Focusing on the Good Things

Hey everybody!

I know it's been an eternity since I last posted. 2013 in general is not shaping up so well, so I've been pretty busy.

Maybe I'll post some sweet nostalgic posts about the difficult things that have happened at some other point. Right now, I'm trying not to throw myself a pity party. You can ask anyone who's ever lived with me that I have a very strong tendency to throw pity parties and they're not fun events. There are no hats or pinatas, and only sometimes is there cake and I usually eat it all myself. ...I realize while I'm writing this that it's a really good thing I'm already married...

So sorry to my former roommates, immediate family members, and J! I really am working on it....

So instead of wallowing in the struggles of my life, I've decided to celebrate the things that are going well!

First, I am still married to my best friend.

In fact, we celebrated two years of marriage this month.

When I first came to graduate school, we were legitimately newlyweds. ...So new, I used to bring him up in conversations with new people to try to get used to calling him my husband. In hindsight I bet that was pretty annoying...oops. Now I sometimes have a hard time remembering what it was like to be single.

In all these hard times, he's been my rock. He's taken care of my every need, spoiled me, looked after me, taken care of things above and beyond his responsibilities, and bought me ice cream, an embarrassing amount of ice cream. He's an awesome guy, and I take that for granted way too often.

Second, I've been able to get more involved at church.

I'm finally teaching Bible class again and it makes me so happy! A friend and I get to teach half-a-dozen of the sweetest, most exhausting, smartest, and most adorable toddlers twice a week. I love their chubby, smiling faces and their sweet, honest hearts. I've hoped and prayed for a way to get more involved, and now I have one.

Third, I have finally drafted my thesis.

A friend from my cohort dubbed it "The T-Word." It was that evil monster-cloud of death hovering over my head for the past two years, and today I finally finished the first draft! There's more work, stress and long days to come, but the basics are there. That's a win in my book!

Fourth, all my friends seem to be getting on with their happy lives.

My Facebook is full of weddings, promotions, graduations, happy babies and rain. Rain is a really big deal in West Texas. My Facebook feed blows up at the first sign of a cloud...kind of makes windows seem redundant.

Anyways....

Did I not brag on my HS best friend's military promotion yet? I didn't?! Well she's totally killing it in the Army and I couldn't be prouder. I am a little scared that when she gets out, she's going to try to make me work out with her....If I get really fit suddenly, you'll know why. But seriously, she's an amazingly strong lady and I'm so proud of her accomplishments!

Did I not brag on my childhood best friend's baby? Man, I've been slacking! He's adorable. I haven't seen him since he was born last month, but I'm pretty sure he's gotten even more awesome since then. Talk about strong ladies, this girl was looking all kinds of gorgeous, smiling and greeting like 800 million visitors the day her huge perfect and adorable, but HUGE baby was born! I brought her a king sized candy bar because I have no children and therefore no idea what a new mom needs, and I love chocolate. If you need chocolate at any important point in life, I'm your girl.

Okay, I could go on and on and on....y'all know I'm prone to do that, but I'm going to stop there for now.

Thanks for bearing with me in the drought of last month. I hope to be back to posting recipes and fun stuff very soon!

Jalapeno Ranch Dip

Last night around 9:30, I was suddenly starving.

This happens to me often. I'm sitting, working and facebooking....then, all the sudden, I feel like I haven't eaten in months and I'll die if I don't get whatever craving I have.

Last night it was jalapeno ranch dip, so I made some.

(I feel the need to clarify right now that I'm not pregnant. I realize my normal eating habits are reminiscent of pregnant women, but I don't have any excuse. I just love junk food.)

Sorry this isn't a cooler picture. I was hungry.

This is how I made the dip last night, but you can do it in any order. Also, feel free to adjust the measurements to fit your taste. I don't measure, so these are all approximate anyway.

First, I put a quartered jalapeno in my chopper.

Next, I add 2/3(ish) cups of Sour Cream.

Then I added about 1/4 cup of Ranch dressing. (Ranch dip mix would probably be better.)

Then I added about half a cup of Mayo. (This is not diet food.)

Then I threw in some cilantro, garlic salt and onion powder.

I turned the chopper on until it looked like dip.

I ate it with potato chips, because I apparently wanted to see how many calories I could cram into one snack. But I think it would be really good on veggies, crackers or really anything because it's just a glorious combination of the world's most fattening foods and jalapenos.

Happy snacking!

Work, work, work, CAKE!

As many of you know, I'm reaching crunch time for my master's program. 

