Mix & Match

My pantry is filled with opened boxes of cereal. Who is the culprit you ask? Well I'll tell you. It's this man!


Oh yeah. I just went there...posted a picture of you stuffing your face, getting BBQ sauce all over yourself. Sure, he looks all cute and innocent, but don't let that face fool you.


My dear husband is constantly leaving boxes of cereal in the pantry with less than one bowl's worth of cereal left in them. Now, maybe this wouldn't be so much of an issue if it were only one box. But there have been upwards of four boxes at a time like this! Those boxes take up a lot of space people! Why does he leave it in the pantry and not throw it away? No idea. It is a long five steps to the trash so maybe that has something to do with it?? But I'm leaning more towards his inability to get rid of anything.

I should note that we rarely share cereal. Matt likes grown up cereal while I intend on eating Count Chocula and Reese Puffs until I die. I will occasionally indulge in Frosted Mini Wheats, but that is as adult as I get. Proof the boxes are his doing.

So what is my solution?

I eat them. And I mix them with my cereal to make a whole bowl. In fact, I mixed the last of the Fiber One Honey Clusters with Frosted Flakes this morning. And it was pretty darn good. I mix everything. I've even mixed three cereals before. Hubs won't even touch this idea and he thinks it's weird....but I find throwing them out wasteful so mixing it is.

Anyone else do this?

Wedding + Cake=Good Time!

The weekend is over. And I'm actually kind of excited! I know. What the heck am I talking about, right? Well, the stress of the wedding is behind me and a cake that I have had hanging over my head for 9 months is finished!

Matt and I headed out Saturday morning for Michigan City at 7 a.m. We loaded up the Taurus with all of the cake (thank goodness it all fit!) and we were off! We made it to the reception hall in one piece and began assembling the cake. Two hours later, with several mini cake disasters averted, I give you my 2nd wedding cake ever!



Here's a view of the whole cake table they decorated:


They also requested a Groom's cake in the shape of Chewbacca. Apparently I was dealing with a seriously Star Wars obsessed groom. Please don't make me mention the bridal party introductions involving light sabers. No, I think I will just forget those....


This cake was my favorite part by far. I think it turned out awesome and the chocolate buttercream was to die for.


After we set up the cake, Matt and I headed out to get some lunch. We stopped by a pub to watch some of the Purdue/Ohio State game...and I can't believe I can actually say this...but we beat those stinkin' Buckeyes!! You have no idea how great today is at work. As a minority Ohio State hater in Cleveland...this day is one in a million.

GO BOILERS!!!

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The ceremony was held at 2 p.m. so we scooted over to the church to see little Dara get married. It was a very emotional ceremony for her. Dara's dad died when we were in college so her uncle walked her down the aisle.



But everything went smoothly and here is the happy couple after becoming a Mr. and Mrs.!



Even Matt got into it! Rare shot my friends...



We had a few hours to kill before the reception began (?..not cool) so we hit up the outlet malls and then headed over to the reception. I got to see some old friends from college and it was just wonderful catching up with them. It made me miss Purdue and my group of friends so much. College is such a unique experience and I am forever thankful for my time there. Some of my favorite memories I will ever have are there and with those people and it was just fabulous to see them again.


Matt and I ended up making the drive home that evening since we wanted to get a few things done on Sunday. We pulled in the driveway at 1 a.m. Crazy long day...but it was really fun. We spent Sunday grocery shopping, napping, and relaxing. I do wish we had one more day to decompress after our busy weekend...but I have so many things going on next month to look forward to...I simply cannot wait for them to get here!


Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

A Million Thanks!

I wanted to send a huge hug out to the blog world today. I have been a little on the (as my mother would say...) "stressy" side this week with the wedding and all, but everyone has been so supportive and encouraging and I cannot thank you enough.

I lieu of this, I have received a couple of awards and I wanted to pass them along this morning.




I received this "Dragon's Loyalty" Award from Kristen at Happily Ever After. Thank you so much friend! I really appreciate the love!

I'm supposed to pass it along to 3-10 loyal fans.

I tag:
A Journey Through the Waiting Game
Adorably Distracted
everything happens for a reason
For the Love of Stilettos
Naturally Caffeinated Family
New England Girl




I also received the "Your Blog is Over the Top" Award from Angela at Sweet Tea Diaries. Now her blog is seriously over the top and you should definitely show her some love. She's one of my faves!

Here are the Rules:

1. You can only use one word to answer the questions!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? up
3. Your mother? crazy
4. Your father? hilarious
5. Your favorite food? pizza
6. Your dream last night? overeating!
7. Your favorite drink? wine
8. Your dream/goal? babies
9. What room are you in? office
10. Your hobby? cakes
11. Your fear? birds
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? South
13. Where were you last night? kitchen
14. Something that you aren’t? skinny
15. Muffins? yum!
16. Wish list item? clothes
17. Where did you grow up? Indiana
18. Last thing you did? blog
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? huge
21. Your pets? dead
22. Friends? love
23. Your life? simple
24. Your mood? appreciative
25. Missing someone? brother
26. Vehicle? Taurus
27. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry
28. Your favorite store? Costco
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? week
32. Your best friend? Jill
33. One place that I go to over and over? grocery
34. One person who emails me regularly? Hubs
35. Favorite place to eat? Mexican

I tag:
A Girl Can Dream
Always a Northerner
Classy and Fabulous
French Kiss
I Love You More Than Carrots
Jeans Friday

Is That Icing on Your Face?

