Holidays

Peppermint Mocha Creamer, Egg Nog and candy canes are in stores now and I couldn't be more excited! I love the holiday season! I have been listening to Christmas songs to and from work all week long. Mike and I have been drinking Egg Nog for at least the last month. With the holidays comes a time of joy and family.

This year for Thanksgiving Mike and I are having his family come to our house!! This is very exciting for me. I have always wanted to have my own home and have people over to MY house for the holidays. Family has always been important to me and by Thanksgiving Mike and I will be a married couple!!!! It will be our first married holiday with his family over to eat some good turkey, stuffing, potatoes and whatever else we will be having (the dinner list isn't complete yet).

My life couldn't be more happy. I'm happy with who I am, I am happy to have a fiance/soon to be husband in 2 weeks who loves me more than I could have ever imagined, his family being so supportive of us, my parents who are supportive and full of love!! =)

The House

Well October is a very very busy month for us. We moved on October 1st into our new house and we absolutely LOVE it!!! Our new furniture has been delivered and just about everything is put away. Now the fun part begins of shopping and decorating the house. I promised a few people I would post pictures so you can see them below.

Puppy Hunting

Puppies... That is basically the thought that consumes my mind most days. Puppies and our new house =)

I have been on the hunt for a puppy and I am having a hard time finding a puppy that isn't hundreds and hundreds of dollars!! When did dogs get to be so expensive?? Mike wants a pitbull and I most definitely do NOT want a pitbull... I know a lot of people say they're sweet and great family pets but someday when Mike and I have a baby I know that I'm not going to want my child and a pitbull in the same room. I just do not trust them no matter what.

So... I have narrowed it down to 2 breeds that I do want. My first and foremost breed is the Golden Retriever but Mike said no to that one and so it is no longer on my list. So here it is:
1.) Siberian Husky
2.) Chocolate Lab- can't be a black or yellow lab. It has to be chocolate.

I found a Husky pup at the Humane Society. I called to place him on hold but he already had a hold on him. The Humane Society told me to call back at 6:30 when the hold fell off and I did. He was still there but no one answered the phone. They called me back after 7 and said they were closed and to call back in the morning. I did so but he had yet another hold on him, which that lucky family was the one to take him home. I was pretty excited about him and to rescue a pup from the humane society made me feel like I was doing something more than just paying a breeder who probably doesnt get taxed on their earnings.

So, the puppy hunt continues. It's probably a good idea to wait until we are settled into our new home before we bring a puppy into it. Too much change in a short amount of time could be a little too much to handle for the little guy or girl. But I'm not going to let that slow down my puppy hunt.

Well, that's basically all that seems remotely blog worthy. We will be moving in exactly 3 weeks so I'm positive more blogs will come as we start that journey!!!! I can't wait to move, get new furniture, and get a little puppy!!! =) I am definitely learning patience in this whole process!

New Beginnings

I know I have been bad about blogging lately. I'll try and be better about it. There have been some exciting things happening lately. Mike and I got a house!!!!! A brand new house!!!


We will be moving in October 1st and I can't wait!!! The house is 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, it has a utility room and a 2 car garage!!!! This is the start of a new beginning!

BBQ and Smoothies

There are 2 things that I have always loved about summers: 1- It's my birthday and 2-BBQ hotdogs!!!!
I feel like this summer is escaping me quickly though. It's almost my birhtday (and Mike's birthday) and I haven't had many BBQ's... My mom called me up the other day and asked if she could meet up with my and have dinner and give Mike and I our presents since she was in town. I agreed and we set off to our traditional birthday dinner of Red Robin (YUMM)!!! After a tasty meal of cluck's and fries with a pina colada for a drink it was time for the gifts!! My mom told us we were not allowed to open them until our birthdays... Cruel, I know. When it comes to birthdays and Christmas I'm like a little kid. I can't wait to open my presents.
I hugged and thanked my mom and we parted ways. Mike and I had to go to Wal-Mart to look at air conditioners and in the parking lot we decided we should open the presents... it was more my decision than his ;-)
So we tore them open. Mike got a BBQ and I got a blender. You know you're getting old when you start getting appliances such as these for your birthday and you get excited =)
Well, I'm glad we opened them in the Wal-Mart parking lot instead of at home so we could buy things to BBQ and blend up.
Yesterday we put the BBQ together and decided we needed to get some patio chairs... Off to Fred Meyer we went to get some =) You can't have a BBQ and sit inside and eat on a nice cool summer night.
After the BBQ was put together, the chairs on the patio and our stomach's rumbling it was time to start grilling!!!!! Mike did the cooking and I made the smoothies. It was fabulous!!!! It was the perfect summer dinner. BBQ hotdogs, potato salad, chips, strawberries, and orange julius smoothies... Here are the pictures:

COOK BOOKS!!!!

