Snow-Go Mission with the Joplin boys

Over the boys' spring break we decided to have them up so we could take them out in the snow.  We went out two full days and about 2 and a half weeks later my hand is still paying for it!

Day 1:  We tried to tow everybody up at once but that was too difficult!  Blake and I had to start hiking up while he took Christian up.  It always ends up I hike up about 2/3 of the way!  HAHA  oh well, exercise won't kill me. :)  We got to a flat section and called that home while Matt took all of us out on the snowmobile.  The boys had a blast, Callie too!

After awhile Matt and Christian found a hill that looked like a good hill for some sledding action.  So we packed all of our lunch stuff and headed up the hill some more. 

The hill was a perfect hill to sled!  We got a good sled track going until Blake crashed and unintentionally made a jump.  I was the next one to go down and of course hit the jump!  I flew about 3 feet in the air and landed about 8 feet from where I launched!  I thought I was going to break something! 

So what do I do next?  I help the boys build a bigger jump! Then proceed to go off of it again!  We got some sweet video of all of us going off and half killing ourselves, but hey we had a great time!

Day 2:  The second day of snow play was out Highway 20 south of Mt. Baker.  We went and found a road that had fresh snow and took it.  We had to take turns going up so, it left Grant and I hiking up a lot of the way. It was a nice day again.  We got to the top and then we were able to hang out have some snow cones and then make a snow cave.  It took a long time to get to the top but we had fun! 

The highlight of my day was driving the snowmobile down towing Christian and Blake, while Matt and Grant skied down.  They cracked me up the whole time!  Swerving, crashing, hitting rocks, and crashing more!

Cheese Blintzes & Brown Sugar Bacon!

Growing up my family didn't do breakfast much and if we did it was good old scrambled eggs, toast, and sausage/bacon.  Nothing too fancy.  However, Matt's family loves breakfast!  Since I've known Matt and his family I've been introduced to lots of delicious breakfast meals.  This brown sugar bacon and cheese blintzes take one of the top places of breakfast foods!

I tried looking up where Cheese Blintzes originated, but I found that there are many different places where they claim to have started these super tasty morsels!!  I also found the way I was taught how to make these little guys is much different from various recipe websites.  The difference?  I put my sour cream and cottage cheese in the batter not as a filling.  Matt wouldn't eat them if those two things were a filling!  :)

This recipe is super easy and just takes one bowl to make it in.  I would highly suggest making these on a griddle.  You can make a lot at the same time and its also a bit more consistent in the heat department.

 Takes about 20 min to make
Feeds about 4 people

Cheese Blintz Ingredients:

1 Cup of sifted flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Cup cottage cheese
1 Cup of sour cream
4 Eggs
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Sift one cup of flour into the bowl you want to mix it in.  I usually mix it in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup.  However, if you want to make more you would probably want to make it in a big bowl.

Put 1 tablespoon sugar in along with 1 teaspoon of salt in with flour. 

Measure 1 cup of cottage cheese put in along with 1 cup of sour cream in to flour mixture.  Begin stirring together.  It will be very thick, so begin adding 1 egg at a time until you have all 4 in.  Mix well with wooden spoon.  Sometimes I add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to give it more flavor! :)

Once all mixed together pour onto griddle.  Let cook until the edges look cooked. You also can check underneath to see how they look. Flip and let cook until nice golden brown.

Matt's family has always rolled their blintzes up with their choice of filling in the middle.  I usually just put the filling on and eat it like a pancake.  Either way would work. Rolling it up makes it look pretty though. :)

Filling:

The filling is the best part of these bad boys!  Here is a list of yummy fillings you can put on yours
Strawberries
Rasberries
Blueberries
Nutella
Bananas
Whipped Cream



Brown Sugar Bacon!!!

If you like bacon and brown sugar, you will definitely love these bad boys! I usually get my bacon from the meat department.  I have found that it is good quality bacon and it costs less or about the same as the stuff you get pre-packaged.  I take the bacon put it on a cookie cooling pan on top of a cookie pan.  This is so the bacon grease can drip off, so you don't have to eat it!

Once when you have your bacon on your cookie cooling sheet and pan begin putting brown sugar on top.  Its easy to use a spoon to spread the brown sugar around.  Turn your oven on to Broil and put your bacon on the top rack.  *** Make sure you watch it closely!!***  or it will burn!  Matt likes bacon on the chewier side... so its up to you how long you want to keep it baking. 

When you find the baked level you want for your bacon take it out and flip them over, cover this side with brown sugar and put it back in the oven.  Bake them until you feel that they are done.  Just make sure you don't forget about them... I am notorious for doing this... and having burnt food!

Chili Fit for a King!

