Random Wednesdays

It's time for that part of the week! I am growing to love Random Wednesdays.  My thoughts are sometimes very random - I love that I have created a day for me to blog about 10 random events or things. Best idea ever!

So this is what's happened in the last week...

1.) Okay, I apologize in advance for the product placement - not purposeful, just a big part of my week.  I have begun selling Pampered Chef! I love to cook and bake, so this only makes sense for me.  Why not? I can earn free products! Um...yes, please!

I also think these mini catalogs are super cute. I kind of have this weird obsession with miniaturized things. Anybody else?

2.) Watching Ellen makes me laugh hysterically.  It also makes me think about how fun her life must be! She gets to give away stuff and makes people smile and laugh.  Why didn't I think of a career like that?!

3.) I am finally beginning to feel confident about where I am at with the packing.  Boxes are every where! I promised myself I would be more organized and 'on top of it' when it came to packing this time - so far: Goal Achieved!

4.) My husband SO owes me! He has gotten out of packing...he's doing school or something. Psshh...

(Yes, that was me being funny - I respect and love my husband for all of his dedication and hard work!)


5.) My cupboards are becoming very bare...I refuse to pack a bunch of foods.  So I have been eating weird things for meals lately.  Like pretzels, string cheese, carrots, and yogurt. Yup - as a meal.

Notice the 2 boxes of fudge brownies and 1 box of cake mix?? Yup, I planning that for a meal here shortly....

Seriously...that's all there is in our cupboard. I refuse to go grocery shopping.


6.) Fudge brownies brings me to my next thought... I've been doing this new Jillian Michaels workout. (Funny how the thought of eating brownies brings my mind back around to Jillian Michaels).  It's a great workout! I love the combination of kickboxing, yoga and cardio.  What type of workout do you enjoy doing?

7.) I like birds.  I hope that we have birds by our new apartment.  I have just started feeding the birds here and I love the variety of birds that we get to our patio: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Finches, Sparrows, Robins...and probably more.  Those are the ones I recognize and know the names of. They have eaten an entire suet block in one week! I bought it last week and it's gone already - as of yesterday! Crazy, hungry birds!

8.) It is bizarre to me that this time next week I will be living in a different state.  I cannot believe that this time has come already.  I have my first visit to the first clinic I will be working at next Tuesday as well.  I am really looking forward to this!


9.) Have you all heard of the new reality show, Duets??  Can I just say...if I see one more music reality show, I might puke.  It is getting a bit ridiculous. Are you all on the same page or do you disagree?


10.) I just ate Qdoba for dinner. I just found out that we won't be living next to a Qdoba anymore. I enjoyed every bit of that dinner! Now I am stuffed.


Have a great night! This time next week, I'll be blogging from the Buckeye State!

Please Follow

So, I'm going to throw this out there... I need followers.  My husband cannot be the only one reading this blog - he doesn't even like to read!

Why you ask?  Well, I'm considering making my blog private.  If I do this, then unless you are following the blog, you won't be able to read my posts anymore. This means recipes too! Also - I would like to see who my audience is.  I know I have some... I have over 150 views already. (And I doubt my husband is that excited about my blog).

It's easy, if you have a gmail, yahoo, or twitter account - you can sign in using those already existing accounts.  If not, you can enter in your email address.  That's it! Easy, peasy!

I appreciate your support and your reading of my blog. 

Now, don't make me use the puppy face....okay, too late....here comes the puppy face.

I warned you....it's hard to say 'no' isn't it? :)

Yummy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Taking a packing hiatus to bring you the recipe for sweet potato fries.  I recommend you take your own personal hiatus and make these yummy (and healthy!) sweeties right now!

Yummy Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Rinse and clean sweet potatoes  - 1 large sweet potato was enough for myself and my husband. Plan accordingly.  I don't peel my sweet potatoes - but I have heard of some people peeling the skin.

Cut sweet potatoes into half and then into long wedges.  Don't cut them too thin, they will get mushy, but not too thick or they won't cook all the way through. 

Like this...

Take a large gallon Zip Lock bag and pour in 2-3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil into the bag.  You want enough Olive Oil to coat the potatoes, but not too much, it will make them soggy. Nobody likes soggy fries!

Next, add a little bit of sea salt, rosemary seasoning, and cinnamon. 

Place cut potatoes into the Zip Lock bag and shake...this is almost as fun as eating them!

Pour out coated potatoes in glass baking dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Waiting for them to bake smells so good!!

That's it! Easy, simple, delicious!
Enjoy!

Random Wednesdays

 Agh, it's Wednesday already! How did this madness happen??  This is a good time to point out that for the next week or so, I may appear MIA with all of this moving 'stuff' going on. But enough about that, let's get onto it...

