Random Tuesdays! And a Bonus Recipe for Protein Mango Smoothie

Hello everyone!

I am super late with this Tuesday post! I still have a few minutes of Tuesday left on the East Coast at least!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a late Psychology class and I am so tired on Wednesdays and Fridays. Last night after class I cooked a bunch of homemade sausage(I made these on Friday night and froze them) for easy breakfast for the rest of the week, I did my workouts, got the kids stuff ready for school, and did other little things around the house. I was super tired by the time I was done at 1am!

This morning I woke up, packed the kids' lunches, threw on some booty shorts and a sweatshirt ha!

My goal was to finish Week 4 Day 2 of my Couch to 10K run! I can't do it tonight as my husband is working the late shift. The kids and I (only my oldest 2) walked to school and then I went for a run. I started pretty well and then I started getting really hot. Damn sweatshirt. I wanted to take it off (i had a regular workout shirt underneath), but I didn't want to carry it. According to my RunKeeper App I burned more calories today than I have on any run I've done so far this year. I was a sweaty mess when I was done, and I was so happy to be done! But as I made my smoothie, I was so happy that I did run though I was dressed the part I didn't feel the part.

I prepped some dinner, made breakfast for my youngest, made/drank my smoothie and then took a nice nap.

That's why I am so late with the post. It's already Wednesday afternoon here, I usually do the daily posts the day after (here).

So let me share with you all a quickie recipe for the protein Mango Smoothie I made today! It's soooo good!

Serves 2

I didn't really measure so I guessing based off feel here LOL. I did take a picture of the ingredients in the blender so that kind of helps me get a feel.

3/4 cup frozen mangoes

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1/3 cup or one container of vanilla greek yogurt like chobani or yoplait

about 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk

and a splash of vanilla extract

It's so good and filling!!!! Try it after your workout or breakfast….lunch…dinner

Have a great day!!!!!!

Random Thoughts

HELLO EVERYONE!

I cut my finger pretty bad last night. I was chopping green peppers for stir fry and SLICE. It hurt more than normal and bled a lot more than normal. I put the chunk of fingernail back on and the husband bought me some band aids--he was out when it happened. He brought home about 12 different bandages. He's such a sweetheart. My kids kept their distance as they get woozy pretty quick. They usually place a band aid and neosporin on a cut for me but this was too ugly for them lol. They are too funny to me. So I am typing with my middle finger instead my index finger lol. I type with two hands so it's no big deal.

Didn't take a pic, but here's a pic of my cute little man :)


I am addicted to soundcloud. I found so much great indie music there and mainstream music i never heard. I discovered Kendrick Lamar there. I've read several status updates with people talking about him, but I never heard his music before. I am happy to have discovered him. Looking forward to buying his album now. I also discovered The Stuyvesants, Akira Shelton and a few others. Actually the last two I discovered watching natural hair videos on youtube with their music played in the background. So I did my own research which lead me to soundcloud and now I am addicted to the site. And I am definitely supporting these artists on iTunes. Check them out. Here's a great song from Akira Shelton feat Jasmine Jones:


I love love lovvvve make up lol. I don't wear it all at once but in the last few months i've learned a lot and gotten better. Thanks to youtube. I follow so many beauty gurus there it's crazy. Look out for make-up posts here soon. Not tutorials, but stuff I am loving. Was thinking about having make-up mondays.

I am homesick for Europe. Not just Germany but Europe. But I LOVE it here in Japan so far.

If you don't follow me on youtube,  instagram or facebook I froed out my hair last week. Just for a day and I loved it. I gotta find a heatless way to do it. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_L-mfPV_hYyZ6j1-wHMNaQ

I GOT MY IPAD BACK. I haven't really used it since I got it back, but I am looking forward to using it for editing vlogs etc.

Random Tidbits about Moving and Recipe Links

Hey y'all! It's the month of MAY! I am sure you all know that as it's the 7th, but what this means for us is that it's our last month full month here!

This month will be spent selling, donating, throwing away a lot of stuff. This is my first international PCS. I came to Germany with 2 suitcases. Exciting and stressful.

