Losers

Last weekend we froze our butts off watching OU get tromped on by Texas Tech. 

This weekend, we're headed down to Dallas to watch, I'm guessing, but hoping not, the same thing happen to BYU in the BYU/TCU game in the Cowboys stadium. Which ironically enough, is where I technically met John for the first time oh so many year ago. Two...

Regardless of the outcome of the game, it's always a must to get out of Oklahoma for a few days, and enjoy a mini-vacay. That and it gets us excused from any Halloween party we'd otherwise be subjected to go to. Win win here.

Happy weekend.

Chatterbox

Enjoying our last weekend of warm weather

Ever since I started my new job, which has been over a year now, which also means I've been living in Oklahoma for over a year now, gee whiz, people think I'm quiet.

WHAT?

Never before in my life (ok, once, at fat camp, but that was because all of the other counselors knew I was LDS and never invited me to the clubs, so I guess they just assumed I was some quiet girl who didn't have fun. Which explains why I earned the "Silent Rock" award), have I been told I was a quiet person. 

Never. 

I specifically remember in elementary school, second grade to be exact, I probably came close to writing a 100 sentences a day saying, "I will not disrupt the class. I will not disrupt the class. I will not disrupt the class..." Because, like I said, even at a young age, I wasn't quiet...or respectful apparently.

Even now, years later, I don't consider myself to be quiet, but when one works all alone, at the end of the hall, with no one around, WHO am I supposed to talk to? Talking out loud to myself would only prove I'm kind of weird. So I keep those inner voices just that, inner. I'm rarely on the phone like everyone else at work, so again, no talking goes on at my end of the hallway. Sure, I'm quiet at work, but I'm not a quiet person. Am I?

For some reason, I take people thinking I'm quiet as offensive. I don't know why when maybe it's a good thing? And for all I know, maybe all those years of causing disruptions has finally slowed down. Maybe I really am a quiet person. In which case, it's a good thing I have a job that doesn't require much talking, and I'm married to a man who studies up the wazoo, forcing me to be a mute in my own home. 

Mmm mm good

Being in the kitchen has sounded far from appealing the last little while, so my poor hubby has been subjected to, in my mind, far from appealing food, like top roman and mac and cheese. He claims these kind of dinners are fine by him, in fact, I kind of think he prefers them every now and then...which makes me wonder why I bother slaving over, good to me, food? But you know, he also claims to like those dinners, too, so clearly I married a far from picky eater, which I appreciate.

Today I decided I could do more than open a box of pasta and dumb it into boiling water, although, I don't know if you can really consider a crock pot meal anymore difficult? Regardless of the level of difficulty, I decided to whip up something delicious and totally healthy. Win win.

Have you ever tried cabbage rolls? Oh man, these things make me excited just thinking about them, yes they're that good, even if the name sounds less than so.

I think this recipe is from the Pioneer Woman, I'm not sure about that though, but thanks to having made them more than a handfull of times, my sisters and I have nearly perfected them. Today, I nailed it!

Ingredients:

-1 head of cabbage
-1 egg
-1 8oz can of tomato sauce
-1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
-1 envelope lipton onion soup mix
-1 lb lean ground turkey
-1 bag broccoli slaw (optional)
-1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (I just use whatever cheese I have on hand, and I always add extra)
-2 cups regular V8 juice (I usually use at least 3, I like them saucy)

Directions:
-Core cabbage and carefully remove large leaves-steaming leaves in the microwave for a few minutes makes them a lot easier to work with.
-In a bowl mix the egg, tomato sauce, rice, onion soup mix, turkey, broccoli slaw and cheese together until you have a gloppy soupy mixture.
-Scoop 1/3 cup of mixture into each of the cabbage leaves and place in crock-pot seam side down
-Stack rolls if necessary.
-Pour V8 juice over rolls and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.

My sisters and I have always paired these with mashed potatoes and used the sauce from the rolls as a gravy. Seriously delicious!

And no, this isn't turning into a cooking blog, don't worry, we already have one of those, but sometimes I feel like good recipes just need to be shared.

Pumpkin Seeds

Due to popular demand, ok, just two people asking, but two was enough for me, I figured I'd post the recipe I used to roast our pumpkin seeds. They were so delicious it didn't even take us an entire day to finish them off.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:
2 cups washed and dried pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp melted butter
Seasoning salt to taste (be generous here)

I remember my mom laying our pumpkin seeds out to dry over night, and if you have patience that's a good approach. However, I don't have that kind of patience, so, I stucked the washed seeds in a bowl, placed them in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and they dried out perfectly.

Heat oven to 265 degrees.
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl, and coat seeds until covered.
Line seeds on a cookie sheet and place in preheated oven for one hour, stirring occasionally until, crisp and golden brown.

Yum, and they tasted just like I remembered from when I was a kid.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think of it. I personally think this is the best way to roast pumpkin seeds.  In fact, we both want to carve pumpkins again just to make another batch of seeds to munch on.

Alakazam-a-kazoo

After a Panda Express run Friday night, (why my hubby loves Panda over real chinese I will never know) we picked up our pumpkins and got to work:

And it took us into the wee hours of the night to create thess:

I think the last time I carved a pumpkin I was in high school, but thanks to stencils the skills came back instantly!

And then we toasted pumpkin seeds, and I've decided that's the best part of carving pumpkins. A little worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt and butter never tasted so good!

