Wet Paint

Anyone that knows me well know that when I see a sign that says "Wet Paint" I just have to touch to see if it's really wet.  This was no exception when my parents and sister Courtney were in town last week.  We were down in the subway station, waiting for the train and we saw the sign.  Courtney and Scott pointed it out and dared me to touch it. There were other people on the platform, so we tried to be sneaky and take a picture quickly (which explains the blurriness).

P.S. It wasn't wet!

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles

I made these on Sunday, and they turned out really well!  I thought I would share the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups sugar (12.25 oz), divided
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt*
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter* (not margarine) at room temp
8 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 large eggs
*if using salted butter, just omit table salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in shallow dish and set aside. Whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.

Beat butter, shortening, and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

Reduce speed of mixer to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give dough final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain.

I chilled my dough at this point to make it easier to roll into balls.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls. Working in batches, roll dough balls in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until edges of cookies are set and just barely beginning to brown, but centers are still soft and puffy, about 10-12 minutes. The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Makes about 2 dozen 3-4 inch cookies.

Newsies

My parents and younger sister Courtney came to visit us this last week.  They took us to see Newsies on Broadway.  It was AMAZING!!  I loved it!  The dancing was so fun to watch in person.  If you have a chance to see Newsies, definitely go.  I want to see it again!

25th Birthday!

My birthday was on March 30th, it was a great day!  

My day started off with waking up to these decorations Scott put up for me while I was sleeping:)  I was very impressed - I love our tradition of decorating for birthdays. 

Some friends at work took me out for lunch.  I had delicious cupcakes, and other things that people brought in.  The work day went by really fast.

After work I went with Scott and my friend Maddie to see The Hunger Games.  I was excited to see it because I liked the books.  The movie did not disappoint at all!  It was really good - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

After the movie, Maddie came over with her husband Dan and we had birthday dessert.  We had my traditional Strawberry Shortcake - mmmmm :)  I can't remember a year where I did not have that for my birthday dessert.    

Scott spoiled me with the last season of Boy Meets World and a few other things.  I can now say that I own all of the seasons of Boy Meets World!

It was a fantastic birthday!  Here's to next year!

"I think I'll go to Boston..."

Remember the Augustana song "Boston"?  In the music video they are on the beach playing their instruments.  The water starts rushing over everything including the drums and piano...  Here it is in case you haven't seen it.  Anyways...

We decided to go to Boston to visit our friends Jonathan and Ashley in Boston last weekend.  This was our second trip to Boston so we were excited.  We took a bus on Friday night and stayed with them in their cute Boston apartment.  On Saturday, I went on a run with Ashley in the morning - she was so nice to slow down and run my pace:)  It was fun to run around their neighborhood.  Then they took us to a bakery to get blueberry scones for breakfast.  They were amazing!  We got cleaned up from our run and decided to do a tour of Harvard.  It was fun to hear stories and history of Harvard and some of the buildings.  The Hansen's showed us around different neighborhoods.  We got some lunch to warm up - because it was chilly that weekend.  We went by Mike's bakery of course to pick up some treats.  Then later that night we had our first experience with Ethiopian food.  It took a long time to get into the restaurant but it was worth it!  It was so good!  It was fun to try something new:)  In between all of this we got a lot of chatting time with the Hansen's.  We headed back to NY on Sunday morning.  It was so good to catch up, and they were the best hosts!  It was fun to escape NY for a weekend.   They will be moving back here soon and we are very excited!

Here are some pictures from Ashley's (Hansen, not me) phone.  Thanks Ashley!

Ooey Gooey Blueberry French Toast

I made this recipe on Saturday for a Relief Society Activity.  It turned out very good, so I thought I would share the recipe.  I originally got this recipe from a cooking class in college.  Just a warning this is not a low-fat recipe:)

Ooey Gooey Blueberry French Toast

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
14 slices home-style white bread, crusts discarded and bread cut into 1-inch cubes (I used french bread)
2 (9 ounce) packages cold cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used 1 package regular, and 1 package 1/3 fat Neufchatel cheese since that's what I had)
1 cup blueberries, picked over and rinsed
10 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

Directions:
Butter a baking dish with the tablespoon of butter (I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray). Arrange half of the bread cubes on the bottom of the baking dish. Top the bread cubes with the cream cheese cubes and blueberries and arrange the remaining bread cubes over the blueberries.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, syrup, and orange juice. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 20 minutes. Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350.

Bake the “French toast” with foil cover for 30 minutes. Using oven mitts or pot holders, remove the baking dish from the oven, remove the foil, and return the dish to the oven until toast is golden brown and puffed, about 30 more minutes. Using oven mitts or pot holders, remove the baking dish from the oven and allow to sit until slightly cooled, about 15 minutes.

