Sugar Cookies, Martha Style!

Blame it on my Evergreen and Cinnamon Yankee candles, but this blogger has caught the holiday spirit like you would not believe! There's something about my home smelling of Christmas trees and cinnamon that makes me want to rip out the holiday decorations from the attic, hang some lights outside and get some yummy sugar cookies baking in the oven! But then immediately I'm struck with the revelation that I have yet to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe to use for my Christmas cookies! So I turned to our trusty friend--the Internet--and found a recipe for Martha Stewart's sugar cookies. I figured what better time to give this recipe a try than as a lazy afternoon bake-fest with my daughter!

I've posted the recipe below, including pictures of my baking experience. I will admit that this dough wasn't super-easy to work with. The cookies ended up spreading a lot during baking, which left me with big ol' blobs instead of cute little leaves and turkeys.

Martha's Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (what the huh?? brandy?? really?! I went w/ the milk instead)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.



2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar.



3. Add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.



4. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk for us non-boozehounds), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.



5. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.


7. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. At least, that's what Martha's recipe says. I choose to roll my sugar cookie dough on a surface dusted with confectioners sugar. It tends to make the cookies less hard/dry.
   



8. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. I have to admit here that I didn't have any parchment paper, and I wasn't sure waxed paper was the same... So I used a regular cookie sheet but didn't think to lightly grease it first. The lesson here is to use some Pam if you don't have any parchment paper!
   



9. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool. (Note the excessive amount of spreading during baking. Not sure how to avoid this.)
   



10. Decorate with Royal Icing, optional. To make this simple icing recipe, just mix 1 pound of confectioners sugar with 2 Tbsp. meringue powder (or 2 egg whites), then add about 1/2 cup of water.
    

Makes 2 dozen

Bottom line? These cookies were pretty tasty. Eating the dough was my favorite part! But ultimately working with the dough was not so easy. And the fact that the cookies puffed up so much during baking, quite frustrating! I think I'll continue to look for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. LO and I have a lot more baking to do during the holidays!

Wal-Mart No More!

Who likes going to several different stores to get all of the items on their shopping list? Not me1 That's why I've pretty much been a Wal-Mart shopper. All my grocery and miscellaneous sundries can be found under the same roof.

Until recently, that is. Lately I've had issues when I'd go to Wal-Mart, look down the aisle full of body wash bottles until I find the one I'm looking for... only to find, it isn't there! I cannot tell you guys how many times I've gone to Wal-Mart with my list in hand only to realize at least one (but usually several) of the specific items on my list were out of stock! It got to be so incredibly frustrating, but I'd just deal with it. I'd make the longer drive to Target and pay a few pennies more to get the item I needed.

On top of the whole "out of stock" issue, I've also started experiencing an extremely frustrating trend at the check-out. Now, I've never really been a coupon person, but for the past 2 or 3 months I've started looking online for coupons for the items I needed to purchase, print them, and take them with me to Wal-Mart. Sometimes I'd even build my shopping list around the items I was able to find coupons for. Almost every single time I tried to check out at Wal-Mart, the cashier would refuse to accept one or more of my coupons because they "wouldn't scan." I'm sorry, doesn't it say "75 cents off Bounty paper towels" right there above the little bar code thingy? Couldn't they just--heaven forbid--manually type in the coupon amount? (Shameful side note: I know for a fact this as possible as I used to work as a Wal-Mart cashier during high school). When I inquired about this they of course told me they weren't able to accept the coupon. Period. Needless to say, there were several times I dug through the several bags of purchases to locate the one or more items these unaccepted coupons were for, and have the cashier remove them simply out of principle. SO frustrating!

Last Sunday, it happened again--for the last time!!! I couldn't believe this cashier as she made an incredibly poor attempt to scan my little coupon and quickly refuse to accept it. I was with hubs and LO at the time (normally it's just me and LO) and I complained to hubs the entire way out to the car. There's just NO REASON for that. What ever happened to "customer service" I ask!?

No surprise here, but I jumped on my customer service soap box and sent a scathing email to Wal-Mart about my horrible experiences in their store. That was Sunday night. Today is Thursday, and I've still received no response from them. Am I surprised? Of course not. BUT... I have been inspired by Wal-Mart's complete lack of service to their customers to...



((wait for it))








(wait for it))

BOYCOTT WAL-MART!!!!!

