Monday, December 6, 2010

Here comes Santa Claus......

Happy December everyone! I am sure everyone is busy with all of there Christmas shopping and decorating for the season. Luckily I had a Christmas gift list made back in October with a few exceptions and so all our Christmas shopping and gift wrapping are almost complete. That is on our agenda for this coming weekend. This time of year is such an exciting time and I always look forward to spending the holidays with our families and getting to eat lots of great food!

As many of you know by now Justin turned the big 30 over the weekend! We just had a small celebration with a few friends on Saturday and we watched the game at our house then went out for a birthday dinner. It was great to spend time with our friends and that wonderful Auburn victory! We are having a big birthday bash this coming weekend at our house. So Justin is really looking forward to it. Because we are having the party at our house we have been trying to buy some last minute decorations for our home that we had not bought yet. So poor Justin had to work half the day on his actual birthday helping me finish decorating for Christmas and help me clean since I had to be out running errands for this weekend! Luckily Justin's parents are coming into town early on Saturday to help us do things around the house. It is so strange that just gaining weight and growing a baby inside of you hinders you from doing as much! Especially right now it is so weird because my stomach is not even big and preggo yet and I already get out of breath and my back hurt from just sitting on the floor for too long! I am not used to all of that! I think it is hard for Justin to understand as well because who would think simple task would slow down someone who is only 15 weeks pregnant. But I've got news for him and everyone else IT DOES!!!!!!!!!!

We went to our 4 week check-up last Thursday and the doctor told me everything looked great. We did not get to have a peek at our sweet angel but we did get to hear the heartbeat! It was around 158-168 Dr. Christine said, which was a lot lower than the first 2 times. We asked Dr. Christine if I could come back the week of Christmas to find out the sex and she said she would have let us but they were not going to be open all week and I'm sure her schedule was already booked. But we still got great news because we get to go back on December 28th! It is still a week earlier than we had expected! But I will be 19 weeks that week so that will be perfect timing! I will have to drink some caffeine before my appointment so I make sure the baby is ready to show us what it's got! I still have a very deep big feeling it is a boy. So does Justin and some other members of our family and friends! But, this appointment they look to make sure the baby is healthy and developing good so that is our prayer that the baby is 100% healthy and everything is operating like it should! Luckily the Rolling's and my mom are going to be able to go with us so they can hear it in person! I think that is so much better than calling them! We are so happy our doctor allows family to come and that they are going to be able to make it up!

After Auburn's huge victory over South Carolina it is official that we are going to the National Championship! WHOO HOO! What a great season it was! The Bass family decided last night that we will make a Bass family vacation out of it and head to Arizona! We are trying to finalize all of our plans and make sure we are getting to best deals and then we are booking our trip! I am so excited that our family is going to be able to take this trip together and watch our Tigers play for a National Championship after sooooo many years!!! So we are keeping our fingers crossed that our trip will work out for us!

I hope everyone has a great week and gets all there shopping done! I will make sure to take pictures of Justin's party and post them! Oh and check out our New York pictures on facebook! I still have a few more to upload but the album is done! Until next time.........

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

NYC bound!

Justin and me are leaving for New York City on Friday morning bright and early! We are so excited for a nice 5 day getaway and since I have never been to NYC before so I am beyond pumped! Justin has been before but he is excited to go back because he still has not gotten to see everything he wanted to the times before. We will be there until Tuesday and we are staying at the Loews Regency on Park Avenue. We have lots of plans on our agenda so hopefully we can get them all done while we are there! We have already gotten our tickets to 2 Broadway shows, Promises, Promises and the Adams Family. We have dinner reservations at a restaurant called Butter one night, and definitely plan on going shopping. We plan on going to Central Park and Bryant Park, seeing the sights, and going to The Met.

I have been wanting to go to New York since forever and I've always wanted to go during Thanksgiving or before Christmas. So this is the best plan we could come up with. We did not want to miss Thanksgiving with our families so we figured we could be back just in time for Turkey Day. We decided to go on our trip in September before I found out I was pregnant but we knew it was a major possibility that I was. Since we know our traveling will be limited this summer then we thought we should take advantage of "it's just the two of us " time while we still have it! It is really funny though because our best friends Amy and Scooter went to NYC last year in December and she was pregnant with Laundry who was born on May 28th which is Baby Rollings due date! So it is funny that I'm pregnant too during our trip to NYC! I told them that they probably think we are copy cats because we have always been a year behind them on everything we've gone through the past few years. We got engaged on there weddingmoon in St. Lucia, then we were married almost exactly a year later, which was right around there first anniversary then they had Laundry and now we will be having Baby Rolling exactly one year later! Haha. Too weird and funny at the same time!

I will take lots of pics of our trip and then upload them to facebook and some to the blog!

This is off the subject of our trip but I was so excited when I got home last night because our stroller we ordered for Baby Rolling had come in! We put it together and I strolled it around the house and put Murphy in it and strolled her around to test it out! Justin was so happy because it was so easy to put together!! And then when we get back from NYC we are meeting Justin's parents and making a final decision on a crib and dresser for the baby's room! CAN NOT WAIT! So exciting! Now we just have to find out if Baby Rolling is a boy or a girl! How do people wait the entire 9 months to find out?!? I could never do it!

Till next time......

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Southern Living's Potato Soup

I made a new recipe last night out of my Southern Living cookbook. It was delicious! I made there Homemade Baked Potato Soup. It was very easy and I think the best potato soup I've had in a long time. It makes a lot so it would be perfect for a warm winter night with friends and family.

Homemade Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients
5 large baking potatoes (baked in oven or microwave)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
4 cups half & half (reduced fat)
3 cups of milk ( I used 1% milk)
1/4 tsp pepper ( I'm sure I used more than that, so use to your liking)
1/4 tsp salt ( I also used a lot more salt, so again use to your liking)
bacon, cooked and chopped
shredded cheese

Directions
Peel the skins off the the cooked potatoes and then mash potatoes with a fork. Take the butter and onion and saute together in a pot over medium high heat. After onions are tender add the flour and stir until smooth. Add the half & half and the next 3 ingredients. Then add the potatoes and stir until well blended. Heat to medium high heat stirring occasionally until soup is thick and it heated through.

Serve with bacon crumples and cheese. Also, I added chives to mine and it was great!

Hope you enjoy this wonderful easy recipe!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Baby Rolling...

It has been a while since I have posted anything. Since we moved into the new house at the end of the summer it seems like we have been focusing on getting the house decorated and finished how we want it.

I have not been making any new recipes either. I have just been recycling through all of the ones we've used in the past. I have tried one new recipe Kristen gave me that she got from Laura Bradley, which is a wonderful cook by the way, and of course it was delicious! I will post the recipe. Kristen just gave me a new one Laura made for them when they were in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. I can not wait to try it out because I know it will be amazing! I am actually making a new recipe tonight I found in my Southern Living cookbook, Homemade Potato Soup. So if it turns out good I will definitely post that recipe as well!

Baby makes three.......

I think just about everyone we know, knows that Justin and I are expecting our first child this May 2011! We are beyond thrilled and can not wait to meet our bundle of joy! I am 12 weeks on Friday! We have had a busy year so far and it looks as if our life will continue to get busier! But hey that's ok with us, we like to stay busy!

