My Life

Here are some beautiful sunflowers we saw on our walk. I bet Alysa knows right where they are. You can tell how early we go on our walks by the picture. Well . . . sometimes. ;)

Yes, there were random mattresses leaning against trees. This is one of them.

Another beautiful rose:

 Our lunch yesterday:
(Andrew takes such good pictures doesn't he!)

Breakfast this morning: yogurt, hot chocolate, oranges, apples, bananas, raspberries, and grapes

Dinner today: Creamy Chicken (ramen, chicken, and cream of chicken soup), steamed broccoli, and grapes.

Yesterday, I made french onion soup in the crockpot, but it wasn't good enough to recommend. Does anyone have recipes for either French Onion Soup or Lasagna? (I tried lasagna recently and . . .  it didn't turn out terrible, but next time I should probably follow a recipe.) I have grandma Pat's recipe for French Onion soup and I'll try that next time. I just want to figure out how to turn it into a crockpot recipe.

Love ya all,

Kenzie

Creme Brûlée

I learned how to make creme brûlée! It was simple, took few ingredients, and was the best thing I've ever felt on my sore throat. I have to make some more!

4 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
1 bar Ghiradelli White Chocolate Bar (chopped into small pieces)
1/3 Cup plus 4 tsp. Sugar
2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp, vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Whisk egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar together until smooth. Bring whipping cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add white chocolate to simmering whipping cream, turn off heat, and then whisk until melted. Slowly add the chocolate mixture to egg mixture, whisking continuously until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Pour into four ramekins. Place cups in 9"x13" baking pan or broiler pan. Add enough water so the ramekins sit in 1-1 1/2" water. Bake until set, about 45 minutes. Sprinkle each cup with 1 tsp of sugar and broil until caramelized. Let sit till mostly cool and then eat!

If you can find cheaper White Chocolate go ahead and try it. I didn't have ramekins so I just made them in muffin pans sitting in a larger pan. It was so simple! And turned out great!

Miserable?

Yesterday: "So today has been pretty miserable. And since it really makes me feel better to talk about how miserable I am, I'm doing a whole post on miserability. My family and friends know that I'm not joking. Retelling your stories is good for the soul I've decided. The reason? Everything sounds funnier when you tell it to someone else.

So yesterday, I was talking to Andrew when all of a sudden I started getting a sore throat. Now it was weird because it wasn't like a normal sore throat. No, it felt more sandpapery than anything else. I assumed it was due to a violent coughing fit I had had the day before . . . boy was I wrong. The sore throat rapidly got worse and by the end of the night I was in full blown allergy mode. Alright, not quite full-blown. Full-blown is what happened last year when my eyes blew up and I couldn't do anything but lay still and moan with a cold rag on my face for weeks. Anywho, basically my airways were so closed up I couldn't breathe anymore and had to get up and eat some soothing foods. So at 3 am in the morning, my cupboards got organized as I desperately searched for Mint Tea. I have none. But it's ok because my cupboards look magnificent! I did however find some jello left over from my recent throw-up days and made that this morning.

As if I wasn't suffering enough, I realized that I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. Now, even though it was just to fix a few small chips, I didn't really feel like laying on my back with my mouth open when I couldn't breathe. So I tried to change the appointment. . . . except that they had nothing open for months so that option was out. So I trudged off to the appointment. Now I had just resigned myself to enduring the dentist when the nurse turns to me and asks, "Do you normally use gas?" I just stared at her open mouthed in confusion. Gas? To fix a chip? She repeated herself three times before just asking me if I had never used gas before. I finally found my brain and said, "So I'm a little confused. I was told we just needed to fix a few chips." And she says, "Well actually you have two pretty large fillings that need to be done." Excuse me? (It turns out they were old fillings that completely fell out and that's the "chips" that he had to fix.) We opted not to use the gas. Next thing I know I've got three very large needles numbing my mouth up and tubes in my mouth so I can keep breathing during my operation.

The rest of the day I was pretty miserable. I couldn't breathe, had to blow my nose every few seconds, couldn't eat anything, and my mouth hurt terribly."

Today didn't start out much better. Again, I got no sleep because every time I fell asleep my throat constricted and I couldn't breathe. I had to keep water running down my throat or it closed completely and I started choking. My teeth are so sensitive breathing through my mouth sets off terrible pains in one of my upper teeth. Anyway, I was convinced that I was totally miserable.

