Chair 3!

Us headed up Chair 3!

So if you are going to marry a skier, you must become a skier. It's basically the law. And before dating Jeff, and having lived in the PNW for more than ten years, I could count the number of times I had strapped some sort of plastic to my feet and tried to go down a snowy mountain on one hand. But Jeff is determined. So this year we went to the Mt Spokane Ski Swap, hosted by the Mt Spokane Ski Patrol, waded through the throngs of people also looking for good deals, and got me some skis, boots, helmet, and gloves. And then we went and bought ourselves the Mt Spokane Stocking Stuffer pack of tickets, which is 3 lift tickets for $100, which is a good deal.

So we went Night Skiing yesterday to see how many times I can fall on my butt, and amazingly, it wasn't that many. Having skis that actually fit the size of your body (the two times I went last season, I used Jeff's mom's skis, which fit in the boots but were about 4 inches taller than me, which is bad) make things much easier. Jeff's other goal of this mission was to get me down Chair 3 (see map here). And he succeeded!! We stayed on the Northwest Passage, which is the easiest of the runs off Chair 3, but I still made it down...until I would get to the Cat Track. Then I would fall. And falling on the Cat Track is a no-no because it's basically the interstate highway of the mountain. But luckily it was night skiing, and by the time we headed up Chair 3, it was late into night skiing and most people were in the lodge having a beer. So we did Chair 3 three times, and by the end I couldn't really put any weight on my left leg because it was working so hard, but I was still standing. Barely.

A Mt Spokane employee photo-bombing

After that, Jeff had the need for speed and I had the need for hot chocolate, so I headed for the lodge and Jeff did a few runs by himself. Jeff actually used to teach at the ski school at Mt Spokane, so he's a good skier and was being an amazing boyfriend and not leaving me in the dust. Then he joined me for hot chocolate, and we went home. It was fun and a great way to start the ski season.

You can over-salt things

This is what I learned last night.

Story: A few weeks ago, Jeff decided that we eat enough couscous that we should just buy plain couscous rather than the boxes that are pre-seasoned. So we bought the plain couscous and since have been playing with seasoning it. Last week we made a lemon chicken couscous salad, and Jeff thought it wasn't seasoned enough (I thought it was good). So last night I made chicken and couscous and Jeff was at work, so I had to do the salt and pepper myself, which I usually leave up to Jeff because I'm not that good at it. And I'm not because I over-salted the couscous. But I fixed it by just mixing the chicken and veggies into the couscous...which might mean that I didn't salt something else that I should have.

Salsa Cookbook + Jeff = A Match Made in Heaven

So on our Thanksgiving adventure, we supported Small Business Saturday and bought a cookbook in Anacortes, WA's local bookstore called Salsas of the World. And since Saturday, we are now on the fourth salsa. We made two that night with the family and turned it into taco night since everyone was sick of turkey and leftovers. And as I sit here and type, Jeff is making two more so he is fully supplied for the week. But something that caught my eye was a salsa called Romesco. This is apparently a staple Spanish salsa and has almonds in it. But the thing I found most interesting was the spices it called for: pimenton de la vera - picante, and pimenton de la vera - verde. So I looked it up and found out it's a "better paprika" made from a chili from the La Vera region of Spain. I now need to order some, thanks to this New York Times article about using it as a better paprika.

Wedding Planning might kill me

Did you know that the only venues in Spokane either are community centers for $600 but look like a community center; or are nice looking rustic country Greenbluff things and cost $3000 but are rustic country that really isn't my thing; or the fancy places in town like the Convention Center of the Masonic Center and they cost $3000 and you have cater through them at $20 bucks a head??

Or the other option is pitching a tent in a backyard. But that cost $1500 (for the tent alone!). And it might rain.

In other news, I've decided on a loose theme: the universe has a plan. I decided on this because that's what I always say about me and Jeff not meeting in college and then meeting years later. But I like this theme because check out the awesome color palate:

That's pretty much awesomeness squared. And it's nerdy without being extremely nerdy. And we can now do black suits for the guys (I was trying to figure out how I was going to do a brown wedding without putting the guys in brown).

Also, I'm starting to design the wedding invitation and I'm super nervous because I've never done this style of design before and it's kinda hard to pull off. Jeff is excited to program it (we're being nerdy and it's going to be a website).