We decided this summer before we moved that we knew we would want to start a family a lot sooner than we had planned originally. Like most married couples, we said we wanted to wait 5 year before starting our family because we wanted time to travel and so on. Well we do love traveling and have tried to travel as much as our life has let us but I started having second thoughts on 5 years. Our best friends Amy & Scooter had there first child last May and then my sister had the twins in August so I started thinking we can not wait 5 years because our child will have no friends! My sister and me did not want our children to be too far apart in age and Justin and me certainly did not want our child to be too much younger than baby Landry (Amy & Scooter's little girl). So we came to the agreement we should start our family a lot sooner than later. Once we were settled in our new house we really started thinking about how Justin would be turning 30 in December and how hard it was for my sister to conceive Ashlyn Kay. So after thinking about everything we thought well why don't we just see what happens and not worry about it. We said we would have the "If it happens it happens mind set". So with that plan in place of course as always me being the impatient person I am decided to start keeping track of all of my monthly girl stuff and after only 2 months of doing that BAM! Yep, I was knocked up! :) We found out when I was only 3 weeks pregnant so as you can imagine I have felt like I have already been pregnant a life time! It has really killed us not to be able to shout from the roof tops that we are having a baby but I knew how easily something can happen so I made our families promise not to tell until we went to our 2nd appointment. So now the cat is our of the bag we love sharing our news with everyone. We can not wait to find out what we are having. It is killing us! The way my appointments fall each month we will not be able to find out till the first of January what we are having. We all wish we could know for sure by Christmas but it is not going to work out. I go back to the doctor December 2 but since they have already done 2 ultrasounds they are not doing one this time and I will only be 15 weeks which may be too early to tell anyways. But, I have a very string feeling that I am having a boy. Justin, and some of our friends all feel the same but I have had a few people tell me they think it is a girl. So we will see who is right! We will not be disappointed either way though, that is for sure.
We have already started buying some baby stuff and I know once we find out the sex the shopping will be on! We bought our stroller already because the particular stroller I wanted was a bit pricey and we did not want to register for it because of it's price so that is one thing we wanted to splurge on. Most people think we are crazy for wanting this stroller but if you compared all the things this stroller has and all of it's functions it is totally worth it. So many people buy multiple strollers for all of there different needs, like a snap and go for the car seat, then one for when they are not infants anymore and some people buy a jogging stroller too and then have to buy a double stroller once they have a 2nd child. Well our stroller is every stroller I just named in one. It is designed to convert all these different ways depending on what you need the stroller for at that point in time. So Justin being the math whiz he is definitely agreed this stroller might be expensive at first but by the time we do not need a stroller anymore it would have paid for itself plenty of times!

I also am so lucky to have a sister and friends that all have children and who are giving me all of the things they do not need anymore. So that is going to be the biggest help ever.

That is all for now but I will continue to keep everyone updated as I progress.......

Friday, August 20, 2010

Blake and Palmer Moran Charity Account

Here is the information on the charity account that has been set up for Blake and Palmer Moran. I know some people have asked my family and I where they could make donations so here is the information if you or your church, etc. would like to donate some money to help support these babies and help pay the hospital bills that insurance does not cover!

Account Information:
Regions Bank
Blake & Palmer Moran Chairty Account or Kristen Moran Charity Account


Anyone can go into any Regions and ask to donate to this account. If you would like to donate to this account please e-mail, call, or text me to get the account number!

Updates on the girls & my sister

Not much change this week, which is a good thing we think! At least no one has taken a turn for the worst! :) Palmer is getting stronger and stronger everyday and is progressing along just as she should be! Blake has been back & forth on her blood pressure but as of yesterday she was doing good and had not had to have anymore epi, so that was wonderful news! They had to postpone the MRI for a few weeks but were going to do x-rays and compare the results to see what the status of the tumor is and if it was growing, etc. But, from what the docs have told them they seem to think she is doing great and they are very happy with where she is currently at. So if they are happy then we are happy! My sister is still doing great as well so we could not ask for more right now. Thank you all so much for being here for my family. We truly appreciate it all! Thanks so much!

Friday, August 13, 2010

The babies are coming....WHAT??

As many of you know by now that my sister had the twins on August 9, 2010. It was very unexpected and an emergency situation. Very scary for my sister, Jeff and both of our families. Once everyone found out that the babies were on there way both our families went into panic mode and were arranging a way to get to Cincinatti as quick as possible. Which by the way is not a very easy task. No direct flights come to Cincinatti from Birmingham and it takes 8-9 hours by car. We had all feared this would be the case whenwe found out the babies would come. But, we had hoped it could be a calm planned event. If you know my family then you would have been able to guess that it would be total chaos!

After getting a message that Kristen was about to go into surgery while at work I immediately got on the computer to look at flights. Then I received a phone call from my sister which made the whole situation worse because she was scared and crying hysterically and then I became flustered and lost any sense I had left at that point. I worked everything out with the Sawyer's, ran home, packed my bags, and headed out to Justin's work so he could take me to the airport. During all of that I was constantly talking to a family member getting updates and working out our traveling plans. So in the rush of all that I got lost downtown trying to get to Justin's work which did nothing to help me. After talking to him I found out that he had talked to the Birmingham Airport and that Delta had delayed my flight until 7:00 which would make me miss my connecting flight in Atlanta, where I was supposed to be meeting my parents to get on a flight all together that would take us to Cincinatti. This sent me into a tail spin and decided that I had to make the flight in Atlanta to go to Cincinatti and if I could not fly there I would have to drive! So I got back on the interstate and started driving. Justin then informed me the only way I could make it on time would be me driving atleast 80-85 mph the whole way. I put the petal to the metal to race against the clock to get to the Atlanta airport by 8:00. About 30 minutes outside of Atlanta I began to retrace my steps when I was packing my suitcase. I then remembered that I had try to purchase my plane ticket at the house and after my computer continued to drag along I had called Justin and told him to book my flight for me. So at that point is when I realized I had taken my wallet out and taken it with me into the computer room to pay for my ticket and I had never gone back in there to get my wallet. So I grabbed my purse and turned it upside down to find there was no wallet in there or anywhere else in my car. Which by the way held my oh so important driver's liscense that is a requirement when you fly or drive for that matter. Already a basket case of emotions I began to cry again for the hundrenth time in 3 hours and called me Dad to let him in on the bad news. My mother and father were already at the airport at our gate waiting for me. Daddy told me to keep driving to the airport and he would try to figure something out. I arrived at the airport parked and ran to the check-in stations. My Dad was waiting for me and Justin checked me in online and Dad said that we would try and see how far we could get through security without my i.d.. We went to the first inspector told him the story and he sent us to another guy who we told the situation to and informed us that he would allow me to go through but I would have to go through the detailed screening process that they do on suspicous people. We agreed to it and then started the race against the clock again. They patted me down went through my carry on with a fine tooth comb and used all of those procedures they have to do on me. They asked if I had anything sharp in my purse and thats when I remembered I had taken our melon baller to work that day to make watermelon balls for the boys. I explained that to the workers which they had no clue what a melon baller was but allowed me to keep it in my purse. Finally they let me go and we ran as fast as we could to our gate and still had almost 30 minutes before our plane took off. While we were waiting to board our plane I threw away some trash I had. Immediately after doing that I realized that my boarding pass was missing. About the time I knew it was in the trashcan the trashcan compacted all the trash in it. OH NOOO!!! So my sweet sweet father reached in there and found it soaking wet with nasty trash juice and funk all over it! Luckily it was almost our turn to get our boarding passes scanned so I did not have to hold it very long! :) After our flight the sweet Bradley family was waiting for us at the Cincinatti airport to take us to the hospital to see my sister and the babies.