That's right! I've officially decided to never, ever, ever, ever, ever walk through the doors of Wal-Mart stores again. How possible is this, you might ask? I believe it's quite possible! It's already day 4 of my boycott and it's going strong! There's nothing I purchase at Wal-Mart that I can't also find at Bi-Lo, Target, AC Moore, or any other retail establishment.

Should be interesting to see how long I can go without shopping at Wal-Mart. Although I've found that when I commit to something and really put my mind to it, I can do anything. We shall see!

Data-Minded

This is a totally random post, but recently I've been trying to motivate myself to back up the data on my MacBook. It's really a quite simple process, but it requires me getting off my lazy butt to take my laptop 15 feet away from the couch and set it on the desk, connect it to the external hard drive, and run the Backup program (or TimeMachine, depending on my mood). Anywho, I went ahead and backed up my precious pictures, videos, iTunes library, etc. and got to thinking: What would happen if our house (heaven forbid) were to be destroyed by a fire or hurricane? What would happen to the treasured memories we've accumulated over the past 16 months of our beautiful little one? I immediately decided I needed a back-up back-up plan.

I thought burning my data to a DVD and placing it in our fireproof safe would be the best option... until I realized it would take a good 5 or 6 DVDs just to store my 23 GB iPhoto library (pics of LO). Wow! That didn't even include all the other data I wanted to back up. I quickly realized I needed another option. I called my friendly Mac genius/guru and he suggested I purchase another external hard drive, which I could then store in my safe. Fabulous!

I shopped around and found 250 GB external hard drives for about $80 bucks. Not bad, but I wasn't willing to jump on it. Boy am I glad I didn't! My Mac friend/guru emailed me this link, which is a lovely little article announcing that newegg.com is selling 1 TERABYTE (i.e. 1,000 GB!) external hard drives for $99.99! Absolutely unbelievable! The regular price is $150! Check it out for yourself!
Needless to say, I purchased one for myself, and convinced my mom to buy one, too! It's too good a deal to pass up. So, if you've been data-minded lately and are in need of a solution for backing up your precious memories, photos, video, music, etc., consider this offer. I'm not sure how long it will be on sale (i.e. $25 instant savings plus $20 mail-in rebate to equal $99.99), so snatch it up soon if you need to!

Why Can't Everyone Be Like Me?

Great title for a post, huh? Ya, like the world would actually be better off if there were more than one of me... I don't think so! :)

Seriously, I'm just writing today to figure out why other people can't be as organized or forward-thinking as I am. Seriously. I'm a Type A, OCD freak that likes to Plan! Plan! Plan! Apparently, there aren't as many people out there in the world with these same traits. Take, for example, that I've already got thoughts swirling through my head on what I'll do for hubs' milestone birthday--in October 2009! That's right! I've got approximately 11 months to come up with the game plan for his party, and I've already started on it! On a much less crazy scale, let's talk about the holidays. Christmas is 44 days away. I for one have already finished shopping for half of my family. Shopping for LO? DONE. Shopping for hubs? DONE. All that remains at this point is some gifts for my 9 nieces and nephews. I want ALL of my shopping DONE. Like, now. I don't want to be out there with all of the crazies trying to run the little old lady over so I get a good parking spot, or curse under my breath at the woman with 3 kids who just jumped in line in front of me at the check-out. For me, Christmas is about Christ first and foremost. Then, it's about the joy of gift-giving. And I'd like to enjoy the process of gift-shopping, too! I'd like to hum holiday songs to myself as I push LO around the aisles looking for that must-have gift at the top of my nephew's wish list. I'd like to politely offer to the lady with 3 kids to please take my place in line so she can get her little ones home. I want to have the joy of the holiday season. And I just can't do that until I have a shopping list in hand and a hard-core plan of action detailing which shops I need to hit, what time of day would be best for me to do so, etc. That's just how I roll. Is that so wrong?!

