I like to think of what we are doing right now as a fresh start. We did start to eat healthier but that was before vacation. Before we were stuck indoors due to a tropical storm when we should have been out at the beach. Before we ate FAR too many potato chips, handfuls of Dirty White Trash (refer to previous blog), plates of cheesy goodness and bowls of delightful sweets. We’d both be liars if we said we didn’t gain any weight while vacationing. It’s okay, though; the weight is already starting to melt off of our bodies. Vanity is a sin but I am of sinful nature. I try to be humble and sometimes I don’t but either way, I know my vanity is wrong; I just can’t seem to shake it. I guess there are worse things to feel. At least vanity keeps me healthy.
Speaking of healthy, I just came up with a new recipe for a dairy-free protein shake. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I’m not only lactose intolerant but also allergic to whey protein. That makes commercial protein shakes a double-no for me. That’s where almonds come into play. Almonds are a nutty protein powerhouse. This shake is definitely superior in flavor to that powdery junk they sell at GNC (just because it isn’t the best thing for my body doesn’t mean I haven’t tasted it) and it has the consistency you chose since you add the ingredients (mine was like a very thick milkshake). It probably doesn’t have the amount of protein commercial shakes contain but it also wasn’t formulated in a lab.
Banana Nut Protein Shake
Recipe by Deborah Schiefer
1 1/2 bananas, frozen and cut into chunks
½ - 1 TBS almond butter
1 cup almond milk
½ TBS cocoa powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Blend it all together. Cocoa powder can be omitted. Nutmeg can be added. Only you can decide exactly how you want it to taste so have fun with it!
Due to the probable caloric content (I guestimate around 350-400 calories based on average caloric content of bananas, calories in almond butter and almond milk), I would suggest drinking it as a meal replacement instead of a supplement. That’s actually how it came into existence, anyway. I was craving a milkshake at lunch (instead of healthier options) but didn’t want to kill my digestive track with dairy. Watch the sodium content on your almond butter. The brand I bought has higher sodium content and the flavor of salt was almost overpowering. Okay, not quite, but I’m a salt-aholic and can taste the stuff in chocolate so I could definitely taste it in my shake.
Now just because we eat clean doesn’t mean we always cook and bake clean. Both of our husbands are deployed and missing out on any and all home-cooked goodness. If you’ve ever had a loved one deploy you have an idea of what a box of goodies means to our military men. Jordan and I decided that we needed to go on a baking spree and fill a few containers with goodies for our men to share with the soldiers they work with. Oh, and by a few containers, we mean five containers each. Not all of the cookies were terribly memorable, in fact, one even flopped since we didn’t have eggs and had to substitute banana. We don’t discuss that cookie. There were, however, three cookies that left a mark on our taste-buds. The first being a recipe for Oatmeal Scotchies from the back of a Nestle® brand butterscotch chips, the second being from the back of an Andes Mints® brand bag of mint chips and the last being a recipe for caramel apple cookies that was adapted from an online recipe. Of course, the boys will be happy to eat them regardless of how memorable the cookies are; they are the only home-baked goodies the boys get right now. However, we don’t think we should fill our space with cookies that are less than divine so only the best make the blog. The caramel apple cookies will need to be added at a later date since the recipe needs some perfecting but I thought I might give you a sneak peak as to what recipes are in store for future blogging.
Oatmeal Scotchies
Recipe by Nestle® Toll House
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 stop baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 (11 oz) package Butterscotch chips
½ (11 oz) package mini chocolate chips (optional; added by Deborah Schiefer)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a larger bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies; 9-10 minutes for crisp cookies.
Andes® Crème de Menthe Chunk Cookies
Recipe by Andes® Candies
½ cup salted butter; softened
¾ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (10 oz) package Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
2 2/3 cups sifted all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes® baking chips and then flour. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator. Roll dough into balls and flatten slightly. Raise oven rack one level above middle and bake on non-stick baking pans for approximately 8-10 minutes.
Pictures will be up as soon as Jo can get caught up with her photography. With S (her hubby) deployed, she has less time to work on editing and making her photos pretty AND she's been busy snapping away with the camera to take pictures of the angel to send to S. Don't get your panties in a knot quite yet, the pictures will be posted, you'll just have to come back and see them another day.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
We’re BAAAAACK!
All good things must come to an end. When it comes to vacations, sometimes it’s nice to pack up and go back home. I’ll be the first to admit I missed my bed and my dogs. I even missed Jordan’s snakes. I know she missed her home and her dog, too. Actually, I think Freija missed her more than anyone missed anything. She was the most pathetic little beastie on the ride home, stretching herself out to be close to anyone who would pet her and pay attention to her.
