Slutty Brownie Review

So today was kinda a big deal for me. I got to meet and mingle with a lot of higher ups and co-workers that my husband works with. I had two meetings of the day and the second one was particularly the main focus. It was a potluck and our portion of the company got to make desserts. YUM YUM my favorite! Time to get my game face on and figure out what to make. I seriously sat there for over an hour wondering what would be easy but a de-lish dish. I came across this website and this recipe specifically:http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html

I literally LOLed at the name, then my mind thought about how tonight's conversation might go:

"Who brought these awesome brownies and what are they called?"

"Sir, that would be me and they are called *cough* SLUTTY BROWNIES *cough*"

What an icebreaker right? Yea thats me. The quirky one. Anyways, they were a HUGE hit and I got a few high fives tonight. Yes! I saved face big time by not screwing up and bring a lame traditional dish. All jokes aside if you need a quick, easy and huge hit try these puppies out. You can't go wrong. I was able to make enough brownies to fit in a 9.5x13.5x2" pyrex dish with enough to fix in a 6 cup pyrex baking dish. Time for this mama to go to bed. It's been a long day. Until next time, happy baking and good night! 

I left the room for less than 20 minutes and this was all that was left! 

The Cave Man's Pulled Pork

HUGE SHOCK ALERT! My hubs made dinner tonight. I honestly have to say this is the second dinner he has ever made since the history of us that doesn't have to do with breakfast food. On a mission, he made the easiest slow cooker pulled pork. It came out moist with a little kick to it. De-lish!


Here's the Man-cipe:

1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon coriander

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Dash of pepper

2 lb pork roast or tenderloin (no need to remove the extra fat it causes more flavor)

1 onion (nothing pretty just chopped)

Cut up your onion and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a bowl then add to your pork by giving it a deep massage. Get aggressive...its ok go ahead! Place that on top of the onions. No need to add any liquids (the pork and onions produce just enough liquid) Cook on low for about 5 hours. Its ready when the pork shreds easily. Shred it up and place back in the slow cooker to soak up the juices. Then serve it up when your ready. This shredded pork tastes amazing with some homestyle coleslaw. Happy eating! 

Spicy Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole

So this morning I decided to try a new breakfast recipe. I got my lightbulb idea from: http://www.health-bent.com/pork/paleo-breakfast-casserole. I changed a few things but not a whole lot.

Ingredients I used:
8 Eggs 
1 Large Sweet Potato, Peeled and Cubed
16 oz. Italian Hot Sausage (You can use the Original as well. I wanted some more SPICE in my life so I used HOT)
4 oz. Green Chopped Chilies
Shredded Cheese (Optional - I did not use)

Place your sausage into your skillet and brown (just like you would with hamburger). When that is ALMOST done place in your sweet potatoes to soak in all the grease. Cook until tender which took about 10 minutes. Mean while you can get your casserole dish (9x9) and add your eggs, and green chilies and beat together. Set aside. Go back to your sausage mixture and check on it. When it was done I took TONS of paper towels to soak up the remainder of the grease because there was so much and I am not a huge fan of grease NOR heart attacks. If you like grease and want it in your dish, by all means you can leave it. It's a personal choice. However, as a warning I ended up used a good 1/4 of the roll just on soaking up the orange grease. Slowly add the sausage mixture into the egg mixture (slowly so you don't cook the eggs from the heat the meat is giving off), stirring constantly. Now here comes the part when you can sit down and enjoy your morning joe. Bake it for 30-35 minutes in a preheated 350 oven. It may or may not take that long just keep an eye on it. I had to put aluminum foil on top about 15 minutes in because the top was browning to much.  You'll know when its done when the eggs are cooked all the way through. Take the casserole dish out and serve with cheese if you prefer. I left mine out. You may be wondering how spicy this dish turned out and actually its just a very tiny kick. The sweet balances out the spicy very well. Bon appetite and GOOD MORNING to you. This dish is beyond de-lish!

