Again with the Pinterest thing. It's amazing, it has so many great ideas!
I found Freezer Crockpot Meals.
Absolute genius.
You put them all together at once, raw, in plastic ziplock bags with the instructions on the front and then freeze. When you're wanting a dinner, you pop them out of the freezer in the morning before work and throw them in the crockpot. No defrosting, no prep, just pop and when you get home, there's dinner!
It took me about an hour and a half to make four different meals, and each meal divides in half for a 2 to 3 person family with leftovers so I've got eight crockpot meals in my freezer!
Actually, only seven now since we ate one the other night.
It's amazing.
I made:
Cilantro Lime Chicken with black beans and corn
6 chicken breasts
3 Tbs olive oil
2 limes, juiced
2 cups cilantro
1 large bag of frozen corn (or two smaller bags)
4 minced garlic cloves
1 finely chopped red onion
2 cans of black beans, rinsed
2 tsp cumin or chipotle powder
salt/pepper to taste
Split everything into two containers. shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. Instructions
for Container: cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours, serve with hot tortillas or tostitos. Dress with
sour cream, guacamole, and/or cheese
Divine Chicken
6 chicken breasts
4 cups baby carrots
4 cups fresh broccoli (chopped)
2 onions
salt/pepper to taste
2 cartons of cream of chicken soup (add 1 each at cook time)
2 cup milk (add 1 each at cook time)
Split everything into two containers. shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. Instructions
for Container: Add 1 cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of milk, cook on low 8 hours or high 4
hours
Sausage and Peppers
6 Italian Sausage (or chicken sausage)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 large red onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans italian diced tomatoes
2 Tbs Italian seasoning
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze. Directions for Bags: Add drizzle of olive oil, cook on low 6 hours, serve over hot noodles or fresh french bread with mozzarella cheese
Lazy Day Beef Stew
4lb cubed stewing beef 4 cups baby carrots
4 cups baby red potatoes (cut in half) 2 onions (chopped)
10 oz package dried lima beans 2 cups celery (chopped)
4 tsp quck-cooking tapioca
Salt and pepper to taste
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (1/2 in each bag)
2 Tbs brown sugar
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze. Directions for Bags: Add 1 cup water. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Eat as a soup, or serve over hot noodles or rice.
And I got these recipes and more here.
Ciao,
kc
Friday, September 28, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Big Word Wednesday: Mesocephalic
mesocephalic. adjective. [mez-oh-suh-fal-ik]. having a head with a cephalic index between that of dolichocephaly and bracycephaly. in other words, having a mid-sized head.
We're doing BWW this week a little differently because I wanted to give you the word and it's meaning first. This morning, at 6 a.m. we left for Ellensburg, WA to pick up our fuzzy little boy, Banyan. Also known as Maddie's littlemenace brother.
I wanted to do a word related to dogs in honor of that. Mesocephalic is used to describe the shape and size of a dog's head. A golden retriever's head is mesocephalic, which means it has a medium sized head with a medium-length muzzle, whereas a dog like a pug, boxer, or pitbull have bracychephalic heads (broad to large heads with short, broad muzzles), and dolichocephalic is related to dogs like dachshunds and collies who have smaller heads with long narrow muzzles.
You learn something new every day, don't you?
Stay tuned for puppy spam!
Ciao,
kc
We're doing BWW this week a little differently because I wanted to give you the word and it's meaning first. This morning, at 6 a.m. we left for Ellensburg, WA to pick up our fuzzy little boy, Banyan. Also known as Maddie's little
I wanted to do a word related to dogs in honor of that. Mesocephalic is used to describe the shape and size of a dog's head. A golden retriever's head is mesocephalic, which means it has a medium sized head with a medium-length muzzle, whereas a dog like a pug, boxer, or pitbull have bracychephalic heads (broad to large heads with short, broad muzzles), and dolichocephalic is related to dogs like dachshunds and collies who have smaller heads with long narrow muzzles.
You learn something new every day, don't you?