Not too much happened since the last blog. We spent most of our time indoors due to a tropical storm. There was PLENTY of room in the house and somehow we still all managed to get a little cabin fever. Jordan, Analeigh and I all share the same love for being outdoors, out of the house and on the move. We did make it to the beach once in between rainstorms and at the end of the week, the skies finally cleared long enough take a wild horse tour. Our tour guide brought us to the beach in a jeep where we did some off-roading while watching for the wild horses that populate the island after a Spanish ship banked on a sandbar off the coast over a century ago.
We were given a break from cooking for the last few days we vacationed. We still covered breakfasts but other family members took cooking duties for the last few nights. I tried pinto beans southern-style for the first time ever. Nothing goes better with pintos than chopped dill pickles and salt. I know it sounds a little crazy but you’ve really got to try it if you never have. The one breakfast we cooked that was (a) worth talking about (b) not entirely from a box was a breakfast scramble served over biscuits. The biscuits were from a “box.” A roll really. Pillsbury roll to be exact. We actually made this twice, adding a few more ingredients the second time around, improving the scramble. It’s an easy breakfast for a large crowd, though the eggs can put it on the slightly more expensive end, depending on where you live and how many you’re feeding.
Breakfast Scramble
Recipe by Jordan Carey and Deborah Schiefer
2 lbs bacon, diced (you can use sausage if you dislike bacon)
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
18 eggs (plan 2-3 eggs/person)
Half tsp each garlic powder, salt and pepper (you can add more of any if you’d like)
3 rolls refrigerated Pillsbury biscuits (24 biscuits total)
Hot Sauce (i.e. Texas Pete, Frank’s RedHot) for serving
Bake the biscuits according to package.
Cook the bacon in a skillet, adding the bell pepper and onion once bacon has begun to crisp. Remove from skillet and drain, reserving some of the bacon grease to cook the eggs. You can use butter or cooking spray, if you prefer, but the bacon grease adds flavor to the eggs. Scramble the eggs in the skillet with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Once the eggs have begun to set, add the bacon and veggie mixture scrambling and cooking until desired doneness. Serve the eggs sandwich-style over biscuits with hot sauce. The hot sauce can be added to the eggs during cooking, if desired.
The first order of business, post vacation, was restocking our own pantries and refrigerators. Man it was nice to shop for myself and myself only again! I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting it is to restart clean eating. After a week of eating endless amounts of crap, my body is screaming at me for fruits and vegetables. I guess this is where it all really begins. We kick start our hardcore clean diet tomorrow. The count-down to healthy bodies starts now. Wish us luck!
Not too much happened since the last blog. We spent most of our time indoors due to a tropical storm. There was PLENTY of room in the house and somehow we still all managed to get a little cabin fever. Jordan, Analeigh and I all share the same love for being outdoors, out of the house and on the move. We did make it to the beach once in between rainstorms and at the end of the week, the skies finally cleared long enough take a wild horse tour. Our tour guide brought us to the beach in a jeep where we did some off-roading while watching for the wild horses that populate the island after a Spanish ship banked on a sandbar off the coast over a century ago.
We were given a break from cooking for the last few days we vacationed. We still covered breakfasts but other family members took cooking duties for the last few nights. I tried pinto beans southern-style for the first time ever. Nothing goes better with pintos than chopped dill pickles and salt. I know it sounds a little crazy but you’ve really got to try it if you never have. The one breakfast we cooked that was (a) worth talking about (b) not entirely from a box was a breakfast scramble served over biscuits. The biscuits were from a “box.” A roll really. Pillsbury roll to be exact. We actually made this twice, adding a few more ingredients the second time around, improving the scramble. It’s an easy breakfast for a large crowd, though the eggs can put it on the slightly more expensive end, depending on where you live and how many you’re feeding.
Breakfast Scramble
Recipe by Jordan Carey and Deborah Schiefer
2 lbs bacon, diced (you can use sausage if you dislike bacon)
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
18 eggs (plan 2-3 eggs/person)
Half tsp each garlic powder, salt and pepper (you can add more of any if you’d like)
3 rolls refrigerated Pillsbury biscuits (24 biscuits total)
Hot Sauce (i.e. Texas Pete, Frank’s RedHot) for serving
Bake the biscuits according to package.
