FOOOOOD!

So my friend Lindsey and I were talking about cooking and how it is soooo hard to decide what to make for dinner each night. Its soooo hard to try new recipes, for fear you'll get the "maybe we should order pizza" from the husband.  And its sooo hard to find recipes that aren't made of a billion unfamiliar items.  I like a recipe with as few ingrediants as possible and that taste good, of course. Well, after talking about this we decided we would share a couple of the recipes we always rely on.  That way we could get some new ideas of what to make. I've decided to post mine on here for you readers (the few of you) in case you find yourself in the same dilemma.  Here's the catch...you should do the same thing on your blog or in a comment on here. I that way we can all benefit and get some great ideas.  So I tag you to post your favorite recipes that you find yourself making often.


Here are some of my favorites and they're husband approved, ps you'll need a crock pot:


Pork Roast
Pork Roast
1 cup water
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 onion halved and chopped
1/2 cup + 2 T. soy sauce
2-3 T brown sugar


Combine all ingredients except brown sugar in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Add brown sugar just before serving (I added some into the mixture about an hour before taking it out of the crock pot).
*I used this meat to make enchiladas the next night and it worked really well; it reminded me a little of Cafe Rio which I miss so much.  Just mix shredded meat with 1 can black beans (drained), 1 cup cheese, 1 lg can green enchilada sauce, and 1 cup rice. Wrap mixture up in tortilla and lay in pan.  Cover enchiladas with 1 small can green enchilada sauce and more cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes in 325 (I just guesstimated the temp and time - just get the cheese melted).


French Dip Sandwich
1 lean beef roast
1 can beef consomme (ok, I know its unfamiliar but its just in the soup section and its like beef broth)
1 can water (use the beef consomme can)
1 pkg French au jus sauce mix (where the gravy mixes are)
1 pkg Italian dressing mix
Hoagie or French sourdough buns


In a slow cooker, combine consomme, water, sauce mix, and dressing mix.  Place roast in cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Meat will come apart easily when done.  Remove meat and place on buns. Pour juice in serving bowls; dip in juice.


Peanut Chicken
1 pound of chicken (cooked and chopped) or 1 can chicken (drained)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup honey
2 T soy sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 T corn starch (mix in 1/4 cup water separately)
2 tsp ground ginger
2 dashes of hot sauce (opt)
4 chopped green onions
4 garlic cloves or 2 T garlic chopped
Rice/Ramen Noodles/Spaghetti (cooked)


In a large pan, stir broth, honey, soy sauce, peanut butter, corn starch, ginger, and hot sauce together over medium heat until thick and smooth.  Add green onions and garlic.  Cook 2 minutes on medium heat. Add in chicken and heat for two minutes.  Serve over rice or noodles.
    
Russian Chicken
4 Chicken Breasts
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 small jar apricot jam
2/3 small bottle Russian Dressing
Rice


Mix soup mix, apricot jam, and dressing together in a bowl.  Pour over chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Bake at 375 degrees for about and hour or until chicken is done in center.  Serve over rice.  This can also be make in the slow cooker.


Last one...


Waikiki Meatballs
Frozen Meatballs (I got mine from Costco - so good to have on hand)
2 T corn starch
1/2 cup brown sugar
L can pineapple
1/3 cup vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/3 chopped green pepper
Rice


Heat up meatballs according to directions. Mix corn starch and brown sugar in bowl. Add pineapple juice, vinegar, and soy sauce then place in skillet. Stir constantly on medium heat until it starts to thicken. Add meatballs and peppers.  Once peppers are tender, add pineapple.  Serve over rice. 

K, I'm counting on you to share your little secrets with me so I can expand my menu a bit.

What's with the Doppelganger Week?

On Facebook everyone is going crazy of Doppelganger week. Look the word up on Wikipedia (I had to).  Basically people post their profile picture as someone people they have said they look like, often the person is famous. I think some people pick them on their own, but whatever. Either way it is sort of amusing.  Well Mike and I made some decisions on who would be our parent's doppelgangers.  I think their pretty good.

Famous or not, we love our folks.