Today I went to talk at Education Week that had nothing to do with being happy (well ok it was about learning to have fun again and that's similar). But I left feeling like I could be happy even though I hurt. I'm not sure  what thoughts should be running through my head to make myself feel happy being sick, but I'll make it work. I still don't want to do anything but sit on my bed and try to breathe but at least I can fight happy.

Breakfast

I just wanted to share my picture of breakfast . . . I actually buckled down and made a good breakfast the other day and felt I had to share my accomplishment. Eggs, bacon, toast, peaches, hot coco, and milk. Oh yeah . . . I cooked in the morning. ;)

I also made homemade blueberry muffins yesterday (with fresh blueberries) but I'll save that for another post. Time to wake Andrew up . . . Mwahahaha.

Update On the Cantaloupe

So, I had to share this! The cantaloupe is growing like crazy! It honestly never would have fit in that box in the first place. Two of the boys haven't moved their bikes since Andrew moved in and this is the result! We're guiding him up the railing now.

The funny thing is the vine growing up the bikes sure looks like it's trying to make cantaloupes. . . I didn't encourage this plant at all. I didn't help it pollinate or anything. But honestly there a whole lot of these ALL over the plant. I don't know about you, but it sure looks like it's trying to grow a cantaloupe while growing straight up . . . silly plant.

And just a photo of how it's taken over my garden. It's trying to grow up the bike in the corner there but that guy uses his bike every day so that particular vine keeps getting trampled. 10 points if you can find the strawberries underneath the cantaloupe. Speaking of which, someone's eating our strawberries. A huge disappointment since I've been watching one particularly huge strawberry grow for weeks and then I go out to pick it and somebody already ate it and the other three ripe ones. I don't know what to do to keep them out of my garden!

Funny Things We See On Our Walks

Just wanted to share some funny pictures Andrew and I have taken on our walks recently. First, this Wednesday was Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day and lo and behold somebody had left this on someone else's door. It's huge!

A random backpack stuck in a tree . . .

Rappelling gear in a small tree  . . . there was an identical tree across from it rigged up the same way. I can't help but wonder what people are using it for. . .

Oh and this is funny. Andrew and I wanted to show our future house. ;)

23 and 1/2 Hours

So I found this great whiteboard animated TED talk while looking for videos for my plant class I TA. What a great way of putting the concept. Andrew and I are motivated! We've started taking a walk every morning and now we're going to make a point of trying to get in at least a half hour everyday! Worth watching!

The Marvels of Ramen

So today's lunch was ramen with white sauce and fresh tomatoes. It's not really a recipe, but I just boiled the noodles for 3 minutes (left out the seasoning packet), warmed up the sauce and put it on top, chopped up some tomato, and sprinkled some pepper. It was actually really good and really fast. I'd post this with our dinner but tonight we're just having left overs so this is much more interesting. ;)

A Sunday Picnic

For our Sunday break the fast, Andrew and I walked up onto the nature trail and had dinner there. It was super fun and relaxing to eat by waterfalls and flowers. 

We had antipasta salad (using ramen noodles), ham sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, and lemonade.  I would put up the recipes for those, but honestly my guess is you all know them already. If you don't know the recipe for antipasta salad (first you obviously haven't lived with me) then let me know and I'll post it in the comments. 

See if you can find who I was photographing. We saw at least 5 but maybe more. They were playing around our picnic table pretty much the whole time.

Afterward we walked down by the duck pond and watched little kids feed the ducks and looked at the turtles. What a great day.

Another Week's Worth of Meals

Since it's taken me till now to get blogger back under control, I have to post the whole week's worth of meals in one post. I guess some of you will like that right? Fewer emails from Kenzie . . . anyway, here we go:

Monday: Au Gratin Potatoes and Turnips


Ok, so this one was forged from a desperation created from old turnips and potatoes. I searched for recipes to use them up and came up with this: http://www.marthastewart.com/313868/potato-and-turnip-gratin. I give this one a thumbs down, although Andrew still enjoyed it. Course the truth is, I hardly followed the recipe so to be fair to Martha Stewart, I'm sure her recipe was just fine. Instead of Heavy Cream I used Condensed Chicken Soup, didn't use any herbs, and totally skipped the infusing herbs step. On top of all of it, I didn't cook it long enough resulting in crunchy vegetables. (It made sense at the time. I mean my oven normally burns everything if cooked at the normal time so I figured cut the time in half . . .  not this time!) I guess I forgot to take a picture, but the truth is you didn't miss much. It looked cool when I put it in the oven but after . . . yup, maybe I didn't take a picture to avoid shame.

