cna anyone?

just passing this along.

if you or anyone you know is interested in getting their CNA, check this out...and pass it along.

http://www.advantagecna.com/home.html

thanks!

latest project

just thought i should share my latest project...


oh and i made the quilt too. i think they both turned out pretty great!

burnt sugar almonds

i think i may become my father's favorite daughter...after i make him a batch of these that is!

burnt sugar almonds

eric and i whipped up a batch of these tonight, and not only do they taste fabulous...my house smells a-maz-ing. seriously.

i can safely say that this is not the last batch of these we'll be making this holiday season.

just thought you should know.

still meal planning

the planner in me is loving the meal plans. it makes cooking so so so much more enjoyable.

here are the plans from the past few weeks:

sun - flank steak, garden potatoes, green beans
mon - steak sandwiches
tues - quesadillas
wed - steak sandwiches
thurs - sloppy joes
fri - chicken enchiladas, homemade salsa
sat - out

sun - bruschetta chicken, corn on the cob
mon - breakfast casserole, fruit
tues - hamburgers, corn on the cob
wed - pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob
thurs - grilled pizza
fri - out (girl's weekend)
sat - out (girl's weekend)

sun - pulled pork sandwiches
mon- french toast
tues - black bean quesadillas, chips and salsa
wed - pizza strombolli
thurs - (i honestly can't remember)
fri - at kristyn's
sat - grilled pizza

sun - cereal (just home from st. g)
mon - breakfast burritos
tues - pasta and garlic knots
wed - out
thurs - pulled pork sandwiches
fri - indoor picnic date (turkey sandwiches)
sat - pulled pork sandwiches

sun - lemon oregano chicken, corn on the cob
mon - waffles, fruit
tues - broc/ham pinwheels, corn on the cob
wed - cashew chicken, brown rice, broccoli
thurs - cashew chicken, brown rice, broccoli
fri - ham and potato soup, bread bowls
sat - out

phew...i didn't realize i was so behind.

now here's my plan: keep things recorded, note what works/doesn't work, and then reuse my plans...hopefully improving functionality, variety, and nutritional value. this past week (last listed) was prob the most successful in the variety/functionality category (note common ingredients broc, green onions, ham), but not so much in the nutritional value area (note the syrup, cream cheese, and half&half). so...it's a work in progress...and prob always will be.

i'm also working on a loose 'day of the week' theme: mondays = breakfast, tues = crockpot/sandwich, wed = beans/rice, thurs = pasta, fri = soup/sandwich. we'll see how that goes.

anyways...it's going well, and making my cooking life much more enjoyable.

pillow obsession...the outcome

i finally started working on my pillows...

check it out.


also, these little babies will be hung on the wall. i quite like how they turned out.


that's all.

basil, oh how i love thee...

in case you haven't heard, i have a thing for basil. i love it.

so when it came time to plant our garden this spring, i planted quite a bit. 5 square feet or about 16-20 plants. and just as i had hoped, it flourished.

we've been enjoying it all summer long, and now as the summer comes to a close, it's about time i started preserving it for the winter (since that was the whole reason for the ridiculous amount of basil i planted).

so after a brainstorming session with my mom and a bit of internet researching, i came up with 3 possible preservation methods. now there are quite a few more than that, but 3 that seem to fit my purposes.

1. chop and freeze in water
2. chop and freeze in boiling water (to blanch while freezing)
3. chop and freeze in olive oil

so, i plan to try all three methods this year, and then in the future, i can use the one that works best for me.

and just in case you were curious about the process, let me share...

wash...

stack...

roll and slice...
enjoy the yummy basil smell...

pack into ice cube trays and fill with water (or oil)...

and freeze...

let's hope my hard work will pay off mid-winter when i'm craving fresh basil!

this meal brought to you by...

my sister turned me onto a fabulous site...www.melskitchencafe.com. the majority of her recipes are things we'd actually eat, with normal ingredients, and decent nutrition. [side note: i also really like 'the best recipe' section.]

and since our meal this evening was primarily from this website, i thought i'd share. so without further adieu...this meal is brought to you by Mels' Kitchen Cafe.

The Best BBQ Sauce

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Perfect Corn on the Cob

i made the buns on tuesday (for sloppy joes, more on that later) and the bbq sauce yesterday. so today was relatively easy, especially since the pork has been in the crockpot since this morning.

tasty.