My thesis needs to be completed in early May. My independent study course is coming along slugglishly. Over the next week and a half I will be buried under an avalanche of quizzes and tests needing to be graded. And over the past 6 days I've been working basically nonstop to make up for lost time. 

Finally, I've conquered the intro to my thesis, it's in the final stages before seeking my adviser's approval. 

I'm only one chapter shy of finishing what I hope will be the most difficult book of my independent study. 

And naturally, there's nothing I can do about grading until my students actually take their exams.

As J will soon be starting his "weekend" and I have a day off of teaching tomorrow. I've decided to take a little break from work.

To celebrate, and because I was craving chocolate, I'm baking a cake. This is the recipe.

It's a great, simple recipe and I highly recommend it to even the least experienced of bakers.

It smells delicious and has been taunting me with said delicious scent for the past 20 minutes.

Lick the beaters! Suggests my mother, but the batter was so runny there was none stuck to the beaters.

Ah, first world problems...

Soon it will emerge from the oven!

Then it will have to cool.

Then I will frost it!

Then I will probably be very sleepy.

No matter! I am determined to partake in the deliciousness that will be this cake!

Wish me lick...I mean luck!

Buying and Cooking Brisket--Keep it Simple

Being a West Texas girl, I've eaten many, many pounds of brisket in my life.

I've had it at big restaurants, home, banquets, parties, people's houses, church luncheons, picnics, fly-ins, stock shows, rodeos, reunions, on the floor, in a chair, on the stairs, near a sheep, on a pig, on a horse, with a friend, with a foe, with a guy named Joe, in the ocean, in the desert, with dessert, with a carrot, in a tortilla, on a chip, with and without dip...

Well okay, maybe not all of those places. But you might be surprised by which ones of those are true.

Anyway, out of all of the brisket I've had in my life, my mom's brisket recipe is still the best.

It's also the simplest.

First, there are a couple of things you oughta know before you head to the grocery store.

What makes brisket tender and delicious is all the fat that comes on that cut of beef.

Heretofore...don't buy a brisket that's already been trimmed.

The cut should probably weigh between 8 and 15 pounds, if you want to use this method.

When you're picking out a brisket at the store put one hand on either end and see if you can fold it in half. If you can (or can at least get close), that means it's got a lot of good fat in it. As Walter Brennan (and my brother) would say, "That's a good'n!"

While you're at the store, grab a bottle of brisket marinade. Claude's is the best, but I've used other marinades that were alright.

The supplies--Marinade, brisket and roaster pan.

Once you get it home, you can freeze the brisket if you want. I have a tiny freezer, and it takes a long time to thaw that much meat (can't just pop in the microwave), so I elected to cook it right away. Of course, it'll stay good in the fridge for a while too, if you need to wait.

Once you're ready to cook it, you'll need a roaster pan with a lid.

Preheat the oven at 250.

Put the meat in the pan fat side up. (That's the white side.) Doing this causes the fat to dip through the meat while it cooks, distributing the flavor and producing a really delicious, tender meat.

You're brisket will probably be longer than your pan. That's okay. You can turn the ends under so that it curves up in the middle.

Ready to go in the oven!

Next, pour the whole bottle of marinade over the meat. If you're using Claude's, you need to shake it well first to make sure you get most of the seasoning that settles in the bottom out.

Finally, put the lid on the pan, put in the oven and leave it for about 8-12 hours.

When it's done, you can easily carve off the fat that hasn't melted. Then, slice the meat against the grain.

It's good by itself, but if you want some other serving ideas...

• Chopped brisket sandwiches are always a hit. I like to use hamburger buns, barbecue sauce and sliced pickles. 
• Brisket nachos are delicious. Just replace ground beef or beans with chopped brisket and top with your favorite nacho fixin's.
• Brisket burritos make a great lunch and a great fundraiser. Just wrap some chopped brisket in a tortilla (homemade are best) and serve with salsa. Charge $2 a burrito and you generally can get back about twice what you spent on supplies. 

I cooked a brisket last week, chopped it and froze it in baggies. This is a great way to vary your meals when you're on a budget. A $20 brisket will easily make 4 or 5 meals  for the two of us. 

Good luck!

Beef Stew

Spring is only five days away, but in West Texas that doesn't really mean anything.

We're almost guaranteed another freeze before summer, just look at the mesquites.

Being the kind and awesome friend that I am, I wanted to make sure y'all had a good new recipe to get through those cold days in the next month or two.

J took this photo.

So here's a simple beef stew recipe to keep you warm.

