30 before 30- How did I do?

I turned 30 on Christmas day, so I guess my time limit is up for finishing my 30 before 30 list. Not to give away the ending or anything, but if this was a class assignment, I would probably get an F. Actually, I would give  "redo" since I don't really give F's in my classes. When I wrote my list, I didn't really put a lot of thought into it. Add that to the fact I gave myself a little over 4 months to get it all done, I sort of set myself up for that grade. Anywho... here we go:

1. Vegas with my hubby! I still owe you all a post on this trip. So fun!

2. Finish another 1/2 Marathon Holiday Half December 11, 2011
3. Sew something that I am not embarrassed of- I never got around to posting about this, and now it seems a little weird to, but I made some Christmas pillows for our couch. They turned out cute though. Trust me on this
4. Reupholster something   Love my office chair!
5. Create a gallery wall- fail
6. Frame & display wedding pictures- fail. ( I almost tried to say I did it, because I printed and framed a couple pictures for my mother in law for Christmas.)
7. Lose some weight.- I think this is a fail. I haven't been on the scale in a while. But, I have decided I should figure out another way to measure a health goal. A friend of mine set a goal for hours working out for 2012, last year her goal was to finish 500 miles. These are great ways to measure this type of goal, without being a slave to the scale.
8. Go vegan for a week- Check
9. Cook a new recipe once a week- I did pretty good at this and it was fun
10. Let people know about this little blog and get some followers
11. Continue blogging 4-7 posts a week- Again I did pretty good, until this last couple of weeks.
12. Clean out the spare room (formally wedding room, now disaster room) Check It has now began to morph into a craft/sewing room
13. Paint the hall and bedroom- fail
14. Get a make-over and buy some of those products- fail
15. Send Christmas cards- Woop woop! This was my first year ever sending Christmas cards. I really wish I would have done it last year for our first married Christmas.
16. No fast food for a month Check
17. Take a necklace I inherited from my gramma in to have some links added- fail. I was really mad at myself for this because I wanted to wear it in Vegas.
18. Do something from my pinterest boards- done like 9 times over
19. Get a massage- so I bought a Groupon. Does that count?
20. Do a version of Stephanie O'Dea's Daily 7- nope
21. Meal plan for three weeks straight and follow the plan! Much to the Mister's dismay, I heart meal planning.
22. Go see a movie by myself- I really meant to. I went to the Blockbuster kiosk and rented a couple movies to watch by myself.
23. Have my eyes checked. - Again, I should get this done
24. Get a new work ID (with my married name)- I filled out the paperwork, I even went into the office for it, but I never sent it in. Fail
25. Take a cooking class- This one I actually have a good reason for: there was never a class I wanted to take. I still really want to do this, and am still looking up the classes.
26. Send birthday cards in the mail, even to people I see regularly: I did okay at this. I give myself 75% credit.
27. Stay a week ahead at work: yes I did.
28. Floss: Funniest quote from our Vegas getaway: "You can't take a vacation from flossing." As the mister throws a package of floss at me in our hotel.
29. Put 10% in savings from each paycheck- yup
30. Roast a whole chicken- nope.

So there you have it. I'm working on a new set of goals right now for 2012. Many of my uncompleted goals are going on that new list.

How do you keep yourself accountable for goals?

Recipe Thursday: Breakfast Pizza

I've lost count at what number recipe this is. Oh well.

This recipe jumped out at me from Keeping Up With the Cyperts. Her blog is a fun little read and she has some yummy & easy recipes on it. This one jumped out at me because a) it was a fun twist on breakfast for dinner b) it only had 4 ingredients and c) I had all 4 ingredients. Perfect. (Her pictures are much better than mine)

Breakfast Pizza

1 Tube of Crescent Rolls
3 eggs
Sausage (we used chorizo)
Mozzarella Cheese

Take the crescent rolls out of the tube and arrange them into a half pizza shape on a cookie sheet. Curl up the edges to make the pizza crust.

Brown up your meat choice. Then whip up the eggs in a bowl.

Put the chorizo (or sausage or bacon) on the dough. Pour the eggs over the top then sprinkle with yummy cheese.



