Pregnancy: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good

1. So far, I have to say I like being pregnant. I love how Little C can be quiet and not move for such a long time, but when I start to say "our" prayers at night, the little turkey starts moving and kicking. I guess he/she likes to pray too :)

2. Over the belly maternity pants. I've always thought they looked funny but when I bought my first pair of maternity jeans that had that kind of panel (they were on clearance, yay), I was instantly hooked. I love them!

3. Nails, nails, longer stronger nails!

The Bad

1. Having to remember to keep said longer and stronger nails trimmed! They're like 20 (toes included) little dangerous weapons!

2. I'm eating a lot of sweets, which I normally don't do. Bacon and eggs for breakfast? No thank you. Give me some pancakes or donuts or sugary cereal. I'll be honest. I consumed a box of Lucky Charms in 2 days. I think Anthony may have had one bowl. Would I normally buy Lucky Charms? Nope. Go figure. This baby definitely has Anthony's sweet tooth!

3. Trying to tie my tennis shoes. I don't think I'm even that big...yet, but I seriously have to take a deep breath in order to bend over (while sitting) to tie my shoes. Looks like I need to find some slip on sneakers. Thank goodness flip flop season is back. Not that I ever stopped wearing them in the winter anyway :)

4. Bye bye self pedicures? The answer may have to be a yes. I tried to do my toes myself last night. I'm too cheap to go get them done. That was a chore. I did it though. Stronger longer nails cut, old red paint taken off and a pretty aqua(ish) blue color put back on. It only took me a little over an hour to do. Not too bad.

The Ugly

1. Body odor. I know, it's disgusting. I'm sorry. But it's the truth. I have tried just about every brand/type of deodorant and have had to make the switch to what Anthony uses. An Old Spice men's deodorant. If that's not ladylike enough, I have to put the stuff on AT LEAST twice a day. I stink! haha! I miss smelling like a girl!

2. I feel like a side show act at a circus. "Come one, come all! Come see the bearded lady who's growing another human in her body!" UGH, I swear! I keep thinking that when people talk about a beard they're talking about Anthony not having shaved for a couple of days. Wrong! They're talking about me! :( Don't get me wrong, I try to keep those suckers in check. Pluck, pluck, pluck and pluck some more. So fun...

3. Trying to get out of the car. Yeah, it's ugly. I can only imagine that it's just going to get worse as I get bigger and further along. Can't wait...

4. Gas. Thank goodness it's not from the stinky side!! (I'll leave that to Anthony, haha!) I've always been a pretty good burper. Man, oh man am I awesome at it now! I could beat any frat boy in a burping contest. I'm proud of my ability, it's funny. I'll just let one out for no reason. Not necessarily because of something I ate or drank, just out of the blue. I chose to list this under "the ugly" because Anthony thinks it's disgusting and not lady like. Oh well, he's just jealous :)

That's all I can think of so far. I'm sure there's stuff I'm leaving out. When/if I remember them, I'll make a part two post.

Food Wasters

I'm not happy to say that we're currently wasting food. It's not by choice. About a week or so ago, our refrigerator started making this odd noise. It would click, make a buzzing noise for a few seconds and then click off. Well, yesterday morning our freezer decided it was tired and started thawing stuff out. Not good. It didn't take long for the refrigerator part to slowly get warm. Ugh. So, we found a place that would come and diagnose the problem. After looking at the darn thing for about 5 minutes, he said it was the compressor and quoted us $912 to fix. WHAT?!? Are you kidding me?? When we bought this house last summer we negotiated with the sellers to leave the fridge. It looked pretty new and it has the freezer on the bottom. It's a nice fridge. I guess we're lucky that we didn't have to buy one at first.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the guy messed up our floor. Yes it's linoleum but now it's got a pretty tear right in front. I wanted to call the guy back to tell him, but Ant said no. How were we going to prove that he did it? He was already gone (by about 3 minutes) when we noticed it. Sucks! So, we're out $79 for having the guy come tell us what's wrong and now have a messed up floor. I guess someone's going to be getting a not-so-nice review on the angieslist.com website!