Cook the bacon in a skillet, adding the bell pepper and onion once bacon has begun to crisp. Remove from skillet and drain, reserving some of the bacon grease to cook the eggs. You can use butter or cooking spray, if you prefer, but the bacon grease adds flavor to the eggs. Scramble the eggs in the skillet with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Once the eggs have begun to set, add the bacon and veggie mixture scrambling and cooking until desired doneness. Serve the eggs sandwich-style over biscuits with hot sauce. The hot sauce can be added to the eggs during cooking, if desired.
The first order of business, post vacation, was restocking our own pantries and refrigerators. Man it was nice to shop for myself and myself only again! I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting it is to restart clean eating. After a week of eating endless amounts of crap, my body is screaming at me for fruits and vegetables. I guess this is where it all really begins. We kick start our hardcore clean diet tomorrow. The count-down to healthy bodies starts now. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Such is The Life
I’m taking a break from our usual-style of blog writing for a slightly different blog. As our profile states, we are both military wives. Jordan is wife to an amazing soldier and I am wife to a spectacular Airman. While the careers of our men are entirely different, the life-styles are very similar, the only difference being that I am just entering the life of a military wife while Jordan is a seasoned pro. Not to say that she’s old, actually I am older than her, she just has years of military wife experience on me. I love this life and I wouldn’t ever choose anything different. I love my husband and wouldn’t leave him for the world. I know for a fact Jordan feels the same way I do. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for your sympathy, just for your understanding. The two do not have to go hand-in-hand. You don’t have to feel sorry for the military wife just to understand the life she lives. Watching my husband leave for his first deployment was NOTHING like watching Jordan’s husband leave for his 5th, 6th or whatever number deployment it is. Both are hard but I know my husband is not going to miss his first child’s first full sentence. I know he won’t miss Christmas with her or Halloween or Thanksgiving. I know this because we don’t have kids on earth. I watched Sean gravitate toward Ana with this emotion in the atmosphere that was too strong and too heavy to deny.
Don’t kid yourself by prattling on about how the man or woman knew what (s)he was getting him or herself into. Most teenagers don’t join the military with joyful plans to find their spouse, have children and then leave them home while they travel to hostile countries to fight a war. Notice the use of the word “joyful.” It plays a key role in that sentence. Most people join because it’s the only life they know, they needed college funding, they couldn’t find a job, their job didn’t produce enough to support their family, they lost a sibling in war and a whole slew of other reasons that could fill a novel. Military spouses are produced when a woman or man falls in love with a military member. You can’t help who your heart adores and you aren’t going to leave their side because of his/her career. You might have an understanding of what you are becoming involved in but you cannot truly understand it until you have lived it. That goes for both the military member and the spouse. I can say that, I’ve been on both sides, now.
So next time you see a wife (or a husband) leaving her spouse for a deployment or when you hear a wife sob while watching the news, don’t roll your eyes and don’t blow her off. She’s sacrificed so much for your freedom. You don’t have to agree with the mission and you don’t have to support the war but you can still support the troops. Remember the soldier who left is someone’s Dad, Mom, sibling, aunt or uncle. Remember the spouse is missing half of their heart. Remember a child is missing their parent. Remember a parent is missing out on watching their child(ren) grow.
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Crab Says (Click, Click, Click)
I hate to break your hearts but Jordan and I have taken a hiatus from cooking for the day and will be back at it again, probably in time to add the recipe for Enchilada Bake (totally NOT clean, but hey, we're on vacation!) to this blog. It’s not that we don’t like to cook or we don’t want to cook, it’s just that the fresh seafood was calling so we took the opportunity to eat some crab… and shrimp. It was delicious. Pictures of the spread will be posted as soon as possible. There was crab, shrimp, lobster, mussels, hush puppies, ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, slaw, pasta salad and key lime pie. We quite gorged ourselves. I’m pretty sure I ate (minimum) 1 lb of shrimp on my own and Jordan ate (minimum) 2 lbs of crab. I would say I could never look at another shrimp or crab again and be content but I could definitely kill another pound of shrimp right now, if the opportunity presented itself. I’m sure Jordan feels the same way about crab.
The thunderstorms came rolling in, giving us some of God’s beautiful creation to watch in all of its powerful glory. There is nothing more beautiful than watching a storm come creep across the ocean, seeing the rain as it comes nearer and nearer until it’s pouring down, drenching you in delightful chill. There is nothing more relaxing than the scent and sound of rain mingling with the smell of the salty ocean air.
