Taking the Time

 It has been a few weeks since I posted on my blog. And it is now December. Christmas time. Christmas is only 12 days away at this moment, and I haven't posted anything this month; none of my regular weekly posts, nor anything "Christmas-y." I have thought about posts to write, I have a few drafts sitting there, waiting to be finished, and I have several topics in my head that I think might be worth writing something about. But, I haven't done it this month. Not just because life is a bit more hectic right now, but because I'm trying to take some time for a few other things. 

I'm trying to take some time for things like Christmas. I like Christmas. It is one of my favorite times of year. I like the music (well....most of it), I like the decorations, I like cold, snowy, crisp weather (if and when we get it), I like the lights, I like special Christmas Eve services at church, I like giving gifts....I just like most everything about Christmas. Last year, I was a bit of a Scrooge, to be honest, and did not fully enjoy Christmas as I usually do. This year, though, I am wanting to enjoy the season again. And this year, I think, I am enjoying it a bit more because Little Pumpkin is more aware, interactive, and interested in seeing all these Christmas things.  

Seeing and hearing Little Pumpkin participate in the excitement of Christmas has made me want to try and do more Christmas-y things. I've known people that have special traditions, such as baking Christmas cookies, or going and seeing Christmas lights, or making special recipes for Christmas, or using certain decor that has a special meaning. Besides getting a live Christmas tree and decorating it with Jason's ornament collection (superheroes, Star Wars, and Disney!), we don't really have any special Christmas things that we do. (And, the live tree thing just started last year!) This year, though, I am trying to take the time to just "do" more things to make this Christmas season special.

I can't say that I've been super successful with the Christmas activities, but the one thing we did recently was make cut-out cookies.

I think it was a Sunday evening that she helped me mix up a recipe of Vanilla Wafers, and all three of us cut out cookies: Jason, Little Pumpkin, and I. She absolutely loved it! And, she did quite well pressing the cookie cutters into her dough and not over-lapping, until the dough was filled with cut-outs - then she started cutting out over top what was already cut-out! Jason also had a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed the time spent together doing something out of our norm.

Other Christmas-y things we have tried to do included going to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops. I've never been into the Santa thing, didn't grow up with it, and don't really see why we should make a big deal out of it. But, Jason really wanted to do it, so we went. Little Pumpkin wanted nothing to do with the guy playing Santa and refused to sit on his lap, or be anywhere near him, pretty much. We then participated in a few of the kids activities they had set up in the Christmas "village," such as coloring a picture, writing a letter to Santa and putting it in the little mailbox, and looking at the decorations.

We wanted to go get our live Christmas tree as a family outing, but with our work schedules, it just wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So Jason and Little Pumpkin went and got the tree - Jason said she picked it out in that the first tree that she reached out and touched was the tree they got. As it turns out, she picked a very crooked tree! We had to put a board under one side of the tree stand to keep the tree from falling over. A few days after they brought the tree home, we managed to decorate it all together. Little Pumpkin quite enjoyed helping to hang the decorations, and has learned that they are not meant to come on and off, on and off, on and off all the time.

One other Christmas area I am taking some time for is in finding gifts for all the people we are gifting this year. It is taking some brain power, time searching, and effort to gather it all together, but giving gifts is something that I do enjoy. And being able to find a gift that I think will bring joy and excitement to the receiver makes giving gifts more fun. It takes time, though, to be intentional with your gift searching and choices, and that is something that I don't always take the time to do. This year, though, I am trying to take that time and enjoy it, too.

Another area in which I am trying take a little time is in being intentional in having Little Pumpkin participate in things that I am doing. Lately, it has been cooking and baking. She is almost always involved whenever I am making food, but usually because she sees or hears me doing it and drags a chair over to "help." She absolutely LOVES to stir, measure ingredients, and pour things into the bowl. "I help" is her repeated phrase whenever I start to make something. Lately, I have been trying to purposely ask her to help me make things, and to not worry or stress over it taking ten times longer, or making a much larger mess than normal. One of the things I asked her to help with was making a cake for our anniversary this month.

To say that she enjoyed licking the beater would be an understatement. And for the sake of full disclosure, she also decided that the cake batter was a good body lotion! Crazily enough, after that event I had her help me make a large batch of bread on another day.

If you notice the healthy coating of flour on the counter-top, it is from her measuring and pouring in almost all of the flour for the bread. She helped grease the bread pans,

...she helped shape the loaves,

....and when we discovered we didn't even have enough bread pans to make as many loaves as we had dough for, she helped portion dough for tiny rolls. Very tiny rolls. Once again, she absolutely loved helping, and because I was intentional in asking her to help, having the "help" was something I was semi-prepared to manage.

There are a few other things this month that I am hoping to take some time for, such as: Finishing the book that I started for December; Making some cookies and treats to give to our neighbors for Christmas, as well as my co-workers. Finding some sort of Christmas book to read with Little Pumpkin about the Christmas story. (I haven't found one yet, so I'll take suggestions on that!) Cleaning my house (it is a royal disaster, I'm telling you!).

I am hoping that by taking some time to be intentional about a few things, I will slow down a bit and actually enjoy that time. And so far, I feel like it has helped; not just in enjoying this Christmas season, but in enjoying life: my family, my time, and what I am doing. What things are you taking the time for as we come to the end of this year?