I am always walking around asking random people if they want/need something. I probably look crazy, but I call it hustling. If you're friends with me on Facebook, I stay asking folk if they need such and such as well. Just trying to give first dibs!

Yesterday I gave away all of my 220V appliances leaving room for new LOL. Initially, my intent was to buy after we moved, but I JUST couldn't pass this up.

It's a two-tiered digital steamer. I like Hamilton Beach products and it's only 30 bucks on Amazon and now I don't need to buy a rice cooker as I originally intended. I hope it arrives soon! http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-37537-Digital-Steamer/dp/B002SB8LPA

The kids are starting to see that we're outta here soon as more things around the house disappears. Tomorrow the movers are coming by to make an estimate of how long it will take to move our house. hopefully it will not take too long because we have to CLEAN A LOT. The house has to be spic-and-span before we leave. We haven't had much luck getting out deposit back in the past and we're thinking we're in for a losing streak. ugh.

Right now we're shopping for homes.We're debating whether to live on base or off base any inputs will be great. Now that we know where we will be it makes it a bit easier to plan. I will let you all know for sure on June 15th where we will be!  My son's asthma became an issue so we were stuck in moving limbo. So happy to know for sure now and this time I didn't scream it out on the rooftops. Only close friends and family knows for sure basically our parents and siblings a couple friends and my husband's coworkers (of course).

We also planned one more trip probably our last to see my brother and his family in England. So excited to see them again. I am not sure when we will have the chance again. Hoping this trip is better, health wise....we all had a nasty bug the last time we were there. We'll see.

Thanks for reading. I've been making videos a lot so I can not wait to edit it. There's a lot of footage and i have to get a bit more savvy with video editing.

I am sorry i haven't been posting any recipes. But I have been cooking. If you follow me on instagram or my page you see that. Let me know if there are any recipes you'd like. Here's a recap:


Recipe is from Salty Seattle's Bulgarian Buttermilk Biscuits. I didn't use Bulgarian buttermilk LOL. But they were good :)


pork chops, cheesy country potatoes,biscuit and oranges lol


David Lebovitz's Simplest Beef Curry Really good the shallots is so perfect with this


Pan fried Spaghetti with BACON. Inspired by my Parents AND BenjiManTV



Ellie Krieger's Thai-Style Halibut


And Inspired from our trip to Italy

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola. Gorgonzola sauce taste good on EVERYTHING!!!!!!!


I'll try to kick out two recipes before we leave so look in my IG feed or my pictures on my blog's FB for any ideas!!! Thanks for reading

Farewell Germany Pt 2

This is a bit of series: the first. I intended it to be. I am a quiet person, but when I start talking, I don't stop. I'm quite self-conscious of that and prefer to  judge er observe quietly.

Anyway, I left off the last post about my first few years in Germany. Those were spent in the military. I met my now husband in the last few months of my military career.

He's 9 years older than me, and taught me a lot about myself. I was basically going down a downward spiral.  Yes, mom....I am airing some intimate details of my life sorry. But maybe someone can benefit (for blackmail or otherwise) from these tales. I am not going to be all cliche and annoying, but he was definitely an integral part in me creating a new version of myself. Finally learning how to cook, pursuing my dreams of being a June Cleaver wannabe. It was nice and almost overwhelming to have someone support almost everything I wanted to pursue.


I am not going to say that I became this perfect little wife after marrying my husband. I still had my moments that I am certainly not proud of. Like all humans, no marriage is perfect and ours most certainly isn't. But what makes a good or healthy marriage is not giving up on the person. There were times when I wanted to leave and he as well, but we always made the other sit down and listen to the other instead  of talking at one another. Last summer our marriage had an "aha" moment. We finally discussed key factors draining our marriage. And it was so overwhelmingly good. It felt like the slate was finally clean afterwards. Though during the discussion there was a lot of tears, but we learned exactly each others feelings, no longer attempting to predict what they really were.

OK I went off tangent a bit. But this has everything to do with my growth while in Germany. Learning to let go of guilt, mistrust, ego, and other psychology shit.

So like giving birth to my three beautiful children, my husband made a big impact on my life and my love for Germany. If it weren't for us living in the boonies, I wouldn't have known how amazing Germany is beyond the bars and clubs LOL for real. We went to fresh markets, bakeries, got to know our neighbors and was hungry for more culture. We got the wonderful opportunity to stay in Germany but we had to move. That's my next post.

