New Years Eve Tree

To take the tree down or leave it up? Some take it down right away after Christmas is over, some keep it up until January. Last year we started a new tradition in our home. Ornaments come off the tree and balloons, hats, and streamers go on! 

Make this a new tradition for your home!

My Surgery

I had my surgery 1 week ago on Jully 11. I am not quite ready to publically admit my weight at time of surgery but I know at some point I will be. I had my surgery at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC at the hands of the amazing Dr. Enochs. I was scheduled for 3:05pm and couldn't believe the day had finally come. 

The process to get me to that point was not an easy one. I first had to have the ok from my primary care manager (PCM) and have them submit a referral (Hubby (Dan) is military and we have TriCare Prime). From there I set up an appointment with the bariatric clinic and we discuss surgery possibilities. I chose to have a full gastric bypass versus a sleeve or a lapband. From there it took over a year worth of tests, blood work, X-rays, EKG, endoscopy, ultrasounds, and more! This is major surgery and they want to make sure your body is up for it. 

Going through all the steps is very time consuming and very stressful. I had many breakdowns along the way from dealing with Dr appointments or arguing with insurance companies. I'm sure there are people out there that had it much easier and I'm sure people had it worse. But, I will tell you that I literally cried tears of joy when my surgery was finally scheduled! I felt such an accomplishment of all I had done to get myself to that point. 

My surgery took around 2 hours, after which Dr. Enochs came and told Dan how it went. I spent about 2 hours in a recovery room and then finally to my hospital room where Dan was finally able to see me. I don't remember most of this.  The only pain I could sense when I finally came to was gas pains in my chest which is normal but painful. Burping helped a lot as did walking once I was able to a couple hours later. They do not waste time getting you up and walking! I will suggest bringing flip flops or easy to slip on shoes for this as you will not be able to bend down! 

I will have another post soon(ish) so watch out for it and thank you for joining me on my journey!

My Gastric Bypass Journey

I am scheduled to have gastric bypass surgery on July 11, 2014. I decided I am going to blog about my journey. I was going to start an entire new blog but then realized there was no need. This surgery will be a fresh start and change how I eat, therefore changing how I cook. 

This is me. Of course not my everyday look, this was after a local stage performance that I was a part of. I'm part of a local theatre group and it is something I love very deeply. I started acting, dancing, and singing at a young age and have just started with my current theatre group last year after taking many years off due to us being stationed where there weren't local opportunities. 

I currently weigh in the mid-200's, am 5'4", and am 32 years old. I have struggled with weight most of my life but it got much harder after I had my children (now aged 9 and almost 8), and even worse after my hysterectomy in January 2013. It was a long process getting approved for the surgery but now it's right around the corner and I couldn't be more excited!

I invite you to join me on my journey as I get a fresh start on my life and my health. I am asking for no negativity on my blog and any poor behavior will not be put up with. 

All Natural Orange Cleaner

I had heard about this and wanted to try it but always threw my orange peels out before I remembered to do it! We have a bag of mini oranges we bought last week so I decided now was the time! I peeled the oranges and put them into individual snack baggies, took the peels and placed them in a canning jar, then filled the jar with vinegar. In 2 weeks I will have an all natural, non-toxic cleaner for my home! So excited, I can't wait to start using it!

White Chicken Enchiladas (My 2012 Christmas Enchiladas)

We don't do a "traditional" Christmas dinner here. We decided a few years ago that we wanted to eat something we really enjoyed on Christmas and since we are a military family, many years it has just been the 4 of us for holiday meals. Enchiladas are one of our favorite meals and I have a few recipes I like to go between. This year I decided to try a new one that I had found on Pinterest. I was extremely happy with this recipe and will be adding it to our list of go-to enchiladas!

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (add spices of your choice when cooking your chicken)

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Oven Baked Tacos

So, I've been on a really big Pinterest kick for quite some time now and I don't see it coming to an end any time soon! I love trying new recipes, I try to make at least one new thing per week. That's how I've always been since my husband and I got married 10 years ago and Pinterest in just feeding my addiction! A lot of my recipes I'll be posting are ones I have tried from Pinterest. I don't know protocol for giving props to the original poster so I'm just gonna say Pinterest is where I got it from and now here it is on my blog! Boom, done!