Stay tuned for puppy spam!
Ciao,
kc
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wishing on a Runstar
You're not supposed to run with a back injury. Did you know that? I mean, the blinding pain clued me in and then my physical therapist recommending a "get back to running" program "in a month or so" also gave me a good idea.
Sigh.
It's so sad.
Because all of the cute summer runwear is on sale right now. And what else do you think I did while lying for hours on my back equipped with my iPad and my TV? Online shopping!
I got this super cute top at Sierra Trading Post. Good running tops run between about $30 (GapFit are my favorite!) and $60 (a lot of Nike ones) and with my long torso I have trouble finding ones that don't ride up while I'm running because they start high to begin with. Nothing more uncomfortable than constantly tugging your top down while running...other than running shorts that have liners that ride up or spandex capris that fall down or whatever.
AND with the strapless wedding gown I'll be wearing next August, I need a slimmer tan line to vanquish. As if I can, I'm going to run half marathons seven and eight next summer. Damn it.
I also picked up these:
Cute spandex shorts at 6pm.com. They're normally like $35, but they were on sale for $12.99. Yay! I like the spandex shorts for speed workouts and runs shorter than 6 miles. Too much rub for longer than that, and they start to ride up at 6.5 miles, which is not what you want. But I like them a lot!
Both the top and the shorts (which I am only wearing together for photo purposes, I would not wear them together in real life...save that for my sister :) ) are by Moving Comfort which is my new favorite running brand.
Other than GapFit of course...who knew that Gap had such good running wear?
I have a pair of their Momentum shorts which I just loooooove because they're so comfy to run in and wear just, you know, in general. In fact, I spent a lot of the month I was on leave in those shorts. I pick them up when they're on sale at the local running store, but I always need more, so if you see a sale let me know!
Ciao,
kc
Sigh.
It's so sad.
Because all of the cute summer runwear is on sale right now. And what else do you think I did while lying for hours on my back equipped with my iPad and my TV? Online shopping!
I got this super cute top at Sierra Trading Post. Good running tops run between about $30 (GapFit are my favorite!) and $60 (a lot of Nike ones) and with my long torso I have trouble finding ones that don't ride up while I'm running because they start high to begin with. Nothing more uncomfortable than constantly tugging your top down while running...other than running shorts that have liners that ride up or spandex capris that fall down or whatever.
AND with the strapless wedding gown I'll be wearing next August, I need a slimmer tan line to vanquish. As if I can, I'm going to run half marathons seven and eight next summer. Damn it.
I also picked up these:
Cute spandex shorts at 6pm.com. They're normally like $35, but they were on sale for $12.99. Yay! I like the spandex shorts for speed workouts and runs shorter than 6 miles. Too much rub for longer than that, and they start to ride up at 6.5 miles, which is not what you want. But I like them a lot!
Both the top and the shorts (which I am only wearing together for photo purposes, I would not wear them together in real life...save that for my sister :) ) are by Moving Comfort which is my new favorite running brand.
Other than GapFit of course...who knew that Gap had such good running wear?
I have a pair of their Momentum shorts which I just loooooove because they're so comfy to run in and wear just, you know, in general. In fact, I spent a lot of the month I was on leave in those shorts. I pick them up when they're on sale at the local running store, but I always need more, so if you see a sale let me know!
Ciao,
kc
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Chai Vanilla Cupcakes
So I mentioned before that I discovered Pinterest and all of its wondrous glory. It's encouraged me to get back to cooking and baking! And projects. I have lots of projects now. More things I'll never do.
But I did do this:
Chai Vanilla Cupcakes. I baked them when my parents were in town a couple weeks ago. And man, were they good!
You make the little "chai" mix of spices, and some goes into the cupcakes and some goes into the frosting. They were delicious! Not too sweet, which I find is usually a problem with cupcakes for me. I don't like them super sweet (like the Salted Caramel Cupcakes were), and with buttercream frosting most of them are!