Thanksgiving is 16 days away. I've offered to host the family festivities at my house, but have yet to know whether or not that is the plan. People. I should be prepping the house, making sure all of my baking, serving and dining supplies are in check. There should be menu planning. Things should be happening. We've got just over 2 weeks! Again, this is where my Type A OCD self takes over and stresses out. I can only hope things come together soon rather than a bunch of scurrying at the last minute. I mean, really, how hard is it to take 60 seconds to come up with and/or agree on a holiday game plan/menu/location/etc. and then go back to your daily lives?! Is it such a huge inconvenience that I try to plan things? I realize people are busy. And I agree most people are much busier than me since I have the luxury of staying at home with LO and not working a full-time job, too. Ugh. I shouldn't vent out here. My family has the link to my blog. Granted, I'm pretty sure none of them read it. But wouldn't it be my luck they read this crazy post about how I wish they could be more like me and jump on the bandwagon when it comes to planning our holiday festivities?

I guess the moral of the story is that I will go about my life, make plans for myself, hubs and LO, and enjoy all that the holiday season has in store for us. If and/or when extended family jumps on board and decides to take part in the PLANNING of our gatherings, I guess I'll just be thankful and move on.

Biscuit, Anyone?

Okay, yes, it's been over a week since my last post... again. I'm so sorry! I swear this isn't supposed to be a "weekly" blog! I'm going to try to do better.

In the meantime, I saw this on the Today show this morning and got a good chuckle out of it. For those of you who know us personally, LO absolutely LOVES dogs! It's insane! But since we don't have a fenced backyard for a little pet, we don't have any plans to get her a dog anytime soon. But perhaps something like this will tide her over...



Ha! Ha! It's Hasbro's Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup! This dog is nothing but scary to me! I'd much rather hold out for the real thing. Besides, LO has a "lifelike" Elmo Live coming this Christmas, so we should have plenty of interactivity in our household.

Too fun!

Chocolate Chip Goodness

Hellloooooo out there!!!!

I'm SO sorry it's been over a week since I've posted out here! I just don't know what my problem is! Of course I haven't been busy or anything... (wink, wink)

Ya, I've been a bit busy lately, but I'M BACK!! I know all three of my blog readers are jumping with excitement at the very thought of reading all about my fun and obstreperous life! :)

So I figured what way to get back into blogging could be any better than posting one of my newest, favoritest recipes!? Chocolate Chip Pie! Several of you know I've been baking these pies like a crazy-person lately--so many in fact that they are concerned I need a "pie intervention!" It just so happens my husband is completely hooked on them. And a few friends think they are simply amazing! And I can definitely eat them, too!

I originally got a recipe from a friend of mine whose family makes these pies for just about every holiday (which, I believe might be a new tradition in my house as well!). Although that recipe was good, I found one that was a bit better because it came out a bit more "firm" and ultimately didn't use quite as much butter. That ought to make it healthier, too, right? Right?? ;)

Anywho, I made yet another pie last night to celebrate my mom selling her house, and I took a few pics of the process so you all could see how yummy and EASY this pie is! So without further ado...

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Pie

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 8

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional -- I leave them out!)
  

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 325° F.


2. PREPARE pie shell. If using a frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly. If using refrigerated pie dough, let it thaw for 15 minutes then unroll into pie pan.
   
   


3. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy.
   
   
   
4. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts.
   
   


5. Spoon into pie shell.
   
   
   
6. BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.
   
   


7. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm! Feel free to serve a la mode!
   
   
   

This is a super-yummy, very rich and chocolatey pie. I serve with a chilled glass of milk and It. Is. Heaven.

Enjoy!

S'mores Fun!

Hubs and I broke out the fire pit hubs got for his birthday last week and had us some s'mores! LO was all about the marshmallows and chocolate (just like Mommy -- skips the graham crackers!). Unfortunately we didn't get too many good pics since it was dark (duh), but here's a few that show a little bit about our fun evening:






As you can imagine, after the fun of s'mores came the necessity of bath time! I couldn't help but share these cutsie pics of the little one enjoying her bath time.

Shoes!!!

I ordered EIGHT pairs of shoes the other day. EIGHT. And of those EIGHT pairs of shoes? NONE of them fit. Ya. Zip! Zero! Zilch! But, I was able to decide on the styles I really liked (you never can tell when you see something online how much you'll like it in person). So, I returned 5 pairs and exchanged 3 pairs. I got them yesterday and I LOVE them!

Softspots Misa:



Softspots Monarch:



David Tate Spree:



There's one pair I am still waiting on. They are Dansko's and look SO cute and comfy! I can't wait to give them a try!

Bread Bowl Update!!!

