Currently

My husband has been doing something he calls Schmidtzing. Basically when he starts to get angry at other drivers he yells at them as Schmidt. It is hilarious!

I've been trying to come up with a fun Christmas countdown calendar and can't come up with anything that I love. Most likely because I was spoiled with mine. My Aunt Connie would buy me 25 small gifts and wrap each one and number them. Each morning I got to open the gift numbered for that day. I loved it, I always felt so special and loved. Of course, I loved the gifts but the fact that she took the time and thought of me is what stands out in my memory. That's some big shoes to fill while I'm making one for my boys.

This is a game changer!

Date night with my honey tonight! Whoooo hoooo! Yeah, we need some time for us, badly!

Have you put your tree up yet? I normally have atleast one up by now buuuuuttttt I'm behind schedule. I plan on putting a couple up Thursday, maybe before, if I can swing it.

On the menu:
BBQ Salmon and Crispy Chickpea Salad with Greek Yogurt Ranch Drizzle
Thanksgiving
Canyon Creek Burger Copycat
Skinny Mint Chocolate Milkshakes

That's pretty much it. I've been more boring than normal this week.

Christmas Bucket List

I was inspired by this post. I love the idea of a Christmas Bucket List! The season always zooms by, and with a husband who works retail and is so busy this time of year, I feel like we miss out on some many opportunities for fun, memory making time. This is a great way I can do somethings with the boys and plan ahead so that the hubs can be there for the fun times. And this way, hopefully he can leave the rude customers, bad corporate decisions and decrees of extra tasks at work and just enjoy family and still enjoy the season instead of being filled with dread. Hopefully, our boys will look back on Christmas memories with fondness and love instead of remembering Daddy being exhausted and cranky. I am just like my Mom, we love, love, LOVE Christmas and that makes for an interesting combination this time of year but our boys bridge the gap for celebrating. For me its about love, spending time together and and intangible magic that happens but after a decade in retail he almost lost that. He changed his views when our oldest son was born and I work every year to make sure he doesn't become a Grinch. 

Here is our bucket list:

1. Watch Elf as a family while we drink hot chocolate and eat cookies
2. Make Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa
3. Help the boys make cards for friends and family
4. Watch Love Actually with the Mr. on date night
5. Put up 3 trees
6. Coordinate my gift wrap
7. Everyone gets new pjs on Christmas Eve
8. Make treats for my co-workers and the hubby's employees
9. Make treats for Caleb's Cubbies class
10. Make homemade fudge and caramels
11. Make hot chocolate on a stick for friends and family
12. Give myself a festive pedicure
13. Make and hang paper snowflakes with the boys
14. Make salt dough ornaments
15. Donate toys, clothes and food to charity
16. Hang light in the dining room and the boys bedroom
17. Drive around with hot chocolate and coffee looking for Christmas lights
18. Do portraits with Santa
19. Watch at least one other random cheesy Christmas movie
20. Make 1 gift for each kid
21. Make most of the gifts for our extended family
22. Make a Nativity with the boys
23. Make ornaments out of the boys art
24. Listen to Christmas music on the daily
25. Visit Rock City

What are your plans this season? Care to join in? I'll be sporadically posting about these actives and Instagraming them as well. 

Currently.

I am on the mend! I've been to a Dr for a couple of my medical issues and I am beginning to feel more like myself! I've been on antibiotics for Bronchitis and I'm being monitored for my blood pressure problems. I have a few other things I need to figure out before I can say I'm 100% where I want to be.

Also...
*** HAPPY DANCE BREAK***
I lost 20 pounds over the past year! That doesn't sound like a lot, but as hard as I have struggled to lose anything, it is a major accomplishment! I've stayed away from scales, because I wanted to focus on how I felt and looked but, they weighed me at at the doctor's office and until then I had no idea how much I actually lost.

My being so sick the past couple of weeks made me realize, I really need to teach my husband a few easy dishes that we normally have the ingredients for. He can make quesadillas like a pro and make a basic breakfast, but, that is about it. He and I both have been planning on him learning a few of my recipes, but after resorting to take out and fast food, while I was just too weak or dizzy to stand for long periods of time, makes me realize we need to get on that ASAP! Especially when we are on a mission to save a major amount of money and payoff most, if not all debts over 2014, something like that can throw a major kink in your budget. Plus, eating out will wreck you diet and give your kids little to no nutritional items! Anyone have any healthy and delicious beginner friendly meals? I'd love some suggestions!

