Changing It Up

So I'm changing it up a bit around here. A new header, a bit more up to date on who I currently am and where I'm headed. Not sure how this blog will change over the next year, lots of changes happening in my life, so if I keep it up it may be a bit of a rollar coaster on how roll with life's changes and all the awesome adventures that lay ahead.

For today, I'll just leave you all with a few of the recipes I've made lately and enjoyed. Happy summer everyone!

Carmelized Peach Caprese

So this seemed like the odest combination, but it is AMAZING! The flavors are so great together!

I just used kosher salt and left off the pepper. Such a perfect summer "salad"!

Mini Pies - Cherry & Strawberry-Raspberry

 

why yes, that is the state of Wisconsin on top of 2 pies :)

Sorry, I don't have a recipe for these guys. I used the recipe out of the Better Home and Gardens cookbook. My fiance had requested cherry pie for his birthday so I printed out a ton of recipes and ended up just using the simple one from my cookbook. Perfect with ice cream!

Awesome Sauce for your Burger/Wrap/Whatever!

 So I did make this sauce to go on a burger, which was wonderful, but found that if I add it to my wraps (with some lettuce/spinach, tomatoes, ham and mozerella) then it's so so good!

What I've Been Up To (The Sunny February Edition)

What I've been reading.

Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel
by Katherine Reay

image from here

May Crowning, Mass, and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic

by Liz Kelly

 image from here

What I've been baking

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

image and recipe from here

This was my Valentine's Day dessert. The icing is amazing! A word to the wise, if you're going to make chocolate covered strawberries eat them right away. I tried to freeze them, big mistake, although I heard you can refrigerate them.

French Macarons

I used Nutella as the filling

Mango Chutney

Image from here 

Great with crackers. My recipe was out of a Jamaican cookbook, but looks very similar to this one.

What I'm listening to (Music).

 I am loving John Mayer's album Paradise Valley.

What I'm listening to (books).

  Now that I have a longer commute to work I've been flying through audio books. Some were great some, well not as great. I'm just going to include the ones I liked.

The Professor and the Madman

by Simon Winchester

image from here

This story was so interesting. It's about the true story of one of the main contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary.

 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Edward Irving Wortis

 image from here.

I loved this story. It's a great adventure story, something I wanted to keep listening to until the end.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 Image from here.

This book was wonderful! It is definitely one of my favorite books, and the audio book was so well done.

Dad is Fat

by Jim Gaffigan

image from here.

I listened to this on my long drive to Nebraska. It was great. I don't have kids and I still loved it.

 

What I've been doing to enjoy these past few snowy months

Well I got engaged a few months back :)

So it's been a lot of trying to decide what our wedding will look like. Lots to plan.

Also, I moved the end of January, so I've been settling in and still doing a bit of rearranging.

That's been my life recently, oh and watching the Olympics, which I didn't have nearly enough free time to watch. Hope you are all well and enjoying life!

Any suggestions for books to read or listen to? I'd love to hear what you're loving!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 17) Awesome Recipe Edition

I have been loving all the fabulous end of summer/beginning of fall produce and (finally!) the awesome fall weather! Here are a few of the recipes I've made lately and loved (7 Quick Takes Style ;)

 

 ~~ 1 ~~ 

Peach Cobbler Bars

 So I canned peaches with a friend and this recipe was the perfect use for some of them.

These are great for a little handheld snack for football parties or other fall get togethers. Simple to make too.

~~ 2 ~~

Zucchini Nutella Swirl Muffins

Oh my goodness I absolutely loved this recipe!! The flavor was amazing and because the only chocolate is the little bit of Nutella on top it wasn't over powering. A must try if you're looking for a good use of your zucchini.

 

~~ 3 ~~

One-Pan Pasta

 

image from marthastewart.com

I made a smaller version of this for supper the other night, added some zucchini and black olives to the finished pasta and it was pretty amazing. (I used this awesome Italian pasta that I got at Pike's Market when I was in Washington, which just made the recipe even better.)