PA School Update

Applying to PA school has been hard to be honest.  I have felt so vulnerable as I put myself out there for evaluation.  Not too mention I get so anxious in waiting for the results from each school.  The waiting is far from being over.  It may take until March to hear the final update from ISU and who knows from the other programs.  
In December I flew to Boise to interview for the ISU program. The program is out of Pocatello but there is an extension campus in Meridian. Fortunately, my mom was able to drive up from Malad to meet with me and lend her support.  It was so great to have her there with me.
Every interview is different.  ISU's consisted of three 15 minute interviews with three different instructors from the program.  One of the interviews was even via teleconfrence.  That was a little tricky as the connection would cut out here and there.  It also felt odd speaking to a television.  In each of the interviews they basically asked getting-to-know-you questions.
I felt like it went pretty well, I'm just very anxious to hear back from them on the result.
Other schools still in the picture: Pacific University, Chatham University, and University of medicine and dentistry of new jersey.  I'll update when I learn more.

Aside from school interviews, my mom and I took some time to have some fun.  Here's a photo from my trip to Boise.  My mom and I went to the church where she and my dad got married.  It was the church where my grandma attended before she died.  Thanks for taking me mom, I loved seeing it.

Welcoming 2010

To welcome in the New Year we went to see Avatar in 3D and to a hockey game in Portland with Mikey's family.
Here's some pics:

Our countdown wasn't actually in Oregon or Washington...we were in limbo on the I-205 bridge over the Columbia River.  Now that is a first.

Our First Christmas

We were so busy this Christmas Season and were blessed to busy doing fun things.  It would take me way too long to tell you every little detail about our Christmas season but here are some of the highlights.

Our Stake Nativity - People from church brought in their Nativities from all over the world.  It was a beautiful scene with hundreds of Nativities and hundreds of visitors.

My Family - Lucky for us, we got to spend a week with them.  We went to movies, ate a lot of my mom's home cooking, went shooting, and enjoyed our time together.  We also took a tour of the cabins my mom has been restoring.  They've come a long way.  I can't wait to see them when they are all finished.

  

Friends - We got a chance to visit with my friends while we were home.  Nikki threw an awesome brunch, giving us a chance to get together.  We also had some friends stop by.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of everyone but here's the some that I managed to get.

More Friends! - We also got a day in Provo where we got to see more of our good friends.  We spent some time with Holly and Eric and then met up with others at dinner which was really fun.  I also got to hang out with my old roommates Allison and Kari.  It was so good to get together because it has been a long time since we all lived together.  I have so many funny memories from when I lived with those two.

 

 

 

 

 

PS While we were at dinner in Provo I walked by some people who looked really familiar.  My first reaction was to stop and say hi with a smile.  I even stopped at the table where they were eating.  That's when I realized it was Ashleigh and Ryan from this season's So You Think You Can Dance.  Once I figured that out I remembered that even though I'm familiar with their faces...they weren't so familiare with mine.  Embarrassed I just walked away...haha!  I considered going back to their table to explain my behavior and telling them that I voted for them, but I thought that would be a little much.  I'm just hoping they are used to obnoxious star-crazed fans like myself.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we were with Mikey's family for Thanksgiving. Mikey decided to get a little adventurous by deep frying a turkey. We were a little nervous that he would burn the house down with some massive turkey explosion so James had the fire extinguisher near by. Gratefully, no explosion occurred and the turkey turned out great. It was really moist and done in under an hour. It may end up becoming a family tradition for us.  

SYTYCD

Have you ever tried to say SYTYCD super fast.  Its not that easy.  
That reminds me, Mikey and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance concert when it came to Portland.

 Mike actually got me the tickets for a wedding present so the event was highly anticipated. I had so much fun! I have always loved dance and going to ballets or any dance event. I was a little worried that my dance recitals days were over since I married a guys who prefers sports events over things like that. This concert proved me wrong. We both had a good time and loved that performances. It probably helped that we watch the show every week.  Here's from photos from the concert.

This is us before the concert at the Rose Garden.

The Romeo and Juliet Ballet - one of my favorites.

Mike took this photo using binoculars to get it closer up - clever.

This is when Jeanine and Phillip were threatening to do the dreaded Russian dance...which they did end up doing later into the night.  They were hilarious.

This was my favorite dance of last season. It was a quirky jazz routine.

We had such a great time and I totally suggest checking it out next season.