Nuts and Bolts

Tomorrow we are going over to Joe's aunt and uncle's house for an after Christmas get together.  I volunteered to bring an appetizer, but we have had so many different dips lately that I thought something munchy would be better. Somehow I remembered the amazing Nuts and Bolts that my Grandma Eisele used to make around the holidays.  Luckily one afternoon before she passed away I was at her house and asked how she made it.  I quickly wrote everything down...ON A NAPKIN.

Yesterday I pulled out my trusty napkin and began to prepare a grocery list.

6 TBS butter
2 TBS worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 C Corn Chex
2 C Rice Chex
2 C Wheat Chex
2 C Cheerios
1 C cashews
1 C bite sized pretzels
1 C garlic flavored bite sized bagel chips

After I returned from the grocery store, I realized that it is quite simple to make...
First you heat the over to 250 degrees.  In an ungreased roasting pan, melt the butter in the oven.

Then stir in the seasonings.  I added the seasonings and then whisked it all together.  Gradually stir in the remaining ingredients until they are evenly coated.

 Bake for one hour, but you need to stir every fifteen minutes.

Spread onto paper towel to cool, and then store in an airtight container.

This stuff is phenomenal! I believe you can find it on the back of any of the Chex Mix boxes (at least that is what my mom said)...however I just find it in my cookbook on the napkin that I wrote it out on four or five years ago.

Giveaways

I have never blogged about a giveaway before, however let's be honest: I am fairly new at this blogging stuff anyway! I do love to read other blogs and sometimes I wonder if my blog is going to stay something that only a few friends check, or if one day I will have people reading about my rants that I have never even met...

It is Christmas Eve and this year I am 1200 miles away from partaking in my normal Christmas Festivities...however I have been spending a lot of time with my in-laws and even my cousin who I don't get to see enough of, so while I feel sad to not be with my parents, I feel very blessed for the time I have with these loved ones!

And speaking of blessings, VeryJane is going to bless three people with some amazing prizes right after the New Year! Check out the deal and enter away! You can have up to 10 entries (and possibly more if you check the giveaway page daily):

https://veryjane.com/giveaway.htm

Good luck!!!

Monica's Eggs

This morning I was feeling ambitious, so I woke up early and made an extra special breakfast. I call it Monica's eggs because my friend Monica made this egg concoction the weekend we all stayed at her apartment in Chicago for my (and Andrea's) bachelorette party. Monica and Andrea grew up calling this breakfast "Mrs. Johnson's eggs" because Mrs. Johnson (whoever this genius of a woman is) was the one who introduced it to them...

Anyway you start by hard boiling eight eggs and cooking the bacon.

I found a blog on Pinterest where she baked her bacon...ummm that is SOOO smart! 400 degrees for 20 minutes...and they're done! I did the bacon for 25 minutes because I wanted it extra crispy.

Then you sauté the onion in some of the bacon grease (I just used the same pot that I hard boiled the eggs in).

Crumble the bacon

Dice the eggs

Add the cream of mushroom soup, and milk and bring to a boil.

Add the cheese, eggs, and bacon

Toast the English muffins and scoop the egg mixture on top.

Enjoy!!

Here is the recipe in review:

1 lb bacon
sm onion (minced) -or less
1 large can (26 oz) cream of mushroom soup
8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
soup can filled with milk
12 oz sharp cheese, shredded
English muffins

Cook bacon. Set aside and let cool until able to crumble.
Use 1/2 t of bacon grease to sauté onion. Drain.
Add soup and milk. Heat to boiling and then add cheese. Add chopped eggs and crumbled bacon. Stir and simmer.
Heat English muffins in broiler or toast in toaster.
Pour hot sauce over muffins and serve.

Sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Best if warmed up on the stove rather than microwaved.

Scrooge

So I had the most WONDERFUL time while I was home in Michigan...to the point that when I returned I haven't wanted to listen to Christmas music OR decorate.  I haven't been in the mood.  I know it has only been two days since I have been back, but the homesickness feeling crept back as soon as we crossed into Minnesota on the drive.  Luckily, Joe was sleeping so I could keep my feelings to myself.  When I left to go home, it was 60 degrees in Minnesota.  When we returned, there was snow on the ground and it was a whopping 20 degrees!  Brrrr!

