Made of love and magic.

"Hey Kurt, I left you a muffin!"

"Wait, weren't there 9 of them this morning?"

"...I don't want to talk about it."

Happy Valentines Day everybody. Especially Kurt. I love you more than muffins.

(almost)



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Just a little midnight snack...

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My newest, most delicious obsession

This week on "Thing I Can't Believe I Lived Without"

Franks Hot Sauce.

I want to bathe in this stuff.

Just grab a cup full, add some mozzarella, a little cream cheese, some ranch dressing, and Viola!

Perfect dipping sauce. Great for chicken, chips, bread, strawberries...

Well, maybe not strawberries.

But I was serious about the bathing.


What are you craving?



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It smelled like rotten fruit, but tasted like victory.

"I'm going to miss you Helena. Have fun with your family, ok?"

I nodded.

"And while you're gone, I think I'm going to clean out the fridge."

----------------

Our fridge hasn't been emptied out in... a while.

About a month ago, I noticed a noxious odor coming from somewhere inside.

I was pretty sure the culprit was hiding in the bottom-left-hand drawer. You know- the one for vegetables?

I hadn't looked in there in a few ...months?

Anyway, I decided to ignore it.

A few weeks later, the smell was overpowering.

It wasn't really a stand off between Kurt and I, so much as one between us, and the fridge.

And we were losing. Badly.

We discussed our options. I could clean it- but I had just cleaned the ENTIRE apartment in a crazy spring-cleaning fever. While it was physically possible, it would be the last thing I cleaned.

Like, ever.

Kurt could do it- but it was Finals week, and he was busy, and really, couldn't we just eat the things in our pantry, and forget about the refrigerator for a while?

Awkwardly, we worked around it, holding our breath whenever we had to go in for milk or butter.

The standoff continued.

When we had friends over, we would mention the smell before they could. It seemed less awkward that way.

I was afraid it would always be like this.

But then, as we were pulling up to the airport, Kurt said those 13 magic words.

"And while you're gone, I think I'm going to clean out the fridge."

I could have kissed him.

So I did.

And even though we were a team, and it was "Us Against The Fridge".....

.....It tasted like victory.

.



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Our New Goal

Did I mention that both Kurt and I have gained 15 lbs since our wedding 6 months ago? We think this is really impressive. But we talked it over, and agreed that it would be even more impressive if we lost it again. And so this is our goal: to lose 15 lbs by June.

We started right after we got back from Christmas, by cutting down our portion sizes. Over the holidays I swear we were eating all day, every day. And you know how holiday meals are- lots of stuffing and cassaroles and desserts and breads. I've lost 6 lbs so far, just from this step alone (turns out eating my weight in food every day isn't a good idea). We are also trying to drink more water. Because then you eat less. And your skin is better. And it's just a good idea.

Another goal is to exercise together 3x per week. We're pretty lucky; our complex has a nice little exercise room, which we plan to take full advantage of. And I'm thinking about starting a Yoga class with some of the Wives. I'm a little nervous about that one- I've never tried Yoga before!

We have also begun to eat super healthy, and we are loving the energy boost that comes with that!

Here is our current favorite meal:

Tuna Burgers.

Think Hamburgers, only made out of tuna and oats. Yum. Well, ok, it sounded gross to me, but my sister made some when she had us over for the holidays, and they were so good!

Ingredients:
1 can of tuna
3/4 cup of Oats
1 egg
3 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 tsp garlic (minced or powdered)
1 tsp onion (powdered or flakes)

Mix ingredients in a bowl. Put a little oil (or some cooking spray) into a pan over medium heat.

Seperate the mixture into fourths, and spoon 2 of the piles onto the pan. With your spatula, flatten the lumps out and press in the edges to form 2 patties. The thinner they are, the more evenly they will cook. Watch the edges, and when it looks like the bottom is starting to brown, flip it. You want to wait until then, or the fritter will fall apart.

Once both sides are lightly browned, use a spatula to put them on the buns (whole wheat, maybe?), add a little more oil to the pan, and start on the next two (the first time we made these, I burned them. But they still tasted yummy). This recipe makes 4.

You can treat them like normal burgers. I put BBQ sauce on mine. They are nice and filling, and we usually save the second helping for lunch the next day. And what could be healthier than tuna and oats?

Pair this with a fun salad, and you've got yourself a great meal. My current favorite salad includes Mixed Leafy Greens (Romaine and Baby Spinache are a good combo if you aren't into buying pre-mixed bags), a hard boiled egg, a little cheese, and some light dressing. Simple, and so, so good.



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Ginger Bread

I have been trying to post this for 2 weeks! But a combination of faulty internet, forgetting my camera cord, and being super busy with family made it impossible to put up until now. I was gonna just schedule it for next year- but then Annie begged me to post it now. And when Annie uses her puppy dog eyes...I just couldn't say no.

