Just checking in...

Hi! I have no food to share with you today, unfortunately. We got back from Milwaukee at 2 am Monday morning... and I still don't have my feet on the ground yet! :) Too much laundry and picking up to do... not to mention work! Haha. But I did want to say hello and share my baby shower gift with you. 

I found this idea on www.pinterest.com. Have you ever been there? Are you a member? It's so cool. It's a place to find or keep interesting things you find on the internet. You know how you find something neat on a website, but then can't remember where you found it later? Pinterest can help! I love it. Anyways, here is the gift. (Photo courtesy of pinterest)

Isn't it cute? You can find inspiration on what to include here at Jen's Own Road. She has some great ideas!

I also can't resist showing you a couple other things I found on pinterest for baby gifts. Check them out! (all photos courtesy of pinterest)

Aren't those cute?! If only I was more creative! But the top 3 pictures use baby washcloths or socks to create the bouquet, lollipop and cupcakes. The last one with the stork is a baby blanket with diapers rolled up inside! :) Who comes up with stuff?! 


Well, I just wanted to share those. I'm off to work now!

Roast Beef & Peppers over Biscuits

Hello! What a gloomy day outside it is here today. It really annoys me when it's cloudy and looks like it could rain any time, but doesn't! If it's gonna be cloudy... rain already! :)

Mom, Whitney & I are headed to Milwaukee, WI this weekend for a baby shower! It's a quick trip- leaving Friday afternoon and coming back late Sunday night. We are excited to be able to share in the celebration! I may or may not have more baby cupcakes to share... haha! I actually have a gift that I'm excited to share with you, because it's really quite cute and unique! But have to wait til after the shower... cuz I can't give secrets away before! :)

Lunch today, well, I made a new "cheap & easy" recipe. It was really pretty darn good! 

Roast Beef & Peppers over Biscuits
-  2 1/2 cups Jiffy/Bisquick baking mix
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded Swiss or Provolone cheese
- 10 oz sliced roast beef (like from the deli counter)
- 2 small bell peppers, any color, sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms, optional
- 1 can condensed French Onion soup
- 1 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic pepper seasoning
- 1 tsp salt

Combine baking mix, milk, and cheese in a bowl and mix until it shapes into a ball. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness on a surface dusted with extra baking mix.  Cut into 12 biscuits using a biscuit cutter or a small glass. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine beef, veggies, soup, seasoning, 1 cup water. Heat to boiling. Combine remaining 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup flour, add to saucepan. Boil until thickened. Serve over biscuits. 

I obviously topped mine with an extra slice of cheese. Cheese is good. Makes everything better! :) 

Just so you know, the amount of biscuits is probably more than you need for the beef mixture. But I love biscuits, so I made extra to top with butter and honey!!! :) Yummm.

Well, off to work, then packing, then outta here! :) Be back next week sometime!

Crispy Garlic Chicken with Roasted Green Beans

Hi there! We are still enjoying our new home! Thanks for all the well wishes!

It's been awhile since I've shared some food with you! It's been awhile since I've cooked! :) Anyways, today I have a "budget friendly" & "quick & easy" recipe to share with you. That's kinda how I roll lately with a new mortgage and more stuff to do in Sioux City! I need to save $ and cook fast! :) 

Crispy Garlic Chicken
- 4 thinly sliced chicken breasts (I used 2 regular chicken breasts and sliced them in 1/2 so they were thin)
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp each- salt, pepper, dried chives, garlic powder
- 2 cups corn flakes, crushed (1 cup total crushed)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 Tbsp dried chives


Mix together in a bowl butter, milk, salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp dried chives, and garlic powder. In a separate bowl combine corn flakes, paprika, and chives. 


Coat chicken with butter mixture, then with corn flakes. Place on a greased wire rack over baking pan. I use my cooling rack, and put it on top of a large cookie sheet. This helps to make both sides of the chicken crispy, not mushy. 


Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, depending on chicken thickness. 

I've already shared the roasted green beans recipe with you, but in case you haven't made them yet! 


Toss green beans with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes (time depends on amount of beans you have). You want to stir them probably once or twice. The beans are done when they are wrinkly, slightly browned, and tender to eat. 