I'm obsessed with this Christmas Bucket List! I'm making my own, probably to be post about later.

I've also started making some homemade Christmas gifts for this year. Here are some from last year. I love giving gifts, not over top crazy forget the reason for Christmas greedy gifts, but, I love giving something special and meaningful to people. Like, when my Brother-in-law realized he found his one and only soul mate and proposed on Christmas Eve, we bought them a silver ornament with "Our First Christmas" and the date engraved on it. It was also a locket for them to put a picture of the that night in it. That kind of gift is something that they will have on their tree for years and will always love. Things like homemade extract and spice rubs to the other food loving people in my family. And, of course we are making ornaments for the grandparents again this year because how sweet is that? Something that will remind them that we care when the use it or look at it. There are tons of suggestions on Pinterest.

On the menu this week:
Vanilla Salt
DIY Chocolate Coconut Sugar Scrub
Homemade Sriracha
French Silk Pie ON A STICK!!!
Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza
Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Crockpot Pulled Pork Chili

One last thing, well actually two things. What do you think of the "Pin It" buttons on all of the photos? Do my links on the top and sides of the page work/appear for you? I like the "Pin It" option but I know some find it distracting so I'd love to hear what you think. And, I can no longer see my link but if I scroll over where they should be, they work. Not sure what's going on there but I do need to know if I need to fix them.

Last, last thing I swear. What are you planning this weekend? I'm working at my real job and doing monds and mounds of dishes and laundry that I got behind on. Maybe some crafting if I have time.

Thanksgiving for 4

   This year we are keeping it simple. Thanksgiving is going to be just the four of us. The mister works in retail, therefore he has an early morning coming the next day so driving and eating multiple places makes for a stressful day for us knowing we have to be back home and in bed early. This year he may be opening at midnight so which means he needs to sleep when we would normally be eating dinner. So, me being the control freak I am, made the executive decision to stay home. I'm roasting a turkey breast and making a creamy tomato gravy. Being that we are southern, we always have dressing instead of stuffing, but this year I decided to skip it and make a cheesy squash polenta instead. I'm making mac and cheese for the little picky fellow. We are adding mashed parsnips in our our mashed potatoes and I am roasting our sweet potatoes instead of making them into a casserole. For something green we are having roasted citrus balsamic brussels sprouts instead of green bean casserole. I just found a recipe for homemade jellied cranberry sauce, that's a must! And, I'll be making whole wheat spoon rolls. I haven't decided on desserts for sure but I'm thinking a caramel apple galette and maybe a french silk pie. Yum! I'm planning for lots of leftovers to send with him to work that night/next morning, a full employee is a happy employee! 

    I am so looking forward to our little family Thanksgiving! The kids will probably still be wearing their pjs and I'll be in yoga pants, I'm sure but I don't care as long as I spend the day with my three favorite reasons to be thankful! What are you planning for you day of thanks? 

Nutella Cheesecake Brownies Sprinkled with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

 I made these for the, girls only crafty retreat, my mom and I usually go to twice a year. It is always a perfect combination of girl talk, crafting, relaxation, bad chick flicks, mostly from the 80s and tons of food. These brownies are based from my favorite brownie recipe, from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess, which also happens to be one of my favorite cookbooks. This recipes makes a large amount of brownies, not only do you use a 13x9 pan but they're thick too, so don't freak out when you realize you need 3 sticks of butter and half a dozen eggs. I usually cut them fairly small because they're so rich and fudgy this time I cut them larger than normal and got about two dozens brownies. I also made the "Elvis Blondies" that have been rolling around in my head but I think they need some serious tweaking before I commit to a recipe just yet. 

