Cooking again!

Ben and I lived in an apartment right after we married. The apartment was decent. Before the wedding, we were time crunched to find a place. Ben had been living and working in California and moved to Utah (where we live now) a month before the wedding. I definitely didn't want the responsibility to find a place without his input, especially while also doing most of the wedding planning. We didn't have a ton of time to look and we took the first place that met our needs and fit our budget. It was 1,000 square feet, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. It had a laundry room and pantry and balcony and plenty of storage. It was in good shape. It was more than decent, I suppose, it was nice.

However, I never took pictures of it. While living there, I just couldn't get myself excited enough to document our first residence as husband and wife. I regret it now. One of my biggest complaints was the lack of windows. Natural light is a must for me and for my happiness. Also, the kitchen was small (and the only room, besides the bathrooms, lacking a window). The first few months of our marriage I planned meals and cooked because I was excited to do those "wife things." It didn't take long, though, to not want to cook in that closet of a kitchen. We started eating out. A lot.

And then Ben left for Canada. I swore to myself that while he was gone I would cook more. Exercise more. Read more. Craft more. More, more, more. It's hard to be motivated to do such things while your honey is so far away. I'd pick up fast food on my way home and then sit in front of the TV.

Next came the stresses of finding a house, buying the house, packing up the apartment, moving and unpacking in the new house. Eating out became a daily thing with Ben and me. I was so excited when we found this house because there is plenty of windows and even one in the kitchen! No window over the sink, which is a bummer, and I'm basically still facing a wall while cooking, but I'm still cooking in a kitchen FILLED with sunlight! Oh the joy!

We've been in the house nearly 3 months now and I'm just getting to planning a menu and sticking to it. And you know what? I feel better. We're eating more healthily. I'm losing some weight. It's glorious.

So, with that long introduction do you want to know what we've eaten lately? I've only taken pictures of two meals but they were tasty! One is a recipe that I tried for the first time yesterday night. I get a daily email from Martha Stewart. This was for Orange Beef Stir Fry. When I got the email I was very excited because I had all the ingredients already on hand. Except for the beef. So I made it with chicken instead. It was still delicious. It didn't have a very orangey taste so the next time I make it I may use orange marmalade or some orange peel or something. Other than that, the flavor was wonderful. Click on the link below for the recipe!

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Tonight I made a tried-and-true Weight Watchers recipe. A few years ago my roommate and I did Weight Watchers together. We both had online memberships so I'd search their recipes and try them out. I don't think I'll make another spaghetti recipe. No high-fructose corn syrup bottled sauces anymore!

The recipe calls for carrots in the sauce, which I enjoyed. Ben wasn't a fan of carrots in spaghetti sauce. So, I added some green bell pepper. He isn't a fan of spaghetti noodles, so I boiled up some mostaccioli noodles that I had in the pantry instead. Serve it with a salad and you're set. See the link below the picture for the recipe. Love it!

Weight Watchers Spaghetti and Tomato-Meat Sauce

Now that I'm in the habit of cooking again, I should have recipes to share more regularly.

Sister's Crafts

For my birthday my step-mother and sister bought me this pan from Williams Sonoma (you can find the link to their website here):
Super cute, huh? And it's supposed to make a cake that looks like this:

Again, super cute. Anyway, during priesthood session my sister and I got together to make this cake and also a craft. Before we started, however, we started to talk about jeans and how Old Navy was having a sale. We decided we would take a "quick" trip to Old Navy and check it out. That "quick" trip turned in to an hour and a half. We had a fun time talking and although neither of us bought jeans, I did find a sweater I really like.

When we got back to my apartment we had to hurry and get the cake in the oven. Luckily, when they gave me the pans they also gave me the ingredients to make a pumpkin chocolate chip cake with cream cheese frosting. All the ingredients were measured out for me. All I had to do was put them in my kitchen aid and pour the batter in the pan.

The recipe asks that you cook the cake for 35-40 minutes. It assumed your using a 9x13 cake pan and not a deep pumpkin shaped pan. My cake needed to cook an hour before it was done. By that time the husbands were hungry and tired. Angie and I let the cake cool for about 10 minutes and then decided to put it together. This was not the best idea. The bottom part of the pumpkin started to give below the weight of the top part. Once we put the frosting on top it looked like a big gooey mess. It tasted delicious though! Here's a picture:

Doesn't really look like a pumpkin, does it? That's okay. I'll be making it again. And maybe next time I'll just bake the cake without the frosting because the cake itself was delicious, moist and rich. The frosting made it a little too rich for my tastes. Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup solid pack canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Garnish:
2 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 tbsp finely chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs and pumpkin. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with milk. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake ad 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. :)

While baking, combine cream cheese, b utter and vanilla extract, beating until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar; beat well. Frost cake. Sprinkle with garnish.