1.) We officially have our forwarding address! I only about lost my mind twice, but we finally have a place to live! This makes for a much less stressed version of myself and much happier version of my husband (as he has to deal with the stressed, not so nice, version of myself). 

2.) Visiting family, celebrating birthdays, and riding horses makes me a happier person.  It just does. Simple as that.


3.) Babies eating cake...it will forever be at the top of my list of things I love watching.

4.) Have I mentioned how much I dislike packing?  (See the Packing Saga: Pt 1)  Officially 10 days out from Moving Day!! Ughh...packing...

5.) I made a shadow box for my husband this weekend with old lures he got from his dad.  He loves it. Now my dad wants one. Perfect idea for father's day this summer! (Watch for upcoming 'How To' post).

6.) I am aware that I have not posted the recipe for sweet potato fries yet...I apologize.  It's all part of the 'MIA' thing I was talking about.  Blame it on the packing...

7.) While packing/cleaning/organizing this week I found two birthday cards: one from me to Luke and one from Luke to me. Same cards. That's love!

8.) Color Run update: the Ann Arbor Color Run has already filled up! Crazy - I know! My husband and I were the only ones who signed up before the race filled up (by 'only ones' I mean, the only ones from the team we established - which no longer exists).  So, Luke and I will be participating in a 5k together (The Color Run) for our 3rd anniversary. Just the two of us, with cheerleaders waiting for us at the end of the race to take pictures of us and all of our color-ness!

9.)  If it wasn't for my Addie-tized office, my data entry job would be way more boring than it already is.  Thank you Addie for your smiling face plastered all of over my desk!

10.) I think I need a cookie now...

Random Wednesdays: Something New!

Hey look! Something new!

This is the part of the week where I ramble about 10 random things that happened in the last week. Look for this posting every Wednesday! :)

1.) Just registered for The Color Run this summer with my husband, my mom, and some friends. Let's go team!

Let's get our color on!

2.) I just discovered the hillarity of Betty White's: Off Their Rockers. So. Funny! I cannot stop laughing.  My neighbors probably think I'm crazy.

3.) Grapefruit. Just do it. (See all of the health benefits here.)

Mmmm...even the smell of grapefruit makes my mouth water!

4.) I adore this little nugget!  I cannot get enough of her smiles and kisses! I can't wait for when we move to the Toledo area and we get to take her to the zoo!

Best god daughter ever! Seriously, she's the best!

5.) Got happiness? If not, pick up Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project.  Solid stuff.

We could all use a little more 'happy.' Get some!



6.) I can't get enough of this Blueberry Sun Tea. 

It's delicious.

It's good for you.

It's green tea.

It's blueberries + antioxidants

It's good for you.

It's delicious.

Did I just make a Haiku?????

7.) I made sweet potatoe fries this week. Delicious!

(I really need to find a new descriptive word for food...Really, really good? ....Fantastic? ...Yummy? ...Scrumptious?) 

Yes, I made them for myself.  Yes, I plan on posting the recipe.  Yes, you will love them!

8.) Biggest pet peeve living in an apartment?  Even more than waking me up in the middle of the night because you insist on standing outside of my window talking: smoking outside of my OPEN window. Thank you for the second hand smoke and for forcing me to close my window when it is so nice outside.) Yuck.

9.) Love. Warm. Weather. It feels so good going for a run outside.  I have missed this. Thank you rain for stopping long enough for me to get my runs in this week - outside!

10.) Shout out to my fellow OT classmates! Hooray on a job well done! Next stop, graduation!

Delicious 5-Cheese Spinach Artichoke Dip

Happy May Day!!

Here it is, my long awaited recipe for my Delicious  5-Cheese Spinach Artichoke Dip.

The origins of this recipe came about out of frustration of the current spinach artichoke dip recipes available.  I wanted a dip that was creamy, cheesy, and did not contain mayo.   I wanted a dip that met my taste buds, not someone else.  Thus, the Delicious Spinach Artichoke Dip was then created.

Here's what you need:

1 can of artichoke hearts
1 package of frozen spinach
2 garlic cloves
1 block of cream cheese - I like to use Philadelphia's Low Fat cream cheese...but original is good too.
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 c grated Romano cheese
1 c grated mozzarella (set 1/4 c aside)
1/2 c Alfredo sauce - you can make your own, or I really like Bertolli's Alfredo Sauce.
Diced tomatoes (optional)

Did I mention cheesy? Yeah, cream cheese!

Here's what you do:

Thaw frozen spinach and rinse.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Drain and chop artichoke hearts
Combine thawed spinach, artichoke hearts and block of cream cheese in a mixing bowl. 
Mix until creamy consistency.

