Wrapping Up December: 2016

Ok, so I know it's 4 days into the New Year but......

December was way too busy and waaaaay too much fun to not wrap up 😁 This post is long and picture-heavy, and I have so much to discuss that I'm not even going to waste time on an introduction. Let's go!

That first picture is the garden on December 1st. The marigolds had finally had it, and so had pretty much everything else. I've still got some rosemary and some thyme alive, but that's it. The cold weather we had in Kentucky while the hubby and I were in Oregon even got my parsley. Darn it. 

January in Review: 2016

Did January fly by... or did January fly by?

I cannot believe the first month of 2016 is already gone. It's going to be another one of those years, I can feel it. It'll be gone before we know it. Now, I know I was a very bad blogger and I started my monthly wrap-up's again in November. Then I skipped December. Me oh my. 

I'm just going to pick right up where I left off. Let's talk about January!

We started off the year with Oregon vs TCU in the Alamo Bowl. The hubby and I were on point with our spread-

Monte Cristo Sliders

Happy Friday friends!

I have exactly 6 more recipes that I put together with pictures from my old lens, so bear with me as I burn through my backlog.  I have to say (even with pictures that now make me tilt my head slightly and say "huh" perplexedly) that these little sliders still look yummy. If you are unfamiliar with the Monte Cristo, as the hubby was, this is what a Monte Cristo is:

A Monte Cristo is typically a fried ham-and-cheese sandwich, a variation of the French croque-monsieur. Typically in the United States, you'll find this also made with raspberry preserves and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Recipe Redux: Pasta Salad with Tuna, Olives, and Parsley

We are going back to the beginning.

As in, really far back. This recipe takes us back to August 25, 2011. For those of you not in the know, I started my blog in May of 2011. I started it aimlessly, mostly just to have a place to occasionally write down ideas in my head and a good way to keep my parents updated on my shenanigans. This wasn't the first recipe I ever posted, but it's probably in the top 10 of my first foodie posts. Back then, I posted whatever was on my mind. It was mostly wrap-up's of family events, couponing trip summaries, and makeup reviews. I'd been cooking for maybe 2 years at the time and the words "food blog" had never entered my vocabulary. I didn't even know that food blogs existed.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Time for my favorite cookie of the year!

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies are so darn yummy. Seriously. Both sides are soft and chewy, studded throughout with chocolate chips. The chocolate side is decidedly chocolatey, while the peanut butter side is perfectly subtle. It tastes like peanut butter without being dry and mealy. Always a good thing when you are talking about cookies! And while these cookies do require chilling (keep that in mind when you go to make them. Believe me!), they really aren't too much work. I loved the technique of rolling the two doughs together, so creative. More on that later. In the meantime, let's go over how to make these delicious drops of heaven!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Is there a more perfect time for a slow cooker recipe than at the holidays? I think not. After all the shopping, gift wrapping, check-book balancing, cookie baking, and making sure the hubby's not falling off the roof-ing (hehe), there's not a lot of energy left for cooking. Back when the hubby and I lived in Portland, this wasn't such big deal. We had many (quick) options for feeding ourselves somewhat healthy. We were within 5 minutes of Whole Foods, walking distance of of handful of restaurants, and had a kitchen drawer full of menus from restaurants that deliver. Ah, the old days. Today though? Our grocery store doesn't offer the options of Whole Foods (fresh salad bars, amazing hot soups, made-to-order sandwiches), we are within a 20 minute drive to the nearest restaurant, and delivery? That's a no-go. I cook a heck of a lot more here in Kentucky that I ever did in Oregon, which in itself has positives and negatives.

Recipe Redux: Shrimp & Artichokes Over Rice

Let's go back in time my friends-

To February, 2012. I'd been blogging for a very short time, less than a year. The hubby and I had been living in Kentucky for almost a year and a half, in our run-down rental in Ashland. The hubs had been working a new job for all of 3 months, and we'd begun to house-hunt. The hubby is required to live within 30 miles of the office, so Ashland wasn't cutting it. We'd been house-hunting for months, and finding zilch. Houses that needed to be gutted. Houses at the base of hills, that very obviously needed thousands of dollars of mold abatement. Houses on busy roads. Houses where you could reach out and touch your neighbors house. It was soul-sucking, to say the least.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Thanksgiving might be over, but pumpkin season runs right through December in this house!

