18. Color The Rainbow

I am thinking about going back to blonde in the next couple of months. I've been looking at older pictures of me and I miss it. What do you think?

I feel the need for change.

This week has been a very eventful week. Hell has been stalking my family and the drama continues hopefully not for very much longer.

On Wednesday, I received a phone call from my mother telling me that my closest cousin Jessie's boyfriend robbed a bank and then killed himself. Trust me, NO ONE even remotely, at all, expected this kind of behavior out of him. We are all shocked, and I can only think of Jessica who cannot help but wonder "what if?" and blame herself because they were fighting. I feel useless in helping her. I think everyone does.

And Friday, last night, was the one year anniversary of my dear Granny's death. We all miss her so much. Especially my own mom, who you can tell has so much to say outloud, yet can't get the words out. Sometimes, I wish I didn't read her so well. Maybe that's a little selfish of me.

But at least I admit it.

This week I'm even more grateful for friends and family.
I'm so lucky.

17. Quotables For The Day

Me: "You know those 92 year old women that have lived in their house for like nearly 60 years?"

Lucas: "Yeah.."

Me: "Well, that's me when I'm older."

Lucas: "You're going to be one of those old women that like dies and has like fifty cats eating your decomposing body!!"

Me: "I don't have room for fifty cats!"

Lucas: "... Yes, you do. They're stackable."


I have the best friends ever.

16. Chicken Tetrazzini

Today was a really good day. I took some long overdue me time. I got a pedicure to rebel against the awful wind/oncoming snow, saw Lucas for a bit and killed some zombies, and then I went to have hot chocolate and good conversation with someone I've been meaning to hang out with since November.

Life is good.

So, I'm going to post the Chicken Tetrazzini recipe, I originally got it from Betty Crocker but I altered it quite a bit and made it my own. Which means, it's better. -wink-

Num num num.

Don't you just love candid eating shots?


Chicken Tetrazzini

1 package of spaghetti or angel hair pasta, broken up into thirds
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup of butter
1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
2 cups cooked cubed chicken
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon pper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350. Cook and drain your spaghetti. Meanwhile, in a pan melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat. Stir in broth and whipping cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly for about one minute. Stir spaghetti and chicken into sauce. Pour mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or bubbly.

Serves around 6.

15. Stripped Down, This Is Me

"My eyes are open, but everything still moves in slow motion."

I never wear my hair curly anymore.

That needs to change.

My dad visited this morning with Lori before heading to Purg and then back to Phoenix. It started my morning off great but saying goodbye to family that I'm not sure when I'll see again is always a little hard on me. I worry about my dad, hoping that he is taking care of himself and not working too hard. I always wish we talked more because I miss him. We used to be so much closer.

As you can tell, I don't feel quite like myself today. I don't know if it has to do with the party I couldn't muster up the confidence to attend tonight or if it's how much has changed the past month or maybe a little of both. And then some. I'm pretty tired too so I think that doesn't help.

My mom and I went to Farmington today after Dad left and we both bought a few things. The fangirl in me bought Twilight but at least I have the guts to admit to it. I bought a new shirt that actually shows off my upper assets (whoa for me) and two tight light sweaters for 3 bucks each. Yay sales!

Ayden had fun with his Nana, he got new spiderman sunglasses and a pack of gummy worms which contents that remain are being eaten by me.

Secretly.

-smile/yawn- Time for sleep!

14. Grieggggoooosssss

Meet Eric.

This is my babah's daddy. Hahaha.

My sister wanted me to have dinner with her family at Griego's last night and since Eric took Ayden to Cold Stone I figured it might be nice to invite him out to dinner since the poor thing rarely eats anymore. Money or manorexia, not sure, he is very sensitive about it when you ask though so I think it might be the latter.

-wink-

In all seriousness, I'm glad that after two and a half years of hardly speaking to one another we are getting along better to the point to where we can do some stuff with Ayden. Ayden seems to really enjoy it which is the most important, so if he's happy, so is mom!

13. The Craziness Of Family Dinners

I think this is one of my favorite pictures mainly because Emily looks like someone just possessed her tiny body. Hilarious.
I went over to my sister's and decided to cook my family dinner two nights ago. I made chicken tetrazzini (spelling?) and it was scrumptious. At least I hope so because everyone had like three plates.

Here are just some snaps that mind you were the most fun ever to take because everyone in my family is just crazy haha. I'll post the recipe in a few days.

