Thursday, March 27, 2008

Much ado about nothing


Not much is going on here. Last night we went to dinner with the two couples we are sharing a beach house with in May. Two of us couples are married, the other is getting married next year. We got asked to be in their wedding. It was very sweet and I'm super excited. She's decided that her colors are going to be wine and gold. Sounds beautiful to me!! I ate the best, and biggest, hamburger of my life last night. I really shouldn't have done it. Since I've been pregnant it's been from one end of the spectrum to the other- either I can't eat, or I ravage anything and everything that's around me. Yesterday's lunch consisted of a potatoe and 1/4 of my bowl of chili. So, last night when we got to dinner I was extremely hungry. This was the biggest hamburger I've ever seen. I cut it in half, thinking I wouldn't/shouldn't finish it all. Then, we got to talking, and the next thing I knew, that half a cow covered in bacon and cheese on my plate had vanished. Oops. Looks like I'm gonna be working it extra hard during aqua aerobics tonight. I started that class this week and looooove it!! Kate is going with me, and she and I are the only under 50 years of age( besides the instructor). There's about 30 people in this class. I think the instructor was happy to have some younger people there. It was definitely inspiring for us to pump a little more after we saw some of the older people mentally out of it. It was good to see the others working it out also. There were some women there who could probably burn me up in some laps around the pool!! I get to go back today, and I'm sooooo excited about it!
Peace out!~ Have a good day!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Introducing: "Wordless Wednesday"












Monday, March 24, 2008

Recipes!! (finally)


Here are the recipes to some of the best stuff ever to hit your tastebuds. And their easy too.... you know I wouldn't do it any other way!

Hot Artichoke & Spinach Dip

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed/drained
14 oz. artichoke hearts, drained/coarsely chopped (this is the most time consuming part)
1 cup shredded Parmesan - Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
10 oz. prepared alfredo sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
4 oz. cream cheese, cut into small pieces

Combine all and put into sprayed baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. I served mine with bagel chips and it was the best~!



Grape Salad- the most refreshingly lovely thing you've ever had
  • 1 pounds seedless green grapes
  • 1 pound seedless red grapes
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
  • 1 container of Marshmallow Fluff (7 ounces?)
  • Chopped Pecans (optional)
Wash and de-stem all grapes. In a large bowl, mix together room temperature cream cheese and fluff with mixer until smooth. Fold in grapes. (optional pecans can be folded in here as well).
Easy right??!!!!


Momma's Fruity Punch

2 liters gingerale
1 can frozen mixed berry concentrate
1 can frozen citrus concentrate

Mix together for cup-o-goodness.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

slacker-ville


Hi friends! Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've been sooo busy trying to recover from my weekend in Winston-Salem, and catching up with the craziness at work. Monica's shower was WONDERFUL! I can't believe how well Chae and I worked together. I was so honored to be able to help out MoMo, her hubbie, and the baby. We had sooo much food! Here's the menu run-down: sandwhich tray, sweet peppers, carrots, celery, dips, shrimp cocktail, grape salad, wings, fresh yeast rolls, spinach/artichoke dip served with bagel chips, brie cups, cheese cake squares, orange/pineapple cake, white cheddar cheese, and citrus/berry punch! It was really great! Our honorary dinner was extremely delicious and I don't think anyone went home hungry~ It wasn't the typical sit down dinner, more like an array of all sorts of goodness :) I also have to say that Chae and I have only met several times when we were bridesmaids for MoMo, and some of her other showers and birthdays. I just love her though! An absolutely sweet family and a great example for what a sweet and loving young couple with children should be. And, can I mention how ADORABLE her son is! Sheesh! I wanted to smuggle him in my car and bring him back to the mountains! I'm posting pictures of everything and I will be adding recipes when I get back to work on Monday (I promise!)



For now, I'm at my parents house for the weekend, visiting for Easter. We are going to have an Easter Egg hunt for Cheeks McGee. She's too young to really enjoy it, but we're doing it anyway~ Gotta love family traditions!


















Friday, March 14, 2008

Thank you Lord! IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

Thank you Jesus! I'm soooo glad it's Friday. I'm about to loose my mind. I'm so excited about this weekend. We (as in myself and Chae) are throwing a dinner party in honor of Monica and her husband, Andrew, and their expected baby. It's not really a shower, it's more of a grown up dinner to for all of us to show our support and appreciation. I'm looking forward to it. I made the spinach/artichoke dip last night and froze it so it would be prepared to travel. I'm excited about how everything is going to turn out. I hope they love it.
So, Phillip hasn't been able to scan a pic of the baby, so I'm decided to take a picture of the picture and post it that way. This is the pic in my office (sorry about the reflections in the picture frame). Enjoy and have a safe and fantastic weekend! I'll be back on Monday to post my yummy recipes of the dip and my famous grape salad.

