(Mil)ing It Over: Cookbook Edition

Howdy partners! It’s (Mil)ing It Over time. This week the  topic is cookbooks. Before I get to that, though, I wanted to fill you in with why I might not post as much this week. I’m one busy gal! Between researching online schools, finishing up my essays for a book I was asked to help with, and writing a special for ABC scheduled to post this Friday, I’m running around like a chicken with its head chopped off. Too much? Sorry, I’ll just get to the point. I’m glad you’re here. Please feel free to participate in (Mil)ing It Over by heading to Jenn’s page and linking up. If you don’t want to vlog it, don’t fret! A written post is fine, too.

Thanks for watching! And don’t forget to come back on Friday to see the big reveal for my thoughts on a new show that is airing on ABC very soon!

You know I like my (steak) chicken fried

In case you’re living under a rock, here’s The Pioneer Woman’s link. I had been perusing her blog for quite some time when my mom surprised me with her cookbook for Christmas.  Love it! She takes you through step by step without leaving imperative information out. Many cookbooks don’t smile kindly to the beginner in the kitchen. They use terms I’ve never ever heard of and I end up having to google how to do it. I shouldn’t have shared that. I guess you’ve figured out by now that I don’t try new dishes often.

I have an excellent excuse, though! My husband is a pretty darn good cook and he enjoys doing it- now why would I strip him of this joy for a single night?

Well, he works pretty hard, too. That’s why I decided to surprise him with some good ole comfort cookin’. Enter Pioneer Woman Recipes:

Chicken Fried Steak and PW’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I started off with the potatoes.

This is when I learned that you should probably take off the blue wrapping of the peeler so it works better 😉

Next ya got boil em!

Then drain and add all the yummy extras. Then voila!

Oh, yeah…don’t forget to mash them- like I forgot to take a picture of the finished potato product. This one will have to do, but I swear…this was one tasty treat!

Then it was time for the Chicken Fried Steak…and then the gravy, which used to make me shiver in my boots. I was scared to attempt it. My Mimi showed me how once, but that was a long time ago and I’ve slept since then. Never had I ever tried to make gravy by my lonesome. Anyway, I’m skipping a step. The following are the steak photos:

You’ll want to get some plates ready and then get ready to get your hands dirty! You’ll need all this and then some-

But all that mess will create these-

After the meat is cooked, PW says to drain the grease and put it off to the side. I did so, but I didn’t have nearly enough. I did what any good cook would do, I broke out the bacon!

The bacon helped create sufficient grease for the gravy and also served as a nice addition to the mashed potatoes. Now, add flour, milk,  salt, and pepper and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Bon appetite!

Can you believe I cooked all that on that old school stove?

Which reminds me, hey land lady…what happened to that new stove/oven unit you were going to install?! Oh, right…The whole world doesn’t read my blog.

But the whole world reads The Pioneer Woman’s, though. Go check her out!
Happy Cooking,

Try it out Tuesday

“…I thank you that I have a wonderful family to come home to…”

When my husband uttered these words while praying just before dinner tonight, I silently rejoiced in my heart because somewhere deep, down I always wanted this. I can’t describe to you how much that I never believed I would be truly happy. Until I met Captain J (as my Mimi sometimes says (Before J) “BJ”), I simply believed I’d settle down with a really good guy friend, marry him, and just live a life of mediocrity. That notion changed dramatically when J walked into my life. I’m so incredibly grateful. To this day, I have no idea why God chose to bless me so fully but I’m so thankful He did.

We had a nice dinner tonight. Earlier I told you I might attempt some new recipes. Well, I did just that.  And can I just say: This girl can cook and bake!

Watch out, cooking channel! You could totally have a new star! Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a teeny, tiny bit, but I was rather proud of my accomplishments in the kitchen today. It’s as I told Captain J earlier, I know I can cook if I have ingredients, directions, etc. I just also am very aware that I’ll probably never be able to go into the kitchen and eye ball measurements and assess whether ketchup goes with pepper sprouts. Apparently, I didn’t get that gene. Anyway, two people that did have that very characteristic entertwined in their DNA are my mother and my mother-in-law. These two women are the reason why my dear husband is sitting on the love seat, reading a book, with his belly full. Without further ado, here are some photos and recipes for your enjoyment:

Main Dish: A Meat Marinade

I used chicken, but Laura used steaks. It has an Asian taste to it. Here’s what you’ll need-

• 3/4 cup canola or olive oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger or dry spice
• 2 tbsp honey
• green onions scallions sliced

Because I lacked time, I only let the chicken marinate for around 45 minutes and that worked well for me. After soaking the chicken, I added it to the skillet/pan for a stir fry type meal.