Chai Vanilla Cupcakes
(from the Culinary Enthusiast blog)
But I did do this:
Chai Vanilla Cupcakes. I baked them when my parents were in town a couple weeks ago. And man, were they good!
You make the little "chai" mix of spices, and some goes into the cupcakes and some goes into the frosting. They were delicious! Not too sweet, which I find is usually a problem with cupcakes for me. I don't like them super sweet (like the Salted Caramel Cupcakes were), and with buttercream frosting most of them are!
(from the Culinary Enthusiast blog)
Chai Spice Mix
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Cupcake Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 eggs
2 tsp. chai spice mix
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 cups powdered sugar
remainder of the chai spice mix
1 Tbsp. cold milk, if needed to thin out the buttercream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a cupcake pan with liners. In a small bowl or plastic bag, combine the chai spice mix ingredients. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla bean paste and beat in one egg at a time. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the chai spice mix. Fold in the flour and buttermilk alternately and stir until combined. Mix together the baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl, then add it to the batter and mix until combined.
Spoon into prepared cupcake tins until 3/4 full and bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Buttercream Directions:
In a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is creamy. On low, mix in the vanilla bean paste and the rest of the chai spice mix. Carefully beat in the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time. If the buttercream is too thick add 1-2 tbs of cold milk until the desired consistency is reached. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes with your favorite frosting tip.
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 eggs
2 tsp. chai spice mix
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 cups powdered sugar
remainder of the chai spice mix
1 Tbsp. cold milk, if needed to thin out the buttercream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a cupcake pan with liners. In a small bowl or plastic bag, combine the chai spice mix ingredients. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla bean paste and beat in one egg at a time. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the chai spice mix. Fold in the flour and buttermilk alternately and stir until combined. Mix together the baking soda and vinegar in a separate bowl, then add it to the batter and mix until combined.
Spoon into prepared cupcake tins until 3/4 full and bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Buttercream Directions:
In a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is creamy. On low, mix in the vanilla bean paste and the rest of the chai spice mix. Carefully beat in the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time. If the buttercream is too thick add 1-2 tbs of cold milk until the desired consistency is reached. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes with your favorite frosting tip.
I used regular vanilla instead of the paste and it tasted just fine. I also used regular vinegar. It was a crapshoot, because let's be honest, I don't actually know what the difference is between regular white vinegar (not balsamic, white) and apple cider vinegar. Maybe taste? The cupcakes still tasted awesome, so obviously not much! She also said she got almost a dozen and a half out of this recipe, I maybe could have squeaked out 13 or 14 under-filled cupcakes but I opted for a little bigger cupcakes instead so only ended up with 12.
Enjoy!
Ciao,
kc
Friday, September 21, 2012
iPhone 5 Launch Day...
The iPhone 5 launches today, and if this week hasn't been a horrible example of how shiny new technology that they can't have reduces so many people back to temper tantrums, I don't know what has.
Wish me luck. I get to go to work in fifteen minutes to be overwhelmed by people who must. have. the iphone. five. now.
You know.
The one with the big Gee Bees. And the Why Fies.
I don't care.
Ciao,
kc
P.S. Please watch the video at the link above with caution. It's pretty vulgar, but it kind of describes how manic some iPhone customers are...
Wish me luck. I get to go to work in fifteen minutes to be overwhelmed by people who must. have. the iphone. five. now.
You know.
The one with the big Gee Bees. And the Why Fies.
I don't care.
Ciao,
kc
P.S. Please watch the video at the link above with caution. It's pretty vulgar, but it kind of describes how manic some iPhone customers are...
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Things You Do When You Can't Do Anything Else
The things you do when you're not allowed to do anything else. During my month of medical leave due to the wondrous back-pain-filled-fun I attempted...
...quilting. And was shot down because sitting hurt too much.
...baking. It involved too much standing.
...napping. I'm not a napper. It ran into sleeplessness, which was occurring due to inactivity anyways.
...blogging. Again, too much sitting.