Bake in the oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is gooey.

How was it?

Yummy. The Mister and I both liked it and it was a fun and easy dinner. Did I mention it only had 4 ingredients?

Do you have any easy meals with just a few ingredients?

#8 Go Vegan For a Week- A Recap

I am done with my week of eating vegan, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts on my little challenge.

Source

First off, I am no expert. I did this for a week. That is nothing. If I were going to continue this, I would do a lot more research.

1. There are tons of really yummy looking vegan recipes/blogs out there. Hungry Hungry Hippie, Vegan Stoner, and Oh, She Glows were three that I will turn to again for more recipes.
2. I felt like I was eating a lot and not really getting full. I probably wasn't getting enough protein.
3. I really didn't like eating different meals than the Mister. He would try my vegan food, and then make something for himself. I have always thought of dinner time as family time, and even though we don't have any littles right now, I don't want to be in a habit of everyone eating different things.
4. It kind of put a small damper on social stuff. Food is social. Going out to dinner/coffee/happy hour is a social thing. I turned down a couple of social invites because I was unsure about what I would/could eat. I did end up going out twice in the week, and had to think really hard about what I would get before I went into the restaurant. Again, I only did this for a week. If this was a full life style change, this would get easier.
5. I became really aware about what I was eating. I was surprised about all of the milk in foods.
6. It completely cut down on my snacking, which is a good thing. AND the snacks I did end up eating were mostly fruits and veggies.
7. For the most part, this is a really healthy lifestyle, but there are a couple things that have a hard time grasping. The first is that honey in my tea is a no go, but technically I can have all the high fructose corn syrup and Diet Coke I want. That seems weird. It also is weird that Oreos are vegan-- sort of. Google it and you decide.

Probably one of the most asked questions I get from my friends/co-workers is will I continue? Well, no. But, I will continue making some of the vegan recipes that I had this week, and I will also try more recipes from the blogs.

Have you ever tried a diet or big change in your eating habits? Do you have different eating habits than your hubby/significant other? How does that work in your household?

Recipe Thursday: Vegan Spring Rolls and Peanut Sauce

Most of the vegan food I have been eating this week has been recipes from the Internet. Today's recipe is a little different. The sauce is a recipe that my friend's sister Christine sent me. Egg Spring rolls seemed like a yummy thing to dip in the sauce. I had never made egg spring rolls before, so I looked at a couple of recipes on the Internet and came up with this.

Vegan Spring Rolls and Peanut Sauce

There is a bunch of stuff in this pic that I didn't end up using:
avocado and red bell pepper. I also forgot the sugar and the oil
for the picture. Oops.

For the Sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 clove garlic minced
1 t sugar
1/2 lime juiced ( I had a small lemon)
1/2 t hot chili oil
2 t soy sauce
2 T warm water
cilantro (I forgot to use it)

Egg rolls
package of coleslaw mix
some tofu
egg roll wrappers- they are also called rice paper wrappers
garlic, soy sauce, canola oil



To make the sauce, whisk everything together. Taste it. Add more of what you want. Done. Simple and yummy.

To make the egg rolls, first I cut up the tofu into small pieces. This is the second time I have ever made tofu and I have no idea what I am doing with it. Tofu is weird. I then sauteed it in about a tablespoon of oil with some garlic and soy sauce.

After I was done mixing it around the pan mindlessly it was cooked through, I added the package of coleslaw mix and cooked it until the veggies started to get soft. I also thought about putting the red pepper in the mix, but I was too lazy to pull a knife out I decided not to.

Lay the wrapper down in a diamond. Then start to fill the rice paper wrappers with the veggie/tofu mixture. Fold in the sides and then roll the wrapper up. If I wasn't eating vegan I would have used an egg wash to seal the seam. So I mixed up some cornstarch and water to keep them closed. Repeat until out of stuff. I made 12 rolls.

Pile of egg spring rolls



I pan fried the rolls in a small amount of canola oil.

Pile of cooked egg spring rolls

Serve with the peanut sauce.

How was it?