Now, while the cake was baking we made some treat jars. The jars were purchased at Target for about $8 and the vinyl was purchased at The Quilted Bear for about $3. Pretty cute, huh? Oh, and we definitely gobbled the cake until we couldn't wobble anymore!

We were going to make another craft too but we ran out of time. All in all it was a very fun time and a great family tradition!

A deliciously easy dessert

When my old roommate, Nisha, came to our house for dinner with her boyfriend Tim, she made this delectable dessert. When she told me how she did it and how easy it was, I couldn't wait to try it out on my own in one of the numerous variations. Here's the recipe:

Ice Cream Pie

1qt ice cream, softened (Nisha used chocolate, I used vanilla)
Candy or cookies of choice (Nisha used grasshopper cookies, I used peanut butter cups)
1 graham cracker pie crust

Mix cookies/candy in with the softened ice cream. Save some to garnish the top. Pour into graham cracker crust and freeze for 1-2 hours.

So easy! So delicious! I forgot to take a picture before Ben and I cut into it last night but here are some pictures of the pie!

Not as pretty as it would have looked if it weren't cut into. But Ben and I really enjoyed the pieces we ate together! Yumm!

A slice of the pie! Seriously, this couldn't be easier and the options are ENDLESS!

What a weekend!

Things did not go as planned last weekend. I thought my holiday mini preorder would have arrived on Friday or Saturday but it didn't arrive until yesterday (Monday)! I was frantically trying to get my swaps done for a for a demo meeting and didn't have the time I wanted to be creative with it. The result is more plain and simple but as my friend Casey reminded me, that's the point- to Keep It Simple, Silly (aka KISS). And hey, if it's simple it will more easily be demonstrated in classes which is the point in demo swaps. Here's the swap:


It uses the new stamp set Season of Friendship which I fell n love with the first moment I saw it! The set is very versatile because it comes with different stamps for each season. Our swap assignment was to create a card for one of the upcoming holidays- Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. I figured there wouldn't be many Thanksgiving cards and hopefully that will be the case.

Supplies: Season of Friendship stamp set; chocolate chip and more mustard cardstock; chocolate chip, more mustard and really rust ink. All Stampin' Up! products.


A few years ago, while our men went to the Priesthood Session of General Conference, my sister and I got together and made "eyeball cupckaes". She had the idea that we should start a tradition for the women in the family to get together and do some sort of craft/activity while the men are away being edified. We didn't do anything last year but after attending SU!'s convention I knew I wanted to be sure to get together this next conference. There were quite a few awesome holiday ideas but a fair number of them are not cost-appropriate. There is one project, by Carrie Cudney, that might work. She purchased a glass plate at walmart and created paper "discs" for each holiday. You change these discs when the new holiday is coming up. The plate at walmart was on sale for $1 (regularly $1.50) so I'm thinking each of my sisters can create a simple yet darling project that is good for every holiday for under $5 (my best guess). How awesome is that? This is what I created late Friday night. It's not my favorite and it may not be what we actually do, but it has potential nonetheless.


Here's another picture, close up of the skyline:


This used a few retired things: the pumpkin patch spectrum ink pad and the spooky skyline wheel. There is a new wheel in the holiday mini which could work really well (makes me wish I had ordered it and I still might!) and you can create a similar sky effect with ink pads, a brayer and some sponges.

My goal was to also create a disc for Thanksgiving and Christmas for my sisters to see and decide if it's something they would like to make. Hopefully I can find time to create some more Wednesday night.

One of the highlights of the weekend was having my old roommate, Nisha and her boyfriend, Tim over for dinner. I made Thai Peanut Chicken, a recipe I received from my sister. When my sister, Angie, made it for Ben and I it was absolutely delicious and I craved it for weeks afterward. I still haven't mastered it (which is silly because it really isn't that difficult of a recipe) but even still it is amazing. Here's the recipe:

Thai Peanut Chicken

Dressing
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup oil (I use olive, but any will do)
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce

Chicken
1 lb chicken, cubed
3/4 cup carrots
3/4 cup onion, diced
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp peanut butter
8 oz angel hair pasta
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Garnishments- optional
Peanuts
Lime
Cilantro

Directions:
Mix ingredients for dressing. Use 1/4 cup to marinate the chicken and marinate 3 hours.

Cook chicken. Drain of excess liquid and brown the meat. Cook vegetables until tender. Add to chicken. Add honey, peanut butter and red pepper flakes to remaining dressing. Cook Pasta. Mix everything together. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts as well as squeeze lime juice over the dish, if desired.

Yummy! The peanut sauce is to die for!

Thats all for now! Take Care!