 

~~ 4 ~~

Fruit Crumble

So I am absolutely loving Daphne Oz's cookbook "Relish", that's where you can find this recipe. I am really into coconut oil at the moment (I found a bottle at Marshalls, who knew?!). This is a simple crisp recipe that you bake in single serving ramekins. Top with vanilla ice cream and they are awesome! I made it the first time with strawberries and rhubarb and the second with peaches and strawberries. Both were great.

~~ 5 ~~

No Bake Energy Balls

 

These were a great pick-me-up snack that I didn't feel quite as guilty eating. They kept great in the fridge for a week or two. I left out the pumpkin seeds and flax seed and they were still yummy.

~~ 6 ~~

My Mom's Potato Salad

There are a ridiculous amount of varieties of potato salad. I grew up on this one and so I'm a bit biased, but I like it because it's simple, you can actually taste the potatoes and it's an easy base recipe if you want to add anything (plus it uses celery salt instead of celery, which is fabulous for those of us that aren't too fond of celery).

 

 

~~ 7 ~~

I don't have another new recipe that I've made lately (that I liked enough to share), so I suppose you get 6 instead of 7.

I'm off to Nebraska this weekend for some awesome family time. I get to see my awesome sister sister at her convent :)

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

Month Catch-Up

Here's what I have been up to for the past month, lots of fun stuff. Hope your summer is super awesome and you are making time to do the fun stuff that makes you smile.

My lovely sister (who is a sister with the School Sisters of Christ the King) had her home visit the end of June, so it was lovely seeing her and having some good old fashioned family time.

Including a picnic by the Mississippi and a triathlon (badminton, horse shoes and croquet)

 I got to spend an awesome afternoon with my adorable Godson and his family.

Threw a summer party that was a blast. Lots of great food, drinks, awesome people, fun games and all around good times. (Minus, of course, the mosquitoes!)

Celebrated Jeremiah's niece's 1st Birthday.

 

recipe & picture from here

Made these for our my dad's side's family get together.

My little brother moved to Wisconsin earlier this month. That makes three of us :) I'll take it!

I've been loving concerts on the square (there was this insanely good harmonica player the last time I went), if there is any free music concerts offered in the summer in your part of the country I highly recommend you attend. 

Alright, that's it for me for now. I'm off to enjoy some more summer fun :)

Thankful Thursday

It's been a long time since I've done one of these so I thought today would be a perfect day, after all everyday is a good day to be thankful!

At this moment I am thankful for...

 

(1) Beautiful weather. This past weekend and the beginning of this week were absolutely gorgeous! I had the chance to get out and bike on the great trails around town.

 

 

 (2) Fun new recipes. I actually had time too bake, so of course a new donut recipe was a must. The above Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts were amazing and soooo easy. They were sweet enough so I didn't even bother with the glaze.

(3) Plans. I feel like this week has been a lot of finally getting dates set for get togethers with both family and friends that will be happening this summer/early fall. I love having things to look forward as well as having a few free weekends to do whatever comes up.

 

(4) This guy. I'm thankful that God sent me someone that remembers the foods I like, loves to surprise me and will say or do just about anything to make me smile/laugh, will take me to get Tylenol and ice cream when I'm having a bad day, randomly brings me flowers, calls every night to say good night, and is a great kitchen assistant when I'm cooking. Yeah, he's pretty great.

(5) Good Friends.

 

(6) A healthy body.  This week at work has been filled with funerals. I am thankful that I can ride my bike, canoe and hike without a problem. That those closest to me aren't healthy for the most part. Life is precious and I am extremely thankful for each day that God gives me.

(7) Enough money to pay for car repairs. My car had to have a minor part replaced, which was annoying and of course cost more than I wanted to pay, but I am thankful that I didn't have to choose between paying the electric bill or buying groceries, as so many in our country do.

Alright, that's it for me. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

What I've Been Up To (The Rainy April Day Edition)

So I decided another quick round-up of my life was the easiest way to get caught up in a hurry.  A lot happens in a month. I'm ready for Spring (green grass and blooming flowers Spring, we've got the rainy part down), I'm ready to play outside and dare I say it, I'm ready for Summer. But anyways, that can all wait, here's what has been keeping me busy.