Okay, people. Hubs, LO and I made plans today to have lunch at--you guessed it!--Panera! That bread bowl craving just won't go away (No, I'm not pregnant! I feel I have to clarify that every time I use the word "craving.")! Anywho, what did anal-retentive me do before we met there? I called ahead. And asked if they had bread bowls.

"Panera, this is So-and-So."

"Hi, I was calling to see if you guys have any bread bowls?"

"Huh?"

"Um, I was wanting to know if you guys have bread bowls." (At this point I feel like she's thinking I'm calling to ask her if her refrigerator is running...)

"Oh, ya, we've got... uh, four, I think. How many do you need?" (I think she thought I was wanting to purchase just the bread bowls. Like they were bagels or something.)

"I'm sorry, I was just calling because I've tried twice in two days at two different locations to get a bread bowl and they were out. I'm wondering if I come up there for lunch if you'll have bread bowls."

"Oh, ya, I think we've got plenty.... (trails off a bit)."

"Um, okay. Uh, thanks."

"When are you coming for lunch?"

"Huh? Oh, my husband and I will probably meet there around 12:30."

"2:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"1:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"Oh, 12:30. Okay. I'll go ahead and set two aside for you just in case."

"Great. Thanks."

I proceeded to tell hubs this story when I called him from the car on our way to Panera. His response? Ya, we're not eating those two bread bowls she set aside. Really, I'm sure there's no spit in them! I laughed. They'd never do that.

Would they?

Oh, well. It didn't matter. We got there, hubs ordered 2 broccoli-cheddar bread bowls and we were SET! I was so excited I devoured the crap out of that bread bowl. YUM!

What the HUH???!

Sunday... The church service is over. Hubs, LO and I are heading home. It strikes. The thought of a broccoli-cheddar bread bowl from Panera. Yum. We head to our local Panera. Hubs takes LO to get her situated in a high chair while I order.

"Two broccoli-cheddar bread bowls for here, please."

"We're out of bread bowls."

"Seriously? Out of bread bowls?? It's barely noon!"

I tell hubs, we load up LO and head next door to Brixx Pizza instead. In and out of this casual family dining joint in no time. And the pineapple pizza more than made up for the missing bread bowls.

Monday... Hubs takes the day off for his birthday. We decide to hit one of his favorite spots for lunch: Panera. Only this time we go to a different Panera. We walk in, get LO situated in her high chair, wipe down the table, get out her Gerber raviolis and juice, then hubs went to order our 2 broccoli-cheddar bread bowls. He kinda yelled at me from across the restaurant (it was around 2PM--there weren't many people there) that they were OUT OF BREAD BOWLS!

SERIOUSLY?!

Ya. That's right. Two days. Two Panera's. Zero bread bowls. I was flabbergasted to say the least. What was even more retarded? The Panera guy actually tried to say that because the weather has been getting colder, more people are ordering bread bowls.

So, tell me, is it not common where you're from that the weather starts to--I dunno--get colder in the Fall?? Wasn't this something they could've seen coming rather than be blindsided by the increased and unexpected bread bowl demand? Seriously people.

We finished feeding LO her lunch, then hit the road. That's right! I mean, really, we could've had broccoli-cheddar soup in a real, porcelain-type bowl, but really it was the principle of it all. No bread bowls? We're out.

As you might imagine, I sent a nasty-gram to Panera today via their website. Should be interesting to see what they come back with--if they respond at all.

Pumpkin Time!

It's been a busy few days around here! Saturday we spent the day at a local pumpkin farm and LO just loved it! She picked out her very own pumpkin, went on a hay ride and got to ride a little cow train! It was so much fun!






Saturday night we joined the billion other residents in our county at a downtown event. It was C-R-A-Z-Y!! There were people everywhere!!! We barreled through the crowds, enjoyed some food and spent time with a few friends, then headed HOME! LO enjoyed some mini Oreo cookies, hence her chocolate-y face.


Sunday evening we capped off our busy weekend with a surprise party I helped plan for our beloved music minister at the church. It was incredible! We had a great turnout, a ton of "potluck" food, and the best part--we actually seemed to pull of an actual surprise! Woot! Since our music pastor is a H-U-G-E Apple fanatic, we had an iPhone cake made for him. It came out really cute! And we asked all of the guests to wear black shirts, which we put a white Apple logo sticker on. It was a room full of "mock" Apple geniuses! Too awesome!