Surgery in a Korean Hospital

Some of you may know our story of why we are talking the big "S" word and some of you may not. To make a long story short, our 4 year old daughter has been fighting constant battles with kidney infections for the past 3 years of her life. We found out she had kidney reflux right when she turned one. We first noticed she was having problems when she would sleep for 18 hours a day, had a 105 temp, vomiting like crazy, having horrible diarrhea, could not and would not eat or drink and tons of other horrible problems.  We constantly visited the Drs and the ER during that month but her problems were brushed under the rug as "first time parent stupidity". Im sorry I know my kid better than any Dr. and for us to go to the ER and Dr. 6 times in a month because of her condition there is obviously seriously wrong.  Finally a genius at the ER decided to take a urine culture which showed that she had more white blood cells then she did red and that was a big WOAH! Mmmm stupid dumb first time parents RIGHT?! They rushed us off to the closest Children's Hospital which we stayed for two weeks. We found out the complexities of her condition. She had 3 uriters from her kidneys to her bladder. You're only supposed to have 2. One of the tubes was pushing the urine from her bladder back up to her kidneys causing the infections. The temporary fix was to be on antibiotics for a year. That seemed to help but she lost all of her appetite. She was extremely thin but healthier. The lesser evil of the two I guess. During her battle with kidney problems it has been in and out of hospitals, constant test being ran, blood cultures, urine samples, back and forth back and forth. When she was off her medicine she would instantly have kidney infections. This whole time I kept thinking Lord, if I could take this pain and suffering away from her I would do so gladly in a heart beat. Unfortunately, she was dealt this card for whatever reason but we believe there is a reason behind every kind of madness. She is an amazing child who has shown barely any fear and remains stronger than most adults I have met. She has taught us more than she can ever imagine and her spirit to keep going and keep smiling is just amazing and heart warming. She is our strong and beautiful princess.

We were told what we were expecting to hear for the past 3 years. "She WILL need surgery in order for her kidney problems to subside." Where were we when we got this bittersweet news? In Korea!  We knew it was coming but knowing our 4 year old daughter was going to go through an intensive and fairly new procedure in a foreign country was mind blowing.  In order to prepare for the events of the surgery we did tons of things to insure a smooth stay at the hospital. I asked around like a crazed mother about how Korean Hospitals were. What people experienced while there and what to expect. Any advice I received, good or bad, I took to heart. After I got info on that my planning went into action mode. We talked to our daughter every day about how the Dr. was going to fix her problems with her belly and that she won't feel right for the first few days after but the end result is her being healthier and stronger. She took the news fairly easily. My advice is if your child is going to have surgery, don't throw them under the train and not tell them anything until they are under the knife. How would you feel if that was you? ANGRY and upset and lost and worried and scared. Tell them in the kindest and least scariest way you can. Insure them its ok to be scared and ok to cry but you will be by their side the whole way through. Comfort is key. Again, research what to say to your child before, after and during the traumatic experience.

So for more preparations for the big stay I was on a mission to  find things at the store or around the house that I knew would bring her comfort and joy and I started to pack our bags. I asked her to pick a toy to take with her to keep her safe when Mommy and Daddy may not be there. She picked a Totoro stuffed animal and her Arial barbie. In her "fun bag" I included colored pencils, coloring books, books to read, beads, toys, puppets, games, movies, learning items (flash cards, preschool homeschooling book, etc), munchie food and whatever else I thought would help her in this process. Then of course in our general bag I packed two extra blankets, pillows (the ones in the Korean hospitals are HARD as rock), clothing, toiletries, flip flops for the shower, and everything else to keep us feeling as decent as possible. Where would I be without my computer and a few books? LOST! Then since we planned on Daddy to be home most of the time while I stay in here with her I prepared a bunch of snack foods and dinners for us. I prepackaged everything, labeled everything and put a schedule down of when these things were to brought to us. A good system right? I have a great hubs that deals with my crazy planning and OCD about having things in order. Do you blame a Mama for wanting to be prepared and ready for anything?

My "Menu" Plan for what my hubs should bring to us when we were at the hospital. Excuse my writing. I hate it! Hahah

Bags were packed, check list ready then the phone call came to head off to the hospital for pre op. I spent the night with her while her Daddy and Sister went home. Can I say what a ROUGH night. We were woken up all through out the night. So after 3 hours of sleep we were whisked off into a world of WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON? We were roughly told what was going to happen but the language barrier is an interesting experience.  We sat and sat and sat which seemed like a lifetime waiting on the surgery to be over. No one came out and told us how anything was going so it was a sit-on-the-edge of the chair for a 4 hour wait. Finally the time came when they told me I could go back there to wait with her until the medicine wore off. This whole experience I have thought that this hospital reminds me of an ant farm. Everyone is so so so busy and there is literally TONS of staff members always on duty but there is some method to the mayhem and everything flows with a weird smoothness. Everyone has their job and they know and when to do it. Back in the states one nurse would be able to do EVERYTHING but here there is about 5 different Nurses/Doctors that take care of my daughter's specific needs. Its new and different but hey it works and Im not complaining.