So we are still in Cincinatti but my grandparents, Ashlyn Kay and me are all leaving tomorrow morning to head back to sweet home Alabama. My sister is getting out of the hospital late this afternoon and Jeff and her will then head to the Ronald McDonald house to stay for the next week or two. Depsite all of the drama we encountered with the twins those first few hours after they were born luckily they are both doing exceptionally well and continue to improve everyday. My sister has been through so much and is still is chipper as always. She had been feeling better but had a minor set back yesterday when she got a full blown spinal block headache. Which is possible after having a c-section. She says she feels much better today but it is not completely gone yet. The doctors say it usually last for seven days and she is on day 5 today so hopefully it will be healed in two days. It has made it very difficult for her to see the babies while having this headache. She got to hold Palmer for this first time two nights ago and so that really helped because she had been very anxious to get her hands on them. They took Ashlyn Kay to see Palmer today for the first time and she looked at her but then realized how many other babies where in there too and wanted to see all of them. Haha.

Overall the babies are great but have a long way to go especially little Blakely. Blakely will have the rest of her surgery in 4-8 weeks depending on how well she continues to do. She seems to be very strong but we know she has a lot to keep fighting for. So we will continue to pray for God to help her grow strong and healthly so she can get better and stronger everyday. Palmer is moving right along the way she is supposed to and they think she will be able to go home by the end of September. It is going to be very hard for our fmaily to be away from my sister and these babies everyday but we are planning on visiting as often as we can. Luckily my sister and Jeff have the Bradley's her in Ohio to be there whenever needed and so that is reassuring but still hard because we all want to be here every step of the way. So our prayers to the good lord are to protect these babies and watch over them very closely and help them have the strength to get better and stronger. Help Blakely as much as possible through her journey to getting healthy and giving her the will to keep fighting!

We thank all of you who have been so very kind to our family and who have prayed so hard for these babies.

Also, just some information for some people who have been asking about sending donations, etc. for the babies and my sister and Jeff. They are setting up a foundation account at Regions Bank and will post the details as soon as I know them. It should be up and running by next week. Also, here is there address here in Ohio.
Address: 9378 Mason Montgomery Rd., Suite 353, Mason, Ohio 45040

And to follow up with my sister and the twins day to day check out her blog at www.ohbaby2010.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone and will update soon!

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Ice Cream & Chili State

I made it back to Alabama safe and sound! It was a bittersweet homecoming for me because I missed Justin and Murphy Brown so much but I wanted to be with my sister as well. But, I knew I needed to get back to work and be with my hubby, which I was very excited about! My journey back to the South was a bit long but not too bad.

My sister, Dad, and me had a great time together in Mason, Ohio which is where my sister, Jeff and Ashlyn Kay are staying for now. A wonderful and generous family named The Bradley's are who has taken my sister and our family in for these next long months ahead. I know many of you have wondered how all this came about and I finally have the answers! Before I was not quite sure myself but finally got the complete story from both sides! So here is the story of how this came to be! A college friend & fraternity brother of Jeff's, named Tyler, mother's best friend Diane has a sister, Laura Bradley, who lives in Mason, Ohio. Tyler and his wife are pregnant with twins as well and are due around the same time as Kristen's real due date in October. Tyler told his mother about Jeff and Kristen's situation and she then told her best friend Diane and then Diane told her sister Laura Bradley. After Laura heard about them she then knew she wanted to do something to help them because Mason is literally 20 minutes out of Cincinnati. So after talking with her husband and family they decided that they wanted Kristen, Jeff and AK to live with them whenever they needed during this whole process. So that is when Laura contacted my sister through facebook and invited them to stay, etc. So that is the story of how this all came about.

Last Monday was my sister's first appointment since they were back in Ohio and that is when they received the negative news. So after hearing everything and found out my brother-in-law was having to come back to Birmingham to get everything ready for him to go ahead permanently move as well I made the decision to go to Ohio. My father was in Oklahoma and decided to meet me in Louisville, Kentucky and then we would drive the remainder of the trip which is only an hour and a half. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and my sister was so happy and excited that we where there. The Bradley's were very welcoming to us and we are so happy that my sister, Jeff, and AK are staying with them. My Dad stayed until Friday and then headed back to Georgia and I stayed until Sunday. My sister had her doctor's appointments on that Thursday so my Dad and me went with her to them and we were so glad we got to go and it really did help us understand everything a lot better. As you all know I am very curious and need every single detail. I know when someone leaves out something and I have to have all the facts. We spent all day walking from one side of the hospitals to the other. We got to meet a few of the doctors that are working on the twins case. After all the appointments we had a meeting with the Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Crumplehorn (?), crazy name huh! Haha. He is the director of Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital Cincinnati. He went over everything with us and explained the situation and gave us the latest game plan. Luckily, everything looked 110% better than it had on Monday so everyone was much more positive about the twins. Even though they do have to remind you of all the negative things that could happen which then brings you down again. But, my sister thankfully has decided to only focus on the positive side of everything and has made up her mind that everything and everyone will be perfectly fine when all of this is all over. It will be very stressful on everyone I know once they twins get here because so many things can happen to pre-mature babies but we know in our hearts that both babies and my sister will be safe and will make it through everything. The arrival of the twins are still up in the air for now and will most likely be that way until they come. My family all hopes we can plan it as much as possible so we can all get there in time for the delivery but we can't ask for everything to go our way. So what we are asking is to keep my sister and both babies safe and for everyone to be stable, healthy, and to be home as soon as possible. So overall my trip was great and it was very reassuring after I could see where my sister was staying and I could see for myself that she was fine. My sister and me have never been in different states for a long period of time and now that we are it is very hard for me. I never thought it would be as difficult as it has been on me so far but it is and it makes me nervous, anxious, mad, sad, and every other emotion you can think of. I am not usually an emotional person but here lately I have been about this whole situation that is for sure.

Ohio is very nice, friendly, and they love ICE CREAM and CHILI. Oh and the weather is a whole lot better than Alabama's this time of year. It was in the 80s and breezy everyday. That might sound hot but let me tell you it is not! I required a cardigan in the mornings and afternoons. CRAZY! We did sample out the ice cream on a few occasions but we never made it to the chili. But, my sister did try some chili spaghetti?!?!? and said it was awesome! The love chili there so much that they have a fast food restaurant called "Gold Star Chili". In Alabama you see a McDonald's on every corner, in Ohio there is a Gold Star Chili on every corner! I did someone eating something from there at the hospital and they has a chili dog and chili cheese fries! Now that's my kind of food! Not only do they have this Gold Star Chili but my sister and me saw two other places called blank chili. We were amazed. Kristen did ask why they have so many chili places and the Bradley's told her it was just there thing. So there you go! My next trip up there I will be sampling all the chili places and will get back to you on how it is! The other thing I did like about Ohio is that everything in the bathroom is so sanitary. It does not matter where you go every restroom we went through was nice, clean, and hands free operated! Every stall has toilet seat cover dispensers, all toilets are hands free, the soap dispensers and the paper towel machine are hands free. Now yes many places in Alabama do have these same things but most do not! My sister and me came to the conclusion that someone made it there priority to make sure the restrooms are nice and are made for germ-a-phobs like us because everywhere you go they are like this. So it must be a law or something but I like it!

