Sunday, May 31, 2009

A Little Randomness

I love Apple Butter! I've been eating it on buttered toast & blueberry bagels w/ cheesecake cream cheese nearly every day for the past couple of weeks. It's so yummy.

~*~

I'm DLing a free 14 day trial of City Of Heroes. I'm excited! I've never really had much interest in comics or super heroes, except for Batman. But I saw an ad saying that they've now added a new expansion pack to the game that lets the players create & edit the missions/quests. A MMO that has player created content has alot of potential so I decided to check it out.

~*~

I applied at Arise.com but I failed their little tutorial test so now I have to wait 3 months to retake the damn thing. What a load of poop! I felt pretty confident & was sure that I'd done pretty good on that thing too. GRR!!

So I've found a few other ways to make a tiny bit of cash online... well hopefully...
I've got my fingers crossed anyway.

~*~

Speaking of making money...
I really hope I can make enough within the next month or so to purchase myself a
Cricut Expression!!
I'm not really crafty & have never seemed to be, which makes me sad, lol. I saw an infomercial a few years ago about the Original Cricut Personal Die Cut Machine. I thought it was a really cool gadget but I had no use for it. (( Oh did I mention I'm a total infomercialholic? ))
So anywho...
I was flipping through the TV a few nights ago trying to get my infomercial fix when I saw one on for the Cricut & thought "what the heck". I found out after tuning in that it was a new & VASTLY improved Cricut Expressions. I WANT ONE! OMG I WANT ONE!!

I want to start scrapbooking ASAP because I want to make books for every year or two of my daughters life & then give them to her when she graduates high school. The C-EX would make that little idea into an awesome reality!! This sucker can do all kinds of cool stuff. I checked out the reviews for it on amazon & there were some negative ones, so I decided to check out the actual http://www.cricut.com website. Glad I did because they have a very huge, very active forum. People are very friendly on there & are constantly posting pics of all the nifty stuff they've made using their Cricut.

It's a personal die cutting machine. It does not require hooking up to a computer at all, it's a stand alone machine. It uses a cartridge system to cut the images & words you choose. There are tons of carts to pick from. They can get abit pricey from what I've seen though, about $30-$50 a pop, but each one has 100s of images on it. You can also choose to hook any of the Cricut machines up to your computer if you wish & use a program called Sure Cuts A Lot that lets you use your Cricut to cut out all kinds of images, fonts & wingdings right from your computer, that you can download for free from all over the net. I plan on starting off doing that most likely because it'll be cheaper. Then every month or so I can purchase one cartridge & start building a library.

So anyway...where was I?...I lost my train of thought...

Oh yeah, the Cricut will cut images & text from a variety of materials including cardstock, vinyl, fabric, chipboard, magnets & a whole lot more. You can also use it to do glass etching! It will cut in a variety of sizes also. The Cricut-EX cuts the largest though, 12x12 & you can buy a mat that will allow you to cut up to 24 inches.
I thought this would be really great for when my little girl comes home with a school project she needs done!

Ok enough raving about how awesome this tool is. I'll get one soon enough & then can start being all crafty like & selling stuff on Etsy like everyone else, lol.

Cake decorating giveaway at L.L.C.

I love baking...and I love eating what I've baked, lol. I swear my little girl's gonna come out in a either a sugar coma or super hyper!!

So I was checking out "Little Lady Cakes" blog again today & ran across a post about her first giveaway. And what a giveaway it is, oh my!
I think I'm more excited about this contest than any others I've seen, lol.

She's giving away reader's choice, of not one but TWO cake decorating supplies. She's got a huge selection to pick from, it's hard to choose only two!

So if you love to bake & haven't checked out her blog yet do stop in & see her awesome site. She has lots of cool cake/cupcake decorating tips, tricks & how to videos, I love her!!

Little Lady Cakes 1st contest

Friday, May 29, 2009

Pesto-Alfredo With Chicken

The other night I cooked one of our favorite meals. Really fast & simple.
The hubby loves it, says I'm a genius for having "invented it" LOL Not really sure if I invented anything but it's pretty darned yummy none the less.

~Cook 1lb of your fav pasta according to the dircetions
~Mix 2 packages of Pesto mix (The powdered kind near the meatloaf mix, taco seasoning etc) according to it's directions.
Add 1 jar of Alfredo sauce to the pesto mix once it is done cooking. Stir well, Then heat until both sauces are evenly warmed.

Toss pasta & sauce together & top with grated cheese.

It's also really good if you toss in some of your fav veggies like mushrooms or red peppers!!

