Wordful Wednesday - Just one of several looks that get her out of trouble...

There are just so many things I love about this picture. Where to begin?

1. The cropping action. I busted out my sweet cropping skills on this one. So, you really have no idea how messy this room was when I took this picture. Ha!

2. The ensemble. Kaylee remains stubborn in her fashion choices. Even though this picture was taken in the morning, this is the outfit she insisted on wearing to bed the previous night. Let's discuss. Okay...we've got purple pony sweatshirt, black knit tights (which were not orginally paired together for her outfit, by the way...) and her pink and brown Sketchers. Beautiful, no? And yes, she slept in the shoes.

3. The makeup application skills. Sure, she got some makeup on her shirt. And her tights. And all.over.my.FLOOR! But, I have to give this girl some props for her mad skills in makeup application. Would you just look at the precision of the blush on the cheekbones? Just like Mary Poppins - practically perfect in every way. Seriously. She doesn't miss a beat when she watches me put it on every morning. She knows exactly where that makeup goes, people.

3. The bedhead. Oh, the crazy bedhead. My child finally has enough hair to have crazy bedhead!

4. The look. Really, do I need to offer an explanation for why I love the look? It kept her out of timeout for getting into my makeup - little stinker...

This post is a part of Wordful Wednesday, hosted by Angie at 7 Clown Circus. Go check her out!

Fighting the blahs.

All I want to do today is just stay home, put on a marathon of Barney for Kaylee, and read a book. I started a new one last night by Jennifer Weiner called Little Earthquakes, which was a recommendation from a friend. I'm already hooked and don't want to put it down.

I'm just feeling lazy and unmotivated and not wanting to get out of my cushy robe to do much of anything. I know we all have our days like that.

But, it's sunny outside. Spring is in the air (and everything in bloom is making me want to scratch my eyes out because my allergies are ALSO in full boom). My child thrives on fresh air. I miss the girls at our Mommy and Me exercise class, and I haven't gone to the gym in ages.

So, at some point in the next 62 minutes, I'm going to wash my face, put on a dash of makeup in an attempt to hide my puffy allergy eyes, put on my workout clothes, load Kaylee up in the car, and prepare myself for getting my butt handed to me in our boot camp class for an hour

Because I know it will do both of us some good. I'll feel energized and refreshed and hopefully it will jump start my workouts again.

Plus, when I was changing Kaylee's diaper after she woke up this morning, I asked her what she wanted to do today, and said, "Go to zoo? See da bear?" And...I just can't bear to keep her cooped up in the house all day after such a cute request.

So, the gym and the zoo it is.

(Written on 3.29.10)

iRead. iCook.

It's an understatement to say that my whole life changed when Kaylee was born. While I was navigating the waters of my early months with her, there were lots of things in my life that I let go - like daily showers, getting outside regularly, housework - the usual things that take a back burner when a new baby comes on the scene. I could only juggle so many things, and unfortunately, one of the things I dropped for several months was reading for fun.

Last year I really got back into reading, and I tried hard to always have a book going on my nightstand. Reading has always been my favorite before-bed ritual. It slows my mind down, calms me, and if I read until my eyelids become heavy and I can't keep them open any longer, I usually sleep really well.

In 2009 I read 19 books. And, while I usually tend to stick to fiction, just for the simple fact that I love getting lost in a good story - something that's totally made up, I started getting into more non-fiction books last year. Memoirs, biographies, books about health - just broadening my horizons.

So far this year, I've already read 17 books, so I know I'll surpass last year's number of books read by quite a lot. I'm continuing to try and read a good variety of books. This year it's been everything from biographies to chick lit, to adventure, to just plain fiction.

I'm so glad I eventually brought myself back to rekindle one of my very favorite past times. I find myself reading, and being so excited about the other books that I want to read, that it seems I just can't read my current book fast enough.

I'm currently on a little kick about reading about polygamy, and I'm finding it absolutely fascinating. At the bottom of this post, I'm including a link where you can view all the books I read in 2009 and all the books I've read so far in 2010. I've rated all of them, and some I've even written quick little reviews about.

I've got a couple books lined up for some blog book tours that I'll be sharing my reviews with you on (one includes a giveaway, which I'll announce tomorrow), and I also hope to highlight some of my favorite books from last year and this year.

Along with more talk of books and reading, there will be some more cooking and food talk, too. I still have a couple giveaways that I meant to include in Food Week, and I also have another food-related post I've had in the works. In addition to that, I've taken some pictures of a couple of the recipes I shared during food week - included especially for those of you who said you're visual and want pictures! And since I kicked off Food Week, I've found another recipe that we are absolutely crazy about around here, and I'll be sharing that, too.

I'm hoping that rather than having themed weeks, I'll just share stuff about books and cooking in more of an ongoing way. I didn't like being limited to talking about just food for a whole week.

So, that's that. Come back tomorrow for a review on one of my most recent reads - a copy of the book will be up for grabs for one lucky reader!

Sera's bookshelf: read




More of Sera's books »

Pickin' up where I left off

So...I definitely bit off more than I could chew with my attempt at the whole Food Week thing a couple weeks ago. Sure, I got an awesome interview with cookbook author Aviva Goldfarb, put up some fun, yummy recipes and got some great feedback from some of you on them, but two of my planned Food Week days never happened.

I had a Pampered Chef party at my house at the end of that particular week, and it was so much stinking FUN. It was the first time since Kaylee was born that I had an actual group of girl friends over for a party. It was such a wonderful feeling to have my house full of some of my closest friends and my family. So...needless to say, I spent a ton of time getting ready for that.