So, Ant and I decided that we could go to a scratch and dent place and hopefully find a good deal on one there. Off we went! After looking at a few places, we finally found one. We also found out that to buy a compressor would cost around $300. I understand charging for labor, but to charge $600 for it? That's absurd! The guy we bought our new refrigerator from gave us a good deal. Since we offered to pay with cash, he didn't charge us any sales tax. We were hoping he'd knock off a little more, but oh well. It was a good deal and it's about 6 cubic feet bigger than the one we have now. It doesn't have the freezer on the bottom, it's got the side by side doors. That's okay. Hopefully we'll like it in the house.

It looks like after tomorrow I've got some grocery shopping to do. Too bad that a half gallon of milk and a brand new unopened gallon of chocolate soy milk got to get poured down the drain. Such a waste!

The important question to this story is this: Why does the word fridge have a "d" in it but refrigerator does not? Hmm...

Dallas Mavs vs Memphis Grizzlies

Final Score

Mavs - 103 Grizzlies - 104

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our friends Karin and Brian! They were so kind as to invite us out to a Mavs game. Not just any Mavs game, Courtside seats at a Mavs game! Holy cow! We were 3rd row back. We could spit on the players if we wanted to! I always thought Jason Terry was cute, but he's adorable in person :)

Anyway, Karin scored the tickets for us and we had a fantastic night out. It would have been nice if we had won, but we lost in the last 3 seconds of the game. Victory was in reach but the other team snatched it up at the last second...literally. Such a good game!

We really appreciate Karin and Brian's kindness! Thank you guys so much for that awesome opportunity! We'll never forget it!

Happy 2nd Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

It's our 2nd year of marriage and I have to say that it's been an interesting 2 years. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our future family!

A week ago we were finally able to see Little C at our obstetrics appointment. Today, we had an appointment with my midwife group. Since my last visit 2 months ago, I've gained 5 lbs, making it a total of about 7-8 pounds in 6 months. My blood pressure was fine, so that's good. I also had to take a blood glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I should get those results in a day or so. Fingers crossed! We got to hear Little C's heartbeat. I love that sound :)

We splurged and went to Olive Garden. Anthony wouldn't let me get a dessert though. Only because I had to drink that sugar stuff for my glucose test at the doctor a few hours earlier :( Boo on him! I did have 2½ graham crackers though, so HA! :P

Here's to many, many, many more interesting and wonderful years together.

Anthony, thank you for asking me to marry you. I love you!!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011!

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours!

It's been a great day! After two long months, Anthony and I finally got to see Little C. Why so long? Well, I lost my job at the end of last year which means I lost our insurance coverage. So, I've had to wait to get things straightened out. Now that everything is set, we were able to get back to the doctor to check things out.

Since I have to have my blood pressure monitored, I have to see an obstetrics doctor along with my midwife group. The obstetrics office is where we get to see Little C! Yay! Anthony actually got some video coverage. It's not the best. He shot video off of the huge TV screen they use for a monitor. We got a lot of good pictures. The poor little thing was pretty much folded in half. His/her feet were above it's head! It definitely gets its flexibility from me :) We also learned that the poor thing has my chin. At least it looks that way from the front. In a profile view though, it doesn't stick out like mine does...yet, so there's still hope!

In any case, we were so excited to see Little C move around! The doctor said it's about 1.5 pounds now and my due date is still somewhere between June 4th and June 12th. So far, so good!

TV Show: I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant

Seeing as I'm not working at the moment, I've had a chance to sleep in and indulge in some TV time. The past two mornings I've caught the show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant on TLC. Now, I've seen the show before but, like most people, I didn't understand how a woman couldn't know she was pregnant. I kind of do now.

