St. Patrick's Day

Yeah I know it was like a month and a half ago. Dontcha wanna see pictures anyway? Well here they are.

 My family tradition is eating food that is green because a leprechaun touched it. So per tradition we had green pasta with green beef stroganoff and peas and carrots (we must have hidden the carrots from the leprechaun).

 And for dessert...green cake! I had to make up the frosting with the remnants of cream cheese and butter we had and topped it with green coconut.

Oh! and while I was getting these pictures, I found these that I meant to post a while ago. Back in February I was feeling homey so I made strawberry freezer jam. I'm so domestic!

And I found a picture of an experiment we tried. We made bagel dough and spread cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg-yum on it, then rolled it up, cut it in half, and twisted it up. It was okay, but doesn't it look ah-may-zing??

Anyway, now you know that we're not starving. Have a great day!

Thanksgiving and recipes!

We had a really fun Thanksgiving this year. I mean, we've had really fun Thanksgivings the last two years, but this one super stressed me out and the payoff of having good friends come together around delicious food was worth it. I was stressed this year because I was given the responsibility to cook the turkey. My Youtube research paid off, and the turkey was delicious! And the stuffing (which I also made) was really good! And the gravy (which I made up) was super good! Don't worry, I'll divulge my delicious secrets below.

But first some pictures!

Delicious and cute veggie platter

Valerie and Kristine playing Mancala

Our first turkey!

Lookin' good! (yes, me and the turkey)

Kyle did a great job carving the turkey

Valerie, Kristine, and Bridget

Charlie

Playing jumbling towers

Happy Thanksgiving!

We all had a really good time and are sad this is our last year to have Thanksgiving with Bridget and Charlie. And we are glad Valerie and Kristine got to come too. Can I share my cooking secrets now? Yes! Watch these and you will make delicious turkey:

Good luck! I didn't have all the spices these two had so the brine I made was a gallon of chicken broth (way cheaper than vegetable broth), 1/2 cup of table salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon each of rosemary and thyme. Boiled, then chilled in the fridge, then put in a 5 gallon bucket with a gallon of ice water. After we put the turkey in, we put the bucket in Kyle's car to keep it cold.

Oh, and to make the stuffing I used my mom's stuffing recipe (to be put up later) and Mrs. Cubbison's(r) Corn Bread Stuffing. Sooo good! And the gravy was 2 Tablespoons butter, 2 Tablespoons flour, and a cup of the brine. The brine can probably be recreated with a cup of chicken broth and like a teaspoon of rosemary and a teaspoon of thyme. It was fantastic. I'm excited for next year!

Personal Happiness project: week 5

This week is brought to you by the letter E and the challenge: "Exercise daily. Eat fresh foods." I had started going running every day at the end of June but took a break for fourth of July, which lasted about 2 weeks. So now it is time to restart that habit. Get the lead out Jepson! Even though I'm skinny I'm anxious that my body is not in the physical shape that it should be to bear a child (if and when that happens *fingers crossed!*). And exercise is scientifically proven to make you feel better. {insert indisputable scientific study} Case and point: Kyle has been a little upset lately at life. So last night, he did some pushups 'cuz he's a tough guy like that. And he started feeling better! See, exercise is so good for you!

And not eating super processed food is good for you too. We already try to avoid buying processed and prepackaged food (to a degree) because it is expensive. At the grocery store, we pretty much stick to the walls of the store for bread, vegetables, meat, and dairy. But we're not crazy; pasta, premade spaghetti sauce, and frozen vegetables are our friends. And we buy bread instead of making our own (read: we're normal.) I want to try making our own granola. I have a recipe from my sister-in-law that looks pretty good and one that I can do in a breadmaker! Kyle's mom also just gave us a recipe for homemade yogurt that we have yet to try (It requires a gallon of milk! That's a lot of yogurt if it isn't delicious). We have been eating our tomatoes though and they have been good. The other night I made pizza with homegrown tomatoes, bacon, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning on top. The tomatoes have a strong flavor and thick skins but putting them on the pizza was a nice complement for the bacon and good for softening the skins. It was fun to go out to my "garden," pick some veggies, and put them in dinner.

Mmm bacon and tomato pizza

Also, we're going to be moving soon {hopefully} so eating what we already have on hand will be better than getting fast food for dinner (a.k.a. my weakness). Good luck to us and you! Have a happy healthy week!

previous week's challenge

Creativity update

Per last week's happiness challenge, I made what seems like a lot of stuff. Here are some pictures!

The most actively creative thing I did was sign up and take a painting class at my local Michael's craft store. It looks so good!

 

We had some icing we needed to finish off and I wanted chocolate so voila! Homemade oreos! Super easy recipe too: 1 18.25 oz box Devil's food cake mix, 1/2 cup shortening, and 2 eggs. Mix it all together, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, cool, then frost, then eat :) So good!

 Not really a creation, but our tomatoes are doing well.

 Our harvest!

 Delicious! I was proud of myself for making this up. Vegetable pasta with a white cheese sauce and our tomatoes on top. It was fun to eat something we had grown ourselves.

 Kyle and I and some friends of ours went on a date to the pottery studio I frequent. These are the results of our labors! Michael and Chelsie made the cup and the vase, respectively. Not bad for their first time! I did the bowl and the pitcher. Fun fun!

Thanksgiving photos

As you will see from our pictures, we had a great time! I anticipated 10 people but only 6 were there; it's nice to know our apartment can at least hold that many!

lovely table setting with lovely people
everyone getting food
we're adorable!
R&W being so so cute!
best photo of the night :)


I can't wait until next year!

I blog WAY too much about food

I found this yummy recipe when I was perusing Google images of chocolate dipped ice cream. I really want to try it and make it non-vegan. But let's be honest, I'm just looking forward to the sprinkles :)