know a few people who absolutely loved this book. I HATED IT! Even at the end there was not one thing I could say I liked about it. I was actually really upset over not liking this book because even before our Book Club began it was on my list of must reads!

Sadly I didn't like any of the characters and I just can't get my head around the circus lifestyle. I absolutely hated how the animals were treated. I was extremely put off by the amount of "sexual" content in the book, the descriptions and some of the scenes were completely un-necessary. While I'm sure her book is written based on facts (she says most of it is in an interview that was included at the end) I was totally put off. I was not expecting some of the gruesome details included or the way she describes a few scenes that I felt could have been left out entirely.

Overall I give this book an F. I actually regret reading it and that just sucks! I was so looking forward to this book and to the movie they will be coming out with eventually but now I know for a fact that I won't be seeing the movie. Hopefully I'm not alone on this because most people I know really enjoyed it. :-(

I'm Melting!

For our Annual Baking Day I tried out 2 new recipes, one of those being Peppermint Meltaways. I love peppermint, to me there is nothing better than peppermint flavored ANYTHING!! And these little melt in your mouths did not let me down!

You will need - flour, milk, cornstarch, butter, peppermint extract, crushed mints (if you chose to, I chose not), powdered sugar, and red food color dye!

First things first combine the butter and flour, with a little extract, then add in your cornstarch!

Roll into balls and bake. Super simple right? 

Let them cool completely. This step will be hard as they look and smell so good! And they are very crumbly which makes my mouth water!

Once they have cooled it will be time to whip up the "frosting" to go on top. You will need to combine your milk, powdered sugar, extract, and red food dye! And then get to topping! I was generous on a few and skimpy on the others. It is a lot of frosting so next time I think I may cut it in half. You are supposed to top with crushed mints but I chose to leave those off.

Don't these look like the most perfect valentine's cookies. They were so fun and so PINK!

Not only were these super cute but they were so GOOD!! I loved them and my coworkers devoured them! Like I said though it's a lot of frosting so you might want to go easy on that and its minty! Nothing bad to me but it's not everyone's cookie! I recommend baking up a batch of these asap! And if you don't like the frosting idea then just make the cookies because they are GREAT without the frosting!

Want the recipe? get it here.

Healthy Meatloaf???

While I am always shocked to find a healthier recipe for meatloaf I am never convinced it can truly be good for you. Especially when that recipe calls for ground beef instead of ground turkey!

But I have found one that not only tastes great it is also relatively healthy, especially when you use the correct ingredients. Which unfortunately I was unable to. I had almost all of them though!

You need - 1% milk (I had 2%), whole wheat bread (I didn't have any so I used white bread), 2 egg whites, onion (I used onion powder), garlic powder, pepper, Worschestchire sauce, ketchup, and ground beef.

First get your egg whites, milk, and bread in a large mixing bowl. Let the bread soak it all up for 5 minutes.

Then add in your spices and Worschestchire sauce.

Add the ground beef and mix well. Then shape into a loaf and drop it in a loaf pan sprayed with nonstick spray.

Pop in the oven for 35 minutes.

Then top with ketchup and put back in the oven for about 20 minutes.

And voila...you are ready to go.

This meatloaf (actual recipe is called Flavorful Meatloaf from Taste of Home's Guilt Free Cooking) was awesome! I just added some yummy green beans and some crescent rolls and dug in!

This stuff is filling to! I knew I had too much on the plate but it really was too much! I was full after just two slices of it and this isn't a thick meatloaf. it's pretty small and compact but its great! I cant' wait to try it with the whole wheat bread which will make a difference in fat and calories but probably won't taste much difference. Meat loaf lovers jump on board with this recipe.

Hello Paula!

Paula Deen just makes my heart swell!! Along with my fat cells and my health issues LOL! While I adore and love Ms Paula Deen I try not to ever eat any of her recipes. I'm not kidding myself I know her food is delicious but absolutely horrible for you. And with my renewed effort in losing weight (watch out 2011 I'm kicking my butt) I really don't ever look at any of her recipes. But for baking day with my Mom and Seester I found a great new recipe that did indeed belong to Paula. I thought why not? I'm not going to be cooking or baking with her at all next year I might as well give it shot. So I made her Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies...now doesn't that just sound so healthy??

You only need a few ingredients, which is always nice, - Powdered Sugar, an egg, butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and a moist chocolate cake mix.

First you cream together the butter and cream cheese, then you add in your egg, vanilla, and cake mix. Beat well and then refrigerate for 2 hours. The batter looked delish!!

