My Strange Addiction

I'm a light-gamer. At least that's what I call myself. Will I sit with an Xbox and talk to people in a headset? No. Will I binge play every Nancy Drew game as soon as it comes out? Yes.

I like to go back to the computer games I loved as a kid. You know, Oregon Trail, Sims, that sort of thing. Well one of my favorites was Roller Coaster Tycoon. LOVED. IT.

Guess what? It's an app for your ipad now!! So I've slowly been building coasters and a phenomenal park. Coach makes fun of me because I check it every morning and evening, but hey, I have to or else I'll end up spending money on in-app purchases!

So that's where I'm at. Binge playing a game from my childhood as if I were still 12 years old. Cause that's what every 27 year old secretly wants to do :)

Valentines 2015

I have no pictures. Failing at that resolution so far!

We kept Valentines pretty low-key this year. It isn't a top holiday for either of us and fighting the crowds for a night of prescribed romance just isn't our cup of tea.

This year the holiday fell on the same weekend as parent/teacher conferences AND President's day. That meant we had a 4 day weekend!!! Whoopee!!

Saturday rolled around and decided to just pal around together. We went out and got Coach some fancy new running shoes. He's training for a half marathon and it was time to buy into the program. Literally, lol. The shoe shop was right down the street from a Kansas City staple- Andre's! So he got fancy running shoes and I got fancy chocolates.

We swung by Macy's to pick up a cast iron pan then headed home for our own gourmet dinner. Coach really knocked it out of the park with delightful bacon-wrapped filets cooked perfectly in the new pan. I pitched in with chedder gratin potatoes and salad :). Then we settled in with some glasses of red wine and our DVR.

Not an exciting holiday by many's standards but it was perfect for us. It's not often we both have time off to just run around time together so it's enjoyable when it happens. One of my favorite things about having found "the One" is just having a partner to ride along with me,

Orlando Day 2

Our package with Universal included early admission to the park and 2 breakfasts in the park. Our first breakfast was for the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. That's on the Islands of Adventure side of the park.

We got up bright and early, donned our Harry Potter themed tanks and headed to the park gates.
We stopped for a few pictures along the way :)

We arrived to Hogsmeade and oh my land- it was all so real! We walked right on to the front row of the blue coaster for Dragon Challenge. Then got off to go immediately back onto the front row of the red coaster. I love riding coasters, so knocking 2 out in our first 15 minutes in the park really set the tone for the day :)

We then got in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It's a super high-tech dark ride that's known world-ride for what the Universal creative team accomplished. It was amazing. It's not your traditional coaster so even the non-coaster-lovers in our group happily rode.

That's me covering my eyes at a scary part. I tried to last through it every time but just couldn't. All I can say is that spiders were involved and this girl doesn't do spiders!

By then it was time for our breakfast reservation but we hopped onto Flight of the Hippogriff first. It's a mini coaster- just a lap bar deal. But for true HP fans, you have to ride it to get the best view of the Hippogriff and Hagrid's cottage.

The breakfast was delicious! We weren't sure what to expect of the theme-park quick service but it was delightful!

We explored Hogsmeade a bit more- the girls bought their wands and we tried out the interactive spell spots. Turns out we are NOT naturals. Haha!

Honeydukes!

We would have ridden the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley (aka Universal Studios) but it was down at the moment. So we explored more of IoA first.

We rode the Hulk (love that coaster!!), posed with Thor, and wandered through Seussland and Toon Lagoon.

We grabbed a fast lunch in the cafe right by the Hulk and continued exploring.

We got to Universal Studios and explored some before making Twister our first ride. As far as rides go, it's definitely one for the chopping block. I totally get why it was awesome when it first opened but the technology needs to be updated. Rumor is that's exactly what's going to happen it so I am glad we rode before it's gone forever. I'm also a huge Twister fan and used to play storm-chasers with my sisters on our bikes. So you know, nerd alert.

We wandered up to Diagon Alley and while the detail is just as exquisite we were not AS impressed. The crowds our weekend were some of the slowest of the year yet Diagon Alley was PACKED. It's a tighter space just by nature of design so it feels crowded a lot sooner. It's also obviously the most popular part of that park so every.one. is there.

Your public entrance to the Ministry of Magic!

Weasley's shop

We waited (for the first and only time that day) to ride Escape from Gringotts. It was ok. After the Forbidden Journey it was much less exciting and then our ride had a small glitch that kind of ruined the mood at the end. Plus we went back row at the asinine suggestion of a ride attendant. We decided to give it another try later but moved on pretty quickly (though the queue area was phenomenal).

Wave your wand right and the poor folks under the umbrella will get quite wet!

Then we explored more of the park: Rode the Transformers, Simpsons, and Men in Black rides. We grabbed dinner at a quick service restaurant there (Mel's Drive-In, yummy cheese fries!). We wandered and meandered for a bit to kill time since we wanted to see Universal's evening show. Finally Kari and I decided to just bite the bullet and do it. We rode the Rip-Ride-Rocket.

Lawsy- that coaster was hands down one of the most fun I've ever ridden. You pick a song to listen to while you ride. She and I chose to have the same song and selected Beastie Boy's Sabotage. So basically we're careening through the night with laser lights flashing on our car and track while jamming out to Beastie Boys. Want to feel like a badass? Do that!