Our little Bambino!!!!

closer look

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Looks evil, tastes delicious!

Why is it that stuff that looks horrifying is delicious? This was the case with dinner last night. One of my favorite things in the whole world is taco night, especially because of refried beans. (I'm a plain Jane kind of girl and usually eat only cheese with my taco and beans, so don't make fun of how bland it looks) In the case of the refried bean... how could anyone eat these. They smell disgusting coming out of the can, they look awful, but they are so delicious!

What is another food I love, you ask? That would have to be Sweet Sixteen Donuts by Hostess. They are amazing. There is no other powdered donut like this. And of course, since I love them so much, they aren't sold anywhere close to the city I live in. No one knows why, and no one has noticed until I brought it up to some friends how much Phillip and I scour the country for them. Now, it's inevitable that whenever our friends go to the store, they find themselves looking for these donuts... but can never find them! So, needless to say, when we go home, my mom always picks some up for us. Gotta love a sweet momma! These below are from a friend who found some at a store close to his parent's home. He was kind enough to bring some back and I have been hording them in my desk since I got them. Another thing to be on the look out for.... Hershey's Mint Bars. These bars and the white chocolate bars are my favorite creation from Hershey's. They aren't sold anymore, but my friends insist that they are, so... inevitably, they are also on the prowl for these bars. If you see them please let me know where!
I made mommy's banging butter cream mints last night for Monica's shower that's this weekend. I'm super psyched about them. They are SO good!
Hints for the recipe: *The mix takes a while to turn from powder to a thick consistency- be patient *Make these in a large mixer if you have one, the mix gets very tough to turn *Add only a few drops of food coloring at a time (making sure to mix it fully after each test) or you'll get one ugly concoction *Taste your mints before rolling them to make sure you have the minty taste you want *If your mix is warm you will need to refrigerate it so it doesn't turn to mush while rolling *I halved this recipe and still got a crap load of mints out of them.

Mommy's Banging Butter Cream Mints
4 lb. powdered sugar sifted
1 8-ounce bar cream cheese softened
2 1/2 sticks real butter at room temp
8-10 drops of mint flavoring
Tad of food coloring of choice (or you can leave this off and they just come out a nice ivory color.
After everything is mixed and the color is what you want (or no color), roll the dough into "snakes" and cut them. Usually kind of on the small side - a little less than the size of half a large marshmallow.

I made mine small (about the size of miniature marshmallows)



My blue beauties

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

CONTRABAN CANDY!!!!???


OK, so here is an article that I read at CNN.com:

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Contraband candy has led to big trouble for an eighth-grade honors student in Connecticut.

Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.

School spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says the New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy.

Michael's suspension has been reduced from three days to one, but he has not been reinstated as class vice president.

He says he didn't realize his candy purchase was against the rules -- although he did notice the student selling the Skittles on February 26 was being secretive.


This poor kid!! I feel so awful for him!! They seriously suspended him for three days, but they were sooo gracious enough to reduce it to one day??!! OMG! I can't believe this! I understand it's a wellness program, but it starts at home folks! I believe in some of the actions this nation has taken to improve nutrition and wellness, but this is taking it a little far. It really reminds me of the sex ed. policies in school.... (I'll say it again) IT SHOULD ALL START AT HOME! Personally, my high school extra curricular activities revolved around candy sales. Lord knows it's the only way I got to go to Disney World twice, or do anything with the band or softball team. Let's not forget the endless bakesales we had for Knightmoot or other student leadership organizations! Have mercy I looked forward to the days of the Krispy Kreme Donut Fundraisers!!! Oh, poor class president/honor student! Freakin' candy Nazis!! How do you feel about this?

**After thought**- Don't get me wrong folks, I believe this kid should have to suffer the consequences just like any other child who breaks rules, but this rule is a bit harsh.

From this moment.....

We saw the baby for the first time on Monday. I was absolutely speechless. I still can't believe it... still makes me cry to think about it. It's kind of a long story so I'm going to copy my post I made on my baby website. Thanks for checkin' in on us. Hope you're having the good weather that we are having here in the mountains.