Is that true for anyone else? I remember as a kid my mom always made a pumpkin pie for Christmas, as well as Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I associate pumpkin pie with the whole holiday season. I know some people see pumpkin pie as a Thanksgiving or fall recipe, and therefore put away anything pumpkin by December. If you are one of those people, tuck this recipe away in your back pocket for next fall. If you aren't one of those people, well, break out the pumpkin and let's do this!

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich

-with a legit moist-maker!

Calling all "Friends" fans! I've taken on Monica's Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich, complete with a moist-maker! For those of you not in the know, a moist-maker is an extra piece of gravy-soaked bread in the middle of the sandwich. I know all kinds of people hate the word moist, but I'm sorry. It's word that must be used, and used often, by foodies. You don't want your chicken to be dry, you want it to be... moist. Same with cake. And brownies. And steak. And all kinds of meats. So peeps, I apologize, but the word must be used.

Recipe Redux: Oktoberfest Stew

Recipe Redux.

Recipe Re-do.

Whatever you want to call it, it's time for this month's Recipe Redux! This one is definitely a keeper. I've been making it ever since the hubby and I moved into our new house. Literally, I think this was THE first new recipe I ever made in my brand new kitchen. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

When the hubby and I moved out of our rental in Ashland, it was the most organized move I'd ever, well, organized. I was on top of my game. I started packing 4 weeks before our move-out date, and I went slowly, room by room. Each box I packed had a room marked on it that it should go to. Underneath the name of the room, I listed every. single. thing. in the box. It was the most helpful thing I'd ever done.

Recipe Redux: Chicken Stroganoff

Time for this month's Recipe Redux! This month, I'm taking on one of our house favorites, Chicken Stroganoff. Beef Stroganoff is a childhood favorite of mine, and one that my mother made often. However, the hubby and I don't eat a lot of red meat. And if I have steak in the house, you can bet I'm not disguising it under stroganoff. So, we substitute chicken. Looking back at my original pictures, it was time for an update-

I'm always surprised what pictures lead people to my website. Shockingly enough, often times it's really old recipes. Like this one. I first posted Chicken Stroganoff on May 7, 2012.  Just in case you might have forgotten, here's what was happening the world when I first posted this recipe:

Christmas Cake Batter Cookies

Merry Christmas Eve!

I woke up a bit groggy this morning, I'm not sure why. I awoke with kind of a jolt, only to immediately realize I hadn't overslept, missed an appointment, or something like that. A second of panic, followed by an immediate slow-down. As my heartbeat returned to normal, for whatever reason, I was thinking about how I got here. Waking up in this house. In Kentucky. Chihuahuas curled at my side. 

10 years ago, if you'd said this would be my future, I would have laughed. I was 21, a senior in college, single, and had not a second to spare. I took a full load of classes, worked 30 hours a week, and coached a club volleyball team that monopolized my weekends. 

I was waking up in a sorority house. In Oregon. To the sound of girls squabbling over who knows what (If you've ever lived with 60 girls, you know they argue about absolutely everything. No joke. Everything). Dreading having to drag my exhausted butt out of bed and into the rain to trudge to classes. 

5 years ago, the hubby and I were newlyweds. I was 26. Working crazy, long hours for a large regional bank. I was working 60-70 hour weeks. Going to work at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes having to stay till 10 o'clock at night. 

I was waking up in a rental house in Beaverton. In Oregon. To the sound of my roommate's blowdryer and the smell of Chanel perfume. Hating my life, because all I did was work. I was living to work, instead of working to live. 

I still never would have believed I'd end up in Kentucky. 