I will usually always try any recipe that has to do with Mexican food. I don't know if it's from growing up in Southern California or just my love for carb filled, cheesy goodness but I just love it. I had to try this recipe out because it looked amazing and is a fairly easy recipe! I was right on both counts and this is something I will be making again!

Oven Baked Taco Shells

Working with 6 tortillas at a time, wrap in a barely damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on High until steamed, about 30 seconds. Lay the tortillas on a clean work surface and coat both sides with cooking spray. Then carefully drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. Bake at 375°F until crispy, 7 to 10 minutes.

These turned out better than any premade taco shell I have EVER eaten! I will be making all of my hard taco shells from now on!

Baked Tacos

• 2 lbs ground beef (I prefer turkey)
• 1 can refried beans (low fat to make it slightly easier on the thighs)
• 15 ounce tomato sauce
• 1 pkg taco seasoning or 2-3 Tablespoons of your own concoction
• 2 cups shredded cheese 
• 18-20 hard taco shells 
• Your favorite taco toppings (Guacamole is always a must for us)

Brown ground beef. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.
Spoon mixture into taco shells.
Place filled shells into a sprayed 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

Done. Easy. Amazing. You're welcome.

Knock-off Frappuccino

I found this recipe and decided to try it out since I am pretty much a coffee addict. It tastes just like a certain brand name that comes in a glass bottle! ;) Change it up with different flavored coffee and creamers!

10 cups of coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamer of your preference

Pumpkin Dessert Squares

This is one of my favorite fall recipes, I have to say it's even better than pumpkin pie!

Ingredients

1 box (18 oz. size) Yellow Cake Mix, Divided
1 whole Egg, Lightly Beaten
½ cups Butter, Melted
1 cup Sugar, Divided
2 teaspoons Cinnamon, Divided
½ teaspoons Ginger
¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Canned Pumpkin
⅔ cups Evaporated Milk
2 whole Eggs
¼ cups Cold Butter, Diced

Directions

This recipe has three parts, a crust, a filling and a topping. Before you start anything, preheat your oven to 350F, and get out a 13×9 pan.

For the crust:
Reserve 1 cup of the cake mix for the topping. Pour remaining cake mix into a bowl, then stir in the one beaten egg and the 1/2 cup of melted butter until the mixture is well combined. Press evenly into the 13×9 pan and set aside.

For the filling:
Combine 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, the ginger, cloves, salt, pumpkin, evaporated milk and 2 eggs together. Using a whisk, stir until smooth. Pour over the crust.

For the topping:
Stir together the 1 cup of reserved cake mix, and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut in the 1/4 cup of butter dice using a pastry blender or a fork. Sprinkle evenly over the filling.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow to cool completely, cut into bars, and serve! I like to top mine with whipped cream!

Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole

Whipped sweet potatoes or yams are one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes! I used canned yams this year to make it just a bit easier on myself since this was my first year doing Thanksgiving and there was a total of 11 people here! I doubled the recipe so I could make sure that I'd have plenty of leftovers!

Ingredients

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peel and cubed (or the canned equivalent)

2 tablespoons orange juice

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter, cubed

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

In a large saucepan cook sweet potatoes in salted water over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, or until done. Drain, and add orange juice, brown sugar, nutmeg and butter. Whip until smooth. Spread into a medium size casserole dish and top with marshmallows.

Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until marshmallows are golden brown.

Crockpot Mac & Cheese

On Thanksgiving day, I found my daughter sneaking out of the kitchen with a mouth full of food. I told her to take me in and show me what she was eating since her mouth was too full to tell me. I'm expecting her to point out the pumpkin squares or the apple dumplings but she walks to the crockpot and points to the mac & cheese! She asked if she could have more and I told her it was time for dessert and she said she would rather have the mac & cheese. She is a mac & cheese addict and says this is her favorite mac & cheese ever. This coming from the child that returned her mac & cheese to the kitchen at a very popular diner in California stating that it wasn't good enough for her, lol. Yeah, I have my hands full!

