FOOD and Things

Okay,
so this website Pinterest
is totally addicting. Not only does it have wonderful craft ideas, fashion tips, funny quotes, it also has AMAZING recipes!! I have been putting these recipes to good use! I am NOT a cook, never claimed to be (good thing my hubby didn't marry me for my kitchen skills.) I can bake however.
Anyway,
I've tried 4 different recipes. Two dinners and Two desserts.
The first 3 have been amazing and the fourth is in the crockpot for dinner tonight. (I'll have to let you know how that turns out)

RECIPE ONE

DEEP DISH COOKIE PIES
Recipe is from Blue-Eyed Bakers
The Blue-Eyed Bakers' Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (recipe follows)
6 small ramekins (about 4" diameter)
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Fill ramekins 3/4″ deep with raw, room temperature cookie dough. Set ramekins on baking sheet and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 13-16 minutes, or until the top is just slightly golden brown. You're aiming for slightly undercooked cookies.

Place ramekins on individual plates or napkins (they'll be hot) and top with vanilla ice cream, as much or as little as you like. Spoon delicious bitefuls immediately into your mouth.

These are best served straight from the oven.

Blue-Eyed Bakers' Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, cold & cubed
1 stick margarine, cold & cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips
1 cup milk chocolate, chopped or chips

In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well incorporated.

Into the bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips/chunks.

At this point you're ready to use the dough for the cookie pies.
You may not need it all though, so you can either freeze the
remaining dough or continue to bake the cookies as directed below.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & chill dough for at least an hour.

While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Scoop out 2 oz balls of dough and place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 15-20 minutes on a rack in the upper third of the oven until lightly browned. (Be sure not to bake these on the bottom rack in the oven – the recipe has a large amount of brown sugar that could cause the bottoms to burn).



RECIPE TWO

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Recipe from Stick a fork in it

4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (i threw them in frozen... even easier!)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (I used Famous Dave's Sauce)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

mix BBQ sauce with all ingredients listed under it. place chicken in crockpot. pour sauce over it and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. you pretty much don't even have to stir it.


RECIPE THREE

CAKE BATTER BLONDIES
Recipe from Girl Meets Life

ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup  rainbow sprinkles
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

directions: Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add the milk slowly – you want the batter to remain as dense as possible. Then mix in the rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
After cooling for about 20 minutes, the gooey center is what will lend to the decadent, cake-batter texture.



RECIPE FOUR

SLOW-COOKER FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES
Recipe from Boy Cheese Sandwich 

1 (2-4 pound) beef roast, trimmed of fat

2 (16 oz.) cans beef broth (I subbed 4 cups water + 4 tsp. beef bouillon) 

2 pkgs. dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix

8 French hoagie or Sub Rolls

Cheese slices (we love Swiss)

Place the beef roast in the slow-cooker. I recommend using a Reynold's Slow Cooker Liner for easy cleanup. Mix the beef broth with the Onion Soup Mix and pour over the beef.  Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours. Shred roast with a fork, then return the meat to the crock to soak up those yummy juices while you prepare your rolls.

Split rolls in half and toast lightly. Pour meat through a fine mesh strainer and collect the juice in another bowl. Pile meat onto toasted rolls and top with a slice of cheese. (Can broil quickly to melt the cheese). Serve sandwiches with au jus on the side for dipping. Serves 8.

 There you have it. 4 Recipes. ALL new to me and so far ALL very good. I'm excited for those French Dip Sandwiches tonight :)

Remember

Remember last month when I posted about our disasters with Charlie and the carpet and door frame??
Well we FINALLY got everything fixed! (Well the best we could at least)
My mom fixed the carpet for us. It looks pretty dang good. If you don't live here its hard to point out but since I see that room everyday I know exactly where the "fix" is.
Our good friend Marco came and fixed the door frame. Thank Goodness. We were gonna try and just do it ourselves but wow that would have ended badly.
What would have taken us probably an entire day took him an hour. And it looks perfect. Like nothing happened :)
So, here's the carpet. I know the pics are blurry but you get the idea.


And here's the door frame.



It's nice to have everything looking the way its supposed to again.
Although, as soon as we got all of that fixed Berto's cousin came to pick up furniture we gave them and broke a light fixture. UGH! Luckily everything in this house is basic, nothing custom, so we just have to replace the glass.
SHOULD be easy.
I can't wait to just be out of this house and be done with it.
We have our "walk through" next week. I'm not worried. The house looks great other than the carpet and that spot happens to be covered by a bed at the moment.

