Fall Harvest

On Sundays I love to make bread in my bread machine and dinner in the crock pot. This past week, both items turned out fantastically.

It was the third time I've tried this particular bread - the other two failed miserably because I had tried to do it with a gluten-free bread flour, which is apparently a very wrong name for that product because the bread did not rise AT ALL. So this time I made it with regular bread flour, and it was beautiful. It's called Cranberry Oat Bread, which I found while perusing allrecipes.com. It says to add the cranberries before the final kneading. I didn't do that, and I don't know if it made a difference, but at any rate that direction isn't necessary to follow.

The dinner I made is called Pork Chops & Acorn Squash, which I found in my Oct/Nov 2008 Healthy Co0king from Taste of Home magazine. I have been trying to make sure that Ryan and I eat healthy dinners as the holidays approach. That way I won't feel AS bad for eating all the sweets! The reviews for this dinner on the website don't make it sound like all-the-rage, but it turned out great for us! We added some cranberries and orange wedges, and the squash cooked wonderfully in the crock pot. We ended up having it cook for 4 1/2 hours instead of just 4 - maybe that made a difference as compared to the people complaining about the squash not being cooked all the way. The flavors were great, and I recommend this for a snowy day when you can enjoy the fall harvest in your mouth!

Halloween Night 2010

I am married now. Do you know what that means? No more YSA Halloween parties at church. At least not "legally". And for whatever other reason we didn't get invited to any other Halloween parties. It probably has something to do with the fact that we both found our love penguin and therefore lost all contact with the outside world and now have no friends that are used to hanging out with us on a regular basis.

That being said, we decided to have our own "party"! Guests? The fabulous Duggins clan + 2 Meehleises. The festivities began with dinner. I made spaghetti with orange pepper pumpkins (they had worms for brains!) and Holly and Garrett brought some garlic bread that fills your mouth with goodness.

After dinner we watched Jack O' Lantern, an old Duggins tradition! It's about a million years old, and memories came flooding back while we watched it.

Afterwards, my mom served the dessert she brought: Blueberry Yum-Yum. A childhood favorite of my dad's, and it was yum-yum (ha...)! Then we set up the glorious game of Atmosfear, another tradition of us Duggins children. This game is a "scary" game with a VHS (yes, I know) that goes along with it. It was a close game, but Ryan and I won!

After the game we all chatted for a bit and then it was time for bed. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad that Ryan and I were able to host this get-together. I think one of my most favorite parts was getting to share some of my Halloween traditions with Ryan, and I hope that they will be ones we can continue in our own family along with new ones (like Pumpkin Pancakes for lunch on Halloween! Ask Ryan about them if you get the chance, he is quite proud of his chef skills).

Happy Halloween!

Once upon a time...

Ryan and I got our bridal/wedding pictures! We got some 2000 pictures, and I wanted to post them all, but Ryan said that would probably be overkill. So here are a few of my favorites (they're somewhat out of order - I couldn't move the pictures very easily so I gave up). Enjoy!
PS This might seem like a lot of pictures, but keep in mind that I had 2000 to choose from!

Halloween brings out the nasties

**WARNING** There are some ewie pictures in this post!!! Reader's be forewarned...

My life is filled with wonderful and beautiful things. Changing and falling leaves, the smell of freshly baked spice cake, a new baby (not mine), Bengal Spice tea with soy milk, and Ryan.

But lately there have been a few rather unpleasant things I have had to deal with.

#1: About 5 1/2 years ago I decided it was best to stop wearing my heart on my sleeve and put it on my neck instead. But now I don't want it there anymore. The biggest part of this decision was the fact that I was going to get married in the temple - a huge life change merited getting it removed as a representation that my life was taking a different path than this mark might otherwise suggest. I did some online shopping and found what I was looking for. The process began in late June. I was told that it would take 3, MAYBE 4 sessions. After the second session there was no change whatsoever. I voiced my concern, so the laserist (I made that up) upped the power and zapped me a good one. Still no change. I didn't go back for more than 2 months, and when I finally did I told the man that I didn't want to keep paying for pain that was not benefiting me. I used fewer words, but he got the idea and offered to give me a free treatment. He upped the power again. Blood blisters galore, tight skin, and peeling dead skin later: no change. He joked with Ryan and I at this last appointment: "Maybe this is the LDS curse! This thing isn't going away!" Maybe he was right.

If you want to scare your children into staying away from these, I suggest showing them these pictures of what will happen. (You don't have to tell them it was during the removal process.)

#2: Wind. I do not like wind. I was terrified of the sound of wind blowing during the night when I was younger because it "meant" that a tornado was coming. Now I just hate how it blows my hair and makes me cold when the temperature would otherwise be amazingly pleasant for the end of October. I looked at the weather for the next days, hoping that these unruly blustery days are bringing us a beautiful snowstorm. The forecast? Upper 60s-70s.

#3: I was about to perform my laundry wifely duty - to keep Ryan from being assumed as being one of "those" husbands, I would like to clarify that I imposed this duty and many other household chores upon myself - that requires me going down to the basement. I thought I saw a fuzzy on the carpet by the door and I bent down to pick it up. It was not a fuzzy. At least not a docile one. It is pretty much the biggest spider I have ever had to encounter on my own. I sent Ryan a text to get home quickly because he needed to kill this thing! It is still sitting there by the basement door. And the laundry? Still in the dryer. This wifely duty has been put on hold until Ryan gets home and exercises his husbandly duties!

