Regrets

Hindsight is 20/20. I wish I would have had more appreciation for what I had when I had it (Example, my smaller size.) Lesson learned: find the good, focus on it and appreciate it.

Sometimes I Get Really Cool Opportunities

Senior year of college my good friend, who uses the pen name Liz Laz, published her first book. It is a young adult adventure book titled My Not So Normal Life. It was a fast paced, intensely wonderful Spring Break. Together with another friend, we spent the week holed up in an annex at our University. We edited, updated and uploaded the 198 page novel. My main job for Liz made me super excited! I got to design and create the cover. I used my love of scrap booking to create a physical paper design which I went on to scan into a computer to complete the wording. It was a really exciting project that I really enjoyed doing.

This summer I learned that Liz Laz was preparing the sequel, My Not So Normal Life: School for Spies. I was honored to be asked to create that cover as well! Keep reading, at the end of the year I am planning a post showing you my new art work for Ms. Laz! It was a lot of fun creating the paper design, I look forward to finishing the work on the computer in the coming months. Keep following and I will share a link for those interested in the novels!

My Weight Loss Journey Begins

If you've seen or spoken to me lately you know that I have been struggling with my weight, and am ready to win that battle. I started by going straight to a diet of 1200 cals/day. That didn't work. I was shaking so badly from hunger I caved and finished the rest of the leftover Chinese. So after talking to some friends who are also on their weight loss journey, I have decided to take a huge step back and take slower gradual steps. I am going to begin by eating the amount of calories it would take to maintain my weight for one week. Then I will slowly lower that number week by week. I know I won't get results as quickly as I would like, however it seems to be the only way for me to reach success.

Now if only I could like exercising! (Derby Class starts in two and half weeks!!!)

My Version of Greek Salad

One of the best things about gardening is not having to pay for produce. I'm a fan. But there is one thing I am not a fan of. Lettuce. I like salads, they are good for me, especially seeing as I am dieting. However, lettuce bores me. I need LOTS of toppings on my salad. And I love stocking them up with veggies, meats and cheese. Sometimes I make salads without the actual lettuce. My Greek salad is one of my favorite combinations.

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
10 kalamata olives, halved
3.5oz package of Feta cheese
pinch of salt

Combine and enjoy! I have also done this where I added a drizzle of olive oil. And I am sure it would taste good over a bed of lettuce or with some noodles.

My Love Affair With My Freezer-Preserving Food

So, lets not tell Joe, but I have a not so secret love affair with my freezer. The thought of wasting food makes me sad...I don't want to throw money away. So while my freezer has the normal things in it: veggies, ice cream, the husband's chicken nuggets, most of my freezer is filled with excess foods. I buy large quantities of butter and freeze the extras, I buy most meats and sea foods in bulk to save money and freeze them in serving size portions. Lately I have learned the joy of freezing things I would not have thought of to freeze. For example, I learned how to freeze bagels. This helps me eat them at my slow pace with my ever changing taste buds. Earlier this month I posted two blogs about recipes: Pumpkin Chip Cookies and Cinnamon Rolls. I have some of both of those in my freezer right now; half the cookie dough and one pie plate full of rolls. And this week I have started preserving veggies from my garden in my freezer. I don't have time to cook them as fast as they grow, and I would hate to waste my food. So I have shredded zucchini in my freezer and sliced, blanched summer squash! Yay for fresh food year round! Now if only I had a stand alone freezer....

I don't think I have enough freezer bags in there....

Canning with Mom

I convinced my mom to can with me! I was setting up to do it one day at home and realized that it was silly to do all that work by myself. Thankfully, my mom will try anything once. This includes overheating her kitchen so we can have homemade produce year round.

Tuesday we canned the tomatoes. We were able to fill four pint sized jars. Today, we already have enough to fill another four or five. So next Wednesday or Thursday we will be doing a round two.

Today we put our pickle plant to good use and produced three cans of relish! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures of how badly we destroyed the kitchen on that endeavor.



We'll see how many jars we take up next week!

Cinnamon Rolls

Today I spent the whole day in the kitchen(s). Sometimes I feel productive and kick some butt. Today was one of those days.

I started my day with my friend Heidi. Heidi and I are both addicted to our The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. So today we decided to try our hand at one of her favorite recipes: Cinnamon Rolls.

This is the effect that yummy frosting has!

 What resulted was a lovely smelling kitchen and a buttery counter top. Lots of goodness! And then there was the frosting! Mmmm!

 Ok, so maybe now I can see why the diet thing isn't going as planned. But it was definitely worth it. Best news: I have a pan in my freezer for future use!

Yum!

Miss Diane's Salmon Dip

Miss Diane is a very dear woman to me. I have known her for years! In addition to her wonderful support, she has also shared with me her A M A Z I N G Salmon Dip recipe. Its become a staple at parties, and I make sure I always have a can of salmon in my pantry!

1 can of smoked salmon, 6.5oz (we order ours from Seattle)
1 package of cream cheese, 8oz
2 Table spoons of sliced green onions
a couple drops of Tabasco sauce

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor (my choice) and blend until smooth!