In other news... My friend just had a baby girl!!!!! And I got to visit her on Saturday! She is so precious and totally cute! I brought over some cupcakes for the family!

Baby cupcakes! If you can see in the picture there are little baby faces on the cupcakes. If you want to re-create, all you do is dip vanilla wafers in almond bark and create faces! 


Well, I hope you have a great week! I will hopefully be back on Wednesday or Thursday with another post!

Ahhh.... Our New Home

Ahhhh.... is right. I am finally relaxing on my couch with the computer in my lap! It has been a busy busy week, but totally worth it! We are over joyed with the way our house turned out, and we are so glad to be *home*. 

I will admit we had our struggles. First, as we were waiting the long month to close on the house. "Are you sure this is the house for us?"  "I don't know if there's enough space."  "That's gonna be a lot of painting to do!"  "Is our kitchen table going to fit in the eat-in kitchen?" 

Then we got the keys!! Next came the painting... ugh. We had to cover the red and navy walls all over the house. Really? Come on. Never... I say never paint all 4 living room walls bright red, or all 4 bedroom walls dark navy. It's not cool, and it's not fun to paint. But, thank heavens for Lowe's Valspar paint with primer. This does work, and I would recommend it. How do I know it was better than ordinary paint? Well, in our bedroom in Sioux Center I painted ONE red wall. Just one, that's ok people. Just one. I loved the red wall, and still had over 1/2 the gallon of paint left, so I decided to use it up in our bedroom. It did not have primer on it. And it took 4 coats over the navy blue. Four!!! I only needed 1-2 coats with the paint with primer. Definitely on my "A list". Thank you Lowe's.

The next job was organizing everything. Whoa baby. I hate this part. It's great when you find a spot for everything... but the journey there is long and a big mess! We are almost done with this part. Well, I should say that I am done with my part, and now it's Aaron's turn to finish in the basement and garage. :) 

Ok, so I'm going to try some before and after pics. The before are the pics with the seller's stuff and furniture in the pics. 

Living Room 
Before

 After

Master Bedroom
Before

 After

Guest Bedroom
Before

 After

Kitchen 
We didn't change anything in here, but added some curtains, wall decor, and rug. So these are all after photos.
  

Bathroom
I unfortunately didn't have a before picture of this. But it was pink (or mauve if you know what that is). And had a burgundy shower curtain. 

 
Family Room (Basement)
 Before

We've divided the room into a family lounge area, and Aaron has a big projection screen that we watch TV with... it's cool.
 After

And an office area. Which still has a little work to be done. But you get the picture. :)
 

Ok, I think that's all for now. Thank you to everyone who blessed us with their help in our moving process! We are so thankful to all of our family and friends for helping! THANKS!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

Oh yeah... I know I said probably no post 'til we moved... well, then I made this cake...

Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Sheet Cake!!!! I apologize, I obviously didn't melt my butter quite all the way... hence the white specs in the frosting. But don't let that deter you away... it's delicious!!! And it took my mood from crabby and mean (ask Aaron) to happy and content. :) Haha. 

PB Sheet Cake
By: The Girl Who Ate Everything 
Mix in pan and bring to a boil:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter

Sift the following and add to the above mixture:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

Mix and add to the above mixture:
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Stir well and pour into greased or parchment lined cookie sheet pan (jellyroll pan). Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Frosting
Mix in pan and bring to a boil:
3/4 cup butter
6 Tbsp buttermilk
1/2 cup peanut butter
 
Take off stove and add:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla. Pour over warm cake. 

Yes, the answer is yes... you definitely want to run and make this! 

Oh, did you want to see what we're up to these days? 

Yep... boxes and sh** everywhere! :) Nice, huh?! Well, we are almost ready to go! Only 1 week to go!! YAY!


I did make a cold pasta salad this week too, I should share that with you! It was a scorcher this week with heat indexes in the 110's!! We had to stay and eat cool. 

Mediterranean Pasta Salad


1 lb tri-color rotini
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
3/4 cup black olives, sliced
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
Sprinkle of basil & oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste


Cook pasta, drain and rinse with cold water. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, basil, oregano, salt & pepper. Pour over pasta, add rest of ingredients and stir. 

Long Time... Catch Up Blog!

