Valentine Flowers

Sorry, this is sideways - I couldn't figure out how to rotate it so it would post upright.  Brad had the most gorgeous Orchids sent to me at work for Valentines Day this year.  I had to post a pic - just ignore all the files on my desk and focus on the lovely flowers.  Aren't they spectacular?

Fairy Tale Friday

Winston's kindergarten teacher has been doing an activity each week on Friday called Fairy Tale Friday.  She had us parents each sign up for a few time slots and then gave us a fairy tale to present to the class.  We have 30 minutes to read the fairy tale and do an activity of our choosing.  I signed up for three of them. 

The first one I was given was The Three Billy Goats Gruff; second was The Gingerbread Man; and the last one - that I did today - was Henny Penny.  It's been fun to spend time in his class and get to know the kids a little better. 

My favorite one was The Gingerbread Man which we did right before Christmas so it was fun for the kids to talk about making cookies.  I had them make a gingerbread boy ornament with cardstock paper and stickers - they turned out so cute!

This is a picture of our Henny Penny activity - we made chickens with a small paper plate with foam rubber beaks and legs, googley eyes and feathers that they glued on.  My sample is on the right and Winston's chicken is on the left.  I'm kind of sad that it's my last one and wish I had signed up for one more. 

Beautiful Song

This is something worth checking out.  Here's a link to Carrie Underwood singing How Great Thou Art and it's a truly touching and inspiring performance.  She sings it so beautifully!  I can't help but be touched by it.  She really puts her whole heart into singing this song.  Just watching and listening to her warms my heart and soul and brings tears to my eyes. I'm so grateful for a loving and forgiving Savior and hearing this song reminds me how blessed I am. 

Slow Cooker Lasagna

It's been so cold here this winter.  It's the coldest weather we've had in over 20 years in fact and this past Thursday we had a freezing rain storm come through and we almost never get freezing rain. 

Brad had been in Wyoming for work and the freezing rain caused the airport to close for several hours.  Because of the closure, Brad's flight was cancelled and he was stuck in Denver for an extra day and a half and then had to take a flight that flew him half way across the country before it brought him home. 

When it's cold like this, all I want to do is stay inside and curl up with a good book and warm blanket while something good is cooking.  One of my favorite recipes to throw together in a slow cooker is Lasagna.  I've modified a recipe I found online and it's become a family favorite.  This Garlic Bread goes great with it too.  Mmmm!  I love warm and delicious food on a cold winter day.

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA

Ingredients:

1 pound Italian sausage 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1/4 cup olive oil 4 teaspoons minced garlic 1 29oz can crushed tomatoes 1 16oz can tomato sauce 1 6oz can tomato paste 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups water 2 Tbl spoons dried oregano 2 Tbl spoons dried basil 1 12oz pkg lasagna noodles 24 ounces cottage cheese 1 egg lightly beaten 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 16oz grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.	In a large skillet over medium heat cook the onion in 1/4 cup olive oil until soft, add sausage and garlic and cook until browned. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, pepper, water, oregano, basil and stir until well incorporated. Simmer until heated through.
2.	In a large bowl mix together the cottage cheese, egg, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
3.	Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Break to fit noodles into slow cooker. Top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used.  I like to top with additional Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese.
4.	Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Snowflakes

Winston and I had a fun time tonight cutting out some snowflakes. He was feeling a little down because his older brothers didn't want to play with him, so to cheer him up I suggested we open the art kit that Santa had brought him for Christmas.  He started out drawing a picture of our house and then a picture of a snowflake.

Looking at his snowflake picture, we decided to cut out a few of our own to hang in his room.  I haven't cut out snowflakes for years and it took me a few tries to remember how to fold and cut to get a decent looking one but we kept trying.  We hung up our best ones on his bedroom wall.

Snowflakes are such a fun project. The possibilities are endless and they're perfect for January - especially this year.  It's been the coldest January we've had since Winston was born.  I'm actually hoping it will snow some more soon to bring the temperatures up out of the single digits.  Brrrr! 

A Recipe to try - Salted Caramel Apple Pie

While I was looking online for some recipes to try for Thanksgiving, I came across this one.  I printed it out planning to try it for Thanksgiving dinner but ran out of time - happens to me all the time.  I always think I'll have more time to bake than I do - when it comes to baking I can be completely unrealistic. 

I still plan on trying this but it'll have to wait for now so I thought I'd post it here.  Unfortunately, the printout didn't list the website I found it from so I can't give credit to the creator of such a fabulous idea -a caramel apple pie!  I'm thinking I'll have to make this pie in the next few weeks - a mid January treat to brighten these long cold winter days. 

Picture found here.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut in pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water



Filling:

6 -7 cups tart apples, peeled and sliced (Jonathan or Granny Smith)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons heavy cream

4 tablespoons butter



Directions:

For the crust: Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. (You can also do this by hand or with a pastry cutter!)



Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in two. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form two discs. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

When chilled- roll out one disc and place inside a pie dish with a small over-hang around the edges. Let chill in fridge until filling is ready.



Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.



For filling: Sprinkle apples with lemon juice. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and add apples. Toss to mix. Add vanilla and cream. Melt butter in heavy skillet. Add apple mixture and cook approximately 8-10 minutes, until apples are soft and the liquid has turned golden. Turn into pie shell.



Cover with a lattice top or just drape the whole second crust over the filling and crimp the edges. If you don't have enough over-hang to turn it over to seal the pie, use my trick: roll out a thin 1/2 inch wide strip of extra dough and place it around the edge. Use a fork or your finger to decorate the edge.
Brush the top of the crust with heavy cream and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.

Another Year

It's crazy to think that another year has come and gone.  I can't believe that it's been 6 months since my last post.  It's true what they say about time flying - the older I get the faster it flies by.

Summer time was soooo busy, I just fell out of the habit of posting.  I do miss sharing my random thoughts though so at the start of this new year I'll begin by getting back into  the routine of blogging.

Happy New Year!

I Did It!

Yesterday was the Utah Valley Half Marathon.  I signed up to run this race with my friend Laurie Petersen back in January thinking I had plenty of time to train - I was sure I'd be more than ready to run.  I started training in February - stepping things up in March and April.  I was actually doing pretty good until May arrived. 

I pushed myself a little too hard on a long run, injured my lower back and had to pull back for a few weeks.  Then work got crazy busy and Brad got sick and ended up in the hospital for a few days.  Needless to say, I didn't get  much running in during May.  A week before race day, I was only able to run for about 7 miles before tiring out.

Feeling discouraged but still determined to do this race, I decided to just focus on finishing the race in under 3 hours.  Laurie was great about it - saying she hadn't enough time to really train either and we would plan to walk as much as we needed. 

Going in with lowered expectations took the pressure off and I was able to relax and run so I did much, much better than I expected!  With Laurie's encouragement I ran most of the way - stopping to walk only at the aid stations to grab a quick drink and one pit stop.  I ended up finishing in 2 hours and 33 minutes!! 

I'm pretty sore today since I wasn't in shape for that long of a run but it's worth it.  The run felt great and I'm so glad I stuck it out.  Now, on to the next race in August.  :)