Recipes: Week 25

 I was originally going to do a post of our Thanksgiving food recipes this week, but then we never made a Thanksgiving meal. Then, I thought I'd do a recipe post on Little Pumpkin's birthday foods. But that didn't really happen very well, either. So I'm just going to continue with my regular recipe posting method, and share more of the regular recipes that we have made, and tried, from the past few months. Those recipes include...

Healthy Apple-Walnut Muffins

This is one of those recipe cards, or pages, that I have no idea where I got it from. It looks like it is part of one of those recipe books that they would mail you a few sample pages in hopes that you will buy the entire book. It is definitely nothing recent, as the pages that I have are a bit yellowed with age. I was curious to try this recipe as it takes no sugar! It uses apple juice concentrate instead. Sometimes things with no sugar can be quite terrible, in my experience, so I was interested to see how these muffins would turn out. I did not have the Granny Smith apples that it called for, and just used the Gala apples that I typically keep on hand.

The Honest Review: For starters, you can see that they didn't turn out looking exactly like the photo on the recipe card! However, these were not a bad muffin! I believe we all liked the flavor, and it was definitely not a very sweet muffin. The texture, however, was a bit tough, or rubbery. My thought is that I potentially over-mixed the batter, and they could have also been a slight bit over-baked. (My oven- it has a schizophrenic thermostat that randomly fluctuates 50 degrees either direction.... So unless I keep a close eye on it, things don't always turn out quite perfect.) While this wasn't a stellar muffin, I think it has the potential to be a good muffin if it can turn out without the chewy, rubbery texture. I want to try this recipe again. This recipe is staying in our collection at this time.

Banana Pancakes

I think that I have more than one banana pancake recipe, but I haven't looked for sure, or compared them. Whenever I have some bananas that don't get eaten before going too ripe, I look for a new recipe to try that uses extra ripe bananas. This pancake recipe was the choice this time. It comes from my sister, Sally, who I believe got it from her sister-in-law.

The Honest Review: Who doesn't like pancakes? Well, there are some folks, believe it or not, who would rather eat something else. While this was a good recipe that we enjoyed, Jason would prefer something else. Especially since they had banana in them. He ate them and said they were ok, but definitely not his favorite. Little Pumpkin and I enjoyed them, though! Someday soon I will have to pull out all my banana pancake recipes and compare them to find the best one. This recipe is staying in our collection.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

This is a recipe that I consider to be a classic, old recipe. I'm not insinuating that my Aunt Jo is old, or anything, but this recipe has been around my entire life. I remember eating it several times as a kid, both at home, and once or twice with Aunt Jo. Jason, on the other hand, has been fairly adamant that he doesn't like tuna unless it's the actual fish steak. He doesn't care for the canned tuna at all, even in sushi! So I wasn't quite sure how this recipe would go with him when I made it.

The Honest Review: First, I would like to say that I think this is a really easy recipe to make. Second, I really like Tuna Noodle Casserole. Surprisingly, Jason also really liked this recipe! Little Pumpkin likes it and eats it well, too. I have actually made this casserole several times, and we all really enjoy it. I will say this, though: if you follow this exact recipe, I find it to be very dry, so I have made some alterations to improve upon this basic recipe. Alterations: Double the sauce recipe. If desired, add frozen mixed vegetables (Jason prefers this), or an additional can of tuna. I also find it hard to fit one recipe into a square 8"x8" dish, so I always use the next larger size pan. If you're looking for an easy, quick, tastes good casserole, this is one I would recommend! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Saucy Chicken and Asparagus

This looked like a very interesting recipe to me. It is another one of those cut-outs from an old Taste of Home magazine from way back when. Does Taste of Home still do that? I haven't seen one of their magazines for ages, but no matter. The biggest concern I had with this recipe was the use of mayonnaise. If you've been following my recipe reviews, you know that Jason does not like mayonnaise and does not care to try anything that has mayo in it. For this recipe, I didn't tell him that it had mayo until after we ate it. (Is that mean?)

The Honest Review: This was....interesting. It wasn't terrible, but it was definitely a different flavor. Jason almost pinpointed the mayo taste in it. The mayonnaise, curry, and lemon juice flavors together were a bit unusual. Eating it all together, with the asparagus, was a unique combination. We  didn't think it wasn't bad, per se, it was just something that we weren't very fond of. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

No-Title Recipe

This recipe, I am almost certain, came from my co-worker Debbie a few years ago. There is no title, or name, for the recipe as you can see. I am pretty sure, though, that it is supposed to be Chicken Tortilla Soup. I have never attempted to make this recipe (it's also missing instructions...), but I know I have eaten Debbie's home-made Chicken Tortilla Soup. Hence why I asked for, and received, this recipe! I decided to try and make this one day, and I was positive it is supposed to be made in the crock-pot.

