Unexpected Surprises

Today has been an interesting day.  I had a coupon class scheduled for tonight.  This past month I went from just having Treasure Hunt for Coupon on Facebook to starting my own coupon blog by the same name.  

It has been a lot of fun starting the blog, but it's also been a learning experience.  About a month ago, I had several other coupon bloggers start to email me and say, "You should get paid for what you are doing on Facebook.  You're doing all the hard work already, you should get paid for it."  I thought it would require more time from me and I honestly just didn't anymore to it.  However, my mind slowly began to change.  

So at the beginning of September, I stumbled my way through starting a coupon blog.  I have enjoyed it immensely.  However, I really have no idea what I'm doing.  A few fellow coupon bloggers have helped and encouraged me along the way.  There's a lot more involved in a good coupon blog than I ever realized.  I'm just slowly figuring things out and moving along.  I'm constantly trying to find a balance between posting the great deals I find and doing all the other things that I need to do.  Some days are better than others.

Today I had to prepare for my coupon class.  I only put on a coupon class probably once every six months.  I wait until five to six people start asking when I'll be putting on the next one and then I try to plan one. I spent most of the morning running errands and then the afternoon cleaning the house.  The officer was great because even though he is sick, he left with the kids this morning at 8:30 a.m. and ran around with them so I could get some things done.  He took them to tae kwon do and brought them home.  He did this in the middle of his fever induced chills.  The kids were great because they cleaned their rooms, help me prepare for my class, and there wasn't even one fit today.  :)

I had a couple of people cancel on Wednesday and Thursday.  Two people cancelled tonight and two others just didn't show up.  That left me with one.  The bright side?  It was a good friend.  The even brighter side?  She brought an awesome artichoke dip with yummy crackers.  The brightest side?  We ended up having a great evening just chatting about coupons (of course), family, and our lives.  Oh and most of my house had a good cleaning.  Nothing like company coming over to get me to clean my house.  :)  Can I get an "Amen!"?

So even though I was a bit discouraged in the beginning, God showed me everything works out.  I ended my day with another encouraging word from one of the coupon bloggers.  God knows just what I need when I need it.  

Psalms 139:4
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 

Parmesan Baked Potato.......

I tried a new recipe from Pinterest tonight.  From reading the recipe and directions, it sounded fairly easy to make. It was Parmesan Baked Potato Halves.  The original recipe came from the FavFamilyRecipes.com.   Don't they look yummy?  You can find the recipe here.  

Parmesan Baked Potatoes

Ingredients 

6 small potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half 

1/4 cup butter 

Grated parmesan cheese 

Garlic powder (I used minced garlic) 

Other seasonings (To personal preference)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2.  Melt butter and pour into a 9x13 inch pan and spread evenly across the bottom. 

3.  Generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese and lightly sprinkle other seasonings all over the butter. 

4.  Place potato halves face down on the butter and seasonings. 

5.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. 

6.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. 

Serve on a plate with a side of sour cream for dipping.

This is what it looked like before I put it in the oven.  They smelled delicious as the Parmesan cheese, butter, and garlic melted into yummy goodness.  

I had my sour cream at the ready on a plate.  I pulled out the pan and I noticed the Parmesan cheese was pretty brown on the edges.  This didn't matter to me because I like things a little on the brown side.  The browned Parmesan cheese was not the issue.  The fact that the cheese mixture stuck to the bottom of the pan was the issue.  

Remember this is what FavFamilyRecipes.com's looked like:
 

and this was mine....

NAILED IT!

Next time I will put these with the cut side up and top the potatoes with the Parmesan mixture and see how that goes.  I am unsure how this could turn out any different if I did it again.  Have any ideas?  Leave me a comment.  :)