The whole time we were at the hospital I could tell she is feeling miserable can you blame her? Poor girl. So, we were stuck here in the hospital for 6 days. Hopefully all this will pay off in the long run. *PRAYING HARD* My advice for you if you ever have to stay in a hospital away from your normal comfort zone is don't be afraid to ask tons of questions from the hospital and from other people who have stayed there. Research is your best weapon. Of course you will hear both good and bad things but like I always say prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I am glad I researched and prepared for our stay here because it's really paying off. You may feel the need to get frustrated at the staff because of the language barrier and the culture differences but also remember that it is just as hard for them as it is for you. They are here to make you feel better not worse. Stay calm and be collective and if all else fails draw a picture or ask the people at the international desk to help. They also gave me after hours phone number to call just in case if I needed someone to translate. Also, your insurance should have a case manager that calls you every day and keeps in touch with the hospital so that way EVERYONE is on the same page and any of your un-answered questions get answered. If you are not sure if your insurance has case managers just ask. They make your world amazingly easier. Don't be afraid to call them any hour of any day. It's their job to help. Honestly, most of the staff that I came across spoke English well and of course I'm pretty good at reading body language. Living in a foreign  country for 2 years you tend to get accustomed to their mannerisms and understanding their body language. It becomes second nature.

This was the ONLY American Meal that was good

The cleanliness and being on top of things is also a thumbs up in my book. They changed her bedding every day and gave me clean gowns to dress her in. The bathrooms were a little disgusting but not as bad as I was told they were going to be. Just make sure to bring flip flops for the shower and lay down hospital towels on the floor to step on. As far as the hospital food, well its hospital food. It will never be good. At first they were giving the "American" choices on a menu because I guess they think most American's would rather eat crappy American Hospital food than semi decent Korean Hospital food. So eventually I got tired of eating the plastic nastiness (my daughter did not have any appetite so I ended up eating her food) and asked for the Korean food. The nurse looked at me like I was joking and said are you SURE?!!? Yes, ma'am I want Korean food not American food. Her eyes lit up. I tell you when your in a foreign country the natives really like the fact that American's or other cultures appreciate their food. Changing to the Korean food was the best decision I could have made. Everything was cooked right, tasted good and it was warm unlike the American food. So if you are up for eating Korean food GO FOR IT! Now mind you, Korean's do not eat typical breakfast food. It's the same food they would eat for lunch or dinner. So no cereal, pancakes or coffee for you. Like I said I totally did not mind. It was awesome!

So our night in shinning armor...errr I mean my hubs is here to whisk us away to go back home. FINALLY feels like forever we were cooped up here. Here's to a Happy Lunar New Year and better health for our daughter. Cheers Cheers. Thanks for reading. I know it was a long one but I had A LOT of time in the hospital to write. Until next time have a great one!

Dino Eggs

It seems like FOREVER since I last blogged. My deepest apologies. It's been a CRAZY week. My daughter's school, baby shower, my daughter's 2nd birthday and a whole bunch of other craziness goin' on in this mama's world. More to come on that later. Speaking of baby showers....I made "dino" deviled eggs and lets just say it was a big hit! Why dino eggs? Well silly, it was the theme of the shower! My brain started churning when I saw this link:  http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/dinosaur-eggs/

Family fun = watching eggs boil. 

Boiled eggs...it will make or break your finished product (which for me is deviled eggs). My perfect egg method is: You grab your big pan and put eggs (gently) in and fill it with water (enough to cover the eggs than some). Place on the stove and wait, wait, wait until it starts to rapidly boil. This is where you turn your timer on for 10 minutes. When it dings take it off that burner and let sit on another burner for another 5-10 minutes. Easy!




While the eggs are chillin in their steam pan you can get the dyes ready. Get as many bowls for the number of dyes you are using. I used four dyes. Generic red, green, yellow and blue. I squirted about half the bottle of each dye into their separate bowls. I filled the bowls about half way with water. Go ahead and set that a side. Grab the pan with the eggs in it and drain the water and run COLD water over them until they are cooled. In stead of peeling the eggs to make deviled eggs you only slightly crack the eggs by gently dropping them on the counter or tapping it with a spoon. Small cracks is what your trying to go for. Don't worry if its not perfect. Imperfection in nature is perfection. DO NOT peel the eggs at all. If a few pieces come off again, it's ok. After you crack the eggs put them in the reserved bowls with the dyes. Then put them in the refrigerator to soak up the goodness.