Halloween Treats

Last night at Activity Days, the girls and I got our craft on and made some Halloween goodies.
What would I do without blogs giving me all of my ideas?

I got this idea for Frankenstein pudding cups:

Here is the girls version:

I think theirs turned out cuter than the original. 

And then we made witch hats with Kisses and Keebler Fudged Stripped cookies:

I think the activity was a hit, and not just because they got to make something fun, but because their creation was edible. I'm pretty sure the girls all left on a sugar high. And I'm sure their parents just love me on these nights.

Why I love my husband, part 2

Part 1 can be found here. Unfortunately, these awesome dreams haven't happened in awhile. Maybe that means he's due for another episode soon. We can only hope, right?

Part 2:

A man cleaning the bathroom. A rare, but welcomed occurrence. When I did't feel like cleaning the bathroom, he got right to it and cleaned every nook and cranny until it "shine[d] like the top of the Chrysler Building." Yeah, I married a good one.

Sunday Breakfast

Image source

Sundays are the one day I occasionally make a good breakfast around here. Usually it's cereal, in a baggie, that we munch on, on our way to school/work. But with church at 2pm on Sunday's, I have plenty of time, and quite frankly, I just want something to do to help pass the time. So, delicious breakfast it is.

Hawaiian Coffee Cake is an old family favorite that was discovered years and years ago when my siblings and I thought we would be nice one Mother's Day and make our mom breakfast. This recipe was discovered, and it's stuck with us ever since. It's definitely a family favorite.

I just tried scanning the internet for this recipe and I couldn't find this exact one, so, consider yourself lucky I'm sharing this with you. It's quite possible that this will be the most amazing breakfast, or at least coffee cake, you will ever have. That is, if you're a pineapple and coconut kind of person.

Hawaiian Coffee Cake:
1 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 8-oz. crushed pineapple
1 egg
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c. coconut

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add pineapple, egg and 1/3 c. butter. Stir to mix.
Spread into an 8"x8" baking pan which has been coated with shortening or cooking spray.
Blend coconut, brown sugar and butter.
Spring over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes.

Yum! 

Drivers license exam

Not my license...in case you weren't sure.

Who checks when their drivers license is about to expire? Definitely not me, and definitely not John. When we flew home to Utah a few weeks ago, the lady at the airport informed us that both of our licenses (remember, same birthday) were going to expire the very next day. Awesome.

We figured it was pretty perfect we were flying to Utah right as our licenses were expiring, we'd just renew them when we got home. Well, little did either of us realize, Utah changed it's policies, you have to renew in person, and you have to have document after document after document just to do so. Document after document which were safely tucked away back in Oklahoma.

A fun little fact, in both states, an expired license means you get to take the written exam all over again. You know, the exam you took just to get your permit, before you were cool enough to drive without your parents? Yeah, the one I haven't taken in over 10 years. Double awesome.

Eleven days since our licenses expired, I finally (wo)maned up enough to call and find out what was really required for us to get new licenses in Oklahoma. We figured it was finally time to convert. For me, I'd have to take the written exam all over again. Ha, I laughed at this thought. For John, he's military, so of course he'd get to slide by. What the what?!

This was not ok with me.

So, I called Utah, pleaded my case, explained the situation, and wouldn't you know it, Utah has compassion on not just the individual in the military, but their spouse, too. Oh, glorious, happy day. We can now keep our expired license (for five more years if we wanted) until we're able to renew them. Oh Utah, how I love you just a little bit more right now.

Being part of the military/government, ALWAYS pays off.

Moral of the story, join the military, you get excused from everything! Or, better yet, pay attention to kind of important things to avoid unnecessary hassles, it might be worth it...unless you like the thought of taking silly exams.

Truth

Conference weekend, our real reason for heading home. Seeing family, celebrating our birthday's, cheap airfare, and enjoying the fall weather were just perks to our visit to Utah. Thankfully, our next visit home isn't another year away, just six weeks! I don't like saying I miss Utah, but after being gone for over a year, miss Utah I did. Shocking and weird!

Our last night home we finally got to hang out with some of John's family. And of course, wherever we go, John always has to practice his dentistry. Hopefully that means he'll make the big bucks be a really good dentist in the near future! Nothing like practicing on his niece and nephews. I'm thinking his brother should reconsider his field of work, he looks like a pro!

Just six more weeks and then we'll be back home, enjoying the cold weather that is Utah. I heard it snowed two days after we left. Sick!

Falling

If there's one thing, aside from family and being lazy at home, that I miss about Utah, it's the mountains. Mainly the mountains in the fall time, because I'm pretty sure, this is the prettiest time of year there.

Oh, and my mom's overly excited attitude for having her kids home who will actually take pictures with her. That's something I always miss, too. 

Birthday parties are still cool

When isn't a themed birthday party cool? If you're thinking when you turn 26 and 28, think again. This year, my mom threw John and I an 'under the sea' birthday party, and I'm pretty sure no 26 or 28 year old has ever had quite the spread as we had.

Point in case:

 Shark watermelon anyone?
 

 Octopus hotdog.

 And just a shark cake, no biggie.

And that's what happens when you tell your mom you want fish for dinner. Yes, she totally outdid herself, and that's just one of the millions of reasons my mother is ah-mazing! How I love that lady. Thanks mom for making our day so fabulous!