Forever and Ever

Besides the fact that I'm getting engaged in this picture,
my favorite part is Kathleen freaking out in the
background.

So the whole story goes like this:

Since the Hoopfest flashmob, they've been asked to do it at multiple other events, and I've never done it because it was silly and really not my thing. But a month ago, my tap Ladies Line teacher Kathleen came up to me and said "I signed up for the flashmob they're doing at the Bark Walk. If I'm doing it, you're doing it!" So I reluctantly signed up. 

Flashforward to the day of the Bark Walk. It was cold and raining and seriously the only reason I was showing up was the fact that I said I would (and Spokane is notorious for people saying they're going to come and then don't. I swear, drives me crazy. People here dont RSVP for weddings!!!). So we do the flashmob, and the one thing that was changed about the flashmob was that at the end, we all drop down to the ground instead of just walking off. So I drop down at the end and suddenly I hear Jeff's voice over the speakers. And he called me over and told me he loved me and he would love me "forever and ever" (he always just says "forever" because "it's not logical to say 'and ever'" even though I always say "forever and ever") and then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

But the part of the story that is crazy is the backstory. Jeff apparently called Kathleen in like August and told her what he wanted to do, and then she coordinated with the lady in charge of the flashmob. And everyone in the flashmob knew (and practically the whole dance studio). And Jeff has finally felt stress (because of his Addisons disease, he doesn't get stressed ever); he practically didn't eat anything last week.

And one of the best parts was he was able to keep it a secret from me. I was completely surprised. And we all know that once I want to know what you know, you aren't getting away without telling me. So the fact that everyone was able to not let on was amazing.

And even though Jeff has since analyzed it death (his logical brain can't turn off) and has decided it was a complete disaster, I think it was perfect and amazing. 

Anyway, pictures! Jeff even thought that far ahead and had one of his coworkers who takes great pictures come and record the whole thing. Link.

Really Good Greek Salad

This is delicious. The only thing to add to the recipe is to not make just the amount the recipe says to. I about tripled it and it made an excellent 2 dinner servings for us. And I heated up some peta bread to go with.

Link: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/08/mediterranean-baked-feta-with-tomatoes/

Camels!

This weekend at TJ Maxx:

me [looking at something that I can't even remember anymore because of what's about to happen]: maybe I should get this.

jeff [holds up a small camel]: or you should get this. It's only 4 bucks.

me: *gasp* that's amazingly adorable. [looks down and sees there is another bigger camel that matches; swoops down and picks it up] And I would have to get the mommy camel too. 

jeff: now wait a minute, that thing is huge. just get the small one

me: No. [holds the camels apart] Look at how sad they look apart. [holds camels close] Now look how happy they are. [holds camels aparts] Sad. [holds camels close] Happy.

jeff: what have I started?

I won.

(although I will admit that the big mommy camel is slightly larger than I thought it was and only fits on top of the bookshelf and not in the shelves like I thought it would)

Art I've Seen Lately That I Love

I've seen some awesome inspiration lately. I saw this at the Anacortes art festival and voted for it in the Popular Poll. Octopuses either are very in right now or I'm just obsessed with them lately because I keep seeing them everywhere.

And then I was looking at a magazine and there was a picture of a room with an awesome piece of art. I then instantly looked him up. The artist's name is James Lecce. I dont know if I would want to hang it up in my living room (unlike the octopus, which I would hang up in an instant), but it's still really interesting. 

Advertising in America

Standing while waiting for the elevator

me: I have to pee

Jeff: as usual...because you have such a tiny...pee holder

me: [stare]

Jeff: Bladder! that's the word

me: [stare]

Jeff: Actually you want to know what your problem is. You have that thing on the commercial with the people made out of pipes bc you go instantly from not having to pee to having to pee really really bad.

Neither of us could figure out what that commercial was actually selling.

Rug on Carpet = Awesome

Story:

Me, while casually looking at IKEA's website: Hey check this rug out. I'm thinking bedroom.

Jeff: I love it

Me: We both love it??? We have to buy it.

Jeff: But it's at IKEA

Me: Well we're going to Seattle bc of Ben's wedding next weekend anyway.