In the time between storms, we were able to sneak away to a few different shops to buy flavored, seasoned nuts and stamps so I could mail my bills which I hadn’t gotten to mail at home since they came so darn late. Among the nutty purchases was a bag of what the store calls “Dirty White Trash.” While the ingredient lists makes an attempt at vagueness, anyone with taste-buds could tell the main ingredient (aka: convection coating) was white chocolate. Here’s the low-down on the divine deliciousness called Dirty White Trash:
Chex Cereal
Pretzel Rods
Pecans
White chocolate
Confectioner’s sugar
Milk chocolate
It appears as though the cereal, pretzels and pecans are covered in melted white chocolate, dusted with confectioner’s sugar and drizzled with milk chocolate, made much like Puppy Chow. Jordan and I are already planning our own take on this delightfully sinful treat so we have something naughty to enjoy during our Fat Tuesday weekly ritual. Speaking of, I’m not sure we’ve told you about that yet. Every Tuesday night, The Biggest Loser comes on. Jordan and I have a weekly ritual of rooting for our favorite contestants (this year, I’m rooting for everyone since the person I root for always ends up losing. They can’t all lose) while eating the most fabulously calorie-laden naughtiness. Granted, we work our butts off exercising that day and the next to make up for some of it but you need to feel like you’re cheating every now and then in order to maintain sanity. To us, it seems most appropriate to cheat on Fat Tuesday. Besides, why must Fat Tuesday only come around once a year? I think it’s FAR better to celebrate the holiday once a week.
In other news, Analeigh has come a LONG way in learning her animal sounds, numbers and letters. She likes to count to 5 with Mommy or Auntie Deb Deb and loves to listen to the ABC’s. The newest additions to her repertoire of animal noises are the crab and the goat. The goat has taken a little while to remember; for the longest time, the goat said “goat.” Now the goat says “Maaaaa!” and the crab says “Click, click, click!” all while making crabby-grabby motions with her hands. The child is superior to most other children her age… she’s pretty darn cute, too.
The first meal made post-cooking-hiatus was Jordan’s Enchilada Bake. I will be honest, at this point, and let you know that I had absolutely no hand in cooking this meal. It was quite exciting, though, as I’ve been craving Tex-Mex and this is about the most delicious Fexican (Faux-Mexican) meal you’re going to get in your own home. Okay, well I’m sure there are equally delicious Fexican meals BUT this is quite tasty (and it smells awesome, too)! There are very few ingredients which MUST be present in the dish. Those that are optional will be noted with an asterisk (*) in the recipe. Anything added to Fexican meals that you might want or anything you want to remove from Jordan’s recipe that is marked (*) will be perfectly acceptable. I’m sure you will still be quite pleased with your end result. We know that some people are kitchen-impaired so the recipe will be with suggestions from Jordan for your palatal pleasures.
Enchilada Bake
Recipe by Jordan Carey
1/3-1/2 of a 73 oz package of corn tortillas, cut in half; DO NOT USE FLOUR TORTILLAS, THEY WILL FALL APART
3 lbs ground beef
3 packets of taco seasoning
½ onion, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup, do NOT add water
2 (10 oz) cans enchilada sauce
2.25 oz can sliced black olives
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 or 2 (15.5 oz) cans refried beans*
2 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, drained*
Sliced pickled jalapenos*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef in a skillet. Jordan swears the best way to brown the meat is to brown it while still frozen. She says it gives a smaller crumble on the beef. Drain the ground beef and add it back into the skillet. Add the taco seasoning and diced onion to the skillet and sauté until the onion is just slightly softened and according to the directions on the taco seasoning packets. Mix the enchilada sauce and the cream of mushroom soup into a bowl. Spread a thin layer of the enchilada sauce mix onto the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Add all other ingredients, with the exception of the refried beans, to the enchilada sauce mixture. Place a layer of corn tortillas on top of the thin layer of enchilada sauce in the baking dish, followed by a layer of refried beans, a then a layer of the enchilada sauce mixture, finishing with a layer of cheese. Continue layering ingredients, in that order, until you’ve run out of room or run out of ingredients. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, top with cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese has melted. Place a sombrero on your head, do a little Jarabe Tapatio (that’s the Mexican Hat Dance for you non-cultural folks) and serve up your Enchilada Bake with a little Fexican flare.
The thunderstorms came rolling in, giving us some of God’s beautiful creation to watch in all of its powerful glory. There is nothing more beautiful than watching a storm come creep across the ocean, seeing the rain as it comes nearer and nearer until it’s pouring down, drenching you in delightful chill. There is nothing more relaxing than the scent and sound of rain mingling with the smell of the salty ocean air.