Now this is where the nail biting came into effect. The website my idea came from did not specify how long it takes to dye the eggs. My main concern was that because I was doing deviled eggs I didn't want the dye to seep down to the yoke and discolor that portion of the egg. Can I say yum to poop colored deviled eggs? Hhaha. Fits the baby theme for sure!  I left the eggs in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Gently peeked under one and sure enough they looked DONE. I Ran the water over the eggs and started the endless task of peeling. They turned out AWESOME. I honestly thought my daughter was going to eat a hard boiled egg because her eyes lit up and an "Oooooo" sounds came out. I spoke to soon...didn't happen. I guess they were just to pretty to eat. 

I started to make my secret deviled egg recipe. I WOULD tell it to you but it's a family secret. My hub's Grandma is no one to mess with. She told me it just to make sure her grandson would be happy (he can eat a whole 24 eggs if I allowed him too). So yes, the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Lesson well taught. My gratitude goes to her for making him coming back for more. So with that being said just simply insert YOUR deviled egg recipe here and allow your guest eyes and stomachs be happily entertained. Bon Appetite!

Jack Daniels Honey

I'm going to tell you the best kind of a story. A short and to the point story:

Many years ago I was good friends with Jack. Many great memories was shared with Jack. However, after a bad run in we decided that parting ways was the best answer. I could never look at him in the face without getting a "bitter" face. Well, that fate changed tonight my dear friends. My husband of all people decided that we should be re-introduced. My husband has never been a fan of Jack so it surprised me he would offer such interesting advice. My mind started racing...

"The memories we had" "But what about that one horrid night that ended it all?" "It has honey it can't be that bad" "OR CAN IT??" 

Yes, I was literally having a back and forth conversation in my head for 20 minutes while I had a stare down with him. The golden hue in this Jack was calling out my name and it had Honey to top that off. How can I resist honey? I can't. He knew my soft spot. DANG YOU. As my husband reached for the soda I swooped Jack away. And this is how a beginning to an end started.   

Hahah story-time for adults WHO KNEW?! Anyways, as soon as we got home we were anxious little kids wanting to test this new taste out. First a smell...it smelled a little like jack with a sweet note. We looked at each other and both agreed that it was in fact a good start. We poured a little in a cup and topped it off with good ol' coke. We both took a swig and sure enough it tasted sweet and not to strong. It actually would be a good shooter whiskey with no need to chase it. I was reading that some other ideas instead of coke is to use lemonade, or ginger ale. We are pleased that it did not taste as artificial as some other drinks do when they start adding stuff to their "normal" recipes. I believe that we found something WE both agree to like. On a downside I hope that the store re stocks their shelves soon because there was only one lonely bottle left after I grabbed ours.

Please remember I do not promote drinking. Please do drink responsibly. My blog about items I eat/drink are in my own opinion and is just my personal review on the products. I am not endorsed by the companies. Thank you for reading. Have a great night everyone. Now back to my Jack and Coke!

Here's a good site that reviewed J.D. Honey:

 http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2011/03/jack_daniels_honey-flavored_whiskey.php

Homemade Baked Chips

Since our commissary does not carry very many options of "clean" chips I decided to grab a 5 lb bag of russet potatoes to make my own. Why not right? I make baked apple chips some times so I figured it should be the same concept. So, today along side with my 4 year old we had an adventure of figuring out how to make our own homemade chips. We rinsed them off, peeled them, re-rinsed.

Peeling potatoes...GOOD times....

The fun part came when it was time to use the mandoline to slice the potatoes in small peices. Lets just say my fingers were not very happy with bandages being put on one after another. Lesson today kids (especially to my 4 year old who witnessed it) SHARP objects can and will give you boo-boos. OUCH! After encouraging words from my daughter we continued on the adventure. What would I do without her??! We then put water in the bowl with the potatoes until they were all submerged under water. I read somewhere that this helps to get extra starches off and aides in the baking (so they don't burn). Kinda gross watching all the bubbles and starch come off. We let it sit for about 15 minutes.

We drained them and laid them out on paper towels to dry off. We patted them down to assure no more excess water was on the chips. This too will help the baking process. We want crispy chips not soggy chips! haha.

Letting the potatoes sit in water...