3 years ago, the hubby and I were starting to slide into a hopeless situation. We were living in Ashland, KY after packing up our lives to start over. In a tiny, very rundown rental. The 2 jobs that we had moved there for the hubby to get had fallen through, and the hubby was working for his father finishing concrete. For all of you who don't know, finishing concrete is extremely hard and takes a giant toll on the body. It is definitely a young man's job. The work was back-breaking, and very unsatisfying for the hubby. I didn't have a job, the hubby's job didn't pay well, and there weren't a lot of options for good jobs in the area. We'd burned through our savings and were beginning to accumulate debt.

We both felt the panic. And the heaviness of what we thought was a mistake. 

It was around this time that the hubby got his job with the company he works for now. And life turned around.

The hubby loves his job. It pays well, enough that I don't have to work unless I want to. We were able to build our dream home out in the country. And I've been extremely thankful ever since. 

Because now I feel grateful almost every morning I wake up. Because I wake up in my nice, warm bed in my beautiful master bedroom with 2 beautiful dogs right next to me. Because I'm not exhausted. Because I don't hate my life. Because it's not misery to get out of bed. 

Life works in such mysterious ways :)

And... it's Christmas!

I have realized that all the treats I've shared thus far require very little work, and little-to-no baking. Well, this cookie takes care of that. The baking, that is. They are still very little work, though. These cookies actually utilize boxed cake mix with fantastic results. I was surprised by how much these cookies taste like sugar cookies. Really, really soft sugar cookies. Biting into these cookies is like biting into a little pillow. They really are that light and soft. Plus, everyone loves sprinkles, right? If you need a last minute cookie, these would be great. Thanks to the cake mix, it takes no time to mix the dough. They bake quickly, and come out delicious. No chilling. No rolling pins. You don't even need a mixer if you don't want to use one. I mixed these by hand. Easy peasy. 

Seriously. Whip some up today! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas friends! :)

Ingredients (makes ~25 cookies):

1  (18.25 oz) box vanilla cake mix

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat 2 cookies sheets with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and baking powder. Whisk to mix.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine eggs, oil, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously. Add cake mix mixture to wet ingredients. Stir vigorously until there are no remaining pockets of dried cake mix. 

4. Add sprinkles to dough, use a spatula to fold in. Do not oevermix, or the sprinkles will start to bleed.

5. Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, drop rounded balls onto cookie sheet. I placed 16 cookies per sheet. They don't spread a ton. Bake for 8-9 minutes, but do not allow the cookies to get brown. 8 minutes was perfect for my oven. Remove from heat and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from sheet and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage.

Printable Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Sally's Baking Addiction.

Looking for other quick cookie recipes? Try these!

Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles

Chewy Mint Chocolate Cookies

Linked to: Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Weekend Potluck

The Parental's 2nd Kentucky Trip

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged!

I'd fully planned on getting a couple of blog entries in while my parents and my aunt were here, but alas, even the best laid plans go awry at times.

Their visit flew by! It went by almost as fast as the hubby's and I's October Oregon visit. And the week that my aunt was here? Ha. It seemed like 1 day. It was sooooo much fun having my family at the new house vs. our Ashland rental from the days of yore. Actually, it's more like, the days of ick.

If you thought I might be getting better at remembering to take pictures, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I wouldn't just count on scrounging together photos that my family took, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I'm old enough to know better, well, you'd be wrong.

The important thing is I do have a few photos to share from the last 2 weeks :)

Myself, Mom, and Aunt Marilyn, upon our reunion as a fabulous trio :)

The hubby's Aunt and Mother came down to the house to visit with everyone.

Dad, Aunt Marilyn, Myself, Mom, and Hubby. Man, I need a piece of art for that wall :)

Gizmo thoroughly missed his Grandpa.

Lunch at the local brewery.

Unbeknownst to me, this stadium near us was home to one of the 1st NFL teams. I can't believe I didn't know that!

Appetizers we had for a small party which included my parents, the Hubby's Aunt, Uncle, and Mom, and some of the Hubby's high school friends.

We finally had one sunny, warm day on the day before my parents  left. At least we had one day where we got to sit outside in the sun!

The Hubby and my Mom. That's our house in the background!

