A salad recipe for Ashley and how my week has been

I made this salad to take to a Thanksgiving dinner a couple years ago in Colorado. It was really good. I haven't made it since because I'm really not a salad kind of person. I'd rather eat raw carrots, peas, broccoli etc than eat a salad. The dressing is really good that goes with this recipe. It's sweet but tangy.


Orange Avocado Salad
(Taste of Home)
Dressing:
½ c orange juice
¼ c vegetable oil
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. grated orange peel
¼ tsp salt

Salad:
1 medium head iceberg lettuce, torn
2 c torn red leaf lettuce
2 medium ripe avocados peeled and sliced
¼ c orange juice
1 cucumber, sliced
½ medium red onion thinly sliced into rings
1 (11oz) can mandarin oranges, drained

In a jar with tight fitting lid, combine dressing ingredients; shake well. Chill
Just before serving, toss greens in a large salad bowl. Dip the avocado slices into orange juice; arrange over greens (discard remaining juice). Add cucumber, onion and oranges. Serve with dressing. Yield: 6-8 servings.


This week was kind of a mixed emotion week for me. Jacob didn't have work for the first half of the week and our stupid internet modem went out AGAIN. The first modem we had when we originally gout our internet plan was broken a couple weeks ago by a psychotic stray cat. We were sent another modem and had it a week before it crapped out. This third modem seems to be working great. We've only had it for a few days though. I was not happy the begining of this week.

My dog is in heat right now which means I get to mop my kitchen floor a few times per day. When Annie turned 6 months and was old enough to get spayed we didn't have any money because that was during the slow time of Jacob's work. So now when she's done doing her thing we will hopefully get her spayed.

The last part of this week has been great though. Jacob had work again and the sun decided to shine! Today was gorgeous! Emma and I went down to pick up my pay check this morning. Emma is quite the charmer. She had all the ladies in the office in love with her. She is such a sweetheart! I also picked up some of my sub reviews and my boss told me I was doing an awesome job. That's always good to hear! So far the teachers have had good comments and so have the principals so that's encouraging.

My brother Tyler comes home in 21 days! I am so excited to see him. He is one of my dearest friends and I love him so much! He's so goofy and I have missed spending time with him. We have our own language and just have a lot of fun together.

We've decided to name the baby Linnea. As much as I love the name Elsa, we already have an E name and I really don't want to start that trend in our family with 2 Js and 2 Es. The next step is picking a middle name. So far we haven't been able to come up with one that we like. Any suggestions!? I like Linnea Rose but Jacob doesn't want her name to have 2 flowers in it. Here is a picture of a Linnea flower for those of you who are curious.It's a small pink mountain wild flower and I think it's so pretty! Such a sweet little flower which fits perfectly for my sweet little girl.

Tomorrow we are going to get our family picture taken. I've been meaning to do this since Emma was born but it just never happened. I figured time was running out before we become a fmaily of 4 and we'd better capture the family of 3 while we still can. I want pictures to show how our family has grown. I love looking back at family pictures of my family and seeing just me and then me and Tyler and a long while later me Tyler and Kaleb. It's fun to see. Hopefully I don't grow a massive zit over night! Wish me luck!

I forgot to post something else in the post below.

Did you watch the Amazing Race on Sunday? One of the town's in Switzerland they went to was Interlaken. They did the cheese transport thing there. ANYWAY, my brother just got transferred out of there a couple months ago. He served there for 8 months I think. I was so excited!

The Weekly Buzz

I had every intention of posting on Tuesday this week like I normally do, but alas, this last week wasn't a normal week. My mother in law came over not this last Sunday but the one before to watch Emma for me while I substitute taught. It was pretty nice. I've learned that I do not have the personality to teach young kids. I am the kind of person that when I ask you to do something I want it done. Cut the crap and do it! I also don't like to be snuggled by anyone other than my husband or daughter. I hate tattling, and having to repeat myself 20 times. I taught in a first grade classroom all last week and encountered all of the above. I thought I was going to lose my mind! All along I thought that I would love to have my own kindergarten, first or second grade classroom someday. Holy crap was I wrong! First graders are so sweet bless their hearts but it was too much for me. Between the constant hugs (which were done with a squeeze big enough that I was afraid my baby would pop out) and me constantly having to repeat myself I was going crazy. Then it got bad. The tattling started. I finally told them that if I had to hear one more tattle, they would all not have a recess. Why didn't I think of that sooner!? I told them that the last day I taught and I had a tattle free day!