25 Things About Me

Trying to blog more often and this is a pretty good way to keep at it. A random 15 things about me. Some of the questionnaires were a bit juvenile so I am just going to add random facts about myself. It's my blog so it's about me right??

1. I am still in denial about my dad's passing. This is so hard to get over. Perhaps because the death is so close to my brother's passing. It literally gives me the chills every single day.

2. I dream about my daddy every single night. It's so weird. Like he wants to pass something to me. Something just seems unfinished, not with our relationship but other aspects of his life. Or perhaps it's how I keep him with me all the time?

3. I listen to old school jams my daddy played all the time when me and my brothers were kids. It makes me sad and happy.

4. I am always wanting to get away. Everyday I go online and look at beautiful places I'd love to travel to. Living in Germany really made me appreciate what the world's got to offer.

5. I watch food-centric movies when I am cooking.

6. I think way too much into some things. I wish I didn't. 

7. Scrubs ALWAYS makes me cry as much as it makes me laugh.

8. I collect aprons from different cities. I just started this after we went to Paris.

9. My hair is in the awkward stage of length. I have a mullet. I am trying to get creative with the styles to hide it! It usually takes me a good six months. to reach a bit of normalcy all around. When it gets to a nice length I will trim all around.

10. Me and my mother argue. But always make-up. She said the sweetest thing, you are as sweet as you are beautiful. I never heard my mother call me beautiful, it was really nice. Not in a vain way, but that she doesn't see me as a lil kid, but a woman and I not just her irritatingly defiant daughter :-)

11. Marvin Gaye is my favorite male singer.

12. I am really tall. 6'2 to be exact. But when people look at me say, "you're really tall" irritates the HELL out of me. OF COURSE I KNOW THIS. 

13. I am a ridiculous worrier.

14. I am very impatient. But patient when it really matters.

15. I was supposed to do 25 facts about me but that's too much. I think you guys agree too, amirite?

So here are 10 pictures you may have never seen.....aka throwbacks

Baby girl in 2009

Me and my Friend Tessie in the Eiffel Tower's elevator in 2010 that's not us but I am taking the picture lol

At the zoo in our city! 

DDs first Halloween not to happy with the Hand-me-down

Now he's OK?

Chunky Baby Thighs! I MISS THESE

JJs surgery

DD drove us to Munich

Chris made Amara's cake for her 2nd birthday! Peppa Pig. He tried! Good daddy

My Handsome Man heading to his German Kindergarten

Man looking through these pics made me teary eyed. They grow so fast. Live for now and cherish every moment. Sometimes it seems like it's something so easy to forget.

Thanks for reading!!!!

First of many farewells to Germany

I've lived in Germany for 8.5 years.

Never thought that'd happen.

I dropped out of college and joined the Air Force 9 years ago.

Never thought that would happen either.

I always had expectations of myself. I thought as a child that I would stay in my home state of Maryland and work in a inner city school, helping underprivileged children gain a better education. I always had in my mind that I was going to make a big impact on the world. Pretty ambitious, huh?

Do I think that's in the cards for me now? I don't know. I'd like to hope so. Let's get to the point.

My point is, life throws curve balls constantly. We are currently awaiting notice of where the hell we be for the next four years. This wait is stressful and annoying.

What makes this wait less annoying is the fact that I live in Germany. Meaning, while I wait there is so much exploring and soaking in all the things I love about living in Germany. Whenever I go back to the states, what stands out the most is what I love about Germany. I love the US, but as a military spouse living in Germany, there are so many opportunities for me to live out my dreams. From being a stay-at-home mom while going to school, to being able to go to a different country at least once a month!

I am going to miss living here. I grew up here you can say.

I arrived here Friday, August 13, 2004. I lost my debit card that day and was broke for the first week and a half of my arrival due to lack debit card! LOL.

I partied too much, was the other woman, then befriended the other woman, got my heartbroken a couple times, saw the great and others, and saw the the worst in others but mostly myself, had a baby, found a great group of people who are my friends for ever and met and fell in true love with my now husband. There is a lot more, but my mother reads my blog now. All of that in my first 2 years living here. That's why I can say I grew up here. I experienced a lot in a condensed time.