I really liked these. I will be making these again for sure. They are cheaper and healthier than the deep fried egg rolls from the Chinese places. I may use bay shrimp or a small amount of ground chicken instead of the tofu. The sauce was pretty good. I have made a really yummy peanut sauce before, and I really like that recipe.

Do you have any recipes that you make instead of take out?

#8 Go Vegan For a Week: Day 2 &3

I have always considered myself a label reader. Before I buy a new food, I take a moment to look over the nutrition label to see what the fat, calories and nutrients are in the food. However, I don't usually look at the ingredient list. This little exercise is forcing me to look at the list and it is surprising to see what foods have hidden dairy products in them. My heart goes out the the lactose intolerant people out there (& mommas with lactose intolerant littles!) With that said here is the breakdown of my food for the last two days:

Monday

• Breakfast: bagel with avocado (A+++++) I love avocado. The end.
• Lunch: PB & AB sammy and apples
• Dinner: Vegan Pad Thai (B)- I kind of combined this recipe with one that my friend's sister sent me. The sauce was delish, but I overcooked the rice noodles. This also was my first attempt with tofu. Tofu is weird. The Mister was unimpressed. He ate leftover chicken.
• Snacks: lara bar, chips and salsa

best. salsa. ever.

Tuesday:

Today I took a little trip to Trader Joe's for some veganaise and vegan cheese. While their I got distracted by pretty much everything else. The vegan mayo is actually pretty tasty.

• Breakfast: Peach Rice Pudding: (A) Oh my word this was good. I used brown rice, because that's what I have, and I think white rice would have been more pudding like, the brown gave it a "bite" (does that sound like the crazy food network judges from Chopped?) so it was more like oatmeal. Probably next time I will also cut down a bit on the coconut milk so it isn't as soupy, but it had a really yummy flavor.
• Lunch: Vegan Boca Burger and sweet potato fries- I like boca burgers so this wasn't bad at all. I LOVE sweet potato fries, and my usual dipping sauce is honey mustard, however I learned that honey isn't vegan. Boo. Instead I dipped them in catsup, which is not as good as honey mustard.
• Dinner: Potato and Black Bean burrito with avocado, salsa and vegan cheese. To be honest, I couldn't really taste the vegan cheese with all of my delicious salsa and burrito fillings. I tried to eat just a piece of it by itself and I didn't really taste anything.

#8: Go vegan for a week (day 1)

Day one down of my vegan experiment.  The hardest part was during dinner, for two reasons. First, the Mister decided to use his Traeger and grill today. This was good and bad. Bad, because I love when he grills chicken, but good because he made me a yummy baked potato and grilled zucchini. The other bad part was that I REALLY wanted a glass of milk. The Mister had a delicious-looking glass of milk sitting right next to me and I just wanted to drink it.


Source

Today's Meals
Breakfast:

• Oatmeal with dried peaches, cinnamon, & brown sugar (B-) I made the oatmeal with water, and I think I cooked it too long so it was kind of pastey, but the stuff I added to it was tasty

Lunch/Dinner:

• Traeger Baked Potato: Potato covered with Cajun spice, margarine, and mustard-wrapped in foil and put on the Traeger for about an hour (A) Yummy! The Mister had one too and we will be making this one again.
• Grilled Zucchini: yum (A++++) This is a Traeger staple in this house

Snacks:

• Handful of peanuts
• Vegan Snickerdoodles: (B+) These cookies were soft and chewy, just the way I like my snickerdoodles. Overall, they were a nice treat. The Mister said "I guess they're good, for the limitations." He's cute.
• Raspberry-Pomegranate Tea