Then...Spring Break arrived, and Dennis had an entire week off from work. So, I neglected the blog, and I let the rest of my Food Week go down the crapper. But, I kept my family first, so that's that. We'll just pick up right here and finish things off.

So, one of the things I had planned was to share three great foodie giveaways with you all. One of them expires this Friday - as in, I must give your address to the company by THURSDAY or there will be no giveaway. I definitely dropped the ball on that one.

Right now, I'm home by myself, so I'm just going to get this particular giveaway up, and the other two will go up sometime later this week. Because - hello! I am home. BY. MYSELF.

So, be sure to check out the next post about the Fiber One gift pack that's up for grabs. Be sure to enter - your chances are probably going to be good since there's only a couple days left!

And the other topic I never posted on? Money-saving ideas, especially related to buying and eating fresh produce. That'll be up later this week, too.

How to be a rock start in your own kitchen: Part Three

Welcome to day five of Food Week on Laughing Through the Chaos - click the links below to catch up if you need to!

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday 

As we've been trying new recipes this year, we've discovered some that ended up in the trash after one bite, some that weren't bad, and some that we were just totally crazy about. The following are some of our favorites from our many new adventures in cooking. I hope you enjoy them!

Spicy Turkey Bean Chili 
Oven-Crisp Potato Wedges 
Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread 
Microwave Apple and Pear Crisp

How to be a rock star in your own kitchen: Part Two

 Welcome to day five of Food Week on Laughing Through the Chaos - click the links below to catch up if you need to!

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

On making my first "gourmet" meal...

Glaze of Glory Pork Tenderloin

This is a recipe I adapted from Gourmet magazine. The original recipe is by Paul Grimes and it included a fancy shmancy salad and some salad dressing to serve along with the pork. I never cooked that, so I'm omitting it here. I also made a slight modification to the pork tenderloin based on our family's tastes.

The first time I had this was during a girl's night at a friend's house. I bit into this juicy pork and pretty much thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was that good. Seriously? One of THE best things I have ever tasted in my life, and it was SO easy to watch them make (I was in charge of potatoes and dessert).

I decided to brave it on my own when we had some family come and visit us in February from out of state. I don't think I've ever cooked for so many people, so I was a little nervous about it turning out right. They raved about it. They asked for the recipe, and they had seconds.

This seriously tastes like a gourmet meal you would get at a restaurant.

It goes great with the Oven-Crisp Potato Wedges and a side of steamed veggies (my personal favorites to go with this meal are asparagus and broccoli).

Dennis told me this was the best dinner I have ever made. That being said, you definitely need to try this, and I promise - it is SO easy!

Ingredients

For pork:

2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper (I prefer the course ground pepper)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs total - Costco has these for a GREAT price!)
2 Tbsp. olive oil

For glaze

1 c. packed dark brown sugar (all I had was light, and it worked just fine)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (I substituted the jarred, minced garlic)
*Original recipe also listed 1 Tbsp. of Tabasco, but we omitted this ingredient

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350.
-Sit together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.
-Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.
-Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco (if you choose to add that ingredient) and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140 degrees F, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes (temperature will rise while standing).

NOTE: I did not put my skillet in the oven. I transferred the pork to one of my Pampered Chef stoneware casserole dishes. Also, at 140 degrees, the pork was still pink in the middle, so I went with the recommended internal pork temperature listed right on the meat thermometer, which - I do not presently have in front of me, so I'll just go ahead and let you refer to your own meat thermometer. Or Google. Whatever.

How to be a rock star in your own kitchen: Part One

Welcome to day five of Food Week on Laughing Through the Chaos - click the links below to catch up if you need to!

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

On making my first souffle...

This recipe was was one of the very first I tried after deciding to broaden my horizons with new recipes and new ingredients. I didn't even know what a "souffle" was until I saw the movie, Julie and Julia. Now, every time I see the word souffle, I hear, "I'iiiim Julia Chiiiild" in my head. I checked out the ingredients, thought it sounded like they'd taste good together, and figured the directions looked simple enough, so I gave it whirl.

The recipe says bake until "puffed and golden," but, having never made a souffle before, the high level of puffiness was pretty much freaking me out. It looked like it was about to explode all over the inside of the oven. So, I do what any novice cook does - I jumped on Google real quick, where I quickly found out that, not only is it actually a pretty big deal to make a souffle, but the crazy stuff going on in that oven was actually normal.

Anyway - apparently, souffles can be a bit tricky to make. Had I known that, I probably would have chickened out and say, "Hey, honey. Looks like it's Cheerios and toast for dinner again," but I'm so glad I was ignorant up to that point because this is one of my proudest kitchen creations EVER. I made a souffle! And it tasted amazing, and Dennis even loved it! Oh, happy day.

It's great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner - anytime, really, and the leftovers taste great the next day.

Apple Pancake Souffle
A modification from Weight Watchers' Simply the Best : 250 Prizewinning Family Recipes

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. fat-free egg substitute
2 c. skim milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. unsalted stick margarine (I used butter)
6 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (my food processor saved me a lot of time by slicing the apples for me - I also used Granny Smith apples)
3 Tbsp. firmly packed light brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon; make a well in the center. Add the egg stubstitute, milk and vanilla; whisk until thoroughly combined.

3. Place the margarine in a 13 x 9" baking dish; place in the oven until the margarine is melted and sizzling, about 3 minutes. Add the apples and mix gently to coat. Bake until th e apples are heated through, about 5 minutes (just an FYI, I forgot this step the first time, and it didn't make any difference at all). Pour the egg mixture over the apples; sprinkle with the brown sugar. Bake until the souffle is puffed and golden and a knife inserted int eh center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Serve at once.