Besides the ER visit for the horrible pains I was experiencing right before Christmas, I don't think I'd be able to tell that I was pregnant at this point in time. I'm about 20, maybe 21, weeks along tomorrow. I had no morning sickness, I've had no weird cravings, I've always been irregular (sometime months at a time), I've only gained about 1 pound, I haven't felt the baby "flutter" around in there, and I'm not showing. I just feel like I've had a big meal most of the time. Yes, my pants are a little more snug than normal, but I've always battled with my weight so that wouldn't have surprised me. The main symptom I had early on was that I was exhausted all the time. I would have passed that off as going to bed too late and waking up too early, which I usually tend to do. I will say that I've been eating more sweets than normal, but with the sweet tooth Anthony has, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it. So, as of right now, I could see how a woman might not know she was pregnant. I would have been able to provide a reasonable excuse for the few symptoms I did have.

We'll see how things progress in the future. Hopefully this "I just feel fat" feeling will go away soon and I'll be able to feel Little C moving around!

In the words of my wise husband "You're not faaaat" (he says in a whiny voice!) haha :)

Being Pregnant So Far

When I found out that I was pregnant, I decided that I wanted to keep a "daily" log. I found a journal that I liked and decided that I would do just that. Well...that hasn't really happened. I always have good intentions when it comes to stuff like that. I started it, but haven't kept it up. Maybe today's the day I'll do a recap of things that have happened and try to write in it daily. Yes. That's one of my New Year's Resolutions! I can do it! In the mean time, so that family and friends who want to hear about what's happening, I'll try and journal on here too.

So, let's start!

The first three months were pretty easy. I have to say that I've been blessed so far. Apparently I found out that Anthony and I were expecting just a few weeks in. Maybe 3 weeks along, if that. We had been down in Houston for a Quinceañera, and I felt like I was catching a cold or had bad allergies while we were there. I was taking any cold medicine I could and taking allergy pills. So fun! We came home on Sunday and for some strange reason, I decided to take a test Monday morning. Anthony got up with me and he started getting ready to go for a run. While he was doing that, I snuck a test that I had bought at the dollar store to the other bathroom. I didn't think anything would come of it. When that second line showed up, I sat on the edge of the tub and was shocked! I kept standing up and sitting back down. Up and down, hand over my mouth. The line was there. It was light, but it was there. I thought, no way, it's a dollar store test. So, while Anthony was in the kitchen, I ran and grabbed the other dollar store test and snuck it back into the bathroom. Took it and waited. Again, a second line showed up. I started thinking, okay that's two positive tests. Yes they're both from the dollar store, but they were both positive! Hmm... so, I got ready and went to work.

I started to lose my voice while I was at work and didn't feel much better. So when I got home that evening I went to an after care clinic to see if they could give me anything to make me feel better. There, they confirmed that I was pregnant with a urine test. Unfortunately, they didn't give me anything to help me feel better. I had to wait it out.

So I found out on a Monday and ended up sharing the big news with Anthony on Thursday. Yes. I waited. I wanted to tell him in a fun way. So, I went and bought a pink onsie and a white onsie. On the white one I wrote "Little Cisco" in blue. On the pink one I wrote "Little Conchachita" in dark pink. We have always joked that if we ever had kids we were going to name them those names. Silly, we know. I also bought a digital test and took it. That one said "pregnant" so that was 4 positive tests in a matter of days. I wrapped it all up and gave it to him. Needless to say I think he was shocked and surprised. Unfortunately the digital test was blank! Stupid expensive test! The two dollar store ones I had taken on Monday still had the second line on them. (Just goes to show, a test from the dollar store is just as good as an expensive digital one!) In any case, we were both shocked!

So since then it's been interesting. I had a run in with a rake (see previous post Kristy vs. the Rake from October 2010), which eventually caused a visit to the ER a few weeks later because I was coughing up a lot of blood. After the ER visit, an appointment with a pulmonary specialist and then an appointment with an ENT doctor who then gave me a scope, no one could find anything wrong with me. I'm convinced that I was coughing up the blood that was from the swelling and two black eyes I got from stepping on that darn rake. Knock on wood, I've been fine since that two day coughing fit.

