Eleven Years



Love is when you look into someone's eyes and find everything you need.

Apple Cake Experiment

So, my family has been eating apples like they are going out of style for several months now. 

I have been buying 50 pounds of them every grocery trip, and barely staying in front of demand.

Until two weeks ago, when one of Evan's baby molars began to loosen... and then our apple consumption started to dry up. 

Which left me with a few apples that were past their prime.

So, off I went to find a recipe to use them up.  I didn't have enough for a cobbler really, so I started looking at apple cakes.

And I found THIS via Tasty Kitchen: 

Apple Crumb Cake from Easy Cooking
(Click on link for Full Recipe!!)

And it sounded like ALMOST everything I wanted from my cake. 

Of course, I made some minor alterations.

First of all, we don't eat walnuts in our house... I almost always sub in pecans, which provide all the nutty goodness without the trip to the ER.

Second... it called for only one apple... and I wanted SUPER APPLEY GOODNESS, so I added a second chopped apple.  I had Fugi, which I normally don't bake with, but for a cake, they were just fine.

Third... I read the title of this recipe and thought:APPLE CRISP MEETS CAKE!!!  And I envisioned an oatmeal crumb like my invented crisp recipe calls for... and was sad to see this was just a traditional flour/butter crumb.  So I used oats instead of flour...and almost doubled the crumb recipe so it would be UBER crumbly.  Because I like sweeping my floor.

Fourthly (That IS TO a word), 1/4 of a teaspoon of cinnamon????? ARE YOU CRAZY???? That is a crime against cooked apples.  I dumped it in... maybe a whole teaspoon, maybe more... I didn't measure.  Oh, and a good dash of nutmeg for extra credit.

And lastly, I had no yogurt.  Well, I had strawberry yogurt... because no one in my house will eat strawberry flavored items after a certain discovery about what is considered "natural" strawberry flavoring... I'm off topic here... Strawberry yogurt would not taste appely, so I used non fat sour cream.  Most of the recipes I read while looking for my perfect apple cake called for yogurt OR sour cream, so I figured with the use of baking powder and baking soda, we were looking for acid and that it would be a scientifically sound switch.   Which it was.

And...

Seriously Delishishness (also a word). 

Super moist... dripping with apple goodness... to the tune of the pie plate was licked clean and it was requested I make a second one IMMEDIATELY.  

Seriously... dessert, breakfast, brunch, snack... main dish dinner... whatever, it will pass for a meal any day of the week and 4 or 5 times on Sunday.

Neighborhood Watch

Seriously, not sure if I should be scared or feel safe. 

(If you can't tell, Ryan is wearing a ski mask, Evan a Jango Fett helmet.  They took off the nerf vests that look like body armor before I snapped the picture because it was too hot.)

My Mother's Day

My adorable husband asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day.  

I told him I wanted to organize the basement.  And then he just stared at me like it was a trick.

Then I explained... Our basement is the "Play Room" and as it currently stood, there was no place for the boys to actually PUT their toys away.  I wanted to spend the DAY organizing it so that they had a place to put everything.  

I bought this little black cube unit and the colorful boxes that go in it at Target, and then made a bright little runner for the top out of a scrap of fabric (it's secured in place with Command strips too, so that they can't rip it off and use it as a cape or a scarf or a field bandage for nerf bullet wounds).  I still need to make labels for the boxes, but LOOK how neat and tidy it is!  A HOME for toys!!!

Next I had to tackle the art supply issue.  See, my boys could go through a REAM of paper in 2 seconds flat with their drawing and coloring and painting and paper airplane making.  Evan had STACKS of paper piled on every flat surface of the down stairs.  It was a sure fire hazard.  Oh, not to mention all the crayons, markers and pencils!  so, I picked up some cheap little magazine boxes at HL for a buck, which just so happened to match the small plastic bins I already had AND the new toy home!  I went through every marker in the house and tossed the dead ones too.   Then, HL also had some bright green vinyl that matched what unexpededly became my green/red color scheme, so I grabbed it up with a coupon and added the word "ART" to the new cork board. 

I also moved the LARGE banquet table that had turned into the clutter station rather than the TV stand to the opposite end.  Now we have a DRAWING station and a LEGO station (under the window).  I want to make some cute blocks or something to go on the window sill as soon as I figure out what I actually WANT.  

That left the OTHER end of the room looking rather barren... but hey... barren also looks CLEAN!  

I may have filled my car with donations to DI, and possible took out more trash than I care to admit BUT... 

It's been a week, and it still looks pretty much pulled together... maybe not AS barren, but at least it looks clean! 

Total Fashion

I arrived at Daycare one day last week and was greeted with this smiling face:

Now, before you judge my ability to dress my children, let me explain.

Ryan had an accident, and they dressed him in donated "school" clothes.

No matter.

The next day at work, this picture became my happy place... because I couldn't look at it without giggling just a little. 

And today, being Mother's Day, I'm reminded that these cute little boys I've been blessed with provide me with so many "happy places", I'm the one who should be saying Thank You!

Utah has UGLY Fish

On Saturday, we took a nice relaxing ride south... stopped in to see Mark's brother and his family, and then went fishing for a few hours.

Brian, my brother-in-law, had a pole that had a broken reel, which I'm not sure why he brought, but Ryan found it very entertaining.  The handle was broken, but you could spin it by hand, so when Brian cast the line first on accident, we handed the reel off to Ryan and let him spin it for fun.

Of course, that was the first line that got a bite!

Ryan didn't know WHAT to think!

Next, Evan hooked a big old ugly carp.  Seriously, these things are butt ugly.   Evan wasn't too excited to hold it, but Brian made him at least "pretend" so I could get a picture before releasing the ugly thing!