Since it is cold, I thought I would start small with the Christmas decorations and ease into the Christmas music.  (I mean who would have thought that I wouldn't want to listen to Christmas music on the Christmas radio station?!)  So I just purchased Blake Shelton's new Christmas CD on iTunes...it's pretty much amazing! So far my favorite is #11...HOME (featuring Michael Buble...I mean, it has been a favorite song of mine in the past anyway!!)  I also got out my Christmas candles to burn.  It was fun for me to be able to use the candles I received from Tyler last year as a Christmas gift from my classroom!  That's probably as far as I will get today.

Hopefully I will get into the holiday spirit sometime soon.  Otherwise we may not even have a Christmas tree this year.

Ok enough of that...

Happy Third Birthday Bailey!!!

Wow I have been home for 52 hours and I have already been to the vet, Flint, East Lansing (twice), Pleasant Lake, and back to Jackson.  Needless to say I have been a little busy.  It is 11:25PM and I JUST remembered that today is November 17th!  (Actually I remembered earlier when I wished both of my favorite Casey's with a "C", a Happy Birthday)...and Kacey if you read this, you are my favorite Kacey with a "K"!

Ok, back to the point.  Today is November 17th!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Baileyyyyyyyyy, Happy Birthday to you!!  (In my best singing voice!!)

Gosh I just love my pup!  I can't believe it took me all day to give her her birthday treat!!!

Election Day

I have to admit, I didn't do the majority of my research until this morning.  Joe and I watched some of the debates (but I was easily irritated and didn't end up watching it all).  Reading about the candidates and the proposals was much easier than hearing about it.  With that said, I made sure that I felt confident in who I voted for tonight.  So not much crafting was done today....however, tomorrow I can get back to my crafting all the while knowing that I did my part in helping to decide the outcome of our future.

Tonight I have been spending my time watching the live updates on the huffingtonpost.com  I have also been watching NBCnews Decision 2012 on TV as well.  I have to admit that I am slightly confused though.  They are showing in Blue the states the Obama has won, and they are showing in Red the states that Romney has won.  What I don't understand is how they can claim the state has been won when only a percentage of the votes are in?  For example, right now it says "17% is reporting" in Minnesota.  However, it also says "Obama won".  There is still 83% that still has to report their votes... Truly I have no idea how the state has been "won" if all the votes aren't in yet.

Either way, I did my part...did you do yours?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  While I didn't get to celebrate Halloween by parading through town with a classroom of monsters, princesses, superheroes, and movie characters, I do get to at least see smiles on some kid's faces tonight during trick or treating!  Joe and I are going to his cousin's house to pass out candy with Dan.  I think I might wear my Casey Sterle inspired Spider costume since it is easy to put on and wear.

The BEST part of the night though is at 7PM (at least here in Minnesota)...I'm not sure if Joe and Dan agree...but they'll deal.

IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN!!!!

Tick Tock

After we watched the Tiger's get swept by the Giants tonight in the World Series, we quickly turned off the TV (I wasn't in the mood to listen to any of the interviews).  I figured I would just go to sleep.  Well then my mind just kept right on going with all the things I needed to do tomorrow.  Luckily, Joe had already fallen asleep and hasn't flinched once since I turned my little end table light back on.  I made a list (which has filled the ENTIRE 8.5x11 paper) and then turned the computer on for a couple more Christmas gift ideas on ravelry.com and pinterest.  

Somehow I ended up on Facebook....then I ended up reading blog posts...which led to a new discovery!  I have had these little "timeline tickers"  from pitapata.com and daisypath.com for awhile now...they are apps that I have on my Facebook page.  However, I never knew that I could also put them on my blog!!!  (This excitement is more for myself than for anyone else...just an FYI).  So after a little reading, I figured out how to add them.  Now my anniversary ticker AND my Bailey ticker are at the top of my blog for your reading enjoyment! (haha, I know it was a joke!)