Let it sizzle and let the yummy fragrance fill the air and VOILA!

Dinner is served! As you can see I prepared rice and some bread to accompany it. Pretty good little meal.

For dessert, I succeeded in making apple dumplins. Mmmm mmmm. This recipe was orignially from someone else in the fam who then passed it on to Mom who then passed it on to moi. It is so easy. Honestly, if you can follow directions you can make this dessert. Here’s what you’ll need-

• two granny smith apples
• two crescent roll packages
• 1 cup sugar (or a little more 😉 )
• 1/2 a stick of butter
• can of Mt. Dew (I used diet)
• Cinnamon to taste

Directions: Cut the apples into 8 slices. Roll apple slices into crescent rolls. Mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon- Melt it. Pour it over the apples then pour in 12 oz of Mt. Dew. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 min. Sooo tasty!

Before:

After:

We enjoyed both recipes so thanks Mom and Laura! I’d also like to include a link to Cait’s page because she always has something creative or uplifting to blog about and just the other day she posted a similar apple dumpling recipe which can be found HERE. Her directions and pictures are much more descriptive so if you want to try it, be sure to stop by her page for more information.

Bon Appetite!

 

Mrs. Frowny Face

<—-Yep, that’s me today. Mrs. Frowny face. You see, it’s 7:40 A.M. and I’m awake with nothing to do. One of my favorite parts of the day is waking up early so that I can make J breakfast and spend that hour in between PT and going to work with him. Unfortunately, after I had already made a breakfast casserole for us, he calls saying he won’t be able to make it in today. Poor Jordan. He works so hard. (I ate without him and I must say, it was pretty tasty!)

The pull pork I made the other day turned out pretty well, too. It was very easy. I just got a packet of dry pull pork mix, then poured apple cider, and catsup together in a bowl and mixed it all up. Then I poured it over the pork in a crock pot and 6-7 hours later…VOILA! Gotta love crock pots.

Despite my frowny face, I’m actually in good spirits today. J and I had a wonderful weekend, although we really didn’t do much. Friday night, we went out to eat at Gallo’s, an excellent Mexican restaurant here in town. It’s nice to have date night with my hubby and still be able to talk nonstop and find out more about each other. I’m so lucky 🙂 As we were walking out the door, a friend stopped me to say hello. That was cool because I feel like I know no one here so it’s nice to be reminded that I have and am making more friends!

On Saturday, we were incredibly lazy for most of the day. I woke up early and prepared sausage, eggs, and buiscuts for us and then after we ate we fell asleep on the couch again. I’m embarrassed to say for how long. When we woke up, we did some furniture shopping and then bought some groceries for game night at a friend’s place. An intense game of Taboo broke out: girls versus guys. The guys always seem to win by a couple points, but this time it was the females who prevailed! Hooray! We then went into town for some bowling action. 2nd place…not too shabby! When we pulled back into the apartment parking lot, we could see the aurora borealis. It appeared as a huge green streak across the sky. It was the best display of the Northern Lights that I’ve seen to date. Hopefully when we move I’ll see it more often as we’ll be further away from the city.

Sunday we woke up and went to church. The original pastor was back from vacation in Hawaii. He was so tan and was freely rubbing it in where he had been all throughout the service. I was trying my darndest to not be jealous during church! Instead I tried to focus on the message he was bringing. I really enjoyed the service; it seemed to be a catalyst, inviting me to read more on the subject. So, I did (See Devotional blog http://kacysbibleblog.wordpress.com ) Anyway, we left church and grabbed two comfy chairs by the fire at Barnes and Noble. This is one of our favorite, cheap activities. We also bought some coffee and a light snack before we snuggled in the big chairs and started reading. My day can pass so quickly doing this.