Hi there! As you can tell... it's been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted! My plate is full with my garden... and packing! And the space in between I try to keep myself and my house halfway clean & decent. :) Haha. It's hard when there's boxes everywhere and dirt tracked in from the garden. But it is wonderful as well. Only 2 short weeks and 2 days until we get the keys to our new home! And the garden is wonderful... we have peas and beans coming out of our ears! We've already frozen some for during the winter! Check 'em out!

Yum-O! I like to boil them, but I also tried roasting them... which is AMAZING! Have you ever? You must! They get almost caramelized and a little chewy! They are my new favorite! Simply toss your cleaned beans with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, depending on how many you got. Be sure and stir them 1-2 times during cooking. 

Let's see... I've also not posted about 4th of July. We didn't do a darn thing, but since we're all about emptying our pantry and freezer (Mac & Cheese, Tuna Helper, etc) I thought I would cook a good- real meal for once! Ha! 

We had chili dogs on the grill, Buffalo Chicken Dip and fresh green beans. Oh, Buffalo Chicken Dip... another favorite! 

1 1/2 cups shredded, chopped chicken, fully cooked (you could use a couple cans of chicken as well if you want really easy)

1/2 cup ranch dressing

2 cups colby jack cheese

1 cup Frank’s hot sauce

8oz cream cheese

Directions:

Mix ingredients together, pour into a non-stick sprayed casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Serve with tortilla chips.

Oh yum! I wish we could go back to July 4th... I could eat this again! 

Alright, I also helped host a wedding shower for Aaron's nephew's fiance... Laura! We had a great time eating, dressing up, and wishing her well! I was in charge of ... can you guess? Food! Duh. We had quite the spread.

We had Chocolate Coca-Cola Cupcakes, White Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze, Turtle Cheesecake Truffles, Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cupcakes, Cheese balls, and Spinach dip! 

Let's recap, shall we?

Cupcakes.... 

Cheese balls...

I made individual sized cheese balls, and thought they were cute and neater than everyone digging in one large cheese ball, you know? I simply mixed 2 blocks cream cheese, 3 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 pkg Ranch dip seasoning. I rolled them into golf ball sized balls and then rolled and pressed them in pecans. Finally, I stuck a toothpick in so they are easy to grab. Serve with crackers.

And we have Spinach dip...

Here's the recipe-

16 oz cream cheese

1 cup mayo (or Miracle Whip)

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped finely

1/2 cup crumbled bacon (store bought=so easy!)

1 green onion, chopped

2 tsp dill weed

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Combine everything and chill overnight for best flavor. Serve with crackers.

Well, as I said before... 2 weeks & 2 days until we get our new house! Probably not another post before then... sorry! :)

Blueberry Macadamia Nut Muffins

We have produce! We have peas and almost green beans from the garden!! YAY! My favorite time... picking the goods!

I cannot tell you how disappointing it is that we're moving in the middle of the summer & garden harvesting! Mom will have stop by the house every few days... & we'll have to drive back at least weekly to help pick our produce! :) About that time the tomatoes will probably be turning, and I won't be here! Waaahhh!!!! Haha, ok that's enough crying... I am excited to be moving too!! 

We bought the paint and picked out new furniture for our living room (since we'll use our couches now for the family room). We also picked out carpet for the living room and bedrooms. Unfortunately the carpet in the house now is pink, blue, and stained. :)


Ok, my pictures and recipe is from awhile ago. Mom helped host a bridal shower for Elise, who is marrying my cousin Tyler. So we got together for brunch, and here was our spread!

We had a variety of egg dishes, fruit, and muffins/pastries. The bottom tier was a Kringle brought by my aunt Kathy. It's a popular pastry around WI (I think she said it was Scandanavian or Swedish, I forget). But they come in lots of flavors... fruit flavors, or we had Turtle flavor! I brought French Puffs and tried out these Blueberry Macadamia Nut Muffins! Enjoy!!

• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon chopped macadamia nuts
• 2 tablespoons canola oil , divided
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons butter , melted
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 3 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts 

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine coconut, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons macadamia nuts in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and coconut (or vanilla) extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just combined. Add blueberries and the remaining 3 tablespoons nuts; stir just to combine. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut topping and gently press into the batter.
4. Bake the muffins until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes more before serving.