Betty Crocker

I think I am turning into Betty Crocker. I went on a bit of a rampage in the kitchen today- first I used half of the eggs we dyed for Easter to make some deviled eggs- my first attempt at it, and I must day I didn't do too bad : ) I've also had some bananas sitting in the kitchen getting way too ripe to eat... so I tried my first Banana bread- again, better than I expected it to be. I also decided to make some pumpkin muffins- I have made these before, they are so ridiculously simple to make it's silly, and they only have 180 calories per muffin, so they make a great breakfast that no one can feel guilty about- I even put a little bit of low-fat cream cheese on them. So after being a busy bee this morning, figured I'd post some recipes and some pics. Enjoy : D

Deviled eggs: http://www.deviledeggs.com.

• 6 hard boiled eggs
  
• 1/4 cup mayo (calls for light but I just used regular)
  
• 1/2 tsp dry white mustard (according to deviled eggs specialists, this is key, to use dry mustard rather than regular yellow mustard)
  
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
  
• 1/8 tsp salt
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper ( I used less because Mike isn't a big black pepper fan)
  
• Paprika as a garnish

I followed the steps it shows on how to get the yolks centered, how to boil, how to cool, how to peel, etc... pretty useful actually.

Banana Bread: Betty Crocker Cookbook

Fruit Loaf recipe

• 2/3 c sugar
  
• 1/3 c softened shortening
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 3 Tbsp buttermilk (or sour milk, wherever you get that)
  
• 1 cup mashed extra ripe bananas
  
• 2 c flour
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix the first 3 ingredients thoroughly. Add the buttermilk and bananas and mix. Sift together dry ingredients and mix into bowl with other ingredients. Pour into a well greased bread loaf pan (9"x5") and let sit for 20 min before baking. Bake at 350 degree in preheated oven for 50-60 min or until browned and tests done.

Pumpkin Muffins: sparkpeople.com recipe

• 1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
  
• 1 standard box of spice cake mix (betty crocker, duncan hines, etc.)
  

Mix ingredients together in large bowl. Will be a think consistency- spoon into muffin liners in a muffin tin, bake at 350 degrees in preheated oven for 20-25 min. Muffins are a little sticky on the outside but are delicious! : D

So I set up my mobile blogging today...

So I set up my mobile blogging today... Just testing out the first post!

Easter Weekend

Life has been good. Yesterday was Easter- Mike and I decided to go to church for the first time on our own in  a long time. We found this church called Crossroads Church- it's a non-denominational Christian church, it's very contemporary and we both enjoyed it very much. Our roommate Dan went with us too. All three of us are planning on going back next week, as long as the boys are onshore. If not, I'll be going by myself. But it really was great- I think we have all been doing a little soul searching, so it was a nice experience for us. 

I guess it's time to announce that Mike and I are officially trying to get pregnant : D I've been off birth control for almost 3 weeks now, and we are both stoked. I am hoping we won't have any problems with it, but I will keep everyone posted. I am a little nervous to just tell everyone that we are trying- I guess I am afraid of jinxing ourselves. The part of my brain that doesn't always make sense thinks that once I announce it that we will have a hard time with it- obviously we have never tried before, so we don't know if there will be any issues for either of us. But we both want kids so badly, I would be pretty upset if I wasn't able to carry, or if there was an issue with Mike, or whatever. So, if you think about it, please keep us in your prayers for that.

I also don't think I mentioned that Mike did get his motorcycle. He is very excited about it : D I got to ride on it a bit this weekend too- he drove me to work on Friday since he was off from working in the shop for Good Friday. And Saturday we just did a little driving around town, went to meet up with out friends Tiff and Dan for a bit, and later we took the bike to the movies. And on Sunday we actually rode the bike to church : D

On Sunday I spent some time in the kitchen- I boiled eggs and we colored them for Easter. I also made my favorite slow cooked Chili. I tried making cornbread, but I was disappointed- the kind of cornmeal that I bought turned out terrible. I used to buy the same kind back in WA, and since moving down here I haven't been able to find that kind yet. The recipe I used was always on the back of the box of my favorite brand, so since I can't buy it anywhere, I have been trying different brands with different recipes. Last night's batch was terrible- it wasn't the slightest bit sweet, it tasted like I dropped the whole container of salt in it, and had no flavor other than that. I was bummed. If anyone has a good cornbread recipe I would really appreciate it.

It's back to the daily grind this week. Can't complain too much though- I have been lucky enough to get M-F most of the last month, I have to work 4/25/09 and it will be one of my first Saturdays in a while. I enjoy working M-F so much more than having one day off in the middle of the week to work on a Saturday.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Blogger, LiveJournal.... the list goes on. I use a lot of online social networking sites and weblogging, I was just realizing that this morning. Recently I have been experimenting with the mobile web browser on my phone, and I just thought I would share my thoughts on it. It's too bad they don't have one gigantic social networking site that monopolized the internet- then I wouldn't have to open 6 tabs on Safari every time I am online LOL. Anyways, nothing big to share today, just wanted to say something. Today is Friday and I am stoked- we may go and see a Journey cover band called Frontier tonight at Nighttown. I love Journey *grin*. Off to work, for 8 more hours of the daily grind before freedom!