After two hours in the fridge you roll them into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Then place on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven.

And out they come looking like crinkles but tasting oh so much better! Don't get me wrong I like chocolate crinkles but these heavenly chocolate cookies are so much better. I don't know if its the cream cheese or what but these were amazing!!

These were so amazing the my Mom pondered what it'd taste like with a different cake mix. We decided to give it a whirl and tried it with a lemon cake mix. Can you say AMAZING!! I can, in fact I can shout it from the roof if you want! These lemon cookies are so good! They are light and fluffy but with the perfect amount of lemon. I give this recipe 4 thumbs up...oh yes it's worthy of two sets of hands!

I also tried them out with Strawberry Mix and Funfetti! Check it out!

The funfetti ones were really yummy!

The strawberry cookies not so much! They just were too moist and I even cooked them a lot longer than I was supposed to! But that's okay you can't win them all!

It seems like you can't go wrong with this recipe and I am so happy I came across. A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO THE BUTTER QUEEN PAULA DEEN!! You have now provided us with a new cookie recipe to make each year!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

I am happy to report our Stocking Holders have finally arrived! They have screwed up our mantel decor but that's okay. I think they are so cute and even though they don't match our snowy mantel they will be staying!

And because I love our tree so much I wanted to share another picture! We now have a bunch of gifts under the tree but it's so pretty on its own!

All lit up!!

Somewhat funny/goofy fact! Every night Chuck and I say "Goodnight" to the Christmas tree! I was thinking about it and whenever we have kids they better love christmas. I'll be crushed if they do not get into the holiday because in my family its a huge holiday! We have so many traditions and we really get into the Holiday Spirit!

Who else has their trees up and decorated?? Please share any links to your pictures or blogs about Christmas decorating as I'd love to check them all out!

Little Bo Peep Would be Proud!

I'm not sure if I have ever had traditional Shepherd's Pie but now it doesn't matter. I made an Italian Shepherd's Pie the other night, recipe courtesy a Taste of Home reader, and it was so easy and so delish! The two qualities I look for in a recipe!

And you should have most of this stuff on hand - 1lb ground beef, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, flour, baking powder, butter, italian seasoning, onion powder, salt & pepper, and milk!

Brown yourground beef, then drain. Because I used 93/7 meat I totally forgot to drain it since it really didn't look like much. Add your seasoning and the marinara sauce!

Then pour that mix into a greased casserole dish. Now it's time to make the topping which is so easy! butter, flour, milk, italian seasoning, baking powder and parmesan cheese!! Mix well.

Make sure to mix this well and it should start to form a ball.

Then the recipe calls for dropping by spoonfuls but I chose to spread it over the top. I wanted to make sure it was all over the meat!

Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Yum doesn't that look good? This is so amazingly easy and good, just the way I like it :-) Even Chuck liked it!! I was suprised that he enjoyed but this is now going to be a regular in our house! It was so much fun to try another new recipe and have it be a success!! I can't remember if I have ever had a traditional shepherd's pie but Chuck said this is pretty different. So if you like traditional shepherd's pie this may not be a recipe for you but it is a great recipe in general so I say give it a shot :-)

Chicken Soup

Remeber back when I said I would be taking a break from reading to concentrate on studying for an exam. Yeah while I did study my butt off for the exam I couldn't stop reading. Instead of reading a novel I chose to read one of the Amazing Chicken Soup for the Soul books! Awhile back I bought my Paps this book and he said it was really good and I should read it.

Let me preface this by saying since I moved out of my parents house I have not kept up with Nascar. While I know the old time drivers names because my Sister and Paps are totally into Nascar I don't really have any of my heart invested in it. I still have a favorite and that's Kyle Petty but that's cause I wanted to have a driver of my own in the House of Nascar :-)

Despite not having much interest in the sport I chose to read the book anyways because I love the Chicken soup books!

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Let me first say that Chicken Soup never lets me down. I cried, I laughed, and I was honestly very interested in finishing the book of short stories. I am so glad my Paps passed this along to me to read because not only was it out of my element (other than baseball I don't care to read about Sports) and I loved every minute of it.

A lot of the stories were about Dale Earnhardt who was a great driver and who it seems like was such a great guy. His fans loved him and so did the NASCAR Family. And let me tell you this sport is definitely a Family! I was very touched by those stories because I can remember when that went down and how sad it was. Not all the stories about Earnhardt were tear jerkers though, there were some funny ones where pranks were involved that made me laugh out loud!

