I've Got To Do It

I know it's cliche but I just have to do it. I have to post about all the things I'm thankful for because that's what you do around this time. Be thankful. Well, really we should be thankful all the time, but it seems to be remembered a lot more around this time of year. Somehow Thanksgiving Day does that to people. Weird huh? 

Anyway. 

I took Andrew on a date to the SUU women's basketball game. It was lots of fun! They played UVU and they won! We had fun watching them. It's the first athletic event we've been to for months and it was great! We also got dinner at the Pizza Cart. Love that place. It was Andrew's first time trying it but he thought it was great. 

We also got some snow! We got four or so inches last weekend and I wish it would keep coming!

This is how we've been spending our time. Andrew studies using his THREE screens, and I read or do something constructive. 

Andrew also got his new teeth today! These teeth don't come out! That also means no more retainers! YAY!!!!! They look so good and we're very glad to have them done!

I've also been crafting with my mom but I don't have any pictures yet so that'll have to wait. 

I'm thankful for all my family and Andrew's family and everything they do for us. I'm also thankful for good friends, jobs, a home, and most importantly Andrew. I would never make it without him. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Recipes Galore!

I am absolutely loving my week off! I got to spend time cuddling with my fur babies.

And I spent some fantastic time with the hubby.

I've also had lot's of time on my hands to catch up on some cooking! Here are the recipes I made this week. 

Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Thyme

Pepper to taste

Mix everything together and pour over chicken. I usually let it marinade while the chicken thaws, all day. Get your grill hot and cook to 165* F or until insides are no longer pink.

With the chicken I made a rice recipe that is another staple at our house. It is so much better than normal rice and is very simple. 

Rice Pilaf
Ingredients:
1 cube Butter
1 cup Rice
1 Onion, Chopped
1 cup or 1 8 oz can Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Parsley Flakes

Melt butter in a skillet and add rice and onion. Cook until rice begins to brown, remembering to stir frequently. In a casserole dish combine all other ingredients. Add rice mixture. Cover and bake at 375* for about 30 minutes.

Next I give you

Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Onion, chopped
1 28 oz can crushed tomatos
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp each, oregano, basil, sugar
12 oz cooked spaghetti noodles
6 oz sour cream
12 oz ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Make your meat sauce by browning your meat and adding the onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and seasonings. While you are doing that, cook the noodles and drain. Add noodles to the bottom of a casserole dish.

Next combine the sour cream, ricotta, and 2 cups of the mozzarella. Mix well and add to the top of the noodles.

Now add the meat sauce to the top of this. Bake on 350* for about a half hour. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and enjoy!

I love this spaghetti recipe. It is basically like a lasagna of sorts, but I like it so much better and I don't know why! I feel like it's a bit creamier and there isn't so much noodle, like you get with lasagna.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

The first thing your going to do is cream the butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make sure there are no clumps of butter left when you're done. Mix the sour cream and soda and allow to sit for a few minutes. It will become light and fluffy. Mix this along with the flour. Make sure to scrape the sides to get everything mixed in. This will need to refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight. This will not be light and fluffy if you don't chill it first. 

When you're ready take it out and set on a floured surface. This will be VERY sticky.

This is what it will look like. 

 At this point you'll want to knead more flour into it. It normally takes a few more cups, but you want to be careful and not mix in too much. Keep it as soft as possible while still being able to work with it. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and use what ever cookie cutters you want. Lay out on baking sheet and bake at 375* for 8-11 minutes, depending on thickness and your oven. The edges will be a light golden color when they are finished cooking. Let cool on a cookie sheet before frosting. 

Which leads me to my final recipe for the day.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 cube butter, softened

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla. 

This is just a straight forward cream cheese frosting. cream the cheese, butter, and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar. You can add more sugar as needed, or add a tablespoon of milk at a time if it is too stiff. You can also replace the vanilla with lemon or orange juice to flavor it. 

Well that's it for today! It's an overload I know, but I've been busy with my week off. Let me know what you think!

Ragnar Las Vegas!!

We had such a fun weekend! Andrew got to run the Vegas Ragnar this weekend. We drove down Thursday night and got to our condo. Andrew's cousins Kristine and Ben were also running with him and they stayed with us that first night. They were all in the second van so they didn't even have to leave for their safety briefing and check in until 1:30 pm. We took our time getting up and having breakfast. Andrew worked on some homework and Kristine and Ben went for a walk before they needed to eat and get ready to go. After they left I spent all Friday and Saturday morning doing what ever I wanted! I went shopping and read a good book and did absolutely nothing! It was wonderful. I got some shopping done for Andrew and I and I was also able to get some of our Christmas shopping done (I can't believe it's already that time of year). 

All the guys at the finish line. Their shirts say "I'm Just a Big Freakin Ray of Sunshine." The girls wore superman shirts that even had attached capes!

His Vegas Ragnar medal and his Saints and Sinners medal. That makes three total! 

And now for some more exciting news. Andrew got an internship! The best part? It's here in Cedar. This is good news for us because it means he won't be living away form me for up to 4 months! His internship is in the Internal Audit Department at SUU. He was so excited I just had to get him some new work clothes. I almost said a new outfit but guys don't wear outfits. 

Look at how handsome he is!! I married a stud! He was so excited to start today. That's all he's talked about since he got home. I think he's going to really like this. 

He also decided to pose for me.  

Tonight for dinner I made another of our favorites. 

Hot Dog Pasta

Ingredients:

1 lb noodles

1 tbs butter

1 chopped onion

1 can tomato soup

1 can tomato sauce

1\2 cup water

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 dash Tabasco

1 pkg hot dogs

Cook noodles. While cooking melt butter and saute onion. Add all other ingredients except hot dogs. Add hot dogs and allow to simmer until noodles are done cooking. Add to mixture and enjoy.

No noodles in this picture but the hot dogs are my favorite part anyway! This is my go to recipe when I'm short on time. It's so quick and easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. 

And now for our excitement of the night. We were just getting back from walking the dogs. We let them off the leashes on the front lawn like we always do. They do their thing and come right inside. We let Katie in and turned around but Julie was gone. The next thing we hear is this terrified whine down the street. And the whine doesn't stop. The next thing we notice is her being chased by two big dogs. One looked like a boxer and the other was just as big. These two big dogs chased her down the street and she was outrunning them!! These also happened to be the same two dogs who attacked Katie and I while on a walk this spring. She got tired of running and just wanted to be safe and headed for the front door. The problem was we had shut it to keep Katie inside. These two dogs kept on top of her and she couldn't go anywhere.  We also couldn't get between them without getting bit or anything. Our kicking was not phasing these dogs at all. It didn't matter how hard we kicked, it was like they didn't even notice us. I was finally able to get a hold of one of the dogs by the collar. Andrew opened the door to let her in and the other dog ran in after her. This is what made me the most mad. This stupid freaking dog was in my house!!! Julie was so scared she pooped herself (literally). She just couldn't get away from him. The other dog wanted in and I couldn't get in front of him so I ended up being outside for most of the time. The dog chased Julie around the house and only stopped when Andrew broke the bar stool over it's back. We were finally able to get them outside and I ended up calling animal control. Julie was bleeding in a few places, and they had come into my house, and it was the second time and I felt like it needed to be reported. It was quite the excitement. Julie got a bath and we gave her some food and she finally calmed down and quite shaking. But she wouldn't even play fetch with me! (that is a surefire sign that something is wrong, like being scared to death). Also, in case anyone is wondering, Andrew got the stool put back together and working like new.