The DeMars Family

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

3 weeks old.....

..............5 weeks old

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Last night I made another recipe out of my favorite cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, and it was awesome! I'd do a back flip, jumping jacks, and somersaults to tell you how much I adore this cookbook-but I think you get the point. Packed with protein, and cheesy goodness-this is definitely one of my favorite macaroni and cheese recipes of all time.

INGREDIENTS

-1 1/2 cups of whole wheat elbow macaroni

-1 Cup of nonfat milk (we used whole instead, because of the little one)

-1/2 Cup of navy beans, chickpeas, or white beans, drained, and pureed

-Non stick cooking spray

- 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

-1/8 teaspoon each of garlic powder, paprika, & pepper

-Panko bread crumbs, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook according to package direction until al dente. Drain in a colander

2. While the macaroni is cooking, combine the milk and beans in a food processor and process until pureed.

3. Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and set it over medium heat. Add the bean/milk mixture to the pan and cook, stiring until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cheese and cook until melted and creamy, 1 to 2 m inutes. Stir in salt, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper. Stir in macaroni and serve warm.

Okay, here is where I changed the recipe a bit. Instead of serving just like that, I transferred the mac and cheese to a greased casserole dish, added a few frozen pea's, and topped with panko bread crumbs. The I baked at about 375 for 35 minutes or until top is golden brown. I love a little crunch! I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Engagement-Anniversary

5 years ago today I got engaged to my best friend. I wish I could say it was even a semi-interesting story. But it's not. We've been together since we were 16, and pretty much knew since then that we were destine for matrimony. It went a little something like this:

Michael and I were sitting on his bedroom floor after our class (we were living in MPLS at the time going to college), and he said "What should we do".....then we talked about going to go buy a ring and make it "official"....so off we went to the Rosedale mall. We bought a engagement/wedding ring (which I later sold for something more plain. Yes, I have no attachment to things like that-to me it was just a bunch of rocks that some 13 year old kid from Africa was forced to mine-not really into that). We bought the ring, went out to dinner at Perkins, called to tell our parents...and the rest is history. Almost 5 years of wonderful marriage and a pretty cool co-creation named Ingrid Nightingale.

Monday

What a day...and it's only 12:30. Ingrid is down for a nap (1 hour early), so I am going to take a little time to unwind and hopefully rejuvenate by the time she wakes up. I know that we are probably moving again in the next year, but I've been wanting to do some fun DIY decorating in Ingrid's room. I'm not going to go nuts or anything, we won't even paint. But I've been looking around for some inspiration and here are some photo's that I liked....

I also found some fun DIY wall art projects that involve mushroom and birds (after all, her middle name is Nightingale, so some cute birds are necessary). Should be fun!!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Home Projects

It always seems that whenever we move into a new house or apartment there is a lot of projects that need to be done. I'm kind of picky (not snoty, just picky) and when we moved into our new apartment that bathroom cabinet was atrocious! Something had to be done. It was old, dirty, and covered with splatters of paint. Luckily our landlord gave us the OK to perform some serious TLC on it. We cut plywood and layered the bottom cabinet to create a "false bottom" so that it was clean and useable, then we went to town with the paint! I love what a little paint can do. We brought a dead and rotting peice back to life with just a little elbow grease.

Before