movin'

lots of movin' with me lately.
major move #1: early morning shift at work. by workday is now from 5:30-11ish am. yeesh. that was a pretty hard adjustment. after three weeks at it, i'm feeling pretty good. it's nice being done by noon, but nap (which i have always cherished) are like gold. got the puppitos trained pretty quickly on the new schedule. if they go to bed with me, they are ready to get up to go outside right when my alarm goes off. if they stay up with everyone else, then they are super groggy when i make them go outside in the morning. it's pretty adorable.
major move #2: room relocation. after 13 years, give or take the time i lived out of mom's house, i've moved above ground. the windows are fantastic, i love laying in bed and looking out at the sky/stars/trees/moon. this coincided with my move to the morning shift so there was a whole lotta new to adjust to. the dogs love it because they can sleep with me now since they don't have to brave the downstairs disaster that is keyn's "man cave". and the room is totally amazing, thanks to mom.
major move #3: really movin'. with my shift change i've been able to go to the dog park almost everyday and it's been fantastic. nature, fresh air, walking with my puppitos: all fantastic. they love it. i love it. and i'm feeling really good. it's about an 1- 1 1/2 hr of walking each time. one day we did a 2 hr loop and it was good, but i was a bit sore the next day so then we had to take it easy. pretty sure i'm not hydrating enough since it's been so cold. will work on that.

minor moves: i'm getting back into creating. i've started carrying a little blank journal with me to jot things down. think i've a got a new idea to turn into a story.
and i'm drawing again. no painting yet, but i feel like i'm getting there. pinterest has really been helping me to feel inspired on that front.
also have been dancing to my records in the afternoons.


good and good and good.

apple brown betty (with a twist)!

**made this months ago, just realized it was saved in drafts. was wonderful, will be making again very soon**

we had quite a few apples in the fridge that everyone keeps overlooking. so today, they are becoming a delicious dessert! one of my favs. i've never made it before.

got the recipe from good

housekeeping. i didn't follow the directions exactly, cause that's not my style! :)

instead of white bread, i used honeyberry wheat (and i just toasted

it instead of baking it).

i used 1/2 butter 1/2 smart balance blend and i didn't have as

much as it called for so i substituted apple sauce and a little Jameson

then i used a large baking sheet and since i didn't have a whole loaf of bread, for the topping i crushed up cashew clusters & walnuts & granola with almonds. whiskey.

not entirely sure what kind of apples, but they were red/yellowish.

and then for a fantastic topping, i made my own whipped cream: 2 cups heavy cream, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 Tsp confectioners sugar.

Ingredients

• 8 slice(s) firm white bread, torn into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup(s) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 pound(s) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup(s) (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground nutmeg

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan, bake bread pieces until very lightly toasted, about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Grease shallow 2-quart ceramic or glass baking dish.
2. In medium bowl, combine melted margarine or butter and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Add toasted bread; toss gently until evenly moistened.
3. In large bowl, toss sliced apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, ground nutmeg, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
4. Place 1/2 cup bread pieces in baking dish. Top with half the apple mixture, then 1 cup bread pieces. Place remaining apple mixture on top; sprinkle with remaining bread pieces, leaving a 1-inch border all around edge.
5. Cover dish with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crumbs on top are brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

roasted delicious-ness

tried a recipe found on pinterest: ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS!
i've never really had a problem with brussel sprouts, probably because mom always just boiled them a bit then we ate them with butter.
many people do not like them, however. jon included.
but he tried them last night, and yum was the verdict.
Recipe called for sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper

Brussel Sprouts-- cleaned, ends cut off and any yellow leaves removed
Butter-- we didn't have any olive oil so we went butter, just enough to coat the sprouts
Salt-- we went garlic salt up in this kitchen, cause i loves me some garlic too
Pepper-- fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sprouts in melted butter, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on baking sheet. Bake 30-40 minutes. Shake the baking sheet a few times for even cooking.
They come out sweet, tender, and a little crispy on the outside. Think we may have over buttered this time, i tend to be heavy handed (not sure why, but i worry about under buttering, like that's not easy to fix), but now we know. They were still really great, just not very crispy.

Once they were done, I sprinkled a bit of fresh parmesan on top. It melted a bit and was wonderful.
Could have eaten the sprouts solo. ALL OF THEM.
Had some sweet corn, so roasted that at the same time. And mom cooked up some italian sausage. All in all, delish.
Highly recommended!

pups are 1o months!

as of September 2nd, the puppitos are 10 months old. and they are HUGE! <3 <3 <3

I'm so in love with these guys, and am now totally understanding what mom meant when she always said, "dogs are not just pets. they are another family member." 

They are way different from fish and gerbils and hamsters. 

Saw this quote on pinterest: a dog is the only thing in the world that loves you more than it loves itself.

we want s'more!

found at lovin' from the oven.

S'mores Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

i doubled the recipe, well tried. somehow i didn't end up with the right amount of graham cracker dough to completely cover the top. it was okay though. some of the marshmallows got a little burned, which is just how i like 'em.

everyone here loved it. we weren't able to wait long enough for it to cool completely. so they weren't as pretty as the picture, but they were fantastic!

pasta fagioli

a delicious italian soup literally called pasta and beans; traditionally a meatless peasant dish due to the availability of pasta and beans. there are many variations and it was typically made with whatever was left over from the week. but the base is beans, pasta, and tomato.

also known as pasta fazool. (this pic is almost what mine looked like. this one has turkey italian sausage in it though) -------->

as per usual, i just winged it. this is one of my favorite soups, ever. anytime i get it, even if not at italian restaurants, i'm pleased.

i like bacon! so i started out with bacon roughly chopped and 6 Tbsp of minced garlic. then added some onion. cooked to perfection (for me).

i then added canned tomato, juice and all, directly to the pot.

add chicken broth. as much soup as you want.

bring to a boil and add any type of white bean. typically cannellini. and whatever pasta you have. i had pinwheel.

boil until pasta is al dente because it will continue to soften in the soup.

add some parmesan cheese right on top when served if you like it.

i do. and so does mom.

as for the ratios, i just used a few slices of bacon, mostly for flavor. i like a lot of garlic and a little onion so that's what i used. the tomato and bean ratio is one to one. for chicken broth, 3 times the amount of bean/tomato. so if i used one can of beans and one can of tomato, i would use three cans of chicken broth. i completely guessed on the pasta, but i think it would be equivalent to two cans if using that as a measure.

it's a nice healthy soup. and just gets better as leftovers.

updates coming soon

i've made some exciting new things, ladies and gents.

some pretty delicious, and some other kinda weird.

posts to follow:

green velvet cupcakes

s'mores cookie bars

pasta fageoli

voila!

this was the irish car bomb cupcakes

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