I am a firm believer that if you have a crockpot recipe, you shouldn't have to cook something before putting it into the crockpot! That takes the convenience out of it and requires me to do actual work, lol! I had done an internet search for crockpot mac & cheese and this was one of the very few recipes I found in which you didn't have to pre-cook the noodles. I've made this twice now and have to say it is my favorite mac & cheese recipe, crockpot or not!

Ingredients

Cooking oil spray

2 1/2 cups milk

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions

Spray the pot of the slow cooker or if using a liner bag, spray the bag well.  In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporated milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot.  Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.  

Turn slow cooker on low and cook 3-4 hours, or until the macaroni is tender. I stir it every hour and then every 20-30 minutes the last hour it is cooking so it doesn't start to crisp around the sides. Do not let it cook over 4 hours. Serve immediately. 

Candy-Cookie Turkeys

I was seeing these everywhere so I decided to do them. I must note that you must use the Double-Stuf and not the regular Oreos so the candy corns fit in without breaking the cookies! The frosting on the head was a bit tricky I'm not posting a recipe because it's quite obvious how they're made just by looking at them. Only thing I forgot to do was out the tip of the candy corn on as the nose, oops!

Maple Bacon Roast Turkey (aka best turkey ever!)

This was my first year in over 10 years of marriage that I not only hosted Thanksgiving at my home but I also cooked my first turkey! I'm big about sticking to traditional food for Thanksgiving but I'm always up for traditional with a twist! While wasting some time on the internet the other day, I ran across a picture of a bacon-covered turkey. Now, my family loves anything and everything to do with bacon so I knew this was a must! I checked out a few recipes online and picked a few things about each and went for it while adding my own take along the way.

                                                   

 Ingredients

12-14 pound turkey

1 pound bacon

1 cup maple syrup (can add more for preference)

1 apple, quartered

1 onion, quartered

salt and pepper to taste

stuffing (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash turkey well under cold running water. Pat dry. Remove innards from cavity. Tuck wings underneath body. 

Season skin and cavity of the turkey generously with salt and pepper, including the backside. Place the quartered apple and onion in the seasoned cavity. Add optional stuffing at this point. Using a brush, paint the turkey breast, thighs and legs with some of the maple syrup. 

Lay the bacon across the turkey, covering the entire breast, thighs and legs so that no skin shows through. Use toothpicks to hold the bacon in place if necessary.

Make an aluminum foil "tent" and place it on top of the turkey. Position turkey, on a rack, in a roasting pan with 1/2 cup pf water, and place in the preheated 400 degree F oven. Immediately lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for about 3 1/2 hours, basting the turkey with pan drippings and maple syrup every 30 minutes. Add water 1/2 cup at a time to the drippings if you're not getting enough for the basting.

In the last half hour, remove the crisp bacon (save for gravy or enjoy as a snack of the best bacon you have ever had). Baste the turkey one more time with maple syrup. Continue to roast until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees in the thigh or 170 degrees in the breast. 

Remove pan from oven and allow the turkey to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

This is the only picture I took of the turkey when it was done and the bacon is already off of it, sorry! My sexy man carving up the turkey!

Apple Cider Sangria

I love having Martinelli's for Thanksgiving dinner, it's pretty much a tradition in our house. This year I'm actually doing a homemade Martinelli's since we are on a budget and I am very excited about how it will turn out!

Now, I decided the adults needed a drink of their own this year! I have now been married 10 years and this will be the first year I've eve done Thanksgiving at my house, cooked a turkey, the whole shebang! Most of our married Thanksgivings have been spent at the fire station as my husband spends about half his time there! I am very excited about hosting for the first time! We have a wonderful family we are great friends with that are joining us and our neighbors will be joining us for dessert (and probably more drinks)! I have decided that an apple cider sangria was the way to go for the adults! I doubled the recipe for the amount of people we will be having join us (and the amount I plan on consuming alone, lol)!

Apple Cider Sangria

Ingredients
1 standard size bottle of pinot grigio (any white wine will work but the flavors work well with this one)
2 1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup club soda
1/2 cup brandy
2 apples
2 pears

I started by using my apple corer/slicer on my apples and my pears. Make sure you pick out any seeds that are left over in the slices. Combine everything together and stir it up. I like to make my sangrias a couple days in advance so the fruit has enough time to add their flavor to the drink and also has enough time to soak up the alcohol!