The other stories I really enjoyed were the ones about people who were never into Nascar but when assigned to write about one of the events they felt a love and appreciation for the sport. I think Nascar has changed a lot since I was a kid but what do I know? I don't follow it and I only hear snippets now when I'm with my Paps and Sister, but to me it doesn't seem as Family oriented as it once was. These stories definitely bring that back into view and I highly recommened anyone who has ever had Nascar as part of their life to get this book, curl up with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and get comfy because once you start it you won't want to put it down!

Next up I am adding another book to my list :-) I just downloaded Giuliana and Bill Rancic's book "I Do, Now What?" because I LOVE those two! They are such a cute, real couple and I find their show to be hilarious and heartwarming. After that it will be Water for Elephants (for book club) and then my final one the Eggnog Chronicles, which will complete my 2010 List of Books!! Not only will I have achieved my original goal but I also added books throughout the year! GO ME!! Now I need to sit down and evaluate my 2011 list, it's beginnning to get a little long and I have other goals for 2011 that are more important, like losing that weight I've been wanting to. I didn't completely fail this year as I lost 10 lbs and have kept it off but I have many more to go!

Has anyone else started their 2011 goals?

Exploding with Crafts!

Well I've been back to my Holiday crafting :-) This year I put together a few things that I wasn't planning on. I honestly thought I would only have one wreath to make and that'd be it for Holiday projects! But I couldn't do that to myself now could I? :-) I decided to sit down and put together a little pointsetta plant for our home. We can't have a real pointsetta cause the cats can get really sick from it but both Chuck and I love pointsettas.

After two trips to the craft stores this is what I was able to put together! The colors are little different which I kind of like. It's not your average pointsetta! Do you see all those little gold sparkly balls? Oh yeah those got EVERYWHERE! Thankfully Chuck was so helpful and picked up 99% of them while I continued to spill them all over the place :-) But they were a perfect filler!

A view from the top. I placed all those individual flowers in. It was quite the process as I probably readjusted every single one to get it just right!  

Overall I was pretty happy with the pointsetta and it now resides in our downstairs bath. I wish the pictures would have turned out more accurate to the colors but it's the best I can do :-)

Next up was a centerpiece for our dining room table. Originally I was going to keep our everyday piece out but put green and red candles instead of white. NOPE! I got inspired at the craft store, picked up the mini wreath, took some leftover ribbon (from the wreath for the front door) and started wrapping it around. Then we had the candle from awhile ago that matches the ribbon exactly. Now the ribbon doesn't look quite rigth in the picture but it really does match the candle exactly. The only thing left to buy was the gold charger which just set it off perfectly.

 

Now it may look a little small for our table but trust me it fits it perfectly! I was so exacted to find all matching colors and I still get some christmas cheer in our dining room YAY!

And I'll let you with a little sneak peak! I took a quick shot of the christmas items while working on our pointsetta but some of those pieces are going into a wreath I am working on for my girlfriend Alycia! So far it's turning out great! I will post a pic soon as I give it to her!



What has everyone else been working on?

What to do with all those leftovers?

With all that Turkey I had leftover I knew I needed to get in the kitchen and expirement! So I made a Turkey Casserole! And let me tell you how easy this was!!

All you need is some cheddar cheese, milk, 2 slices white bread, cream of chicken soup, onion, white wine, 10 ounce bag of peas, lemon juice, canned water chestnuts, 2 cups cut up Turkey, and celery!!

Combine your turkey, water chestnuts, peas, onion powder, and celery in a bowl

Then on the stove top combine your cream of chicken soup, milk, cheese, white wine, and lemon juice. Make sure that the cheese melts and you get a smooth mixture.

Pour that mixture over the top of your turkey mixture and stir well. Coat everything in the bowl with the soupy mix.

Then put in a baking dish, top with your bread crumbs and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes top the casserole with some cheese, pop back in the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

And voila..you've got yourself a turkey meal!

Along with the casserole I made up a batch of mashed potatoes with gravy and some crescent rolls!

This was so good and so easy! The recipe actually came from Taste of Home's Guilt Free cookbook and while I didn't have all the low fat, low sodium stuff I would love to make it the healthy way and have it again. I think instead of an entire 10 ounce bag of peas I'd prefer some peas & carrots & broccoli. Essentially more of a variety of veggies, but you must try it. And the great thing about turkey is that it freezes, so even if you are burnt out after Thanksgiving just freeze the turkey and plan this meal for a cold winter night later on :-)

Anyone else doing anything creative with Turkey leftovers?