Sunday Update: 30 before 30

1. Vegas with my hubby!: planned for 12/17-12/20!
2. Finish another 1/2 Marathon: Holiday Half: 12/11 Yikes! My training is way off. I need to get my butt moving!
3. Sew something that I am not embarrassed of: This should help with that
4. Reupholster something: My office chair
5. Create a gallery wall
6. Frame & display wedding pictures
7. Lose some weight. (I hesitate to put a number on this. I want to be healthy and feel better about myself, and it has to be a realistic number. I'm thinking 15-20 lbs??): I met with my trainer, but I haven't done much else, including step on the scale. We'll see how this one ends up.
8. Go vegan for a week: Here is the start of the journey. I'm working on this one this week.
9. Cook a new recipe once a week: I've been pretty good at this one, however last week I kind of didn't do it. Bad me. But my vegan week will definetly make up for it.
10. Let people know about this little blog and get some followers: I am up to 7 official followers now, but I do know of other people who check up on this page frequently. Joining link ups and Blog parties have really upped my readership, and they just are fun to do!
11. Continue blogging 4-7 posts a week: Again, I have been doing pretty good at this.
12. Clean out the spare room (formally wedding room, now disaster room): Done! I have also been slowly transforming it into a sewing/crafting room. Another weird fact, one of the google search terms that someone used to find this blog was "how to clean out a spare room"
13. Paint the hall and bedroom
14. Get a make-over and buy some of those products
15. Send Christmas cards: I ordered some from Shutterfly! I can't wait to get them and mail them out!
16. No fast food for a month (Does Subway count? What about Dutch Bros/Starbucks??I will have to decide...): October was fast food/coffee free!
17. Take a necklace I inherited from my gramma in to have some links added
18. Do something from my pinterest boards: Oh lordy, done and done! And done again! (and those are just the one's I've posted!)
19. Get a massage- Why haven't I done this?
20. Do a version of Stephanie O'Dea's Daily 7- I have no excuse. Well I do, but you know what they say about excuses and buttholes: everyone has one and they all stink :) I even won her Totally Together book from a blog giveaway and I still haven't started this in our house.
21. Meal plan for three weeks straight and follow the plan!: I did this in October, and it worked well. The Mister isn't really too gung-ho about meal planning, so it does get difficult to do, but I love it.
22. Go see a movie by myself
23. Have my eyes checked.
24. Get a new work ID (with my married name)
25. Take a cooking class
26. Send birthday cards in the mail, even to people I see regularly: I got one sent to my niece, but then I missed two others. Oops. I have three birthdays coming up this month, and more in December.
27. Stay a week ahead at work: eh. Mostly so far.
28. Floss: eh. Pretty frequently.
29. Put 10% in savings from each paycheck: Yup. I've gotten paid twice since writing this list, and I've done it both times. One more month, then I can cross it off the list.
30. Roast a whole chicken

#4 Reupholster Something: What I learned

Source

I used to watch a lot of Trading Spaces. Did you ever watch it? Two neighbors switch houses, get a fancy designer, a small budget and redo a room in their house without their neighbors say in it. Then after two days, there was a reveal and they got to see their newly designed living room/bedroom etc. I secretly always wanted them not to like it. I don't know why, it just made for better TV. I bet the producers also liked it when the women would cry or cuss about how bad it was. Usually though, they liked it. And usually the designers would take a piece of furniture they already had, and recover it with some fun fabric. They always made it look so simple. When they were done the furniture had new life and looked fabulous. Ever since watching that show, I have wanted to reupholster something.

Since writing my list I have been scouring thrift stores for a cute chair with good lines that was in need of a coat of paint and some new fabric. However each time I would look, nothing would jump out at me. And, realistically, I didn't know where I would put it in our house when I was done.

One of the blogs I read, Better After features before and after posts about furniture/room redos. If you have never seen it, you MUST click the link and check it out. Have a tissue near by because a lot of the stuff is drool worthy. She has shown a couple of rolling desk chairs that got a make over, and I was inspired. I have a cheap-o rolling desk chair that is in less than perfect shape, and I want to recover something. So today, I grabbed the Mister's tool box, some pretty fabric and my staple gun and got to work.

As far as materials and costs go, I only had to buy one thing: 1/2 yard of fabric ($3.49). Everything else I already owned.

This is not entirely a "before" I forgot to grab my camera until
after I started to remove the hardware.



I started by removing the arms, legs and hardware that kept the chair together.

The bottom cushion had a rubber thing surrounding it that was stapled to it. That was annoying.

After all the hardware is off and the bottom and top cushions are free, lay the cushion on top of the fabric, and begin to staple around it, pulling it tight.

When you are done with both, put it back together!

