This Week on the Island....

It has been a good week on the island. 

Last Thursday, my son went to Career Day with my sister, Mistie.  She works for the OSBI.  She picked my son up at 7:30 a.m. along with her other nephew.  They spent the whole work day there.  My son was able to see bones, collect fingerprints, collect evidence from a crime scene, see lab reports, shoot a paint gun (which is why he is in the safety glasses in the picture below), question suspects, and participate in a trial.  He loved it.  Every part of it.  Thanks Aunt Mistie for taking him.
 

Question:  Does everyone's laundry pile look like this (before you fold it)?  Just wondering.  I like wash/dry the laundry in one or two days and then put it away all at once.  I can't stand to draw it out.  Of course, I do sometimes because I don't always get it put away immediately.  The officer is very kind about having to step over the laundry to get in and out of the dresser.  Do your kids put away their own laundry or do you do it for them?  Do you spread it out or do it all at once.  This system seems to work for us, but it can get crazy if we are busy for a few days.

I ordered some a necklace set for my daughter and me.  They came from The Mercy House.  The Mercy House helps young women in Kenya who are pregnant.  They give them a place to live and help them learn a skill while trying to minister to them.  I purchased the mother/daughter necklace set.  The mother's necklace is made from pottery.  It has a blue bird that sits in a nest.  The daughter's necklace is just the bird.  You can purchase as many daughter's necklaces as you need.  I can't wait to wear it with my daughter.  It reminds me to be grateful for what we have and to pray for the women in the Mercy House.

 

Over the past two months, I have started walking every morning.  Actually sometimes, it's in evening if I don't get a chance to in the morning.  I intentionally started it when we went to Disney World in March.  I knew we would be doing a lot of walking.  I am trying to be pro-active about some things I know I need to change.  Exercise is one of those things. 

At first,  it really was a struggle just to get out of the house in the morning.  Not that walking is hard, but I really, really am not a morning person.  I don't want to do anything when I first wake up or for that matter the first hour and a half after I get up.  So teaching myself to just get up, get dressed, and get out of there was a struggle.  

However, it has gotten much easier.  In the beginning it was just three days a week.  I would walk about a mile and a half.  Then I realized, if I skipped two days in a row, it was harder to get out there the next day.  So I tried to go at least four to five days a week.  Now I am walking every day and I am up to 2.3 miles a day.  Most days, my daughter joins me.  She walks our dog Hobbs.  This morning I started saw a rabbit.  So cute.  I just stood there staring at me with his big black eye while I took a picture. 

One of the other things I am trying to work on is cutting down on my Coke intake.  I admit this is a struggle.  Sometimes, I just like a large Vanilla Coke from Sonic.  Except it wasn't sometimes.  It was all the time.  So I have not said I will cut it out, but I will moderate.  I will allow myself a Coke when I really want it, but only when I really want it.  Not just when I want something to drink.  The Cokes actually taste better.  The less I drink them, the less I want them.  So I have only had one can of Coke in the past 10 days.  Yeah this may not be a big deal for most of you, but it doing good for me.  Especially because we have an open 12 pack of Coke sitting on the counter in my kitchen.  

There are other things I am trying to work on.  Being more intentional about my prayer life.  Getting rid of some clutter.  Not holding onto stuff.  Being a better friend, daughter, mother and wife.  Not easy stuff to change sometimes.  I'm so glad I have friend and family who never give up on me.  Even if it is a 3:50 a.m. text to encourage me to keep exercising from my sister or one who spend the day with my son.  Or a Chick Fil A lunch provided by my mom and a day spent with her.  Or a friend who I know will pray for the struggles I am having.  

Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

On a side note, I am capable of baking perfectly good cookies.  Remember the last time I was in charge of cookies?  Well I had to make some for a playdate today and since they turned out, I thought I would show you.  :)
 

My Life Just Got Easier :)

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know that I do not like to handle raw meat.  When you think about it, it's amusing the officer is such a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  My dislike of handling raw meat and my dislike of 2nd degree grease burns meant I had never cooked bacon until 4 years after I was married.  I hate getting splattered with grease.  It never seems to bother the officer.  However,  I am always sure I am going to get splattered in the eyeball, which would lead me to have to deal with my eyeball which is a whole other story/fear/issue of mine.  

Enter Pinterest.

I saw a pin the other day about cooking bacon in the oven.  Apparently, people have been doing this for years.  It is revolutionizing the way I cook bacon.  I am making crock pot potato soup and needed some bacon for a topping.   I thought this was the perfect time to try cooking the bacon in the oven.  No one was starving and waiting for breakfast.  If it didn't turn out, I would have ample time to cook the other half the regular way in a skillet.  