Don't worry - it will get even more creamy and cheesy before it's done!

Either dice or use garlic press to press garlic cloves into bowl.  Then mix it up some more!
Grate Romano, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. 
(You can cheat with the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese if you must).
Dump (Yes, I'm using the term 'dump' because there is so much cheese!) 1/2c Parmesan, 2/4c Romano, 3/4c mozzarella cheese into the mixing bowl. 

(If you add more mozzarella, I won't tell!)

Pour in 1/2c Alfredo sauce - mix it up!
Pour cheesy, creamy goodness into baking dish.  It should have a thick consistency and be 'mold-able.'  Flatten out the mix and then pour on the remaining mozzarella cheese. 

Now, sometimes I add diced tomatoes for color and flavor.  It's good...but not everyone likes it.  If you want to add tomatoes, you can do 1 of 2 things: 1) mix in diced tomatoes throughout batch or 2) just place a few pretty little diced tomatoes on top as a garnish.  Either way, it looks pretty!

Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly golden along edges.

I have taking this to family gatherings and it is always gone by the end of the night.  I have also recently made it right in the crockpot.  Instead of baking in the oven, I placed it in the crockpot on low for a few hours.  When it becomes the right amount of melted + golden brown, I then turn the crockpot down to 'warm.'  This technique worked great!  It was a barn party.  I needed to keep my dip creamy and cheesy, the warm crockpot allowed for the desired consistency throughout the night!

And there you have it! Delicious 5-Cheese Spinach Artichoke Dip! Mmm Mmm delicious!
Enjoy!

**Next time I bake this, I will be sure to take pictures of the process and post.  I love recipes with pictures, but I didn't have any at the time...and I couldn't wait to share it!

The Packing Saga: Part 1

The packing saga has begun!

This time around, I am determined to be packed, labeled, and organized by the time the moving crew get here in three weeks!  The last time we moved, I did not succeed at preparing our apartment for departure.  This resulted in 'frowny faces' of those who arrived early on a Saturday morning two years ago to help us move. 
Oops.

Let me just add, I was working 40-50 hours a week back then, and worked right up until our move out date.  I had pictures off the wall and little things packed up.  However, I did not have my kitchen cupboards or pantry, or anything else for that matter, packed.
Oops again.  

I highly dislike living out of boxes.  So the idea of placing everything in boxes made me nervous.  I still needed to eat, sleep, shower, dress, etc.  How was I supposed to pack everything when I was still using all those things?  In addition, I had never moved my home before...not to this level anyway.

This time, I am vowing to be on top of things.  I will be organized and I will be packed!

So, in order to motivate myself and encourage others, I have developed 'fool proof' steps for packing.


An OT's Fool Proof Steps for Successful Packing
Part 1: Getting Started


1.  Make coffee first. (...Or insert whatever warm, comfort beverage you prefer here.)

Every tasks seems more achievable when you have a warm cup of happiness. I read once that the color of coffee is a calming color and is said to decrease stress in individuals.  Also, the aroma of coffee is said to do the same thing.  Whenever a daunting tasks awaits me, I get my coffee.  It prepares me for what lies ahead.
2.  I make my "To Do" list.

I love 'To Do' list.  I am the type of person who will write a list and even add the things that I have already completed, just so that I can check it off.  Ahh, the satisfaction of checking things off my 'To Do' list. 


On this list, I have included such things:
Clean out/organize closets, cupboards, desks, drawers, etc.:
         Get rid of everything you don't need.  The less to pack, the better!
         Create two piles: a Goodwill/give away pile and a trash pile. 
Break down a list of what can be packed first --> last.
         Books, Movies, Pictures, Decorations/Knick-Knacks
         Kitchen stuff, Bathroom stuff, Pantry
         Shoes
         Clothes, etc.


Only you know what you can live without for a few weeks and what you have to have for everyday use.

3.  Begin with with the first item on your 'To Do' list - clean out your closets and bookshelves!

Oh the books!! (See 'The Wonderful World of Selling Books")

 

4.  Get Boxes - lots and lots of boxes.

Did I mention lots and lots of boxes??

Once you have your 'To Do' List and you have gone through the first step of cleaning and organizing, begin packing up the items that you do not need for the next couple weeks.  I like to start with books, movies, all of my saved school work and desk items.  Then I will move onto pictures on the walls and decorative items; things that are not necessary for everyday living. 

5.  Get more coffee! - Remember our friend, caffeine? It keeps you going when you feel like quitting!  Don't quit!

This should be enough to keep you occupied for awhile in your daunting packing tasks. (Or at least it is for me).