Baby Bennett

Awhile back, I posted about a family in need of prayer here. I found her in the "blog world" so I don't know her or her family, but I've been reading her blog since Bennet was born and I check a few times a week to see how he's doing. He's come SO far when things were not looking positive, but he still has a long way to go.

Now, 5 months after I posted about the family, they are still needing prayers for their baby boy. He was born at just 26 weeks gestation and has lived all of his life but just a few days in the hospital. He went home last week and after a few days and a trip to the ER he's back in the hospital. He should be going home tomorrow but he and his family could really use our prayers. He's still a little guy, 7 months old now with the maturity of a 4 month old with his prematurity and he's just around 8 pounds. His family celebrates ever ounce he gains and also has 3 other children at home they split all their time between. Please send some of your prayers their way...

Here's the family's blog: http://our-journey-to-parenthood.blogspot.com/

Lava Cake and Snickerdoodles...

Thank you all for making my birthday another great one! It was a wonderful day filled with loving messages, cards and phone calls from friends and loved ones... and some gifts too :)

My wonderful hubby made this amazing lava cake at my request. I got to choose what I wanted for dessert. Some of you may know I am very indecisive so this was a hard decision since I LOVE desserts.

But I knew when I saw the box this was my choice! Organic Lava Cake....

It was seriously easy to make (well... I didn't make it, but the instructions were super easy!)

It made 4 perfect serving sizes for us

It was so good. Pretty much like a freshly cooked brownie with warm gooey chocolate in the middle. As we ate, we kept saying "MmmHmm" to each other nodding in agreement that this was a great choice :)

Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles

I whipped these up tonight to take to work tomorrow for a fun Friday treat for my co-workers. I really haven't ever been a huge snickerdoodle fan... if there are other cookies available usually those are my picks. These changed my view!! They are SO good and were very easy to make and I'm a fan now :) Crunchy sweetness on the outside but soft and dense on the inside...

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened (I melted mine and it worked!)
1 egg
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon (OR if you're like me and ran out of sugar.. haha.. you can use the cinnamon/sugar pre-mixed spice container- it worked so well!)

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add egg and egg white, beat well. Stir together flours, soda, and salt and beat into creamed mixture.

In a small bowl (or a small flat plate), combine 2 tbsp sugar and 2 cinnamon (or sprinkle the pre-mixed combo :)). Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets - I cover the bottom of the baking sheet with parchment paper first - makes cleaning up SOOOO much easier!

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Cookies will puff up and flatten as they bake. Cook on wire racks.

The latest buzz around here is everything about the super bowl! It's coming to town soon and everyone is talking about it and all the changes being made around the area to accommodate all of the fans - it's craziness but it's fun to be near the action! :)

Let The Birthday Festivities Begin!

My birthday celebration kicked off this weekend! I'm not typically a self-centered kind of person, but with my birthday falling mid-week this coming Wednesday, I decided to use both weekends around my birthday to celebrate :) why not?! We started yesterday with a shopping extravaganza! Seriously, it was. It took up most of our day, and we shopped until we dropped (I'm sure Nick is now past his shopping quota for the month haha :) but was a good sport in lieu of my b-day!).

I traded in this old purse/wallet combo I've used for YEARS (and were falling apart):

For this new springy colorful pair:

I bought the purse and wallet at Belk - a southern department store with Kohl's type prices. They had awesome sales and I was SO excited when I found the PERFECT wallet to compliment the purse.

The best part of the story is... A few months back at a fashion show luncheon for work, I got a $10 gift card for Belk (everyone did - it was great!) and my co-worker didn't want hers (!) so she gave it to me. So this weekend, I was so excited to use my $20 worth of gift cards and check out a Belk store about 30 mins from our place. So we get into our parking spot, I freeze and look at Nick and say "I definitely forgot the gift cards..." I paused for a minute and I start laughing. "Belly laughing" as we call it - I just had to laugh at myself because I always forget things and he is SO good at not forgetting things so I knew what we were both thinking. Our trip all the way there and I didn't bring the gift cards - the main reason we even went there. After I laughed for about a minute and forgave myself of my forgetfulness, we proceeded to shop 'til we dropped, checking out many stores in the outdoor shopping center to be sure I got the best bang for my buck!

I needed a smaller purse, as my big one was worsening my neck pain/posture issues. There are tons of cute big purses, but I had to stick to my goal of downsizing!

My new one is significantly smaller and my body is thanking me for carrying it around rather than my old one.

I also downsized wallets (the heaviest thing in my purse!) I realized if I have room in my purse or wallet, I fill it. So this new one, I can only put so many things and am not able to over-fill, which will be helpful for my upper back/neck muscles

World Market also had earrings buy one get one FREE! So I bought two cute sets for a total of $5. I was so excited :)

For those of you who know Nick and I, you know we're careful with where we spend money so these few extra things this weekend were out of the norm and a fun way to celebrate! Plus, my mom & dad are actually paying for my purse/wallet & a few extras since she knew I really needed a new one :) Thanks mom and dad!!

We also bought this electric heat pad this weekend. I have a microwaveable rice-filled-tube one I use often for my neck, but really wanted a bigger one like this. I've been going to physical therapy for a few weeks for my always-tight neck muscles that cause headaches, my finicky knee, and my strained wrist. I'm told I have bad posture and am working to strengthen muscles to help with it and have needed ice and heat after some therapy sessions and really needed a bigger pad. This should do the trick :)

Now I want to share a really yummy recipe!!

