The Big 3-0

So, 2012 minus 1982 equals 30. I guess it's official. I'm 30.

If you would have asked me 12 years ago, when I graduated high school, where I thought I would be at the age of 30....I'm not sure if this is what I would have in mind. After I got over the initial disgust of thinking 30 is so old, I probably could come up with a few ideas. Perhaps living in Denver, with a big fancy office, a big fancy house, a big fancy car, and a house full of kids. Maybe on the kids part - I went through a phase where the thought of having kids made me cringe.

Well, today my priorities are completely different! I had a little girl, went to college for Early Childhood Education (ironic for someone who didn't like kids, huh?!), and now have an infinite love of children. I love them, their innocence, their cheeky smiles, everything. I couldn't be further from where I thought I would be - but I'm loving my life and couldn't ask for anything better.

So, Happy Birthday to me! Yes, being in the 30-40 bracket now - well it sucks, but I love my life, my wonderful husband, and our fabulous daughter!

......now we just need to work on that big fancy house and that big fancy car. ;)

Foodie Friday! - Ground Beef Stroganoff

Ground Beef Stroganoff

from The Country Cook

 I'll be the first to admit, I was nervous when I started making this dish. I don't like mushrooms at all, but my husband loves them! I figured it was at least worth a shot. Turns out - it is delicious!! The toughest food critic out there (Miss KoKo) even asked for seconds! That's when I knew it was a success! So - here's the recipe:
 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1-2 cloves)
2-3 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 cup sour cream
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Handful of mushrooms, (about 8 oz.)roughly chopped (optional)
3 tbsp. flour
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Egg Noodles, cooked according to package directions

Directions:

·         Bring a pot of water to boil and begin to cook egg noodles according to package directions.

·         In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked. I like to leave chunks of ground beef and not break it up too small.

·         Drain ground beef to remove excess grease from pan.

·         Put pan back on stove (setting aside the ground beef), add 2-3 tbsp butter and also the chopped onions and mushrooms (if using). Saute the onions and mushrooms, over medium heat, until onions are soft and then add garlic.

·         Only cook for another 1-2 minutes so garlic doesn't burn.

·         Add flour to pan, stir and let it absorb butter. Now add beef broth and whisk vigorously to remove any lumps, turning the heat up to high, bringing it to a boil for 2-3 minutes until you see it thicken slightly.

·         Bring temperature down to medium and whisk in sour cream and cream of mushroom soup. Stir until mixture is thoroughly incorporated.

·         Add salt & pepper. Keep tasting mixture until it is seasoned the way you like. I probably use a good teaspoon and half or more of salt and pepper (and sometimes a bit of garlic powder, for good measure). If it gets too thick on you, just add a tad more beef broth.

·         Add ground beef back to mixture until reheated.

·         Serve over hot egg noodles.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does! 

Art Wall

In our new house there was a wall in our hallway that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I knew it needed something, but I didn't know what.

Look how bland and boring!

I saw this quote by Pablo Picasso on Pinterest and loved it! KK loves to do arts and crafts - so I thought it was perfect for her!

I ordered the vinyl lettering from Words Anywhere. I usually get my wall quotes from Uppercase Living, but I thought I would try a new place. Uppercase Living can be pretty pricey. I know it's good quality, but honestly, the decals I ordered from Words Anywhere were just as good, and cost much, much less!

I hung three hooks and threaded some string in them. Then, I got colorful mini-clothespins and used those to hang KK's artwork.

She loves it! She shows all her friends her "art gallery," as she likes to call it. It's nice because it gives the hall a pop of color, and it makes her proud to have her pictures hanging up. It also makes it easy to rotate pictures out - because she comes home with about 15 different drawings each day. I usually rotate the pictures out every two weeks or so.

This was a very, very quick project to do - and super easy! I love it! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Here's what I'm loving on this beautiful, hot summer day...

I'm loving that I went to a garage sale yesterday and got a TON of awesome stuff for little miss KoKo for just $31! The child development center here at work is closing, so they were selling everything! I love it when I score good deals like that - but it doesn't happen very often.

I'm loving that my new blog design is up - just in time for WILW!

I'm loving that my birthday is this weekend! That means a fun weekend of family and friends!

I'm loving this leopard print cake! I attempted to make one of my own - but I still need to practice!

Via Pinterest

Here is my attempt at the cake:

Well, it was a good first try. I think it needs to be bigger, then it would be easier to see.

I'm loving some of my Pinterest finds from this week....

via Pinterest

I love this! It makes me want to start a list of my own.

Pinterest

I love Instagram! I love the idea of making magnets from your Instagram pictures - it just keeps getting better!

Pinterest

I have been looking for something to do in our entryway, and I think this would be perfect! It's so cozy and cute!