To help settle your stomach, here is a cute picture of Ryan's and my new nephew, Logan! Brady and Erin welcomed him to their family on October 22, and he is just adorable!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

This is what we have been up to in the 2 months since our day of matrimony....

Studying - School is so much fun!! (Read: sarcasm at its best.) Ryan is in his LAST SEMESTER and those teachers don't want to let him go! I know he's learning things because I helped him type up some stuff last night, and he understood what was Greek to me. Good for him, and I'm glad I don't have to understand how those crazy things known as "electronics" work - I just get to play with them!

I'm learning things too. Did you know that there is only supposed to be one space after a "." at the end of a sentence these days? Gosh, I sure didn't. Apparently I've been typing papers entirely unprofessionally for years. How embarrassing. As you can tell, my classes are also equally difficult.

Redecorating the Bach Pad - Some of this occurred before we got married (repainting the banister is the one that took the longest), but the decorations and final touches happened once there was a wife. Those of you who had the privilege of visiting our home while it was still a Bach Pad will get the most out of this.

The smiling white pillow is a Halloween decoration - it's not usually there!

Buying Dishes with My Name on them - I have been collecting Chantal dishes for a few years now, so I was quite excited when my grandma got me a gift certificate to The Cupboard here in town AND they were having a sale.

Experimenting with Meals - Since I went to culinary art school I can cook, right? Sure, if there's a recipe in front of my face. I have been trying to make things on my own every once in a while, usually when I know that Ryan is in a particularly good mood that day, just in case things turn sour (literally). My recent creation was lasagna, which is saying something because I have a fear of trying to bake something in the oven without a recipe. I had cottage cheese in the fridge that was on the brink of death, so I decided to help it fulfill its potential before it was too late. I thought I did a very spectacular job, if I do say so myself. Ryan even took seconds!

Discovering Food Allergies - I love milk. I grew up drinking it all the time with my dinners and cereal has been a huge staple of mine only for forever. Alas, my body is no longer a fan of it. Ryan was kind enough to inform me of this horrible diagnosis, and I must admit I was in serious denial for some time. But now it's time to graduate to soy milk. I like it in my cereal, and have even used it when baking breads. Thanks to soy milk and lactose dietary aid, no more tummy aches for me!

Learning to Long board - This is an accomplishment. I "learned" how to long board a while ago, but did not succeed in getting over my fear of falling on my bum. Because I did. And it hurt. Ryan helped me to realize something about myself yet again: I hate being out of control, whether it pertains to my daily routine or having my feet on sturdy ground. I guess I need to relax a bit and not be so "uptight". So I did. I long-boarded. For like 10 minutes, while holding on to Ryan the whole time. But I did it.

P.S. I am well on my way to breaking the habit of two spaces after a period!

There are simple ways to have your cake and eat it too

I know I just did a post of this same-ness last night. But this recipe is, in my opinion, the most delicious thing that I have used to add to marital bliss, thus far. Seriously gold star here. I made this about a month ago, and will definitely be making it again!

It's called Broccoli Shrimp Alfredo. I don't care if you don't like shrimp (but if you MUST use chicken then I suppose that's all right), I am highly highly recommending that you try this recipe.

Now, I am a health guru (to a point) and Alfredo is something I almost certainly would never order in a restaurant because it would go straight to my hips - no lie. But with a few tricks up my sleeve, I conquered this recipe AND probably cut the calories significantly. I used fat free milk and cream cheese, and reduced-fat Parmesan cheese. Because I love my husband and I'm somewhat okay with having a little bit of hippage, I used real butter (typing that just now made me cringe!). Tangent: I think I made up for that by using my Promise butter - 45 calories per tablespoon - when I made banana bread earlier this week. 'Twas just as delicious, I'll have you know! I also added mushrooms. To the Alfredo, not the banana bread. Actually, I don't think I did. But I should have.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Broccoli-Shrimp-Alfredo

Because One Thing People Will Always Do Is Eat

I am a chef. Although unrenowned to the world - except of course for Ryan and other family members - I am going to toot my own little horn here and say that I can hold my own. A dear pasttime of mine is reading cookbooks. Like a novel. I love it. I have a plethora of cookbooks and magazines to keep me entertained on less exciting evenings. In fact, I have almost run out of space for them all in our humble abode, and have been challenged to prepare everything in them all before I add a single more recipe to my collection (unbeknownst to Ryan, I printed a new recipe today - but don't worry, I'm making it tomorrow).

Since I will be making lots of new things on a fairly regular basis, I will share my most favorite or most weird but still delicious meals with my blog-followers. I shall start this new tradition tonight.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Ryan and I both get home a little after 7 PM. Doesn't leave much time for preparing dinner at a reasonable hour, so I always try to plan something that I can whip up in a hurry. I found this treasure in my Taste of Home Prize Winning Recipes cookbook. It uses only 5 ingredients, and I made my life even easier by purchasing a rotisserie chicken from King Soopers (it was 50% off too!). I halved the recipe since Ryan and I do not constitute 6-8 people, but we do enjoy leftovers. It's called Chicken Chili. I served it with Marie Callender's cornbread (you can buy the mix, and I highly recommend it) and green beans.

Ryan and I both really liked this dish. I know that he did because #1: He told me so, and #2: He took seconds. Always a good sign.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did! Bon appetit!http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Chicken-Chili-4