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!!

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

Can we say "EWWWWW!"

After

 

I love a good house project!!

Weird Facts

Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing!

More Wordless Wednesday: 1 year and 1 day ago

Photo taken January 6, 2010

Photo taken January 5th, 2011

Wordless Wendesday: Daddy hugs

"What I"m reading" (recipe)

So as of late I've been reading all sorts of good books.  Mostly fantastical, to quench my inner child's imagination.  However, I got a book for Christmas that might be one of my all time favorites....and it's a cook book!  Now, I'm not just being dramatic when I say this-but this cookbook has seriously changed my life!!  It's call "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld.  It's all about hiding vegetables in everyday meals.  I don't have time to go on and on about how much I love this book, but I will say this-Ingrid is the pickiest eater!!  I hate to admit, but she hasn't consistently eaten vegetables since she was on baby food.  It's nothing we did or didn't do, she is just a picky eater.  I have salted, sugared, buttered and done anything else you can imagine to a vegetable to get her to ate least try it, and nothing works!  So I decided it was time for another approach, and this cookbook has solved my problem!  I highly recommend it to anyone who has picky eaters, or just anyone looking to add more nutrition to their family's diet.  So far I have made pancakes with sweet potato's, grilled cheese with pureed squash, rice balls with carrots, maccaroni and cheese with pureed beans, and today-chococlate oatmeal cookies with chickpeas!  I will definitley be sharing these recipes with you...because they are ah-mazing!  On a exciting note, since starting our meal plan out of this cookbook, Ingrid has actually taken to eating raw carrots....which is a HUGE step in the right direction!  I'm over the moon! 

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

-Nonstick cooking spray

-1 Cup of firmly packed brown sugar

-3/4 cup of butter or trans-fat-free margarine spread

-2 large egg whites

-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

-1 15oz can of chickepea's, drained and rinsed

-2 cups of chocolate chips

-2 cups of all purpose flour

-1/2 cup of old fashioned oats

-1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray

2.  In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon or on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in the egg whites and vanilla, then the chikpeas and chocolate chips.  Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low wpeed until a thick dough forms.

3.  Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.  Press gently with a fork to flatten.  Bake until the cookies are golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes; do not over bake.  Transfer to a rack to cool.

4.  Don't tell your kids they have beans :)

I let these cookies cool, then tried one-and you can't even tell they have beans-score 1 point for protein!  I hope you enjoy these cookies, and I look forward to sharing all the new recipes I'm trying!