We saw our baby for the first time yesterdayLaughing No... it's not March 17th yet. That was the day we were supposed to see it. Unfortunately, I had some scares over the weekend and the doctor thought it would be good to come in on Monday to have my ultrasound. Can I mention how much I love Dr. Keever? She is amazing. She was there for me holding my hand over the phone and making me feel so much better. She's the kind of person who is straight forward. I don't appreciate fluff and B.S., so I like her so much more for that. The baby is looking sooo good. I'm officially 8 weeks and one day along today. I couldn't believe how clear the picture was of our little peanut. It was sooo shocking to really come to the realization that IT REALLY DID HAPPEN, AND THERE'S SOMETHING GROWING INSIDE OF MESmile! That little heart beat was just a thumping away. It definitely brought me to tears. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time. I could tell Phillip was moved as well. Baby G still has a little tail, and it's so very clear in the picture. We got to see the little arm stubs were the arms will eventually be growing. I've seen other ultrasound pics at my pregnancy date and it was just a little blob, not this one! We've got an over-achiever! I was not ready for the process to be over. We got some good pictures of it, but I still see that little heart thumping in my mind and I wish I had a machine of my own so I can see it any time I want! The baby is looking good, according to doc. They are worried though because it implanted low. Since the baby implanted low, my placenta is on the very tip of my cervix (placenta previa is what it's called). The doctors are hoping that the placenta and baby will move up in my uterus while it grows. I just need to make sure there's nothing strenuous going on and just take it easy. We go back in 10 weeks for our next ultra sound, to make sure things are moving and growing correctly... AND WE FIND OUT IF IT'S A BOY OR GIRL!!! Yippppeeee skippppeeee!!!Surprised It seems soooo far away! But anyway, hopefully we can get the pics scanned soon and have them on the web for you. Thanks for caring about us and Baby G and checking on us! We all love you!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

You'll wish you thought of it

Ok, brace yourself for lots of pictures. I had a rough pregnancy weekend and I had to do a lot of cooking to keep my mind off of it. Enjoy! First, I had to cook something for my work's "retreat" on Monday. I pre-made these the night before, and cooked them at my co-workers house where the "retreat" was and they were a hit, as usual (if I may brag). I was actually requested to make these by my other pregnant co-worker, and I could not tell her no, especially since they are so yummy and easy. It's the easiest, quickest, and most wondering thing to bring to a party. I doubled this recipe b/c it doesn't make more than 10 rolls per log. Enjoy "Sara's Snazzy Pizza Rolls"

Ingredients:
one can pre-made pizza dough
Mozerella cheese
Pepperoni
Ranch dressing (for inside the roll and dipping)
Pizza sauce (for dipping)

Sprinkle your surface with cornmeal so your dough doesn't stick. Spread out your pre-made pizza dough. Cover the surface with Ranch dressing, leaving one end with out so it will roll up without squishing out.


Cover that with cheese and pepperoni.

Roll your dough long ways, making sure all the good stuff stays inside. I refrigerated mine to cook the next day. Cut in 1 inch pieces. Place on cookie sheet. Cook on 400 for 8-10 minutes. Dip into ranch dressing or pizza sauce. Wish I had a picture for ya to see how yummy they are!

I must preface this disgusting picture by saying my husband must hate me. Before pregnancy I had "super nose" and could pick up smells for miles. Now that I'm pregnant, it tripled. He seriously brought these things out of the refrigerator, opened them right next to me as I was baking, set them down (with the lid OPEN) right next to me, and then proceeds to eat them RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!! It was the most horrendous thing in the world!! I don't understand why anyone would can a "weiner" or any sorts, or even worse... pickle it.... and then make it spicy!!! Sweet Jesus!
This is a really blurry picture.... BUT I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.... ugh*** I feel like I'm about to puke as I post this picture.... ****

Moving on... Moving on....
I found a FANTASTIC RECIPE for chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's Butter-cream frosting this week. My girls at work LOVE Bailey's and we always joke that we're going to bring some to our team meetings at work. So, when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it for them. It was my very first homemade cake or icing. I do have to say this icing was the shiz-nit! Oh, also... I NEED HELP!! I cannot make a cupcake lately without burning the bottoms. Any suggestions?

My messy work area

My first batch of homemade icing

After the Bailey's was added

4 boxes of goodness

My first attempt at piping!!!!!

Co-workers birthday cupcakes. One with Bailey's (didn't think she was a boozer), and 3 without