Tuesday: Hamburgers and Root Beer


To make up for the previous failed meal, Andrew got to pick Tuesday's dinner. Although he says he has enjoyed my meals so far I was thoroughly unsurprised when he asked if we could have Hamburgers. If you have not been out to dinner with Andrew you may not realize that Hamburgers are pretty much his favorite food. Since we don't have a grill I figured this would be pretty tricky, but the truth is - it was the easiest meal I made this week. We bought hamburger, I put some seasoning on it, cut up some onion and tomato, and grilled the hamburger on the wonderful pan given to me by the Nyhus family. It has grill ridges running down the middle so the hamburger came out looking like I had BBQ'd it. Complete with Andrew's favorite brand of Root Beer (Vergil's), this meal would have turned out fabulously if Andrew's work hadn't run 30 min over and caused the meat to get a little tough. He says it still turned out great though and I won't be surprised if he asks to have hamburgers again in the near future.

Wednesday: Crockpot Lemon Chicken with Veggies


This was a wonderful meal! I loved it and highly recommend it. So easy (as with almost all crockpot recipes) and it tasted great! This came from a taste of home recipe book from the Pettets (I think . . . I'm sorry if I mix up gifts).

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh baby carrots
3 cups cubed red potatoes
1 package frozen pearl onions (thawed)
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
6 bone-in-chicken breast halves with skin removed
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Notes:
I could not find frozen pearl onion anywhere so I just chopped up some fresh onion left over from hamburgers and it worked just fine. I also really dislike having to pick my chicken off the bone so I just used some deboned chicken breasts Grandma left me (thanks gram! They've been a big help in cooking.) Also, in my poor college kitchen I have basically no spices (besides rosemary which is growing in my garden - not even cinnamon) so I just skipped the parsley and thyme. I bet they would have even added to the wonderful dish.

Steps:

Combine the vegetables in your slow cooker and place the chicken on top. Combine the soup, water, lemon juice, and seasonings in a small bowl and then pour over the chicken. Then cook for 8-9 hours on low and enjoy. This recipe says it makes 6 servings but Andrew and I ate our fill and there's really only one helping left over so . . . judge well. It makes good left overs anyway so it's okay if you make too much.

A total thumbs up, I can't wait to reuse this one again. I aparently forgot a picture again. Oops . . . but I found the recipe on this website and it has a picture: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Lemon-Chicken-Breasts-with-Veggies

Thursday: Egg Drop Soup and Pepperoni Pizza Bread


Yes, it's as weird of a meal as it sounds and I should never do it again. The combination of smells really didn't agree with me and I felt sick after cooking. I give both of these a thumbs down but Andrew still liked them.

Egg drop soup:

2 cups water
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup green bell pepper
1 package chicken ramen noodles

Bring water to boiling and add seasoning packet, eggs, and vegetables. Stir constantly till eggs look done and simmer for 5 minutes. Add noodles and cook 3-5 minutes more, or until noodles are tender.

First of all, I don't like green bell pepper, so I just didn't add it. Second of all, this actually tasted exactly like the egg drop soup you get in pretty much every asian restaurant, but I just didn't like it. It was a little bland so I would have added more than just the one seasoning packet and it came out really thick and I had to add another cup of water. (Which in hindsight is probably the reason it was bland.) Maybe it was meant to be that thick but honestly there was no broth left it was more of a stew.

Pepperoni Pizza Bread:

I took some french bread, cut it in half, covered it in Preggo red sauce, put some pepperoni and cheese on it, and stuck it in the oven. Honestly it would have worked fine if I hadn't put it with Egg Drop Soup and burned it. I think my oven has a personal vendetta against Pizza. Every time I try to make it in there, it burns. It was only in the oven for like 10 minutes so I must have had the oven on too high. Sigh, I'll never know how to work that oven. Good for college students but don't make for a family. Don't do it.