The Honest Review: Well, it definitely wasn't the most picturesque meal I've ever made! As far as taste...well, the flavors weren't too bad. But, it just wasn't quite right. If I remember correctly, it was very liquid-y; as in the texture was pretty much water-like. I thought that Tortilla Soup was supposed to be a little bit thicker, but I honestly haven't had it in a few years. When I asked Jason his thoughts, he said, "Maybe throw out this recipe that we don't really know how, or what, it's supposed to make, and get an actual recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup." Haha! I'm OK with that plan. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Squash Bake

I know for a fact that I have multiple recipes, or versions, of "Squash Bake." I think, though, that this is the first recipe I remember having at home as a kid. And, I kind of remember when we got this recipe from Mrs. F. I was not extremely fond of Squash Bake as a kid, I don't believe, even though I did like squash cooked the "normal" way that Mom made it (Brown Butter Squash). We primarily used yellow summer squash at home; I'm not very familiar with other types of squash, to be honest. When my Mom and sister visited in August, they brought us some squash and zucchini from their gardens. Since Jason is not a huge fan of squash, pumpkin, or gourd-type vegetables, I wasn't sure how this recipe would go over.

The Honest Review: I think we were pleasantly surprised with this dish! I know I was a bit surprised when I actually enjoyed eating it. I don't think that Little Pumpkin ate it extremely well, but she ate it. And while Jason ate it and said it was OK, I think he did ask why people eat gourds; that he didn't really see the point. Until I try all the other squash casserole recipes, I will say this one is my favorite. This recipe is staying in our collection at this time.

Sweet Muffins

I actually made this recipe back in Week 21, and used frozen blackberries. I had wanted to try it with peaches, as I thought that just sounded delicious! I finally made these peach muffins this fall using this basic Sweet Muffin recipe.

The Honest Review: These peach muffins did not disappoint! It was hard to not eat them all hot out of the oven as they smelled really good! Not only did they smell good, but they tasted delicious, too, just like I had envisioned. If I didn't say it before when I reviewed this recipe, I'll say it now: I would recommend this muffin recipe with your choice of frozen or fresh fruit! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Well, I'm going to let those muffins wrap up this week's recipe post. I am trying to get caught up on my recipe posting, but in doing so, I have realized that I've kind of fallen off track on what my original intent was. I originally was trying to whittle out all the recipes that we don't like, and organize all the recipes we do like into my very own cookbook. I haven't done so well on the "organize into a cookbook" part and need to get that back in gear. I have two ideas for accomplishing that: 1) keeping the majority of the recipes in their original form and putting them in page protectors in a binder; 2) type out all the recipes, each on a full-page paper, and put them in page protectors (or not) in a binder. My recipes that I use all the time get splattered and grungy, hence my thought of using page protectors. Is one idea better than the other?

What would be your preferred method for organizing, maintaining, and storing your recipes?

A Thankful Post

 Thanksgiving was this past week and I have seen people posting daily "thankfuls" on Facebook in a variety of manners. All week, I have been thinking about doing a "thankful post" but, obviously, didn't get it done on Thanksgiving! To be honest, I have been fighting, or succumbing to, some cold/bug/virus/I-don't-know-what, for the past ten-plus days and haven't put forth a lot of effort into anything. I decided, though, that I should do a "thankful" post, if only to make myself aware of all that I have to be thankful for. So here goes:

In thinking about what I am thankful for, I have determined that I am thankful for Thanksgiving. As much as I enjoy Thanksgiving- being thankful, the food, and such -I seriously enjoy the heightened anticipation of Christmas that begins with Thanksgiving coming and going. Why? Because Christmas is the celebration of Jesus birth!

Christmas 2017

Christmas is one of my two favorite times of year, and I don't feel like it's really Christmas-time until Thanksgiving comes. With the event of Thanksgiving, I can full-on enjoy my anticipation of Christmas coming!

I am definitely thankful for my tiny family: Jason, Little Pumpkin, and of course, Gunther. Showing this thankfulness is an area in which I fail a lot. I am grateful for Jason, my husband, and his patience, kindness, unconditional love, dedication, and care that he gives to myself, and to Little Pumpkin.

September 2018

I am soooo blessed by the relationship that he is cultivating with our child, and it makes me realize I am very fortunate to have him as my spouse! I am thankful for the little, spunky, determined, stubborn, helpful, kind, and generous little girl that God gave us two years ago. Yes, she can drive me to my wits end, and match my stubbornness, but she also loves me unconditionally and is quick to forgive my short-comings. This is something that I am finally starting to realize, and try to remind myself of often. And Gunther. He can be exasperating at times with his boundless energy, but I am so thankful for my furry cuddle-buddy!

November 2017 - almost a year old

Gunther's always there, listens to my one-sided conversations without judging, warms my bed and my feet, is also quick to forgive when I fail, loves unconditionally, and allows Little Pumpkin to poke him in the nose and touch his lips. Yes. I'm thankful for my tiny, little family!

I'm thankful that we are out of primarily out of debt. And, that we are able to attempt to keep it that way. Along the same line, I'm thankful that we are able to go out and purchase things we need spur of the moment, like a wide variety of health and medicinal items when we are sick. From garlic cloves and elderberry syrup to Nyquil and Mucinex, I am so grateful that we are financially able to purchase those things when we aren't expecting to need them.

I'm thankful that we started, and have continued, the nightly routine of reading the Bible, reciting memory verses, and saying prayers together as a family. It may not always be convenient, it may not always be easy, but I'm so thankful that we all fully participate in this bedtime routine that I started last year with Little Pumpkin.

Finally, I'm thankful for a place to live. This is an area that I have struggled in massively for the past almost two years. I still do not love our house, or the place we live, but I am thankful that we have a place to live with heat and air conditioning (though I'm stingy with the thermostat!).

