Jon showed me how to create my own blog templates. The possibilities are almost endless. Don’t be surprised if it changes daily for a while until I come up with something that I really like. FUN!

If I do say so myself…

I had some chicken. I had some cream. I had some leftover red bell pepper from a vegi tray. Mix it all together and you get…

Creamy Chicken and Pasta

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 chicken breast, cut into cubes
• ½ red bell peper, chopped
• 1 can of mushrooms (or a cup or so of fresh ones)
• ½ tablespoon dried oregano
• 2-3 table spoons garlic powder
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 table spoons of dried onion flakes (or a small onion, chopped)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Salt
• Parmesan cheese (could’ve been about ¼ cup)
• 1-1/2 cups uncooked macaroni (or equivalent of your favorite)

Cook macaroni per package directions.

In the meantime, heat large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot add olive oil and chicken. When the chicken is almost done, add the red peppers. When the peppers are almost done, add the mushrooms. If using fresh mushrooms add them at the same time as the peppers. If using a fresh onion, add a little before the peppers and mushrooms. Add oregano and garlic powder and stir together.

While the pasta and chicken/veggies are cooking, combine whipping cream, corn starch, onion flakes, black pepper, and salt in a small bowl. Use as much salt and pepper as you want. Remember that you can add more later so don’t overdo it.

When the chicken and veggies are cooked and while the pasta is draining, lower the heat on the chicken and add the cream mixture. Stir together. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top and continue stirring. The sauce will thicken. When the sauce is thick, turn off the heat and add the pasta. Stir together and serve.

This recipe would also be great with some diced fresh tomatoes added at the same time as the cheese. I didn’t have any but would have LOVED to have been able to add them!

We have the cutest dog. She’s mostly Chiahuahua but also has some Yorky and Pug in her too. I love her floppy ears and curled tail.

Jon and I went camping this weekend down on Coronado Island with my dad, sister, brother-in-law and some of his family. We spent a lot of time sitting on the beach watching the boats speed through the bay. Of course we took Ellie with us. She loves lying in the sun. The dirt was just a bonus.

She’d never been in the water before so Jon went and bought her a life jacket so he could take her out on the kayak and see how she liked swimming. She did OK in the kayak…

She wasn’t really sure about the boogie board though.

I think she liked the life jacket because it helped to keep her warm. She doesn’t have a lot of fur so she gets cold quickly. She wore that jacket all day Saturday and never complained. Notice the handle on the top too. I don’t know that she was really a fan of being carried around that way, but she’s such a good natured dog that she’s always up for something new. She’s such a good dog!

Where does time hide? I need to find it so if someone knows and isn’t sharing, please… I’ll bake you a cheesecake. Or the cheesecake cupcake thingys. In any flavor you want.

Things I wish I had time for (yes, I do know I probably could have accomplished one of these things instead of writing this, but creating a task list (more like a WISH list) was number one…):
* Clean my house – really clean it
* Go through all the junk in the garage that actually belongs to Jon and I and organize it
* Go through my craft room and organize my stuff so that I actually know what I already have
* Finish a quilt I started for my neice BEFORE she was born (THREE YEARS AGO)
* Finish another quilt I started for another neice before she was born (she’s about a month or two older than the other one)
* Finish the scrapbook I started for my mom while she was going through chemo (FIVE YEARS AGO)
* Finish reading last month’s bookclub book (it’s really good, I just fall asleep every time I try to read on a weeknight and who has time on the weekend??)
* Reread Harry Potter – the whole series
* Reread Twilight – the whole series
* Read the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series
* Practice the piano
* Balance my checkbook
* Clip coupons
* Go grocery shopping (and remember to take my coupons)
* Update my resume so I can
* Start looking for a new job
* Tend to my dead cucumber plant
* Keep my tomatoes alive
* Do my visiting teaching (they all must think I don’t love them)
* Go through my closet
* Rearrange the bedroom so I can stop stubbing my toes on the treadmill
* Deep clean the floor in the kitchen
* Bake some chocolate hazelnut cheesecake cupcakes (Vanessa’s concept – I’m not that good)
* Wash and vaccuum the car
* Update my blog with something awesome
* Do something awesome worth posting about (does creating a task list count??)