Jeff: Good point

10 days later:

So we get to IKEA 2 amazing things happen: we find a new shortcut and we save 60 bucks. When we found the rug in the rug section, the tag said is was $450, 50 bucks cheaper than what the website said. Score! So we hightailed it to the register, only to have it ring up as $500. So we asked a sales lady and she looked it up and it was $500 in the computer, but she said if we got a manager to verify, then they would honor it. So then we hightailed it back (bypassing the furniture warehouse through the newly told-about shortcut), flagged down another sales lady (who was really nice and awesome) and WHAM! $60 OFF!!!

So we are now the new owner of an awesome IKEA rug. And it lives in the bedroom, even though the bedroom already has carpet. But that's how much we like it. And now Jeff is determined to not put furniture on top of the rug so it "doesn't get those furniture indents"So, us being nerds, we added it to the apartment app (jeffquery.com/apt) and figured out a way. I took it to the next nerd level by actually using a screenshot from the IKEA site.

Rug link (because I don't have any pictures yet).

New Apartment!!!

Here it is. In all its empty glory.

We've started moving stuff in but can't "officially" move until the 18th because that's when the internet/tv is getting hooked and Jeff can't live with internet and I refuse to mess up our tv service until the Olympics are over.

So for now we're just moving the stuff we can live without for two weeks and then we'll do a big push on that weekend we get internet and then be moved into our new place!!!

Also, Jeff built a website to layout furniture: http://jeffquery.com/apt/

Drifting!

This weekend Jeff and I spent one muggy day and one hot day at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe WA watching cars drive sideways in clouds of burning rubber. It was really fun. We got neat hats.

Things that made this weekend exciting:

1. Getting stuck on the pass due to the construction crew doing blasting. I took this picture by standing in the middle of the road. We were stuck there for an hour and that guy with the Corvette left it running the whole time, which I decided was a large waste of gas.

2. The guy sitting 6 people down from us at drifting with a KOMODO DRAGON!!!! It was massive. And the real question is why did the guy even have it at the fairgrounds?!?!? Today at work I spent a lot of time reading the wikipedia article about komodo dragons and learned that they are not nice (and they eat goats whole and get them down their throat by ramming into trees so the goat gets forced down their throat....this sometimes results in trees getting knocked over because the ramming is so forceful).

3. Jeff randomly selected a car out of the pack based on paint job. I selected my car from my actual knowledge of drifting. They ended up going head-to-head in the battle to see who was first and who was second. My guy won. But we were both screaming encouragement to our respective guys and then debating hotly between the two rounds.

4. Jeff had never been to IKEA, so we had to go. So we went and spent $8!!! Awesome IKEA trip. We also learned that when it comes to big pieces of furniture, Jeff and I agree, but when it comes to accessories and fabric we're on opposite sides of the spectrum.

5. On the way home, we tried to seize the engine of the car. It started being weird and the check engine light came on and the cruise light was blinking. So I called Poppy, who calmly told me the limp it home because that's about all he could do since he was about 150 miles away. But since I'm a smart person (and it seemed like a good place to start) I pulled the oil stick out and discovered that it was bone dry. So we then limped it to the next town (luckily we were only 10 miles away from George, WA) and put some oil in it and magically all the lights went off and it ran fine. Now the new adventure: why was there no oil in my car??

6. While we were sitting in George letting the engine cool, an Audi R8 pulled up!!! This is exciting because that a quarter of a million dollar car in the middle of no-where WA.

So all in all a fun trip!!

As Mamoo used to say "Spending is Saving"

So for the 4th of July, Jeff decided that we couldn't just sit around and do nothing all day. And since we would have a lovely view of the fireworks from our roof, we didn't feel the need to make an adventrue out of it and go to the lake or anything. So options: minigolf or go to the mall and wander around. Minigolf lost because it was too far away. So on our way to said mall we decided to stop by Furniture Row because it was next to it and we nothing better to do. And as we pull into their lot, we found out they were having a TENT SALE!!!

So we were looking and came upon a bedroom set. Now first off, I hate matching furniture. I didn't grow up in a house with it and my need for things to be awesome usually pushes me away from it. So when we find a set that I actually dont really even mind that it matches, that should have been reason enough to buy it. But then on top of that we both liked it!! AND on top of that it was about 56% off!!!! SOLD!!!

Now new problem: getting it home. Luckily Jeffrey (my brother) just finished his welding program (he's now a certified welder!) and is big and strong. Without him we would have been hopeless. So it took three trips and two different vehicles, but we did it!