Never thought I would lead the life of a Maury Povich guest all in my first two years living in Germany. I look back at those days often with a lot of coulda shoulda wouldas but I am not pressed over that.

So I am thankful for the many bad times that plagued my first few years in beautiful Germany. This is the first of a few farewells.

Fortunately I do not have any pictures on hand of that time. And if any of you do, please do not share LOL. Unless it's a cute picture :-)

I tried to access my other photos but my photobucket account isn't working.

My worries.....

I sit here at this computer. "Butterflies" are break dancing in my stomach. This whole morning has been spent sporadically praying, looking for a confidence boost from anything with a pulse, any power in the universe.

Since maybe the end of 2011. Everything new makes me extremely nervous. I've always been a bit nervous and very shy, but this is a new feeling. I always feel sometimes I run my mouth too quickly, thus my dreams runs away with it. I know it's weird, but I can't be the only person who feels this. Maybe someone else does a little? Maybe you? Who knows. In 2012, I tried to be a bit more reserved. Some things I just couldn't be reserved about like, finding out our next move. But after I made the big post on Facebook, I deleted it the very next day. I got worried because I wanted it sooooooo much for so many years, I think it will, too, perish like other big events that I've hoped to happen and that's never come to light over the years. So I keep quiet about it, rarely talk about it, hoping others would forget. There is a lot that must be accomplished and I am of course a big worrywart about everything.

Today, I am just discussing a smaller transition. The transition into a new semester of college. Everyone who I share my worries says, "no worries, you got it" and I appreciate it so much. But I still haven't found that confidence within myself. I am in my Junior year and I know things will get harder from herein and I am worried about juggling a family, planning our last bits of travel in Europe, and all the preparations that comes with moving to another overseas location. It's so much and I don't want to sacrifice anything, although I know I will. But all of these are important to my mental well being. We did plan some trips, but decided on easier trips, we are in the midst of getting everything together for our move quite slowly, but the pace will hasten in the coming months. I haven't even factored in my husband's work and his work trips. I am a nervous wreck. That month off from school I realized that I really, really enjoy being a stay-at-home mother. I love spending time with the kids, cleaning, cooking beautiful meals throughout the week. But with things in life you want really badly like a degree for me so I can help my husband support the family after he retires (soon!). I just realize more and more that taking the easy route will keep me at a plateau and I have to make a big effort to work out a plan where I can juggle everything.  I may not be cooking everyday, jet-setting every month, have the cleanest house on the block. But I hope to be able to indulge in some little pleasures, while working damn hard to accomplish my goals. 

My college semesters are broken down into 2 sessions. Each session is 8 weeks long. So a 16 week curriculum is condensed into 8 weeks. So everything is fast paced and a bit of a adrenaline rush. The last session of the Fall semester, I thought I chose a class I believed to be difficult and a class that I believed would be kind of easy to get through. I thought WRONG. Both classes were a challenge and I was constantly doing school work. I worked even harder because we planned a 6 day getaway. I didn't want to get behind. Though that 6 day getaway was refreshing, I had a lot of work to catch-up with when I got home because I didn't want to look at ANY school work that whole time we were away. So it took me a couple weeks to get on top of things only dive into finals, final projects etc. So I was chin-deep in school work until the session was over. We planned a winter weekend getaway months ago thinking the semester would be over on the last day of class, but I still had a final project due the Monday after the last class. I was so exhausted when that semester was over and then after the semester was over, we took another trip and we had to dive into all the Christmas festivities. I was exhausted and I am in so much fear that this will happen again. I am happy I had such a difficult session so I can learn from my mistakes and try to be prepared for something similar happening throughout my college career. 

This semester I am taking a Digital Media class and Statistics. I've been worried about it since I found out that it was a required class for my degree. So it is definitely a class I want over with and done especially with my previous math class fresh in my mind. The Digital Media class is an upper-level class so of course I am worried and want to do my best. Mid semester I am taking a seminar class. So I have three classes this semester. I am a wreck, but I really hope I come out it alive at least.