Okay, so I have decided (and have been told) that I'm a total geek now... Or maybe I always have been but I'm now comfortable enough with myself to admit to it. =) Anyway, I'm very very excited. I just got back from having lunch with my mom and my grandma. I love it when my grandma comes to town!! Ever since I was a kid she would always bring presents with her. They're usually small things like a box of cracker jacks. She sometimes would bring us donuts but usually cracker jacks. I know it might sound lame but I would always get excited when Grandma Burkin would come with the cracker jacks. Well, today, she came to town with something a little better than cracker jacks. She came with two cookbooks!!!!!! I'm so excited (this is the part where my geekiness comes in). They are both diabetic cookbooks and I have already looked through them and the recipe's look fabulous! I can't wait to go home tonight and start cooking away! So dear blog readers, even though there are only two of you, prepare yourselves because my food blogging is going to start coming more often now! =)

A Mini Vacation

This last weekend Mike and I drove up to Seattle for my brothers big surgery... for those of you who don't know, my brother had a massive tumor in his abdominal area, err... it was kind all over. It started in his spine and just intertwined with his organs, nerves and so forth. The doctors removed about 20 pounds of it and there are still some pieces left in there. The easy part is over now and the hard part of healing begins. It was really hard to see him hooked up to so many tubes and a breathing machine. I'm so used to seeing my brother as a strong athletic guy and to see him bedridden like that made me cry. I just wanted to trade places with him or take on his pain so he wouldn't have to feel any.

So, Mike and I decided since we were in Seattle, we'd venture out and find something to do. We walked about 10 miles in one day... an no easy miles at that. I had no idea how hilly Seattle is!!!! I thought I was gunna die walking up all of those hills.

Anyway we decided that we would go to the EMP/Sci-Fi museum... It was awesome... here are some pictures of our time there:

The Body Fuels the Mind

A few weeks ago Mike and I were hanging out with our friends Lenny and Nichole. I was noticing how much weight they both had lost since the last time we saw them (it has been about a month and a half). They both looked absolutely fabulous, especially Nichole. She had lost a ton of weight and was very toned. I asked them how they did it and they simply said "p90x."
So, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start doing these p90x workouts. Now I can't do all of them because I don't have the supplies that all of the videos require (pull up bar and weights) so I stick the videos that don't require them. Man, oh man!!!!!! I'm beyond sore!!! These workouts are intense and I have done some pretty intensive workouts back in the day. Never have I been so sore. I was dripping in sweat after the warm up... sad I know.
Anyway, for those of you who are sceptical about the p90x workouts, let me assure you, there are a group of mike and i's friends who have been sticking to the program and I've seen their results. It's their results that made me want to start these workouts. So, if you've been curious and are wanting to get in shape, these videos will definitely whip you into shape. Check it out at www.beachbody.com

Chicken Salad Panini's... a partial disaster

I ended up making chicken salad panini's today. I was really wanting to make lemon lime chicken but didn't realize the recipe called for the chicken breasts to marinate for 12 hours in the fridge prior to making them... oops!!! I guess I should have paid attention a little better.

The paninis turned out pretty good except for the fact that I burnt the chicken. I have a really hard time determining when the chicken is cooked all the way. I'm so paranoid that I'm not going to cook it well enough and then everyone will get salmonella and die... yes, I'm one of those people. I even bleach down every speck of countertop, the kitchen sink, the faucet, and the cupboard under the sink where the garbage is just so I know everything is clean and salmonella free. Call me OCD or whatever, I'm just playing it safe.

So anyway, another new recipe that would have turned out great if I hadn't burnt the chicken. This dressing is wonderful and this is definitely a recipe that I'll make again and hopefully do it better the next time around.

So for those of you who can actually grill some chicken and actually have it turn out well, here's a great chicken salad panini recipe that serves 2 people.

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
3/4 teaspoon snipped fresh dill
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash salt
Dash pepper
1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped, peeled apple
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
6 slices white bread
4 teaspoons butter, softened
Directions
In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, combine the chicken, cheese, apple and pecans; add dressing and toss to coat.
Spread half of the chicken salad on two slices of bread. Top each with another slice of bread, remaining chicken salad and remaining bread. Spread butter on both sides of sandwiches. Cook on a panini maker or indoor grill until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.




I also made these really good brownie cookie things but it all came from a box so I didn't feel like it was really blog worthy.