Here is what you do:

1.  Line you lipped cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Wrap it around the edges.  This will keep the grease from leaking and smoking up your kitchen.

2.  Put the back on the foil.  My friend, Kristi, told me to put a cookie rack on top of the cookie sheet and put the bacon on it.  Then the grease drips off onto the cookie sheet and your bacon is not sitting in the grease.  I will most likely purchase a cookie rack.

3.  Put it in the oven.  Turn oven on 375 and cook for 20 minutes.  You do not turn the oven on before you put the bacon in.

4.  Remove bacon from cookie sheet or rack immediately.  Leaving it the sheet or rack may cause it to stick.

I had a picture of my bacon but it looks burned.  Horrible picture because the bacon turned out great.  Nice and crispy.  It was so easy!  I didn't have to worry about getting splattered with grease.  Clean up was easy because I just threw away the foil.  I didn't have to go back and forth to the skillet turning it.  I checked the oven and I don't have grease splattered all inside of it. 

I would imagine with thicker cut bacon you would have to bake it longer and with thinner bacon a little less time.  I used the regular bacon from Braums.  Worked like a charm.  

Cream Cheese Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last night during the storms, I listened to Gary England's live stream and perused Pinterest.  Very exciting right?  I found a good recipe, so at least it was productive night.  :) I knew I had all of the ingredients, so my daughter and I made them this morning.

You can find the original recipe at the Sugar & Spice blog.  I read through all the comments and I tweaked a few things.   You can tweak it any way you want to.  Also, I only had three bananas so I halved the recipe.  It made 12 muffins.  Halving the recipe will also make one loaf pan.  Here is the recipe.  I'll let you know what I changed.
 

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted (I substituted mini chocolate chips)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1.  Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

2.  Gradually add sugar to butter/cream cheese mixture until light and fluffy.

3. Add 1 egg at a time, beating until just blended.   

4.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if you are using it) in another bowl.

5.  Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture at low speed until blended.

6.  Stir in bananas, vanilla, and pecans (or chocolate chips or whatever other mix-ins you want).

7.  Spoon batter into two greased and floured 8x4 in. loaf pans. 

8.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

As I said before, I read through the comments and some people tweaked a few things.  For the regular loaf pans, some added foil the last 15 minutes to prevent browning.  Others opted to use mini loaf pans.  For a regular muffin pan I baked them at 350 for 25 minutes.

 

They turned out great!  I love nuts so next time I'll try to add some pecans.  I just didn't have any on hand.

Lost: My Mind - Please Return If Found

I have lost my mind.  If you find it, please return it to me.
 
About a week and a half ago, I ordered 25 4x6 prints from Walgreens.  I chose in-store pickup because it makes the shipping free.  I am at Walgreens every week and a half or so with my couponing.  I just figured I would pick them up next time I'm there.  

On Wednesday, I went by Walgreens and stopped by the photo counter.  I said, "I have some 4x6 prints I need to pick up."  The clerk looked for the prints, but couldn't find them.  Maybe I choose a different a location.  I couldn't find the my confirmation email.  I thought maybe I choose the Walgreens by my daughter's soccer practice.  I checked there.  Nope.  

My last stop would be the Walgreens where I typically get my prescriptions filled.  I went to the photo counter and asked the clerk if I had any 4x6 prints waiting for me.  The clerk checked the bin.  I did not have any 4x6 prints, but I did have an 8x10 collage print and a Valentine's Day card I had forgotten about.  I gave it to the officer when I got home. 

Still no 4x6 prints.  I have no idea where they are.  

At 6:30 p.m. tonight, I ordered pizza for dinner.  I used my rewards points to get some free pizzas for dinner.  I went to my local Papa Johns to pick up the pizzas and guess what they said.  They said, "Are you Mary?" "Ummm.... No, Treasure.", I told them.  No one name Treasure had an order there.  I didn't have my phone with me so I couldn't check my confirmation email.  I remembered, I had taken a pizza to a friend last Sunday.  She lives about 30 minutes away.  I realized I never changed my "carry-out location" to my local Papa Johns.  Nice.  Two options:  forget about the free pizzas and come up with something different for dinner or drive 30 minutes both ways to pick up the free pizzas.  

I chose to go get the pizzas.  The officer had to run to Lowes and Walmart, so he took the kids and I ran to get the pizzas.  So at 8:30 p.m. we had semi-warm free pizzas for dinner.  Fortunately, I can eat pizza in any state except frozen.  My children didn't seem to mind scarfing down their three slices each.  

