It's so yummy, in my tummy!

October 22nd, 2010

This is not a food challenge, but just something yummy!!

Tonight since it's Friday

and because I have a secret love affair with pasta (don't tell Brandon)

I made some fettuccine alfredo with grilled chicken!

Did you know that...?

Fettuccine alfredo was named after restaurteur Alfredo di Lello, who created it.

Know you know!!!


lol. Thanks Betty Crocker!

I grilled chicken breasts on the George Forman, which in my opinion is a MUST HAVE in all kictchens.
I added a dash of Mrs.Dash as it cooked.


Doesn't it look good enough to eat. Please, no licking the screen.

The alfredo sauce was pretty easy to make.
All you need is 1/2 whiping cream, 1/2cup butter (melted together till boiling)
reduce to simmer till it thickens slightly
remove from heat and add in 3/4 cup parmesian cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper.

DONE!

I actually doubled my alfredo recipie cause I had an already opened carton of heavy whipping cream that I didn't want to go to waste so I doubled it.

My suggestion is don't double the parmesean cheese. There was a lot of it, a little too much if you ask me.

Cook some noodles, pour on the sauce, top with chicken, and sprinkle with parsley!



Brandon loved it so much he had two helpings and made himself sick!

I like keeping my hubby happy like that! :)

~Becky

Busy day

October 17th, 2010

Today is Sunday.

First was church
Then a potluck
Then some hang out time with my parents
Then a little shopping
Then a little mayhem
Then I made lasagna and pumpkin pie
Then I made a wreath

I love the picture on Woman's Day magazine of the candy corn wreath.
So i made one.

Step one:
Gather materials

Foam wreath, black duct tape, candy corn, black ribbon (silk is best!), hot glue gun and sealant.

Step two:
Wrap the wreath in black duct tape



Step two.five:
Play with duct tape:


Step three:
Lay one row of candy corn on the wreath, then hot glue one at a time.


Step four:
Contine to glue on the candy corn switching directions the candy points on each row.


DONE!! with gluing



Step five:
Hang with a black ribbon


Bam! Done!
Tasty!
~Becky

Food Challenge #4

October 14th, 2010

This week was my turn to choose a meal!! YEAY!!

So I chose Stir Fry. Another dish I have never made.

And one that I looked at the day of and went, "ooops! Don't have that...and don't have that...and don't have that.... oh well! "

And that's my life.

In a nutshell.

or this recipe,

in a wok.

So here's the original recipie! :http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/12/monday-night-stir-fry/

and the following is the Becky version.

I used brown rice. I haven't always been the best rice maker in the world, so i was a little nervous pouring this rice in...hopefully it would turn out ok. *fingers crossed, knock on wood, wear a lucky charm*



I used pork loin for the meat...yum yum!

Cut into bite size portions and then drizzled with soy sauce.

Then it was time to cut veggies!! Like Onions!

"Ogres are like onions!"


Despite being in 4H cooking and all that, I still fail at cutting an onion. I've read about it and seen pics on it, but as soon as I get the onion in hand and the knife ready, all preparation I've made to cut this onion leaves me!

At this point you are supposed to chop all your veggies ready to add them in the wok. I opened to cans and I was ready!

Also prepped 1/4 cup chicken broth (thank yo chicken bullion) and 1/2 cup soy sauce mixed with 3 tbls sugar.

Now on to the fun stuff!!

We do have a wok!!
"Wok like a man, talk like a man!"
I sing that to Brandon when he uses the wok. :)

Fry up the pork soaked in soy sauce!! YUM!!!


Remove once it's cooked and set aside. And leave all the brown stuff!!

I added some veggie oil and sauted onions and minced garlic and ginger! yumm Yum!


and then add all the other veggies. In this case it was mini corn and water chestnuts!!
i LOVE water chestnuts!!!
Brandon doesn't.
Guess who gets his share!!


Add the meat!
Then add in the chicken broth and the soy sauce/sugar mix.
Now, you are supposed to have arrowroot mixed in with the chicken broth and when added to the stir fry, it thickens it up a little bit. The sauce that is.
But I didn't have arrowroot and so I didn't use any.
My sauce was runny, so i ended up draining half of it out.