So now video!! All these videos you'll have to look at the screen sideways to watch (apparently I'm not that awesome at the video taking). There's also a headboard and footboard, but those are still in the box because they are queen size and the bed we currently have is only a full size.





**Mamoo is my great-grandmother (Nani's mom)

Picking out Spices is Hard

Last night Jeff and I went to the grocery store, but we only had about 30 minutes. So Jeff suggested we divide and conquer. I agreed and we split up. I blaze through my half (because I'm awesome) and go to meet him in the produce, where we had designated to meet back up. But he wasn't there. So I started backtracking, only to find him with three things in his basket, standing in front of the spices because they were 'buy 2 get 1 free' and he couldn't decide on a third one.

Mac Salad with the Fam

Dinner with Jeff's parents, and his aunt Denice and uncle Brent.


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/06/the-best-macaroni-salad-ever/


things we changed:
- used way too much pickles...dont use too much pickle


things we liked: 
- the sauce. it was mayo-y but still light that it wasn't heavy on the noodles


also, note:
when roasting peppers, after you take them out of the oven, put in brown paper bag for 10 minutes so they steam and then the skins peel right off

Dressing Skanky

Last Friday:

me: ok, we're going out with all your cool kid friends tonight. Should I dress skanky?

jeff: um...only if you want to.

me: well what would constitute skanky?

jeff: well if you really want to be skanky, you would get one of those dresses Michael designed over and over again. That would be skanky.

me: DID YOU JUST MAKE A PROJECT RUNWAY REFERENCE?!?!?

jeff: yes.

This is why I love him.

I'm a Horrible Person

Why, you ask?

Because I made a whole batch of oatmeal cookies while Jeff is on a "diet."

Here are my defenses:

1. This is what happens when you leave me home alone for a whole evening
2. While getting dinner together, I discovered an open bag of chocolate chips and thought "man, since our apartment has gone from being cold enough to need a sweatshirt, sweats, and socks to being hot enough to walk around naked, these chips are going to melt into a big disaster"
3. Then I found a bag of craisens! 
4. It was punchfork's idea.

Recipe

The Good Housewife

Even though Jeff has been working full-time freelancing this week (woohoo for money and the universe working in mysterious ways!) and doing his crazy workouts with Greyson and Danny, he's still finding time to make me delicious food. It usually doesn't happen until about 7 at night, but it's still delicious.

Jeff has become obsessed with the Pioneer Woman blog ever since he made that AMAZING meatloaf (he also loves the amount of pictures they take, which he then insists I do as well). So both of these recipes come from there.

Deliciousness #1: Corn/Cheese/Pepper Chowder

This was good. It was really good the next day. It was also pretty easy. Per our the-less-ingredients-the-better MO, this recipe was pretty simple, but really good. The hardest part was watching Jeff cut an onion while trying to talk on the phone at the same time.

Also, check out our awesome grown-up plates and bowls! (Grown-up is code for more than 3 that match that aren't made out of plastic)

Recipe here. Our tweeks: Jeff forgot to mention we needed bacon when we went to the store, so it didn't have any. Also, we added a lot of pepper. And extra cheese, because that's how we roll. And even though bread bowls are delicious, we just went with a fresh loaf from the local store.

 

Deliciousness #2: Pasta a la Vodka

This is a great way to get slightly buzzed by dinner, especially when you're impatient like I was and didn't let the booze part of the booze fully cook off (btw, the 42 degree below vodka mentioned here: excellent. very smooth and dangerous). And made lunch the next day awesome.

This recipe also had about 7 ingredients. There was a long discussion over whether we could get away with using half&half instead of heavy cream because the half&half cost 99 cents and the heavy cream was like 3 bucks, which was finally resolved with a call to Nani, who said for this circumstance, it was fine. The Pioneer Woman mentioned that it might be too thick at one point, but since we didn't actually use cream, it was fine. And even though it says quite boldly not to do this substitution, I thought it was delicious and we saved 2 bucks.

Recipe here. Our tweeks: we used half&half instead of cream. Added a little more tomato paste than the recipe said to.  And then we thought it was a little bland, so we adding some oregano. And as always, we added about twice as much cheese as it told us to.