Hey if you are at your local Walgreens, check the photo counter for 4x6 prints for "Treasure".  If you find them and I get the, I'll give you a bottle of shampoo!  :)  If I can remember, that is.  

Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki

The officer sent me a recipe on Facebook for Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki.  I was surprised because he doesn't typically like the teriyaki flavor, but I love it so I was definitely willing to try it.

The officer kindly cut up the chicken last night so I could make it today for dinner.  The recipe is from Food.com.

 Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki

Ingredients

5 Chicken Breast (This is about three pounds, but I used tenderloins and we only used about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1 1/2 C. Water
1 C. of Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
1 t. Granulated Garlic
1 t. Sesame Oil (optional)
3 T. Cornstarch
4 T. Cold Water
Sesame Seeds (just to sprinkle on top)

Directions

1.   Spray the inside of your pretty crock pot with cooking spray.
 

2.  Place chicken breasts into the pot. If you are using chicken that has been frozen, be sure that it is completely thawed before you add it to the crock pot.

 

3.  In a separate bowl combine water, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil. Stir to combine and then pour it over the chicken. 

 

4.  Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7 hours. (Mine did NOT take 7 hours.  More like 4 1/2 hours.)

 

5.  When the chicken is cooked remove it from the crock pot and place in on a plate.
 

6.  In a small bowl combine corn starch and cold water. Pour it into the crock pot and stir it in thoroughly.
 

7.  Take two forks and break the chicken breasts up a bit. I don’t like to shred mine up too much, just enough that the sauce has a chance to spread through the chicken.
 

8.  Place the chicken back into the crock pot and stir it around allowing the sauce to mix with the chicken.
 

9.  Cover the crock pot and let the mixture cook and thicken for 30 minutes.
 

10.  Serve over rice. Enjoy!

This Week On The Island

I'm on a roll now.  Getting the groove back.  Remembering to blog.  

Today my daughter came in from playing outside (I encouraged her to play outside since we had upper 70s degree weather this morning, but we are expecting possible winter temperatures tonight).   After she had been outside playing for a while, she came in a said, "Brother scared me while I was outside riding Shotgun and I fell off backwards!"  I immediately asked her if she was okay.  She told me she was fine and then started to walk out of my bedroom.  I said, "Good..... wait you were doing what?"  "I was riding Shotgun.", she replied.  What is Shotgun?  She saw my confusion and said, "Shotgun is what we call the yellow swing."  I don't even ask anymore.  

My daughter played in her first soccer tournament this weekend.  It was eight versus eight.   Her first game was at 8 a.m.  about 30 minutes away.  We woke up at 6 a.m. and left around 7 a.m.  Although we had no problems getting around that early, let me just say this homeschool family is not used to getting up and leaving the house that early.  The kids and I just moved in functional silence.  I had everything laid out the night before. 

Grandma with the Sunglasses and Aunt Rachel came to watch her play.  It was fun to watch her play.  She plays defense.  Don't ask me any other questions than that because I have no idea what her position is called.  I'm learning soccer as we go along.  They tied her first game (2 to 2) and lost her second game (7 to 0).  They played on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., but we didn't play in that game.  Her team ended up in second place.

The officer took the day off on Monday.  My friend, Jill, watched the kids, so the officer and I got an unexpected day to hang out.  It was nice running errands and having a relaxed lunch.  After lunch, we went to Crest to purchase some groceries.  I brought Big Bertha in with me and the officer.  We finished shopping in about 40 minutes.  We had about 45 minutes left before we had to pick up the kids from Jill's, so we went to Panera Bread.  

 

Big Bertha + 40 minutes of grocery shopping = 

1 worn out officer.

 
I tried a new recipe tonight for dinner, Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki.  I liked it, but it wasn't a hit in the household.  I will post the recipe in another post.  The officer doesn't typically like teriyaki dishes, so I was surprised he asked me to make it.  It might have to be one of those dishes I make when he is working late.  

The best update this week is about my mom.   She had her PET scan last Thursday and went to get the results on Monday.  The cancer has disappeared from her lymph nodes and the other cancer has reduced in size and is inactive.  She will have another scan in three month.  It may take until then for her to get her full energy back, but she is doing great.  God has had his hand on her through this whole journey.  She has done nothing, but point back to God in everything she has done during this time.

Lamentations 3:22-23
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

That's about it.  Have a great week!  Oh by the way, there will be HAPPY HOUR all day long at Sonic on Tax Day (April 15).  1/2 priced Vanilla Cokes!!! :)