Chili is always a great food for when you want something hearty, full of flavor, yet simple to make.  Chili is one of Matt's favorite meals I make.  I must put a disclaimer out there... none of my batches of chili that I have made have been the same.  I am one of those cooks that measures things by taste and how I want it to taste that day.  There are times where my chili is sweet, spicy or both!  We enjoy eating our chili in sourdough bread bowls or with the traditional cornbread.

Here is my best recipe for my Chili!  Lets just say this recipe feeds an army!  So if you want less chili cut the meat, veggies, and beans in half. :)

Time: About 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (any oil will do)
1 Pound of your choice of meat (I usually use ground Turkey)

3 Cloves of garlic
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
About 1 Tablespoon of Taco Seasoning (you may want more or less depending of taste)
3 Teaspoons of Chili Powder (more of less depending of taste)
1 Medium Onion
1/4 Red Pepper
1/4 Yellow Pepper
1/4 Green Pepper
1/4 Can of Olives
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Can of Tomato Paste
1 Can of Kidney Beans
1 Can of Chili Beans
1 Can of Black or White beans
If you want it on the sweeter side add about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar add more if needed to taste.
If you want it really spicy add Red Pepper flakes or Sriracha Sauce

Directions:

Put Oil in big pot.  Let heat up.  Add choice of meat let it brown for about 7-9 minutes stirring frequently. 

Add onion, peppers and olives.  Let them carmalize with meat for about 5-8 minutes stirring frequently.

Add tomato chunks and tomato paste.

Drain and add the beans.

Let is simmer on low for about 10-20 minutes.  Test it to see if you need salt, more taco seasoning, brown sugar or more spice.  If you find it too salty, add some brown sugar.  It helps fend off the salty taste.

Some great toppings are:
Sour Cream, Avacado, Raw onion, Peppers, Tortilla chips, cilantro  and Cheese!


Hope you like it as much as Matt and I!!

Frisbee Golf to the Max!

For those of you who haven't played Frisbee Golf you should seriously consider trying it!  It is fun, you get a work out and best of all you get to go outside and play. :)  There are a few Frisbee Golf courses around our area... but this time we chose the one that was closest to our house. 

This course is located at an old campground site.  It still has all of its picnic tables, BBQs, and electric & water hook-ups.  It seems a little eerie at first but its actually kind of nice to take a rest at a table while waiting for your turn.  This course is in the middle of the woods, so naturally there are trees everywhere!  We discovered that these flying disks we use are quite the evil weapon to trees!  They chip the crap out of bark and at times get stuck in trees! Haha!

London Fog!

Last weekend Matt Oram came up while his wife, Lindsey, thew a baby shower for a friend down in Bothell. We had a campfire in our back yard and we played some frisbee golf (I will post this later).  After frisbee golf we headed into town to get some coffee.  We went to a tiny place in Fairhaven called The Rustic Coffee bar.  They have pretty good coffee. However, that day I wanted something different.  Matt helped me choose and he told me to try the drink called London Fog.  It was seriously one of the greatest drinks I've had in a long time! 

Essentially the drink is made from Earl Grey Tea, Steamed milk and vanilla syrup.  Man-o-man is it good though.  Its like coffee minus the coffee aftertaste and bad breath!  Matt really liked it too!  The two of us liked it so much that last night we got all of the makings for it and drank some with dinner!

However, users must be warned the following information!!  If you are at all sensitive to caffiene like I am, please do not drink this during or after dinner!  I couldn't fall asleep and my mind was racing a hundred miles per hour!  That is always super annoying!  I plan to make it a breakfast or midday treat!  You should try it some time! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

I wore green today so I wouldn't get pinched by any 1st and 2nd graders!! Tonight, I am making some Traditional Irish foodies!  One of Matt's favorites!  Corned Beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes! :)

Camano Island Adventure

Sunday Matt and I decided to check out a new park around us.  We went to Camano Island State Park.  This park was about 45 minutes south of us and we liked the drive.  Sunday was cloudy and kinda chilly, but we made the best out of it and we had fun out on the beach with Callie! 

The drive there you could see the Cascades and Mt. Baker and when you got to the park you could see the Olympics and in the far distance you could get a glimpse of Mt. Rainier!  I could imagine how beautiful it would be on a clear sunny day!  It was nice even with it being as overcast as it was. 

A few weeks ago we went to my friend Sarah's farewell party and Matt saw that they had some hand carved wooden spoons made from burl wood.  Matt really liked that and decided that he would like to try that some time.  Well, when we went out we saw tons of really awesome pieces of wood, so Matt found one that he is going to try to carve a serving spoon out for me! 

As were exploring around the State Park we found the craziest gate ever!  It was part spaceship/dragon/solar system!!! Haha!  We had to turn around to take a few pictures of it!

This late spring or summer I want to have a BBQ here and spend a day playing at the beach, anyone else interested??  I felt artsy when we went on this adventure, so I took quite a few pictures, but here are my favorites!