What I've been reading.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Picture from Gretchen's Site www.happiness-project.com

Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

Picture from Liz's Site www.lizcurtishiggs.com

Epic the Early Church

Picture From Here

Okay, so this is one is a combination of prep reading, watching a DVD segment and discussion with a small group, but I wanted to share because so far it is really great. If you have ever been curious about the origins of the Catholic Church, then you should look into this and see if any of the churches in your area are doing the study. Good stuff!

What I've been baking

Mini Butterfinger Pies in a Jar

Picture and Recipe From www.crumbsandchaos.net

What I've been making.

A baby blanket :) So many friends are expecting, it's always fun to think of their new little one and pick fabrics and make something they will hopefully love.

 

I've been trying to do some catch-up on scrapbook pages, so whenever I have a free afternoon/evening (which is oh-so-often ;)

What I'm listening to (Music).

I am loving Darius Rucker's song "Wagon Wheel" (wasn't a big fan in the beginning, but love it now)

I watched a bit of the ACMs (Academy of Country Music Awards) and loved Hunter Hayes' new song "I Want Crazy"

 

What I've been doing to enjoy these past few rainy months

I went down to Illinois for Easter with my parents and brothers. It was a great and very relaxing few days.

My mom is super cute and made these bunnies to go with our lunch.

 

My brother and I threw a Mad Hatter Unbirthday Party. It was tons of fun, unfrotunately I only took one picture, at the very end of the party.

Apparently Nintendo brings everyone together

I have had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with friends lately, which has been wonderful. I live close (within an hour and a half) of all of them but haven't seen many of them for months, so is life I suppose, but it was lovely catching up. I am so blessed with so many amazing friends, far and near!

So that's me. Hope all of you are fabulous and enjoying April and the promise of Spring. Oh and since it's been forever since I have posted, yay for our "new" Pope Francis! I am loving all I have been hearing about him and his love of the poor.

A Bit of Cooking

Hello Everyone! I've been cooking and baking and so I thought I'd share some of the recipes I've tried recently with all of you. Here are some of my recent favs:

Overnight Ham & Egg Breakfast Cups

These are awesome! I made them for breakfast this morning and they turned out great (just make sure to bake them on a cookie sheet, mine spilled over a bit). They probably would not be as great for the big families out there but if you're feeding just yourself or a couple others they are perfect. I had 2 for my breakfast.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Oh my goodness this was so good! If you're making it for a big group you may want to double everything, as this recipe only made enough for 2. I've always had an issue with sauces thickening (I blame it on my lack of patience) but this sauce thickened up great and the flavor was excellent. I made up an Asian Fried Rice packet to go along with it.

Ranch Roasted Potatoes (use homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix)

These have become a go-to side for me. I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl, and of course a sweets and chocolate, bread and fresh fruits/veggies, well I guess I'm a food girl :) Anyways, I love this recipe because it's quick (you can even prep it before hand, make the seasoning mix and cut up the potatoes) and it can cook while you make the rest of the meal. For the ranch mix I leave out the buttermilk and it tastes great.

Bacon, Brie and Basil Pasta

So I was given a huge wheel of brie cheese, not such a bad problem to have. I came across this recipe and love it, although your house will of course smell like bacon and onions for a week, just a warning ;)

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes (with peanut butter frosting!)

These are super sweet but really good. I love love love the frosting (I added about 1 tsp vanilla). I had a bunch of the mini peanut butter cups so instead of chopping them up and adding them to the batter I just put them in the filled cupcake holders before baking (push them down a bit). Either way would work well.

Happy baking/cooking everyone!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 14)

So it's February, not exactly sure how that happened, but I'm ok with it. There is snow all over the ground and the sun is out, so I am hoping for a beautiful weekend. Here's a quick update on me.

 

 ~~ 1 ~~

I forgot how much I missed crafting/sewing. I know that may seem odd since Christmas wasn't that long ago, but that's different, there's a deadline there (that I often miss, but it's still there). I've been on a tote bag kick lately, random I know, but they're fun and fairly quick (depending on how you do them). 

  I made this for a friend, no I am not quite that vain.

I also have piles of stuff I need to scrapbook. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.