Enjoy and please remember to drink responsibly!

Celebrating and Savoring a Simple Christmas [Kindle Edition]

Money Saving Mom ( http://moneysavingmom.com ) has a new ebook out called Celebrating and Savoring a Simple Christmas. The Kindle edition is on sale until Thursday on amazon for $0.99!  You can find it here: Amazon Kindle Edition

In this book you'll learn how to:

• Organize your Christmas list
• Make and stick with a Christmas budget
• Freezer cook for the holidays
• Make memorable family activities
• Make simple and inexpensive homemade gifts
• Get your home in order
• Savor the meaning of the season
• Balance your desire to create and bake with the need for rest and reflection
• Connect with your loved ones without spending a fortune

…and much more.

Purchasing this ebook also gives you access to beautiful ,printable worksheets to make your holiday planning even easier!

Mac & Cheese Spooky Eyeballs

These were a first time recipe for this years Halloween party and they were super yummy! The kids absolutely loved the fact that it was mac & cheese they could pick up with their fingers! Adults liked them, too! Estimated Times Preparation Time: 20 mins Cooking Time: 30 mins Cooling Time: 30 mins refrigerating Servings: 18 eyeballs Ingredients 1 box macaroni & cheese 1 cup plain bread crumbs Sliced olives Directions PREPARE macaroni & cheese according to package directions. Cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes. PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheet lightly with nonstick cooking spray. PLACE bread crumbs in a shallow dish. SHAPE macaroni & cheese into 1 ½-inch balls; cover completely with prepared bread crumbs. Place balls on prepared baking sheet. Place one olive slice on center of each ball. BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through.

Devils on Horseback

I found this recipe through a Google search while trying to decide what to make for my Halloween party and decided to try them out. They were a hit at my party and were all gone within the first hour! I made them again for a wine tasting I went to last night and again, they were gone very quickly! I have been asked and asked to please post the recipe, so here you go! Ingredients 24 pitted prunes (I but the pre-ppitted ones) 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese 12 strips of bacon, cut in half crosswise Preparation Note: I bake mine on a cooking stone but you can use other options, I am just a devoted stoneware user. ;) 1. Preheat broiler to high. Soak 24 toothpicks in a small bowl of water for 15 minutes. 2. Push in center of pitted prune almost making it into a bowl shape. Place a small amount of cheese in center of each prune. Wrap each prune with bacon, securing with toothpick. 3. Broil for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway through.

I LOVE Halloween!

We are having our annual Halloween party this coming Saturday and so I started going hardcore on the decorating this week! I'm not showing everything just yet but I did want to give a little sneak peek. Yes, the picture was taken with my iTouch so the quality isn't great but I still love it! I told my DH that my inspiration for my decorating is the Haunted Mansion; scary yet classy. I'm not a fan of gore but I don't want super happy, cheesey decorations, either. I do have my Disney stuff but that stuff usually decorates my kitchen, I keep the living room decor in my "Haunted Mansion" vision.

What is your Halloween decorating style? Go to my blog's facebook page and post some pics of what you've got going on this year!

I Love My Firefighter

This last week my husband was in a firefighting competition for the United States Air Force Europe teams. His team came in 2nd and I was so proud to be there to cheer them on and I got some great pictures! Enjoy!

Hot Artichoke Parmesan Dip

This is one super dooper easy recipe that I am constantly asked for when I make it for parties and I am requested to bring it many times!

what you need 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese 1 cup Mayonnaise 1 clove garlic, minced make it HEAT oven to 350ºF. MIX first 4 ingredients. SPOON into shallow ovenproof dish or 9-inch pie plate. BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until hot and bubbly.

The Big 3-0!

Yep, it finally happened for me. I am no longer a 20-something and am oddly enough more okay with it than I thought I would be. I believe I know myself better than I did at 20 and I am happy with my life, where as at 20, I was still very lost and confused. I'm not saying I have everything together because I am far from perfect, but, I am happy. Entering this new era of my life I am hoping to grow and learn more then I ever have before and I am very excited about it! Here's a couple pics from my birthday party this last weekend!

Aloha!


Me and my sexy hubby!


Jameson <3