Jeff Needs to Drink More

A conversation Jeff and I just had:

jeff: so, pasta alla vodka tonight?
 

me: dude, this vodka has to bee good. look at their wiebstie http://www.42below.com/ [when I bought this vodka for the recipe, Jeff had accused me of not knowing how to buy vodka because he was wary of what this would taste like since I had never had it before]
 

jeff: ok well i do plan on tasting it before I dump it into my dinner
 

me: VODKA SHOTS!!!

me, a few seconds later: are you going to wait for me to get home?? or are you just going to be plastered when i get there??

jeff: uhh when are you getting home? i'm not getting home til at least 6

me: well then i'm going to beat you home. thats boring. maybe I'll be plastered by the time you're home

jeff: maybe. better save me 3/4ths a cup *chuckle*....plus a shot for tasting

me: dude, we dont have any shot glasses!!

jeff: yeah i know

me: how have we been LIVING?!?!?

jeff: ... guesstimation?

me: no, the correct answer is we've been living in the adult world where we know that shots just taste nasty and we can get plenty drunk off something that actually tastes good
 

jeff: like mango orange + vodka?

me: exactly...or a long island. man those things are good

jeff: ok if you are going to make those then you better have one ready for me when i get home

me: i would need about 4 more kinds of booze to make one of those. do you know what is in a long islnad??

jeff: ok go get them and while you're at it pick up some beer...yes like 6 shots of whatchamacallits and iced tea right?

me: there isn't any ice tea in an long island you noob

jeff: lemonade

me: nope 

jeff: well sorry i'm not a master womanly drink mixologist 

me: long island = all the clear stuff and shot of coke

Clearly the moral of this story is that I need to get Jeff to drink more alcohol.

Probably the Most Amazing Meatloaf EVER

So a few weeks after I make my meatloaf, Jeff finds this recipe. Now, as I'm drooling while looking at the image, I can't help stick up for my meatloaf. My meatloaf is hearty and gets the job done of filling your stomach, while this meatloaf is....well it's all gourmet. And you don't make gourmet meatloaf. That's just dumb.

Man was I wrong.

How it went down: 

This wasn't our usual 5-ingredients-are-best recipes. Look at how many ingredients there are! At this point I would have said it was too complicated and moved on with life. But Jeff was determined. (also I want it known that this started because of that package of pork that Jeff bought strictly because "it looked good")

So then Jeff spent about an hour finely chopping up all those veggies, until he got this

Which turned into this

Breadcrumbs were then added to the mix. Ok, at this point I was like "um...this looks like it's going to be one big meatloaf..."
"It'll be fine." Jeff's signature line.

Then it was time to touch the meat (and mix the veggie, breadcrumb into it...and there's an egg in there which is making it look funny)
At this point, I was like "we're going to be eating meatloaf forever"

This is Jeff's "eww, I'm touching meat face"

Then we poured it into the pan. And I was right. Look at that thing!! It's monsterous. That is a 13x9 1.5 inch thick meatloaf. This, we learned an hour later was a good thing.

Why was the fact that it was that big a good thing? Due to a combo of it being delicious (and by delicious i mean AMAZING) and us not knowing how to put down the fork, gave us six servings. SIX! We are massive pigs. But here's the thing: unlike regular meatloaf that is meaty and fills you up rather quickly, this was light. I'm pretty sure there was more veggies in that thing than anything else. So it was really to put that much of it away.

It's not about how far you got into the movie...

This morning I woke up at 4 to the sound of the same 30 seconds of music repeating over and over again. This I knew was a sign that Jeff was passed out on the couch rather than sleeping with me (that jerk).

So I get out of bed and go out in the living room, where, true to form, Jeff is sleeping on the couch. But that wasn't the crazy part. The crazy part was that the music that was playing on repeat was the main menu music to HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE!!!

Now, since it was 4 in the morning, I didn't say anything, I just woke him up and walked back to bed. This morning was a different story:

me: so….what were you watching last night? without me!

jeff: well if it makes you feel better, I only got through about half of it because it's so long. That movie is way too long.

me: but you watched it without me!

jeff: we can watch it again.

This of course, is not the point. The point is that jeff watched a Harry Potter movie WITHOUT ME. And he not only watched it without me, but it was his first time watching that specific movie, and I wasn't there to pause it every 10 minutes to launch into a long detailed scene from the book that they skipped (I'm sure Jeff didn't miss this).

This is how recipes are passed down in my family

Saturday afternoon, I am on the phone with Nani

me: Nani, what goes in your meatloaf. I've looked all over the internet and these recipes have way too many ingredients in them.

Nani: Well lets see...meat

me: how much?