What's the moral of the story? Teachers who teach K-2 and 6-9 are going straight to heaven! There HAS to be a special spot reserved for teachers of those grades. A place where there is a masseuse, chocolate lake, alcohol (for those who need it), and sunshine all the time. Can I just say that I'm so thankful that I get to sub for a few years before I get my own classroom? I LOVE to teach! I would even go back to this particular classroom if asked to but no other little grades for this sub!

Anyway, enough of that. How about a recipe? Okay! You got it! This recipe is TO DIE FOR! I love this recipe. It's worth the extra calories! Although if you want to cut a lot of calories out use Better N' Eggs (egg substitute) instead of regular eggs and use fat free milk. For those skeptics of egg substitute, it's 99% real eggs and 1% vegetable gum paste. They use egg whites and then add the gum paste so they cook like real eggs. You CAN'T taste the difference then you bake with them.

Apple Stuffed French Toast

(Taste of Home)

1 c packed brown sugar

½ c butter, cubed

2 Tbs. light corn syrup

1 c chopped pecans

12 slices ½ inch thick bread

2 large tart apples, thinly sliced

6 eggs

1 ½ c milk

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Carmel sauce:

½ c packed brown sugar

¼ c butter, cubed

1 Tbs. light corn syrup

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 pan; top with half the pecans, a single layer of bread and remaining pecans. Arrange apples and remaining bread over the top.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and nutmeg. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered at 350˚ F for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a small saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Serve with French toast. Yield: 6 servings

Enjoy!

Our Week/Recipe

This week my mother in law has been here watching Emma while I sub for the week. It's been nice for me to be able to teach. I probably won't be teaching for a while now though. Jacob is finally working again! Two weeks strong!

This weeks recipe is Chicken Tetrazzini. It's so yummy! I don't put the mushrooms in because I think they are nasty (am I a snob?). It is a white colored casserole and would go great with a Caesar Salad. Please excuse the delay in my recipe post. I've been crazy busy this week!

Chicken Tetrazzini

(Taste of Home)

3 pounds chicken breasts

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

2 small onions

paprika

¼ tsp pepper

½ c dry sherry (optional)

salt

1 c half-and-half

1 (16oz)pkg. Spaghetti

1 (3oz) jar grated parmesan cheese

½ c butter

½ pound mushrooms, sliced

1 T lemon juice

½ c all purpose flour

In 8 quart saucepot, place chicken, onion, pepper and 1 Tbs. salt. Cover with water. Over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to a bowl. Strain chicken broth reserving 3 ½ c (4 cups if not using sherry). Cut cooled chicken into large chunks and set aside. Prepare spaghetti according to label and spread evenly into a greased 9x13 pan. Chop remaining onion and cook in 2 Tbs. hot butter with mushrooms and lemon juice for 5 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl. In same saucepan, melt remaining butter. When hot, stir in flour, 1 Tbs. salt, nutmeg, and ½ tsp paprika until mixture is smooth. Gradually stir in sherry and reserved chicken broth and cook, stirring until liquid is thickened. Add half-and-half, chicken chunks and mushroom mixture over low heat, cook, stirring just until mixture is heated through. Spoon chicken mixture over spaghetti in baking dish. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and add a little paprika. Bake in 350˚ F oven for 30 minutes or until spaghetti and chicken mixture are thoroughly heated and surface is golden and bubbly.

I love this recipe and I hope you will too!

Lucky You

Lucky you!

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.It may be a story. It may be poetry, shoes, bags, or a little invention of my own! I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE recipes?

I have serious food on the brain lately. Something about being pregnant just throws my appetite into full swing all day every day. By the way, I went to the doctor the other day and I gained 3 pounds this last month. Maybe my diet is starting to catch up with me! ANYway... I saw a couple recipes that I thought I'd share with you.

Strawberry Spread

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (10oz) jar strawberry jam or preserves
1 tsp. dried grated orange peel
1 cup finely chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, jam and orange peel. Stir in pecans. Cover and chill until firm. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. Serve with toast or muffins. Yield: about 3 cups spread.

Orange Cream

4 cups orange juice
3 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 pint vanilla ice cream
Miniature marshmallows to serve

In a large saucepan, comvine orange juice, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce to low heat. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Stir in ice cream. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until heated through. Do not allow mixture to boil. Serve with miniature marshmallows. Yield: 4-6 servings

These recipes just sounded really yummy to me today.

