Will this ever stop?

I know I haven't blogged in a long time. I find I never do anything that is exciting enough blog about. It is almost the New Year and let me just say...2008 sucked. This Electricial business in turning out to be a real pain in the butt. Today, Brandon got laid off again. I know its not his bosses fault that the economy is shot, but I am on my last rope here. Just when I am thinking things are turning around someone drops a bomb on me.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.....yet!

It has been a very long time since I have posted a blog and alot has happened so this may take a while. To break it down we have had in our family... 1 baby, 1 Triple Bypass Surgery that didn't work, one total hysterecimy (my mom in law), 1 Wedding in which I was privelged to Cater the Luncheon, kids starting school, as well as my school starting, Haley learning how to ride a bike, Haley starting Kindergarden, my mom falling down the stairs and breaking herself, oh yeah and in the mist off this, 1 Musical Production I am currently rehearsing.

Shawn got married on Aug 16th to an awesome girl. They were married in the Timpanogos Temple which is my favorite. After the temple they had a Luncheon at my moms church building that I think was amazing. I have been going to Culinary School and doing caterings for a year now and although I know the day was really about Shawn and Amanda, I couldn't help but be excited to share with my family my love for the Culinary World. Kari and Ang came to my school to help me prep the food. That was alot of fun because we got to spend 3 hours together without our millions of children.

I started this a while ago and never finished. Seussical the Musical has started its three week run and it is so fun. The kids, Whitney and Zack have stuck by me throw the rehearsals and are enjoying themselves in front of an audience. I am as well of course. I have met so many amazing people through this production and its going to be very sad when it comes to a close and we have to say goodbye to our new family, but for now I am enjoying every minute. I am so excited to get back into the theatre world and will be continuesly taking part in other production. Its not something I want to give up and now that I have found the loophole I am gonna keep at it!

I hope everyone is well and happy. I love you all. Oh yes, and Haley lost her first tooth today!

Learning how to live

As we approach the middle of the year, there is a certain dreaded date that is creeping its way into my life. That's right, The Big 30. The Big 30 means much more to me then just that fact that I am unavoidably getting older. It also means, that as I have manage in my life to stay at a good weight for height, turning 30 means I am really gonna have to start taking better care of myself . Mostly this feeling is brought on mainly by the fact that my dad did indeed just have Major Open Heart Surgery. I know that I have really never been to concerned about what I put in my mouth, but now more than ever I am starting to realize I should be. I have decided that the only way to tackle the inevitable, is to take baby steps to improve myself.

My first goal in life is to eliminate all carbonated beverages. That's right Dr. Pepper. You shall not pass these lips any more. I have tried and tried and tried to tackle this one many times but it is a very hard habit to break. I am mostly trying to focus on not so much as not drinking soda, but to drink more water instead. I find that if a carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go, I am much more inclined to drink it then to go out of my way to get a soda. And aside from a few drops or Brandon's Sprite at the Jazz game last night, since I did not want to spend 3 dollars and a 16 oz bottle of Dasani, I have not drank any soda and instead have been drinking 60 oz of water a day. For 6 days!! This is huge for me. I have D.P in my fridge, but have not grabbed for it.

My next goal to tackle will have to be deep fried foods. This one is gonna be a little more tricky because I am not to sure what to carry around with me to beat out the cravings for French Fries. Maybe carrots sticks?

Trying to be Strong

I am having alot of trouble today. I don't know what to think or feel. I know that my dad had very high cholesterol and that this shouldn't come as a complete shock to me, but I feel like I have been hit with a ton of bricks. Why him? There are other people whom I feel could very well be in his place yet they are not. Its not death that scares me because it is a part of life's cycle. It's the fact that in order to live, we must face these awful obsticles. The thought of dad being cut into and wide open, placing his heart and faith in the hands of someone who is literally playing god, makes me scared out of my mind for him. I don't want him to have any pain or be afraid. He is my Dad. He is supposed to be the strongest person I know. I just don't want to think about what he is going to have to go through and what he is going through right now. Tommorrow is going to be the hardest day of my life!