We settled onto a park bench for the anniversary lights, water, and fireworks show. It was totally cool and amazing what they could do with their fancy special effects. All the lights in the park are dimmed so you can see the film montage played on screens of running water. The fountains in the lagoon are lit and synchronized to the soundtrack and fireworks go off at the climatic moments. Definitely worth hanging around for!

So to sum up day 2: we explored every inch of both parks, walked over 10 miles, rode almost every major ride, and were thoroughly impressed. And sore. Just a teensy bit sore. :)

Time to Talk About Jesus

I don't do it often, I have fairly personal reasons, but I just don't talk about Jesus on this forum very often. This is a long post but I didn't believe it should be broken up. So read until you're bored but be prepared that there is much.

Here's the thing, I was raised in the church. As literally as you can get. I was raised by sweet, sweet Southern Baptist parents. The comedian Mark Lowry (cause of course we watched all of his- and the Gaither- specials growing up!) once said his mama took him to church any time the doors were open. That was us. Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Add to that, I went to private Christian elementary school. That meant chapel on Wednesdays (4 church services a week) and Bible as a CLASS every day. This wasn't Bible study in the sense of "find the spirit." This was know the stories and words of the Bible inside and out and it will show up on your report card.

My parents, though Baptist, were very balanced. They taught us tolerance and grace in their own unique way. We did Lent and celebrated Easter with a Seder. We announced the coming and going of Hanukkah and read the Christmas story every Christmas morning before opening gifts. They taught us to love and embrace our faith by teaching us to appreciate all the history and forms of it. It's awesome.

A fellow blogger recently wrote of her convictions. I'm still not entirely sure how public her blog is (it's gone in and out of the public eye some as their lives have reached different stages) or else I would link to it here. She was basically writing though on her Christian convictions in regards to consumerism. I had recently been exploring my own convictions as Lent was upon us. She and her family have been called to serve in a very unique and hands-on way. Her convictions are going to be different than mine. I have never been comfortable sharing my faith in the way that she does (or even did back in the youth group days). It took me a long time to discover why and then to embrace the way God has led me.

Here's the thing guys. I'm a logical, intelligent person who understands that faith is regularly illogical. My science and religion honors course though taught me how to equalize these tugs on my heart and intellect. Intellect is a malleable and varied thing. Everyone shows their intellect differently and in different levels. Our intellect is what processes everything that is input into our minds including religious teachings. That means we all interpret these teachings differently. Because we're all individuals and no two personal faiths are identical.

I think her convictions have a lot of meaning to her as she's actively serving as a missionary in a 3rd world country. Her mission field is different from mine.

When I read the stories, when I learned the Bible, the thing that struck me most about Jesus was how he was just a nice guy. He didn't often lose his temper, he RARELY critiqued those of different faiths. He was in fact most critical of those within his own faith. Jesus was kind. He loved everyone, he helped them out when he could, and ultimately that meant dying for all of us. He's a good guy. That's my personal take-away. Others focus on his generosity, some focus on his teachings, some on his sacrifices. We are all struck by it differently because we are individuals.

I talk most about my faith to my mother still. Maybe that will change as my marriage deepens (as I highly suspect it will), but for now that's the situation. She and I often talk of our mission field and how we can show our faith.

My mission field is my work. I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher in a hard district. I don't know how long I'll stay and I don't know where my long-term career is going. But you know what? God placed me there. These kids need a love and acceptance in a way many won't give. They need a person to trust, who'll tell them like it is, but let them hang with her anyway. If you want the Bible analogy, they are the Mary Magdalene at my well. Outsiders to many but totally cool with me. I'm not Jesus, obviously, but isn't it my job as His follower to emulate him?

My mom actually found my life verse (naturally). She saw it on a piece of wall art and gifted it to me. It's hung in my closet ever since, where I see it every day. II John 1:6. The sign says simply: Walk in Love.  My favorite Bible (the Max Lucado devotional Bible) translates it fully as: "And love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love."

How has God commanded you to live? Has He commanded you to live in a different country? Has He commanded you to work actively in your church? Has He commanded you to show patience to children who haven't seen it before? God needs His soldiers in all areas of the field. He needs them everywhere. Satan wants you to feel guilty. That you aren't doing enough. He wants you to feel inadequate and inept. He wants you to feel unable and unworthy. God doesn't wish those things upon you. My belief is true and consistent, He wants us to live as we saw Him and He wants us to show love.

This isn't meant to justify. We all have our mission field and we need to work in it. Sometimes God nudges us into an unfamiliar territory for a reason but He will always place us where we can do our most good. Are you able to live a life of Christian example where you are? Are you able to live a life of love? If so, then you're probably where He wants you and you need to embrace it, work with it, and run with it. Don't second guess where God has led you in life, instead take everything He has given you and put it to use. Christian witness and love is needed on every level, in every setting, in every corner of the world. Maybe you don't see it now but His work will be known in time as long as you stay true to Him.

I Bowled a 46 and STILL Wasn't the Worst in the Room (And also our first night in Orlando)

So we had traveled to Orlando, checked out our room, and were ready to wind down. We decided to check out the bowling alley at our resort. We figured to grab some snacks, drinks, and relax. We were put in a lane next to some way-out-of-towners. Like from another country. Which is TOTALLY cool.....except.....they didn't know how to bowl.