I just thought I would post about those incidents before I delete the pics and forget.
I've been addicted to pinterest and found a whole bunch of recipes I want to try.
The first is cake batter blondies which I just pulled out of the oven and am waiting for them to cool. ( I will post about those another time.)
And tomorrow is BBQ'd chicken from the crockpot. BUT you put the chicken in frozen... We'll see how that turns out.
Til next time!

Tustin

We are back from California.
It was a successful trip. We found our new home and are excited to move.
Although all was successful, it sure didn't feel like a vacation. (Well maybe because it wasn't)
I was exhausted by the time we got back!

We sold our dining table last night. It was the last thing that NEEDED to go so we are relieved. Now all we have left to do is pack and clean. Sounds easy enough, I just have no motivation to do it.

Our apartment is in Tustin, CA. It is really nice. Brand new carpeting, big rooms, double pained windows, 4 different parks on the property that I can take Matty to play in. We are right across the street from the Santa Ana Zoo. (Maybe I'll need to become a season pass holder)

We are excited to be so close to my grandma. Berto is really trying for Friday night pasta.... haha.
I don't really have much else to say. Just can't wait for this all to be over so we can move on with life.
Til next time.

I Should Be....

**A post in pictures :)**

While I should be doing this:

Packing

OR THIS:

Cleaning (and probably not that happily)

OR EVENTHIS:

Packing for our weekend in California

I am NOT I am doing this:

Updating my blog with useless information

AND THIS:

Wasting my time looking at cool ideas on pinterest. SO addicticing.

AND:

Playing Epic Mickey while Matthew obsesses over Mickey being on the screen. SO funny.

There you have it. 3 very important things I SHOULD be doing and am not and 3 very pointless things I really don't NEED to be doing but am.
That's life.
Don't judge me.

I can NOT wait to be in California TOMORROW!!!!

MOTIVATION

OR in my case:
LACK there of. I have none.
My hubby just called me to tell me the company moved his start date at the California center to 10/09. That is not even a month away.
Have I packed?
Hardly
Have I cleaned?
Not really

The only thing we have successfully done?
Sold our washer and dryer and fridge. (Dang dining table won't leave!)
Fixed the carpet in the front room
Got our friend Marco to fix the molding in the bathroom.
Got rid of most of our bulk furniture that we can't take with us.
That's it.

Normally I would have already had everything packed including plates and cups and be complaining about how I shouldn't have packed those yet. All that I would have left to do are the odds and ends that I end up throwing into laundry baskets or whatever because I'm in a hurry. But No not this time. I can NOT find the motivation to do it.
You would think the idea of moving to California and the cooler weather and getting out of this house would be enough but it isn't.
I tried to pack my room yesterday....
I packed up my bookshelf and then my bed started calling my name really loudly so I took a nap.... didn't do anything else. UGH!

I also credit my lack of motivation to the fact that my 2 year old is being EVIL!
2 weeks now we are going on constant crying, not listening, tantrum central, spitting, torturing the cats, multiple time outs.... the list goes on people!
He is being SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO mean!
After talking to my mom, she says he's being a normal 2 year old, but she has a point that its because everything around him is changing. Furniture is leaving and he doesn't like it. Things are being moved and he doesn't like it. So he's acting out. I know they call it the terrible twos but I have always been grateful to have such a good little boy. He always listened and we had our minor temper tantrums but nothing like whats been happening.

Most days I can't get anything done. Not even the normal day to day stuff. By the time he goes to bed I am exhausted and most days I just want to cry myself to sleep. (I don't because I feel like I really have nothing to complain about, What? I can't handle my 2 year old. Cry a river...)
On Saturday I went to my mom's to do laundry and left Matthew at home with Berto. He finally got just a taste of what I have been complaining about for 2 weeks. It's so frustrating. He is better at handling him because he doesn't deal with it EVERY SINGLE DAY. I need a break. Simple as that.
I know I'm a mom and I will probably never get a break but I need one.