It was a great lazy Saturday afternoon! 

I hate recipes without pictures...

So close your eyes, and just imagine, okay?

Because we got home later than I thought we would, and I hauled... uhhhh jalapenos... to get it on the table before the wolves (ie boys I live with) started biting my ankles.

And then, it was so good, the wolves devoured it.

So, uhhh... pretend it looked like this:

Because it sort of did.  Maybe just a little.  A little greener.  With Rice.  And Fresh Pico.  And no radishes.

ANYWAY. 

We are on a low sodium, low fat kick.  But it was still Cinco de Mayo, so I took a couple of different recipes, smashed them together, and ran with it.

And we ended up with Tangy Shredded Pork Burritos with Cilantro Lime Rice and fresh Pico de Gallo. 

The shredded pork was de-lish. 

First of all, we have a great local grocery store that has an in store butcher, and they rock.  I asked for just one pound of center pork loin, chopped into stew meat.  And they handed it back to me in a perfect little paper wrapped package.  You could always sub any other pork cut, or even chicken (shorten the cooking time for chicken).  I don't think it would be quite as good with beef, but if that floats your boat, try it and let me know.

The tomatillos are the secret weapon here... make sure you pick firm, bright green ones that are not too sticky.  If they are palish or sticky, they are not ripe yet, and will not be as tart. 

Anyway, here are the recipes, straight from my head.

Tangy Shredded Pork

1 lb pork stew meat
1/4 cup flour
Cooking Spray
1/2 cup of water
3 largish (I swear that's a real measurement) tomatillos
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup of cilantro, stems and all (I'll explain later)
2 T chopped onion
1 T garlic powder (if you have the time, probably 3-4  fresh pressed garlic cloves, but I was in a hurry)
1/2 t chicken base
Juice of one lime
2 T chopped cilantro leaves

Get a skillet smoking hot, spray with cooking spray and toss the pork in.  As it starts to brown, sprinkle with the flour.  Once everything browns up, toss it all into a crock pot, and deglaze the pan with the water, adding it to the pot. 

In a blender or food processor, add the tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro and onion and pulverize.  (This is why you can use the fibery stems... you're making a puree, so the stems will add flavor without being a weird texture.)  Once it's fairly smooth, dump it onto the pork.

Cook on low for about 8 hours. 

Right before serving, remove all the meat from the pot, and smush it up (that is a real culinary term, swear).  While the meat is out of the pot,turn it to high, then add the chicken base, lime juice and cilantro.  Toss the meat mixture in, and allow to simmer on high for about 15 mins.

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 cup of rice
However much water you need to cook one cup of rice
1/2 t chicken base
1 cup (minus about 2 T) of chopped cilantro leaves
Juice of one lime

Cook your rice as normal, adding the chicken base to the water at the beginning.  Once the water is almost completely gone, add the cilantro and lime juice. 

Pico de Gallo

1/2 red onion, chopped
4 largish tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno (remove ribs and seeds for mild salsa), finely chopped
1/4 cup of cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Juice of one lime

Toss everything, and let sit for about 20 mins before serving

Pulling it all together:

Serve with tortillas, guacamole, lettuce, cheese, etc.

Cuke Salad

Source: Simply Scratch

Oh. My. De.Lish.

I made this for dinner last night, and everyone loved it. 

Check out her original recipe. 

Of course, I didn't follow it exactly.

I cut my cukes a LOT thinner.  Same with my onions.

I sprinkled with salt, and put in the fridge for just about 90 mins.

Then I rinsed the salt off and mixed with the dressing.

Oh, and the dressing... I used about 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream, about a tablespoon of regular balsamic, and omitted the sugar all together.  

Then I let it stew in the fridge for about 4 hours, until dinner time.

Even with halving the cream and rinsing the salt off, the cukes gave off a LOT more juice, and made it super creamy, even without the extra! 

I can't wait to make this with fresh from the garden cucumbers!!   

Happy Star Wars Day!!!

May the Fourth Be With You!

(Super Cheesy I know, and I even had to pull up a 3 year old picture of Evan with Jango just to BE this cheesy.)

I should be sleeping.

I'm exhausted. 

I thought if I went and found some food, it would help me wind down. 

 So far, not working. 

So instead, here are some things I found surfing the web (and by web, I mostly mean pinterest) while watching my husband sleep:

Spring Time Quilt by pushing two

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS???

And the quilt plus a matching pillow for only $165?  When I first saw the picture, I thought I might try and figure out how she did it... and then I saw the price and decided it would be totally worth just buying the beauty.    Too bad I don't have a little girl to buy for!  But seriously, $165 for such a beautiful hand sewn quilt is a bargain... so if you have baby girl on the way...

But something I would lift is this:

 

The Painted Hive

 

How simple is this IKEA hack???  And cheap too.  I think I might make one, line the drawers with felt, and use it as a dresser catch all for chargers, sunglasses, rings, etc.  Maybe instead of just staining it though, I'll do a weathered green...

 

 

The Hilariously Fantastic Mandi Tremayne

Look over on my sidebar... see the list of inspiring sites?  Mandi Tremayne.  Click.  Okay, well you could have just clicked on the link right below the cool Potting Bench above.  Anyway, Mandi not only has mad skills when it comes to carpentry, but she cracks me up.  And I love this little bench.  I don't have a garden, but I think it would be the perfect little console table for my guest bedroom.  Painted some crazy color though.  Because, I paint furniture crazy colors since my husband doesn't let me paint walls crazy colors.

 

And finally, I have no source for this... and I actually saw it a few days ago, but I can't stop chuckling over it.  As my friend Andrea pointed out (while laughing hysterically) this actually explains me perfectly!

 

 

 

Well, time to try and get some sleep...