Enjoy with crackers! Delish!

Recipe Writing

Recipe writing is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I want to share some of my recipes on here but I am running into some problems.

1. I have no professional training. There is a lot of trial and error in my kitchen. I want to insure I only share successes.
2. I have just started cooking when I got married about three years ago. So my cooking is still evolving, and hopefully always will be. There is a lot of experimenting to find out what works best and how, etc. But when the end results are worth sharing I will!
3. And my biggest problem: I generally don't measure. This means that I have to start in order to share recipes with you guys. A pinch looks a lot different in my fingers then in a measuring spoon.

So hang in there with me, the recipes will come, and will be delicious....it just may take awhile.

Where I've Been

It's been a very hectic week! Last weekend was full of family stuff: a cousins dinner and the next night my dad came over for dinner. It was great to spend so much time with my family!

The week got even more exciting when I went with one of my cousins to see Taylor Swift. It was our third Taylor concert together!

We got amazing seats from another cousin, and even managed to get Pit Passes!

The next night my cousin and I went to see Glee 3D at midnight. I quickly realized how old I am as I found myself barely able to keep up with my seventeen year old cousin. Especially after two consecutive 2am nights!

Then this weekend was my good friend's Wedding Shower and Bachelorette Party! It was so wonderful to see her, as she lives out of town. It was wonderful to have a girls night!

And, after returning home Sunday morning, I found out that I have raised $110 for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention thus far! I am so pleased to have so much support as I fight for this very important cause!



*Please see my Facebook page if interested in donating to this cause.*

AFSP Community Walk 2011

Some friends of mine and I are going to be walking in an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Community Walk September 24. If you are able PLEASE donate, any amount will help this amazing cause work on saving lives. Thank you! (I promise to not make asking for money a regular thing on this blog.)

Just go to http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.home, click on "Make a Donation," and search my name! :)

Pumpkin Chip Cookies

I know its the beginning of August and the last thing you want to think about are fall holidays. But these cookies are too amazing to only have once or twice a year. They are a huge hit with my friends and even their kids! Thank you Taste of Home for this delicious recipe!

Pumpkin Chip Cookies

Make them today! I did!

Note: I double freezer bag half the dough and freeze it for future use since it makes so many cookies.

Favorite Cookbooks

I have a bit of a problem. Just ask my husband...or look above my china cabinet. I love cookbooks!

Those are all cookbooks or cooking magazines.

Seeing as I would like to eventually share some of the recipes I've come up with, I figure I should share my favorite cookbooks so that ya'll can see where my inspirations come from. That and I have no idea how long it will take me to write a recipe...I don't usually measure, so it could take awhile.

One of my favorite basic cookbooks is The Taste of Home Cookbook. For my wedding shower my aunt gave me a subscription to their magazine. I quickly fell in love and ordered their cookbook. What I like about this franchise is that its made for home cooks. It shares basic recipes with basic ingredients. It is very accessible. I use Taste of Home for everything from Eggs Benedict to scalloped potatoes to Christmas cookies.

Another amazing cookbook is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. My girlfriend and I both swear by this book. I have cooked recipes from both her book and her website. Like Taste of Home, because the author lives on a remote ranch, the food is also easily accessible. Between my friend and I, everything of hers that we have made has been a hit! It is a staple in both of our kitchens. She has a wide range of recipes including pico de gallo, red velvet cake and pasta dishes. Her recipes are inspired from both her time in the city and her current life in the country.

When it comes to canning, I can not thank my sister in law enough for recommending Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. When I wanted to start canning she insisted the first thing I do was buy this book. And I now know why. In addition to its wide variety of canning recipes, this book also the VERY important safety information to can correctly and make safe food. So, I will second my sister in law's rule and tell you all to buy this book before starting to can!

There are two cookbooks I have that I am looking forward to exploring. The first is Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. Lets be honest, what busy twenty-something doesn't like her slow cooker? However, I want to make a wider variety of stuff then soups and stews. As soon as I saw this cookbook I was interested. The variety is amazing: veal, chili, cake, wings and seafood are all included in this cookbook. The second cookbook I want to explore is The Chicago Diner Cookbook. This cookbook shares recipes from the vegetarian and vegan restaurant on Chicago's North side. While I am far from a vegetarian, I LOVED the food I had there and look forward to the experimentation and variety it will bring to my kitchen.

Now to be fair, I have been cooking for less then three years. Seeing as I am FAR from an expert, I polled my friends on Facebook and Twitter and asked them to share some of their favorite cookbooks. Here are the results:

1. Forever Summer
2. Earth to Table
3. Canning for a New Generation
4. Food for Friends: Simply Delicious Menus For Easy Entertaining
5. Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
6. The Joy of Cooking
7. The Pillsbury Cookbook
8. anything by Gordon Ramsey
9. anything by Alton Brown
10. anything by Rick Bayless
11. and family cookbooks

If there are any you want to add, please comment and we can try to make a comprehensive list of good cookbooks for home cooks!

Veggies!

Pickle, cherry tomatoes, plum tomato, cucumber, yellow squash and green onion! Yay for fresh, free food!