Hooray my rice turned out great!! (I read the directions ALL the way through this time)


And viola!! There you go! Delicious dinner!!

And no, there are no left overs!!

~Becky

October 11th, 2010

I just wanted to post some pictures.

I love pictures.

I love taking pictures of people
places
things
animals
plants
words
feet.

yes, even feet.

lol.

but no feet in this post.





















































































~Becky

Fall Time!

I love fall time.



When the leaves change colors to rich reds and yellows and oranges.
And the crisp fall mornings.



And the decorations.
These are a few around our house! :)



I love these little pumpkins! They are a little bit o' color and fallness!!



I have this great birdcage I love to decorate! And I have these AWESOME butterflies that are GLITTERY!!


















And the wreath on our door! :)




















































And a little extra spooky picture!!

~Becky

Fight those leftover blues!!

October 10th, 2010

If you are like me, I tend to end up with left overs.
And I hate making new dishes when I have perfectly good food left.

Part of the problem is nobody wants to eat the leftover food for the third night in a row even if you argue that there are starving children all over the world who would happily eat the same thing for the next 10 years as long as they were getting food!!
(But I still don't listen to myself)

Well, One way to fight the leftover blues and still use what you already have is by making a new dish! The easiest, and one of my fav's is Spaghetti Bake!

This is a specialty of my mom's!

It's quick and easy and is great on a Sunday (the food guys!!! Not my mom!! Sorry Mom, I am not responsible for the dirty thoughts that people have. LOVE!!!)

Pretty much you put in your spaghetti in a glass baking dish. Add your sauce on top.
We had left over mushrooms and chicken that we added in too! (see, you can recycle everything!! Perhaps it comes from living in Oregon....)



Add some grated cheese, cover in foil and bake for 15-20 min on 350 degrees aaaaaand...



You're done!
Have some garlic bread (melt butter, mix in garlic salt and spread on bread) and call it a meal!!

~Becky

Food Challenge #3

October 6th, 2010

This weeks recipie, caare of Alexis, is Spaghetti and Artichoke Hearts and Tomatoes.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/wednesday-night-dinner-spaghetti-with-artichoke-hearts-and-tomatoes/

The thing I love about the Pioneer Woman, who is the wonderful author of this awesome recipie, she always talks about using what you have in your pantry.

Well, as I went through what I had, I realized I was missing half of the stuff called for!

But that's life.

So I did have artichokes,
but i had no tomatoes...
so I put in spinach and mushrooms.

I didnt' have chicken broth, but I did have chicken bullion, which is aparently a cooking faux pas, but WHO CARES!!! *laughs maniacly*

I didn't have olive oil, I used canola.

OH! And I used marinated artichokes!! SO THERE!!!

Anyways, it was delicious!



So there it is!

Yum Yum!
~Becky

SCTNow walk.

October 2nd, 2010


So today was the Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk.

It was at 10.

Which means we had to be there before that.

Which meant i needed to be up Earlier than that.

I didn't really want to get out of my warm, soft, pillow topped, covered in down blanket bed.

But today wasn't for me.

It was for those who couldn't get up and help themselves.

So Brandon and I got up and got coffee.


Yeay coffee!!!




And we met up with Hannah and her mom and her adorable son Dominic.





























They had a performer there, Enric Sefa, who is a Rwanda survivor from the genocide there. He was very talented.














Hannah and I decided we were NOT to old to have our faces painted!!
































































































The walk was only 3 miles, which went by really fast!

Perhaps it was because I was walking for a good cause...

Perhaps it was because I was united with others a team determined to right a wrong.

Perhaps because 3 miles isn't very long...

whatever the reason, we crossed the Hawthorne, walked to Taylor, then crossed the Morrison.


Marcus joined us as we came off the Morrison bridge, better late than never!

It was a good walk and we celebrated with a trip to Chipotle!

I love Chipotle!

Until next year...
~Becky