Who ever heard of a Cheese Burger rollup???

Ok, so I've been So busy lately with work and Lucy that I barely have time to think, let alone blog, and blog with my own original thoughts and ideas, so I am going to just say this upfront, I TOOK THIS RECIPE from my friend Heathers blog. You know, the POOP ON JELLY folks?! I have to say, we were slightly skeptical about trying this, but then I remembered how picky her kids are (they almost ALWAYS eat chicken - rarely beef!) so I knew it had to be worth a shot! I am happy to say not only is this a simple recipe, but it was mighty tasty too! check out her blog for more recipe ideas and photos of this yummy roll up. THANKS HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheeseburger Roll Up Ingredients for one Roll Up:
About 1 lb of lean ground beef
Ketchup
Mustard
Relish
Grated Cheese
Pizza Dough in a tube

how is that for easy, Rachel Ray?

First, brown your ground beef. While it is cooking, add whatever you would normally add to flavor your burgers. For me, that is dried parsley, dried onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Once it is browned, remove from heat and drain any fat that might be left in the pan. Next, add ketchup, mustard, and relish to taste. Mix well. Go ahead! Taste it! Now, roll out your dough and cover it with about a pound of the prepared beef, leaving about an inch all around.
Add cheese. YUMMO! Tuck the top and bottom. Now, roll from left to right. This is where she rambled on about some egg wash. I just put two slits in the top and made sure the seam was on the bottom.

TAG SCHMAG

OK, so my friend Heather http://www.pecksinkc.blogspot.com/ likes to tag me in various bloggy type surveys.....I guess she knows if she tags me, I WILL reply.....eventually! It has been over a month since my last posting, so I better snap to it!

1. What are your current obsessions? My Daughter of course!....and I love trying new recipes!

2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often? My pants that Kelli gave me when I was pregnant! Length wise they fit her perfectly, not so much on me! there are three colors to choose from, khaki, black, and navy. Currently I am sporting the navy pair. She keeps telling me to STOP WEARING THOSE PANTS, but they are like goucho sweat pants WITH an elastic waist (BONUS!!!)....perfect for chasing Lucy around in!

3. What's for dinner? OK, if Lucy were older, I'd be MUCH better at my dinner planning, but tonights dinner was......wait for it......banana ice cream with a frozen ding dong.....and NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT AGAIN!

4. Last thing you bought? I went to Meijer today and bought half of the store.....but on my receipt you would find a green pepper, cilantro, chicken, ground beef, whole wheat pita, food for Lucy, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, and I can't remember what else.

5. What are you listening to? The computer hum

6. If you were a god/goddess who would you be? the goddess of goucho sweat pants!

7. Favorite vacation spots? It's seriously been so long since I've had a vacation, I can't even begin to tell you where I'd want to be. Maybe in my own bed!

8. Reading right now? The Shack.

9. Four words to describe yourself. Honest, Crafty, Loyal, and Caring

10. Guilty pleasure? Can I only name one? I love to watch any of the Real Housewives shows. Silas calls them trash, I call them "and these make MY life look normal!"

11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak? Silas and Kelli. They are, by far the two funniest people I know.

12. Favorite thing to do in the summer? cooking out and sitting on our patio and going to Silas's uncles house who has a huge pond.

13. Planning to travel to next? I am assuming crazy doesn't count here......so I might go to my in-laws tomorrow - pending how my cold is doing. Otherwise, I will go to work on Tuesday.

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately? FRESH SQUEEZED OJ! YUMMMMMM!!!

15. When did you last get tipsy? Probably five or so years ago. I'm not much of a drinker these days.

16. Favorite ever film? I have no clue. I liked the movie Pursuit of Happyness. it's one of those movies that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

17. Care to share some wisdom? A. A. Milne said "One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries"

18. Least favorite thing about driving in the boondocks? I always have visions of some masked man jumping out from the trees with an axe. hey, you asked.....

19. Least favorite part of your day? dropping Lucy off at the babysitter. I miss her so much during the day.

20. Why do you blog? I would hardly say I blog.....not so much anymore these days....but i do it to stay connected with those far away and those not so far away.

Formal complaint

I'd like to file a formal complaint. Lucy is now 7 months old and is capable of doing lots of new things. She can sit up by herself, she can roll over, she plays quietly by herself in her exersaucer, she is capable of putting her spoon in her mouth (with or without food on the end of it), you name it, it seems she can or is on the verge of doing it. All of these things get a HORAY LUCY or a GOOD GIRL or a YAY LUCY from me....so why is it that the first thing she says that is audible is DA DA? I mean seriously. Does she not know that it was I who carried her for nine months in my womb. It was me, MA MA, who had evening sickness EVERY NIGHT for three months and I somehow managed to endure the pain of eating at MCL EVERY NIGHT and more amazingly managed to STAY MARRIED to her beloved DA DA during the entire thing.....oh, and please, don't let me forget the 8 hours of labor and the 16 sleepless hours before that (four of which were spent in a HOT hospital room with no a/c, no tv, no radio....because the power went out in the city as we were driving to the hospital) and finally, does she not recall the fact that I delivered her with no epidural??? So, come on, is it to much to ask that she say MA MA?? I won't even ask that she says it first, because well, we already know that isn't going to happen, but she could say it now and I'd be just as happy. Maybe for mothers day I'll get a MA MA....but if not, this complaint will be escalated to the next level.....and that won't be good for anyone!