1 lb beef for stew (ground beef works too)
4-5 red potatoes
2-3 carrots
1 can of corn
1 can rotel
3-4 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 chopped onion (I use onion powder)
 Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional ingredient ideas:
Can of mixed veggies, celery, ketchup, bell pepper, crushed red pepper, anything else you love. (Except chocolate I think that would be weird. Use discretion.)

I filled my pot about half full of water and put the thawed meat in. I turned it on medium high so it would start boiling, while I chopped my potatoes and sliced my carrots. As I got those peeled, washed and chopped I threw them in there too.

Next I poured in my corn, Rotel, Worcestershire, and seasonings until it looked right. When it looked like my meat had cooked through I taste-tested and adjusted the flavors as needed.

I left that on a low boil for an hour. You can leave it on as long as you like, just add water if it gets low.

The result was a hit!

He would be smiling, but his mouth is full. ;)

"That's enough pictures. I'm tryin' to eat!"
teehee..

Egg Drop Soup

Lately, I've been craving Chinese food a lot, specifically egg drop soup.

But before we get to that, let's back up.

Shortly before Christmas I received a magazine subscription to Family Circle from my grandma.

One thing you need to know about my grandma is that she loves magazines and catalogs. My grandparents have the biggest mailbox I've ever seen and it's full every day. It's a quirk I feel positive I will inherit because I also love getting mail.

The moral of the story is this gift subscription was very exciting to me. Even now, months later, I still get all excited about it when it comes.

Now back to the soup.

The most recent issue I received had an article that was something along the lines of 32,000 ways to cook eggs. Pretty much everything in the magazine is a list with numbers. 23 ways to get your teen to stop being a brat, 17 ways to comb your hair, 13 shades of green you should wear tomorrow...you get the point.

One of the ways to cook eggs was egg drop soup.

WIN!

So I'm looking at the recipe and thinking to myself "I don't have tofu, soy sauce, scallions or corn starch. I'm not wearing appropriate clothes to go out in public and I want this now!"

What's a girl to do when she doesn't want to forsake her yoga pants to go the grocery store?

I just left out what I didn't have.

If I'm being honest, I would have to say I would have left out the tofu anyway. I'll blame it on my rural upbringing, but I just can't eat tofu.

I love how weird the egg looks.
Cooking is so cool!

When I left out what I didn't have, what I was left with is this recipe:

4 c chicken broth
pinch salt (I threw in a little extra to compensate for the soy sauce)
1/8 t Black pepper
about 1/8 c onion powder (since I didn't have scallions)
3 eggs beaten

First, I boiled the broth and the seasonings then I brought that down to a low boil for 2 minutes.

Then, I poured in the eggs very slowly while gently stirring the broth.

The result was tasty, fast, cheap and easy.

Oh and one more thing, eat it right away. It's best right after you finish pouring the egg in.

Baby Fever

I don't know this baby, but he's cute!

Hey y'all!

It's me again...

I've been a little busy lately, but I was just thinking about something I want to share.

Y'all know me. I like to post about things that may or may not ever happen from time to time. Like when I posted about procrastinating. ...wait did I ever get around to that?

Anyway, lately I've been thinking about having kids. It's just one of those baby fever things that hits you like a ton of bricks when all your friends seem to magically get pregnant in the same year.

You find yourself looking at their sonograms, baby bump pictures and baby registries pretty much all the time. There should be a name for this phenomenon. Babidemic? Babypalooza? Ubiquibaby?

Nevermind, what I'm getting at is this: Now that I find myself surrounded by baby paraphernalia (why does that word have two Rs in it?), I consistently catch myself daydreaming about parenting.

Not wanting to loose the random thoughts and ideas I've had recently, I wanted to share a couple with you.

First, I was just thinking today about how I want to build things with my kids. Maybe a playhouse or a dog house for our future Collie that we'll probably name Lassie. (I'm still talking J into this one.)

I think this will be awesome for a lot of reasons. Mostly, I think it'll be fun. I also think it could be a great learning experience. They'll use problem solving, geometry and other basic math skills. They'll also get to be creative. I hope that we can design it together, they can pick paint colors and really make it their own. Finally, they'll also learn safety and how to use tools.

These hypothetical, super-smart, genius children are probably not what our actual children will be like, but it's a nice dream, right?

I also want our kids to read. I want them to read lots of different things that interest them. J and I actually have a running list of books we might want our kids to read. We're nerds. I know.

I hope our kids are nerds too.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll update this later, but between you and me, we know that's not likely to happen.