Hannah's Stuffed Shells

For one of my bridal showers, all of the guests brought recipes for Nick and I and our friend Hannah gave us this one and we LOVE it :)

Ingredients:
8 - 12oz shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp pepper
20-25 large pasta shells
1 cup ricotta (I use skim)
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp salt
32 oz pasta sauce (I've usually used 25 oz and that works too!)

Directions:
Cook pasta shells. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix remaining ingredients except pasta sauce, using 3/4 of mozzarella. Stuff shells with the cheese mixture. Pour some pasta sauce at the bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Arrange shells in dish and pour rest of pasta sauce over the top of the shells and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered for 25 - 30 minutes.

This recipe is SO good and easy! You should try it and tell me what you think :)

Chili & Whole Wheat Beer Bread

It was a wintry mess outside today (so weird to say from Dallas)! Good day to stay in, make comfort food and watch the snow fall from the warmth of our home.

This yummy candle helped create the atmosphere I was going for...

Back to that comfort food...

Chili
For this chili, I combined two recipes; one that came in our crock pot recipe booklet and this five star chili recipe on allrecipes.com. I added what I had and you certainly don't need to add everything I did; give and take based on what you have and what you like. We lived on the edge and tried adding some new ingredients - it was a success!


Ingredients:
1/4 lb pinto beans: I used a 25 oz (I think...) can
1 can chili beans
2 14 1/2 oz can tomatoes
2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/3 can beer
1 can tomato soup
1 1 oz envelope instant hot chocolate mix
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 tbs chili powder
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt

Soften beans by cooking in boiling water on stove (I did mine about 15 mins). Drain water. Put all ingredients in crock pot and stir. Cover and cook on low for 10 - 12 hours or on high 5 - 6 hours.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread
Apparently I was on a cooking-with-beer kick... and I don't even drink beer! But it sure is good for cooking :) I made it while the chili was cooking. The recipe I used is found here.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 (12 oz.) can or bottle beer (flavor of bread will change depending on type of beer) We used Shiner
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Pour in beer, stir until stiff batter is formed. Scrape dough into loaf pan. Add 1/8 to
1/4 cup melted butter over the batter before baking (I added this after reading the helpful reviews of this recipe on allrecipes.com!).

Bake in preheated oven for 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mine was done right at 50 minutes.

The crust is my fav part - crunchy, salty and sweet! Seriously good.

This was a very tasty and wholesome combo - I'll be stuffed all night!

Potato Chowder

We made this potato chowder last weekend and seriously loved it. You've GOT to try this one. The recipe is in the recipe booklet that came with our crock pot - all the recipes I've tried in it so far are great. With both of us working all day (and being tired at the end of the day), I love finding good crock pot recipes so we've got a great hot meal when we get home! I just prepare everything the night before so I pour it in the crock pot and set the time in the morning before work - love it!

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
2 tbs flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups water
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup carrots, chopped
*(add in the end) 2 cups milk (I used 2% for this)
*(add in the end) 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (we used shredded and it was fine)

Directions:
Add the first eight ingredients to crock pot and stir. Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours (I did 8) or cook on high for 3 - 4 hours. *When cooking time is finished, add the milk and Parmesan cheese and cook for 30 minutes on high.

We loved this recipe and are making it again this week :) The recipe made enough for one person to have leftovers (because we had 2 helpings the first night!), so we want it again and will make a bigger batch this time. It's a hearty bone sticking type of soup, perfect for a chilly day!

Speaking of a chilly day... this is how our rooftops currently look in Dallas!

Yes, that is a bit of snow, it's still coming down and we're expected to get 1 - 3 inches. This could be interesting with ice coming overnight... but it's nice to watch the snow falling out there :)

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
1/2 lb chicken breast cooked and sliced (we used 1 lb! Had leftovers that way)
Your fav BBQ sauce (I used Annie's Natural's.. so good)
Handful or so of mozzarella cheese
1 pre-made pizza dough (or homemade if you dare...)
1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:
Smear pizza crust with BBQ sauce, some cheese, top with veggies, chicken, the rest of your cheese and top with oregano. You don't have to put some of the cheese on the bottom and some on top, but I like it that way :)

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until cheese is melted

This recipe is from Sara B's blog (check out her slightly different version here) YUM. Enjoy!

Cookies & Christmas

We traveled all over the place to see friends and family over Christmas and New Years (about 55 hours of driving.. whew! Luckily I wasn't the driver ;)) We had a wonderful few weeks celebrating the holidays.

Here's a gift I gave to some people this year - I was really excited about it! Pre-measured ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. There are just a few extra liquid ingredients to add and you have EASY home made cookies. I thought about making a few jars for myself for days I want homemade cookies and don't want to mix them up :) Here's the "recipe" I used to make the cookie jars - they're super easy!

Got to see friends we don't get to see very often! Love these girls and wish we lived closer! :)

Got to visit my Grammy who we don't get to see very often. It was great catching up with her.

And got to see Midwest winter weather at it's finest!

White trees

White piles

White sunsets... oh my!!


My parents and Grammy. Notice my dad sporting his new Christmas sweater from his favorite kids :)

We spent some Quality time with Nick's family too

His Grandpa reading about Jesus' birth in Luke chapter 2. We also celebrated his grandma's 80th birthday that day! Those two are such a great and inspiring couple.

Pretty sky among our many car trips

We took a quick trip to STL to see Amber and Zach and I didn't even get a picture of or with them, but I did snap this one on the road! We spent New Years Eve with them and checked out their new pad! It was so great seeing them :) and surprising them with our visit!

A bridge between MO and IL - I've been loving the aesthetics of bridges lately... :)

Happy New Year! Let's make this year great one day at a time.