 

~~ 2 ~~

So I had this lovely cold for about 2 weeks, bad enough to stay home from work, but thankfully I didn't have to deal with the Norovirus (which sounded awful!) and I figure it's winter, everyone is bound to get sick sometime, right? Anyways, I found an awesome comfort food that was perfect when I was home (I'd made it a few days before and had frozen the leftovers so the timing was great).

 

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

 picture from here

When I had it at first I thought it was a bit bland (not really any seasonings in the original recipe), so I add a bunch that first night. When I was sick I was glad I hadn't add the seasonings to all of it. It's good and simple. You should try it.

 

~~ 3 ~~

I've been on a red velvet kick, which is handy with Valentine's day coming up and all :) I made red velvet brownies using a cake mix and they turned out great. This recipe is good (I left out the nuts and chocolate chips and didn't frost them) if you want quick brownies and happen to have a cake mix on hand (or made your own mix). Maybe this weekend I'll make these cuties 

 

 picture from here

 

with this awesome Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting (although the original frosting sounds pretty temping as well). Sounds like a plan to me :)

~~ 4 ~~

I am currently reading The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann (thanks Katie for the recommendation :) and it's great, although I think I may need to read parts of it during the day, I get freaked out by mental and supernatural stuff. It's a Christian romance, which means it's got a great lovely story and lots of strong Christian characters and usually a happy ending (that's what I'm banking on. I hate books and movies that don't have happy endings). I was in between books for a while, which kind of drove me crazy, but in that time I picked up Zen and the Art of Needlecraft: Exploring the Links Between Needlecraft, Spirituality, and Creativity by Sandra Detrixhe (my aunt) again and read a few more chapters. I love it because it has so may stories about my parents and other relatives, some I've heard and some that are new to me. It makes me miss family, but I love that there is a print copy of our stories.

~~ 5 ~~

Speaking of family, my younger brother was in "Dancing with the Local Stars" a fundraiser for Cornerstone in Quincy. Rumor has it they put all the dances on YouTu.be but right now here's a link to a sneak peak. Danny's at the 2:38-3:00 section.

 Picture from Table Sixteen Productions

 

~~ 6 ~~

I am so ready for the weekend, not sure what all I'm going to be doing, hopefully some baking, reading and scrapbooking, some time with friends and the boyfriend. I don't really have much planned, which means it will be wonderful :)

~~ 7 ~~

  I haven't really done any winter sporty stuff this winter season. No skiing or snowshoeing, skating or even good snowball fights or snowman/angel building. I need to rectify that in the coming week. After all, what's the point of living in Wisconsin if you're not going to enjoy the snow?

 

I hope you all had a wonderful week, enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

Chocolate Donuts with Coconut Glaze

I have to share something amazing with you....chocolate donuts with coconut glaze. AMAZING. I'm all about donuts lately (the baked kind, not fried) but these are definitely my favorite so far. The recipe I adapted from Heather Christo Cooks which has awesome photos and step-by-step instructions with photos, if you're into that, definitely check her out, she's got amazing recipes. Hers was with a Blood Orange Glaze (and I was fresh out of oranges, so that recipe will have to wait for another time).

Chocolate Donuts with Coconut Glaze

Adapted from Here

Donut Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have milk add lemon juice to a little less than a cup of milk (enough to make a cup) and let set for 5 minutes)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs butter melted

Coconut Glaze:
2 Tbs butter, melted
2 Tbs corn syrup
3 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk (more or less depending on how thick you like your glaze
 2 Tbs heavy cream
2 tsp coconut extract
Shredded coconut to sprinkle on donuts

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray donut pan with cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt). Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Beat together and add to dry ingredients, mix until a batter has formed. Spoon or pipe (I put in a gallon size ziplock bag and snip off the corner) the batter into the donut pan and bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes (or until inserted toothpick comes out clean).

Let donuts cool for a few minutes and then remove from pan onto a cooling rack.

For Glaze:
While the donuts are baking, make the glaze by whisking everything together except the shredded coconut (melted butter, corn syrup, powdered sugar, milk, heavy cream and coconut extract).