...and eventually found a winner with pinteresting. Pinterest was something I didn't understand. After having nothing to do I realized why it's so popular. It's a time-filler. It's fun. It's interesting, it gives you ideas on things to do!
While on Pinterest I saw I picture of cute, knitted My Little Ponies. I followed the link and found an Etsy artist who sold the pattern.
"I can knit while prone," I thought. "And five bucks, if it give me a project, AWESOME."
Luckily, turns out I could!
The little white one in the back was my first try, and is a little jenky as a result, but still adorable. The blue one is a pegasus version.
This was my third one (and is a unicorn) and as a result was much better! You can kind of see on the blue one and on this one that I embroidered designs on their butts just like real my little ponies.
And this is mi sobrinita who will hopefully love the ponies as much as she loves the quilt I made her (that she's standing on in the picture)! Sol is my niece (well, soon to be anyways) who lives in Chile with her family (Tyler's sister, who is my future sister-in-law, and her husband), so the ponies will have quite a trip to get to this little girl, but she's worth it!
Ciao,
kc
...quilting. And was shot down because sitting hurt too much.
...baking. It involved too much standing.
...napping. I'm not a napper. It ran into sleeplessness, which was occurring due to inactivity anyways.
...blogging. Again, too much sitting.
...and eventually found a winner with pinteresting. Pinterest was something I didn't understand. After having nothing to do I realized why it's so popular. It's a time-filler. It's fun. It's interesting, it gives you ideas on things to do!
While on Pinterest I saw I picture of cute, knitted My Little Ponies. I followed the link and found an Etsy artist who sold the pattern.
"I can knit while prone," I thought. "And five bucks, if it give me a project, AWESOME."
Luckily, turns out I could!
The little white one in the back was my first try, and is a little jenky as a result, but still adorable. The blue one is a pegasus version.
This was my third one (and is a unicorn) and as a result was much better! You can kind of see on the blue one and on this one that I embroidered designs on their butts just like real my little ponies.
And this is mi sobrinita who will hopefully love the ponies as much as she loves the quilt I made her (that she's standing on in the picture)! Sol is my niece (well, soon to be anyways) who lives in Chile with her family (Tyler's sister, who is my future sister-in-law, and her husband), so the ponies will have quite a trip to get to this little girl, but she's worth it!
Ciao,
kc
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Big Word Wednesday: Lascivious
The wonderful thing about reading is you have a large vocabulary. The downside is half the words you know, you've never heard pronounced and therefore would not know them necessarily if you heard them.
The other hand of today's word is embarrassing, and it means I have to let you in on a little secret: I watch dumb tv like Bachelor Pad and The Bachelor. I find them so entertaining. They're hilarious with all the drama and the "I am so in love with him!" that they figure out isn't really love but just attraction based upon forced togetherness and hormones. A couple weeks ago, I was watching Bachelor Pad and they had a spelling bee. The contestants sucked, I was awesome. Until the host said the word "lascivious."
I was stumped. I thought it was a word I'd never heard of.
I was half right: I'd never heard it.
lascivious. adjective. [luh-siv-ee-uhs]. inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd. arousing sexual desire. indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness. lustful, lecherous.
Ciao,
kc
The other hand of today's word is embarrassing, and it means I have to let you in on a little secret: I watch dumb tv like Bachelor Pad and The Bachelor. I find them so entertaining. They're hilarious with all the drama and the "I am so in love with him!" that they figure out isn't really love but just attraction based upon forced togetherness and hormones. A couple weeks ago, I was watching Bachelor Pad and they had a spelling bee. The contestants sucked, I was awesome. Until the host said the word "lascivious."
I was stumped. I thought it was a word I'd never heard of.
I was half right: I'd never heard it.
lascivious. adjective. [luh-siv-ee-uhs]. inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd. arousing sexual desire. indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness. lustful, lecherous.
- He was an attractive man in his youth, now he was just a lascivious old man.
- The lascivious jokes told by the fraternity brothers made her uncomfortable all weekend.
Ciao,
kc
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