The only down side to my trip was on Sunday when I spotted the plane I was flying on. I do not fly very often but the past few years I have flown have not gone very well. First off I have never ever flown alone. I conquered that last Tuesday and it was fine. I was a bit nervous and over cautious about making sure I was going the right direction and at the right place but it was fine. Secondly not only was I flying alone but I was frozen in shock once I got to my gate Sunday and spotted the plane. Yes, I know I was not flying out of huge airports but I was flying Delta and I had never seen a small Delta plane. I knew they have smaller planes for Southwest and going to Mexico or the Caribbean but all other times I have flown on a nice comfy plane. This plane was so small that we had to walk out our gate down some stairs and then walk to our plane. This plane was so small that you were not allowed to take your carry on with you because there was no room for it. I had to give my carry on to the attendant and they then stowed every one's carry on's under the plane!! This has never happened to me before. No one notified my this would be taking place. Luckily they did allow me to take my bag I was using as my purse with me on the plane. But, this plane was so small that you could not walk down the isle with you bag on your shoulder. You had to hold it out in front of and hope not to knock any one out. This plane was so small that there was no cart that came down this isle to offer you a cold beverage, because the isle was too small! The stewardess carried around a bottle of water and cups and asked you if you wanted a swig! I was terrified the entire flight which was not very long thank the lord! We thankfully made it safely and I had a lay over in Memphis, TN. So I was hoping that the plane would be a bit bigger but guess what, NOPE! The same size and procedures occurred on this flight as well. So I tried to be a bit calmer on this flight but it was very hard because I was more towards the back so I could hear everything so loudly that it was freaking me out. I know I scared the girl half to death next to me because every time something made a loud noise I about jumped out of my seat! I made it back to Birmingham in one piece and was very thankful to be back on the ground.

My sister is back at her appointments today and will find out everything late this afternoon. Jeff and AK are there with her at the Bradley's and they are having a blast. I know my sister will update her blog tonight before she goes to bed so check it out to see what the latest news is. Also if you want to know more details about her last appointment you can read her last post she posted.

The link to her blog is www.ohbaby2010.blogspot.com

So long for now.......

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Meet Mark.


I decided to become a Mark. cosmetics sales rep. and wanted to let everyone know about Mark. products and let you know how you can try out some Mark. products and so on....

Some of you may know this about me but I am very into reading about celebs and trying out beauty products, make-up, and buying clothes that they promote or use/wear themselves. I absolutely love People's Stylewatch magazine that usually comes out once a month which contains all the lastest tips and trends for fashion, make-up, and all things related. I am always looking for great body and make-up products to try because I am not one of those people who has been using a certain make-up brand her whole life and refuses to use anything else. I always jump around with my make-up brands and see what I think. I am always on the search for the perfect foundation and powder since I have such oily skin and everything always claims to be the best. I also have never really worn much make-up because it always feels so heavy on my face and I can not handle that. So I also always try to find a great tinted moisturizer and powder because that's what I wear everyday. So after I bought the June/July 2010 issue of People Stylewatch with Lauren Conrad, known from The Hills on MTV, I decided to try out Mark. products. Since she was on the cover they always have a part where they ask them what there favorite products are or how to get a certain look they wear. They were showing you how you could get Lauren's healthly summer glow she always has. I was already sold before I knew what the products where, haha. I already knew she was a Mark. spokesperson from watching The Hills and seeing commercials on T.V. but I still had never seen any Mark. make-up and did not know anyone who used it so I never had tried it. After reading over the certain make-up products from Mark. that could accomplish this healthy glow I went to googling about it. I went to the Mark. website and looked over all the products that they had recommended in Stylewatch plus checked out everything they offered. I was amazed at the prices and bought some things to try out. Plus, I got free shipping and 2 free gifts and so I was very happy! About 2 days later my products arrived to my house which made me even more excited, who does not love fast shipping? :) I had ordered a lip gloss, tinted moisturizer, blush, highlighter and illuminating powder. I tried everything out that following weekend and loved it all! I thought WOW I do look like I am glowing! I was very impressed with the blush because I have always struggled with finding a good blush that shows up on my skin and will last more than 10 minutes. This blush lasted all night and was the perfect shade to give me that natural flushed cheek look. I am addicted to the lip gloss and use it all the time now and also use the illuminating powder everyday. It is what really gives you a clear brighter look and if you use the blush with it, it makes it even better. Even Justin said after the first time I used all the make-up he could tell a difference and thought my skin looked better. :)

So that was my story on how I tried Mark. and fell in love. I just ordered some other products from them to try as well and I hope I enjoy them as much as the others I have tried. So now I am spreading the word to all my family and friends and want you to spread it along for me as well. I will give you my information to my online Mark. store where you can review all of there products and order them online as well. I will be getting some catalogs with all there products as well that I can send you if you would like. They are coming out with the Fall 2010 party kit in a few weeks which will have all the new products for the Fall and samples. If you ever want to try a sample of something before you order it all you have to do is let me know and I will drop it by your house or mail it to ASAP! I am going to have a Fall 2010 Mark. party at my home in a month or two once I get the information and samples for the new products. If you would be interested in having a girl's get together or a Mark. party in your home let me know and I would love to bring everything with me for you and your friends to try out the products. You can always go to my online store and purchase any product at anytime or if you want me to place the order for you I can do that as well!

**Here is my store information and the Mark. products I started out using if you want to go to my store and check them out.

www.mymarkstore.com/krolling

List of Mark. products I recommend trying out first:
-Good Glowing Custom Pick Powder in After Glo $7
-Glow Baby Glow Hook Up Lip Gloss in Peek-A-Boo $6
-Get Bright Hook Up Highlighter in Golden $6
-Glowdacious Illuminating Powder in Shimmied Up $12
-Get A Tint Tinted Moisturizer Lotion SPF 15 in Honey/Golden $9

They gave me a free sample of the mark Break Out Plan Anti-Acne Gel Lotion to try and I loved it. When it is time for me to buy more moisturizer I am going to buy a jar of this and see if it helps or not plus it smells wonderful! It has apple and cinnamon extracts in the lotion to help with redness.

Thank you, happy shopping, and pass this along!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Pizza On A Bun!

Last night I decided to use up some food from our stockpile and decided to make mini pizza's on the leftover hamburger buns we had from grilling out Sunday night. We had some mild Italian sausage, pizza marinara, pepperoni's, etc. so I put it all together and VIOLA! we have mini pizzas on hamburger buns! You can use whatever your favorite ingredients are but here is what we did and it was DELIGHTFUL!