When the donuts have cooled, dip them into the glaze. You may want to dip a few times, depending on how thick you made your glaze. Right after you dip the donut sprinkle with coconut.

All done :) Enjoy!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 13)

 ~~ 1 ~~

 picture from here

Happy Feast Day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton! Do you know her? She's pretty amazing. She is the first United States born saint, was a wife, mother, convert, teacher, Foundress. Yeah, she's awesome. She's also my Confirmation Saint, so I may be a little bias...

~~ 2 ~~

So I got a donut pan from my wonderful boyfriend for Christmas and of course had to try it out.  So, I made these wonderful things.

Feast your eyes on Maple Bacon Donuts! I got this awesome recipe from www.jocooks.com and the only thing I changed was I substituted sour cream for the Greek yogurt. You should make them, but make sure to make extra bacon, I of course ran out, there never seems to be enough bacon.

 

~~ 3 ~~

I finally finished the Hunger Games series. They were very well written, I was frustrated with the ending (as were many people I talked with) but over all I thought they were good, disturbing, but good. I haven't watched the movie yet, but probably will, we'll see.

~~ 4 ~~

Picture From Here

Have you read "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp? It's good, it makes me want to live a more thankful life, to dig deeper into my faith and who I want to be. It starts out very sad, so warning, it's not a warm and fuzzy book.

~~ 5 ~~

My holidays were really great overall. Christmas was spent at my parents house with my 2 brothers. There was lots of food, even more sugar, games and movies, sparkling nonalcoholic drinks, and lots of good old fashioned family time.

~~ 6 ~~

On December 29th I road tripped out to Lincoln, Nebraska for my sister sister's family visit. It was wonderful to see all the sisters (she's with the School Sisters of Christ the King) and the event was held at the church/school that she teaches at (St. Peter's) so it was nice to get the tour of the school and see her class room.

~~ 7 ~~

  My New Year's Eve was very low key. I drove back from Nebraska all day and ended up staying with my boyfriend's sister instead of driving all the way home. We had Chinese and some great sparkling wine I fell asleep early but woke up for both ball drops (east coast and midwest).

   this is not the best way to take out a cork, but it did work and no one was injured :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to moxiewife.com who's hosting for Jen this week.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 12)

 ~~ 1 ~~

German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

 

I made these last night. They are amazing, you should definitely try them (click on the title for the recipe :), especially if you like pecan pie and chocolate and the two together. I just had chopped pecans so I skipped the first step and it still turned out amazing.

~~ 2 ~~

Our little Hero Masquerade Halloween party went well, it was a small gathering but tons of food, awesome costumes and wonderful people.  The "hosts" are below (Rosie the Riveter and some heroic knight, can't remember at the moment who exactly my brother chose to be).

 

~~ 3 ~~

Happy All Souls Day and Happy late All Saints Day!

picture from HappySaints.com

~~ 4 ~~

I have been doing a lot of cleaning/organizing lately. I can actually see my desk and sewing table again, it's amazing. Anyways, I've discovered that it is extremely easy to get side tracked especially when I run across awesome stuff like the poem below....

"Our Rodgers, Who art in Lambeau, Hallowed be thine arm. Thy bowl will come, It will be won. In Dallas as it is in Lambeau. And give us this Sunday, Our weekly win. And give us many touchdown passes. But do not let others pass against us. Lead us not into frustration, But deliver us to the valley of the sun. For thine is the MVP, the best of the NFC, and the glory of the Cheeseheads, now and forever. Go get'em. Amen." from here

 

~~ 5 ~~

I'm excited we're in the midst of the "Holiday Season". I am not ready for Christmas music, but I am excited for Thanksgiving, then Christmas and the New Years. Ready? No. Excited? Yes.

~~ 6 ~~

I have very few plans for this weekend. That's always exciting. I love the unknown possibilities. Sunday is set. Mass, teaching and then spend the rest of the day with the boyfriend, but Friday night and Saturday...oh the possibilities!

 

~~ 7 ~~

 

In honor of Halloween here's an oldie but a goodie :) Enjoy!

 

 

 

 Alright, that's all from me for this lovely Friday. Enjoy the weekend! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!