   We had a few brownies left since we had a massive amount of food as usual. In sweets alone we had these brownies and my blondies along with some butter pecan cookies that were delicious and addictive, a sinful chocolate cake with coffee filling, chocolate butter cream and chocolate ganache, banana pudding that was so light and creamy, grabbed that recipe up, some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, stole that recipe too, and guava and cream cheese empanadas that were redonkulously good. That was just the sweets, don't even get me started on the hearty stew, chips, onion dip, AREPAS, got that recipe too, HOLLA, muffins, bagels, veggies and Mediterranean salad that I need that recipe for, so good! Its amazing we weren't sick from gorging ourselves. So needless to say I had some brownie leftovers that I sent to work the mister, mostly to keep me from eating them ALL. According to what I heard back, his employees LOVED them too, like rolled their eyes back in their head and started muttering things, that kind of good. I highly recommend you make these for someone with a sweet tooth or for a chocoholic, they will be indebted to you for life! 

Adapted from: Nigella Lawson's Birthday Brownies

1/4 cup Nutella

1 1/2 cup butter (3 sticks)

14 oz super dark (but not unsweetened) chocolate, chopped

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup semi sweet mini chips or chopped hazelnuts

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup Nutella

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon Pink Himalayan Sea Salt (or any type of Sea Salt, preferably a coarse grain)

Preheat over to 350° F. Butter and 9x13 baking pan and line with parchment paper. In a medium to large sauce pan, melt, Nutella, butter and chocolate over medium heat. Once melted remove from heat. In a separate bowl whisk together vanilla, eggs and sugar. Stir egg mixture, flour and chocolate chips or nuts into sauce pan. Pour batter into prepared pan and set aside. In another bowl, (I would recommend using a mixer here) whisk, cream cheese, Nutella and sugar together until smooth. Spoon medium sized dollops over the surface of the brownie batter and swirl with a knife and sprinkle on sea salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until mostly firm but not totally set.Allow to cool before slicing. Makes a maximum of 48 small brownies or 24 large brownies.

Currently.

Beef Tongue Tacos is where it's at!

Sorry I missed last weeks post. I was running around like a crazy woman packing at the time I would have normally been writing. And I'm sorry I haven't posted this past week and that I'm three days late with this weeks post, I have the plaque. Well, it's not the plaque but it feels like it. The husband took a sick day so he could take me to the ER, we actually decided to go to the CVS Minute Clinic, and I'm glad we did, I was in and out within an hour and had my prescriptions filled while I waited, which meant I came home and slept the rest of the day. Apparently if I had waited until Monday like I planned I would have been an much worse shape, the nurse was shocked I didn't have pneumonia, yikes! I also learned my blood pressure was waaaaaayyyyy up, which coupled with this sinus infection and some of the other issues I have been having explains why I'm so exhausted all the time and why I have been having some serious vertigo problems. I'm way too young to be feeling this bad and honestly, we eat pretty healthy around here so I'm confused as to what's going on. I feel like I'm getting too complainy, yes, I did just make that up. So I'll just say, that I'm sorry if my posts get kind of sporadic, I just have too much on my plate right now.

My little sister, who shares my brain when it comes to food, recently made those tacos pictured at the top. She made them with beef tongue and I know some of you are thinking, what, the what is she talking about, or that's gross, but they were delicious! And, beef tongue is a normal part of the cow to consume in many parts of the world and apparently, even here in the states but it's just not as common. She also made the tortillas too. She's kind of a power house in the kitchen, she just doesn't know it yet.

I'm dying to either starting redoing our house or find a new place. It's all because of things like this kitchen, or this kitchen, or this bedroom. I guess I'll be working rearranging and doing some cheap up dates after Christmas until we decide what the future holds. Maybe it's all because I've watched a trillion episodes of Color Splash this week, while I layed around and trying to heal myself with my brain powers.

I planned to do a Halloween re-cap for y'all but didn't get great shots so for the time being this will have to do.

Caleb in his amazing Jack Skellington costume and throwing up the rock fist, cause, ya know, he's awesome!
Liam the little Minion. He's never likes hats but he wore the glasses and hat for almost an hour before he realized it was there. I threw together a Minnie Mouse costume out of things I already had. My poor husband didn't have time to come up with anything and was too busy helping me get everything together for all of us that he got left out this year. I think I want to do a family costume next year. I'll have to get all my boys on board though.