Pizza On A Bun
2-3 hamburger buns (cut in half so you will have 4-6 mini pizza's)
2 links mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut into small strips
pepperoni
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2-1 cup Ragu Pizza Sauce
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Take a baking sheet and spray lightly with oil. Then place the bun halves on baking sheet with the white side up. Next take a medium skillet coat with cooking spray or olive oil then heat to medium-high. place sausage (casings removed) in skillet and cook until through. (I use a flat spatula to break up the sausage like you would when you do ground beef.) Drain the sausage after cooked and put to the side. Using the same skillet on medium heat saute the onions and bell pepper. Saute until the onion is clear and the peppers are soft, (I also added minced garlic here, oregano, basil, & Italian seasoning) then put aside. Now take a spoon and spoon out the pizza sauce on the buns. You can use as much as you like. Then place the sausage on the buns, following the peppers and onions. Then add your cheese and pepperoni. After you are done putting on your toppings place in the oven for 10 minutes or until buns are your desired crispiness.
Enjoy!!

House Pics....

Here are a few of the house! I've got to remember to finish taking the rest! Hopefully that will be done tonight! Enjoy!


The Den

The Kitchen

Dining Room

View of our side porch...

These are all I have for now! I will take the rest tonight hopefully and get them up ASAP!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I got this YUMMY recipe from The Fairhope Foodie's blog and she got it from Annie's Eats. It was so good and creamy! This is a keeper according to Justin and me! I made Spanish rice to eat along with them and it was just as great! I always buy the boxed Spanish rice (Publix brand or Zatarain's) but the trick to really good Spanise rice is to add a can of diced tomatoes, undrained. It really makes it so much better!! Hope you enjoy these as much as we did! Now go cook!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup Ranch dressing
flour tortillas ( I used the taco size)
salsa
4 cups shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
Trim the chicken breats of excess fat and cut into bite-size pieces. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet and saute chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add in taco seasoning and a few tablespoons of water. Cook chicken until all of the water is absorbed. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.
Meanwhile, mix up the sauce. Use a large bowl, combine half of the ranch and half of the sour cream and mix well, set aside. In a small bowl, combine the remainder of the two and mix well. Add chicken to large bowl and mix until chicken is coated.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees . Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Take a tortilla and spread the mixture in the small bowl evenly all over the tortilla, it takes less than 1 teaspoon. Then take the chicken mix and line it down the center of tortilla. Top it off with salsa and shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place seam side down on the baking dish. Repeat the steps until the pan is full.
Spread the remaing sauce over the tops of the enchiladas and top off with more cheese. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until tortillas are crispy.

Updates & more..

HI! Ok, so I know I said on my last blog that I would be taking pictures and posting them of the house and that I have not yet! I'm sorry! Pictures are really coming this weekend though! I promise! :) I already took some this morning before work and will take the rest this afternoon and post them as soon as I finish!
We have been running around like a bunch of crazies these past few weeks and we are so happy that everything is starting to settle down again! We have all of our boxes unpacked and everything where we want it for now! We are still waiting on a few pieces of furniture to be delivered but after that we will have all of our furniture thank goodness! The only things we really have left to do is the decor! I have not hung anything on the walls yet because I just do not know where I want it to all go and we still have some things we need to buy, but I know all that comes in time! But, overall we are really enjoying the new house and are very happy to be in it!
We had a great 1st weekend in our new house and took advantage of our neighborhood pool which is directly across from our house! YAY! We met a fun group of people that live in the neighborhood and are looking forward to getting to know them better! They all want to put a fridge on our back porch so they can keep there beverages nice and cool and not have to walk all the way back to there own house! Haha. We told them we have one in our garage that they could all use if they needed to! We are already planning on going to the pool again this weekend! Ashlyn Kay has already checked out YaYa's pool and is super excited that she will get to use it!

We are finally back into our cooking routine but I only did one "new" recipe this week! It is not a very healthy one but you can modify it some to make it healthier! I am going to get some new ones to try this week and will post them and let you know what we thought! I do have a little recipe for a good healthly snack that we snack on all the time! I was buying the pre-made version from Publix but you did not get very much and it was pretty pricey! So I decided to come up with my own version and making it in bulk because we go through the stuff so fast!
Publix calls it "Organic Cranberry Harvest Mix", they use all organic nuts and cranberries in theres, which I did not use all organic because as we all know anything organic is way more expensive! Anyway, it is a trail mix type snack and here is what is all in it: Dried Cranberries, Almonds, Shelled Pistachios, and Cashews. It is so yummy! The Publix version has light sea salted nuts so it is the perfect sweet and salty combo that we all crave! So I bought a package or organic almonds and pistachios (lightly salted & shelled), a large can of Publix brand cashews (I got no salt added on these but you can get the lightly salted version), and a bag of ocean spray dried cranberries (no sugar added version). I put it in a big canister and mixed it all up and viola! it tastes the exact same and we got way more of our "treat" for less money! You can add more of whatever is your favorite out of the mix! We love the dried cranberries so I will have to buy a large package of those for next time instead of the regular sized bag! This could be a great "treat" gift to someone or a great "treat" for a trip! Everyone loves a good trail mix!

Switching back to Justin and me, we are really excited because we are going to the beach in 2 weeks and it is a much needed getaway! I have been so sad seeing everyone going to the lake or the beach every weekend and we have been sweating and moving heavy stuff! NO FAIR! :) So we are finally going to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend at Rosemary beach! We have never been there but Justin's boss Matthew and his family own 2 houses down there and love it and so we decided to try it out!

So long for now but I promise to post pictures by tonight! Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Grilled Sourdough Cheddar Melt

This is your Patti Melt cooked in a mich lighter way then you could find anywhere else. And, believe it or not it is great! We cooked these last night and we loved them! You can serve them with basically anything you would like! We had Roasted Red Potatoes, our favorite, with them.


Makes 4 servings, 1 sandwich

Ingredients
2 teaspoons butter or stick margarine, divided
Cooking spray
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 pound ground round
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 (3/4-ounce) slices 2% reduced-fat processed sharp cheddar cheese
8 (1 1/2-ounce) slices sourdough or white bread

Directions
Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook for 4 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Preheat broiler.

Combine beef, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl. Divide the beef mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick oval patty. Place the patties on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 4 minutes on each side or until done.

Place 1 cheese slice over each of 4 bread slices; top each slice with 1 patty and 3 tablespoons onion mixture. Cover with the remaining bread slices. Melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in pan coated with cooking spray over medium heat; add 2 sandwiches to pan. Cook for 4 minutes on each side until browned and cheese melts. Repeat the procedure with 1/2 teaspoon butter and the remaining sandwiches.

Nutritional Information
Calories:462 (22% from fat)
Fat:11.5g (sat 5.3g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.9g)
Protein:38.5g
Carbohydrate:49.3g
Fiber:3g
Cholesterol:80mg
Iron:5.2mg
Sodium:909mg
Calcium:357mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light

Italian Meatball Burgers and Macaroni Salad

These were really good! They did not take very long either which is always a plus! I served it with a Macaroni Salad but you could also serve it with roasted red potatoes as well. ENJOY!!!


Makes 6 servings, 1 burger is serving size

Ingredients
8 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed, I did
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray
2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
6 (2-ounce) Italian bread rolls, split, I could not find these so I just used original dinner rolls cut in half from Publix & they were GREAT!
3/4 cup fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce, I found a light version by Ragu

Directions
Prepare grill.