There are more things for which I am thankful, like friends and family (or "framily"), our jobs, my co-workers, being able to attend a good church, and much, much more. I could make the list go on and on. But, when I was thinking about what I was thankful for, the aforementioned things were the truly significant things that came to mind this past week. Some of them were new realizations for me; things I had taken for granted and never really noticed the full impact that it has on my life. Purposely taking a week or so to think about what I am truly thankful for has been good for me.

How about you? What are you truly thankful for this year? Have you taken some time to really think about it?

Mead and Wine: It Takes Time

 Earlier this year, I shared a post on my old blog (now posted here) about the "Happy Day Gift" that Jason gave me. It was a kombucha making kit, and I have made, and experimented, with brewing kombucha. At the same time, Jason started his own brewing experiments. He had been researching making honey mead for a while, and really wanted to try it. Since that first "brewing" post, Jason has been a busy little bee creating a wide variety of meads and wine that are now aging peacefully in our basement. At least, that's what we hope they are doing!

To share a bit of what all he has been brewing in our kitchen, and basement, he started with a plain honey mead.

This first batch was his baby for quite a while. It sat in a bucket on the kitchen counter for quite a while before he transferred it to the glass jug. Then it had to sit at a fairly consistent temperature for another month, I think, in the glass jug so that all the sediment (yeast, floaties from the various ingredients, etc.) could settle to the bottom. With it being so hot this spring, he occasionally had issues with it getting too warm in the kitchen. So he would transfer it back and forth between the kitchen and basement as needed.

Whenever he had to transfer the mead from one container to another (bucket to jug, to another jug, to bottles), he used some sort of siphon gadget that he purchased for his brewing hobby. Over time he has perfected his methods for the most optimal process, but his early methods included using a cooking pot on the floor.

He also does a lot of testing with his beaker and this spinning thing (a hydrometer, I think) for sugar content and I'm not sure what else. (Maybe Jason should be writing this post...) He also samples along the way, as have I. The early taste tests are not anything too great in my experience, but Jason seems to be able to foresee what the end result is going to be based on the early tastes.

He was quite proud when he got his very first batch of honey mead bottled and corked! And, it did look very pretty! His one complaint was that it still had floaties from using honey that was packaged with the honeycomb. After the bottling, it has set in the basement for going on six months now. Just the other week, he opened a bottle to share with his wine making mentor and, I have to say, I was impressed! It tasted pretty nice for a first time mead maker!

Right after Jason started his very first batch of honey mead, he started making plans for other batches and flavors. Since strawberries were in season, he started a batch of strawberry mead right away. Little Pumpkin and I went out and picked the strawberries at a local orchard, both for his mead experiment and to eat fresh.

This is the best photo I have of the strawberry mead. He was transferring it from the bucket to the glass jar (which was sitting on top of the cooking pot on the floor!). I have to say, though, whenever I tasted the strawberry mead during his testings and samplings, I was not sure if it was going to turn out. It was a lot smellier of a ferment than the honey mead was! Because it has to age longer than the honey mead does (about a year), we are still waiting to try the end result of the strawberry mead.

When blackberries came into season, Jason decided to try making blackberry wine. This time, he got to go pick his own fresh fruit with Little Pumpkin! I'm not a hundred percent sure on the differences in process between mead and wine making, but I think they are fairly similar. But different. Jason has a good friend from college that has been making wine for a few years, and he has gleaned a lot of information from the gentleman that owns the brew shop where he can get most of his supplies. So he talks a lot with his "brewing mentors" whenever trying a new flavor, or product.

His bottling method doesn't include the cooking pot on the floor- just the bottle. And, random fun fact for you: Every single time I see his siphon hose with the clamp, all I can think of is the milk tester lady taking samples in the milking parlour. I doubt that's what everyone pictures when they see this. It's probably just me and some very ingrained memories from milking cows. But, I digress. Back to wine making!

Of all Jason's mead and wine making experiments this summer, I think the blackberry one looks the most delicious! If I remember correctly, I thought the blackberry wine tasted better, though very "sharp," during his tests and samplings prior to bottling than the strawberry mead did. However, as a wine, this blackberry one has to sit for about 18 months before we can try it. So it will be a while until we know how it turned out!

If you think that these experiments were a lot of brewing, you should know that I didn't get photos of each of his experimental batches! Jason also started a peach wine when peaches came into season. I was not really involved in that brewing process, and I don't think I ever tasted it. I do remember it having more of an odor, similar to the strawberry mead, when it was fermenting. But, I think Jason was pretty confident that it would turn out well. It has been bottled and resting in the basement for a couple of months now. It will also have to sit for a long time before we can try it.

He also tried making a batch of "cheap" wine by using just regular, plain, fruit juice that you buy at the store. (Prison wine is what he called it...) I believe it was made with both mixed berry and grape juice. I don't believe I tasted that batch, but I know that when Jason bottled and tasted it, he said it wasn't going to be as good as the stuff made from real fruits. It also has to age quite a while before we will know the real end result of  the "cheap wine."

And lastly, Jason created a batch of apple cider mead! That recipe was a complete experiment as there was no recipe for him to follow. He just used his current knowledge, and that of his brewing mentors, and made it happen. He's not quite sure how long it will need to age, and it was the most recent batch made, so it will definitely be sometime next summer or fall before he opens a bottle. He is expecting it to be quite delicious, though!