Pinterest

Hey....a girl can dream, right?!

And last, but certainly not least.....

Pinterest

This will be my motto over the next few weeks....I must remember this. :)

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Wednesday!!

New blog design AND New York City!

I'm so excited....I can hardly stand it! I saw the first draft of my new blog design, and it is adorable! I can't wait until I get it, then I can finally start adding all my posts! Hopefully I will have the new design uploaded in less than one week! Woo hoo!

Until then, I'll just share some pictures from our trip earlier this month - to NEW YORK CITY! I have wanted to go to NYC for as long as I can remember, and I finally got to go! It was awesome, I loved it, and I could have stayed longer!

Ahhh, beautiful Central Park! This place was gorgeous! I couldn't help but think of all the movies I've seen where people would go for a jog down these beautiful paths. I think if I lived there, I would do the same. What an awesome way to escape the busy city!

Grand Central Station. This place was pretty neat, too! It was a very busy place - and the windows in the building were amazing! In fact, the whole building was gorgeous!

Little Italy! I loved Little Italy - everything about it! All the people, the buildings, but of course - my favorite was the food! I had the best spaghetti I have ever had in my life! The only thing that made it better was eating dinner outside on the patio so that I could take in the scenery and the food all at once.

The 9/11 Memorial. This place was gorgeous! Sad and gorgeous all at the same time. It was hard not to walk through here without becoming overwhelmed with emotion. While inside it was quiet, not a lot of people were talking. The only dominant sound I heard was that of the waterfalls - a loud, peaceful, sad sound.

Serendipity! Mmm mmm! This delicious masterpiece was ice cream, maple/caramel sauce, walnuts, and a cherry on top! Good grief - it was good! The picture just doesn't do it justice. We made this stop because we thought it was a really cute place that we saw in a movie - rightly named Serendipity (the 2001 movie with Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack). If you haven't seen it, it's super cute!

And last, but certainly not least....Bobby Flay. For those of you that know me, you know I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Bobby Flay. :) Well, I didn't get to meet him in person while in NYC, but I did run across this billboard - and eat at his restaurant Mesa Grill. Mesa Grill was DELICIOUS! The only thing in the world that would have made it better was if he was there himself! :)

So, that was a small little snippet of our fabulous trip to NYC! I hope to go back again one day in the near future!


P.S. What would we do without Instagram filters?! :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It's the 4th of July!! Happy Birthday, America! Here are a few of my favorite things for this Wednesday:

Next year, I WILL make this wreath! I love it!

Tutorial here.

This cake looks both delicious and patriotic. Maybe I'll give this one a shot for 4th of July next year?

Recipe here.

I didn't know dessert pizza could look any better, but this looks scrumptious. It's almost too pretty to eat!

Recipe here.

How cute are these decorations?! I love them!

Find them here.

I'm realizing that I need to start my collection of decorations for 4th of July next year - this stuff is way too cute!

And this is how I will be spending my 4th of July - by the water, watching beautiful fireworks with my family!

I will be making some delicious treats of my own for the 4th, and will share them tomorrow!! Update: This didn't happen, but it will....I promise!

Enjoy your holiday!!

Best. Cookies. EVER!

So here is a recipe for quite honestly, the best cookies on the planet! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but these cookies are delicious! Plus - they're super easy to make!

Be prepared to make these bad boys a lot! I get requests to make them all the time.
Let's begin, shall we...

To make these delightful little nuggets of heaven, you need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (omit if you are using self-rising flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (I use pecans)
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375*.

Beat the sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon. And yes, I use butter straight from the tub. For some reason, it helps with the consistency. The one time I used stick butter, they just didn't turn out as good. So, tub butter it is!

It will look like this runny mess.

Put the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

Slowly, add the flour mixture to the sugar/butter/egg mixture. Just a little bit at a time - you don't want flour flying all over the place!

After all the flour is added, scrape the sides to make sure everything is incorporated. The dough will be stiff.

Next, slowly stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts.

Now, I know this will have a lot of people in a tizzy....but I am one of those weirdos that does not like raw cookie dough. I have no desire to eat this bowl full of goop, but I would have to keep it away from the majority of my family members!

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until they are light brown. The center will be soft - just the way it should be! :)

Beep! They're done! Look at those mounds of goodness!

Let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

And here they are again. They didn't stay like this for long. The oven timer was heard throughout the house, then a stampede filled the house so that everyone could get one of these delectable cookies. Good thing they're easy - because they don't last long!

I have used a combination of white chocolate chips with peanut butter chips - this was a big hit too. That's what I love about this recipe - it's a basic cookie recipe, so you could get really creative with it!

Happy baking!!


P.S. Sorry for the quality of pictures - I used my phone. Never again.