I also baked some Tequila lemon pepper chicken that turned out very tasty & went well with the pasta.

I used 2 1lb bone/skinless chicken breasts, put them in an oven safe dish & cover with 1 cup of water. Add 1 shot of Tequila, salt N pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon nutmeg & paprika & a couple dashes of hot sauce. Mix well & allow chicken to soak in the mixture for a couple of hours. Once you're ready to cook it drain out the remaining marinade & dust chicken with lemon-pepper seasoning before putting into the oven. I baked mine on about 400 for around 30 minutes

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tired

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I did. Nothing went as planned but I still enjoyed it. The hubby & I spent way to much time playing WoW.

I never got the kittens posted up on Craigslist.

The adorable lil' black N white kitten that Jason brought home last week died Saturday night while we were away at walmart. :-(
Poor Bowser was so upset, that was his kitten.

Anywho just wanted to give a quick update before bed. I'll post some recipes & such this week.

But for now I must head to bed, have to be up early to have more bloodwork done, yay...

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Stressed

Why do things never go as smoothly as planned? LOL

Today's our friend Angela's birthday party & we're supposed to be there in 3 hours.
It's nearly 45mns just to get there. Hubby & I still have to shower & get ready. However I can't get ready until my sister gets home to color my hair. I'm also supposed to be baking a cake to take over there. Can't even start the cake till my sis get back either because I need the zester from over there. I don't even have a freeakin' cheese grater or I'd just use that, grrr.

There's no way I can get my hair colored, bake & frost a cake, shower & get ready & be there in 3 hours!!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Inspiration From The Unexpected

I sometimes tend to draw inspiration from the weirdest places... like songs that I really shouldn't, lol.

This song "Sour Grapes" by Puscifer is perhaps one of those places. Maynard James Keenan's not exactly known for his Pro-Christian songs... Yet this song touches me in a way that I can't explain. And I'm not simply taking it at "face value". My hubby who is not religious is the slightest even says this song is "very powerful, touching & gave him chills" He's certainly not one to take any song at face value, he is always looking deeper than what's on the surface.

The song has a very electic & gnostic vibe to it, perhaps that's why it touches me so much.

Arise To The Opportunity

Like alot of people the past few years I've been trying to make a little extra income online working from home. It hasn't really been that successful so far, lol.

My husband's friend told him about a site called http://arise.com yesterday & said that I should check it out. Robbie told Jason that a couple of his friends are working for them & making $7-$10 an hour. So I went earlier today to check it out. It seems legit. I signed up & am in the process of doing the "systems check" which scans your computer to make sure you will be able to work properly... I'm currently having trouble with it for some reason however. They require you to use IE (which I DESPISE) instead of any other browser. Well for some reason my IE doesn't want to work today so it looks like I'll have to wait for the hubby to get home to help me figure it out.

I don't really know enough about this company to go into any details about it. I just thought I'd share the link in case anyone might be interested in checking it out also!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Am I A Horrible Person?

I attended school in Hutto TX at Triple Crown Academy for dog training back in January. It was a 4 month long "dog training boot camp" that's supposed to be the best in this country. I'd been dreaming about attending for nearly 2 years. I fought tooth N nail to get someone to co-sign for my student loan with me. This is what I wanted to do with my life, it's what I thought I was supposed to do with my life...

After only being there for a month I just didn't "feel right" about it. I was not nearly as excited as I KNEW I should have been. Something was off. So I came back home in the middle of Feb to regroup, with plans to return in June to finish up the last 3 months. Upon returning home that's when I discovered that I was pregnant. So much for returning to school in June.

About a week before I found out I was with child however, I got a puppy. I needed a dog to take back to school with me in June to train. So the Monday before Valentine's Day (Friday the 13th is when I found out I was preggy) we got a Pit Bull puppy from a guy on Craigslist who had lost his job & couldn't take care of him.

I didn't learn everything I needed to know about being a great trainer in that first month but I learned enough. I learned enough that I could have a well trained dog.

I don't have a well trained dog. Not at all. At school they taught that you shouldn't start doing any sort of formal training (sit, stay, down etc...) until the puppy is at least 6 months of age. Bowser is not at that age yet. He is however at the age where he should be mostly house trained, which he is far from. It's my own fault, I know this & accept it. I have not been working with him properly.

Today I realized that I don't care to work with him. I don't have the Patience right now to deal with him & his puppy antics. I don't want a puppy. It's not fair to Bowser to not be trained. I really feel like I want to find him another home, one that will love him & train him properly & make him into the wonderful dog that I know he can be. The wonderful dog that I should be molding him into but lack the drive to even begin...

