Bread Freshness

Something i learned today that i thought i would share with you all...

Want to know how fresh your bread is when you go shopping?
Each day has a different color twist tie. It goes alphabetically by color. They are…

Monday: Blue

Tuesday: Green

Thursday: Red

Friday: White

Saturday; Yellow

Based on this, if you went shopping on Friday, you would want look for a twisty- tie color that is green or red as they are the freshest. If you grab one that is yellow, that bread would be a week old since it was produced on Saturday.

You may want to write this down on a sticky note and put in with your coupons or wallet or something. I just thought this was interesting so i had to share.

A Ring of Chicken

Last night we went to a game night/small party and made friends. I know, making friends isn't a huge deal to most of you, but being the new people in a new town and at church is hard. It takes a while to make friends for us. But slowly its happening, and last night was one of those nights that we added people to our friends list :) You make one friend and they introduce you to more friends, and then you have more and more. Yea! So we were invited to this game night and we were asked to bring a little something food wise. A snack to munch on or appetizer of some kind. I decided to bring an appetizer. The 1st two things that came into my mind were the spinach balls (click the link, i blogged about in a previous blog a while back) and a Chicken Ring. I plan on making the spinach balls for a relief society thing, so i decided the Chicken Ring would be the best choice. I have NO idea why i thought of the chicken ring because there are tons of other appetizers to make, it just jumped out of my memory.
So, you ask: what is a chicken ring?
Its magic, that's what it is.
And lucky for you, i'm going to give you the recipe at the end of this blog.
I had forgotten about this thing for years i think. I got the recipe from an old roommate that was a great cook when she took the time, and i was in love with it for a few months. Yes, i took it to everything i went to. Then i stopped making it for some reason and didn't make it again until yesterday. I can't believe i did that! I took it for the party tonight and it was a big hit.
So, use it wisely...or not. But enjoy it, and love it as much as i do and share. It is an appetizer, but husband loves it and wishes i would make it for dinner. We'll see ;)

I want to say this was a Pampered Chef recipe a while back, but i can't remember for sure. I just know that when my roommate would make it she would use the pizza baking stone to bake it, and their food chopper to chop it all up. I don't have a pizza baking stone (and my pizza pan is in a box still packed away), so i used a stone pie plate i had gotten and it turned out fine. But i'm pretty sure any type of pan you feel like using will work fine for this.
I sprinkled a little Parmesan Cheese on top of it before i cooked it. It's not a must do, i just thought it would look nice.

Chicken Ring

* 2 - Cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - 8 count each, keep refrigerated until ready to use

* 1 - 10 or 12 oz can Chunk White Chicken, drain and shred

* 1 1/2 c red bell pepper, chopped small

* 1 - 10 oz frozen Broccoli (or Spinach - chopped thawed and drained, then squeeze out excess water) [i use broccoli though]

* 1 c mild Cheddar Cheese - grated

* 1/3 c Mayonnaise

* 1/2 t salt

* 1 - lemon - use the zest from whole lemon only

* 1 t nutmeg

- Place all of the ingredients except the Crescent Rolls in a large bowl and blend well with a spoon.

- Place the mouth of a glass in the center of the stone or pan you are baking this on.

- In an over-lapping circle place the crescent dough to fit around your glass (the shortest of the dough should be toward the center and the longest points out to the edge of the stone or pan). it will resemble a sun pattern.

- Place the meat mixture on the wide end of the circle with a large spoon. Shape and smooth the meat mixture in a continuous circle. Remove the glass.

- Pull each point over the filling and tuck under the center circle.

- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

- Let the ring cool. Slice for 16 servings.

ENJOY

Husband Says...

...that i am not allowed to post this picture....
These are not my feet :]
I was teasing when i said i wanted to paint his toenails, but then he said i could if i had nail polish remover. I was honest and told him i don't know where it is so i won't be able to take it off, so he said no.....but then he kept saying:
"are you going to paint my toes?"
He kept bringing it up! So i did it and he let me. He held still for me the whole time. No complaints.
He won't be wearing his sandals any time soon i think ;]
i love you husband!

The Good Wife's Guide

*before you get hostile with me, i was not the one to make this up! This is an article from Housekeeping Monthly.

The Good Wife's Guide

*Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

*Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

*Be a little gay (the happy kind) and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

*Clear away the clutter. make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

* Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

*Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

*Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

*Be happy to see him.

*Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

*Listen to him. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

*Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

*Don't greet him with complaints and problems.

*Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

*Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

*Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low soothing and pleasant voice.

*Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

*A good wife knows her place.


A few years ago i had a boss show me "The Good Wife's Guide" article from a 1955 Housekeeping Monthly. I had been cleaning out all the files he had in his filing cabinets and it was stuffed in a "Funny Stuff" folder. It's a real article for the 50's housewives on how to be a good wife. It kind of cracked me up at first because the extremity of it just seemed like a joke. It's not completely out in left field, some of it is a little endearing in ways, and i'm sure the older you are the more you may agree with the article. But some of it.....wow. It's gives a whole new insight. They were expected to be like that!