Tada! Isn't she lovely?  It's not perfect, but for my first try at this, I think it turned out okay, and when I open the door and see her at my desk it makes me smile. This was easy/cheap enough that I might do my chair at work.

What I learned

• Buy 1/4 yard more fabric than you think you need. I was this short on fabric. You can't really tell from the picture, but the bottom cushion has a small "patch" that I rigged up. I may actually go buy some more fabric and redo it later.
• It is hard to take pictures of yourself doing a project for a blog. How do you other bloggers do it?

Do you have a desk chair that needs a make over? Have you ever reupholstered anything? Any tips for a novice like me?

A typical Day

#8 on my 30 before 30 list is "Eat vegan for a week." My plan is to start on Sunday, and go through Saturday, however the Mister's family is having a Harvest Party/get together and there is always really yummy food and cake, so I might put it off until Monday if we decide to go to it. Anywho, my friend K's sister has been eating vegan for quite awhile now and she sent me some recipes to try out. I am really excited to try Soba with Miso-Tahini Sauce, Mushroom & Squash Casserole with Green Confetti, and a bunch of yummy sounding desserts she sent me.  I also have been pinning things like crazy to prepare. Here are some of the yummys I am drooling over...

Quinoa and Black Beans

Avocado Pudding

Peach-Rice Pudding

Vegan Pad Thai

At first I thought eating vegan wouldn't be that huge of a change. I don't eat a ton of meat, in fact I haven't had red meat in 16 or 17 years, but I do eat chicken, fish and the occasional pork dish. But today, I really thought about what I was eating, and realized this vegan thing will change quite a bit. Let's take a look at today's meals:

Breakfast:
Bagel, cream cheese, small glass of milk
Egg Nog Latte

Lunch:
Chicken Salad Sandwich(with feta, low fat mayo and dried cranberries), peach yogurt

Dinner:
Shrimp, baked potato (margarine, green onion, sour cream), salad (ranch on the side), Diet Coke

Snack:
Cherry Cutie pie and a glass of milk.

I think if this was my vegan week I could eat the bread from the sammy and the salad without the dressing. Clearly, I heart dairy products. I will update the blog with my eating adventure next week and let you know what recipes I try out, and how they are!

Do you have any yummy vegan recipes that I must try? Would you give up dairy/meat for a week?

Bonus Recipe Thursday: Veggie Chowder and Cheddar-Apple Bread

Number 9/16 and we have two recipes this week! This meal started, as many things in life now start with, as a Pinterest post.

Source- go here for the original recipe/pictures

Apple-Cheddar Quick Bread

1 3/4 c  flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 c milk + 2 T (not pictured)
1/3 c canola oil
1 egg
2 T brown sugar
1 c diced apples (there are 3 in the picture, it only took 1)
1 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated

3 T cheddar cheese, grated



After this picture, my camera battery had to be charged, so use your imagination :)

Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl. In a larger bowl, mix the milk, oil, egg and brown sugar. Add in the apples.

Stir in the flour mixture. Add the sharp cheese into the batter a handful at a time.

Pour the mixture into a greased/floured loaf pan. Bake at 400 for 45-50 minutes. Sprinkle the mild cheddar cheese over the top and bake for 10 more minutes.

In the original post, the author said she ate this with vegetable stew. I decided to look for a vegetable soup/stew recipe and I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. I made some alterations, and came up with this:

Veggie Chowder

2 pats of butter (is it a "pat" or a "pad" of butter?)
1 red pepper- chopped
1/2 red onion- chopped
1 T garlic- minced
red pepper flakes
1 1/2 carrot- chopped
1 small head broccoli- chopped
1/2 head cauliflower- chopped
1 c frozen corn (not pictured)
salt, pepper to taste
3 c water
3 chicken bullion cubes
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 flour
two handfuls mozzarella cheese

In a large Dutch oven, start by cooking the onion, bell pepper and red pepper flake in the butter. Add in the garlic when onion is soft.

Add the chopped veggies to the pot,  along with the water, bullion, and season with salt and pepper.

Seriously, how pretty is this?