Now I’m beat. Time to eat dinner and then it’s off to bed! Tomorrow is coming early 🙂

I knew when I set out to get four projects done this weekend that it would be tough… The good news is that I got two of the four things done that I set out to do. I finished EmaLee’s bag (but forgot to take pictures of it – maybe she’ll take some and email them to me (hint, hint) ;)) and I finished the mini cheesecakes I wanted to make.

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Macadamia Nut Crust and Meyer Lemon Topping.

This was a much easier way to make cheesecake – and more fun.

I used two pieces of an Iron Cupcake recipe posted by my friend Vanessa – the macadamia nut crust and the Meyer Lemon filling (which I used as a toping). I followed the directions for the crust exactly, but a couple of them burned a little. I used the cups that have the metalic outside piece though so that’s probably why they were a little overcooked. Next time I’ll use just the paper cups and I will also keep a better eye on the crust when it’s in the oven.

The recipe for the cheesecake:
1 cup white baking chips
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Your oven should still be heated from baking the crust.

Melt the white chips. Beat melted chips, 3/4 cup sugar and the flour in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Beat in cream cheese and egg yolks until smooth. Continue beating, adding the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream until blended. Pour batter carefully into cups.

Place on center oven rack and bake for 20-25 minutes. This was the first time I did small cheesecakes so I checked on them every 5 minutes. It took mine 25 minutes to bake completely. You want to check the edges and when the edges have turned a nice golden brown, it’s time to take them out. It’s easier to know when bigger cheesecakes are done because they start to turn golden brown on top – the little ones didn’t so I had to get nice and close to see if they were done.

Take them out and place them on the counter for 15-30 minutes – until you can pull them out with your hands and put them on a cooling rack. They will sink in the middle while sitting on the counter, leaving a perfect crater for the topping. I put the topping on while it was still warm, not hot, and let them cool together.

I’ll spruce them up a bit with some leftover white chocolate chips and some left over macadamia nuts before I deliver them this afternoon. Fun!

I’m so glad it’s Friday. I’m even more glad that it’s Conference weekend. That means that I’ll have at least 8 hours of rest this weekend. Well… maybe just four.

I have two giant projects I need to get done this weekend. Today is EmaLee’s birthday (yeah – TODAY) and I haven’t even cut out the bag that I’m going to make for her yet (don’t freak out – she already knows about it – I made her pick the fabric). I should be impressed with the fact that I actually have the fabric and all of the other things that I need to make it but the fact that I’m still a day (or more) late still bothers me.

My friend Amy is pregnant for the first time and is having a girl in June. I really should be able to get a simple baby’s rag quilt done by then, right? Hey – I bought the fabric for it before I bought the fabric for the bag so I’m in pretty good shape.

In theory, I should be able to finish the bag and get a really good start on the quilt tomorrow. Jon has a scout thing that he has to be at from 8am until 3pm. If I go to bed at midnight, get my full 8 hours, and start early, I should be able to accomplish all the things that need accomplishing tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot… I want to try to make some mini cheesecakes tomorrow too… which will require a trip to the grocery store, permission to “steal” a recipe and time… How I wish I had more of that one!

Once a month we have a seminary teachers’ inservice meeting. Sister Morgan usually assigns us an article or two to read before going to the meeting. This week’s article was a Conference talk given by President (then Elder) Eyring titled “The Power of Teaching Doctrine.”

There are a couple of things in the article that really stood out to me. The first was this:

The need to open eyes and hearts tells us how we must teach doctrine. Doctrine gains its power as the Holy Ghost confirms that it is true. We prepare those we teach, as best we can, to receive the quiet promptings of the still, small voice. That takes at least some faith in Jesus Christ. It takes at least some humility, some willingness to surrender to the Savior’s will for us. The person you would help may have little of either, but you can urge that they desire to believe. More than that, you can take confidence from another of the powers of doctrine. Truth can prepare its own way. Simply hearing the words of doctrine can plant the seed of faith in the heart. And even a tiny seed of faith in Jesus Christ invites the Spirit.