First they were really confused why we were there, basically they thought our lane space was their lane space but we got that all sorted out. Then we started bowling. They still weren't. We realized they were watching, and debating, and figuring out the technology. Those bowling screens are pretty high tech these days.

Then it started. We just couldn't. I mean we COULDN'T let this go undocumented. I've never seen this before. My sister who dated a bowler (and thus spent a lot of time at the bowling alley) had never seen this before.

Needless to say, a couple of drinks, couple of nacho platters (don't judge) later, we were thoroughly amused and in good spirits.

More on the rest of our Orlando trip later, for now, this.

Extra Crispy Pork Chops

This recipe is one of our favorite ways to make pork chops. I love beef, I don't love chicken. Pork is the healthy alternative for our household.

Overall I think the pork chop gets overlooked. Everyone thinks of bacon and sausage when they think pork. A think chop is really one of my favorite cuts of meat to prepare though. It's very versatile, lean, and super easy. Plus- today's pork market is ultra safe. The risk of trichinosis only exists in free-range meats so your standard butcher-counter chop can safely be cooked to medium. No dried out meat!!

This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation of the America's Best recipe (you need to be a subscriber to read the recipe). I like America's Best but often times the super-precise recipes aren't the most practical for everyday cooking.

Start with 4 pork chops of equal thickness.

Line up 3 bowls: 1 with flour, 1 with the egg mix, 1 with the bread crumb mix. The egg mix is very, very thick but trust me. It works.

Dip the chop in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. You're baking the pork chops on a greased cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Bake at 425 for 17-25 minutes or until done. These stay super moist but they can get dry if you really over-bake them. Remember pork can have a tinge of pink in the middle and still be safe!

I made these with Parmesan garlic spaghetti squash, salad, and rolls. Yum! I traditionally serve them with the Parmesan crusted potatoes au gratin because the creamy sauce on the potatoes goes well with the crispy of the chop. The spaghetti sauce concoction was equally yummy though!

Extra Crispy Pork Chops:
4 pork chops of equal thickness (I like a 6 ounce chop but you can really use any cut you want, just mix more breading layers if you need more for more chops)
Bread Crumb Mix-
3 1/2 cup panko crumbs
1 tbsp dried chopped onion
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tsp thyme
2 tbsp parsley
Egg Mix-
3 egg white
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp flour
Flour-
6 tbsp flour

Mix your dipping bowls thoroughly. Dip chops in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Make sure to coat the sides! Bake at 425 till done.

Parmesan Scalloped Spaghetti Squash

A friend of mine made my first spaghetti squash back in the fall. She brought a cheesy kale dish made with it and I loved it. Coach wasn't a fan but he thought it was the sauce.

So normally when I make our favorite ultra-crispy pork chops, I make Parmesan scalloped potatoes to go with it. This time I decided to change things up and use a spaghetti squash dish instead.

I basically made a sauce like from the potato dish and stirred it in with the squash and all the cheeses. Then I baked the whole thing to hot and bubbly.

Once again, phone pictures because that's all I have around when I think about pictures!

I sliced the squash in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and loose gunk (pumpkin style). I placed the halves cut-side down in a baking dish with about an inch of water. Then I baked it at 350 for 45 minutes until the skin was blistering. Take it out of the oven and let it cool just enough to handle. Use a fork to scrape out the insides into spaghetti like strands. I placed the strands in a buttered glass baking dish.

 I'll be honest- I could stop here and just eat it with salt and pepper. I love this stuff. But I stuck with the plan and started a Parmesan sauce.

I stirred up a roux with equal parts butter and flour and about 2 cloves of minced garlic. I added milk and cream and whisked until the roux was all dissolved. I sprinkled in a liberal amount of thyme, Parmesan, a cracked black pepper. Picture of the roux was all I got for you (I was in a rush folks, dinner had to be ready by the time Coach came home!).

 I poured the sauce over the squash and stirred in more mozzarella and Parmesan. Then I sprinkled even more cheese on top and popped it back in the oven at 350. The squash holds on to the yellow color pretty strongly so it's not the white cheesiness that the potatoes have. Plus, you know, camera phone.

All in all, it was good. I took all the leftovers and just ate them for lunch. :) Coach tolerated it and ate a big helping but he still wasn't the hugest fan. It was improved, but still not ranking high up his list.

Let me know if you make it any better!!

Water Challenge Week 3

Wowza! 3 weeks in already!!!

So I forgot to take a picture on Sunday....and on Monday.....but I snapped one today!! So maybe the photo tracking isn't the most accurate. Oh well.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

This week was hard because I was traveling- look for those posts soon!! I went to Universal Studios with some friends and it just made water consumption more challenging. I still managed my goal of 90+ ounces a day even if I didn't reach the full gallon each day. By far the most-seen attraction were the bathrooms!! (For the record, we visited 2/3 of all the bathrooms in the park, it became a thing to use them all).

I started using water flavoring this week too. While normally drinking plain water is fine for me, I found myself starting to struggle. So I bought some simple drink mixes (the HyVee brand of Crystal Light to be exact) and gave it a try. I really don't want to be drinking my calories except for my milk and I was hesitant to start the slippery slope of caffeine some of them provided. What I discovered though was my own personal crack.