This is our Gingerbread House. We made it at the First Year Dental Student Christmas Party. And we pretty much blew the competition away. See the beautiful details? I'll just come out and say it: We have talent.

But for those of you who are more experienced when it comes to Gingerbread, check out this Gingerbread Castle. My friend Adele made it.

Click here to visit her Scrapblog, and see step-by-step pictures.

She even lets you download the plans, so you can try making this yourself. I'm pretty sure your kids would think you were the coolest Mom ever.



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Manwich

Guess who just made Sloppy Joe's FOR THE FIRST TIME?

If you guessed Me, you are so right. If you guessed Kurt, you are also right- he helped. But if you guessed Larry you are wrong. Because he's a plant.



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Blisters and Blueberries

Here is my adorable sister in law, Annie. She is awesome at being thoughtful and baking stuff to give away. She is really bad at eating pies.

I decided to make some blueberry pancakes tonight. When we lived with her and my brother before moving out here, she made these for us. And they were like a revelation. I asked her for the recipe, and she got this deer-in-headlights look. "But... I don't know! I just make them!" I finally got her to write it down, and I think they are so funny!

1/2 box bisquick
1 egg
pinch of salt
palm of sugar
3/4 pint blueberries
some water

That's it! They are really easy to make. The "some water" part is tricky- you'll want the batter to be thicker than normal pancakes, because these are more cakey. And you'll want to cook them on medium low heat, so they cook through and don't burn.

I suggest NOT making them when you are half asleep. Because that was me tonight. You end up doing dumb things. I finally woke up all the way when I casually grabbed the pan, instead of the handle. Um, yeah. That hurt SO MUCH.



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Fall Fling Party

I was wondering what to cook last night. I opened the fridge, hoping for leftovers- nope. We ate them already. I looked through the cupboard: Mac N Cheese? Oatmeal? Nothing looked good. Well, ok. Lots of stuff looked good- but it also looked like a lot of effort. I sighed, and shut the door. Maybe I should do spaghetti again. That's healthy, right? It's got tomatoes in the sauce... And I think we have some Ragu in the fridge. I walked over, and reached for the handle. Then something caught my eye.



SAVED! That looked like a much better dinner than anything I was willing to cook up. Plus it would cost a ton of money for me to make that dinner myself. And Kurt got home just in time.

We headed over to the office, and immediately the smells of this wonderful meal wafted through the air. The office here at the Waterfront is really nice. The clubhouse is two stories, with all sorts of fireplaces and pool tables and big comfy couches. You can rent the place out for parties. And I guess the management throws banquets like this every few months. Score!

We met some really nice people: Joanne, from the Philippines. Mary and Tough (yup, that's his real name) from Montana. But really, I was mostly excited about the food. Sometimes procrastinating pays off.



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Late Dinner

I was talking to McCall on the way to Hershey, and she started laughing. "So Kurt told Tannon something really funny. He said that the other day, he had gone to sleep early, and you woke him up for dinner. At 1am."

It's true. Since he was already sleeping, I figured it wouldn't make any difference what time I woke him up. So I waited until I was hungry (around midnight) and then I busted out the angel hair spaghetti.



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Welcome Home

When we got home from our trip to DC, we had an unexpected surprise waiting in our kitchen. We walked in, and the first thing I said was; "What is that SMELL???" Maybe you can relate: have you ever forgotten to take out the trash before your trip, or left some old produce in the fridge? For us, the welcoming scent of rotten food was coming from a dish we had left soaking in the sink all weekend. The dish I cooked THIS in. I really meant to clean it, but in the rush of packing it completely slipped my mind. Oops.

Originally, I ended this post here. But then I was talking with Kurt, and he was all, "Your blog is so random." It is NOT. I write about current events in my life. The reason I decided to write about this is because I didn't actually clean the soaking dish that night. I decided to work on my avoidance and denial skills, and ignored it for the past 2 days. But tonight, the smell finally got to me. I went and cleaned it in about 2 minutes, and wondered why the heck I waited so long. And then I sat down, and wrote about the whole thing (minus the parts that highlight my character flaws). So don't worry guys- my writing is as current and cutting-edge as any news cast. It just seems more random to some people. *cough*kurt*cough*



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Old Produce

So I found some produce in the back of my fridge today. I had forgotten all about this stuff. It's been in there for like a month. I was really nervous when I pulled it all out: Celery, zucchini, onion, mushrooms. But you know what? The only one that wasn't good was the mushrooms (which were furry). I decided I shouldn't press my luck. I wanted to use everything TONIGHT.

I really like allrecipes.com because you can type in random ingredients and see if there's a recipe that matches them. Here is what I made tonight:

Awesome Fruity Salad

In a large bowl, combine about 3 cups of any chopped fruit you want to use. strawberries, apples, grapes, etc. Add about the same amount of lettuce as you did fruit (I used Romaine). Stir in one little yogurt cup (I used raspberry). Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Delicious.