Nani: well how much meatloaf do you want?

me: enough...how about a 1 1/2 lbs of meat?

Nani: that works. Ok, so meat, crackers, salt, pepper, worshtich... sauce. That's it.

me: awesome. Thanks

Tuesday night, I am again on the phone with Nani

me: ok, now how do you make meatloaf?

Nani: ok, so first you wash your hands and dump everything into a bowl. Oh, and I forgot to tell you an egg.

me: well luckily I bought eggs for something else.

Nani: ok, good. Now smush it all together.

me: well how much of everything?

Nani: ok, one sleeve of crackers, the whole onion...

me: I don't have an onion. You've never mentioned an onion.

Nani: I didn't? Well shoot. Ok, do you have an onion soup packet?

me: As a matter of fact yes.

Nani: ok, use 1/2 of that. That should work.

me: ok, I've got meat, crackers, an egg, onion packet. How much worshtich...sauce?

Nani: well you probably don't need it since you used the onion packet.

me: great.

Nani: ok, now you smush. And that requires actually touching the raw meat.

me: oh, I can touch the meat. I'm so over that now.

Nani: What?!?! That's crazy.
[I should now interject that this used to be a problem for me. Up until very recently, I did not touch raw meat. It was gross and slimey. I have since gotten over it. I have shown that raw meat who is boss]

me: ok, thoroughly smuched together. How long do I cook it?

Nani: well it depends on what shape you mold it into.

me: ok, I'm just going to stick it in for 30 minutes and check on it after that.

Nani: yeah, just cook it until it's done.

Oven-baked Parmesan Chicken

This title is misleading. Instead of eating this with spaghetti, it probably should be paired with straight side dishes because it tastes a little too summery for spaghetti (or we just put too much lemon juice on them).


This recipe was super easy and fast. And it doesn't have a lot of ingredients, so even more points for it.


Results: yummy. We'll definitely make this again.


Recipe:
**so apparently this recipe book is from Australia (or at least it is according to the copywrite page), so all the measurements are in oz and grams. So that translated into a lot of dumping and saying "that looks about right" even though we had no idea if it was right or not. So it's not my fault that I have no idea how much of each item we used.**


- 2 oz breadcrumbs 
- 3 oz parmesan cheese, finely grated 
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped (we figured these were green onions. it worked)
- some lemon zest and lemon juice (about half a lemon...at least thats what we used)
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 4 chicken boobies (we actually used thighs and it worked fine)


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or, much to my confusion, 190 degrees C, which is what it listed first, and considering our oven starts at 200, I was very confused). 
2. In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs, cheese, butter, onion, lemon rind (so basically make a paste). Smear on top of chicken.
3. Cook for about 20 minutes, or however long it takes to cook the chicken and melt the cheese. About 5 minutes before taking them out, Jeff pulled them out and doused them with mozzarella cheese, just to be sure.
4. When you pull them out of the oven, squeeze lemon juice over them. Then eat them.


Everyday Cooking, p160

Jeff loves me a lot

This is what I woke up to on Valentine's Day. Which makes these even that much more special because he waited for me to go bed before even starting, so he was baking at midnight. 


So what you're looking at are Red Velvet Rice Crispy Treats with Chocolate Chips and Cream Cheese frosting. And I can't really tell you anything about the process on how to make them, since I was sleeping. This is what I can tell you:

• Jeff learned that night that cookie cutters he was using had a wrong side and right side. He learned this after about the 4th one.
• Jeff also learned that when making a bag of frosting, dont use the cheap fold over ones, but an actual ziplock. Otherwise you get frosting everywhere.
• Jeff actually found this recipe a couple of months ago and emailed it to himself.
• They were SO GOOD. I ate three the first day. And considering how rich they are, that's impressive.

Recipe: http://foodfamilyfinds.com/red-velvet-rice-krispies-treats-hearts-for-valentines-day/

Chicken & Stuffing...in a Crockpot

This was one of Jeff's meals of the week, and it was interesting. We were very intrigued by the list of ingredients and how it would all come together. 


Sidenote: this was the first time we left the crockpot on in the apartment and went back to work. I was pretty sure we would come home to either an apartment full of smoke or no apartment at all.


Result: Quasi-good. It really needed a crunch and didn't have one. Also, the stuffing was a little too soggy for our taste. So all-in-all, it probably would have been better if we had just made chicken and stuffing separate. But that's what experiments are for right?