One pack of wild strawberry drink mix and I'll have 24 ounces of water downed in 10 minutes. It's amazing. I love artificial strawberry flavor and always have (is that weird?). This stuff is delightful. It only has 75 mg of caffeine too; less than a cup of coffee!! I don't feel as guilty about all that. So now when I find myself behind on my water, I'll just add some of the flavor mix and get some solid drinking done!!

Overall I feel good. I'm used to the bathroom routine now. I'm less bloated and combined with my recent back-to-jazzercise, I've got a slimmer waistline overall. I started the work outs at the same time so I can't say one or the other is having the most impact. I truly think it's a combo. I haven't had such quick results from exercise before and my skin is staying extra clear. That's the water!!

So this is the last week and honestly, I'll continue. I'm snacking less, I like the way I look, why go back? Drinking more and more water every day keeps me from eating and drinking things I should have less of. Win-win!

Gallon Challenge

Ok- so I'd seen some things on Pinterest and then I did some reading and ultimately I decided to challenge myself. No, not to start every post with a run-on sentence (though I would be dominating that challenge). It's the Gallon Challenge.

The goal is to drink a gallon of water a day. At first I thought that was way too much, in reality though it's pretty spot on with my recommended fluid intake. Now you all will get to enjoy my updates and see some pretty honest photos of my face. Get excited.

Starting pic:

In all honesty, my hair and skin are pretty good. I have even skin tone, minimal dark spots, little acne issues. But I wanted to see if this would help with my eye baggies, and just general perkiness of my skin. Instead of trying fancy skin systems, I figured I would just try general good nutrition first!

So after a week (and a day) here I am. I remember to photo myself in bed so you know, enjoy the pillow backdrop.

My results after a week:

• The skin under and around my eyes is a little more plump. Not in a bad, puffy way, in a less-tired way. This could be due to me getting rest over the 3-day weekend though. We'll see what the results are long term.
• My teeth are a little whiter. I'm not really drinking any less staining fluids (coffee and tea aren't part of my daily diet, and I didn't cut back on my red wine any). I figure the constant rinsing from drinking the water has to be helping though.
• I started on Sunday and on Friday was down 3 pounds. I started working out again though a couple of weeks ago so it's not just from the water. The weekend pretty much ruined that though (Restaurant Week will do that to you). 
• I am snacking less. Not because I don't want to. I still crave food at certain times during the day. I'm just being very conscientious about drinking instead. They say that a lot of our "hunger" is actually thirst. And as I've been drinking my water, I have been able to hold off my hunger for longer stretches. 
• No changes in intestinal systems or habits :)
• Less bloating until the weekend. Then the eating really ruined that.

How I'm doing it:

• First concern was measuring. That's actually been the easiest part. I have a 34 ounce Bubba I use. I drink one at work before lunch, one between lunch and when I go home, and a third between home and bed time. I also have 16 ounces of milk in the morning with breakfast (that's 2 cartons in school lunch language). Then I usually have another 12-16 ounces of milk or water in the evening. So I hit my gallon pretty easily.
• Second concern was needing to use the bathroom. I was really worried about this, but in reality I'm not going excessive amounts. Before I usually went once during the school day, maybe twice if I stayed late. Now I go about 4 times or every couple of hours. I was most concerned about night since I normally wake at least once for the bathroom but I've actually been sleeping through better. Not sure how that works but I'll take it!
• What am I drinking? I'm doing just water and milk. That's pretty much all I drink anyway. I still have my occasional glass of wine in the evening but I don't count it as part of the challenge. I did buy some Crystal Light packs for when I get tired of plain water but I haven't broken into them yet. I've always been very careful of not drinking my calories so that hasn't been a big switch for me. If you're a heavy caffeine drinker though I would be careful about weaning yourself off. The goal ultimately is for a gallon of water though so I stick as closely to that as I can.

And that's what I'm up to. I'll post another update in a week and let you know how the challenge went while traveling!

Restaurant Week 2015

For those of you unaware- Coach and I like to eat. It's kind of our thing. So Restaurant Week is one of our highlights. As a culinary arts teacher (part of my FCS job donchaknow!), I'm automatically a member of the Missouri Restaurant Association which means I get the dates for Restaurant Week MONTHS ahead of time. And you better bet I put it on the calendar.

So for some it seems pretty easy- pick a restaurant from the list, go, enjoy. For foodies like us it takes planning and strategy. The week runs Friday to the next Sunday. So you have a full week and 2 full weekends to enjoy. This year I ruined half our fun by leaving town the second week. So we really had to make ours last.

Step 1: Pick your restaurant. We usually take this as our opportunity to try someplace new. We chose '37 Steak- the new steakhouse at our favorite casino- and Michael Forbes Grill. If we'd had the 2 weekends, we would have added EBT and/or Jess & Jim's. Maybe next year!

Step 2: Make your reservations. I like to book as early as possible. It's easier to adjust a reservation later than it is to get in on a crowded night.

Step 3: Put on your stretchy pants. The menus are never small and it's almost always delicious.