Of course today is hubs' birthday, and he decided to take the day off! Sweet! We pretty much hung out all day like it was the weekend. I cooked some cheesy stuffed shells for dinner, we bought a patio firepit for hubs so we can have some s'mores fun once the weather gets a bit cooler and we will be enjoying some chocolate chip pie a la mode in just a few minutes! Over all I think it's been a good day for big ol' daddy!

No, Really... I'm Not Dead!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOOO sorry I've been leaving all of my millions of blog readers without quality, interesting, exciting blog content! I promise I'm not dead! And I haven't given up the life of a blogger! Really, I've just been crazy-busy these last few weeks since we returned from our Wisconsin trip. And there's SOOOOOOOOOO much to share! From my sister-in-law's wedding, to the approximately 1,800-mile road-trip, to baby showers, parties and date nights!

Our LO is pushing 15-months old, hubs has a birthday on Monday and we've got 6 of our 9 nieces & nephews with birthdays in September & October. We've been busy! And with the wonderful Fall weather presenting itself these days, we can't help but get outside for some fun. One day last week we met hubs for lunch, then went to a local park. It was the BEST little park EVER! It used to be a rundown, dilapidated old park but some serious money has been put in it and I'm ever so happy about it! There was an entire little playground area just for children under 5 years old, which we got to play on by ourselves! Check out LO enjoying the swing:
Here's LO and I wasting time at The Home Depot while hubs was shopping around for who-knows-what:
And here's one of our crazy girl with crazy hair!
I promise you'll be hearing more from me very, very soon! So stay tuned! Pretty please?

Really, I'm Not Dead...

...I've been on vacation, and then I was sick, and then I was just too durn lazy to post.

But to both of my blog readers, I want to say, "I am alive!" I plan to get back on the posting wagon and share all of the fun that is my life with hubs and LO. We had a wonderful time at my sister-in-law's wedding in Wisconsin, and we had a not-so-great-time after we got back and I suffered some kind of stomach flu or food poisoning of some sort. Yuck.

I'll be sharing some fantastic photos and some fun stories of what we've experienced over the past two weeks since my last post, so stay tuned!

Recipe Time!

Hey, all! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been a bit busy and have been enjoying the new lifestyle I've adapted! Since reading this book, I haven't been able to eat any meat, chicken or pork. And it's actually a good thing! It's been a lot easier than I expected! I'll write more about that later, but I've been sitting on this recipe since last week and I wanted to share it with you! It's a delicious recipe from my good friend H. I made it last week (before I read THE book), so it does have chicken in it. BUT, you can also make it with some fresh veggies instead, just steam them so they're slightly undercooked and use them in place of the chicken! Yum! I hope you guys enjoy this one!

H's Crescent Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1 can Pillsbury Big and Flaky Crescent Rolls

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of milk


Directions:

1. Separate the crescent rolls and line them around a small casserole dish with the base being on the bottom and just the "tails" hanging over the side.
   
   
   
2. Divide the chicken pieces evenly on the bases of the crescent rolls.
3. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheddar over chicken (add more or less depending on how cheesy you want it).
   
4. Pull the "tails" of the crescents over the chicken and cheese and tuck them under the base.
   
   
5. Pour the soup over the crescents and then sprinkle cheese on top.
   
   
6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and soup mixture is bubbling.
   
   
7. Serve with your favorite side dish and enjoy!
   

Bon appétit!

Carnivores Beware!

I like me a good, medium-well done steak. I love chicken. I'll eat pork, too. I've always been a meat eater. And never really thought that much of it. No big deal, right?

Insert book here. Pardon the expletive, but the book is called Skinny B*tch. It caught my attention when I was watching a rerun of The Ellen Show and the books authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, were guests on the show. I thought to myself, "Hmmm... I could use a No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous!" I was thinking it would be all about how fad diets are bad, carbs and sweets should be eaten in moderation and exercise is key to losing weight and looking thin.

WELL... boy was I ever surprised with this book! Sure, I could definitely do without the expletives strewn about on most of the pages. But overall the information contained in this book was absolutely nothing short of phenomenal! Essentially these writers researched the crap out of the foods Americans tend to eat on a daily basis. It went all "scientific" on what's really hiding in some of our favorite foods. It went on to talk about some very intriguing information about the dairy and meat industries that we as consumers have no knowledge of. The reason for this is the billions of dollars these industries spend in marketing their products. They want us to think that milk really does a body good and meat should be an essential ingredient in everyone's diet.