After bringing it to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

Mix milk and flour together, and add to the pot. Bring this to a boil, then cook and stir for the next few minutes.

For extra creaminess, use an immersion blender to blend some of the veggies. Just before serving, add in the cheese.

How was it?

Yummy! I will definitely be making this again! The recipe is really easy to change up to use what ever veggies you have on hand. I saw some great looking asparagus at the grocery store and I am kicking myself for not grabbing it to add to this soup.The Mister wanted some sort of meat in it, but I loved it as is, but I could see throwing in some cooked turkey or ham. The bread was a great touch as well. It was a nice balance of sweet and savory. Both recipes are headed for my pink book!

Recipe Thursday: Pumpkin Waffles and Apple Cider Syrup

Yikes! This is recipe 8/16, half way done!

I don't understand how canned pumpkin can smell so bad, but pumpkin flavored things are so good. This week's recipe is a breakfast one, although it is way too many ingredients for me to make for a normal weekday breakfast. (my usual breakfast is a smoothie and some toast) But this recipe is perfect for a Sunday morning breakfast, which is when I made it.

Pumpkin Waffles and Apple Cider Syrup

For the Waffles:
2 1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
pinch of salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups milk
4 eggs separated
1/4 cup melted butter

For the Syrup
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apple cider
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons butter

Combine flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine milk, pumpkin and egg yolks.

In a third bowl, whip egg whites until frothy. The more you whip them, the lighter your waffles will be, so get moving.

Add the dry ingredients and melted butter to the pumpkin mixture. Gently fold in about half of the egg whites until incorporated. Then fold in the rest.

Pour batter into a hot waffle iron. They do need to cook longer than regular waffles, but they smell so good as they cook that it is okay. I got about 8 waffles out of the batter.

Because I used 3 bowls for the waffles, I just mixed all of the syrup ingredients directly in the saucepan that it cooked in. (sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, apple cider and butter)

Cook over medium heat, until the mixture boils and thickens. Serve warm over the waffles. (or in a bathtub that you roll around in because it is so good)

So, how was it?
Oh. My. Word. These were amazing. Even the Mister, who doesn't like cake, pancakes or waffles (crazy, right?) said they were really good. For sure, these are not for everyday, but I had 4 leftover after breakfast, so I threw them in the freezer to eat during the week. The syrup was fantastic. If you didn't want to make the syrup, and I can't really see a reason not to, you could use regular syrup or apple butter would be fantastic on these as well. You could add a bit more sugar and some vanilla to the waffle batter and eat them without adding anything.

30 Before 30: Sunday Update #4

1. Vegas with my hubby!- Still on! And now it is a family vacay. The Mister's parents, brother and sister-n-law will all be in Vegas the same weekend we are going. They are going Friday- Sunday, and we will be there Saturday-Tuesday. They are a fun group and I am excited to have the first 1/2 of our getaway with them.
8. Go vegan for a week- I have a vegan friend and she is sending me some of her favorite recipes to try. I will probably do this the week before Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure yet.
9. Cook a new recipe once a week- yup. Still doing it. The recipe that is coming of Thursday will change your life.
11. Continue blogging 4-7 posts a week- This was a bad week for me. My computer dying really put a damper on my blogging, but I am using my brand new shiny laptop, and I am back in the game! And I have a couple posts already scheduled for the week.
16. No fast food for a month (Does Subway count? What about Dutch Bros/Starbucks??I will have to decide...)- The food part of this is fine. Although, October is the month that Subway has all its footlongs for $5. The part that is killing me is that it is October and I want a pumpkin spice latte. Or a pumpkin pie Blizzard. Or a pumpkin milkshake from Burgerville. I almost gave in yesterday and drove through Dutch Bros for a pumpkin pie latte, but I reminded myself that it was October 22, and I only have 9 more days to go.
19. Get a massage- I have a coupon for an hour long massage for $29. I need to call and make an appointment tomorrow for later this week.
21. Meal plan for three weeks straight and follow the plan!- I am starting week 3 right now. I really like meal planning, and doing all of my shopping on Sunday. The Mister isn't as big on it, but it really does take a bunch of stress off me during the week.
25. Take a cooking class- The Kelly's Appliance store has cooking classes. Weird. But, there is a pasta one coming up that is interesting to me.
26. Send birthday cards in the mail, even to people I see regularly- This is birthday season for my family. I sent one off and am ready to send more.
27. Stay a week ahead at work- As far as planning goes, I am doing this. I also found some neat tips for organizing a classroom through Pinterest. I could always use help with this, and there were some cool tricks for this.