This is only half of the potatoes that I cooked!

Them baking in my TINY Korean oven...It literally took me all day to cook all these batches up. The tasks I put myself up to!

We then put parchment paper on a baking sheet and placed the sliced potatoes one by one next to each other. I started out brushed on olive oil (not a lot) and used sea salt. The coarser the salt the better. We put it in the oven that was preheated to 400 degrees for about 25 minutes turning them once. Now here comes a lightbulb...time for experimenting with different oils, and flavors. So out came the first batch and went in a new batch. These were the oils and seasonings I used for the remaining batches:

• Olive Oil & Salt
• Safflower Oil & Salt

• Olive Oil with Salt & Pepper
• Safflower Oil with Salt & Pepper

• Olive Oil & Garlic Powder
• Safflower Oil & Garlic Powder

• Olive Oil & Chipotle Spices (Mrs. Dash Seasoning)
• Safflower Oil &Chipotle Spices (Mrs. Dash Seasoning)

• Olive Oil with Salt & Vinegar
• Safflower Oil with Salt & Vinegar

After I made sure all the batches are cool I placed in bags that are labeled all of them. I then let my brave taste test guinea pig (my Hubs of course) snack away. I was standing by biting my nails waiting for the verdict. DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Well he said that they were all AMAZING but his favorite was the Chipotle Spice one (because he loves spicy) and he also commented he liked the ones with Safflower oil more than the olive oil ones. There was a "funny" taste to them that didn't really seem "chippish"  So there you have it. Homemade chips!! You need to eat these right away or else they will get soggy. So chow down!

The final results!

Homemade Coffee Creamer

Have you ever sat down and read the back of your store bought coffee creamer? All those long words with crazy spellings you can't even pronounce? Yea, those. The list is HUGE and disturbing and none the less COMPLETELY un-healthy for you. I came across a recipe for homemade creamer a while back. Yes, it has dairy, yes it has sugar in it BUT a much cleaner version of the store bought junk. This morning I decided to make it since it was a long night and also it was a COLD winter's morning ! It tasted just like I had my own Starbucks cafe in the comfort of MY kitchen.  Yum yum. The possibilities are endless with the recipe too. The different milks, the different flavorings you can use. I'm salivating over the ideas of what I can concoct next time! You can find the recipe at this website:

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2011/09/french-vanilla-coffee-creamer.html

Me enjoying some great coffee in my lovely Marilyn mug this morning. Can you tell I was cold but happy?

Left over chicken and rice soup

Remember that juicy chicken that I made in the crock pot last night? Well I figured out what I was going to make for the perfect soul food for a cold winter's night. Chicken and rice soup. Yum yum. I wanted to use brown rice because of the nutrition value but I just had quick cooking brown rice which I don't think would be good for the recipe. Here's the recipe:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3-5 cups cooked, shredded chicken (you choose how much chicken you want in the dish we used 4 cups)
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
3-4 cups cooked white rice (we used 4 cups)
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)
A few dashes of red pepper flakes for a kick (optional)

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onions, and stir until tender (about 5 minutes). Add garlic, stirring for 1 minute. 

2. Add celery and carrots, cook for another 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of broth and 1 cup of water and boil veggies until almost tender. 

3. Add chicken, the remaining chicken broth, water, rice, Dijon, salt, pepper and parsley (we omitted parsley). Stir and reduce heat to low. 

4. Let simmer until thick (the rice will become almost a "slop") or you can stop simmering when it gets to the constancy you want.

5. Turn off heat. This is where you would add a few dashes of red pepper flakes for a kick if you wish.

6. Stick spoon in mouth and savor the heartiness. hehehe

Makes 8 servings

Crock Pot Chicken

I Cooked a WHOLE chicken in the crock pot today. Who would have guessed. I love the crock pot...the possibilities are endless. Anyways, this chicken was by far the easier whole chicken I have ever prepared. So how good was this new recipe? Well first off, the smells that were coming from the pot all day was making the whole family salivate. When I took the chicken out of the crock pot the juices were just leaking out of the chicken. I let the chicken sit for 15 minutes before cutting the meat up. The chicken was so moist and smelt amazing. The onions and juices in the crock pot however, was not such a pretty site. Onions bathed in greasy liquid. Gross! Hahah. As far as the yummo factor went I received 2 thumbs way up from the hubs! Mission complete. Now off to figuring what I can make with the leftover meat. Stay tuned....


Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/