I want to re-home this precious dog who I love & who loves me to death. This dog who thinks I'm the greatest thing since milk bones. This dog who is very loving & who would be a wonderful companion & protector of me, my husband, our home & my daughter.

Does that make me a bad person?

If I decide to find him another home it will truly break my heart & I don't know that I'll ever be able to forgive myself for it. But at the same time I don't care. I don't care that I have not been working with him & that I don't even want to attempt to.

I don't understand it at all. I don't understand myself sometimes. I don't know if this is because of me being pregnant or what. It really bothers me. I don't know what to do, I feel so helpless...

I'm sorry for the downer post, I want to try & keep my blog upbeat & interesting but I guess I just needed to get this out...

Sunday, May 17, 2009

How Do They Do It?

You always seem to hear pregnant women say "Oh it's cool, I'm eating for two now!" as they scarf down tons of food. (I know it's really a myth but whatever)

My point is this...

Since I've gotten pregnant I seem to be eating more but in reality I'm really not. I'm eating alot more often but I'm eating ALOT smaller portions of food. Mainly because my tummy can't handle it. I get full soooo fast. And then I get miserable for hours after wards.

I don't know about the human body & stuff but my hubby brought up a good point. Since the baby is growing underneath the stomach area wouldn't your stomach then get pushed up or something. Causing you to possibly feel fuller, eat less, have more gastric troubles while pregnant etc?...

Makes sense to me. LOL

All I know is that today I've been totally MISERABLE all day long. MY back has been hurting me more & my ribs on the upper right side are killing me. I wish I could figure out how to lessen the discomfort. I asked my doc & she just said that it's all normal. :-/

Nothing Was Done

Today nothing that was supposed to get done was actually done. Instead there was late sleeping in, some bedroom activities followed by a nap. Then we ate leftovers & started playing WoW.

The house didn't get cleaned & none of the stuff got unpacked.

That's why I'm a domestic demi-goddess, because I just don';t care. Stuff didnt get cleaned & organized but I got to relax & spend time with the hubby, so it's all good.

I'm happy

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Wet Weekend & Other Stuff

I'm so sick of the rain. I hate the rainy "season" here in Savannah.

We were supposed to have friends over to grill out tonight but it's supposed to be storming all weekend. What a shame because this morning it's really nice out & pretty.

~*~

Yesterday the hubby brought home an adorable lil' black N white kitten! He saw it not far from his work, trotting in the road right towards his truck. So he got out & moved it to the side of the road where it's mother was following along in the grass, but before he could get back in the truck the kitten had resumed it's stance in front of his truck. Obviously no one ever told Mamma Cat not to let her babies play in the road!! So then Jason decided to play DFACS & just brought the kitten home.

The kitten is sooooo cute & has the coolest facial markings I think I've ever seen & he's got whishers for days! OMG they are so lovely!!

I really want to keep this kitten but I know we don't need to. When we found out that I was pregnant we gave away most of our pets: 2 snakes, 2 ferrets & one kitty. We planned on simply keeping the Pit, "Bowser", kitty "Sage" & the 10ft Burmese Python "Rico Suave". We still have 2 of Sage's kittens that we are trying to give away...So we really don't need another kitten...but it's sooooo CUTE!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Going Shopping

Today my mom & I are going shopping for me some maternity clothes. I've now gotten a nice belly & can't really fit into any of my old clothes anymore. Hopefully I'll be able to find something cute. Although I really only need to get a few pair of preggy shorts & some capris. Maternity shirts I don't think I'll really need, I'm just buying cute shirts in sizes that are bigger that what I normally wear.


We also have to stop by the craft store & look for some smaller stencils. The ones we got from Wal-Mart lastnight were cute but I think some of them might be too big for what we need them for.

If our little craft projects take off & turn out nifty then I'll be doing some giveaways soon hopefully. I actually need to go ahead & do one this week for one of my handpoured soy candles, so check back!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Sometimes

Sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant. Maybe I just think I'm craving ice cream & getting a bigger belly for no real reason...

And then I hear a screaming kid & I'm reminded...

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Mini Donuts & Cookies

For Mother's Day I made up some goodies for my mom. I found a recipe for homemade Nilla' Wafers since those are her all time favorite cookie. She once told me that when she was pregnant with me those were what she craved. She joked that the family said I should have been named "Nilla".