Maybe one of these days I will actually write about something exciting going on in my life other than food. I'm really enjoying cooking and learning my way around the kitchen. I really want to start making homemade bread and everything. Although Mike will tell you that sometimes I get stressed out and beg for him to come help me, I absolutely love cooking!

Well, time for me to plug in a movie and snuggle up with my handsome and fall asleep with this full and satisfied belly!

Calzone mmm mmm

Mike rates this one the best we've had yet, or at least tied with the macaroni. This calzone is quick, easy, and you can pick and choose all of your favorite pizza toppings. Here is my recipe, you can modify it as you please. *Please note the portions of the ingredients reflect 2 large calzones and serves 6-8 people.


Ingredients

2 loaves of Rhodes bread dough (or your own homemade bread dough)
2 cup of mozzarella or your favorite cheese (we used monterey jack and mozzarella)
1/2 pound of salami slices
1/2 pound of canadian bacon slices
1 cup of mushrooms (optional)
3/4 cup of onions (Optional)
*we didn't have green pepper or else we would have added that
*Marinara sauce for dipping if you so choose.

Directions

*Heat Oven to 375 degrees.
*Cover your counter tops and rolling pin in flour to keep the dough from sticking.
(these are the little things that I forget)


Roll each loaf of bread dough to about 12 inches by 8 inches *keep in mind that you may need to roll it out a little extra in case dough shrinks





Next, lay your toppings in the center length wise. Remember to leave enough room on all sides so you can close them together after your toppings are in!





Next, fold the ends together and pinch the dough so it stays closed. Grease your baking sheet. Place the finished calzone rolls with the seams down and place in the oven. We lightly drizzled the tops with olive oil and dusted it with finely grated parmesan cheese.



Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until lighty golden brown and they should look like this:





I am proud to announce that this is the first recipe that I did not mess up in!!! I think I'm finally getting the hang of this cooking thing.... or I need to stick to these easier recipes. =)

So dear blog readers, as the infamous Julia Childs would say... "Bon Appetit!"

Mac N Cheese to Die for =)

So, after last nights horrible chicken marsala disaster I decided to bounce back and try yet another recipe. So what was on the menu tonight? Mac n cheese... no it's not Kraft macaroni and cheese, it's homemade and I have pictures to prove it!

And here's the recipe. It was so good that I had to share it with everyone. The following recipe serves about 2 people (large servings)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/3 cups 2% milk
2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
Directions
In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Reduce heat. Add the cheeses and Worcestershire sauce; stir until cheese is melted. Fold in macaroni.
Pour into a 1-qt. baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly.

And here's the pictures


See I really did make it and it wasnt out of a box



Mmm... Mmmm... =)



And the final product:




So for those of you who enjoy cooking, this was quick and easy and really good!!

A Chicken Marsala Disaster!

Yesterday I decided that I would make more time to cook some meals and try new recipe's. I went to allrecipes.com and was flipping through them. One of the recipe's was for chicken marsala. So, I set out to the grocery store and purchased all of the ingredients. I was very excited for Mike to come home and I could cook him a nice meal (he loves chicken marsala). Hopefully I didn't ruin it for him =)

I ran into a few speed bumps all the way. I was cooking the chicken and when I flipped it to the other side it was a perfectly light brown color. I was so pleased with myself and excited that I forgot to brown the other side of the chicken. So I continued on and poured in the mushrooms, cooking sherry, and marsala wine. A few minutes later it hit me, I forgot to cook the other side of the chicken!!!



I yelled for Mike to come help me, and he came to my rescue! We dumped all the mushrooms and juices out and started cooking the other side of the chicken.
When that was finally done I poured the marsala wine, the sherry and the mushrooms in and continued on like it had never happened.



After I let it simmer for 10 minutes like the directions said to, it still didn't look quite right and I let it simmer some more (I think our stove doesn't work the way it's supposed to). After another 10 minutes or so I decided that it should be done by then and served it up...






It looked nice and it looked like it would taste good. Oh how looks can be deceiving. It was a disaster! The wine taste wasn't cooked out all the way and the taste of wine was a little too overpowering. And for Mike and I who are not wine connoisseurs, we didn't care for it too much.

So that specific recipe is to be wiped out and I shall try a different one later on this week. I have about 5 more new recipes I copied from the internet and I'll be sure to blog about those.

Busy Days...

I haven't been very good about keeping up with this blog. I just haven't felt like anything in life has been blog-worthy. It's been busy with work, keeping up a household, and worrying about my brother. Life has been a little too busy to even cook. I get home from work and I'm so tired that I don't really want to cook, I just want to go to bed or spend time with Mike. We don't have a single day off together so the couple of hours in the evening before we go to bed is all we really get.

