Making a menu is - without a doubt - my least favorite chore. I dread it every week. It may be that I often don't have an appetite or that I am bored with all my current meal ideas... whatever. Making a menu sucks. I tried something new this week. I looked up recipes online and decided to make NEW things this week. Here are the things we're trying out. I'll follow up with reviews at some point.
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff, Sloppy Joe Spaghetti, Mushroom Chicken, Soft Gingersnaps, and Mexican Style Shredded Pork. We're also making turkey noodle soup to finish off the leftovers from Thanksgiving. Last week I made some new (to me) Crescent Rolls that were pretty good and next week I'm gonna try PW's Cinnamon Rolls (minus the coffee). I will admit that the menu and cooking thing is more fun when I'm trying new things.
Last night, we had the Beef Stroganoff. It was so super easy. I did read the reviews and found some tips for making it even yummier - doubled the soup/water, added sauteed mushrooms at the end, and added some spices. We served it over rice. I am so scared of using the slow cooker. In my mind, cooking something for 8 hours = BURNED! It didn't burn. I'm just paranoid, I guess. The meat was fall-apart-in-your-mouth tender. The sauce was a little thin, but that could be corrected with a little cornstarch next time. I had some leftovers for lunch today and it was AMAZING. The flavors fell in love and married over night. YUM!
I also made the Soft Gingersnaps yesterday. They were FABULOUS. Such an easy recipe. I substituted margarine 'cause that's what we had available - and in my opinion butter make for a good flavor, but a crappy product - it cools and goes crispy. Margarine stays softer. Anyway, I followed the directions exactly (other than cutting it in half) and cooked the first dozen for 8 minutes. Those came out like a regular gingersnap on the outside and soft on the inside. The second batch cooked for 6 minutes and came out nearly perfect. So chewy, so delicious. DROOL. There is still dough in the fridge to make a couple dozen more. Yay!
Tonight, I'm making turky noodle soup. Nothing major, but gotta use up those leftovers. I'm excited for the meals we have planned for the rest of the week.
new goals
I spent a couple hours emptying a large cupboard last weekend so that I had a spot set up to start building food storage. I have a fantastic apartment and a great landlord, but I lack a cold storage room under my porch. LOL.
Frankly, the thought of getting started with storing food is completely overwhelming, but it's something that I've wanted to do for a while. Steph and I asked our parents for the food storage starter kit for Christmas last year, so I've got wheat, rice, beans, and oats. To be honest though, I'd have to be literally starving to eat those beans. LOL I think it's a great starting off point, but I need our storage to be more practical.
What I've decided to do is to stock up on items that we'll use when I find great deals. Today I spent about $15 and I bought 6 cans of tomato soup, 4 cans each of tuna, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and green beans, 3 cans of diced green chilies, and two bottles of gatorade. Stir that all together and enjoy. j/k
I've got a long way to get where I want this to be, but I'm really so excited. This little tiny dent on this goal makes me happy.
Frankly, the thought of getting started with storing food is completely overwhelming, but it's something that I've wanted to do for a while. Steph and I asked our parents for the food storage starter kit for Christmas last year, so I've got wheat, rice, beans, and oats. To be honest though, I'd have to be literally starving to eat those beans. LOL I think it's a great starting off point, but I need our storage to be more practical.
What I've decided to do is to stock up on items that we'll use when I find great deals. Today I spent about $15 and I bought 6 cans of tomato soup, 4 cans each of tuna, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and green beans, 3 cans of diced green chilies, and two bottles of gatorade. Stir that all together and enjoy. j/k
I've got a long way to get where I want this to be, but I'm really so excited. This little tiny dent on this goal makes me happy.
up to something
It really has been a long time since I blogged. I've honestly been jumping back and forth between too-busy-to-post and nothing-blog-worthy-to-write-about. In the past month, we've had two visits from my brother (he's currently deployed and in Texas, soon to be Kuwait), hosted a quilt group meeting, undertaken some large projects (I was commissioned to do some sewing - and we also bought a cabinet to repaint for Stephanie's bedroom). There have been many other little things all squished in there as well.I like being busy, but I really like downtime so much more. LOL. I'm excited to have this sewing project done so that I can focus more on my own projects.
The pitcture in this post is my first attempt at cutting vinyl on my Silhouette and it was SO MUCH FUN!! I have designed several other things to cut and I'm loving it. That little machine was such a great investment. Honestly, I don't scrapbook as much as I'd like anymore, but I use "Sil" a couple times a week for vinyl and other projects. When I do scrapbook, it's so nice to be able to design exactly what I want and just press that little "cut" button!
On another note: I need a freaking vacation!
quilt group
Steph and I are starting a quilt group and we're so excited! This is our first project. It's a square called "dominoes and squares" and I've been in quilt-love with it since I was about 14. I literally made ONE square and have kept it all these years. I also worked out the blocks so that we could use full squares rather than triangles and keep things simpler and more pleasing to the eye.
We have some fun friends in the group. Our first meeting isn't for almost a month and I can't wait to see what fabrics everyone has picked. It'll be so great to see them all come together.
(The quilt pictured was made by Steph and the photos do not do it justice!)
We have some fun friends in the group. Our first meeting isn't for almost a month and I can't wait to see what fabrics everyone has picked. It'll be so great to see them all come together.(The quilt pictured was made by Steph and the photos do not do it justice!)
new wallpaper
I have had the same desktop wallpaper for a year. I know that's not a crime, nor is there an expiration date, but I had kind of intended to switch things up from time to time. Yeah. My desktop showed "August 2008" for 11.5 months.
Saturday, my friend Tiffany came over so that I could make some announcements for her son's baptism and I remembered how much fun it can be to dink around in Photoshop. LOL. Sunday, I was sick but felt creative, so my butt found the computer chair and I got a new wallpaper designed! Yay!
I intentionally left the date off (lol) and I made it to match my living room decor (yeah... I know I'm nuts). This quote was on the old wallpaper and I was going to change that, but I got lazy and just changed the colors to match the new wallpaper. I may change the quote or pictures periodically, but it's good for now.
I love being crafty and creative.
Saturday, my friend Tiffany came over so that I could make some announcements for her son's baptism and I remembered how much fun it can be to dink around in Photoshop. LOL. Sunday, I was sick but felt creative, so my butt found the computer chair and I got a new wallpaper designed! Yay!
I intentionally left the date off (lol) and I made it to match my living room decor (yeah... I know I'm nuts). This quote was on the old wallpaper and I was going to change that, but I got lazy and just changed the colors to match the new wallpaper. I may change the quote or pictures periodically, but it's good for now.
I love being crafty and creative.
keeping busy
I woke up with a headache and I think I'm cranky, but I've kept myself busy in an effort to distract myself. I designed a new wallpaper for my desktop and took some photos of my watches so that I could get them listed. Here are the two newest additions to my Etsy shop.
I made "Tilly" for myself a month or so ago and I wear it all the time. It goes with EVERYTHING! I sold one a few weeks back and finally got another made to list. "Blink" is new and is so sweet and fun. Black and pink are so classic and fun. I'll have to make another one just for me. That's what happens when I make a fun new band - I have to have one too! I think I have twenty of these bands myself :)
I made "Tilly" for myself a month or so ago and I wear it all the time. It goes with EVERYTHING! I sold one a few weeks back and finally got another made to list. "Blink" is new and is so sweet and fun. Black and pink are so classic and fun. I'll have to make another one just for me. That's what happens when I make a fun new band - I have to have one too! I think I have twenty of these bands myself :)
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