Recipe Thursday: My Mom's Apple Butter

Recipe 6/16 for my 30 before 30 challenge!

Growing up, I didn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen learning how to cook. I actually didn't figure out I liked cooking until after my undergrad was done. There are a few recipes that my mom made growing up that I absolutely loved, one of those is her apple butter. We had an apple tree at our house, and there was an abundance of apples, so mom made apple butter. I loved the smooth texture and her seasonings were always perfect. After I moved out, I tried some store bought apple butter and threw away the jar. Sorry Smuckers, you don't have anything on my mama.

Two or three weeks ago, I was cruising around the web and I found a Crockpot apple butter recipe. I thought I would call mom up, get her recipe, and use the Crockpot method to cook it. Mom said that was stupid. I should just make hers. (I already said we never used a Crockpot growing up.) She said she would look for the recipe and get it to me. Last week I got a card in the mail, and inside was this:

My mom, like a lot of people, keeps her recipes on 3x5 cards. (I already told you here how I am keeping mine.) She says that you know which recipes are the good ones because they are the ones that have food splatters all over them, and you can barely read it any more. Her apple butter is one of those recipes. She rewrote the card out, and sent me my own copy.

The Ingredients:

4 pounds apples (Apples are usually about a 1/2 pound each, so about 8. Mine were small so it took 10. Mom also says that Macintosh apples are the best, but Fuji's will do. Mine are locally grown Fuji's)

1 cup apple cider or apple juice

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

Sterile Canning Jars- Mom says this makes 3 pints. Somehow I got 4 out of it. I used wide mouth 1/2 pint jars. Mom approved of my choice.

Start by cutting the apples into eighths, removing the core. Leave the skin on unless you think its icky or you like a lot of extra work.

Take 1/2 cup of the cider and add it to a blender. Add a handful of the apple pieces. Blend. Add more apple pieces. Blend some more. Continue with this until 1/2 the apples are blended smooth. This takes awhile. This is called apple butter. You want the consistency to be as close to butter like as possible. When the blender is full, pour it into a large pot. Finish blending the rest of the apples and the other 1/2 cup of cider like you did before.

Mine is not nearly smooth enough. I ended up putting it all back in the blender for longer.

When it is as smooth as you want, add the sugar and seasoning to the pot and cook on low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.

After it is cooked, pour it into sterilized jars. Put the lid on, and screw the top down. No water bath needed. As the apple butter cools, you will hear popping sounds as the lids seal. You know that they are sealed when you press on the top and it doesn't "pop" at you.

So, how was it?

Yummy! I've been eating it on toast in the morning, as well as some PB& apple butter sammies at lunch time. It's not exactly the same as what I remember, but still much better than the store bought stuff!

30 before 30: Sunday Update #3

I think I am going to do an update every other week. That way it gives me some time to work on the goals and actually have something to report!

1. Vegas with my hubby!- The trip is booked for mid-December, and we are starting to plan what shows and attractions we want to go to. And thanks to the 90% off sale at restaurants.com this week, we have a $25 gift certificate for a Mexican restaurant inside the Hard Rock that only cost me $2! If we decide not to use it, it's no big deal!

2. Finish another 1/2 Marathon- "The Holiday Half" on December 11th. My training is off to a slow start, but I have started. I am hoping my runs start to feel better soon!

7. Lose some weight- I met with a trainer at my gym and discussed my goals, my running schedule and also took measurements so I know where I am starting. I am hoping if I follow my running/weights schedule, and and am "good" when it comes to food, I will see some results by the time we go to Vegas. She really tried to stress to me the importance of inches lost and muscle gained vs. the number on the scale. Intrinsically I understand that, but it's hard not to use the scale to gauge progress.