12. Bananananana Bread

So, even though I barely got any because I made it for my sister and my boss decided to take home half of it for him and his wifey cause it was THAT good, it was still worth posting because it really was awesome. The only thing I did wrong was grease the sides of the pan which made it not have that perfect round top, OHS WELLS because it was great!

Banana Bread

3 really ride/brown/black bananas
1 1/4 cups of sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk*
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Make sure your oven racks are in the center or lower part of your oven to prevent browning too soon. Heat over to 325 degrees. Grease the bottoms only of one 9x5 inch loaf pan with shortening. (Or two 8x4 inch loaf pans)

In a large bowl, stir in the sugar and butter till really well mixed. Stir in eggs. Stir in bananas, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Next add the flour, baking soda and salt until it's just moistened. DO NOT OVER MIX. Pour into pans.

Bake the 8 inch loaves about an hour, back one 9 inch loaf about an hour and 15 minutes. Just keep checking it. Lower the temp if it's getting too brown. BABY IT, it's worth it.

Cool for 15-20 minutes after you take it out on a cooling rack. I left mine overnight to cool so that I could slice it right away because if you slice it while it's warm, it will be all crumbly.

Makes 2 8x4 pan loafs, or 1 9x5 loaf.

*For the buttermilk (which I never use the real kind cause buttermilk = sour milk), I used a mixture I found at wal-mart in the baking aisle. It's powder and you just add the water as directed for how much you need. Smells like old milk, obviously, but it was more to stomach than the actual sour milk.

11. Family Shoot

These were taken about three weeks ago. Love, love, love!

10. Potato Egg Scramble

There's totally a group of thugs outside my apartment. It's sooooo great. -insert vibration of techno dance here-

Anywho's, I would like to post a recipe for this, but it's going to be vague because I just whipped it up and didn't even remotely think about it! But it tasted yummy so that's what counts right? Improv peeps, it'll do ya good.

Potato Egg Scramble

4 Red potatoes, cut into chunks

4 eggs

butter

milk

chunks of cheese

salt and pepper - LOTS

First, boil your potatoes to make them soft and edible. Mine took about ten minutes to get to a soft state.

Let them sit in the hot water to cool for a bit and while cooling, heat a pan, add a dollop of butter and break all four eggs into pan. Add a touch of milk and add salt. LOTS OF IT.

Scramble the eggs.

Drain potatoes, mix into scrambled eggs.

Add chunks of cheese for about TEN SECONDS and take off of heat. Sprinkle LOTS of pepper for taste.

Serve and eat this deliciousness. Whoa, fiber and protein galore!

9. Before The Hairscuts

Right before I got his hair cut.

Oh and random insert of friends doing hard labor because I own a sweatshop secretly in my driveway:

Hahahahah, Lucas.

8. A To The L

I seriously love his haircut so much.

7. Apple Pieeeee.

Classic Apple Pie

This recipe makes one 9-inch pie with two pie crusts.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of shortening
1/2 cup of cold water
3.5 large granny smith apples* peeled and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sugar1 tablespoon butter or margarine, diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Little bit of milk
Pinch of sugar

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Use a medium bowl to make the two pie crusts. First add 1 cup of flour to bowl and 1/2 cup of shortening. Cut into the flour until it becomes 'flaky.' Add the rest of the flour and shortening to bowl and repeat step above. Add water and mix until everything comes together. Put in refrigerator for ten minutes before rolling out. After rolling out crust, lay in pie plate, about 1/2 inch hanging over edge. Fold edge over rim of plate.In another medium sized bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the apples and toss it together, making sure it's coated pretty evenly. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pie plate. Take the diced butter and sprinkle over the top of mixture. Next, create your top pie crust by repeating step one or by creating a lattice top. Next brush a light coating of milk over the top crust and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until crust is brown and insides are bubbly.
Cool for five minutes before serving.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8-10 servings.

*For any apple pie recipe, I never suggest using any other kind of apple other than a granny smith. It's sour taste seems to be the perfect companion to all the cinnamon and sugar put into the pie. You can use any other bitter tasting apple, I would not recommend using a sweet one. It seems to be too much on the palette in the end.

6. Vanilla Honey Bubble Bath

I decided to make this as a gift for my mom and sister since they both looove bubble baths. It's super easy to make and most of the ingredients are already in your house. I found the pourable bottles at Wal-Mart for a little over a dollar each and bought some ribbon to tie the little tag I put on it so they'd know what it was. I think they turned out great, the bubble bath smells fantastic and leaves your skin feeling moisturized!

