Progress

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself. I started a project, and I am actually following through with it!! (Follow through has never been my strong point!) I have gotten rid of an enormous amount of junk, and have a pretty big pile going for my yard sale. I said I was going to become crafty enough to decorate my house, but at this point, I am just "supervising" the crafty!! I came up with an idea for my bathroom, and my mom took my vision and actually made it happen. I need to take some pictures, but I still need to pick up a few things to complete the bathroom. It feels good to actually be making some progress!!

As for cooking, I haven't been doing much. My husband has been working nights, so our schedules are completely messed up, and I end up just making something simple. But I'm trying to get back into some sort of routine. I've started meal planning for the next 2 weeks, and I plan on actually going through with it!! One thing that I have made recently was White Castle cheeseburgers. My mom's friend made them for bunco one night, and she got the recipe for me.

White Castle Cheeseburgers
2 lbs ground beef (my pkg was about 2.25 lbs, which worked fine)
Onion flakes (enough to cover the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish)
worchestershire sauce
6-8 slices american cheese
dinner rolls (I used Hawaiian Rolls)
salt & pepper

In a 9X13 baking dish, cover the bottom with dried onion flakes. In a bowl, mix ground beef, worchestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Flatten ground beef out on top of onion flakes. (I had to do it in sections, then smash it all together) Cook in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or so. Remove from oven and drain out any grease. (I poured out the grease, then soaked up the excess with a paper towel. ) Top with cheese slices, and return to oven for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Cut into squares, and place on hawaiian rolls. (I cut mine into 12 squares, which made burgers that were a little larger than the buns. You could cut them smaller and get more out of it.)

These were really good! My husband wasn't a fan of the hawaiian rolls, because he said it made his burger too sweet, but other than that, they were great!

Making Changes

About a month ago, I decided that I no longer like anything about my apartment. That may seem drastic, but it is completely true. I am so tired of looking at the stuff that I have, and I am ready for changes. Not only that, but I'm tired of being unorganized. So I have begun a pretty big project. I am cleaning out and getting rid of anything that I don't want. I have taken things down off of my walls, off of tables & out of closets, and I am having a yard sale at the end of the month. I am organizing all of the junk that I have left, and trying to make it look a little bit better. I'm bargain shopping for new decorations, and I'm trying to become crafty enough to decorate my house. Its coming along, slowly but surely. I'm pretty sure that my husband thinks I've lost my mind. Every time he walks into a room, he finds something else missing!! But it has been a lot of fun so far, and very theraputic!! I should have done this a long time ago!!

Excuses, excuses. (and a recipe!)

I really haven't been blogging much lately. In fact, I haven't been doing much of anything lately. I am not a huge fan of summer. It makes me lazy. I haven't cooked much, or done much organizing. LAZY, I tell you!! But last week, I was on vacation, so one night I decided to make a nice dinner. I can't remember where this recipe came from...I copied it down from somewhere YEARS ago, and I don't make it very often. It is a variation of a roast, but it is a lot different than the normal potroast that I usually make.

Italian Roast

1 (3-4 lb) chuck roast
2 cans beef broth
1 cup red cooking wine
mushrooms (the recipe calls for shitake mushrooms, but I use button mushrooms)
1 onion, cut in strips
1 green pepper (I think I added this ingredient somewhere along the way!)
salt & pepper
olive oil

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add chuck roast and sear on each side. Remove meat, and add more olive oil. Add onions, mushrooms and green pepper. Cook until tender. Add beef broth and red wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add meat to pan, cover, and place in 400 degree oven for approx. 4 hrs. Keep an eye on it, and if the liquid starts to cook down too much you can add more beef broth. After 4 hrs, remove meat to a plate to rest. Pour the rest of the contents of the pan into a blender with 2 tablespoons of flour. Blend until it makes all the same consistency. Serve over meat and mashed potatoes.

Slowing Down

I've noticed lately that whenever someone asks me how I've been or what I've been up to, I always say that I've been busy. But when I step back and look at things, I'm not real sure what I've been so busy doing. I mean, I know that we all have our responsibilities, but compared to some people, I don't have much going on. So why am I always so "busy"?! I heard recently about a man in our town that passed away while playing golf. He was married with 4 kids, and HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD! I just can't wrap my brain around it. It has caused me to take a look at my life and what is truly important, because tomorrow isn't promised to us. I know that I have things to do around the house when I'm at home, but is there anything so important or so pressing that I can't stop and sit on the deck with my husband for a while when he asks me to? Not really. So I'm trying to teach myself to stop taking things for granted, and enjoy EVERY day. I also want to take steps to better every relationship in my life. I am so blessed with a wonderful group of family and friends, but is there more that I could be doing in those relationships? Probably so. Several months ago, I blogged about The Love Dare, a 40 day devotional that my husband and I were starting. We did really well with it for a while, but then we let life get in the way, and we never finished it. I've been thinking for several weeks that we should start back up, but we never find the time. I just finished my daily devotional book that I've been doing, so I've decided to start The Love Dare on my own. In the movie Fireproof, the husband does the book on his own, without even telling his wife that he's doing it. That is kind of the approach that I want to take on it. I haven't told my husband that I am starting it, because I feel like it will be more effective if he isn't expecting it. If he notices that I'm doing it, thats fine, but I'm not going to volunteer that information. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like we have any major problems in our marriage, but I think we could all stand to be a little better, or try a little harder. So that is what I plan to do. My "dare" for today is to not say anything negative to my husband. So far, so good! :) I'm not going to post about this every day, but I will up date once a week or so on how its going. And if you haven't checked out "The Love Dare", you definitely should.

Finding Roots

I cannot even count the number of times I have heard someone from my town say "I can't wait to get out of this town!" Mostly growing up, but sometimes even now, I hear that same sentiment. So I started wondering...is it odd that I LOVE the town I live in?! I am so happy that I still live in the same town that I was born and raised in. I love that it only takes 5 minutes to get from my house to my moms. I love passing by the high school I graduated from. I love running into a childhood friend at wal-mart. I love going to football games when my old highschool is having an undefeated season. I love knowing that I graduated from the same high school that my dad did. I love the idea of my children growing up in the same surroundings that I did. I know that living here isn't for everyone, but I for one have loved every minute of it. I'm so glad that I have "roots" here.

Carrot Cake Cookies

A while back, I found a recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies that I knew my dad would love. He always has carrot cake for his birthday, so I knew these would be right up his alley. So I was looking for an occasion to make them, and I figured Easter was the perfect time. I'm not very good at baking, so I was a little nervous, but they turned out really well. They were a huge hit at Easter!! I found this recipe here, and only modified it slightly.

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1/3 cup raisins

FILLING1 cup cream cheese
1 tbsp honey

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 180°C. Butter 2 baking sheets.Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in another bowl until pale and fluffy. Mix in carrots, and raisins; then add flour mixture to this and beat until just combined.Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total.Cool cookies on sheets for 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

If you like carrot cake, you will love these!!

A Whole Lot of Nothing!

That is what has been going on in my life lately!! I realized that I hadn't blogged in almost a month, so I started thinking of what I needed to catch everyone up on, and thats when I realized it. We haven't done much of anything lately!! I haven't been cooking as much lately, however I have managed to have a few flops!! We've just been having a lot of simple dinners, and trying to get our house organized. My husband has really been stepping up and helping around the house lately, which is awesome!!

I need to blog soon about my latest obsession...COUPONS!! Until recently, I was never big on coupons, but I have totally become obsessed. If you use coupons a lot, let me know what works for you. I'm still trying to figure it all out, but I'm getting there.

Well, I guess thats it. I just wanted to make a quick appearance!