Am I turning crafty?

So I've never been the crafty sort of person. I grew up with some pretty crafty girls as best friends and never got bitten by the bug. I started going to enrichment activities as a married woman and started to like doing fun crafty things as long as it was in a group and I had a finished product to copy. Well, lately I've been wanting to have my own artistic flair. I was looking through blogs, you now just clicking on a blog and then clicking on one of their links etc etc and came across this crafty blog. I am so excited to do some of the projects this lady has! My first project is going to be a canvas wall hanging like the one I saw on her blog. I have always liked canvas wall hangings but have never wanted to shell out the money to buy them. Since I'm having another little girl I thought it would be fun to do some of these for her's and Emma's room.

My vision is to either do favorite scenes from Emma's favorite books, or do an alphabet thing. What I mean by alphabet thing is have 4 different canvases, each with one letter of Emma's and Linnea's names with a picture of something that starts with that letter. For example, "E" would have an elephant cut out on it with a cute background. Does this make any sense? Anyway, I'm super excited about this whole canvas project and can't wait to have some extra cash to do it. Tell me what you think!

Oh and I forgot I've been tagged. 2 posts in 1 day. You lucky readers you!

You go to your 4th picture folder on your computer and post the 4th picture in that file.

We are having another girl and I have an awesome recipe!

The second ultrasound was a little more successful than the first. I was able to see in between the legs and could tell there wasn't anything there. Who knows though. Something could grow between here and when I finally have her. Now we are at a cross roads. The name we picked out for a girl is Linnea. I think it's a really pretty name but I also like the name Elsa. My sister in law Rachel liked that name too but her husband shot it down. Free game right? So, my question to you is Linnea or Elsa? I get to pick the first name and then Jacob gets to pick the middle name.

The other night I tried a new recipe. It's a stir fry recipe and we LOVED it! We invited our neighbor over to eat since it made a lot of food. The recipe is called Cashew Beef Stir-fry. Here it is:

2 Tbs cornstarch
2 cups cold water
4 Tbs. soy sauce, divided
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
3 medium carrots, julienned
2 Tbs. canola oil, divided
1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium green peppers, cut into strips
2 medium sweet red peppers, cut into strips
2 medium onions, laved and sliced
1 yellow summer squash, sliced
1 1/2 cups salted cashews
Hot cooked rice

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, water and 2 Tbs soy sauce until smooth; set aside. In a very large skillet or a wok, stir-fry broccoli and carrots in 1 Tbs. oil until vegetables begin to soften. Add the beef, garlic, pepper and remaining soy sauce; stir-fry until meat is no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, stir-fry the green and red peppers, onions and squash in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Return beef to the pan. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cashews. Serve with rice. Yield: 7 servings. Prep/total time: 30 minutes.


My suggestion for this recipe would be to double the cornstarch mixture. There wasn't enough sauce. I would thicken the sauce a little more with some more corn starch as well. I didn't have summer squash of course so I just omitted it. I think more broccoli would taste good too. I totally forgot to take a picture of this dish before we ate it. We had this for dinner 2 nights and Jacob was able to take enough for his lunch the next day.



In other news... Emma has her big girl bed!! Jacob went and picked it up after work yesterday and Emma and I went shopping for bedding. We found some at Shop-Ko (one of my favorite stores). The bedding was all 50% off! Gotta love that! Emma found Dora sheets right away that I had overlooked. While looking for a comforter set I found one on clearance for over half off. It goes perfectly with the Dora sheets and is reversable! I got the sheets, comforter set and mattress cover for $74. Not too shabby!

Emma was really excited about her bed until it was bed time. She was scared to sleep in it. I could see why she was scared. She went from a little crib to a full sized bed (we skipped the twin). That's pretty intimidating. She was afraid that she would fall off and Jacob and I assured her that she wouldn't fall off. Then she couldn't decide which pillow she wanted to sleep on. She cried off and on for about 45 minutes until she finally crashed. This morning she was EXTACTIC about her bed (thus the last picture). Notice the Dora pjs. She HAD to wear them last night.

Going from a baby crib to a big girl bed was an emotional ordeal for me. I didn't think it would be a big deal but as I was tucking Emma into her new bed I found myself crying! I felt so ridiculous! But my little baby is growing up now. She looks so tiny in her new bed and yet so grown up. Next year she will be in Primary and that just doesn't seem possible to me. The time sure has flown by fast! I love my little 2 year old.