Remove casings from sausage. Combine sausage, oregano, basil, salt, fennel seeds, garlic powder, and ground sirloin. Divide beef mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide fresh mozzarella cheese evenly over patties, and grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.

Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce and top half of roll.

Nutritional Information
Calories:375 (33% from fat)
Fat:13.9g (sat 5.3g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.7g)
Protein:28.1g
Carbohydrate:32.7g
Fiber:1.8g
Cholesterol:80mg
Iron:4.5mg
Sodium:894mg
Calcium:130mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light


Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, & Creamy Dijon Dressing


I made this the night before we ate it and I definitely recomment doing that. I always love a pasta salad that has sat in the refridgerator the night before better because it has time to sit and mix all the ingredients better. I really enjoyed this pasta salad and so did my mother and grandmother (Meme). Justin did not enjoy it because he does not like "cold things for dinner" or any pasta salad really. :) But, if you are looking for a great summer pasta salad this is my recommendation!



Makes 8 servings, 1 cup of pasta salad and 1 teaspoon of bacon

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise, I used the new olive oil mayo by kraft
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Salad:
8 ounces uncooked large elbow macaroni, I used reg size because I could not find lg
2/3 cup fresh green peas
2/3 cup finely diced red bell pepper
2/3 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 lower-sodium bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Directions
To prepare dressing, combine first 9 ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Cover and chill.

To prepare salad, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; add peas during the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain. Combine pasta mixture, bell pepper, and next 4 ingredients (through rind) in a large bowl. Toss pasta mixture with half of dressing. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Toss salad with remaining dressing, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon; serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
Calories:208 (30% from fat)
Fat:7g (sat 3.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:8.6g
Carbohydrate:29.1g
Fiber:2.3g
Cholesterol:16mg
Iron:1.5mg
Sodium:454mg
Calcium:44mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light

Blueberry-Banana Bread

This recipe is so easy and this bread is delicous! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! It is perfect for breakfast or just a snack!

Makes 1 loaf and will serve 10

**In any recipe that calls for flour, I always use unbleached white flour. It is better for you than bleached white flour. I also use whole-wheat flour a lot too! You can tell no difference!**
Ingredients
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained, or frozen blueberries
**I used frozen b/c they are cheaper!**
2 cups plus one tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, I only used 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, I used 1 tsp
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, I only used 4-5
1 large egg
Oatmeal Streusel

**Recipe for the Oatmeal Streusel**
In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour, regular rolled oats, and chopped dried banana chips; 2 tablespoons each firmly packed brown sugar and butter, cut into chunks; and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix with your fingers until fine crumbs form.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a small bowl, gently mix blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour.

3. In another bowl, blend remaining 2 cups flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. In a third, large bowl, whisk bananas, buttermilk, butter, and egg to blend. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture just until evenly moistened; the batter will be stiff. Gently stir in blueberry mixture.

5. Spread batter level in a buttered 5- by 9-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with oatmeal streusel and press in lightly.

6. Bake bread in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes.

7. Let bread cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around edges to loosen. Invert bread onto a plate, remove pan, and turn over onto rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes.


Nutritional Information
Calories:319 (31% from fat)
Protein:4.8g
Fat:11g (sat 6.8)
Carbohydrate:51g
Fiber:1.8g
Sodium:347mg
Cholesterol:48mg

-Compliments of www.myrecipes.com

**Here is the Cooking Light version of this recipe. I have not tried it yet but I will next time!**

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour, use unbleached
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup blueberries
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
**I would add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to this. Spices have no calories as long as you make sure is it 100% that spice!**

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, grits, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine oil, banana, blueberries, and eggs; add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.

Spoon batter into an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories:145 (25% from fat)
Fat:3.6g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 1g)
Protein:3g
Carbohydrate:25.9g
Fiber:1.4g
Cholesterol:27mg
Iron:0.9mg
Sodium:116mg
Calcium:15mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light

Friday, June 4, 2010

Sweet Summertime!

Hope everyone has been enjoying the summer so far! I miss those days where my job was being a lifeguard in the summer and literally getting paid to work on my tan! Ahhh the good ole days! Haha. Hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend. We sure enjoyed ours as well, despite the weather! YUCK!

Our social lives have thankfully slowed down for the moment and so we have been enjoying relaxation every weekend at home. Since it's June now, can you believe it, we are getting into moving mode. This weekend will kick off the start of us getting things packed up and organized. We are having a yard sale with Brad & Mary next Saturday, so hopefully we will be able to get our unwanted things sold and make a little extra money too! We already sold our couches, rug, coffee table, end tables, washer & dryer, and some other items! We listed all our living room furniture on Craigslist and I sold all of it except our big chair and our old table lamps so far! Craigslist is a cool site but I am here to tell you that I did encounter some strange people. Luckily the two people I sold everything to have been normal! I thought Justin and me were going to be killed no lie, because some of the people were so strange. I recommend the site but proceed with caution that is for sure! Haha.

Our new house is coming right along. They are done with everything except a few things. I have not posted pictures in a while but will do very soon. We have our Orientation for the new house on June 23 and then we close June 28. Can not wait!

Can you believe Justin and me have been married for a year now? We certainly can not! It really is scary how quickly time passes us by. I remember when I was a teenager and I could not wait to be in high school and then I could not wait to be in college. I swear it used to feel like time moved so slowly. I even remember feeling like the weekends went by slowly back then. Then all of a sudden I graduate and next thing I know I am talking about memories from my freshman year and it feels like they were so long ago. I feel like I used to remember everything but these days I can not remember many of them. Luckily I have pictures I can look back on and that really helps trigger that particular day. But, we had a wonderful pre-anny celebration since we were spending Memorial Day with friends. We went out to a wonderful dinner Thursday night and stuffed our faces! My wonderful husband who really does remember all the little things I say I want to do gave me Carrie Underwood tickets. I have been saying how I would like to go to her concert but to tell you the truth I have been thinking about so many other things lately that it had slipped my mind that she was coming here so soon. So when I opened my card from him and I read what my present was I was so excited and just could not believe he thought to get those for me! Justin is not a fan of country music so I knew he would not want to go. But it just so happens to fall on next weekend, when he is going on a trip to New Orleans with some friends for there fraternity alumni softball tournament that they have every year. I decided to take Molly with me because she loves Carrie just as much as me and we can not wait. Justin and me are definitely looking forward to all our many many anny's we will share together in the future!

Our best friends Amy and Scooter had there first child Landry Kate Crutcher last Friday! She is a week old today! She is absolutely adorable and if you know me then you know I am already obsessed! Believe it or not Justin is already very fond of her as well! He actually held her at the hospital the day she was born!! That was Justin's first time to ever hold a new born!! He has always been too scared to do it but I told him he would be fine and he was! When I went to hand her to him he said I'm scared! Haha. I told him it was going to be fine and it was. We went and visited them on Monday and he held her again for a little while longer this time as she slept. So as you can tell we already love her so much. :) Amy is doing great as well! She had to have a c-section but is moving around very well and overall has been feeling good. So we are so thankful for that.