So really, that's about it. Nothing too exciting here. Just the same ol same ol.

T-Ball Games

Last night I was driving home from work like I do every week night. In order to get home I have to drive through the tiny town of St. Paul. Along the main road is the k-12 school. As I drove by, with my window down enjoying the sunshine, there was a little t-ball game going on. Parents everywhere, clapping, kids in the field running the wrong way on the bases and 3 little kids at the pitcher's mound. I stopped to watch it for a minute or two and it got me thinking.

I can't wait to have a kid out there running around in their little baseball pants and the bright colored shirts with hats that are too big they cover their eyes. I want to be one of those mom's that goes to every sporting event. The mom that sits their bundled up on a very early Saturday morning, coffee mug in hand and supportively cheering for my child.

I have always been one to say "I don't want kids. They poop, throw up, they're messy, etc..." But within the last year or two I have most certainly changed my mind. Watching my brothers with their kids, and my other brother about to become a father, has really made me want to have a son or daughter of my own.

I look forward to the days where I get to go to the sporting events on weekends, during the week take them to practice, watch them play in the backyard, go to their first day of school... Someday...

Well, those are my thoughts for the day. I'm excited for whatever may lie ahead on this little journey called life.

A Growing Appreciation

Something that I have learned quite a bit lately is how much I regret not saying "thank you" more often to my mother.

Over the last few months, having my own place (with Mike) has been quite an adventure. I never knew how much work it took to keep up a household. And I don't even have kids yet!!! When I was little and even to this day, my mom would always work an 8+ hour day, come home, vacuum, dust, pick up after 3 very busy and messy kids, take us to all of our sporting events, cook dinner, do the dishes, do the laundry, walk the dog, brush the dog, mow the yard, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again. And how many times do I remember giving her an extra hug or saying a simple "thank you" or offer to do the dishes one night?? Nothing comes to mind.

It wasn't until recently that I realized how much I appreciate my mom for all the things she did for me while growing up. After getting up at 5 AM every morning, leaving for work at 6:50 and not getting home til 6:00 or 7:00 if I'm working in Scappoose, the last thing that I want to do is come home and pick up and clean a house just for it to get messy again the next day. I just want to sit and relax. But having a messy house drives me INSANE so, I clean and do the dishes and cook (which I do enjoy) and do the laundry (which is the chore I despise the most) and by the time I am finished with that I am ready to go to sleep at 8:00 and do it all over again the next day. Weekends have turned into laundry days and deep cleaning days (cleaning the bathrooms, the closets and refridgerator) and its turning into my second full time job.

I now have a great appreciation for my mom and it continues to grow everyday as I struggle with keeping my sanity with always having to come home and clean.

Now, I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm not. There are somedays where I enjoy cleaning my home. There is something refreshing about having a nice clean home and it allows me to relax. I can't sit down and relax knowing that my house is a mess and there are things that need to be done. Once the house is cleaned and picked up, it's very refreshing and I enjoy that. The point of this blog is really to say:
Thank you, Mom for everything you did for Matt, Kyle and I. You really are the best. You worked hard and came home after a long day to put in another 8 hours of non-stop work. I love you!

Another day, another meal!

It's usually around 4:30 in the afternoon when Mike and I start talking about what we should make for dinner. Usually towards the end of the month it starts to get tough. Do we use what's left of the hamburger? Do we use the chicken? Well the other night we decided on the chicken. But what to go with it? We couldn't really think of anything so we headed down to good ole Fred Meyers.

No matter what we're going to the store for, whether it's one item or a big cart load full, we always start from one side of the store and go down every isle. So, we started our adventure. We ended up buying some penne and some other type of noodle and a cartful of other random items.

Once at home, we cut up our chicken into small thin slices, added a little pepper and put it in the frying pan. We ended up making a chicken penne alfredo, pasta salad (which was amazing) and some Texas Toast. The pasta salad had little noodles, peas, carrots, bacon bits, and was absolutely fabulous (Mike made it). Here's a picture of the entire meal:

It was absolutely fabulous. There were no big screw ups... except with the alfredo sauce I didn't whisk it until it boiled so it scorched the some of it. It still turned out great though.
I think this is a meal that we can even serve to guests.

Anway, there is another cooking adventure!!! I'm sure there will be more to follow. =)

My Newest Obsession

If anyone knows me, this is going to come as a huge shocker... I love, love, love to cook!!! I love coming home after work and cooking dinner, trying to make random things towards the end of the month because we've spent all our money on fun stuff or put it in a savings account where we can't touch it... it's just really fun!