Since Jason has tried all of the seasonal fruits that we had access too, he is now talking about making a large batch of the plain honey mead. He has done that one once, tried the semi-finished product already, and believes he can produce a good, quality mead now. He has not started that project yet, but keeps talking about it with his "brewing mentor," and is slowly gathering the supplies. Jason is also prepping to try another batch of "cheap wine," but wants to use white peach fruit juice this time. Somehow, with the recipe he's either found, or made up, he thinks that will turn out really good even though it is the "cheap" method. I keep asking him if maybe we should wait until we can try what he's already made before filling the basement with aging bottles of mead and wine that we don't know if we will like them, or not. But, his theory is that if you keep making new batches, once you are able to start trying the aged bottles, you'll always have a rotating supply of aged product. He did find a used wine rack to start storing his aging bottles in, but if he keeps making new batches and they have to age for a 12-18 months, or more.....

One thing I do have to say is that Jason enjoys sharing samples, and the finished product, with people that are interested in trying it. When my mom and sister were visiting in August, he offered them samples of what he had leftover after bottling the last two batches at that time. (I can't remember which flavors they were; maybe strawberry and the cheap wine?) I'm pretty sure my mom only sniffed the sample, and my sister actually tried a sip. Just a small sip. Neither of them are wine or mead connoisseurs (nor do they indulge), and they were not impressed, to put it mildly. Don't let their personal experience scare you, though! When our friends, Shaun and Tiffany, were here (also in August) Jason opened a bottle of the aging honey mead early because they wanted to try a sample. I believe that they said the mead was pretty good, but they would like to try it again once it's fully aged. So, if you are interested in sampling Jason's products, just let us know which one you'd like to try and we can schedule your visit over the time that it should be ready! Just keep in mind that good mead and wine takes time.

Recipes: Week 24

 My recipes this week are definitely not a good mix of the food groups! I am still just going through my food and recipe photos in the order that I took them over the past few months. From the looks of these recipes, we didn't eat much protein at some point! Or, I just re-made a lot of the previous recipes for meals for a while. Anyways, to get started, this week's recipes include...

Bread

In a previous post, I shared a bread recipe that I had been using for quite a while. It worked, we liked it OK, so I kept making it. I finally decided to try my sister Sally's bread recipe one day. Sally has worked quite hard in figuring out the science, and method, behind making good bread, and is quite famous among family and friends for her home-made bread. She stands firmly behind her bread recipe, and has highly recommended it to me in the past. I'd even go so far as to say, in all sisterly loving kindness, that Sally is a bread snob. (Hey, if I'm peanut butter snob, than Sally can be a bread snob!) While I enjoy, and like, home-made bread, I've never been the connoisseur that Sally is, so I didn't expect to have my earth shattered when making a new bread recipe. So far, I have only made the basic white bread version of the recipe, and none of the variations.

The Honest Review: I was surprised with the reviews I got on this specific bread recipe! Jason immediately commented that he quite liked this bread over the other recipe I used. I did notice that the texture was different- softer and less crumbly. I don't know that the taste was that much different (we haven't tried them side-by-side), but the texture was definitely much better. Sally's recipe does contain more specifics, such as how long to knead the dough, and such, so I suspect some of the texture difference comes from that. (I am not a patient bread kneader, and I think that is kind of important!) Jason requested that I please use Sally's recipe for my future bread making because he liked it so much better. I will say that the recipe says to make it into two loaves. I found that it was making gigantic loaves that would not fit into the toaster. I have since started making one batch into three loaves, and it comes out much nicer. This recipe is staying in our collection.

The Best Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

I don't have a photo of this recipe, because it is not written down. It is my very own peanut butter and jelly sandwich making method. Which, interestingly enough, in one of my job interviews in the past, one of the questions asked was: How would you tell someone to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? (Or something along those lines. It definitely involved giving instructions on how to make a PB&J sandwich!) And this is the recipe I gave them: Lightly toast two pieces of your choice of bread in the toaster. (I personally like a home-made light whole wheat bread.)  On one side of one piece of toast, spread a nice layer of your favorite jelly. (I prefer home-made jam, but any jam or jelly will work.) You can almost always perfectly clean your knife of jelly by scraping it on the edge of the toast so that you can re-use the knife for the peanut butter, but if you don't like to contaminate the peanut butter, use a separate knife. Then spread a nice layer of your favorite peanut butter (mine is Adam's Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter - it's the best!) on one side of the other piece of toast. Place the peanut butter toast face down on top of the jelly toast. Cut in half, and enjoy while still warm from the toaster!

The Honest Review: I know I have made these for Jason, and for Little Pumpkin, but I'm not sure Jason has ever specifically given me feedback on this meal. Little Pumpkin and I definitely enjoy them! Eating the sandwich while it is still warm from the toaster just adds a delicious element to dining experience. I don't remember when I started toasting the bread for pb&j sandwiches, but I've been doing it for a few years and I definitely prefer it. But, it has to be a light toast! Not a full-on, solid, dark brown toast! The light toast allows the bread to be a little crunchy, but still a little soft which is perfect for the sandwich. I highly recommend giving this peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe a try! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Banana Nut Muffins

This is one of my old, cook-book insert, recipes that I have no clue when or where I acquired it. I have looked at it a few times and finally decided to try it one time when I had some ripe bananas to use. I sometimes like when the recipe includes a picture of the finished product, because then I have an idea of what it's supposed to look like.