My sister went to her appointment this week in Cincinnati and after a long long day of a million meetings and tests they were presented with a few different game plans. It is so much information to take in so if you would like to check out her blog at http://www.ohbaby2010.blogspot.com then you can read the whole story. There really is no short version of it all because there is no certain plan at the moment. They are back in the "there are several options and outcomes" stage. So they are having to play the waiting game all over again. The one thing we do know is we really are going to need all the prayers possible because as we know there is always a possibility of an unwanted outcome and this is what we will be praying for for now. Luckily, my sister feels very confident in the team of doctors that she will be working with and so she has a very good feeling everything will be fine. So if that is what she thinks then that is what we will think as well.

So long for now and until next time.......

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mexican Chili Cheese Hamburgers with Roasted Potatoes

I made these a couple of weeks ago when Amy and Scooter cameover to cook out and I do believe they were a hit! Everyone seemed to really like them. I served them with Roasted Red Potatoes. They recommended serving them with regular homemade fries which would be just as great! I have recipes for both types of sides on my blog!


Makes 4 servings, 1 burger per serving

Ingredients
1 pound ground round
1 cup chopped seeded plum tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons minced seeded jalapeño pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cooking spray
4 (3/4-ounce) slices reduced-fat Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
4 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns
4 iceberg lettuce leaves
8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
Grilled onions (optional)

Directions
Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping into 1/2-inch-thick patties.

Prepare grill. Place patties on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until done. Place 1 cheese slice on top of each patty; cover and grill an additional minute or until cheese melts.

Spread 1 tablespoon of sour cream over top half of each bun, and set aside. Place patties on bottom halves of buns; top each with lettuce, tomato, onions (if desired), and top half of bun.

Nutritional Information
Calories:381 (31% from fat)
Fat:13.1g (sat 5g,mono 6.4g,poly 0.7g)
Protein:36.3g
Carbohydrate:28.1g
Fiber:1.7g
Cholesterol:84mg
Iron:4.2mg
Sodium:655mg
Calcium:212mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light

Friday, May 21, 2010

Keeping up with the Rolling's....

We hope everyone is doing well and has been enjoying May so far. We sure have and we just can not believe it is almost over. Everything with us has been great! We have still been busy this month but things have slowed down a good bit for us though. WHEEEWW! :)

We have really been focusing on the house and buying and buying. We sold all our living room furniture we currently have in our house now. It was very easy thanks to Craigslist, but a little scary! We sold everything really fast so in a few days we will be sitting on the floor if we want to watch T.V. in the den. We will also have no curtains because someone saw them in the ad to sell our couch and asked if they could buy them. So I said you sure can! We are having a yard sale with our friends Mary & Brad the second weekend of June. Hopefully after that we will have sold everything we don't want anymore.

The new house is coming along. We thought they were going to have more done then they currently have done but what can we do? They had told us the cabinents were already going to be in but they still aren't so they must have not come in yet. I have not been by there in a few days but I think Justin said they were finally done bricking and they had painted the walls inside. I am going by there this weekend to take some pictures of what they have done so far!
But, we are very anxious!

Our best friends Scooter & Amy are expecting there first child, little Landry, on Friday, May 28th. So we are really excited about that. We are all so anxious to meet her and Amy & Scooter are so ready too! We can not wait!!!!!

As some of you have probably heard by now my sister found out a few weeks ago that something might be wrong with Baby A. Her OB spotted a nodule on her hiney and so they did some blood tests and made her an appointment with a specialist to do more testing and take a closer look with a more high-def ultrasound. Her first blood tests cameback negative for Spinal Bifida and Downs Syndrome so her OB said that was a good sign but not all forms of SB show up so we were all still very nervous about it. So after she went to the specialist yesterday he comfirmed it was not SB but it was a birth defect called Sacrococcyxgeal Teratoma (SCT). The positive side in this is that is can be fixed and she will most likely live a normal healthy life after the surgical procedure. There are only four hospitals that can treat SCT and they are in Miami, Houston, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati and so the specialist is calling the hospitals and whoever can see her first will be the one doing the porcedure. I will enclose a link that explains this all alot better. So we will all be praying a lot to make sure everything will be fine.

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1536/mainpageS1536P0.html

These are all of our updates we have for now but I hope everyone enjoys the rest of May and has a great weekend!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Rigatoni with Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce

I made this for us on Wednesday night for the first time and I will have to say to was the best yet! Justin told me it is the best thing I have ever cooked. So that means it has to be GREAT!! He ate 2 helpings of it and said he wanted to keep eating it. I think next time I will add a little cayenne pepper though to give it a little kick. This recipe makes a lot and we ate the left-overs for lunch. It would be a great recipe to make when you have company. I would serve a mixed green salad and garlic bread with this. I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my husband!


Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 pounds mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed, I used 2 links
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (from a 15-ounce can)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup light cream
1 pound rigatoni
Grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions
1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a fork, until it is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pan. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat.

2. Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it almost evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sausage,tomatoes, and salt. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the pepper, parsley, and cream.

3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rigatoni until just done, about 14 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan.

-Compliments of www.myrecipes.com

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Bacon Maple Waffles

I made these for us for dinner on Tuesday night. They were so good and very filling! We could barely eat all of it. This would be great for breakfast or dinner. We love breakfast for supper. This was a very easy recipe and pretty fast too! Hope you like them as much as we did!

Makes 5 servings (2 waffles and about 1 tablespoon of syrup)
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/3 cup maple syrup

Directions
1. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, 3 tablespoons syrup, butter, bacon, and eggs, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.

2. Preheat a waffle iron. Coat iron with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter per waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges. Cook 4 to 5 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat procedure with remaining batter. Serve waffles with 1/3 cup syrup.

Nutritional Information
Calories:411 (25% from fat)
Fat:11.4g (sat 5.3g,mono 3.7g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:12.9g
Carbohydrate:64.5g
Fiber:1.4g
Cholesterol:149mg
Iron:3.7mg
Sodium:754mg
Calcium:284mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light, www.myrecipes.com

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Pizza

This delicous recipe was our Monday night dinner. Thanks to Justin he got this cooked for us! So all the credit goes to him! They turned out great! I brought my left overs for lunch and I can not wait to eat it! He said it was very easy and did not take him long at all . Serve with a small mixed green salad. Enjoy!


Makes 4 servings (1 piece each)

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 cup green bell pepper strips
2 (4-ounce) links turkey Italian sausage, I only had pork Italian sausage
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) loaf French bread, cut in half horizontally
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and green bell pepper strips, and sauté 6 minutes or until tender.

Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan, and cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Add crushed red pepper and diced tomatoes, and cook 5 minutes or until mixture thickens.

Spread sausage mixture evenly over cut sides of bread, and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Place bread halves on a baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Cut each pizza in half.