Here is my rule ladies: Whatever works for you family situation is great. As long as you and your husband and family are happy, stay positive and make your home life the best you can.


*here is the real article

Amazing Meatloaf

Like every new wife, when husband and i got married i wanted to prove he got a good wife that knew how to do things. Keep the house clean, not screw up the laundry by not turning white things blue, and most importantly cook for him. The thing with cooking for a guy: he wants everything to taste like how his mom makes it!.... I'm not fighting that as much as i was a year ago though, thank goodness. Not that i don't love his mom, or her cooking (i love them!), but "mom's home cooking" is almost impossible to compete with for anyone.
I know how to cook. I'm not a pro by any means, but i don't back down from a challenge. Of all people, oddly i thank my dad for my cooking skills. I learned basic cooking from my my mom, but when i started high school and my parents divorced my brother and i stayed living with my dad. My dad did all the cooking then.....if that's what you want to call it. We had mass amounts of spaghetti, mac & cheese, tacos and frozen pizza. There were some frozen veggies thrown in there occasionally, but i think the only time i remember having real cooking was when my dad started dating my future step-mom. Then he was making steak and potatoes....for every meal she had with us! But they got engaged, and then married, and my step-mom (already a mom of 5) made the quality of food go up significantly. She's the perfect example of a Suzi Homemaker/Molly Mormon, and i love her for it. A health conscious cook, always makes real homemade food (and as proof of that, she didn't even know how to make ramen noodles because she never made packaged food). But, one day my dad decided that i needed to learn to cook and help out around the house a little more that way, so i was given the chore to cook for everyone at least twice a week. I wasn't allowed to make anything that was a package meal (i.e. no kraft mac & cheese or hamburger helper). It had to be homemade. So i did it, i learned how to cook food, and i thought i had learned pretty well.
But how do you compete with Moms home cooking?? When we got married, I would make things, and i always made the mistake of asking if it was ok...he always told me there was something wrong with it! "Too salty." "It doesn't need the spinach." "My mom does it a different way, you should get recipes from her", too much this not enough that a little dry blah blah blah. i don't want a food critic, i want a husband grateful that someone can cook for him. I had to stop asking how it tasted because i'm too sensitive to take all the nitpicking. It made me crazy. But i kept continuing to try to make new things every week so we could find something i made that he did like....
Then it dawned on me: my MEATLOAF!
Of all things, yes i thought of meatloaf. i make the best meatloaf in the world. i had first learned how to make it when i was living at home on one of my cooking nights. I was out of ideas of what to make, and my step-mom mentioned this Meatloaf that a friend of hers had mentioned to her, so she and i decided to give it a try. It was an instant hit in our home, so why shouldn't i try feeding it to husband?
So, I asked him if he liked meatloaf. "Sure" he said, "its nothing special to me, but i'll eat it". Ok fine, i though, but he's never had MY meatloaf. So i told him about it: Cream cheese and Spinach stuffed Meatloaf.
"Eww" he said "No, i don't like cream cheese or spinach".

I've had little kids tell me the exact same thing, but they tried it and loved it. i was frustrated with him at the time from having such a hard time finding things he would like, so the least he could do would be to try it.....so i made it anyway.
And guess what?
He LOVED it.
After that, every time i asked him what he wanted for dinner he would ask for my meatloaf :]] He didn't care if he had already ate it that week or not. He stopped nitpicking my food i made and stopped suggesting i get him moms recipes too. Yes, i will get some from her the next time i see her because i love recipes and i'm sure being a mom of 6 that she has some really great ones, but the pressure was off.
Praise the Meatloaf!

I made my amazing meatloaf the other night, so i figured i would share it with all of our readers :]

You can make this with any recipe you may already have for meatloaf, its just the cream cheese and spinach that are extra really.

Easy Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
(i used lean ground turkey cuz i like to avoid red meat & it tastes the same to me)
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 8 oz. (1 pkg) cream cheese
• bag of spinach
9 x 13" glass pan
wax paper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except ketchup, cream cheese, and spinach in a large bowl, and mix well.

pull a large piece of wax paper a few inches longer then the 9x13 baking dish and flatten the meat mixture onto it to about the same size as the baking dish. Having it that size makes it easier to get a good thickness so it doesn't rip when you roll it up or bake it.
melt the cream cheese in the microwave for 20-30 sec. so that it is spreadable
spread the cream cheese over the top of the rolled out meat mixture
Place as much or as little of the baby spinach leafs on top of the cream cheese. i used to lay each leaf individually to completely cover the cheese, but then i realized it doesn't really matter. Dumping it on top and distributing it is easier and i'm pretty sure you get more spinach stuffed in there.
Roll it up! Fold one end in and keep pulling it over by the edge of the wax paper as you separating the meat mixer and paper to form a rolled up "log"
Place into middle of the pan, seam side end on the under side so it doesn't unroll while its cooking.i like to throw in baby carrots into the sides of the pan when i bake it
Bake for 1 Hour.
The last 10 or 15 minutes of baking, put ketchup on the top.