There was a lot of discussion yesterday when we returned home about our purposes. We’ve been thinking a lot about an organization/missionary type project we want to start in a couple of years. It’s in the very early stages of planning. We are actually still brainstorming, but of course, we want to make sure it’s God’s plan for our lives…not our own. I just would like to ask for your prayers regarding this project. Thanks!

I have a smile on my face now just thinking about yesterday. It was a great day. Later on, Jordan decided to start up his jeep and get it running for the first time this winter so that we could go riding around in it. It’s pretty warm in Fairbanks right now (about 4 degrees!). He had to let it run for a few minutes so I signed on to skype to see if anyone was online. I got to have a skype conversation for about 20 minutes with my dad and family. It was so good to see everyone. Skype= one of the greatest inventions ever.

Partially consumed breakfast treat!

Army Wife

Yesterday, we finally got me all signed up. It’s official- I’m an army wife. How strange to be able to say that! I never expected that to be the path my life would take. Of course, after I met Jordan I hoped it would. What does it mean, though?

Some people avoid calling themselves an Army Wife. This is probably because others don’t classify themselves as a doctor’s wife or a carpenter’s wife, etc. I don’t mind, though because I know that’s not ALL I am. I am many other things as well as being Jordan’s wife. I’m proud of him, though so I don’t shy away from the term.

I’m in the system now. It’s already proved so much more convienient. I can get on post now without a hassel which is amazing. My photo on the ID is revolting, though! I’ve never seen a good military ID picture so I really wasn’t surprised, but my goodness…I looked like I put on about 50 pounds over night!

I changed my name, too on all the most important legal documents. NO ONE has pronounced my name correctly yet (with the exception of people close to me). It’s Weigle (Why-Gull), people. Got it? hehe 🙂

I’ve been cooking more lately. Honestly, I think it’s because I like wearing the new apron my sister got me for my birthday! I just look so darn cute in it. (Thanks, Paige!) Tonight I’m attempting to make pull pork. The problem is- I am missing two ingredients so I improvised. It might be terrible, but we’ll see. Updates to come. (Just ignore the lack of makeup in this pic!)

Last weekend in AK for awhile…

Once again, I’m blogging when I should be doing something else. There’s laundry to be done, dishes to wash, army gear scattered across the floor waiting to be picked up, gifts to wrap, beds to make, and packing to be done. It’s okay, though. I have plenty of time. This morning I woke up feeling so amazingly content. I have a best friend to spend the rest of my life with. I have a roof over my head and food in my belly. I have a plane ticket to Tennessee to spend Christmas with our families. Life is sweet!

This past weekend was wonderful. On Saturday, we made the snowy drive to Chena Hot Springs to enjoy sitting outside in 15 below Farenheit weather. The water felt so good as long as we stayed crouched down the entire time. It sure is a cold walk to get to the springs, though! We took a video of us running. Stay tuned, I may post that later! After we dried off we walked over to the restaurant located by the hot springs for a cup of cocoa with vodka and vanilla chambord. Pretty tasty! On the way home, we stopped at the Trapline to eat. We tasted gator as an appetizer and had burgers and ribs for dinner.

On Sunday we had a nice day doing a bunch of nothing. We slept until around ten, then we got up and made our way to church. I really enjoyed the sermon called “Escaping Materialism.” I think it’s a good lesson to learn and remember around Christmas time especially. The real reason for the season escapes so many of us sometimes. We forget that it’s a celebration of the birth of Christ. It’s not about stressing over having money to buy the best gifts or wondering if you’ll get the newest updated version of your favorite toy. I enjoyed having the reminder. Truly, all I want this year is time with friends and family.

The rest of our Sunday was spent at Barnes and Noble sipping coffee and purchasing last minute items. Nope, our Christmas shopping is still not done (tsk tsk)! When we got home, J decided to fix us a feast! We really enjoy cooking together and hope that we continue to do so in ten or twenty years from now. It’s a great way to spend time together and also accomplish something productive together. I’ve got to say, he did most of the work last night. I grated lime peels, stripped garlic cloves, and sipped on a celebratory beverage. I’m including a picture of Jordan’s creation: angel hair pasta with pesto, lime flavored shrimp, and scallops. Yum!