9. Cook a new recipe once a week- LOVE this goal! I have been having fun, and posting on Thursdays has made me feel accountable for this. I think I might try a turkey breast for this week's recipe. Roth's had a really good deal on them 2 weeks ago, so I bought 2 and put them in the freezer.

10. Let people know about this little blog and get some followers & 11. Continue blogging 4-7 posts a week- I have been doing pretty good at this one. I am writing, and also commenting on my favorite blogs and have got some more traffic from that.

12. Clean out the spare room (formally wedding room, now disaster room)- Check this off the list because it. is. done.

16. No fast food for a month (Does Subway count? What about Dutch Bros/Starbucks??I will have to decide...)- Today is October 2nd, and I started this yesterday. As far as the coffee places/Subway debate goes, I keep hearing my principal's voice. "What is the intent?" Usually she is talking about the school rules, but I can apply it to this. The intent of this goal is to make sure I am not eating crap, and not wasting money. So... no go to coffee or Subway.

18. Do something from my pinterest boards- I've done a few things, but I don't want to check this one off yet. There is too many cute things that I want to do.

27. Stay a week ahead at work- I'm doing pretty good at this, but the grading period is ending in two weeks, and I haven't planned for the next 6 weeks. I better get on that.

28. Floss- I started out strong on this one, then I started slacking again, but I am back at it now.

29. Put 10% in savings from each paycheck- Friday was payday. I transferred the money over. And the Mister and I started working on a new monthly budget. Super fun to be an adult.

Recipe Thursday: Oktoberfest Edition

I would like to note that yes, it is September and Oktoberfest always happens in September. One time I knew the reason. Now I don't.

Part of the fun of this challenge is finding the new recipes that I will try each week. This week's recipe is from a culture that I have never cooked from and contains some cooking techniques I have never used before. For recipe 4/16 for my 30 before 30 list, I take a trip back to my mother land, Germany.

In 2006 I went over to Germany to travel around during the World Cup for about two weeks. During this trip abroad I saw a ton of really cool things, drank some yummy German beer and ate a ton of delish food.  Here in the states, there isn't a lot of German restaurants, and the ones that I have seen don't have (one of the) yummiest side dishes I had while I was over there: Kaese Spatzle.

Spatzle is a noodle/dumpling thing. Kaese Spatzle is a cheese version of this. Think German Mac-n-Cheese.
I had pretty much given up ever tasting this again until this weekend when I was watching the Food Network and the 5 ingredient lady made Spatzle. I watched what she did, and it seemed easy enough. While she used ricotta in her recipe, I knew it wasn't the same thing I had 5 years ago. So, I turned to the king of all cook books:

And what do you know, there was a recipe for Spatzle AND for cheese spatzle. Who knew, I had the recipe this entire time? I also did a quick search on allrecipes.com and found several other recipes too. I combined the one from the book and one from allrecipes and here is what I came up with:

Kaese Spatzle

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, sliced
1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk together eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Mix both until smooth. It should be about the consistency of pancake batter. Let it sit about 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. If you don't have a spatzle maker (and who does??) set a colander on top of the pot. I put mine on it's side because my pot isn't very deep. You want to make sure that the water in the pot isn't touching the colander.

Put part of the batter in the colander and push through the holes into the boiling water.

Remove the colander and watch the little noodle dumplings float to the top. When they float to the top they are done. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl with a handful of the cheese.

Repeat this process until all the batter is cooked.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions until caramelized and yummy. Add the spatzle noodles and the rest of the cheese and mix until blended.

We ate ours with chicken apple sausage and a cucumber salad.

So, how was it?
I was really nervous about making this. I have never made noodles and definitely never cooked by pushing batter through a colander, but it couldn't have been easier, and it was fun to make too. I am really happy to say that this was really good. The Mister had never had spatzle before, so he didn't have anything to compare it to, but he liked it. I actually liked this better than the homemade mac-n-cheese I made earlier this summer, and it was easier. I also want to try to make some other versions of spatzle now. You should try this out, it is a nice change to other starchy side dishes and it looks fancy :)

What dishes do you make that are a little different?