Spicy Oyster Crackers

When Silas was young, his grandmother (MiMi) would make spicy oyster crackers for him. I recently found a recipe onone of my FAVORITE websites, www.cooks.com and i tried them. I was SO excited when Silas said "These taste just like MiMi's." To me, that was the greatest compliment he could have given me. These are easy to make, are good in soup, or great for snacking!

1 packet of DRY hidden valley ranch mix
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. dill weed
1 cup vegetable oil
1 large box/package of oyster crackers

in a LARGE bowl mix the ranch, lemon pepper, dill weed and oil together. Add the crackers and give them a good coating. Let them sit for 15 minutes. Repeat the mixing and sitting process two more times then transfer them to a clean bowl and let them sit uncovered for about an hour. The oil will "dry" and the crackers will be ready to devour!

Enjoy!

Lovin' the Letter L

So, my old friends from school, Heather and Brad have started a thing on their blog where they "assign" a letter to each other (or others in this case) and you have to come up with 10 things that begin with that letter that you love. My letter is L - now, let's see how easy this is:

1. LUCY! Of course she (Heather) gave me L for Lucy! She is our first born, and will likely be our only child. She truly is the apple of my eye. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God that she is with us. It scares me to think she's almost 6 months old already - but at the same time I am eager to watch her learn and grow. I LOVE YOU LUCY!

2. LAUGHTER - without it, my world would be such a boring place.

3. LOVE - I love my husband, our family, my career, our home. Without Silas, I'd not have Lucy, and without Lucy, we'd not have our family or the need for our cozy home in which we all live.

4. LIFE - Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. - it's so true. My life is sometimes a roller coaster ride in my head, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

5. LISTENING - I love to listen to Lucy "talk". It is the sweetest sound in the entire world. Silas and I are fortunate to have a happy baby, nearly all the time. We wake up to her coo-ing over the baby monitor almost every day.

6. LONGING - I long for a stable relationship with my father. I want Lucy to know her grandpa. I don't know what else to say about this - other than what I've said.

7. LAZY DAYS - I love lazy days of doing nothing - days where the only decsion I HAVE to make is which pair of pajama bottoms I am going to wear around the house and what I want to eat (which, believe it or not can be a very difficult decision for me to make!)

8. LOUISE - It's my old middle name. I ditched it when Silas and I got married. I thought it sounded "old lady" - truth be told, now that I don't have it, I kind of miss it.

9. LASAGNA - One of my all time favorite foods. I could probably eat it every day - especially if my mom makes it. For some reason, hers is the best!

10. LEARNING - I learn something new about myself almost every day. I'm not afraid to grow old. In fact, I tend to embrace my age and look forward to learning new things about myself (and others) every day!

Well, this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. You should see Heather and Brads answers - MUCH longer than mine!

Simple Sugar cookies

I love to bake. I think I got my love of baking from my mom. Every year at Christmas, she'd bake a HUGE assortment of the most delicious cookies.....but I don't have time for that, so I need to simplify my cookie baking! I scoured the internet for an easy sugar cookie recipe that doesn't involve rolling the dough. Below is the recipe I ended up with, and I must say, the cokies were great! Easy to make and even easier to eat!

2 1/2 C Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 C soft butter (I KNOW it's a LOT!)
1 1/4 C sugar (plus some for the tops)
1 large egg
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Cream the butter and the sugar together. Add the vanilla and egg and continue to mix. SIFT the flour and the baking powder. If you don't have a sifter, try using a colander with small(ish) holes....Once the flour and baking powder are sifted, slowly add to the butter mixture. DO NOT over beat it. Cover it and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. tick tock, tick tock, ok, 30 minutes are up. I rolled mine and then sort of squished them between my palms then placed them in pink sugar crystals, then place them on a ever so lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes at 350 degrees. - I baked mine for 9 minutes and found that 8 minutes was best for a really soft cookie!

ENJOY!

White Bean Chicken Chili

It's so cold outside, and I love chili of all varieties, so I made this the other night and not only was it EASY to make, it was DELICIOUS! The picutre didn't turn out so great, but I think that's becuase I was in SUCH a hurry to try it!

1 medium onion - diced
1 jalapeno pepper - seeds removed and diced
2 gloves of garlic - finely minced
4 cups of chicken broth
1 - 1.25 tsp of Cumin
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 cans of white northen beans - drained and rinsed
2 cups of cooked cubed chicken
1/4 cup COLD water
2 tbsp. corn starch
olive oil for sauteeing the onion, garlic and pepper

sautee your Onion, pepper, and garlic until tender
Add chicken broth, chicken, and beans, bring to a boil and cover, then turn down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes
in a small bowl stir the corn starch with the cold water until smooth, then slowly add to the other ingredients, stir, bring back to a boil, then simmer again for another 10-15 minutes.

SOUPer good on a cold winter night!