This year's winner was for sure '37. While Michael Forbes was good, it wasn't the best steak (or in Coach's case- catfish) that I've ever had. '37 had a unique menu with the classics and everything was perfectly cooked. The service was phenomenal (we had a complementary dessert served to us simply because we raved about the bacon in my husband's cocktail. Yes he had a drink with bacon in it, and yes we had bacon for dessert).

Now since one of our restaurants was at the casino, we went ahead and booked a room to make a night of it. It was the perfect start to our 3 day weekend and a great time with our friends. The best part is that even the basic room at the hotel has great big huge soaking tubs. I love to soak in a hot bath but we don't have a good tub at our house. So I spent a good 45 minutes avoiding drowning and loving every minute of it.

Now for the food details!

At '37 I ordered the chicken and crab wellington off the restaurant week menu. Chicken breast, prosciutto, spinach, crab, and a creamy sauce inside a flaky pastry. Coach had the filet and both entrees were cooked to perfection. The sides are family style so our table split The Hashbrown (yes, it's so good it earns the "the"), sweet corn, and asparagus. We all had salads (my Caesar was yummy), and we all split my chocolate tower cake dessert that came as part of the restaurant week deal. The specialty drink that night was an old-fashioned with a jalapeno and brown-sugar peppered bacon. We raved, they brought us a cup of bacon, we had meat for dessert (and that's not the first time).

Michael Forbes is a much larger menu. Here's my thing- when a menu serves steak, lasagna, burgers, and tacos, you kind of wonder what they're good at it. My experience is that it's never all of them. Since I didn't have steak at '37 I went ahead and ordered the filet. It was edible and cooked right but just not as good as the nicer steakhouses. My side was the potatoes au gratin which was really diced roasted potatoes with cheddar melted on top. Good, but nothing I can't (and do) make at home. Coach ordered the fried catfish which is deboned table side so that was fun. And they bring you home style rolls right out of the pan and they were delightful. All in all though I found the menu very similar to chain menus (especially 54th Street) and I didn't find the food significantly higher in quality. It was still yummy though and it's always nice to try someplace new. Since they are on our Passport Dining list we'll probably be back.

So that was our go at Restaurant Week 2015, Week by previous year's but 2 in one weekend isn't bad :). If I wasn't leaving Wednesday then we'd sneak in a mid-week one too at one of the more casual places. If you're ever going to visit Kansas City, Restaurant Week is a good time to be in town!

Lyrics Revisited

Sometimes you grow up and hear a song from junior high and you really hear the lyrics for the first time and the whole song is changed for you.

My most recent encounter was with the often joked, much loved by teenagers, Discovery Channel Song (which is actually "The Bad Touch" by Bloodhound Gang? Who knew?).  I'll only pull out my most favorite lines and let you know the thoughts I had when hearing them again:

"Me and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about"

Ok- so in late high school I heard the remake of Darling Nicky which introduced me to Prince's original Darling Nicky which shines a whole new light on this line. At least that's the Prince song I'm thinking of.

"I want you smothered want you covered like my Waffle House hashbrowns"

 Oh hashbrowns, that would be so good right now, I love mine smothered too. All that cheese.....

"just like Coca-Cola stock you are inclined"

That's actually pretty intelligent.

"To make me rise an hour early just like Daylight Savings Time"

That's not attractive, there is nothing attractive about Daylight Savings Time. Unless it's fall back, yes you should fall back like Daylight Savings Time.

"Let me be Pacific I wanna be down in your South Seas"

By golly, that's even geographically accurate!

"Please turn me on I'm Mister Coffee with an automatic drip"

Hahahaha, Mister Coffee's in a rap.

So maybe I haven't entirely matured since junior high but I certainly listen to the lyrics more. I mean the song's still just about sex which isn't really my song muse of choice. BUT- the lyrics are clever and accurate which is more than I can say for half the rap music my students are listening to these days. Gotta love a man who uses accurate geography and yummy food euphemisms to talk about doing it.

3-day Weekend? 3-day YES

🎶Staycation, all I ever wanted.... Staycation, had to get away! 🎶

This weekend starts with the kick-off of restaurant week!!! Ie- one of our favorite weeks of the year! Stay tuned for a recap and info on how we conquer the week most beloved of foodies in Kansas City. 

In the meantime, I'll happily relax in my paid-for-one-night ultra-long-and-super-perfect tub before hitting restaurant 1 😄

🎶...had to get away...🎶

New Years 2014

Still didn't take pictures.....I'm awful I know. It's like our children won't even know we existed this past year. 2015 will be better, I promise!

So we decided to have everyone we knew over to our house for New Years. I'd been feeling a little forgotten since we hadn't had a party after football. I got so used to hosting people every Friday night, that I was kind of missing it (remind me of that next fall I know!!). I literally just invited almost everyone we knew. Of course they didn't all come but we had about 10-14 people over at any given time. I set up a buffet, everyone brought their own drinks, and we just hung out. We even did a little dessert swap so I didn't feel guilty about not having party favors. Perfect evening!