Also, we did a million other things that I did not take pictures of, including: A trip to Huntington, lunch at the Black Sheep Restaurant in Huntington, a wonderful dinner at the Hubby's mother's house, watching 5 million hours of the NCAA tournament, drinking countless gallons of wine, and dining at an Irish pub in Cincinnati. 

In the meantime, I must be getting old, because I'm so tired from their visit! And it was a relaxing visit. Oy. I can't imagine how 40 is going to feel if 30 feels like this :)

April A-Musings

It was a busy month had by all!

The hubby and I decided to build a house, Gizmo acted weird for almost 3 weeks,  I continued to practice my baking, I saved $297.87 couponing, I participated in a 5k walk for charity, we celebrated 3 family birthday's, and Haloti enjoyed every minute of the whole, crazy ride.

We finalized our plans to build a house in April. We've had multiple inspections, including by the health department and the builder. We moved dirt and laid out the flow of the house. We finalized things with our bank. Next week, we sign our contract for the house and sometime next month, we will sign documents for the construction loan. And by far the best news? On May 14th, we will have only 30 days left in the rental!!! Yikes, I better start packing!

Gizmo and Haloti got groomed on April 9th. Gizmo immediately got a skin rash that had to be treated with anti-biotics and a steroid. He sulked and pouted for almost 3 weeks, all while doing none of his favorite things. No Blue Monkey, no sleeping in his bed, no cuddling with Mom and Dad, no walks, and no desire for carrots (our version of doggie treats). After keeping him a little bit dopey on Benedryl for a week to keep him from rubbing his skin raw and licking himself raw, Gizmo began to act more like himself last Friday. The hubby and I both gave a sigh of relief to have our puppy back. It was also decided that Gizmo will never go to the groomer again.

Haloti could care less he got groomed, and to be honest, I think he rather enjoyed the social time with the other dogs, as he was allowed to hang out with the "friendly" dogs after getting groomed. When I went to pick him up, he was sitting next to a very gentle Mastiff that was the size of a horse :)

We bought these bones to distract Gizmo from his woes. It worked!

I baked a lot in April. 3 family birthday's (brother's, hubby's aunt, and hubby's mother), with 2 requests for baked goods. I made Dark Chocolate Cherry Nut Cookies for the brother's birthday and the Red Velvet cupcakes below for my mother-in-law's birthday. The peanut butter cookies pictured above? Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made these for my Dad's birthday (tomorrow!) and shipped them out to Oregon.

I experimented with yeast in April. I made Mini Doughnuts (twice) and worked on Cinnamon Roll Bread. The doughnut above is a Raspberry Filled Mini Doughnut. Experimenting with yeast this month turned out pretty delicious :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes for the mother-in-law's birthday.

Last Saturday, my sister-in-law (to the far left), also named Jessica, and I walked a 5k for the March of Dimes. Jessica's friend Shannon (middle) is a nurse at the local hospital. The nurses in her unit had setup a team of about 7-8 girls. Jessica and I both donated to her unit, and volunteered to walk. The walk was at 9 am on Saturday. I awoke that morning at 7 am to a thunderstorm right over Ashland. It was also very cold. But the march did go on, and Jessica and I powered through. Cold, wet feet and all. There was a surprisingly large crowd, despite the inhospitable weather.

Rocking a poncho at the March of Dimes! And yes, that is a Duck's hoodie under my poncho!

I can't believe April is over, this year is flying by. Hopefully I will blink, it will be October, and we will be in our new house! Hey, a girl can wish, can't she? :)

And, oh yes, the hubby and I put back $297.87 into our couponing account. On to May!

Chicken and Broccoli Lo Mein

Another busy weekend out here in Kentucky!