Random Bits, Home, Moving, etc

So I am moving in May, but I think I may be in denial because I keep purchasing things to decorate the house we live in now. I've stayed away from our room and children's rooms, though. I will not decorate those until we move.


 Everyone's whose lived at the place we're going to next, is recommending that we all stay on base. I'm not sure why the military keeps base housing so under wraps. Finding out what we're in for is like pulling teeth. I finally did find something on YouTube  If we live on post, I will definitely take pictures and blog about it just in case someone else is contemplating living on base. You should guess our location by looking at the video. Here's what we may be in for. I love the kitchen and dining area a lot. I've looked at the homes off base and they are sooooo gorgeous to me. I can not wait to find home


Also I found this site to help make it cozy.
http://www.stealsplusdeals.net/2011/01/my-experience-with-decorating-military-base-housing/

I am excited to share that I got As in my classes last session. I worked hard. And it makes me feel a tad less guilty that I hadn't been able to spends as much time with the kids over the session. I expressed this guilt to my mom and husband. And they told me it's good for them to see mom working on bettering her and their future. I also feel a bit of pressure to maintain As. But, if I don't get As and pass all of my classes, I will be happy that I am brave enough to pursue this with two children at home with me. Studying and doing reading assignments is a bit challenging. But I get it done. I also love challenges as they push me to do the best I can in all aspects of my life. This semester, I'm going to be brave and take my required Speech class. I am one of the most nervous and anxious people I know. I wanted to get this over with. I'm also taking Anthropology which should be interesting. I am looking forward to meeting new people. I didn't really get chummy with anyone last session will probably have to with this speech class.

All three of my children know how to use the computer quite well. They all love YouTube  They only watch kiddies stuff, but my 3 year old has an obsession with butts. Last summer, he discovered butt videos on YouTube on my phone and favorited one (how i found out) it was so funny and disturbing.





 He was so embarrassed and never did it again. He just watches trains and mario on the computer.

The best thing any mom, anyone really can get is a house cleaner. We have one come once a week. It really saves my sanity. And it's not expensive. someone to clean the toilet, the windows and floors so I don't have to is well worth it!!!

Cheeseburger Bacon and Mushroom Frittata

I've seen frittatas in cookbooks and all over many food bloggers blog posts. I've been intrigued, but at the same time a bit sick. Why? Because I hate eggs. Yes, people I am not big on eggs.


Ever since I was a little girl I've hated eggs. In my baby book, under least liked foods, my mother put eggs.


Don't get me wrong, I love eggs in most food. Like salads, in most to all Asian dishes featuring them. When they play the starring roll I can't do it. WHich why I don't make omelettes, spanish omelettes, basically anything where egg is the main ingredient. Some desserts I can't eat. I have to omit the egg whites because I read it's where the 'eggy' taste comes from. Where the yolk is rich, buttery, a lil salty, just damn perfect.

 Yes, I am eggist.

I can appreciate fresh farmed eggs. This summer, I ate a soft boiled egg and did not rush to the bathroom. That was because the egg was laid that morning. I thought that I found a solution my egg-hate. So I only bought eggs fresh farm the local turkish/farmer's markets and the yolks so beautifully gold made me smile. Cookies, muffins, and any thing I cooked with eggs became 100% more fantastic.


Then I got cocky and thought I'd finally make a frittata when I saw the recipe for Cheeseburger Frittata on the beautiful site She Wears Many Hats. I quickly added it to my Cozi weekly meal plan to try immediately. I am happy I did because it was delicious! Cheesy, mushoomy, bacony, and eggy goodness. My mind was getting the better of me and I realized, the next time (yes, there will be a next time), I will use half whole eggs and the rest just egg yolks!

This recipe is so easy, and you don't have to use mushrooms if you don't want to! Just load on the cheese and bacon for this easy one 'pot' dinner! It's low cab, and has an amazing amount of protein to get those muscle growing and very filling!