The Honest Review: Well, as you can see, my muffins looked nothing like the ones in the recipe photo! It has been a while since I made these, and I did not keep a written record on any of the recipes for a while. I do remember that they were quite soft and spongy. They were almost kind of cake-like, and not quite what I was expecting for this muffin. While it had a nice flavor, it wasn't an overly grand banana nut flavor that made us really like them. Jason said they were "enh." He's not a big fan of banana flavored things anyway, and these muffins didn't really impress him. I did wonder if I over-mixed the batter, or why the muffins looked so different from the recipe photo. I still have the recipe, but not sure that it merits a re-trial. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake, cont.

This recipe came from my Grandma, and I remember when she started making it. I was still a kid (10?), and I remember her Texas Sheet Cakes always looking so silky and smooth, with the miniature marshmallows on top just so. And, we all loved the cake, if I remember right. Personally, getting the marshmallows with the cake was exciting to me! (I kind of liked sugary, sweet things when I was growing up.) While I definitely remember Grandma making this recipe, I also remember Sally, my sister, making it, too. And, it almost always had the same sleek, shiny, beautiful finish. When my birthday came about in August, I pored over my cake recipes trying to decide what cake to make. I finally settled on the Texas Sheet Cake as I wouldn't have to go grocery shopping for anything. Or so I thought. After I stuck the cake in the oven, and set about mixing up the icing (which you are supposed to put on the warm cake right out of the oven). I quickly found out that I did not have enough powdered sugar. Drats! I told Jason that I had to go fast, and could he please take the cake out when the timer beeped. I hoped to get back in time, but....I didn't. The cake was still warm, but not fresh out of the oven when I iced it.

The Honest Review: As you can see, the icing did not apply into a smooth, sleek, beautiful finish. It looked rather rough, to be honest. Personally, the cake did not taste quite like I remembered it. I almost didn't like the flavor of it. The cake part was a bit dense, too, which I don't think was quite right. It was also super sweet. Jason, on the other hand, was rather fond of the cake. He really liked the flavor, and said that the hint of cinnamon really added to the cake. Little Pumpkin, of course, will eat almost anything sweet. So, we had mixed reviews on this cake. I have not decided if this recipe is staying, or tossed from our collection. Any thoughts from those that are familiar with this recipe?

Pumpkin Pie Cake

This recipe comes from Jason's cookbook. I had looked at it a long time ago, and purchased the ingredients for it and put them in the cupboard. I did have to has Christine what Milnot was; I had never heard of it. Turns out it was a brand of evaporated milk. I believe I did buy just a generic brand of evaporated milk for this recipe, or I just used regular milk.

The Honest Review: Not the prettiest piece of cake/bar ever, but it was the best photo I had! This recipe was extremely sweet. The overall flavor was almost over-powered by the sweetness of it. The cake turned out very moist and sticky, but had a nice crunch on top. After I tasted it that I realized that I have had something similar before, but I wasn't that huge a fan of the recipe. I think Jason liked it ok, but wasn't the biggest fan. It really was super sweet to the point that you couldn't eat very much at one time. This recipe is tossed from our collection.

Blueberry-Strawberry Shortcake

Somewhere along life's journey, I copied this recipe out of a magazine. I believe it was because I saw the photo of the food on the front of the magazine cover, to be honest. And I never made the recipe until this summer. I was fortunate to be able to use fresh blueberries and strawberries for the recipe.

The Honest Review: This recipe turned out beautiful! And, it tasted pretty beautiful, too! The shortcake was not too sweet, and the fresh fruit with whipped cream was delicious! The only downside to my creation was that the shortcake discs were a little crisp/crunchy. So cutting through them kind of squashed the middle fillings out. But, we managed to cut it and it still tasted good! We were all a fan of this recipe, although it was a bit of a large amount for three of us to eat before it started getting soggy. This is definitely one recipe I'd recommend trying! This recipe is staying in our collection.

Italian Grilled Burgers

On the rest of the magazine page that I had copied for the shortcake recipe was a grilled burger recipe. I had never looked at it before, but decided hey! Why not try a new burger recipe? It did call for a few ingredients that we didn't have, and that I couldn't locate. Such as Greek Oregano. And pancetta. And Gorgonzola cheese that I could slice. I ended up using regular oregano, bacon, and a mixture of blue cheese and crumbled Gorgonzola. Also, instead of buying ciabatta rolls, we just used hamburger buns.

The Honest Review: These burgers smelled delicious! And they didn't look too bad, either. The flavor of eating it all together, though, was different. It wasn't bad, it was kind of good in a way, but it was definitely different. We kept going back and forth between, "They smell so good! But they don't quite taste as good as they smell! Yet, there is something about them that tastes good!" I think Jason finally determined that the blue cheese may have been a bit too strong for him, and that he liked the burger plain; no extra cheese or bacon. For myself, I liked the burger, but it was also that different flavor combination that kept making me question if I liked it. If you're looking for a different burger recipe, definitely try this one! I need to check with Jason on this recipes "keep" or "toss" verdict. I think it may be tossed from our collection.