Sleep Eating

So I have come to the conclusion that I have a serious problem I call sleep eating. I will wake up in the middle of the night, around 2 am and find myself in the pantry. Then I am back in my bed putting a chip in my mouth. I am not even half awake when I am doing it and its so weird. I am asleep and I am chewing. Then I am grabbing for another chip. Why am I so hungry in the middle of the night that I sleep walk and eat? I know its bad to eat in bed but I can't control myself when I am sleeping. Plus I sleep with the tv on and I think all those subliminal messages are getting in my head and going to my stomach. I guess I will have to start locking the pantry on myself so that in my sleep I give up when I can't get the door opened.

Handy Man

So last weekend my husband got this epiphany. He was replacing the light in the kitchen and decided that the cupboards cast too many shadows on the counters. Being an electrician he decided we needed under cabinet lighting. So we headed of to Lowes to look at the lights and on Sunday he decided he was gonna do it. I was thinking, Oh no this is gonna be one of those things that will cost a bunch of money and then never get finished. We bought all the stuff he would need and he started on it. He got only half way done and then the weekend was over and he had to put it off until the next weekend. The weekend started and we got a new fridge delivered which ended up being to tall for the cabinet so Darin came over and they pulled down the cabinet so the fridge could fit. Then Brandon got started right away on his project. Its so great to see my husband doing something around the house that has a great outcome and gives him a sense of pride in himself for accomplishing something he never would have dreamed of trying. I went shopping for the Super Bowl and when I came back. he not only had transfered all the food into the new fridge but he was finished with his project. I have to admit, it makes the kitchen look much more appealing and relaxing. So he added some decor to our kitchen in 2 weekends. Great job Brandon. I love you!

Culinary Greatness

I have decided, in my attempt to further educate myself on the many delicious wonders of the Culinary world, that I would start to share with you all, my knowledge of the art. In doing so I feel it would be very beneficial to all, to share some recipes I have found to be very note worthy.
Also as I learn things about cooking that I , the average housewife didn't know, some of which are very interesting, I will share them with you as well. Here are my facts for the day:

#1 Salt does not absorb into any liquid. It can not be cooked out of anything or covered by numerous ingredients if too much salt has been added to a recipe. Therefore it is best to salt your foods in their final cooking steps to ensure proper seasoning. If for some strange reason you have accidentally over salted a recipe the only true way to rectify your dish is to throw it away, and get the kids Happy Meals for dinner.

#2 Temperature of a food greatly affects the flavor of the food. If you are one of those people who loves their food piping hot, you are missing out on the true taste of the food. So don't run back to the microwave to nuke something because it is only warm, eat it that way and you will taste the flavor in the food much better. Now to the cold side. I am too one of those people who piles the ice into my glass before I pour the soda in it. But I have learned that when I take a sip of a can of Dr. Pepper that has been sitting out at room temperature I can taste the flavor in the soda more then when its ice cold. So even though I found it greatly annoying when someone would order a soda with no ice, I do see a valid point in doing so. I can't stress though that you must heat hot foods to the proper temperature to ensure food safety and keep cold foods cold. I don't want anyone getting food poisoning at my expense.

Those were my two boring facts for this blog. Now let me move on to the recipe.

Triple Decker Sandwich.
I know you have all seen it on any sit down lunch menu and maybe you thought it looked good and maybe you were like me and said to yourself, " I can make a sandwich at home anyday."
Last week in class my chapter was sandwiches. I read the chapter, saw the recipe for the sandwich, and decided to make it rather then a BLT which I have made tons of times in my life.
As I was making it I thought its a sandwich, no big deal right. It was only after I assembled it, cut it in half and took my very first bite of it, did I find why this kind of sandwich would even be sold at a restaurant. I truly believe now that whoever thought up this Culinary Creation, was well educated in the arts of food and flavors. Not only is this sandwich delicious, it is also very appealing to the eye, and very filling to the stomach. The creator of this dish was truly a Culinary Genius.