Menu:
Ham and cheese sliders
Parmesan cheese straws
Meatballs
Buffalo dip
Pepper-jack bacon dip (new creation, wildly popular, will post about soon once I get actual measurements figured out)
Cheddar beer fondue dip (new recipe from pinterest, not making the recipe box)
Dunkaroo dip
Frosted brownies (from a box because that's how Betty Crocker rules the world, having the best brownies)

Drinks:
Everyone brought their own thing. We set up the drink tub so you could put what you needed on ice. We also had several mixers available- Coke, Sprite, club soda, that sort of thing. Then I made a virgin punch that our expecting friends could enjoy and everyone else could spice up as they liked. It was an orange sherbet punch I call Sunday School punch. I mixed mine with vodka and club soda, champagne, or chardonnay. Not all at once, just throughout the evening :)

Easy Pizza Crust

I've mentioned several times making home-made pizza. If we don't order from Papa John's, it's because I'm cooking that night. This dough is super easy and really delicious. No picture this time (not that they're any good anyway).

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450
Combine the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients, then stir together.
You might need to add more water or need in more flour depending on dough consistency.
Roll out dough to desired shape and size. Dough will double in thickness when baked so be careful not to make too thick.
Place dough on desired baking sheet, dock with fork (that means poke holes all over that thing so you don't get giant air bubbles).
Bake for 5 to 10 minutes to set the dough, the crust should be hard but not brown.
Remove from oven and add desired toppings.
Return to over and bake until crust is golden brown and toppings are cooked as desired.

Easy right?! I double the batch and make a large thick-crust pizza on our pizza stone. I just roll the dough out right on the stone too. We load up ours with cheese, red and green peppers, onion, hamburger, and mushrooms. I'll tell you now, the secret to a loaded pizza is to put a layer of cheese over the sauce, then all the other toppings, then another light sprinkling of cheese.

Also-if you want a stuff crust pizza, just roll out the dough past the edges of the baking sheet. Then sprinkle your cheese liberally on the edge and roll in the dough to encase it. Do this prior to the first baking obviously.

Enjoy!

Chili Contest 2014

Every year at work I host a chili contest. Host is a loose term. I really just keep track of the contestants and eaters, split up the prize money, and since we're the FCS classroom, all the crockpots and eating takes place in there.

Normally I make 2 chilis each year- one on my dime and one on the FCS department dime. Perks of the job. This year I just didn't have time or the heart really, so I just made mine. Last year I won the contest with the Thick and Meaty. I could have stuck with that but instead I went for my easier classic chili. The recipes originally from Paula Dean but of course I've changed it some over the years. This chili won 3rd place about 3 years ago.

Now remember that chili is a subjective dish. So I'm only giving you approximate quantities. You can change out ingredients and spices to make it however you wish!! Excuse the crappy pictures but the SLR battery was dead so point & shoot had to do. Not to mention the worst lighting ever in our kitchen.

Start by browning your beef- I used plan old hamburger, 2 lbs. I season mine lightly as I cook it. I also cook it in the stock pot I'll use for the whole recipe. Why wash 2 dishes?! Our hamburger is pretty lean so I just let the fat cook off some and not bother with draining it later. Obviously draining it would be healthier.

 Step 2: add in your diced veggies. I used onion and green bell pepper. You can throw in some jalapeno or red pepper too. In this case, 1 large onion, 2 green peppers. Oh, and some minced garlic. I used garlic salt on the hamburger so I didn't add too much.

 Step 3: Canned tomato time! The original recipe wants 2 14-oz cans of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes. I have two problems with this: 1) stewed tomatoes are pretty big tomato hunks, and 2) I've never found Mexican-style ever in the store. So I used 2 cans of stewed tomatoes with peppers and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. I still went through pulling out the big tomato pieces and cutting them up smaller. I just don't like giant tomato hunks.

 Step 4: beans and seasonings. 2 15-oz cans of kidney beans. I like color variety so I did one can of light and one can of dark. Oh, and drain and rinse those beans before you add them. That bean juice is thick and gross in my opinion. Then 1/4 cup of chili powder and a couple tsps of salt. Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper according to your preference. You can also add a splash of cayenne and paprika but remember both of those spices (and cumin) are ingredients of chili powder (chili powder is a combo spice).

 Stir and simmer and taste test till you get it just right. The picture makes it look real orange, but it's a true chili red (gets it from the chili powder).

This size batch fills a large crockpot and feeds 8-10. Normally I make this size then immediately freeze half for Coach and I to have later in the winter. Why cook twice when you can cook and freeze once?!

Cold Weather Shrimp Boil

Shrimp Boil, Low-Country Boil, Frogmore Stew, whatever you call it- it's one of our favorite. He likes shrimp, I like sausage, we split the veggies.

It seems to me though that shrimp boil is more of a warm weather dish. I'll make it basically any time between April and October but never in the winter. I was thinking about sausage though.....that happens when your husband comes home smelling like hot dogs (literally, he worked the concession stand at school last night). So I decided to raid my pantry and see what I could come up with.

I had a recipe for a sausage hash from Pinterest that was really good. I have some hearty vegetables on hand (mushrooms, potatoes, bell peppers, onion). I have half a pack of kielbasa and some fancy spicy sausage from our Hermann trip. I also have crab legs. I had to fill up the tank anyway so it wasn't a big deal for me to swing in the grocery store and grab a red pepper and yellow squash to add to the pile.

So my winter shrimp boil is going to be sauteed. I'll slice and dice it all, crisp the potatoes in one pan, soften the veggies to just tender in the other. I'll add it all then throw in the meat and some garlic with pinches of salt and pepper. The crab legs I could break apart and saute up as well but I'll just warm them in the oven per usual and throw on top of the platter before serving.