Well folks, there you have it: some more of my new recipe trials and successes. While it may seem like all we did was eat cake and desserts for a while, I promise you that we didn't have all these recipes in the same week!! And, we did have those burgers!

Are you familiar with any of these recipes? How about the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich- what is your favorite way to make them?

My Running Career

 I am trying to get myself motivated and back into running regularly. In my brain, I really want to do it. In the mornings when I should be getting up and running.....I don't want to do it. So, I thought maybe I could try a little self-motivation by re-living my past running career.   (....not sure if it can really be called a career, though!)

Previous to meeting Jason, I tried running all of about one time. I never thought I could run, and never really tried. When I shared an apartment with Brittany, she tried to get me into running, although I'm not sure if she was really into running herself. We tried to do something similar to what is called fartlek training, where we basically did intervals of walk/run/walk/run/etc., each for the same amount of minutes. I think we did it together maybe two times. I guess we weren't that motivated, and were horrible running partners in that we didn't hold each other accountable to our plan.

When I met Jason, he would go running at night for 2-5 miles, or more. He ran alone, he ran with other people, and he would run from one end of town to the other, stop at McDonalds for a burger, and run back. I thought he enjoyed running. And, as a good girlfriend should do, I thought I should try to learn to run so that we could do that activity together. You know, the romantic work-outs together, running together, all that lovey-dovey stuff. (I'm actually not sure how getting all grungy and sweaty is romantic, but maybe that's just me.)

The very first time I tried running with Jason, I about died. And then I was highly disappointed to find out that I hadn't even run a quarter of a mile! Ha! I guess a few of my excuses could be: I had never run before, besides what was necessary for chasing cows growing up and that had been a few years past at that point. I was out of shape. And, I was running at an elevation of 6,000 feet - a bit higher of an elevation than I was born and raised at, for sure!

I tried running with Jason a few more times, but usually ended up just walking after dying at the first quarter mile, and Jason would run on and do his loop. And, wherever he met me on his loop back, he would then stop and walk with me a bit before going on and finishing his run. And I walked.

Apparently at some point, I started making a more concentrated effort to run. It was after we were married, and I believe after we got Gunther. And, I had decided that I really wanted to do this running thing. In August of 2013, I decided I needed more motivation so I signed up for my first 5k. And, it was only about 2 weeks away.  I remember taking Gunther for a walk to the park after work every night and, when we got to the park, I would make laps around the lake. It started out as, "Just make it part-way around the lake." Then it was, "Make it the full circle." I kept setting higher goals for myself with the intention of reaching the full 3.2 miles before my scheduled 5k. I almost made it with my training, and I participated in my first running event ever.

I consider myself to be a very slow runner, and I completed my first 5k in a bit more than 30 minutes. I didn't quite make it in running the entire course; I got shin splints at some point and decided to walk for a bit. But, I did run the majority of the course, and I finished it! Quite an accomplishment that I was kind of proud of!

After that first race, I continued to run and tried to improve. I invested in a pair of minimalist running shoes, and tried to get tips on how to run better, or more correctly. Jason had continued his own running, but it was determined that we could not run together. I couldn't run as fast as he, and he just wanted to be able to do his own thing. We would still go out together sometimes, but we both ran at our own paces.

At some point, he decided that he wanted to try and run the 2014 Army Ten Miler that is held in Washington D.C. every fall. We started trying to increase our mileage on our runs, and were doing pretty good at it. We made a very concentrated effort to make it into the sign-ups when they opened the online registration (it usually sells out within an hour or so after registration becomes available), and thankfully were successful. Since Jason's availability at that time could change at a moments notice, I invited my sister-in-law, Katelyn, to be a back-up runner in case Jason couldn't be there. She trained steadily through-out the summer, but I think she was a little relieved when we found out for certain that Jason would be able to go.

The month before the Army Ten Miler (ATM), I again signed up for, and ran, the annual Freedom 5k in which I had made my running debut. It was a lot easier the second time! And then, Jason and I traveled across the country to run the ATM.

This was pretty much the one and only time that Jason and I have literally run together for any length of time, or distance. There were thousands of runners and Jason did not want to leave me in the dust, so he slowed his pace to match mine, for the most part. We discovered that after running 6-8 miles regularly at 6,000 feet, running at sea-level feels like a piece of cake! It was actually a pretty refreshing run! Jason did end up with shin-splints once or twice, so we did a little bit of walking. But, whenever we would encounter a runner that was a single, or double, amputee, or a blind runner, Jason would say, "I think we can run." Seeing men and women running despite those sorts of challenges was definitely motivating, and made us realize we had no excuses. Jason and I both finished the race, although I don't remember our run times; they weren't amazing, but we weren't the last to finish!

After running the Army Ten Miler, I think Jason and I both kind of fell off the running train. Neither of us did any runs in 2015 or 2016. In the spring of 2017, something motivated me to start running again. It was slow going, as I was now running with a dog and a stroller. Jason tried to get back into running, too, but we did not run together which was nothing out of the ordinary. To help keep us motivated, we decided to sign up for the local 5k Color Run in June.

[ Before... ....After

For this color run, we alternated running and walking a LOT. Neither one of us was ready for running a full 5k. We sometimes ran together, we took turns pushing the buggy, and we did a lot of walking together. We did cross the finish line together, and there is a picture out there somewhere that the photographer got of our finish. I need to see if I can find it. Our run/walk time wasn't great, but we got out and did it. And that's what counted.