Cheeseburger  Bacon and Mushroom Frittata
Adapted from She Wears Many Hats
Makes one 10" pie pan.
She says aa 9" will work, adjust cooking times if using different size. I used my quiche pan....no I've never made a quiche :)

Ingredients
8-12 ounces ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more, divided
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, plus more, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper, plus more, divided
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, plus more, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-large onion, chopped
10 large eggs OR 5 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks if that's how you want to roll
3 tablespoons milk (1/4 cup if you split eggs)
4 ounces (about 2 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
8 slices of bacon
6 cremini mushrooms, sliced


Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Butter or coat with cooking spray pie pan. (I used a 10" pie pan for this recipe, but a 9" deep dish should work as well.)
Brown hamburger with a few pinches/dashes of chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion with a pinch of salt and pepper until translucent. Do this in a non stick skillet if you can.
Beat together eggs, milk, 1/2 of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon of each: chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Evenly distribute the browned hamburger on the bottom of the pie/quiche pan, then top with sautéed onions.
Pour the egg mixture over the top of hamburger and onion. Top with remaining cheese.
Bake in 400°F oven for 18-20 minutes until set.



Enjoy!!!!!!

Late Sunday Ramblings- Brussels, Belgium and More

Hey all!

My son playing my daughter's leap pad and my youngest playing his brother's DS. I definitely have to buy my youngest a kiddie tablet- he loves to steal play with his siblings'.

2012 has been an interesting one so far.  It's only the end of January, but so much has happened!

My theme of the year and the rest of my life is "DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED." Saying something so so simple has brought me more courage than I've ever felt in my 28 years of living. I have a lot of new things planned and I actually plan to do them. You can't rise without falling...sometimes you will fall many times, but you will rise!

One of the most amazing things that's happened to me this month is spending nearly 3 days alone with my husband. It's the first time we've done so since we got married 4.5 years ago. We went to the gorgeous city Brussels in Belgium. One of the perks of living in Europe is visiting the surrounding countries. In the past I feared travelling because I have small children, but now that our youngest is nearly 3, the thought isn't so scary. I've done a good amount of travelling around Germany in 2011 alone with my 3, so I am ready for more exotic places further away. Plus it was comforting to know that my daughter really loves planes and does quite well on them! So where next? Stick around and find out!

Some photos:

Late night waffle snack? Of course!

Food Lion in Belgium- well the logos are very similar!

OMG. Nuff Said.

Loved this Lobster Soup on our first night there!

Light Lunch the next day

Waffle Truck!

After lunch we indulged and indulged on chocolate. I haven't eaten chocolate since....well I did make chocolate chunk cookies Friday. Two weeks later!

To keep the overindulgence going, we helped ourselves many times to this lovely Cherry Beer from Chimay. OMG. I haven't drank anything alcoholic since.

This statue is quite famous here. A lost child was found here peeing many years ago. As we were pissed (as our english speaking friends across the pond says for drunk), it was only natural we'd take a picture in front of it. Oh, I am soooo cultured ;)

A lil overdressed for breakfast, but I rarely get such an opportunity to dress up. The patrons were wondering who *I* was lol. Happens often here in Europe. Especially I am already tall and was wearing 4 inch heels. :)

Beautiful Ending at the Palace!

Thanks for reading! I have a recipe, yes a RECIPE to share with you all tomorrow. I hope you enjoy. Also look out for my favorite things from January this week. One of my favorite things has a lot to do with why I am blogging again! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Late Night Ramblings From a Unintentional Lucy Wannabe

NYE 2011 I found my new-ish laptop's hard drive failed. I knew this almost immediately after my computer refused to reset and I had to manually reset it. How would I know that? Well, the same thing happened this summer to another computer I owned. I only had this computer for a month, a gift to me from husband who is so used to my gadget/technology klutzery. He expects us me to go through at least 2 laptops a year. Don't get me started on the other little gadgets around the house that my black index fingers touched (black index fingers are the black thumbs of technology....i made that up like I made up klutzery. *crickets* moving on). My husband laughs, a creepy laugh, but at least he's laughing?? Well, shortly after my laptop died, his laptop charger died....it wasn't me... OK it was. Sigh. BUT BUT. I found a solution, as both laptops are from the same company, I used my new laptop's charger for his. That should make up for me breaking my iphone's glass on my run today. WTF is wrong with me? Seriously..