Serve in bowls with blueberry sauce ladled over the top.

Blueberry Sauce - can be made in advance and kept refrigerated for up to one week.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the sugar, water, orange juice, cornstarch, and orange zest. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the blueberries and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the berries have burst, about 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and serve.

Scott's 26th Birthday Recap

Scott turned 26 on Sunday!   Here's a post to show what we did for his birthday.  Just a warning, the majority of it has to do with food - but that's what birthdays are all about right?  Thanks for everyone that reached out to Scott on his birthday (i.e. cards, gifts, texts, calls, facebook, skype, etc.) I know he felt very loved!

Here's what we did:

Anyone that know Scott, knows that he loves cinnamon rolls!  So of course his birthday calls for making a pan of cinnamon rolls.  I made them the night before so we could have them for breakfast.

Scott woke up to these decorations:)  We have started the tradition of decorating our apartment for birthdays.  Scott always raises the bar each year so I try to keep up.  I couldn't think of anything funny to do so I decided to decorate with the number 26.  There were 26 signs with the number 26 - original I know.  I couldn't think of anything to top the signs from last year.

Since it was Sunday we went to church and taught our primary class.  Then we came home and finished getting dinner ready. 

Scott is not the kind of person that knows exactly what he wants for his birthday dinner.  I always have the same things so it's not very hard to decide.  This year I decided what I was going to make since he didn't have an idea.  I decided to do "Cafe Rio" pork salads.  They turned out very good, but we both decided that it was a lot of work and if we lived in Utah again we would just go to Cafe Rio instead.

We got a text from my sister Amber saying that her kids wanted to "visit Scott on the computer."  So we skyped with her family after dinner.  It was very fun!  Her kids made us laugh and they were so cute telling Scott, "Happy Birthday."

Scott talked to his parents while I finished up getting his cake ready.

For dessert I decided to make Tres Leches - because Scott loves it.  There is a restaurant called Malecon by our apartment and one of the things we look forward to most when going there is the Tres Leches.  I decided to try Pioneer Woman's recipe and it was a hit!  It was very good, and easy to make.

I decided to take pictures instead of a video of Scott blowing out his candles because it was only me singing:)  I am not a good enough singer for that lol.  His cake looked like a ball of fire.  Yes we put 26 candles on the cake - though Scott thought I was crazy for putting them all on there.

Blowing out the candles

We didn't go out anywhere to celebrate his birthday until last night.  Scott took his BIG test (Step 1) yesterday so we decided to go out after to celebrate his birthday and finishing his test.  We went to Le Relais de Venise.  It's close to my work.  Scott's brother Erik introduced us to this restaurant when he and his family came to visit.  They serve steak and fries with a salad.  All you tell them to order is how you want your steak.  The sauce they put on the meat is so good mmmm... 

P.S. I am not very good at taking pictures with my phone, so I apologize...

Birthday Boy

It's Scott's 26th Birthday! 

Happy Birthday Scotty! I love you!

Motivation

My friend Megan mentioned to me that she had signed up to run this 10k in April.  I thought about it and decided that this is the motivation I need to keep running through the winter.  So I signed up!  I decided that this will be the race to celebrate turning 25 at the end of March :)   My training begins on Saturday.  I have been running, so I'm not starting from scratch.  My goals are beyond survival.  I am hoping to increase speed and endurance.  I also want to include strength training which will help with these things.

Here's to getting fit for the Spring and Summer!

P.S. I like to post goals on our blog because it makes me accountable, and it's easier to keep motivated.  I hope you don't mind.

Meal Plan 2/12-2/18

Sunday:

• Chicken Parm Pasta Toss

Monday: 

• Lighter Beef Tacos (new recipe)
• Black Beans with Lime (new recipe)

Tuesday:  Valentine's Day

• Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce (new recipe)
• Potatoes
• Spinach Salad

Wednesday:

• Breakfast Burritos

Thursday:

• Baked Chicken Parmesan (new)
• Pasta
• Roasted Cauliflower (from my sister's blog - yes I made this already, but I have leftover cauliflower to use and it was very good)

Friday:  Eating Out/Takeout  
  
Saturday:  Eating Out/Takeout

Rings and Stories

To celebrate Valentine's Day next week, my friend Diana is posting ring pictures and engagement stories of friends and family.  Our story was on her blog yesterday - check it out here!  It was fun to write our engagement story out and to take pictures of my ring. 

P.S. Scott is pretty amazing at taking pictures with his phone, don't you think?  I did help to stage a few of them, but he did the shots.

Spring Cleaning....the blog

I know it's not Spring... but I felt like our blog was getting a little bit cluttered and old.  I decided to clean it up and I was so ready for the change.  What do you think?