Later that summer, I convinced Brittany to sign up for a fall race with me for when we were going to be in Wyoming. Brittany, having not run since I don't know when, decided to start training for our race and found that she could already run a 5k no problem. So, she said we needed to do the 10k portion of the race so that she would have a challenge. I agreed. And, I decided to sign up for a 10k in our own town the very weekend before the race in Wyoming. I did pretty good with my training, even with a stroller and a dog. I also convinced a friend here in Kansas to run the 10k here with me. And she hadn't run since she, and her husband, had done the 5k Color Run with us! I'm not sure how much training she did, but it wasn't a lot. Yet, she only walked maybe 5-10% of the 10k; she was running right beside me the rest of the time. I was impressed! (Jason had signed up for the 5k portion, and willingly took Little Pumpkin in the stroller so that I could run stroller-free.)

As it turned out, there were only four women in our age group that ran the 10k, and my run time made third place! I was a bit shocked!

I also experienced my first bloody toes on this run. I've heard stories of people losing toenails after big races, but had never experienced any such injuries myself. I didn't lose any toenails, though. Just bloody toes from I'm not quite sure what.

After my 10k in Kansas, we headed out to Wyoming for Jason to go hunting, and for me to run a 10k with Brittany. At 6,000 feet again. After living back at sea level for several months.

The weather in Wyoming was completely different from the weather in Kansas. It was COLD the morning of the run. Brittany's mom, Sheryl, gladly kept Little Pumpkin that morning, as the running trail was NOT conducive to running with stroller. Britt and I are not on the same running page at all (seriously, who can just get up off the couch and run a 5k with no problem?), so we did not run together. She ran her pace - which was fast, and I ran mine - which was slow and steady wins the race, little turtle. She finished well ahead of me, and actually placed in her age group, although neither one of us kept track of our running time. I will say that running at that elevation again was a little bit brutal, and I begrudged the agreement to run a 10k a few times. But, I made it with minimal walking, and I was glad I did it.

It was after the two back-to-back 10k runs, I believe, that I found a 5k in November that I invited Jason's family to do with me. Jason's mom, Christine, was the only one that was willing to join me. (I don't remember why Jason didn't do this race.) She has never run, that I am aware of, but was game to walk the 5k with Little Pumpkin and I. It was a largely attended race - bigger than most of the others I have done - and I think it was a good experience for both of us.

It wasn't terribly cold, but cool enough to use the stroller cover and blankets to keep Little Pumpkin warm. She (Little Pumpkin) slept through most of the walk, as was her usual pattern. Christine and I took turns pushing the stroller and finished the race in about 45 minutes, if I remember correctly. We each got a participation medal, but didn't place for any times, of course. It was just a good 5k experience, at least for me. I don't think I ever heard what Christine thought of her first 5k experience.

At some point that fall, I discovered a New Years Eve fun night run in Virginia when I was going to be visiting family for New Years. I extended a running invitation to my entire family, which garnered a little bit of interest, and signed up to run with my sister and sister-in-law, Katie and Katelyn. Katie had never run before, but was interested in trying it. Katelyn had done some running before, so she was excited with the idea. I believe they may have trained together a bit, too.

Once again, it was freezing cold; even colder than it was in Wyoming for the 10k. I wore many more layers, and we had to keep on the move while waiting for the race to start. It was pretty much dark when the race started (which is the whole point of a glow run!), and we all ran at our own pace. Katelyn was, of course, the fastest. (I think her height gives her a bit of an advantage.) Katie also did well at running faster than I, and they both passed me on their return while I was still hoofing it towards the turn-around. I'm a slow runner, what can I say. My goal with all my races is to not be the last person crossing the finish line, and so far I have succeeded! I don't remember what all of our run times were, but I believe this may have been my fastest time yet. The cold may have been a bit of a motivator....or maybe I was improving. None of us placed with our times, though, and that was OK. We all had fun, and I think we all said we'd try other races in the future.

Since that cold, New Years Eve 5k, I have slacked off the running program. I am a bit of a fair weather runner. And, I don't adhere to a good running schedule all the time. I did go for a short run with my nephew, Sam, when he was here visiting in August. But outside of that, I have not run at all this year. And I have recently been having the urge to run.

Since our jogging stroller has had one too many run-in's with the Jeep and the garage wall, it is not the funnest to go running with. And, Little Pumpkin is not as content to sit in the stroller for as long of walks as she used to be. So I have been telling myself that I need to change up what was my former routine. Instead of going running in the later morning or early evening with a dog and stroller, I need to get up early in the morning and go running with just Gunther. He's got plenty of energy that needs to be used, not to mention his "bulking up" that he's done over the past year. However, getting up and out of bed early in the morning is not my natural tendency, though if I can make it a habit it is not too terribly bad. I just haven't started forging that habit yet. So I have been looking at some upcoming races and, just tonight, I started looking at my past race photos for motivation. And, as a result, I decided to sit down and chronicle them all out for you! Not sure if it's going to help motivate me, especially since it is now after 2am and I had great intentions of getting up and going running early in the morning.....

So how about you? How would you motivate yourself to do something that you want to do, but yet are finding it hard to actually do?