What else? I was very lucky in the fact that I never really had any morning sickness. I got nauseous a few times but never hugged the toilet. I just slept...a lot! I would fall asleep at my desk (oops!) during the day, come home, eat dinner, fall asleep on the couch, then wake up around 10 PM or so and get ready for bed. That's all I did for the longest time! Sleep, sleep, sleep :)

I decided to go with a midwife group. I want to try this the natural way. Fingers crossed, I'll be strong enough mentally and physically to make that happen!

The Thursday before Christmas I woke up in the middle of the night to a horrendous pain in my left side and back. It was so bad it was making me nauseous and I was vomiting a lot. I decided not to go into work. I called my doctors office and they suggested that I go to the ER. It sounded like kidney stones. Fun. Well, after being in the ER for about 5 hours, they couldn't find anything wrong. Of course they could have done more extensive testing but I didn't want to put Little C in any kind of harm. So, they finally diagnosed me with round ligament pain. Huh? How come I hadn't read anything about that?? And why did the hospital decide to give me a low dose of vicodin on my way out?? Thanks for that! Anyway, longer story short, by Christmas Day evening I had done a complete 180. I was actually eating food and playing (somewhat) with my nephews. Big change from barely being able to eat a slice of bread so that I could take my anti nausea pill and 3 regular strength Tylenol every 6 hours. That was a chore! I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. UGH! Horrible!

The fun part of Christmas was the way we told our families about the baby. We framed a recent sonogram picture and included a card that said "Merry Christmas Nana and Papop! See you in early June 2011! Love, Little C". Needless to say, I think everyone was surprised. Yay!

That's pretty much the excitement so far. I will say that I accidentally laid down on the bed the other day on my stomach and felt pressure for the first time. Guess I can't do that anymore :) Sorry Little C! Momma didn't mean to squish you!

All in all, Anthony and I are very excited. We're so blessed that God has decided to grace us with such a wonderful gift! I hope we don't let Him down!!

First Winter Storm of 2011

We got snow today! Yay! Unfortunately, here in East Fort Worth, we didn't get enough for it to stick. It sure was pretty coming down though. The pictures I took don't do it justice. That's okay, hopefully we'll get some more snow this year.

I do have to say that I was very impressed with the weather "men". They all said that it would be rainy during the night and in the morning and then switch to snow at lunch time. By golly they were right! I woke up around 4 AM to use the bathroom (thank you Little C for making sure I get up AT LEAST once during the night to pee!) and it was raining some. After drizzling all morning it switched to sleet around 11:45 AM and then right around noon, it turned to snow!

Good job to all the meteorologists!

Cheesy Garlic "Bubble Bread"

Okay, once again...I grew up calling what most people know as Monkey Bread, Bubble Bread. Ever since I made the yummy, gooey, pecany, sweet version a few months ago, I've been wanting to try a different version with the leftover frozen rolls. So, I did.

I wish I could give an actual recipe but I was just kind of played it by ear. I'll do my best to come up with a recipe.

Ingredients

18 (or so) frozen dinner rolls cut in half if you can. (small) in bags in frozen foods.

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Colby Jack/Cheddar Cheese mix

Garlic Powder

½ cup (or so) Butter

Directions

1. Generously butter (or spray well) a Bundt pan.

2. Sprinkle desired amount of all three cheese in bottom of pan.

3. Sprinkle desired amount of garlic powder on top of cheeses.

4. Place frozen (halved) dinner rolls on top of cheesey garlic layer.

5. Melt butter and pour over rolls.

6. Add another layer of all three cheeses and garlic powder on top.

7. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and allow to stand overnight (or at least 8 hours)

8. Preheat oven to 350°F

9. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

Place a serving plate on top of bundt pan and flip over. Serve hot.