As promised....here is a little peak into the disaster my kitchen becomes during a cake making process. Maybe someday I will catalog the whole endeavor...but this time you just get a little taste of the icing! Ha! Get it?

Okay..moving on.

Just so you know what I'm dealing with, here is a picture of all of the cake I made over the weekend.


Whoa. And before you ask, yes, it is in the freezer. Sue me. I work full time and do not have time to bake 10 cakes and decorate them two days before the wedding. It took me two days just to bake them. My solution=freezer. It's not ideal in my book...but it works and doesn't alter the flavor or texture of my completed cake. Again, this is not standard practice for me. I just do it on a "have to" basis.

And this is what happened to my kitchen after making all of the icing.




Don't worry. I cleaned it up immediately. Matt didn't even see this mess when he got home from work! But my goodness...you should see it now. The cakes are iced and sitting all over the place. Disaster zone for sure.


So, what did I get for all of that work?? This:


Four humongous bowls of icing.


And would you believe that I have to make two more batches tonight because I ran out? Yep. Can you say stressed much?

I love you Dara, but is your wedding over yet? Eek!

Shrimp Chowder

After the icing extravaganza of 2009 (by the way Lucy, I took pictures but didn't have time to upload them..so tomorrow..be prepared!), I managed to throw together a dinner as well.

We had Quick Shrimp Chowder. It was ridiculously fast (hence the name...duh), easy, and so yummy! Great dinner for a chilly evening on the couch under the electric blanket. And it was very WW friendly. The entire recipe serves 12...I only made 1/2...and then was able to eat a 1/4 of that for only 6 points. Did you follow that?? Hm. If not, just know it's healthy and yum!

I've been finding my recipes lately on My Recipes, a division of Southern Living. It's easy to search by ratings...so we always make 5 star meals :) It's been a yummy couple of weeks. They also feature recipes from Cooking Light which is always a plus!

So here's the recipe! Enjoy

Yield

Makes 12 cups

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans cream of potato soup, undiluted
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds medium-size fresh shrimp, peeled*
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
• Oyster crackers (optional)

Preparation

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, and sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream of potato soup, milk, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add shrimp; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately. Serve with oyster crackers, if desired.

*1 1/2 pounds frozen shrimp, thawed; 1 1/2 pounds peeled crawfish tails; or 3 cups chopped cooked chicken may be substituted.

Snackies!

We are utterly slow at work. I have already made my grocery list for the next two weeks, written out a schedule for my cake decorating activities for the week, planned my workouts, and caught up on all of my blogs. What's a girl to do at work when there is no actual work to be done?

My solution:

List some of my go to healthy snack foods that I eat on a daily basis. At first I was going to list the things that I am craving right now...but I decided against posting pictures of cupcakes, candy corn pumpkins, and Oreo truffles. Your waistlines can thank me later.



For breakfast, I always have cereal. Always have, probably always will...for one reason. It's easy. Oh...and I'm lazy.

My current cereal is:

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It is okay. I probably won't buy it again. I'm not a huge fan of the Fiber One cereals, but I had a coupon. I'm just hoping there are some Frosted Flakes left in the house when I'm done with this box.


I eat breakfast just before 5 a.m. so my morning snack comes around 8:45 a.m. My staples are currently:

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I usually add a cup of fresh fruit to my yogurt to punch it up a little.


For lunch, I'm currently on a sandwich kick. I either do salami or chicken breast with a 35 calorie/slice bread and a very little spread of this to eliminate the dryness:

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I've also been enjoying low fat cottage cheese, one of the billions of apples I have leftover from apple picking, and these:

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I have an afternoon snack when I get home from the gym and then my husband and I eat dinner around 7:30 p.m. when he gets home from work. My afternoon snacks vary, but I adore these...as they usually serve as my sweet of choice:

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What are your favorite go to healthy snacks??

Bake Off!

How was the weekend action ladies!?!

Ah, relaxing weekend I did not have...but it was super productive and I actually feel quite accomplished...so plus!

Friday:
I ran some errands after work and then came home to assemble my cake boards. I am making a wedding cake for one of my old co-workers from college. She is getting married this weekend!

My dear husband called to say that he was going to be working a little late. You know what time it was when he woke me up on the couch? 11 p.m. On a Friday. Poor guy. He had BBQ Fritos for dinner :(

Saturday:
I had an event for the Junior League at 9 a.m. We were required to take part in a trolley tour of Cleveland and it's surrounding areas. It sounds a little lame for someone that has lived in the city for 3 1/2 years, but it was actually really fun and super informative. The trolley car did hurt my butt sitting there for over 2 hours, but other than that...successful trip. Did you know Chef Boyardee started in Cleveland? Or that delivering mail door to door began here? Yeah. Neither did I.

I headed to the gym to finish off Week 2 of my running program and then went home to start the baking process. I had 10 cakes to bake over the weekend, and I was able to finish 7 of them on Saturday. It took me all freaking day...but I digress.

Sunday:
We headed to church, hit up Walmart for a few more baking supplies, and came home to finish the madness. I baked the final 3 cakes, made some cupcakes with the extra batter, and concocted probably 100 cake balls with the cake scraps I had leftover. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning the disaster zone.

But today...I have very little cake balls in my house because I sent them to work with my husband, my kitchen is sparkling, I have nothing more that needs to be baked, and I am happy.

Except that it's Monday and I'm at work.