I have a problem. Or is it? I'll let you all decide. When someone asks me, "How are you?" I answer honestly. I mean I TELL YOU. Lately I start tearing up, sometimes I go on laughing at my own lame jokes, or tell them about how I have to scrub the downstairs bathroom more than twice a day since my 2 year old son was potty-trained. I get smiles sometimes, others I get looks of utter shock. Why do people ask you, 'how are you' if they really don't want to know? Or do I am I just a mom who lack adult interaction? Either way, something's gotta give!

I am obsessed with Watch The Throne from Jay-Z and Kanye. I love it even more since I started running. Sometimes while I am running, I sing/rap (badly) along and start dancing. It's dangerous for me as a tall, black woman running at night drop kicking out of no where because Kanye says "i'm kicking ####### out like Pam, #####!" I can't be the only one having way too much fun on her runs?

Christmas crafts were fun(ish) with the kids and I've done my first of the year- a 3d picture frame 'drawing' with my daughter. I'll have to do a tutorial when I do one with my sons. Well if I don't break another laptop/iphone/camera before the end of the month. I probably will.

Looks like a  4 year-old did the cutting....not that would be me....I always got Cs in art.

Thanks for reading the randomness. 

Cookies and Randomness Christmas-Style

Everyone in the Christmas spirit yet?  I'm not really yet. I usually start feeling a bit festive after my husband's taken some time off. The whole time he's on leave I am usually in the kitchen, and I do not have a problem with that. So far our tree hasn't felt the wrath of our ninja baby. About 3 times a day we go through all of his favorite ornaments so he can play and get all giddy. EVERYDAY. This is the first year none of our children broke any ornaments (knock on wood!).

This Christmas we plan to finally visit some Christmas Markets hoping to get into the spirit. Not just Christmas Market hopping, I plan on tackling the ever so daunting task of Christmas crafts. I've been on Pinterest a lot lately looking for Christmas Crafts and Christmas Goose recipes. 

Oh, did I mention I am tackling goose this year? 

 Not that one- the mean honking bird! My random husband asked me to make goose last year  for this Christmas and then reminded me when I was making our Christmas menu. I am excited, nervous, and very ready for the challenge. I've been researching a lot and I've found a lot of helpful info! I plan on taking elements of 5 different recipes I found and hope it yields delicious results!

Oh, back to the crafts. I wanted to do Thanksgiving crafts, but couldn't so I am hoping to tackle some Christmas Crafts with the children Christmas Style. I am hoping they will be things the children and I won't get bored with after 10 minutes. I will definitely share with you all the results!

The closest I got to doing crafts with my children last year was when we baked cookies and wrote letters to Santa.

 It was SOOO fun and the children enjoyed every bit of it as I did as well. I particularly enjoyed the royal icing soooo much better than store bought and very easy! recipe below!

Food and Wine's Roll and Cut Out Sugar Cookies
 

Floury fun!
2 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup(s) sugar
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
2 stick(s) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup(s) seedless raspberry or apricot jam, for jam-filled cookies
Royal Icing, (recipe below) for decorating
Sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées, for decorating

Directions
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix at low speed until the butter is broken up into small pieces, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the flour and butter form small clumps, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix at low speed until the dough comes together in a few large clumps. Pat the cookie dough into two 1/2-inch-thick disks, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate until chilled but not firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. (Alternatively, cut the dough into 3- to 4-inch shapes and, using a smaller cutter, stamp out the center of half of the cookies.) Refrigerate the cutout cookies until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, until they are lightly golden around the edges; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through for even baking. Let the sugar cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then, using a metal spatula, carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
For sandwich cookies, spread a thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam on the solid cookies and top with the corresponding cutout cookies to expose the jam. Otherwise, decorate as desired with the Royal Icing, sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées.

Food and Wine's Royal Icing

 

My husband thinks he's fancy. He nearly preserved that cookie for decoration!

Ingredients
1 egg white
1/2 pound(s) (2 1/4 cups) confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon(s) water

Directions
In a medium bowl, beat the egg white at medium speed until foamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating between additions, until the sugar is completely incorporated. Add the water and beat at high speed until the icing holds its shape, about 5 minutes.
Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and use at once; thin with water if necessary.

Thank you for reading!!!