*I actually didn't melt the butter and pour it on top. I put little pads of butter all over the top. As a result the butter didn't sink down to the bottom (actually the top) of the bundt pan. I think it would have come out a little better had I melted it.

If you try this, let me know what you think!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

From our growing family to yours :)

Love,

Anthony, Kristy and "Little C"

(entering the world early June 2011)

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

For my last recipe to try for the year, I looked to my Pillsbury® Calendar yet again for inspiration. Two of the recipes that I wanted to make and didn't get a chance to were for February and November. Seeing as the November one says it takes over 5 ½ to make, I opted for the February Coffee Cake. (I'll make the November on eventually. It looks VERY yummy!)

I'm not a big fan of raspberries, unless they're fresh. This coffee cake was good though. It had just the right amount of raspberry preserves to give it a nice fruity flavor. Strawberry would have been just as good!

It was a hit on my last day at work. It didn't matter if it was eaten at room temperature or warmed up. Everyone seemed to like it.

16 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Start to Finish: 1 hr 35 mins

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

¾ cup butter or margarine

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

½ cup raspberry preserves

½ cup sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and side of 9-or 10-inch spring form pan with shortening or cooking spray; lightly flour. In large bowl, mix flour and ¾ cup of the sugar. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of crumb mixture.

2. To remaining crumb mixture, stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and 1 of the eggs until well blended. Spread batter in bottom and 2 inches up side (about ¼ inch thick) of pan.

3. In another small bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining ¼ cup of sugar and 1 egg until well blended. Pour into batter-lined pan. Carefully spoon preserves evenly over cream cheese mixture. In another small bowl, mix reserved crumb mixture and sliced almonds; sprinkle over preserves.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until cream cheese filling is set and crust is deep golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Remove side of pan; leave coffee cake on pan bottom. Serve warm or cool. Store in refrigerator.

Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

It's the holidays, so I turned to the Pillsbury® Calendar that my co-worker Karen gave me. I decided to make the December recipe. There were a few flaws but I'm sure that was because of my silly mistakes. I'm not a big chocolate cake fan, but it turned out good! The cake batter had a mousse like consistency. Very thick. Maybe I used the beaters too long or on too high of

a speed? I think that because the cake batter was so thick, the chocolate truffle part didn't sink to the middle of the cake like it should have. It ended up staying towards the bottom of the cake.

The cake did seem a little dry to me, but it was still good though!

When it came time to make the icing, I didn't follow the directions correctly. I couldn't figure out why it was so thick. I even used the 2 Tablespoons of milk and it didn't thin out. Well, it turned out that I used a whole 8oz block of cream cheese instead of just 1 ½ oz! Oops! I was able to thin it out just enough so that it would run a little bit. Also, I added the chopped up peppermints (I used a candy cane) and it looked so pretty! The next morning when I pulled it out of the refrigerator, the candy had "melted" and didn't look as pretty.

It was a hit though. Everyone liked it. I'd also have to add the it smelled delicious while it was in the oven. Chocolate and mint...yum!!!!

12 Servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Start to Finish: 2 hours 20 minutes

Filling

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)

⅔ cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Cake

1 box (1 lb. 2.25 oz) devil's food cake mix with pudding

1 container (8 oz.) fat-free sour cream

⅓ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Icing

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ oz. cream cheese, softened

1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

6 hard peppermint candies, finely crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour. In medium microwavable bowl, microwave filling ingredients on High 30 seconds . Stir until melted and smooth (if necessary, microwave 10 to 20 seconds longer); set aside.

2. In large bowl, mix cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until combined; beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon batter evenly into pan. Drop spoonfuls of filling over batter, keeping filling away from side of pan.

3. Bake 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and edge begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Place wire rack upside down over pan; turn rack and pan over. Remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour (center of cake may sink slightly during cooling.)

4. In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese and 1 Tablespoon of the milk with wire whisk until smooth, adding additional milk until desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over cooled cake; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in refrigerator.