Recipe:
4 chicken boobies
one 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup (the recipe says you can use either cream of celery, chicken, or mushroom)
1/3 cup milk
1 pkg stuffing mix (we found this unit of measurement very disconcerting and after telling the book off, picked the Stove Top box that is normal 2 person size, not the massive Thanksgiving box (although I fully endorse homemade stuffing for Thanksgiving and basically think it's crazy if you don't make it from scratch on Thanksgiving). also the recipe actually says "stuffing mix and seasoning packet, but ours was apparently pre-mixed, because we had no seasoning packet)
1 2/3 cup water


1. put chicken in pot
2. mix soup and milk. pour over chicken
3. mix stuffing mix and water (and seasoning packet if provided). spoon over chicken (so basically make a layer of stuffing over the chicken)
4. cover and cook on high 1 hour, low for 4-6 


also, note: the stuffing will basically cement itself to the side of the crockpot, so start soaking that puppy immediately after the food is out of it. 

Baked Ziti

I love the fact that Italian food is basically the same 5 ingredients just mixed together in different ways (the same principle applies to Mexican food). So I was looking for new ways to mix them together (and really had a hankering for ricotta cheese) and stumbled upon this. One reason it intrigued me: the recipe was sized out for a small army. And who doesn't love Italian leftovers? Another reason: it had sausage in it. I don't usually cook with sausage, so I thought it would be interesting to try.


Result: amazingness. I've actually made this three times now, it's so good (yes, we're that behind on posting). What I've learned from these different attempts:

• use sausage. it makes all the difference. The second time I did it I used ground beef and it wasn't as awesome.
• the more garlic the better (but I think everyone knew that already)
• it tastes better with smaller onion chunks, and since I love big slices of onion in my spaghetti sauce, I was surprised by the revelation
• use as much cheese as you want. Do not skimp. Also, I have never measured the noodles out. I just dump until it looks good.

I basically followed the recipe, except for one thing. Instead of following the guy's instructions on the sauce, I just made sauce like we were going to eat straight spaghetti, which had a few different ingredients. The first time I made it Jeff walked in when I was cooking noodles and making sauce and said "How is this different from regular spaghetti?" I then told him about the pounds of cheese I was going to add and he approved.


Recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_ziti/ (I'm being lazy today, so this is what you get).

Homemade "Capsicum" and Tomato Soup

How do you get your kitchen to be red? Blend tomatoes and red peppers using an immersion blender. It went everywhere until Jeff had the brilliant idea to use the lid of the pot as a shield. 


This was actually a really easy process for how good it was (and how impressed everyone was when I said "we made tomato soup from scratch"). But it really wasn't true tomato soup. It's actually called "Roasted capsicum and tomato soup." 'Capsicum' is schmancy for "red pepper." The hardest part of the recipe was peeling the red peppers. And when you eat it, you can't think 'tomato soup' or you'll be disappointed. Think 'yummy soup.' And of course, like all truly good things, it was better the next day.


Thanks goes out to Thomas for letting us use his crazy awesome immersion blender.


Recipe:
- 3 'capsicums'
- 1 onion
- 4 large tomatoes (we used 9 medium tomatoes)
- 4 cloves of garlic (we used 6)
- 1 1/3 cup vegetable stock (we used probably closer to 2 1/2)
- 1 tbsp tomato puree (we used half a tiny 5 oz can)
- salt and pepper
- fresh parsley for garnish 


Things that weren't in the recipe, but we added anyway:
- oregano
- bay leaf

1. Cut 'capsicums' in halfs. Remove all seeds. Cut onion in half. Lay 'capsicums, onion, tomatoes, and garlic in oven safe pan (see photo)
2. Cook for 30 minutes (400 degrees).
3. Let cool until you can handle holding everything while you peel the skins off (tip: tomatoes and onion are easy, 'capsicums' require a little pearing knife...and I might have given up on a few)
4. Blend everything together.
5. Place blended vegetables, vegetable stock, tomato puree, and all the spices in pot and cook for 20 minutes on medium.


Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches of course.


