(Okay, you caught me, I was listening to HSM when writing this post, hence the title…)
Last night, T.J. and I headed up to his parents to visit with his family. After some delicious turkey burgers (which I plan on buying asap because I was so surprised on how delicious and filling they were), we played a round of croquet. I didn’t play my best round, in fact, I was horrible, but we had so much fun. Probably the best moment was when T.J. learned how to hit the ball from behind, said,
“This is awesome!”
And then, hit his ankle. I felt bad for the poor guy, but it was hilair.
(Note: When I use “Featured Images” on my blog posts, they don’t show up on Google Reader for some reason, so you have to click through to see the picture.)
As many of you know, I used to always have a Diet Coke can in my hand. I don’t know when it started, probably my sophomore year of college when Dana, my roommate, introduced me to diet sodas. I was hooked. I loved the taste, the carbonation, and the little extra energy. It got out of hand several times when I actually bought 12 packs to have at my apartment for Hannah and I to share, but it made our study sessions more fun, so I wasn’t that concerned.
Then I got prego and I read it’s not good to drink much caffeine when you’re expecting. I was getting worried about how I was going to cut it out, but surprisingly, I stopped drinking it and then after a few weeks I took a sip and it tasted it horrible to me! Maybes it’s my bizarre pregnancy hormones, but I no longer want Diet Coke or any carbonation for that matter.
But on to my new obsession, crystal light lemonade! Only five calories per serving and it’s super refreshing on hot days. I paired it with some blueberries today for a nice snack at work (be proud, mom) and the combination was delightful.
About a month ago, I was craving homemade caramels. (I believe I told part of this story, but not all of it, so continue to read.) It was a Sunday, I looked up a recipe and realized I didn’t have any of the ingredients. That was quite possibly the saddest moment for my strange pregnant body, and so I went to option B. Make any homemade candy to satisfy my craving. Divinity was the only recipe I had the ingredients for.
Divinity isn’t something people eat on a regular basis, or ever. I’ve tried it a few times, and I like it enough to eat one or two and considering the recipe made about 5 dozen, I thought that’d cover it.
So I melted my sugar in the corn syrup, let it simmer on the stove for a while, whipped my egg whites into high peaks, mixed the two mixtures and then dropped/poured the final product onto wax paper. I kept pouring and pouring because there was so much.
But it wasn’t looking like the normal divinity candy I had had in the past. It was completely flat. It tasted good, I mean it tasted like sugar, so I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong. I figured I didn’t get the sugar mixture hot enough or something, so I just decided I would have flat divinity and that it wouldn’t affect the texture after it hardened over night.
After pouring out each little candy, I read in the very bottom of the recipe in small text that said something like, “If mixture is flat, mix for another 30 seconds.”
Fantastic. Oh, and by the way, the texture never hardened up. It was like goo even 12 hours later. We tried a little bit and then tossed the rest in the trash.
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2011-06-25 21:59:272011-06-25 21:59:27Last Saturday Night
(It’s kind of embarrassing that I’m an advertising major and the most creative title I could come up with is the one posted above.)
I think I mentioned that T.J.’s brother gave him (us) a fire-pit for T’s birthday, along with chocolate, marshmallows, and grahams. So, last night we had our first fire in the fire-pit with his siblings and another couple. I really need to start taking pictures of everything because, let’s face it, that’s really the only good thing in blog posts. So, since I didn’t take pictures of our little activity last night, I’m posting an iphone pic of some s’mores I made in my broiler the other day. One graham cracker: on one half, chocolate and marshmallow, the other half peanut butter and marshmallow.
Yes, peanut butter and marshmallow.
Try it, folks. Turn on your oven to the broiler or just as hot as you can get it, stick one of those creations on the rack and watch it for a minute or too until the mallow is the perfect brownness. Delightful.
I had an idea a few weeks back about having a bunch of girls over, everyone brings one of their favorite and easy dishes with the recipe. I told the Relief Society Pres. about it because I thought it would be a fun way to get to know all the new women in the ward. So wham bam, tonight we’re having the activity at my house!
I can’t wait, I love hosting parties, I wish I could do it professionally. The only thing is that my house is a reck and I’ll only have an hour to clean it up. But nothing makes you move faster than procrastination, right?
So, what will I be making for tonight? I wanted to make beef enchiladas or stuffed peppers because both are fairly easy (and delicious), but I didn’t want to have to buy lots of stuff. Instead, I’ve decided to make the classic “Easy Cheeseburger Pie” recipe by Betty Crocker. It’s kind of lame, but it is a good recipe to share because there are only a couple of ingredients and it’s a quick meal to make and eat. I posted about this dish last July, back when I cooked all the time. I recommend substituting the ground beef for ground turkey, limiting the cheese a bit, and using reduced sodium bisquick. That way, your mom won’t be as worried about your health!
1
lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1
large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1/2
teaspoon salt
1
cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1/2
cup Original Bisquick® mix
1
cup milk
2
eggs
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.
In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.
In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.
Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Since I became pregnant, I have been neglecting some my wifely duties, namely cooking and cleaning. Remember when we first got married and I would post about all the delicious meals I was making? Pork chops, enchiladas, peanut sauce chicken. And now the extent of my cooking is grilling a grilled cheese sandwich, and if I’m lucky, heating up some soup. But it’s not my fault! I’m blaming it on the baby. How am I expected to cook food if just the site of some items make me sick? I don’t even have to see some foods, just the smell or the literal thought of eating it makes me nauseous. Oh, gosh, that makes me think of one such item. Now I have to try to clear my thoughts.
And cleaning. In the first trimester you’re not supposed to be around chemicals and such, so I haven’t really wanted to clean my shower and inhale those 409 toxins. (Is toxins the correct word? It sounds right…)
But as I am leaving the first trimester and I’m not feeling nauseous everyday now, I’m trying to get back into those routines and be a better homemaker. I decided that everyday I will conquer one cleaning project. So, then I don’t feel like I have to clean the whole house on Saturdays like I used to. And now, I really want to try to cook dinners a few times a week.
Here is where YOU come in. I need easy and, most importantly, healthy recipes or ideas that I can make for T.J. and I this summer. We have a George Foreman grill, so tell me what to grill and instruct me which sides I create. I do NOT want to blow up like a balloon in this pregnancy (well, not more than I already will), so I need all the help I can get. Please leave me a comment on this post or send me a message here.
Nothing’s better than homemade bread and honey butter on a cold wet night.
Try this recipe, you don’t have to knead it because it’s batter bread.
4 1/2
to 4 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2
tablespoons sugar
1
teaspoon salt
1/4
teaspoon baking soda
2
packages regular active or fast-acting dry yeast
2
cups very warm milk (120°F to 130°F)
1/2
cup very warm water (120°F to 130°F)
1/2
cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/2
cup wheat germ
1/2
cup quick-cooking oats
Cornmeal
P.S. You can substitute an extra two cups of all-purpose flour for the wheat flour, wheat germ, and quick cooking oats.
In large bowl, mix 3 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, the sugar, salt, baking soda and yeast. Add milk and water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Stir in whole wheat flour, wheat germ, oats and enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a stiff batter.
Grease 2 (8×4-inch) loaf pans with shortening or cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide batter evenly between pans. With floured hands, pat tops of loaves to round. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover; let rise in warm place about 30 minutes or until batter is about 1 inch below tops of pans. (Brush loaves with a little milk for a soft crust.)
Heat oven to 400°F. Bake about 25 minutes or until loaves are light brown. Remove from pans to cooling rack; cool.
Honey Butter
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
Mix the butter until it is soft and whipped. Add remaining ingredients.