High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. For cake, add 2 Tablespoons flour to dry cake mix, decrease oil to ¼ cup and increase eggs to 4.

Baking Tip: A pastry brush is ideal for greasing the grooves of a fluted tube pan.

Total Lunar Eclipse

If you didn't get a chance to stay up and see the total lunar eclipse this month, you missed out. Unless you're not into that kind of stuff. I just happen to be a nerd for it :) It was absolutely beautiful! Yes, there will be more total lunar eclipses, but there hasn't been one like the one the other day in almost 400 years! What was so special about this one? Well, it just so happened that this total lunar eclipse fell on the winter solstice. Pretty darn cool!

These are the best pictures that my little digital camera could take. Enjoy :)

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

I was trying to figure out what to take to work for our Day-Before-Thanksgiving "party". I guess when it comes down to needing something baked, I'm the one to bring it. I don't mind at all. I love baking!

So, I was searching online trying to find something interesting. I decided on a cheesecake. I've made a few lately and I'm determined to conquer the world of cheesecakes! They're so good! The question was, what kind to make? Pumpkin? Regular with fruit? Peanut butter? Too many to choose from! Then I found it...Pecan Pie Cheesecake!! Hello??? Putting pecan pie filling on top of a vanilla wafer crust, then cheesecake on top of it all? Oh, hello bigger butt!!! I can feel you expanding already! Challenge, on!

I have to say, it really wasn't difficult to make. Just a little time consuming. The end result? Delicious!! Very rich, but delicious!

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Crust

1¾ cups vanilla wafer crumbs

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine wafer crumbs and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter. Press into bottom and up sides of 9" springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Pecan Filling

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1½ cups chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into crust and set aside.

Cheesecake Filling

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Reduce oven to 325º. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. stir in cream and vanilla. Pour over pecan filling. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 1 hour. Remove from oven and run a knife along the outside edges to loosen cheesecake from sides of pan. Let cool. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

*Recipe found at http://www.bakeorbreak.com/

Mikie

Our sweet Mikie had to be put down. We had him for 15 years of his 17 year old life. Play like a puppy in Heaven Mikie! We miss you!

Mikie and his blanket he would cover himself up with.

Mikie and his little pest of a buddy Harley.

Kristy vs. The Rake

Kristy vs. The (hard) Garden Rake

October 10, 2010

Anthony and I were outside working in the yard. When we bought our new house we decided that we wanted to pull up all the bushes and shrubs that were poorly planted in all three flower beds in the front yard. Two of them reminded me of that big brown shaggy muppet "monster" from The Muppets/Sesame Street. I can't remember his name. Anyway, I didn't like the way they looked. So, Anthony decided it was a good day to work in the yard and pull all that stuff out.

I was working on something and Anthony asked me to come over and hold open one of those paper yard bags from Home Depot. So, I walked over and what do you know? I stepped perfectly on a HARD tined/pronged (whatever it's called) yard rake. Anthony had so thoughtfully left it laying in the yard prong side up. Next thing I know I feel and hear this hard pop on my face and immediately cover my face and start crying. I'm a big baby, I know. I kept saying "why did you do that?" "who leaves a rake laying face up?" I felt stuff pouring out of my nose and Anthony ran inside to grab some paper towels. He kept trying to get me to go inside but all I wanted to do was stand there, out in the front yard, bleeding and crying. I told him to be careful because I thought my glasses had fallen off. He said my glasses were broken and not fixable. Too bad, because I loved those glasses!


I mean really, that kind of thing doesn't happen in real life! You only see that kind of thing in 3 Stooges episodes or cartoons! No one does that for real! Unless you're me!


I finally made it inside and when I looked in the mirror I saw this huge gash on my nose! Yikes! It hurt so bad! I thought I had broken my nose, but apparently the pop I heard was the sound of my glasses breaking. The bright side is that I actually had my head down a little so when I stepped on the rake, it hit me on the nose. Had I been looking straight, it would have hit me in the mouth and no doubt broken some teeth. I'd rather suffer some black eyes, a swollen nose, a nice scar and have to replace an old pair of glasses then have to pay for extensive dental work. That rake hit so hard that I know I would have had a lot of damage to my mouth! Blessings counted!!!


