Sunday Social

So I came across this on Ashley's site and thought it was a great way to get me into the habit of blogging more. And, it's not another recipe/ picture of food. It's the Sunday Social. JOIN IN, RIGHT MEOW.





1. What were you like in middle school and high school? Tall and awkward. Seriously. I've been 5' 9" since sixth grade. My arms and legs are really long. Do you know what it's like to have your "boyfriend" stand 3 stairs up just so he could kiss you on the lips without having to ask you to bend down? Yeah.

2. What were your favorite pastimes? I played a lot of soccer and did a lot of skiing. I worked, too. I was a good teenager for the most part.

3. What songs were you obsessed with? Anything that was awful and on the radio. The same is true for my music taste today.

4. What fashion statement do you look back on and cringe? I chopped off all of my hair in 9th grade. Like, pixie cut. It was cute and it was different but that's something you do when you're older and you have boobs; not during the time in your life that you could be mistaken for a boy. (They accidentally listed my name as Eric in the year book that year! Sad face)

5. Who was your celeb crush? All of them? I specifically recall loving Carson Daly when he was relevant and hosting TRL. Way before his manorexia.

6. What was your favorite movie? It always has and always will be, The Wizard of Oz.


Ch ch ch check it out over at Ashley Lately.

My pumpkins with pumpkins!

Ahhhhh, October. The month that clogs your social media feeds with pictures of kids and pumpkins. Well, I'm not about to stop that shit. Here are a couple snaps of my babes. Seriously, its so hard to get two kids to sit, smile and look at you, all at the same time! Props to you photographers that make it look like cake.

My babies are the absolute best. Love.

Our Tour de Donuts has just begun. We try to visit as many orchards/patches as we can and then try to decide who has the best apple cider donuts. This weekend's farm was pretty good but one of the orchards closest to us has the best. I'm putting on my Winter weight, one dozen at a time.

What's Cooking this Week

I'm way ahead of myself somehow and already have this week's meals planned. Usually I'm wandering around Trader Joes, eyes wide, trying to quickly come up with dinner for the next few nights. Typically, I end up with half the ingredients for 6 different meals. Not this week, my friends. Half a pot of coffee in the morning is great motivation!


My husband is home ALL TODAY AND ALL TONIGHT. We're taking the kids to play in the pumpkins and stuffing them full of cider donuts. Hopefully I remember to take a couple pictures. Enjoy the weekend!


Perfect Pot Roast - The Pioneer Woman. I've given up the packet of chemicals pot roast. :O

Greek Turkey Meatballs - Skinny Taste. Never Made these before!

Chicken and Broccoli - A Teaspoon of Happiness. A staple in our family.

Hearty Meatball Stew - Giada and The Food Network. Love anything from Giada.

Baked Pasta with Sausage & Spinach - Skinny Taste. Another one of our favorites.

Fooseball Food: Ham and Cheese Sliders

Well these little sammies could be made for any occasion, really. They were a big hit at my daughter's Christening. But, it's football time and the internet tells me that people like to eat while they watch football. This recipe is all over Pinterest so I'm sure you've seen it before. IT'S DANG GOOD, Y'ALL.

They're perfect for feeding a crowd because you make 12 at once and they can be done ahead of time. The original recipe is posted on the Kings Hawaiian website. My version is listed below!

Ingredients
1 pkg Kings Hawaiian Sweet rolls
1 lb shaved ham
1/2 lb sliced cheese (I use fontina)
1 small onion, minced
1 stick of butter
1.5 Tbsp dijon mustard
1.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Poppy seeds to garnish

Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a pan and add the onions.
- Stir until onions become translucent.
- Add mustard, worcestershire sauce and stir. Remove from heat.
- Cut the sweet rolls in half, but keep the layers intact.
- Place the bottom layer in a 9 x 13 pan.
- Add the butter mixture to the bottom half of the rolls, about a teaspoon on each roll.
- Add a layer of ham and then a layer of cheese.
- Place top half of the rolls onto the sandwiches.
- Brush the tops of the rolls with the butter mixture. Ensure that some of the onions make it up there.
- Sprinkle the rolls with poppy seeds.
- Bake the sandwiches for approx 15 minutes so the cheese is melted and the rolls are brown.
- Eat, drink and repeat.

I've been known to make these for lunch on the weekend. We seriously eat all twelve them.

I'm a little (a lot) OCD so I actually break all of the rolls apart and fold the ham and cheese so that they fit nicely on each sandwich. Yikes, I know. But listen, happy wife, happy life right? Riiiiight.

Make these for your fooseball get together this weekend or for whatever else you've got going on. Hope you love them!!

Cross it Off the List!

One of my goals for 2013 was to run a 5K. And I finally accomplished that, yesterday!

I don't have a lot of time to myself so I run when I can and workout when I feel like it. Last year, when I was the size of a house, I promised myself that I would run one. I figured September was a realistic timeline after having a baby in December! I ran with two friends and we did it in about 30 mins. There were 1,000+ other people in our wave so we kind of ran...at a walking pace. But we did it! And it was so much fun.

Pre run selfie.

Um, I can't remember what we were sad about. Lol.

After. YAY!

We're doing it again next year, for sure!

10 Minute Pickles

So, I've become a little obsessed with making things myself. Tomato sauce, pancake mix, taco seasoning, Ranch dressing mix and now..... pickles.

We've got cucumbers coming out of our ears, thanks to my Father In Law's incredibly green thumb (my son has been eating them for breakfast). I came across this recipe the other day and figured I'd give it a try. Besides, what the hell was I going to do with 19 cucumbers anyway?

OMG, Y'ALL. They're good. And cheap. And easy. And quick.

Ingredients
4 pickling cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber
1 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp sugar
1/4 (heaping) tsp black peppercorns
1/4 (heaping) tsp mustard seed
1 tbsp chopped garlic (approx 4 cloves)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 bunch of fresh dill

Directions
Slice your cucumbers, leaving the skin on. (I used my mandolin).
Put all of the ingredients into the jar.
Fill the jar with warm water, until covering the cucumbers.
Twist the lid on and shake the jar until salt and sugar are dissolved.
Refrigerate over night. Or for an hour. Or whatever...the title says 10 minutes!

Shannon has more details over on her blog, if you need them. To be honest, I used grainy Trader Joes mustard instead of mustard seeds (I dont have mustard seeds!). I also used dried dill rather than fresh. Whoops. I didn't feel like chopping garlic cloves so I subbed 2 tsp of crushed garlic which is why the jar looks so cloudy. They still turned out to be delicious!

I tasted them after an hour. I couldn't help it. And now, I want to eat them all. I don't want to share them with anyone!

Um, hello?

It has been a minute since I've been here.

Life is funny sometimes. You've got nothing going on and then all of a sudden, you're going in 30 different directions. I just got a promotion. Work is hectic and is about to get a whole lot crazier. That, on top of everything else the summer brings, just confirms the fact that I'm getting old. Seriously, I'm usually drooling on myself by 9:30PM. The times I've opened the laptop and logged into Blogger have not been successful (obvi). I get distracted so easily. Or, I just want to go to bed. 9 times out of 10, the bed wins. The other time, it's the wine that wins.

I have a bunch of pictures to blog, a new design to upload, recipes to post and complaints to lodge. Stick with me, friends! There's got the be a down slope soon!