Friday: Salmon Fest


This was fun! For $15 dollars a plate (and after a huge line) the Payson firefighters dish up heaping plates of corn, potato, colsalaw, cookies, water, and fresh Alaska Salmon. And when I say heaping, I do mean heaping. I've heard from my family that the fish is wonderful! It falls right off the skin and is well seasoned. They give you lemon juice and tartar sauce for it too. I did try 3 whole bites of my portion before handing it off to family. I try a little more each year but I can't seem to get past the fishy taste (which everyone else denies is there) and the grain of the fish muscle. Ask Andrew, the texture really means a lot to me. It was a wonderful break for Andrew and I (we didn't even have to wait in line thanks to awesome family . . . and being late) and the belly dancing was good. (A bit of an inside joke there. When I went with Andrew's family last year, there was a family of belly dancers performing. Which is cool except for the poor poor boy about Caiden's age who was up there belly dancing with the girls and boy did he have the belly to dance with. The other boys got swords, but obviously he hadn't graduated to being cool like that.)

Saturday: Slow Cooker French Dip


Ahh, we just ate this and it was really good. Andrew LOVED it but I have a few critiques.

Found on this website: http://bakingbites.com/2008/02/slow-cooker-french-dip-sandwich/


approx 3 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast
16-oz. beef broth (1 1/2 cans)
1 10.5-oz. can condensed French onion soup
6-oz red wine
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
4-6 French rolls
sliced provolone cheese, optional

Trim excess fat off of beef roast and season meat all over with salt and pepper.

Pour beef broth, condensed French onion soup, red wine and garlic powder into slow cooker and place beef roast into liquid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Take beef out and rest it, covered with aluminum foil, for about 15 minutes. Slice beef and return to slow cooker on low or very low for 30 minutes. Lightly toast the bread and evenly distribute cheese between rolls, if using. Divide beef onto rolls and spoon the beef juicer small bowls and eat everything while it is hot. Serve each sandwich with its own dip. Serves 4-6.

Well, one obvious change is I left out the red wine. I checked before hand to see if I needed to substitute something for it and in the end I opted for dumping the rest of the can of beef broth in. I mean, what am I going to do with half a can of left over beef broth anyway? Don't skimp on the cheese! It goes really well with the whole meal. Overall, super good. The hardest part of the whole meal was slicing the meat. I don't know if it's the cut of meat the lady recommended (I know nothing about that) but the grain of the meat made it really hard to cut into slices and in the end I just ended up cutting it into chunks. Still, the meat really melted in our mouths and the whole sandwich was good enough for Andrew to brag to his work team about it. (*success*) Something still tasted a bit off . . . too salty? Missing a spice? I'm not even sure what I'm comparing it to. Do we have a family recipe I'm used to? Never mind the recommendations - the whole thing was really good and you should definitely try it!

An afterthought:

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I've gotten a bit creative with paint strips and decorating.

It's my little Tulip Garden! The paint strips came in those leaf shapes so it was pretty simple to put this up. I just used some blue tape to put it up that way it wouldn't damage the paint. 10 points to whoever can figure out what I was trying to make with the blue along the baseboard!

Cooking Websites

So I recently realized that although my cooking board on Pinterest is virtually its own online untried cookbook, I have barely scratched the surface of the potential. So I went through and found all of the websites that I have been linking from. The result: a huge list of online cookbooks that I can use for future reference. Now, some of them I'm positive you've heard of. Things like AllRecipes.com and The Food Network. Others, I'm equally positive you've never heard of. I just wanted to share all of my newfound sites and maybe offer you some other sites to go to when you want to try something new.

1. FoodGawker
2. Pink Pistachio
3. Baking Bites
4. Fo' Reals Mom
5. The Kitchn
6. Take a Megabite
7. Brown Eyed Baker
8. Delish
9. Martha Stewart
10. Adventures in Cooking
11. Taste of Home
12. The Little Kitchen
13. Punchfork
14. Half Baked
15. Betty Crocker
16. Sing For Your Supper
17. Family Fresh Cooking
18. Closet Cooking
19. 365 Days of Slow Cooking
20. Baking Obsession
21. Zen Can Cook
22. Weelicious
23. The Yummy Life
24. Skinny Chef
25. Just Cook Already
26. The Pampered Chef
27. My Kitchen Addiction
28. My Mama's Best Recipes
29. MyRecipes

I hope you enjoy these websites as much as I do. I love trying new stuff! Speaking of which, if you have favorite recipes send them my way! I'd love to try them out!