With this next one, you use any veggies you have sitting in your fridge. Really, you can just improvise. Don't have three cups of zucchini? Ok. Add some more celery or something. Mushrooms would work great, too (Just not fuzzy ones). Maybe you have some ground beef, or turkey, or leftover ham. Throw that in there. I dare you.

Everything Casserole
serves 6 (or 4, if you eat like we do)

Ingredients:
1 6oz box of stuffing mix
1 cup chicken stock (or 1/3 cup butter, melted)
4 cups cubed zucchini
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic (Or just throw in some garlic powder)
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup (I used cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup sour cream (you can replace this with plain yogurt, for a healthier option)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Boil carrots on the stove for 7 minutes. Add the other veggies, and boil for another 5 minutes. Drain.
3. In a small bowl combine stuffing and chicken stock (or butter). In a separate bowl combine veggies, soup and sour cream. Mix in 1/2 of the stuffing mixture, then spread into a 9x12 inch casserole dish and sprinkle the remaining stuffing on top.
4. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes.



We really liked this meal a lot. That's why Kurt looks so happy in the picture.



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A big post about a little thing

Today was great. We got dressed up, and headed to the Stake Center for the second session of Conference. But we turned around a minute later, when we reached the bridge and realized that there was a Steelers Game tonight. And you think YOUR city is devoted to its sports teams... We decided to head to our little Branch building instead. Less traffic.

After Conference we came home, ate dinner, and went for a walk along the Monongahela River. Perfect. Then it was studying for Kurt, and reading for me. Evening over.

Or was it?

Suddenly, I was attacked by a horrible case of the munchies! It would not be supplicated with a few chocolate chips or a glass of water. This hunger meant business. In the good old days, I would just heat up some pizza rolls. Or rifle through my roommates food if I hadn't gone shopping lately (Yes, I was that roommate). Or maybe grab a piece of bread, slather some spaghetti sauce on it, and call it good. But since I've gotten married, and started cooking my taste buds have taken on a more sophisticated air. Spoiled little....

For my Second Dinner (My brother Jimmy would be proud) I decided to make French Toast. I've never done this before (remember the spaghetti/bread thing). I printed directions off the internet, and busted out the Kitchen Aid. I was PREPARED.

If there is one thing I don't like about cooking, its the eggs. It isn't the whole misguided this-could-have-been-a-cute-baby-chicken-thing. Or the more realistic I'm-eating-an-animals-period-thing. It isn't the texture of the raw egg, or the smell (especially since I'm pretty sure raw eggs are odorless). Every time I get a drop of raw egg goo on my finger, all I can think is "CROSS CONTAMINATION!!!"


I mixed up the vanilla/sugar/salt mixture, and had Kurt crack the eggs for me. This was gonna be easy. Then I realized that I was gonna have to dip the bread into that stuff with my fingers. the first piece was pretty soggy, so I ended up using my whole hand. Right away, the CROSS CONTAMINATION!!! bells were going off in my mind. As soon as it was sizzling, I was turning on the kitchen sink with my elbow, and scrubbing my hands with soap. I washed my hands 12 times in the next 5 minutes. It's like I was afraid that a super strain of salmonella was gonna jump off my hands and infect thousands.

And don't even get me started on the disinfecting that went on when I noticed the drip on the counter! HELLO LYSOL.

The funny thing is, I don't have this problem when I am baking. Even though I know I shouldn't, I always lick the batter off the beaters. mmmmmmmmm

The french toast turned out great. A little soggy in the middle, but hey, it was my first try. And I thought all of you needed to know (Plus Kurt is now working on our Thank You notes from the Wedding, and I like the "I'm kinda' busy blogging" Excuse).



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Not for the Vegans

I only have a minute, because Kurt is off at a baseball game and so I am going to watch movies with some of the other Wives. But I wanted to tell you guys about this amazing dinner I made yesterday. You are probably rolling your eyes, and thinking, "Do I really have to listen to her bragging about her cooking??" First of all, you won't be listening- you will be reading. And second of all, I have only made 6 meals for my husband since we have been married. And three of them have been the same thing. And one of them was sandwitches. I'm VERY inexperienced when it comes to cooking, and so to keep me motivated, I am telling you about my successes. Then you can fawn all over me, and encourage me, and stop rolling you eyes already! (That was to you Amber. And you too, McCall)

So here it is. I made Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps. And it was amazing. Go make this right now.

Annie made this for us when we lived with her for a month before The Big Move. It was so good- but then most of her meals are, you know? But here's the thing- it was just as good when I made it! Which means it will be great when you make it too. It's a Paula Dean recipe.


Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
1 (1-pound) package sliced bacon
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick. Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wrap on rack in broiler pan. Bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

You are welcome!!



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