One the menu this week:
These adorable mini chocolate chip cookies
Carrot Coconut Soup
Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Pizza
Crockpot Pulled Pork Chilli
           

Booooolicious Cupcake Minis {Dark Chocolate Dipped, Marshmallow Ghost Topped, Mini, Black Velvet Cupcakes}

Better late than never, right? These cupcakes were supposed to be up last week buuuuut I didn't get them done until this morning. I was going to finish them last night but at 10 pm, just as I was about to head into the kitchen, I felt the sudden urge to dress as Minnie Mouse for Halloween and scrambled around the house looking for costume pieces. Anyway, back to the cupcakes, I love love love these and they are delicious. This is my absolute favorite frosting to make and eat. And the ganache is so decadent tasting. It may look like a cute kiddie cupcake but it tastes like a grown up treat! My boys are all kinds of excited for trick or treating and I still have a LOT to do, so let's get to it!

For the Black Velvet Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cup a/p flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup hot coffee (I used hot water and a tablespoon of instant coffee)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill you mini muffin pan with liners and set aside. In a large bowl, but not the bowl for your mixer, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In the bowl for your mixer add, sugars and butter and mix well. Add you eggs and vanilla, mix for 1 minute on medium speed. Stir in your dry ingredients until just moistened. Slowly drizzle in the coffee while mixing on medium-low speed. Scrape down sides and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Fill your cupcake pan up 2/3 of the way. Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool before dipping in ganache.
*Yields 4 dozen mini cupcakes.

For Black Chocolate Ganache:
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz half and half
a few drops of black gel food coloring

In a double boiler, heat all ingredients on low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and combined. Once smooth and glossy remove from heat. Dip the tops of the cooled cupcakes in, coating all visible cake.
*Roll in sprinkles if desired.
* I can not stress this enough, do NOT use black liquid food coloring

For the Marshmallow Frosting:
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl for your mixer, beat egg whites and salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar, continuously beating until soft peaks form. In small saucepan, heat corn syrup to boiling. Pour in thin stream over egg whites while beating on medium-high speed. Continue to beat until frosting is stiff. Beat in vanilla. Allow to cool slightly, fill a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe on frosting in tall peaks. 
*I used mini chocolate chips for the ghost's eyes.
*I would wait to top with the marshmallow within a couple hours of serving since the ghost like to lean. 

Slowcooker Korean Beef Tacos

   I've been making this recipe for awhile now. It is is similar to Bulgogi, but, not that similar. We love Bulgogi and even though I have someone's secret family recipe, (thanks Jess!) I still can't make mine taste like hers. But this recipe is close enough to get by and delicious too! I know my husband loves it as much as I do, but, of course Monkey isn't a fan of anything with red meat. We weren't sure about how well Doodlebug would like it but we decided he's a fan, considering he literally licked his plate clean. I mean, he actually picked up the plate and licked it until there was nothing left. I suppose I can forgive his poor table manners considering he is only 14 months old.

   This is the perfect thing to make when you're to busy to spend more than 20 minutes total on dinner. The prep is super easy and and the slaw is a cinch to throw together. And as a bonus, it's super hearty and filling. It has become a staple in the comfort food category for my family.

For the meat:

2 lb beef roast
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup diced pear or pear puree (I used a jar of left over pear baby food)
1/2 an onion, minced
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar (sometimes I use brown sugar)
1 teaspoon Sriracha

Whisk everything, except roast, together in a bowl or measuring cup, taste to make sure the flavors are balanced. Put roast in the bottom of slow cooker and pour the marinade over. Cook, covered, on low for approximately 8 hours. When the meat is tender and falls apart easily, pull the roast out and place on a cutting board. Allow your roast to rest for just a few minutes, once it has cooled enough to touch, shred the meat with two forks. Place the meat back in the crock pot and stirring to coat in the liquid. If there is more liquid than meat continue to cook, with the lid off, for about 15 minutes or, long enough, for the sauce to cook down and thicken. Serve with slaw and flour tortillas.
* It can go longer than 8 hours if your schedule requires.

For the slaw:

1/2 head of cabbage shredded
2 tablespoons mayo
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons honey
salt to tast

Whisk the mayo, juice and honey together in a large bowl. Add in your cabbage and toss to coat. Season with salt. Serve along with the meat and tortillas.
*Make this just before serving. It gets soggy if it sets too long.