Blogger . . . Dumb

So why haven't I posted in a while? It's a valid question. Especially since all of you started posting comments. (Which is amazing by the way. Really validates a person. Thank you.) Is there nothing to talk about? Of course not. I tell you about what I eat for heaven's sakes. Did I get busy? Oh . . . maybe but not enough to stop blogging. Still sick? Nah, besides I love to blog when I sick. The miserable love company right? Then why have I stopped blogging! The answer, my friends, is that blogger is dumb - sometimes. Sometimes, once in a blue moon, it decides that the normal text that you have taken forever to write is a bit . . . dull the way you wrote it. It thus decides to change up the fonts and the spacing in order to add variation. As kind as this gesture is, it makes the text completely unreadable. Have no fear! Since I took web design and am married to a tech, obviously I can fix this problem right? WRONG. After fiddling for hours (ok maybe a half hour) with the HTML code and seeing more errors than one would have thought possible, I deleted my posts and gave up. So far, this road of action has worked and I have not had to deal with Bloggers dumbness. It also means that there have been no posts. I am now attempting to take this on again, because I love being able to stay in contact with you all! P.S. If any of you have blogs let me know so I can follow them too! I love you all! Thank you for reading.

Disney Words to Live By

So, I'm still a sucker for cartoons. The good old fashioned kind that tried to teach you things. I've heard some people tear Disney movies apart, but to be honest I've learned a whole lot from them and I keep learning more. That's the interesting thing about growing older. Things that you thought you understood all the way, suddenly gain more meaning and application to your life. Here are my favorites that form a code I want to live by. Post your favorites I missed in the comments.

But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew. ~ Pocahontas

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. ~ Emperor (Mulan)

Do not be fooled by its common place appearance. Like so many things, it’s not what’s outside, but what’s inside that counts. ~ Storyteller (Aladdin)

Always let your conscience be your guide. ~ Jimmy Cricket

I’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you. ~ John Smith

The only way to fix a friendship is to try. ~ Whinny the Pooh

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. ~ Whinnie the Pooh

If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

You're at peace because you know it's alright to be afraid. ~ Mulan

Keep your dream alive. Dreaming is still how the strong survive. ~ Jennifer (oliver)

Say please and thank you even if you're feeling grumpy. ~ Snow White

When you find out you can live without it, go along not thinking about it. ~ Baloo

You'll be surprised what you can live through. ~ Iago

The only thing predicatable about life is unpredicatability. ~ Remy 

Just because you wish for something doesn't  make it true. ~ Tiana

Remember you're the one who can fill the world with sunshine. ~ Snow White

Keep your chin up. Someday there will be happiness again. ~ Robin Hood

If you don't think, then you shouldn't talk. ~ March Hare

The colder the winter, the warmer the spring. ~ Bambi II

Listen to me. The human world is a mess. ~ Sebastian

The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up. ~ Dumbo

"In every job that must be done there is an element of fun" - Mary Poppins

"You know if he told you 200 times to be glad and rejoice, he must have meant it." - - Pollyanna

"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." - - Pollyanna

Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day. ~ Winnie the Pooh

The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it. -The Lion King

The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake. -The Little Mermaid

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Or forgetful. -Peter Pan

"HAKUNA MATATA"...it means no worries . -The Lion King

"They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity." ~ Mr. Incredible from 'The Incredibles'.

Ladies don’t start fights, but they can finish them! – Marie in The Aristocats

You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.

I'm only brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble.

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.

you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.

Take it from an old spectator. Life's not a spectator sport. If watchin' is all you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch your life go by without ya. -The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten. -Lilo and Stitc

Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. –Bambi

That's the story of you and me- The way we've always been and will always be: friends until the end. ~ Piglet

Bad things happen and there's nothing you can do about it. ~ Timon

You're never too old to be young. ~ Snow White

Today's special moments are tomorrow's memories. ~ Geni

You want something done, you've got to do it yourself. ~ Sebastian

If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all. ~ Thumper

I never get my hopes up, so I never get let down. ~ Eyeore

To be my own master, such a thing would be greater than all the magic and all the treasures in the whole world. ~ Geni

I must be good for something, but then I could be wrong. I guess all I can do is carry on. ~eeyore

To laugh at yourself is to love yourself. ~ Mickey Mouse

It’s marriage! It’s not the end of the world! ~ Queen Elinore

What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be? What if it is? That’s the best part I guess. You get to find a new dream. ~ Tangled

A fake reputation is all a man has. ~ Flynn Rider

The ONLY way to get what you want in this world is through hard work. ~ Tiana

You know the thing about good food? It brings folks together from all walks of life. It warms them right up and it puts little smiles on their faces. ~ Tiana’s father

Yes, you wish and you dream with all your little heart. But you remember, Tiana, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help him with some hard work of your own. And then... Yeah, you can do anything you set you mind to. ~ Tiana’s father