So I found a recipe that was supposed to be the closest thing to the Nabisco Nilla's & went to work. The cookies came out delicious, but not like Nilla's at all. I'm not sure if perhaps I did something wrong or if that's just how they are supposed to be. They tasted like a cross between shortbread & Nilla's. They were still VERY YUMMY. For me to say that about plain cookies means they were totally awesome. Normally I won't touch a cookie unless it's loaded with icing or chocolate or caramel or something super fattening!



Homemade Nilla Wafers:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream together sugars, shortening, egg, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the the flour and baking powder. Add 1 tablespoon of water and continue mixing until dough forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls and flatten slightly onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown. (http://www.topsecretrecipes.com)
Makes 50-56 cookies.

~*~

After the Nilla Wafer baking was through I started in on the mini baked donuts! YUMMY!

Right before we moved into this new place I got very excited because we would have a working oven again... So I went on a mini shopping spree on amazon & boughtkitchen stuff & cookbooks, lol. One of the items I recently bought was a mini donut pan to make baked donuts.



This little pan is awesome! After whipping up the batter & pouring into the molds, you only have to wait 8mins for fresh, oh so yummy cake donuts. Now I've never really been a big fan of cake donuts, I personally prefer the fluffy, fattening fried ones... But these were good. They had a different texture to them, unlike any I've tasted before. The donuts did tend to stick abit after the first batch was done, so the second batch I let cool abit longer & then they came out just fine. The only real complaint that I have about this nifty pan is that it's kinda time consuming to use a spoon & fill up the molds. And that's not even a really major problem for me, in fact if I weren't preggy it most likely wouldn't have bothered me at all. But with pregnant back & feet...well you see where I'm going!

So I'm going to over look the time it took to fill up the pan & go ahead & give this cute little pan 5 outta 5 meows!
>^..^<
>^..^<
>^..^<
>^..^<
>^..^<



Chocolate Cake Donuts:

1 & 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla (I substituted 3 Tbsp hazlenut syrup)
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp HOT water (I substituted 2 & 1/2 Tbsp HOT coffee)

Preheat over to 325. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder & salt. In separate bowl mix eggs, sugar & vanilla till thick. Combine milk & butter. Alternate between the egg mixture & milk mixture as you pour into the flour mixture. Blend till smooth. Spray pan lightly with non stick spray. Fill molds 2/3 full. Bake 8mns. Frost or glaze. ENJOY!

And Nothing...

Today has been filled with lots of ideas & no action.
I just can't seem to get motivated at all. I'm totally exhausted & have zero energy. This pregnancy thing is kicking my butt. Man I don't know what all those women are talking about who say "Oh being pregnant was the BEST time of my life!"
Either they're insane or I'm just having a rough go of it, this sucks.

My back kills me all the time, doesn't matter if I'm walking, sitting or laying, it just HURTS. My feet, mostly my heels, kill me for hours on end if I have to be on them for more than 15mns at a time.

So did anyone out there in my reader land have this happen to you?
Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to increase my energy? I seriously have none. I know that exercising would help but I'm tired I can't get motivated to do anything, blah.

Someone give some earth shattering advice will ya? :P

Monday, May 11, 2009

Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Pasta

Tonight for dinner I cooked a recipe from Rachael Ray's magazine, Oct 2007 issue.

I love pumpkin but I've only ever had it in sweets. So even though this is not generally the season for the hearty orange orb, I decided to go ahead with it anyway. I'm just weird like that!
The hubby was skeptical about it at first because he hates pumpkin, but quickly changed his mind after tasting it. We've also come to the conclusion that this dish would be totally awesome with chicken breast added to it!

Ingredients

* Salt
* 1 pound whole-wheat penne
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 3 shallots, finely chopped (Omitted cause we don't like them)
* 3 to 4 cloves garlic, grated
* 2 cups chicken stock
* 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 1/2 cup cream
* 1 teaspoon hot sauce, to taste
* Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (Used a couple pinches of ground)
* 2 pinches ground cinnamon
* Salt and black pepper
* 7 to 8 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced plus more, for garnish (I used 3 pinches of ground)
* Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

Heat water for pasta, salt it and cook penne to al dente.

Heat the oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to the pan, saute 3 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and combine with pumpkin, stir in cream then season sauce with hot sauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 to 6 minutes more to thicken. Stir in sage, toss with pasta with grated cheese, to taste.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Pitazza - It's What's For Dinner

After a long day filled with baking my mom goodies, washing dishes & tired/aching pregnant feet N back I was in no shape to cook dinner...Well OK I just didn't feel like it.