Vanilla Honey Bubble Bath

1 cup olive oil (YES OLIVE OIL)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup of non-dye, unscented liquid soap

1-2 teaspoons vanilla

Use a large bowl to mix all the ingredients. Pour the olive oil in first and then add the soap, honey and vanilla. Mix until it's a creamy texture, if it seems a little oily, keep mixing! If after a few minutes it still looks too oily, add more soap and honey till it's creamy. If you don't mix it enough, the oil will seperate after you put it in the container and that never looks pretty.

On the tag I also added that it needs to be shaken well before use.

Enjoy!!

5. Cinnamon Nutmeg Bath Salts

So, another addition to my Xmas gifts this year for my mom and sister, I made bath salts and added a cinnamon nutmeg scent to it, and sprinkled a few dried flowers on top for a polished look. It really smells amazing and I can't wait to use mine! Was really easy to make and I bought the little containers at Wal-Mart too but you can usually find these at any grocery or craft store for pretty cheap.

Cinnamon Nutmeg Bath Salt

1 cup of sea salt (any texture but I prefer the coarse kind)
1/3 cup of baking soda
3 tablespoons cinnamon/nutmeg liquid scent* OR 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon liquid scent & 1 1/2 tablespoons nutmeg liquid scent if you can't find them combined
4 dried flower petals

In a medium bowl, add salt, baking soda and then scent. Mix with a spoon until completely coated with liquid scent and leave to dry for about five minutes before putting into your container. Crush the dried flower leaves and sprinkle on top of the bath salt. Decorate with a ribbon and tag.

*You can use any scent that you would like for this, I know in the future I will be switching it up for different people and their own preferences.

4. Berry Trifle

I had a Christmas party last night for my work so I needed something that would feed 13 people and be easy but scrumptious to make. Without time I admit I had to be pre-made pound cake mix but I have included a recipe on here for my pound cake that you could use if you have the time to do so! You need a trifle bowl for this to get the full effect of the layers. This was a big hit, I had plenty I thought would be left but everyone had seconds and ate the whole thing! Definite recommendation for a party!



Berry Whipped Trifle

Ingredients:

Pound Cake
This makes 2 8x4 cakes.

4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of margarine or butter
2 cups milk
2 eggs


2 tubs of cool-whip (I used the lite because it tastes better to me than the original)
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of strawberries sliced
chocolate shavings for decoration


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease two 8x4 loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder all together. Mix in eggs, milk and butter. Beat with mixture on low speed for 30 seconds and then medium speed for 3 minutes. Pour into loaf pans and bake for 33-40 minutes or until brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

Remove from loaf pans and let cool for thirty minutes before proceeding onto the next step!

Prepare your trifle bowl by slicing your pound cake in 1/2 inch strips or however thick you want them. Layer pound cake on the bottom of trifle. Add a layer of cool-whip then sprinkle blueberries or strawberries on top of coolwhip. Repeat until completely layered, ending with the cool-whip. Garnish the top of the trifle with a pretty fruit design and chocolate shavings.

Serve immediately or refrigerate no longer than overnight.

Makes 12-15 servings.

2. My Teeny Ass Apartment's Better Than Yours

bedroom/door to bathroom/ sink in bedroom = AWESOMENESS

one of the walls in my living room

front on view on entryway

Here are some pictures of my teeny apartment. I mean, like 500 to 550 square feet of it.

Have I mentioned how much I love this place? It's the first time I've lived somewhere I can really call home, a place where boy problems do not exist anymore because this is MY place. Woot, woot.

It's full of wonderful living plants, tons of artwork and a lot of love. I love my furniture, even the ones I need to replace for a better version, just everything.

I am truly happy to come home to my little sanctuary of goodness.

I'll post more apartment pics I'm sure in the near future.

1. Headphone Madness

Have you had your daily dose of awesome music yet?

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/15009993483

Introduction.

So, I used to have a blog called Crafty Lynnsey, but I decided to scrap it because I was tired of being confined to just 'crafty.'

This journal will consist of entries, pictures, recipes, crafts, all that wonderful jazz, oh and bits and pieces of the script/book I'm writing. So excuse some of the randomness. A lot of it is for my own personal notes. My own personal remembering.

So here is to new beginnings. Here is to new awesomeness.

-high five to all visitors-

Here we go!