Meal Plan for 2/5-2/11

Sunday: 

• Super Bowl Food

Monday: 

• Chicken Cordon Bleu (new recipe)
• Baked Potato
• Cauliflower (from my sister Amber's blog)

Tuesday: 

• "Fend For Yourself" night aka Leftovers

Wednesday:

• Asian Glazed Drumsticks (new recipe)
• Rice
• Zucchini

Thursday: 

• Beef Fajitas

Friday: 

• Florentine Chicken Soup (my sister Amber introduced me to the recipe when I was in college)
• Bread

Saturday:

• Eating out/takeout

Bow Holder

I haven't made bows in a while, and with my friend Katie having a baby shower, it was the perfect excuse.  I decided that along with the bows I wanted to make a bow holder to go with the gift.  I wanted to share this on our blog because I was happy with the way it turned out and Iwanted to share how to make one. 

Supplies Needed: 
16" x 20" Stretched Canvas (I bought this twin-pack)
Fabric - enough to cover the canvas and a few inches on the back (I bought this fabric)
Staple Gun - like this one (I bought it just for this project, and it was very fun to use.  If you buy one be sure to also buy staples)
3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon - enough to do whatever pattern you choose (I just used ribbon I had for bow making
Ruler (for measuring along the way)

Instructions: 
1.  Tear or cut fabric to the correct size of your canvas. I found that tearing was very quick because it doesn't matter if the edges torn.  The edges will not be seen at the end. 

2.  Place fabric on the canvas so that the pattern is straight on the front if there is one.  If it is a solid fabric, then it doesn't make as big of a deal.  Turn fabric covered canvas upside down so you are looking at the back of the canvas. 

3. Now it's time to staple the fabric to the back of the canvas.  You are going to be stapling on the wooden frame.  I folded the extra fabric over so that when I stapled it the frayed torn edge would be enclosed to give it a finished look.  Choose one side to start on, and start stapling the fabric on from the middle of that side and going out on either direction.  Leave some space around the corners to do those at the end.  Once you get finished with the first side do the side that's opposite from and parallel to the one you just did.  Be sure to fold the fabric tight as you staple so the fabric does not bag on the front.  When you do the corners you may need to cut some of the excess fabric so the corners don't bulge too much.  You do the same thing with the corners as you did on the sides - just be careful to not make the corners too thick with fabric. 

3.  Now you are ready for the ribbon.  You can measure and cut the ribbon beforehand if you would like, or just cut it along the way like I did.  I used a ruler to measure a distance that I wanted in between each ribbon.  I would then put the end of the ribbon along to the back and staple into place on one end.  Before I stapled the other end, I would measure again to make sure it was straight.  Then staple the other end into place.  The pattern I did was first doing vertical stripes, then I wove the horizontal stripes over and under the vertical.  You can choose to do whatever pattern you like. 

4. Once I got all of the ribbon stapled I put fray check on all of the ends so they wouldn't fray.  You can also used clear nail polish.  Or before you staple the ribbon, you could burn the ends. 

And that's it!  It was a very easy project and I hope I explained it well enough.  If you have any questions let me know.  I kind of just figured it out as I went along.  I was inspired by a picture on etsy.com and just went with it.  If I have a little girl, I will definitely make one of these for her.  It was very fun, and I was happy with the way it turned out.

Recipe Reviews

So far this week I have tried new recipes every night.  It has been kind of fun.  The rest of the week is easy dinners, so I thought I would share a review of the recipes I made. 

Sunday:
Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
 It was nice to lighten Salisbury steak up a bit doing by half ground turkey and half ground beef.  It was a classic meat and potatoes kind of dinner, but not as many calories.  I would make this again.  We cut the recipe in half but next time I would cut it into fourths.

Monday:
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing This recipe was good, but I wouldn't make it as a main dish again.  This is more like a chip dip I think and would be good to take to a party.  Scott and I decided that it could be part of a main dish if you added meat and turned it into a sort of taco salad, adding lettuce.  The dressing is a little strong, so if you make it taste it along the way as you add the dressing.

Tuesday:
Asian Flank Steak Skewers
Since the meat in this recipe had to marinade, Scott was nice to get it started for me.  The recipe was easy enough and was good.  Only mistake I made was - when I copied/pasted the recipe for some reason I left off the ginger.  So I think that could have made it even better if we had the ginger in there.  Scott added a tablespoon of sugar to make the marinade a little sweeter also.  It was fun to make the skewers and they cooked very quickly on our grill pan.  We served them with rice and baked parmesan broccoli, and it was a delicious dinner.

After dinner last night we had extra rice so I decided to make rice pudding.  It was delicious!  See the recipe below. 

Creamy Rice Pudding (from this website - I left out the raisins)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup uncooked white rice, or 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
If you are using leftover rice skip this step:  In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or chilled.  Serve plain, sprinkled with cinnamon, with fruit, etc.