So Jason decided to eat leftovers, none of which I wanted. But I was hungry & didn't feel like making a big meal & we didn't really have any quick N easy food to cook.

So I grabbed myself 2 whole wheat pitas & tossed them into the oven on broil until they were crispy. Then I put a little alfredo sauce on them, topped them with spinach, red peppers, cheese, italian seasoning, pizza seasoning & a little bit of roast beef. I then put them back into the oven on 325 for about 10 minutes. So I had a quick N easy, very yummy & not overly filling dinner. I might make some for lunch tomorrow!!




PS- the pics, recipes & a review for the donut pan I used to bake today will get posted tomorrow, promise. I'm just to damned tired right now to bother.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies out there in blogland! I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with joy & laughter.

I was planning to wake up early this morning to bake my mommy some homemade donuts. I was going to walk across the street & deliver them to her for breakfast...but that didn't happen :-/

I was up so late last night with my side hurting, then I woke up with a horrible headache... Needless to say the donuts did not get baked for her surprise breakfast. But I am about to start working on them in a few minutes.

When I'm done pics, a review & a recipe will follow. WHOOT!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Holy Ouch!!

The hubby had just went to bed & I'd sat back down in front of the computer piddling around on BzzAganet & doing a few other things online. I'd made myself a small bowl of cereal & was planning on having a snack before bed. After settling into this hard, non comfy chair, I started having pain in my ribs. It slowly got worse & by the time I made it to the bedroom to wake Jason up I was in tears. Sitting on the bed holding his hand I had a severe & sudden stabbing pain in my ribs that caused me to start sobbing like a little girl. IT HURT!!

I called my mom, who lives accross teh street & told her I wanted to go to the ER! I told Jason to stay & sleep since he had to work tomorrow. So mom arrived & we talked for abit. She said she didn't think I really needed to go & that it was most likely a combo of gas pains in my ribs & Frost moving around. Well I'm gonna say she's right, cause everyone knows their mother always knows best! All I know is right now my ribs are killing me & lil' Frost feels like she's doing back flips!

I think I might need to go lay down

I Got A New Digi-Cam!!

A week ago today my new digi-cam ( Sony Cybershot DSC-S980 )arrived in the mail. I ordered it from Amazon via next day shipping because I needed it for my little sis' senior prom happening Friday. It arrived on time & in perfect condition.



I purchased this bundle mainly because I adored the camera case! LOL

When I decided to purchase this specific bundle there were no reviews on Amazon for it, but there were for just the camera itself. I read over them & decided to go with it because it seemed like a good little camera for the price. I'm not disappointed at all.

I just checked the reviews for the bundle & there were two that gave it only one star. Their complaints did not seem to make sense to me at all!

The reviews stated that this camera's shutter speed had a 6 second delay. I witnessed no such thing & just to make sure I had my hubby double check. We both came to the conclusion, after counting "one Mississippi, two Mississippi..." that the delay is only 1 - 2 seconds. Then just to triple check I took a pic of my kitchen timer set for 6secs, I hit both the timer & the shutter button at the same time & the pic was taken on the 5 second mark indicating that it is only about a one second delay.

The next complaint was that the pix turned out blurry. I failed to notice this thing called "blurry" that they speak of!












It was also stated in these reviews that the pix came out to dark. Again I fail to see it...
This was taken on the up-close/macro setting just to mess around & check it out. It was while my sis was getting ready for prom. I was in the kitchen, there were no lights on in the kitchen, dining room or living room. I did not have the flash turned on & the only source of light was BEHIND me from a window which had the mini blinds opened but was still covered by a sheer white curtain. I'm sorry I just don't see how their pics came out to dark if this one didn't!


I am by NO MEANS skilled in taking pictures (just go to my myspace & check out the pix taken with my pervious camera!) Yet I find it very simple to use this camera. The pictures turn out lovely. The settings are easy to figure out, the display screen is clear, bright & BIG. The tezt for the menu options is also a decent size so you don't have to strain to see what setting you want. All in all I personally think this camera ROCKS & am very pleased with my choice...plus it's PINK!!

This product gets 5 out of 5 meows
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Friday, May 8, 2009

Just because...

I am not willing to wait for my blog over at http://lifeislikethis.com to be renewed by my friend who hosts it, I've decided to create a blogger account.
I offered to pay for my blog to be renewed but have heard nothing in response. So it seems that my "Life" blog will be down for who knows how long.

I just don't feel like sitting around & waiting. I have things to blab about, recipes to share & product reviews to write.

I'm looking forward to my "new blog" & it's simplicity but if anything changes I will let everyone know!