This little girl in me is sucking the life out of me and what little is left Matthew sucks the rest of.
My body hurts all the time. I can't even give Matthew baths anymore because it literally kills my back to lean over the tub. Berto has to bathe him at night now. I hate that so much. I like bathing him in the morning so he is clean all day but I have to suck it up because there is not much else I can do.

Sorry for the rant, but sometimes it helps just to complain about everything.
I am looking forward to finding a place to live in California so we can move on with our lives and not be so stressed out all the time. I am looking forward to permanently getting out of this heat. (Even though we are moving right when it starts getting nice here in AZ)

I know its small but this picture is so funny. I put away his booster chair since we are trying to sell the table but I needed something for Matty to sit in to eat. So I pulled out his high chair. He still fits in it despite being too long but he looks hilarious BECAUSE he is so big!! It's cute though :)

Moving

We have finally been notified by Berto's job that we are moving!!
California here we come!!

Berto starts at his new center on October 15. We are going to Cali next weekend to look at apartments and hopefully find one. We are moving like October 11 or somewhere very close to that date.
I have roughly 5 weeks.
That is so quick!!

We immediately put our washer, dryer, refrigerator, and dining table up on craigslist for sale. (Since we will be moving to an apt for probably the next couple of years, we have no use for the appliances. And the table is too big!)

Berto and I discussed what we thought would be the order these items sold in.
1. dining table
2. fridge
3. washer and dryer

NO!!

We sold the washer and dryer AND the fridge all on Monday!!!
We can't get anyone to buy our stinking dining table!!
??????????????
Personally, I think Berto has it overpriced but he doesn't want to listen to me...
We'll see. Hopefully it sells soon.


In the meantime with no washer and dryer life is a little hectic!
Why is it when you don't have access to something is when EVERYTHING goes wrong?
My mom is kind enough to let us wash our clothes at her house until we move but that's like once a week because she works and we live so far away.
We sold the washer and dryer on Monday and of course Matty decides to flood the bathroom floor while bathing. So I have wet towels, rugs, and clothes. ALL needing to be washed ASAP before they start smelling like mold! And I can't wash them until Saturday! AHHHHH!

So life is stressful at the moment. Between packing, getting rid of furniture, stuff for Goodwill, cleaning the house, being pregnant, and my wonderful 2 year old I am ready to pull my hair out most days.
I know it will get better once we move. I just want it to be over NOW.

We are excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

I am lame and have totally failed in the picture taking area. I will be back soon.... hopefully.
Til next time!

Sugar and spice and everything nice...

is what little GIRLS are made of!!!
Yep, that's right! We are having a girl and could not be more excited!!!!


We went to the OB last Thursday....
after being told I wasn't on the schedule (I had my card with the appt date and time) I was "added" on. I was taken back at 10:20 (my appt was at 10:15) no big deal, 45 min later the midwife FINALLY comes in! I have NEVER waited that long at that office.....apparently they were having issues with their scheduling system.
Oh wait.
It gets better.
We have been looking forward to this appt for the past 4 weeks. Why? Because we were finding out the sex of the baby! As soon as the midwife comes in she asks if I have an ultrasound scheduled.
WHAT!!!?????
I was told my ultrasound was that day when I scheduled the appt!  I started to get upset because I had already been waiting so long and it wasn't my fault that they messed up their schedule! The midwife was really nice though and have the ultrasound tech fit me in. And I didn't have to wait very long at all.
After looking at all the parts, you know heart, kidney, bladder, legs, arms, brain, all that good stuff she finally asks if I want to know the sex... OF COURSE!
She said it looks like a girl. I was unsure by the way she said it but excited because she didn't say boy....
She looked again and she took her time and finally said, "I am positive it's a girl."
YAY!!!!!!!!
I will have my little pair!! I am SO excited!

So at this appt:
I asked how much weight I've gained.... 1lb. That's it? I feel like a whale..... Weight must be fluctuating...

My tummy is measuring right at 20 weeks... Perfect
Ultrasound tech says the baby is measuring 4 days early. She is approximately 13oz.
 She's stealing all my food and I throw up the rest ( sorry TMI?)
I bought my first girl outfit today! I can't believe it. SO excited!


My mom has been waiting for the day to buy cute little frilly girl dresses. Now she can :)

I have more to update about but I'll make that another post some other day.
My scanner is tucked away in my closet so one of these days I'll pull it out and post pics of our little girl :)
Til next time