In the time between storms, we were able to sneak away to a few different shops to buy flavored, seasoned nuts and stamps so I could mail my bills which I hadn’t gotten to mail at home since they came so darn late. Among the nutty purchases was a bag of what the store calls “Dirty White Trash.” While the ingredient lists makes an attempt at vagueness, anyone with taste-buds could tell the main ingredient (aka: convection coating) was white chocolate. Here’s the low-down on the divine deliciousness called Dirty White Trash:
Chex Cereal
Pretzel Rods
Pecans
White chocolate
Confectioner’s sugar
Milk chocolate
It appears as though the cereal, pretzels and pecans are covered in melted white chocolate, dusted with confectioner’s sugar and drizzled with milk chocolate, made much like Puppy Chow. Jordan and I are already planning our own take on this delightfully sinful treat so we have something naughty to enjoy during our Fat Tuesday weekly ritual. Speaking of, I’m not sure we’ve told you about that yet. Every Tuesday night, The Biggest Loser comes on. Jordan and I have a weekly ritual of rooting for our favorite contestants (this year, I’m rooting for everyone since the person I root for always ends up losing. They can’t all lose) while eating the most fabulously calorie-laden naughtiness. Granted, we work our butts off exercising that day and the next to make up for some of it but you need to feel like you’re cheating every now and then in order to maintain sanity. To us, it seems most appropriate to cheat on Fat Tuesday. Besides, why must Fat Tuesday only come around once a year? I think it’s FAR better to celebrate the holiday once a week.
In other news, Analeigh has come a LONG way in learning her animal sounds, numbers and letters. She likes to count to 5 with Mommy or Auntie Deb Deb and loves to listen to the ABC’s. The newest additions to her repertoire of animal noises are the crab and the goat. The goat has taken a little while to remember; for the longest time, the goat said “goat.” Now the goat says “Maaaaa!” and the crab says “Click, click, click!” all while making crabby-grabby motions with her hands. The child is superior to most other children her age… she’s pretty darn cute, too.
The first meal made post-cooking-hiatus was Jordan’s Enchilada Bake. I will be honest, at this point, and let you know that I had absolutely no hand in cooking this meal. It was quite exciting, though, as I’ve been craving Tex-Mex and this is about the most delicious Fexican (Faux-Mexican) meal you’re going to get in your own home. Okay, well I’m sure there are equally delicious Fexican meals BUT this is quite tasty (and it smells awesome, too)! There are very few ingredients which MUST be present in the dish. Those that are optional will be noted with an asterisk (*) in the recipe. Anything added to Fexican meals that you might want or anything you want to remove from Jordan’s recipe that is marked (*) will be perfectly acceptable. I’m sure you will still be quite pleased with your end result. We know that some people are kitchen-impaired so the recipe will be with suggestions from Jordan for your palatal pleasures.
Enchilada Bake
Recipe by Jordan Carey
1/3-1/2 of a 73 oz package of corn tortillas, cut in half; DO NOT USE FLOUR TORTILLAS, THEY WILL FALL APART
3 lbs ground beef
3 packets of taco seasoning
½ onion, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup, do NOT add water
2 (10 oz) cans enchilada sauce
2.25 oz can sliced black olives
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 or 2 (15.5 oz) cans refried beans*
2 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, drained*
Sliced pickled jalapenos*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef in a skillet. Jordan swears the best way to brown the meat is to brown it while still frozen. She says it gives a smaller crumble on the beef. Drain the ground beef and add it back into the skillet. Add the taco seasoning and diced onion to the skillet and sauté until the onion is just slightly softened and according to the directions on the taco seasoning packets. Mix the enchilada sauce and the cream of mushroom soup into a bowl. Spread a thin layer of the enchilada sauce mix onto the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Add all other ingredients, with the exception of the refried beans, to the enchilada sauce mixture. Place a layer of corn tortillas on top of the thin layer of enchilada sauce in the baking dish, followed by a layer of refried beans, a then a layer of the enchilada sauce mixture, finishing with a layer of cheese. Continue layering ingredients, in that order, until you’ve run out of room or run out of ingredients. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, top with cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese has melted. Place a sombrero on your head, do a little Jarabe Tapatio (that’s the Mexican Hat Dance for you non-cultural folks) and serve up your Enchilada Bake with a little Fexican flare.
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