To me this means that we try our hardest just to plant seeds and help lead those we help towards a small seed of faith. Once that small seed of faith has been planted, the Spirit can enter and teach the truthfulness of all things.

The second, and probably my favorite part of the talk was this part:

We have the greatest opportunity with the young. The best time to teach is early, while children are still immune to the temptations of their mortal enemy, and long before the words of truth may be harder for them to hear in the noise of their personal struggles.

A wise parent would never miss a chance to gather children together to learn of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Such moments are so rare in comparison with the efforts of the enemy. For every hour the power of doctrine is introduced into a child’s life, there may be hundreds of hours of message and images denying or ignoring the saving truths.

The question should not be whether we are too tired to prepare to teach doctrine or whether it wouldn’t be better to draw a child closer by just having fun or whether the child isn’t beginning to think that we preach too much. The question must be, “With so little time and so few opportunities, what words of doctrine from me will fortify them against the attacks on their faith which are sure to come?” The words you speak today may be the ones they remember. And today will soon be gone.

I love President Eyring and I’m so grateful for these words of wisdom. He also talks about how little children are ready to hear the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Reading this complete talk helped to remind me that my kids are ready for the doctrines. They don’t need games and gimmicks – just truth. They need the doctrine. The Spirit will provide more for them than a game ever could.

I’ve been waiting for a reason to update my blog and I found it this morning. Sara posted this on her blog and I thought it was a great idea!

The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me. What I make will be my choice, but it will be made just for you. Since I only really have 5 readers, that means that you’ll all probably get something 🙂

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be an original and it will be made just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year (might be December 31st, but you WILL get something) and I will post all of my original creations as they are completed.
4. You will get no clues what it’s going to be. Heck, I don’t even know what it will be. I might paint or draw something. I might compose a jingle or short song. I might even write a short play just for you. Who knows? Whatever it is, it will be a surprise!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange 🙂

The catch? The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

Happy commenting (AND posting!)

The night before my surprise party was Cory Dan’s birthday sleepover. I should have been waiting for something like this, but for some reason the thought never crossed my mind. The next morning, I was up a little early, as was Jon. He was standing in the dining room and I was in the kitchen getting some cereal. All of a sudden he starts laughing and says that we’d been toilet-papered. I didn’t believe him at first, but then I remembered that Cory’s party was the night before.

I do have to say… I’m a little disappointed in these kids’ parents. Check out the half used rolls of TP laying in the yard and on the cars. They could have done so much more damage! 🙂

Lani also posted some in-progress pictures here.

Regardless, we were honored to be chosen for the festivities! Thanks Cory and friends!

Every year, we draw names, twice. We trade names among “the kids” for a ‘big’ gift and then we include Mom and Dad and trade stockings. This year, both of my sisters’ husbands lost their jobs so money was tight, to say the least. We decided that for the big gift we would only be allowed to give a service to the recipient. The stockings were to be white elephant gifts.

I drew Rachael’s name for the big gift and EmaLee for the stocking.

I don’t get to see Rachael very often so for my service to her, I made her a bag. Of all the bags I’ve ever made, this one was my FAVORITE! I made a messenger bag with two pockets on the inside, big enough she could probably put my brother in it and carry him with her. I didn’t realize the finished product was going to be so big.

I found the fabric at Walmart and knew that Rachael would love it. I wanted to personalize the bag some so I decided that I would sew a R on the flap. I found a nice pink embrodery thread that I already had, found a font on the computer that I liked, printed a R, cut it out, traced it on the flap (after cutting it out and before sewing anything), and then hand embroidered the R.

The finished product was awesome! I still haven’t mastered the closure process, so this bag doesn’t have anything on it to keep it closed, but the flap is big enough that it’s not completely necessary. Rachael loved it 🙂

I stretched the white elephant just a tad and used beads I already had, thread I already had, clasps I already had and made bracelets. I made one for each “major” holiday. It was a ton of fun and she really liked them all.

I made one more that she can use for any day of the year, including New Years, if she wants 🙂 It looks a lot like the black and white one I made with the red accents, but it’s different. A little bit. This one also came with earings.

I had so much fun with my gifts this year, I’m contemplating Valentine’s Day already!