It sounds yummy- it should taste yummy. And it will be a nice warm reminder of summertime on this bitterly cold day. 7 degrees everyone, it is 7 degrees outside. And feels like -15. I realize Minnesota has it worse but come on, it's Minnesota. They're used to the cold. We're not. And this only-lived-in-Northern-Missouri-5-years-yet definitely isn't used to it!!!

Christmas 2014 Recap

This year was our first Christmas in our own home as a married couple. We talked at length about how to combine our favorite holiday traditions and I really think we nailed it.

Christmas Eve we did some last minute shopping and then went to an open-house hosted by close family friends (his tradition). We then went to our church's Christmas Eve service (something my family always does, his family did when they were younger, and something we both wanted to be a tradition for our family). Then we came home and made some delicious home-made pizza (a food tradition from my side). His parents came by to eat with us and visit (a new tradition). Then we headed to our den for Christmas movie watching. Then came time for stockings. Our families both have strong Santa traditions and just because we don't have kids doesn't mean Santa won't visit our house. The trick was how to do it without seeing each other's stuff. We settled on laying out stockings on the separate sofas and just staring at the floor while you exited the room. It worked well enough and I know eventually keeping our stockings a surprise will be a lesser priority when we have kids.

The next morning our sweet puppies woke us at 7 for their normal morning needs. We got up, fed the dogs, I put a breakfast casserole (made the night before) in the oven, and we took our annual Christmas morning photo on the stairs.

We checked out our stockings, gave the dogs some of their Christmas treats, and headed upstairs. With just the two of us things move pretty quickly. We opened our gifts for each other, congratulated each other on only having 2 exchanges to make, and settled in with breakfast. For the record, my stocking had numerous kitchen utensils I wanted (for some reason I was down to ZERO rubber spatulas), a Columbia pullover, and a couple of gift cards. Coach's stocking had some food treats, a giant Mizzou freezer bag (love our soft-sided coolers in this house), and a Kindle Fire HD7 with case and stylus. Our gifts to each other were mostly clothes. Coach's big surprise was his drill set and mine was a new pair of Uggs.

Another movie and we were ready to head to Coach's parents house. It took some time during the movie to get all the gifts sorted and loaded up.

We headed out early because this year Coach was frying the turkey for Christmas lunch. So we had about an hour and a half to visit with his parents and just hang out (and eat) before the other families arrived. By noon all the kids and grandkids were in the house, we had a delicious turkey dinner, and started the present opening. After getting most of the little kids' gifts opened we took a short break (one needed to go down for a nap). Then it was round 2 for opening the adult gifts. It was a calm, relaxed day and I basked in knowing that I had married into a family that didn't run around to thousands of extended family celebrations on the holidays. I really enjoy just being with our immediate family and doing our thing on the holidays.

One thing I will need to change next year- pictures!!! Normally I'm the girl with the camera out the whole time and I dropped the ball all fall on this one. Time to get back in the swing of documenting every single moment! :)

How to Shop for Your Husband

While Your Husband's with You and You're Trying to Keep It a Secret for Pete's Sake!

So after being cooped up in the house for 2 days with a sick wife, by Black Friday Coach was ready to break free. Problem was, I had two specific things I wanted to go out and buy him for Christmas gifts. We do as many surprise gifts for each other as possible. I'm just not into the whole pick-it-out-myself-then-pretend-to-be-surprised-later gig. Originally my dad was going to take Nick out so Mom and I could hit the stores and accomplish the mission. Note that I said originally. Dad changed his mind and wasn't moving fast enough, Nick was not being left behind at the house, so all four of us head out together. Wonderful.

I cornered my dad and told him he had to get Nick pulled away some so I could get things purchased. Dad says "sure, no problem!" Well I don't know where he got the idea, but my normally best-secret-keeping-ever father was giving me like 2-minute windows of opportunity. After ditching this particular sweater on the floor 3 different times at Macy's I gave up. Time to move on.

So then of course, we're wandering around the not giant mall that's in SEMO and I'm constantly trying to figure in my head how to ditch the hubs and go back to get the sweater. It's not working. I'm at my breaking point and finally just declare to my husband "You won't get ANY presents for Christmas if you don't leave me alone to shop!" He got the picture then, though part of the surprise was still ruined in my opinion. So I manage to get back to Macy's, purchase the sweater, and only glare at the men once or twice for ruining my Christmas shenanigans.

Time for part 2. I needed to buy some tools at Sears. They had a drill set on sale for Black Friday, I had a $100 gift card from our refrigerator fiasco, it was meant to be. Coach hadn't even thought to ask for a new drill but a couple of off-hand comments by him let me know he would be delighted to get one. Here's how I planned to pull this off: The Sears parking lot is connected to TJ Maxx's lot. The men drop off the women at TJ Maxx then go off on their own to a more manly store. Like the hardware store across the street. Mom and I hike over to Sears, get the drill set, then hike back to TJ Maxx where we make a dumb purchase but ask for their biggest bag so we can hide that we went to Sears. Perfect plan right?!?

