Dull Moments

Robert does not like breakfast for dinner. So when he works late doing some contract work, I meet up with a good friend of mine at I-Hop. And we have pancakes. And eggs. And bacon. And girl time. There is something about a friend that you can laugh with and bare your soul to all at the same time. A friend that when you randomly sing a line from an obscure musical, she can complete the verse. Another person that watches the Oscars - the entire show . A friend you text a prayer request to in the middle of the work morning, and she prays for you all day long. When you say what is making you lose your mind, she finds a way to hand your sanity back on a platter. A pancake-filled platter. Aren't you glad we aren't doing this alone? Friends are such a gift. Especially friends that like breakfast for dinner. Oh, and I know that Robert was working really, really hard last night while I chowed down on blueberry oat pancakes. However, our waitress messed up our original order, s...

Everyday I walk through the hospital, and I see a huge banner with IU Health's logo. The strength it takes. Everyday I laugh at this, because I think of how helpless we are. Helpless against theft. Pride. Disasters. Test results. Accidents. Job losses. Conflicts. Crushed dreams. Bad Republican candidates. Dogs who hate their crates (ok, that's just me). Today, I had a revelation. A friend said to me, "God put you right where you are to love, support and encourage these people in your life. It's awesome." I don't always think it's s awesome, but I realized that she right. I realized, I need to change my perspective on this strength issue. I don't have the strength it takes. But I'm finding it, one day at a time, one friend at a time, one, Lord now what? at a time. It's amazing to me that not only is God so much bigger than me, but that He chooses to manifest a tiny, tiny portion of that power in using me. I just have to be willing to serve and ...

Have I mentioned Robert and I are both dieting, and I that I have had to bake like a madwoman lately? It's an unfair world, people. I made these layered cookie bars when we had friends over for dinner. The leftovers were brought to the monthly cousins' dinner. They were obviously a hit... I made a new chicken dish for that dinner, too. It was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe. The flavor was good, but the chicken did dry out quite a bit. Our guests were running late so I left it in the oven longer than I should have, but maybe if I didn't do that and basted it some it would have been better. I liked it overall, though. (the photo below is not mine, it is from Martha) Pan-Roasted Lemon Chicken with Green Beans and Red Potatoes Juice of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning 4 cloves garlic (I used a mandolin slicer) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons of olive oil 1 small can of vegetable broth 3/4 pound trimmed green beans 8 s...

Happy Valentine's Day! I love Valentine's Day. What's not to love about, well, love?! {And pink} I have a dark confession this Valentine's Day. I decided to make Robert a blubbery crumble pie for the day, as blueberries are one of his favorite things. And well... I have never, ever, not-even-once, made a pie entirely from scratch by myself. I know what you are thinking. You have eaten my food. You have seen my kitchen a mess after some homemade treat was formed. You have had my own recipes, seen the experiments, loved what I have cooked... but it was never a homemade pie, I can tell you that. So, for this Valentine's, I set out to make Robert a completely from-scratch pie, all by myself. A true labor of love. This resulted in a phone call to my sister about ten minutes later. However, I did do it. She didn't come over and rescue me. She coached me with a couple of tips and told me that I could do it. This, my friends, is my pie, my blueberry crumble pie. It wa...

The cooking never ended last week. Here is what I made for our Open House / Superbowl Party. Homemade Meatballs I had never made a meatball, so I went for simple. They sat in the crockpot with BBQ sauce and spicy ketchup. http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-meatballs/2959910f-1b27-438a-9085-d40b1950db20 Homemade Twix Bars For real, how would I have done anything without pinterest? http://thatskinnychickcanbake.blogspot.com/2010/10/better-than-twix-bars.html Soft Cut-out Sugar-Cookies I know my drop sugar cookies are a favorite and known as the "crack cookies" for their addictive quality, but I really, really wanted to do pretty cutouts. This recipe is amazing (also from pinterest). I was very excited to use my new circle biscuit cutters from Pampered Chef to make these. http://peppermintplum.blogspot.com/2011/03/thick-soft-sugar-cookies.html Besides pinterest.com, my other big help was Costco. Everything else came from Costco! It made the party was easier and way less ex...

I am glad that I only cook for 2 people most days. This turns out to be a lot of work! We had family/friends over on Wednesday for dinner. We had 6 adults and 4 children (all under the age of 4). It was crazy and crazy-fun. It was also really, really good to catch up and connect to friends who live far away. I made a lasagna soup I found on pinterest.com, from the blog here: http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2011/03/24/lasagna-soup/ I did use a chicken and pork sausage for a healthier, lighter feel to the soup. I made a 1.5 recipe for us, and we only had one serving left! It was served with a French bread (thank you, Costco), a spinach salad (from our guests), lemon bars (from my sister), and Special K Bars. Everyone said they liked it, and the kids ate it, too. For our small group dinner on Thursday night, I made lemon bars, too. I didn't know ahead of time my sister was bringing some on Wednesday. We have a peanut allergy in the group, so these were a safe dessert to bring. This ...