Stuffed Meatloaf! Cut it up to the portion sizes you like and serve with anything you like to eat meatloaf with. It's wonderful! It makes great meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers too. AND Husband now actually likes spinach, so that's another plus.

ENJOY!

A Letter From The Editor

Dear 4 readers,

I feel i should apologize to all of you. I had a goal in my head to blog at least once a week to make this blog a worthwhile read, but in all the business of my life of doing nothing, there really isn't much to talk about. Husband works, i search for houses and jobs.

At the moment I'm burned out of that though. Every time we find a house to put an offer on, we come to find out there are already 18 other offers that are going to be presented along with ours. What kind of market is this??I can't tell you how many issues i'm having with this. BLAH! Nothing worth living in stays on the market for more then a week, and everything in our price range is actually way our of our range because people are paying up the yingyang over the asking price to get their offer accepted. i'm frustrated. But, BUT, butbutbut, but, i know things are going to work out in the end. i don't know how things are supposed to work out for us, but i know i have to accept things for how they go, and what ever is best for us will work out. I'm being positive. There is something out there waiting for us. Somewhere. I think the only reason i say this with confidence is because i've been praying about this for weeks (months!) and haven't felt the impression that i should quit....so i'm counting my blessings and trying to do my best.
As far as job searching goes....i'll find something when i actually focus on that part. I'm contemplating selling Mary Kay, but i haven't decided if that's the best way to go right now...

You may or may not have noticed that i have added husband as an editor to the blog. I try to mention him at least once in every entry, but i think he's feeling a little picked on. i pick on him out of LOVE! He is my best friend in the whole world, and he makes me more happy than anyone i've ever met. It's just how we are. And i tell him before i even post a "husband says" entry, so its not like i'm making fun of him behind his back. He has all veto power in this. But, now he has the ability to say what he wants. Weather that is to tell a story, defending himself, or make fun of me too....that's up to him. I'm not sure how often he'll do this, but keep an eye out for him. He may need a little encouragement from you all (all 4 of you) before it happens though ;)

So yeah, thanks for reading. We love hearing from the few of you that do follow. I'll do my best to come up with more idea to blog about, and you should be hearing from one of us again soon.

p.s. one of us (no names mentioned) didn't like having our picture on the "followers" boxes of friends pages for some reason, so if we're missing from your box please don't take it personal, we're still following you though!

I Scare My Husband

Husband has a job where he has to stay over night on duty on base every 4th night.
Dang it.
We had to do the same thing when we were in Port Angeles, we have to do it here. That's just how it is. Eventually it turned into every 8th night after he got qualified there, so that's something we have to look forward to when he gets qualified here (except that he would then have to go on deployments for a few nights....or weeks with the planes). Its a lot better now then it was when he was at school for 5 months though so i take what i can really.
It gets to be disruptive. There are usually fun things we have to miss going out to do together, but its just something we live with and work around. One of the big things it messes up for us is sleeping. Sleeping in the same bed with someone is different then sleeping alone. I prefer the 1st option, not sleeping alone. It's much better. More comfortable. Safer.
I've been having a hard time falling asleep the nights when he's not home, and a few days ago i had a particularly hard time. I couldn't do anything to fall asleep. I read my book, i read my scriptures, watched a movie and tried to just lay there with my eyes closed. i ended up not falling asleep until after 7am. It was a long night, and i still haven't figured out what it was that caused all the trouble. Husband usually gets off from work at 7:30am on weekends when he has duty, so i knew before i fell asleep that he would be home soon, i even thought about texting him to ask him to bring home breakfast, but i finally fell asleep just then.
Then i woke up screaming.
I didn't have time to think anything, i was just screaming. When i opened my eyes i looked over to see husband standing next to my side of the bed with a shocked look on his face.
"i just brought you some breakfast" he said.

".............."
"are you ok? you don't need to scream"
".....i'm sorry..... i wasn't screaming that loud"
He scoffed at me and told me i screamed at the top of my lungs, then he sort of backed out of the room slowly as i fell back to sleep.
I slept for a few hours and woke to find he had snuck into bed with me and that my breakfast was cold on the table next to me, so i warmed it up, ate it, and realized i couldn't keep my eyes open so i went back to sleep. I think we slept until after 2 that day, and got absolutely nothing done that day, but sometimes you can't beat a day of doing nothing every now and then.
He's been afraid to wake me up in the mornings since then, but i told him to do it anyway because i love that he kisses me goodbye every morning.
i don't think it will happen again, but you never know...
Poor husband. I can see how that could be a little traumatic.