First now how many sandwiches you need to make and get the proper quantities of ingredients. Waste not want not. This recipe is for one sandwich.

3 pieces of bread, any kind of bread but I find that honey wheat bread compliments the fillings better then just plain old white bread plus its much healthier.

1 slice of provolone cheese
1 slice of Cheddar cheese
2 strips of bacon cut in half
1 slice of deli sliced turkey
2-4 slices or tomato depending on the type of tomato used
2 sandwich size pieces or Romaine Lettuce ( Romaine has a much better flavor and its must crispier then Iceberg. Its well worth the extra money it costs to purchase and its excellent in salads.)
Mayo, Mustard and Margarine

First, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place bacon strips on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on desired doneness. Flip bacon halfway through cooking time. Remove, place on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the grease and pat it. Cool and cut into 4 strips.
Heat a griddle to medium heat, butter the bread slices and toast bread on both sides, remove from heat.
Place the first piece of bread on a cutting board and add the mayo and mustard.
Place the Cheddar cheese slice on the bread then the 4 pieces of bacon, tomato and lettuce.
Spread the mayo on the next slice of bread on both sides and place on top of the lettuce.
Add the turkey to the bread, then the Provolone cheese, tomato and lettuce.
Spread mayo and mustard on last slice of bread and place on top of lettuce.
Cut the sandwich in half diagonally. Serve on a plate with sandwich opened to display the artistic look of it. Bon Appetite.
Its may seem like this is alot of work for a sandwich but I promise it will be well worth your efforts. If I can get one person to skip the drive thru and try this out, I will have succeeded in effectively contributing to society. Check back again for more!!

Let me just take a second....

Well I have a few little thoughts to share with you on the things I feel blessed to have in my life.
First off, I like doing the catering at the school. Its not boring work. I am always doing something new and I actually get to prepare meals that are going to be consumed by people.
The cool thing about this is that I get to make things at school that I have never made before and I usually make them well. It really makes me feel good to know that the food I make taste good enough for my teacher/boss to trust me to make other things for catering, even though I don't hear any feed back from the consumers. She told me the other day how excellent of a job I am doing and how much weight I have taken off her shoulders. Especially because she hired me to get everything mis en plase and take it to the rooms it is supposed to go to and then clean it up. But I am going above that because unlike her last catering assistant, I can also cook. Well some what. The only thing is is that I don't feel I am really taking much stress from my teachers hands. Thats how I am. So afraid of failure , I try to take on so much to make everyone else load lighter that I just end up with a load heavier then I can carry. I just have to think about all the stuff I do each day and know that if I wasn't there to do it, she would have to. The sad thing about it is that is not enough money. I can only work at a max of 15 hours a week unless there is catering after school hours and on the weekends and even then its not enough. There are other people that work at the school as well as me who spend a lot of time sitting on their butts and not cleaning there stuff up which really inferates me because they get paid the same as me but I work twice as hard. I hardly stop to eat, or even go to the bathroom and yet they just sit on there butts while there is dishes to be done. By the end of class I am so tired and I only worked for 5 hours. I really wish I could train myself to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier so that I can have a least an hour of the day to myself. I saw Kari sitting on her couch the other morning, kids at school, Domi sleeping. She was relaxing and reading a book. I was envious of her at that moment.
Well on the kid news. Kirsten is cutting two teeth on the top. Whitney is turning 9 on Saturday. Zack had his first basketball practice today and he is undoubtably, the shortest and cutest kid on his team. They next to shortest has a head on him still. Don't know what good being short will do in bball? He was having fun anyway though. Well I need to get the kids in bed and reheat some leftovers for Brandon before he gets home from school. There's my new and probably super exciting blog!
Love ya!!