I have finally found my morning routine that I like and I don't plan on changing it anytime soon. I wake up, taking Kelly outside to go potty, feed her, take a shower, go downstairs, turn the news on and do my make up while watching the news. I have recently become a major fan of KATU channel 2 news. Not really because of their news reporting (the morning show is alot more entertaining than the evening news) because as we all know, the news doesn't tell the WHOLE truth. Working in politics, I've come to realize that half the things they report are overly dramatic that it's no longer the truth, but rather a big fat lie. That's besides the point. I have become a fan of KATU morning news because they have fun giveaways and to win you have to be their friend on facebook so I have become their friend on facebook and sadly I will admit that I try to win their giveaways.

This week's giveaway was a Jamie Oliver Cookbook!! Now, I'm not sure who Jamie Oliver actually is but the cookbook sounded fun. So all week I've been getting up just a little bit earlier than normal to try and win the cookbook. The giveaway starts at 6:30 am every morning and that's usually when I'm upstairs finishing straightening my hair. So, I've been up and ready and trying really hard to win this cookbook. I came close this morning, but no such luck... I lost. Tomorrow is the last day to try and win and believe me, I am going to try!

So back to my cooking stories. Although I love to cook, I'm still not all that good and I'm working on trying to time everything just right so its all ready at the same time. Last night was pefect! I made my own beef stroganof, fried my corn (instead of following the instructions on the bag) and made some Texas toast. It all finished up at the same time and it turned out pretty well. I will admit that I made a couple mistakes. The main one being, I forgot to drain the fat from the hamburger after I had browned the meat (oops)! But it's one of those lessons where next time, I'll remember! Another mistake... Make sure you have ALL the ingredients before you start making it... Half way through, I realized we were out of milk which I needed for my stroganof.

All in all, it turned out really well and Mike loved it so that's the important part. =)

I love cooking for him! Sometimes he even helps me in the kitchen, which I love even more than cooking for him. Somehow we seem to have a lot of fun together in the kitchen coming up with new recipe's or trying to remember how to make certain dishes we saw on the food network. I also love when we set off the smoke detectors (it happens almost daily now). We can't figure out why they go off. It's not smokey in the house and nothing burns. Whenever we turn the oven on, they go off. I wonder if the neighbors think "poor mike"??

Anyway to wrap things up, I love cooking. I am really wanting to go buy a cookbook this week and just start at the beginning and cook all the recipe's in it. An expensive task at hand I'm sure but I am eager and ready to take it on!

A New Life, A New Beginning

Well, I guess I decided to start blogging again. It seems like it's the "thing" to do nowadays. I know most people who blog every day or once a week. I don't think my life will be interesting enough to blog that much. But here goes nothing...

The month of March was quite an eventful one. Mike bought his car, which just happens to be my dreamcar. It's a 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS. It's silver and one good looking vehicle. We both really enjoy it.


Also new this month, I quit my job at Wells Fargo!!! For those of you who don't know... I started working there August of 2009 after my job with the State Legislature ended. I had 6 weeks of training which was a blast! It mostly involved learning how banks work and bank policies and whatnot. I love learning so I thuroughly enjoyed training. Then, training ended and all hell broke loose. Now, I wasn't working at a Wells Fargo branch. I was working at a Wells Fargo call center. It was formerly known as Wachovia and I answered the phone as "Wachovia" but as most people know, Wachovia no longer exists and it is now Wells Fargo. Working at a call center I thought would be fun. Talking to new people everyday, hearing everyone's money stories, and I thought I would get to "help" people. Boy was I wrong!!! One call after another was the same old story. Someone spent too much money and they had fee's. But could I refund them their fee's? No. Which the end result was them yelling at me. So I quit!!

I am back to working full time for the Oregon State Legislature for State Senator Betsy Johnson and it feels great to be back! I love my job. I love the people who work in goverment and I love politics! I get to see and be apart of something so incredibly powerful. I see the inside workings and am constantly learning something new. This job really does make a difference.

So, with Mike getting his car and me quitting my job resulted in our budget being a little tight this month, which we will most definitely bounce back from on payday. We knew money would be tight with putting cash down on the car and we were prepared (or so we thought). We stopped eating out and gambling and have been getting a little "creative" for our meals. It's actually been quite fun!! I have become a little chef as well as Mike. With all of the shows we watch on the Food Network we should be creative! =) We've made a couple of different homemade pizza recipe's, some different Asian recipe's that involve chicken and vegetables and Mike's secret ingredients, and various different dishes. It's been very appetizing and fun!

Well, that's about all for now. There were some other fun things that happened in March and I'll be sure to write some more about it in a few days.