Recipe from Everyday Cooking: From novice to chef step-by-step recipes, pg 77

Creamy Mushroom Chicken

This could also be called "Onion Dip cooked in a crockpot for 6 hours smothered in chicken." I feel the publishers didn't go with this due to space limitations. But that really is what it was. It got major points for having 5 ingredients. It also got points for making everyone in the office jealous of our delicious food (I was slightly paranoid about leaving the Crockpot on high in an empty apartment...plus we had to turn it down after an hour). 


Serving it was really easy too. Just make some noodles and then smoother them with the concoction. 


Overall reaction: Delicious. Next time we make it, we will definitely cut the chicken breasts into smaller pieces and cook it for less time (it was a little dry). Poppy gave it two 'yums.'


Recipe: 
- chicken (we did 5 medium boobies)
- Onion dip packet (Lipton is always the best)
- one tub (16oz for people like Jeff) Sour Cream
- one can of Cream of Mushroom soup
- we added mushrooms for about the last hour, which actually turned out really good


1. Stir together sour cream, onion dip, and soup in crockpot
2. Add chicken, completely submerging it in the mixture
3. Cook on high for an hour, then low for 6 (we actually ended up doing 2 on high and about 3 on low, but again, ended up with dry chicken)
4. Serve over noodles


Recipe from Fit-it and Forget-it: Our Best Slow-Cooker Recipes 2011, pg 20

Not Cooking Enchiladas

Cooking Enchiladas this way does not count as cooking. It counts as assembling. All you have to do is open cans and layer things (well you have to cook the chicken first, but growing up, we would always just use leftover chicken, so it was ready to go). Also, apparently Jeff had never seen green enchiladas before I handed him a plate with them on it. 


Layer Enchiladas:


- chicken, I usually just cut into bite sized pieces, but you can shred if you want
- cans of green enchilada sauce
- one baby can of green chilies
- one regular can of black beans
- a pack of corn tortillas, I usually get the ten pack of the 8 inch ones
- lots and lots of cheese


1. Cook chicken
2. In a shallow bowl, pour some enchilada sauce in. Dip tortillas into it.
3. In an oven safe pan, start layering tortilla, chicken, chilies, beans, cheese, repeat.
4. Stick in preheated oven (325) for 15 minutes.
5. Top with lots of sour cream.

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Last night we made Grilled Cheese sandwiches. They were delicious although they made a mess of my face and the counter. Luckily Heather has a panini maker so we used that to cook the sandwiches. They turned out great. The bread I bought cut into huge slices so the 5 jalapeños I prepared for this weren't quite enough. Next time I will cut the bread first to make sure I have enough coverage.

I deseeded the jalapeños completely because i didn't want the sandwiches to be too spicy for Heather, but the cream cheese totally counter balances the spice, so leaving them in would be great as well.

Overall Impression: Delicious. However this recipe does have a lot of saturated fats in it so I will try not to make it too often.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 2 slices sour dough bread
• 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup jack and cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon tortilla chips, crumbled

Directions

1. Place the peppers on a baking sheet with the cut side facing down.
2. Place the baking sheet on the top shelf in the oven and broil until the outer layer of the skin has blackened, about 8-14 minutes.
3. Place the peppers in a zip-lock bag or other sealable container, seal and let them cool until you can handle them, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove the skins from the peppers. The skins should easily "pinch" off.
5. Assemble sandwich and grill until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes per side.

The Recipe can be found at: http://punchfork.com/recipe/Jalapeno-Popper-Grilled-Cheese-Sandwich-Closet-Cooking

Three Day Weekends call for Lots of Breakfast

Since our lovely bosses gave us Friday off in celebration of the new year, we've been home an extra day, which means an extra day of eating delicious, not-rushed meals. Especially of the breakfast variety.

On Friday and Saturday, we tried out the new waffle maker. We used the basic Krusteaz blue box waffle mix, and decided that it was very plain. Jeff has decided that next time we'll try adding our own stuff to the basic recipe like cinnamon and nutmeg and see how that turns out. But the real excitement was the waffle maker. It's super easy to use and cooks waffles in all of 3-4 minutes.

Today, Jeff made me french toast for breakfast. He's made this for me once before, but we didn't have any spices besides nutmeg, so it was a little so-so. But thanks to all baking supplies being on sale this time of year, we have since acquired cinnamon and vanilla extract. And when all three of those things are combined with eggs, milk and some bread, delicious things happen. It was so good, we ate the made-on-purpose-so-we-can-have-some-later leftovers right then.

Overall reaction: Cinnamon and nutmeg make a great combo.