Nutritional Information
Calories:375 (29% from fat)
Fat:12g (sat 5.1g,mono 4.2g,poly 2.2g)
Protein:24.6g
Carbohydrate:42g
Fiber:4.9g
Cholesterol:63mg
Iron:2.7mg
Sodium:967mg
Calcium:280mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light, www.myrecipes.com

Monday, May 17, 2010

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken

I made this for us on Sunday night for dinner. This was my first time trying it out and they turned out great. I tweaked the recipe a bit, but I will post the original. The recipe calls for chicken thighs but we already had chicken breasts and we aren't huge fans of chicken thighs so we made do. I tried following the recipe about the baking part but my oven does not cook chicken that fast. So if you do chicken breasts you might want to cut them up in smaller pieces instead of just putting the whole breast in (like I did). They will cook faster that way and not burn the outside. I served bacon wrapped corn, which I will post that recipe as well. I also did not follow that recipe exactly either and will tell you what I did differently. We also had roasted red potatoes. This meal was very very good!!

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken
Serves 4 (2 chicken thighs) or can serve 2 (1 chicken breast each, this is what we did)

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs or 2 chicken breast boneless skinless
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey, I used 4 tbsp
2 teaspoons cider vinegar, I used 1 tsp

**I did not use all of the rub since we only did 2 chicken breast. I just tossed them both in a bowl with all the spices mixed together and threw out the rest.

Directions
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side. **(if you cut chicken into pieces then it will be done by this time, just make sure to cut into chicken and make sure it is white all the way through)

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Nutritional Information
Calories:321 (31% from fat)
Fat:11g (sat 3g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.5g)
Protein:28g
Carbohydrate:27.9g
Fiber:0.6g
Cholesterol:99mg
Iron:2.1mg
Sodium:676mg
Calcium:21mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light, www.myrecipes.com

Peppered Corn on the Cob
If I would have followed this recipe as it stated then I know it would have been amazing. But, since I did not read all the directions I would not slow cook it so I just followed the recipe exceot the slow cooker part. I just boiled it on the stove and it was still good!I just did 2 ears of fresh corn. So i will post original recipe but you might want to tweak it according to how many ears of corn you do.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter, softened
4 garlic cloves, pressed
6 ears fresh corn, husks removed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 fully cooked bacon slices (we tested with Ready Crisp Bacon)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 jalapeño pepper, minced, I omitted

Directions
Combine butter and garlic in a small bowl. Rub garlic butter evenly over ears of corn. Sprinkle evenly with pepper and salt. Wrap each ear of corn with 2 bacon slices, and secure with wooden picks. Place corn in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add broth and jalapeño pepper.

Cover and cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours or until corn is tender. Remove bacon before serving, if desired.

Bacon Bit: If you don't want to wrap the bacon around the corn, simply chop the bacon and sprinkle on top of the corn in the cooker.

**Like I said I boiled mine and just mixed the chicken broth and water and boiled it that way but I suggest following the recipe because I know it is much better that way.

-Compliments of www.myrecipes.com

Honey Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

This recipe is very similiar to the Mixed Berry Cobbler recipe I posted a while back but it is a little different and tastes a bit different too. I made it for dessert Sunday night and it was delicious. It is sweet but has a tart taste as well. We did not have any vanilla ice cream but it would be great with this. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!


Makes 12 servings


Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
8 cups chopped peeled peaches (about 4 pounds), I used frozen sliced peaches, thawed (1 pck.)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3 cups blackberries, I used frozen blackberries, thawed
Cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind, omitted
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.

Combine 1/4 cup flour, peaches, honey, juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; toss gently. Let stand 15 minutes. Fold in blackberries. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, granulated sugar, rind, and baking powder in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, and stir just until moist.

Drop dough onto peach mixture to form 12 mounds. Sprinkle mounds with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Nutritional Information
Calories:283 (20% from fat)
Fat:6.3g (sat 3.8g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.3g)
Protein:4.3g
Carbohydrate:56.5g
Fiber:4.7g
Cholesterol:17mg
Iron:1.5mg
Sodium:267mg
Calcium:63mg

-Compliment of Cooking Light, www.myrecipes.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

We are almost bricked!!

They are almost done bricking the outside as you can see from the pictures! Our front door came in and was installed. I didn't take any pictures of the inside but Justin went in this morning and said the sheetrock was up. I'm going by the house again this weekend and will take pictures of the inside.




Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Shopping the sales and stuff....

After talking with a friend of a friend a month ago, I was inspired to try to save on our grocery bill. She told me about a blog called "The Fairhope Foodie". She told me she checks it everyday and she posts information on coupons and makes her meals according to what Publix has on sale for that week. So I started following her on blogger and I actually have her website "button" on my blog. I believe it is to the right and it says, The Fairhope Foodie. If you click on it, it takes you to her website. She will post all the good coupons and sales for the month/week and great recipes!

I've been trying to shop the sales and I still felt like my grocery bill was the same or higher. Wal-mart's prices are definitely lower than any place but I'm not sure about the quality of produce and meat. Everything else I think is great! But, I have lowered our grocery bill lately by comparing all the prices of the sale items for the week from all our local grocery stores. Also, I noticed that on The Fairhope Foodie's latest Publix trip, which she saved a lot, didn't consist of our normal stuff I always have to buy every week. So I asked her what she did about her meat and veggies she cooks with and she told me she will see who has a good price on the meats they eat often, chicken mainly and a little ground beef she said, and will stock up when they are priced well. So now I have figured out how all the people save so much on there grocery bills! Instead of just waiting until you run out of something or just buying groceries from week to week, you need to shop for things if you see the brand you use on sale (Publix puts a lot of name brand stuff B1G1, take advantage). So that is what I have done in the past two weeks and we did save more on our last two grocery runs. I wait until I get the sale paper for the week, which usually comes out on Wednesday or sometimes here we get a "savings" paper on Tuesdays with all the local grocery store sales (or look on there websites). Like I said before, we have always shopped at Wal-mart but there produce and meat, to me personally, are not that great. The produce does not last long at all! Half the time my berries are already molded in some spots when I take them out to wash them! So that is why I have been trying to shop at other stores. And if you stick to the sales at Publix, Piggly Wiggly, Bruno's, or Target you can save. I've tried getting into the coupons but not a lot of the things we buy ever have a coupon. But, I'm still new at all this and I will tell you it is harder than you think! I thought oh this is easy just print the coupons and use them or buy this or that. But, you have to be very organized and plan ahead...

One thing we have been bad about is being wasteful. I would let fresh veggies just sit in our fridge and mold or use too much meat or something else because I thought we can just buy more. Then after I started buying so many fresh veggies I realized hey this stuff is not cheap! No wonder our grocery bill went up! So now when I buy fresh veggies for meals I either make sure to use another meal that week to use the left over veggies or I freeze the remainder. A lot of our meals call for onion, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Most of the time it says one cup, etc. So now I buy them by size according to our menu for the week or if they are having a good sale that week on them then I will buy more and cut them up, place in a zip bag (freezer friendly), label it with name and date, and then toss in freezer. **Plus this is a time saver technique I use too**

This week Piggly Wiggly has there ground beef on special for $1.99/lb. So I will be stocking up on it! I have not seen any good chicken deals but I have not looked at Target's weekly ad yet. So let me know if you find any good deals and if these techniques work for you! I will post more tips as I read them. Like I said I am just getting into this coupon world and apparently I have a lot to learn! People are saving by shopping at Publix and other places. I've just got to master how they do it! Also, another good place for coupons and deals is the "I heart Publix" website. I have that "button" on my page as well.

Have a great week and happy savings!!!