The hubby only had a 2 day weekend (so rare these days!) so we had to make the most of it. Saturday, we had to run out to Sam's (our version of Costco) and the grocery store to get ingredients for the Red Velvet Cupcakes. Once I got home, the cupcakes took quite a while to make, thanks to all the parts of the recipe that have to cool. We had a linner on Saturday, so I didn't even cook dinner that night. Yesterday, we had to get up early and do the grocery shopping since we were heading out to the hubby's sister house in the afternoon to celebrate his mother's birthday. Only a couple of hours were spent at his sister's, because the hubby had to book it to our property and map out the septic system since we have our first inspection on Friday. He dropped me off at home first so I could pick up the house, and finally cook a dinner. Whew!

So, another Asian dish. I've been craving Chinese lately, probably due to the fact that there are no Chinese restaurants in Ashland. I take that back, there are a couple of Chinese restaurants, but they look like roaches run the place. So gross. No biggie, I can do stir-fry all by myself!

Stir-fry requires prep. Sliced onions, broccoli, and minced garlic

Another quick sauce! Brown shugga', fish sauce, soy sauce, and chile past with garlic. Fish sauce is one of the most foul smelling things out there, but for some reason (I can't even explain it!) the flavor mellows when cooked.

Whisk all together.

Brown your chicken. It doesn't need to be cooked all the way at this point, but it does need some lovely color on. As Anne Burrell would say, "Brown food tastes better!".

Saute your onions. Hopefully you don't need to cook the snot out of them, as I do.

Add in broccoli and garlic.

Add the chicken back in and cook it until it's done. Then throw in the cooked noodles and sauce and cook until heated through. Serve immediately, chopsticks optional :)

Ingredients:
8 oz cooked spaghetti (or chow mein noodles)
3 cups broccoli, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil

6 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp chile paste with garlic
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 large chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Sesame seeds (garnish)

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti to package directions. Place broccoli in a steamer basket and steam over  pasta while it cooks, 4 minutes. Remove broccoli from heat and set aside. When pasta is cooked, drain and then toss with sesame oil. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk soy sauce through chile paste. Set aside.
3. Heat peanut oil in a large pan. When hot, add chicken. Sear 2 minutes on each side or until brown. Remove from heat. Set aside.
4. Add onions to pan. Cook 3-5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and broccoli to pan. Saute for 2 minutes. Add chicken to pan, cook 2-3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add pasta and sauce to pan, cook 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
5. Serve immediately. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

House Hunting in Kentucky

Perhaps I should rephrase that to "House hunting in Southern Ohio".

It's true. The hubby and I are defecting from Kentucky to Ohio. Granted, as you can see from the above map, Ashland sits right on the Kentucky/Ohio border. Where we live in Ashland right now is 5 minutes from the bridge to cross into Ohio. The hubby's new job is  in Wheelersburg, OH which is about 30 minutes from Ashland and after working a 12 hour night shift, that 30 minutes might as well be 30 hours.

So off we go to Southern Ohio!

The Wheelersburg area is expensive. We haven't seen anything we LOVE yet. We did just start the hunt but we already have the impression we will be compromising on house to get a property we want. The hubby compares this hunt to a fat horse vs an ugly horse. A fat horse can always lose weight while an ugly horse will always be an ugly horse i.e. an ugly house on a great property can always be improved while a cute house in an awful location... well, you are just SOL at that point. I made the point that all horses are cute. Maybe he should use a mule in this analogy.

Baaaaack to the point.

On Thursday, we had an appointment to look at a house in the area. We left our house early to check out the locations on a couple of other properties for sale. At one point, we got lost on a hill and ran into a pack of wild animals!

All right, so the wily beasts were a herd of deer.

The house hunt has not been successful so far. There have been a couple of houses that we thought were cute (2 to be exact) but we drove past the locations and they are both located on a 55 mph road. Dislike.

The house we had the appointment for is located on a GORGEOUS property. It's 2 1/2 acres with a serene pond out front. Here is the view from the front door:

The house is less than stellar. Yes, it is need of cosmetic work i.e. new paint and new flooring throughout. The fork in this pot roast is that the layout is awful. We can deal with some cosmetic work but when you are talking about knocking down interior walls and maybe doing an addition, on top of the fact that this property is in the upper echelon of our price range... The hubby and I left feeling deflated.

It appears the house hunt may be a long process.