Sure, until Dad decides he wants to go to TJ Maxx too. Insert groans of frustration here. So now we're wandering around TJ Maxx buying pointless stuff because Mom and I have to act like we really wanted to go there. (And I'm being rude, I really did get some nice new Christmas decorations for our house plus Mom got me a new pair of fleece-lined leggings). We get back to the car and I finally just say, OK- I need to go to Sears. For the first time all day Dad got helpful and said he needed more jerky seasoning and how about he and Nick run up to SAM's Club to get some. Score! Mom and I hustle inside of Sears, get the drill and have the clerk triple bag it so you can just barely make out the yellow DeWalt box inside. At this point though I'm convinced Nick knows he's getting at least tools and that he'll see the darn yellow box at some point in the travel process. Not to mention that I have never once shopped for anything for myself at Sears in the entirety of our relationship so he surely knows I'm buying him tools. So I'm still not really happy about the situation but oh well.

By then I was tired, we went home, I napped again before dinner, and we ended the day at our favorite local hibachi restaurant. Love me some Shogun!!

(Just so you know, Coach claims to have been completely surprised by the drills and had no idea. He might still be bluffing but I'll take it since he was so happy to receive them).

Telling Your Husband Too Much

So this conversation took place last night. I might have had a bit too much for dinner and it left my stomach feeling all roly-poly. We were finally in bed for the evening....

Coach: Are you feeling better?
Me: Yeah- after I puked anyway.
C: You puked?
M: Yeah, and it helped. But do you want to know what happened?
C: No
M: Hey, I'm supposed to be able to tell you everything.
C: No you're not.
M: Hey now, you married m-- C: No.

Well obviously that wasn't going to work. So I told him anyway. And now I'll tell you. I will warn you though that it involves puke and pee and a small scene with a spider. If that's too much for you then it's probably best you stop reading now. :)

I was feeling all queasy and bubbly inside. I figured that I just ate too much and going to the bathroom might help. So I'm sitting on the toilet happily peeing and what comes scurrying across the floor right after I start? A wolf spider- aka, my arch nemesis in life. I stayed calm. I grabbed my hairspray and sprayed the literal living life out of the SOB. (This is a trick I learned when I lived alone, hair spray kills or at least paralyzes the spider so you can vacuum it up).

I pulled up my pants (they were around my ankles during the extermination), flush the spider remains, wash my hands, and return to the den. I'm sitting there and my stomach feels all roly again. I figure it's because I had stopped my bathroom break earlier. Back up the stairs I go!

I sit down, start to pee, and immediately feel it. The vomit. It's in my throat. I look around and the trashcan is full and doesn't even have a bag. Oh no- it's in my mouth. I clamp my lips closed and in one, swift move I flush the toilet, pull up my pants, pivot, kneel, and barf into the flushing waters. For some reason puking into pee seemed unsanitary. What if it splashed? So the first round's good but you know there's never just one. Gag round 2 comes (the first was really just an appetizer) and I happily puke the full amount. Except...wait....my panties are damp. I feel and yup, my pants are damp too. Apparently you can only stop your pee mid-stream one time in the evening. The second time and you are doomed to pee your pants while puking. I supposed the force and all that just squeezed the remains out!

So long story short, I peed my pants while puking. I wanted to tell my husband about it but he didn't want to hear it. I told him anyway. After I had finished my story he just stares at me. I sweetly say, "Oops, too much information?" Coach just rolls his eyes, kissed me goodnight and left it at that.

Thanksgiving 2014 Recap

Since my parents live 6 hours away from Coach and I (or I guess more accurately, I moved 6 hours away from my parents) and Coach's parents live in town with us, it's impossible to see both sets every holiday. So we decided early on to swap the major holidays until we have kids. At that point we'll see what works best for our family and go from there.

This year was Thanksgiving at my parents. We left Tuesday night with the plans to stay in St Louis with friends. I started to feel "out of it" about an hour out of St Louis. By 10:00 I was laying on our friends' sofa, shivering under a blanket, and feeling flat out crappy. By midnight, I woke Coach up with my tossing and turning and he declared I was burning up. I said "yes dear, I know. I have a fever, I want to die, please get me the Tylenol." (I'm not the nicest person when I'm sick).

For the record, I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've had a fever since graduating high school. I just don't get them. I'll be sick as a dog and my temp will never change. In fact, my normal temp- ie go take it right now when I feel great in the middle of the day- is 96.8. Weird, I know.

Well as luck would have it, we didn't pack Tylenol. So Coach waited till our friend was up for an early morning child feeding and asked her for some. I got some in my system about 5 am, got out of bed at about 7 and managed to get dressed and act coherent. We were on the road and at my parents by 10 in the morning where I promptly took more meds, started a round of antibiotic and slept 90% of the day. I rose enough to go out to dinner, then back to bed.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving wasn't a very energetic day for me. Coach was super sweet through it all though. He got me whatever I needed, entertained himself with reading, watching football, or coloring with my niece while I rested. What a trooper! It can't be easy to have a sick wife and be staying at your in-laws for 3 days.

Friday I felt the most normal all week and we braved some shopping. More on that escapade later. Saturday we left southeast Missouri to head home. We stopped at the outlets in St Louis on our way back and scored some good Christmas gifts for each other.

All in all it wasn't my best Thanksgiving but it was still an enjoyable time with family.