The picture below was taken a week later. I think the black eyes made my green eyes stand out even more :)

Painting Project #1

Painting Project #1

Before

The mantle: An ugly brown color with some type of wooden lattice work.

Before:

The front wall of our house. It was an ugly sea green color. I hated it! Yuck!

And After:

The mantle. Disney's Ariel's Song. Anthony actually picked out the color :)

We actually picked that color for the front wall but decided to make the mantle "pop" and use it there too. It was bright at first, but we really like it! So not boring AT ALL :)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

After making the Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes, I thought I'd try the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Chocolate on chocolate...how could it be bad? So yummy! Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy it too :)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

¼ cup margarine, softened

¼ cup shortening

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted if there are clumps)

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 Tablespoons soymilk

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Cream together the margarine and the shortening until well combined. Add the cocoa powder and incorporate well. Add the powdered sugar in about ½ cup batches and beat well, adding a little splash of soymilk after each addition. When all ingredients have been well incorporated, add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes with a hand mixer, 7 minutes if mixing with a fork).

Variation:

Add a teaspoon of coffee extract for mocha buttercream

Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcake

Your Basic (Vegan) Chocolate Cupcake

My best friend Christina is a vegan. I admire her for that. Although I love vegetables and fruits, I'm a meat and potatoes kinda girl.

She's always suggesting new recipies for me to try. Most of them have been very good. Some, not so much :) (ahem...chocolate "pudding" that's really mashed up avocadoes mixed with vanilla and cocoa powder!)

She told me about a cookbook called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. She told me about how good these recipies were and how everyone that's tried them when she makes them loves them. So, I decided to get the book and put her "claims" to the test. I decided to try the Basic Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

The verdict? Delicious!! Holy cow, Anthony ate 3 of them in one day! I don't really even care for chocolate cake but I have to say, these were so good! VERY rich! I gave some to a friend of mine (so they wouldn't stay in our house) who has two kids and she said they all thought they were really good. So, thank you Christina for telling me about the cupcake book. I can't wait to try some different flavors!

Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake

1 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

¾ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract (I used more vanilla)

1 cup all-purpose flour

⅓ cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).

3. Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

* I topped them with the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

(recipe in a separate post)

Turtle Cheesecake

Turtle Cheesecake

Servings: 12

I have decided to master the cheesecake. I think I did it with this one! It turned out so good! Yes, I may have added more chocolate chips and pecans on top than what it called for, but how on earth could that be a bad thing? :)

I found the recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com but I made a few adjustments:

-I used chocolate animal crackers for the crust

-I used caramel ice cream topping instead of the caramels and evaporated milk.

-I also used the mini chocolate chips instead of the regular ones.

-Instead of melting chocolate and adding it to the batter, I just sprinkled chocolate chips on top of the caramel topped crust with the layer of nuts. (I hope that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't!)

-Finally, I added more caramel on top of the final cake and loaded the top with more nuts and chocolate chips!

Here's the original recipe that I found. I'm sure it would be good following the recipe as is.

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

14 ounces individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

½ cup white sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter one 9-inch springform pan.

2. Toast the pecans at 350°F for 6 minutes. Remove pecans and set aside. Leave oven at 350°F. In a small saucepan, melt the unsalted butter.

3. Combine vanilla wafer crumbs with the melted butter then press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Place the pan onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

4. In a double boiler, or a bowl set over barely simmering water, melt the caramels in the evaporated milk. Stir until smooth. Pour this over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the nuts over the top.

5. In a bowl, combine the cheese, sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the bowl several times. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until smooth. Melt the chocolate chips in the double boiler and mix into the cheese mixture. Pour the batter over the caramel layer.

6. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until barely set. Chill over night in the refrigerator before serving.