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Colorful Egg Easter

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A day spent in the kitchen

It all started when Steve asked me if I would make Rusty's dog treats he bought on clearance at Target just after Christmas. I was making lunch so I figured I'd make the treats and put in a load of dishes. Doing dishes right away is a huge thing for me :) because I never do it, ever. Making Rusty's treats sent me on a mad online search for more homemade treats that I could make him.



Dog Biscuits

After I pinned a few dog treat recipes on Pinterest I went on a crazy search for something sweet for me... only I didn't want to have to leave the house to buy more supplies, so whatever I found had to have 2 or less eggs in the total recipe. Eventually I came across these brownies on Allrecipes.com. Allrecipes.com is one of my "go to" websites for ideas of how to change same ol' meals into something a little different. It gives me ideas on how to cook differently... use spices I wouldn't have paired together... Anyway, the brownies are more cake like than fudgy like I was hoping but still flavorful. I'm bringing them to work tomorrow to share/ensure I won't eat them all myself.  

Simply Fudgy Brownies from Allrecipes.com

 While the chocolatey goodness baked, I got this idea that it would be a great time to bust out the mandolin my aunt gave me and try it out. I found a lovely potato recipe (again on Pinterest) and wanted to make it "my way." So while I sliced 3 huge red potatoes and 1 1/2 small onions , I put a boneless chuck steak in a baggie to marinate.

Steak Marinade:
1.5 lb. steak (cut in 1/2 for the 2 of us)
1/2 a small onion sliced
1/2 Tbsp. of minced garlic
1/3 c. Wishbone Italian dressing

Put it all in a resealable bag and squish together a bunch with your hand. Refrigerate 2+ hours, squishing once in a while. For the last 20 minutes of marinating, I set bag on the counter to come closer to room temp.
Grill for 5 minutes each side Med-Low heat. I'm so excited to be grilling!!! Just shoveled the pathetic amount of snow off the deck and turned that sucker on. Going to be mid 50's this week so I see more grilling in my future... weird winter but I accept it.  :)



Crispy Potato Roast

These are the super yummy potatoes. They're sliced really, really thin. I read the recipe about 5 times and then just couldn't put off cooking something like it RIGHT NOW. The official recipe calls for shallots and thyme... I just put in onions and garlic. I love onions and garlic :) However, after eating them... they need some kind of spice. I don't really know how thyme will change the flavor but I'll try it!



My steaks almost got burned... oops. Can I just say that it's first time grilling after having months off so I'm out of practice??? :) K, I thought so.

This is my plate of deliciousness before I ate it all up... and mom? see those kernels of corn? I made them and ate them... didn't like them, but I ate 'em. Next time maybe beans or broccoli will make me a happier girl...

So yep, I cooked pretty much all day. I also got potatoes ready to "go bad" so that I can plant them and grow russets and reds in my garden this summer... then I washed the shelves in the fridge - can we say gross?

I have stew meat in a baggie with taco seasoning defrosting in the fridge overnight. They have a play date with the crock pot while I'm at work tomorrow... Make shift shredded beef tacos anyone? :)

A smiling face is half the meal. - Latvian Proverb

~Angel

Holiday fun

I created this after playing on Pinterest for a while. I found this cute little blog and made it look pretty much the same as what I found here. I left out the saying of "Chocolate peeps and jelly beans too." First because I really hate peeps and have a STRONG dislike for most jelly beans (except those delicious black licorice ones, yum!) and second because I couldn't get it to fit in and look the way I wanted.

I'm thinking of making the St. Patricks Day frame too... we'll see. This year is the first year ever to celebrate St. "Drinking" Day as Steve's been calling it since we actually have the weekend off. HA! I even bought window clings so yep, it's an official holiday in my house now.

I bought plastic eggs and grass too to do a fun little centerpeice. I even bought yellow chick peeps. To open and let get super hard to place on top of the plastic eggs. That way it looks like they laid the eggs themselves! I got such a good deal on eggs at Walmart (I know, I'm a traitor, sorry Target). I plan to do egg garland as well. Starting to wonder where I'll keep all this stuff after each holiday.

So, yep, THIS is what I've been doing over the past few weeks. Lots of work, no energy to do anything other than plop down on the couch and glance at Facebook quick or look at Pinterest for hours on end. So addicting.

Maybe I've inspired you to create some fun decor in your house...

Celebrate each day, life's a party!  ~Angel

Posting pictures

This little guy was made from my Cricut and the Preserves cartridge a friend borrowed to me. I'm making recipe cards and of course just HAD to make an apple. So cute! I love the cartridge so much I bought it. Thanks Carly! :)

Mostly I just wanted to figure out how to post a picture, and now I know how. Yay!

More posting later... happy Tuesday!

Cricut Expression 2

This little machine is my new favorite toy. Steve bought it for me for Christmas... a complete surprise!!! I just may get into scrapbooking... yay! Another hobby!

This past week a friend of mine brought all her Cricut cartridges and we stayed up late making Valentines for our "boys" and I made a really big cut out of Winnie the Pooh (aka "Poo"). I made some smaller versions of Tigger, Eyore and Piglet too... SO CUTE!

Tonight is the first night I've really felt like playing around with my Cricut since that night... sick. Evil sickness is going around work and I SWEAR, everyone has it. Stop sharing people! Forget what your mothers taught you and hang on to your own crud. Anyway... :) I decided tonight I'd make luggage tags for our Vegas trip. Steve's parents are taking the whole family for an extended weekend pretty soon so I wanted to get this project started and finished <---- finishing projects is challenging for me. Haha, I get WAY to excited to start a new one and oops! forgot to finish up the last one. Almost done, I have to glue everything together and on to the next awesome thing...

Maybe tomorrow I'll post pictures of the tags... if I figure out how. Can't be hard? Right?

Welcome 2012!!!

I've been thinking about creating a blog for a while... just to write down random thoughts or document fun things I've done or want to do. After spending time reading through other blogs, I love the idea of jotting down what I've done. Eventually, I'll figure out what I'm doing and hopefully I keep posting!

My name is Angel. I love my life. Everything I do is... well, me. I love to cook, bake, sew, quilt, read, travel, go for walks with my boyfriend and my dog, oh and play with my Cricut!!! The thing I love the most is FAMILY. Not just mine, but Steve's too! Steve is my boyfriend of 4 years. His parents are just like mine... it's so weird! I have a younger sister and Steve has two younger brothers, so finally! I have brothers!!! Lol. Anyway, this blog is just to share all the fun moments in my life... no matter what they are.