Let me clarify here that I am NOT currently a vegetarian. The thought of becoming one had never really crossed my mind. Sure, I get totally grossed out like every other person on the planet when prepping meat or chicken or pork for dinner. I sometimes physically gag while removing skin or fat or whatever. But after reading an entire chapter devoted to how that meat, chicken or pork gets from the "farm" to your local grocery store, I was convinced that becoming a vegetarian might be something worth looking into. Seriously, every vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from horrific cruelty. If you aren't afraid, click on the video below to see just one example of how the chicken suppliers for KFC are treated.



Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Anyway, I'm seriously considering the idea of eliminating meat from my/our daily diet. Of course LO has already beaten us to the punch... she's been refusing to eat meat since the day she started solid foods! But I seriously can't help but think that I'd be focused on what I read in that book if someone were to put a steak in front of me. I'm not about to go overboard and turn our lives upside-down, but I do think there's something about vegetarian and organic foods that I ought to look into.

Do yourselves a favor. Read this book. You should know what foods you're putting into your body and the process that brought them to your table. If only for information purposes. Really. You'll learn about carbs, sugars, caffeine, meat, dairy, exercise and so much more! After all, knowledge is power and you'll definitely find yourself empowered after reading this book! Oh, and I read it all in about 3 hours last night... it's a easy, short read!

My Sickly Self

Sorry I haven't been posting anything new for the past week. I've been battling some kind of nasty head cold that has totally kicked my butt! I think it's safe to say I slept an average of 20 hours a day last weekend (thanks to hubs for stepping it up in the LO department for me), and have been napping every time LO napped since last Friday. I'm starting to feel somewhat better today so hopefully I'll be able to post more soon!

I hope everyone is feeling superrific this week!

Needle in the Proverbial Haystack

I have a serious problem. There is something wrong with me. At least in my opinion, anyway. Shopping for shoes is a necessary evil for me. See, I absolutely LOVE shoes!!! The problem then? I've got big ol' feet! Seriously. Like double-digits big. And even then, the number's not as low as you might be thinking. They're big feet. I've never really thought they looked like aircraft carriers or anything because I feel they are somewhat proportionate to my height. But I've been struggling since high school to find cute dressy shoes that fit. Now sneakers are not a problem--I can always buy them from the men's department if necessary. But sandals, flip flops, peep toes, basically anything in the "pump" or "heel" family is an absolute horror for me.

Those of you with the perfect little female feet (i.e. somewhere between sizes 5 through 9) probably have to make tough decisions when shopping for shoes, like which color to buy or which style you like best. Me? It's only about what will fit. My options are almost null. When I do find something that fits--whether I really love them or not--I typically purchase them only because it's so rare to find a pair of shoes that my heels or toes don't hang off of.

So that brings me to my latest dilemma: shoes for my sister-in-law's wedding. I bought a dress (on eBay for a whopping $9!!) and have been searching feverishly for the perfect (and by perfect, I mean ones that fit) shoes to wear with this lovely floor-length strapless dress.

Now I can't even bother with department stores. You know the ones, where you see the amazing selection of gorgeous shoes with the bright light from heaven shining down on them, the voices of a choir singing, "Ahhhhhhh" in the background? Ya, I can't even bother with that. It's like looking being a child staring at a room full of delicious candy that you're not allowed to have! There's not a single pair of dress shoes in any department store on the face of this earth that carries shoes in my size. Ugh.

Since department stores are out, and since I've already visited every shoe store in my entire county (with no luck!), I had no choice but to turn to the Internet. I checked a TON of stores, such as Piperlime, that don't carry a single shoe in my size. The few random sites I came across that did sell shoes in my size in the color I wanted, I went ahead and bought 'em. Got 'em. Tried 'em on. No luck. Paying for shipping to and fro on literally at least a dozen pairs of shoes over the past few months? NOT my idea of fun. It's like throwing money away. But I have no choice!

I finally came across Zappos a few weeks ago. They do have a HUGE selection of shoes, and, believe it or not, actually had several choices in my size in the color I wanted. I had ordered 3 pairs, none of which fit, so I sent them back. The best part? FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS! Finally! I felt like there was hope.

On Monday I went back to Zappos and "expanded" my search a bit. I ordered several more pairs, which arrived today. This was my living room seconds after they arrived:

Like a kid on Christmas morning! Yes. Several pairs of shoes. I dropped about $450 on this order (Side note: Hubs got a call from our credit card company to inquire about the charge... LOL!)

After trying on all of these shoes (these are quite literally my last hope!), the very last pair actually fit well enough for me to make do with them! They aren't at ALL what I envisioned to wear with my dress, but I don't have the luxury of being choosy.

All I can say is, Thank Goodness for Zappos! I love the free shipping and returns, and I was actually impressed with their selection of dress shoes for those of us with unbelievably large footsies.

Ahhhh... Crisis averted. Me got shoes.

A Glimpse at Toddlerhood

My husband is awesome. Seriously! He's been planning on taking the day off today (Tuesday) since Friday, but never said a word about it to me until Monday evening! I was SO EXCITED to hear we'd have one more day together before he headed back to work after the holiday weekend. The best part? Now we were going to be able to take LO to the zoo for the first time! We had originally planned to go to the zoo on Labor Day, but it just didn't work out. It was so perfect to go this afternoon because the zoo was basically empty and we got to roam the place almost by ourselves!

The trip was fun, and we got lots of pictures of the animals and our girl! I'll spare you all by not posting an entire photo album here on the blog, but I did want to share one little glimpse into the "toddler-ness" (i.e. bipolar!) of our little girl!

Exhibit A: So we were at the lion exhibit. It was still early in our trip and the little one was relatively pumped to be there and wasn't in serious need of a nap (yet). She was all smiles and having a fantastic time!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B: I have no idea. Seriously. Is this the same girl? What just happened? Maybe the wind blew wrong or something? Weird.

Exhibit B

Exhibit C: I can just hear what she's thinking: "Mommy, didn't you see me crying? Didn't you? You certainly didn't do anything about it. Should I have been louder? Maybe kick my feet around a bit?"

Exhibit C

Exhibit D: Just listen to her beautiful little brain work: "Sheesh! I guess it's not gonna work with Mommy this time. Guess I'll try again later!"

Exhibit D

Exhibit E: "Weeeee!!! I'm at the zoo!!! I'm watching a big ol' lion! Weeeeeeee!!!!!! I'm lovin' it!!"

Exhibit E

I love this girl like all get out.

Recipe Time!

Lately I've been scouring the Internet for new recipes. I'm tired of the same old chicken! I especially love recipes for my slow cooker. Just dump a bunch of stuff in and forget about it, then have a delicious dinner ready and waiting 5 hours later! I love easy!

One of my favorite recipes growing up was Cranberry Chicken. My mom would make this for us--usually for Sunday lunch after church--and I really loved it! She baked it in the oven over rice, so when it was done, you'd have chicken and rice with a super-tasty cranberry dressing. Yum!

I asked my mom for the recipe. She remembered most of it. Basically everything but the rice part. Sweet! So my next step was to modify it for the crock-pot. Should be super-simple, right? Well, I will admit that the chicken came out delish, but the rice just never managed to cook so the whole thing turned out soupy with crunchy rice. But have no fear! We ended up ditching the rice for my fabulous mashed potatoes (i.e. backup plan).

Since this recipe really is quite good, I thought I might share it with you guys in case any of you are looking for a new and different way to cook the same ol' chicken. Believe it or not, you really don't have to like cranberry sauce to enjoy this recipe. Trust me. Hubs is not a cranberry sauce man but he really likes this dish!

So without further adieu, here is the recipe... with pictures even!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup French dressing

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry.

2. Place cranberry sauce, dressing and onion soup mix in a lightly greased slow cooker.

3. Mix ingredients well, adding a dash or two of salt and pepper. Add chicken to slow cooker, covering it with the soup mixture.

4. Cook for approximately 4 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

5. Serve over rice and enjoy! Unless you attempted to include rice and some water in the slow cooker like I originally did, in which case the rice would've come out crunchy and inedible. In this case, whip up some mashed potatoes, top 'em with the cranberry sauce mixture and serve with a veggie of your choice!

NOTE: This recipe makes enough to feed our family of 3 (keeping in mind LO only ate a bunch of corn). When I cook dinner, hubs and I always split a single chicken breast and it's plenty for us. You can use this same recipe but with 2 chicken breasts and it'll come out just fine!

Bon appétit!