October is full of Football, Pumpkins, and even Baseball!

It seems like our days and evenings have been spent in front of the TV for hours on end lately!  I am not complaining though, we have have had endless amounts of excitement from watching the Detroit Tigers play in the playoffs!

A few days ago we went over to Joe's cousin's house for dinner.  We were able to celebrate with a Detroit Lions win on our way over to their house.  I think we might have watched the Vikings, although I can't quite remember.  I was busy chatting. (surprise surprise).  We DID watch the Tigers though...I can remember that.  During dinner we decided to go get some pumpkins to carve.  I was super pumped because I had seen a Detroit Tigers pumpkin carving Template online earlier and knew that I wanted to try it out on my pumpkin.  When we were searching for templates online, (Here is the Detroit Tigers Pumpkin Carving Template) we saw the old school Tiger logo

And I thought it would be awesome to do this one...however, look at all those little spots I would have had to cut out!!  I think that option is way beyond my skill level!  *Although, I do have to give credit to my friend Megan who did her pumpkin like this!!  She posted a picture on Facebook and I was HIGHLY impressed!! Way to go Megan!!*

Anywhoo, after I decided to do a Tigers pattern, Joe decided he wanted the Michigan State "S", and Dan wanted to do the Minnesota Twins logo.  Katie stayed true to Halloween, and did a super fun Bat sitting on top of a pumpkin.  

It was seriously such a fun night!!  If these pumpkins don't last until Halloween, I think I might get some more pumpkins and have Joe and I carve pumpkins all over again...Yep that's how much fun I had!!

I saw a video yesterday online where it was suggested to rub cinnamon on the lid of the pumpkin and when you burn the candle inside the pumpkin, it will make it smell like pumpkin pie!  Yum!  In the same video, they also suggested spraying hair spray on the pumpkin (where it has been cut) so that it seals the pumpkin and it won't mold...or at least it will reduce the mold growth.  Just a few ideas for those of you who still have yet to carve your pumpkins this year!

Oh and the Tigers play again tonight...Eat 'em up Tigers!!  

Updates and Picture Taking

So I have thinking that I haven't put any pictures on Facebook for my project 365 (which I titled "Last year of my 20's").  And although I have been taking my daily picture, I can't post them.  Then I started thinking about how I haven't blogged in awhile, I have been doing things and taking pictures of the before's and after's...but I can't post those either.

WHY?

Because I have been spending my time working on Christmas gifts.  Yep!  It's not even Halloween.  But I can tell you that I have four Christmas gifts finished, and five more Christmas gifts started.  I have pretty awesome pictures of these things too.  Unfortunately I won't be able to post anything about them until after I give them away.  I don't want to give out any hints, the best part of gift giving is seeing the look on the recipient's face when they open it!

So until then:

It's been awhile

Initially I was thinking it would be awesome to have daily blog posts, then when a couple of days went by with nothing screaming at me to write about, I thought "well, let's aim for a weekly blog post".  I messed that one up.  It's been awhile since I have posted on here.  Let's aim for monthly now.  I had one post in July, one in August and now it is September.  

I was lucky enough to be able to go home last weekend.  It was AMAZING!  Joe was golfing all weekend so Bailey and I packed up and headed home for a little relaxation.  Baile's and I are back in Minnesota now and it probably will be two months before we can go home again this time.  Until then I will just keep up with my random day to day activities to keep me occupied.  

Today, I have been looking into making an ottoman out of a pallet and some 5 inch foam that I got at a garage sale last weekend.  Turns out I won't be able to make it after all.  Apparently there is a pallet "rating" that determines how safe it is to be around the pallets.  The one that is sitting in the other room is rated "HT"- (heat treated), which also means it was treated with Methyl Bromide.  Methyl Bromide used to fumigate wood pallets is harmful to humans and causes respiratory, kidney and neurologic/nervous problems.  Ughhhh, yeah, I don't want any neurologic/nervous problems OR really any health issues at all.  So I will be getting rid of the crate....but no worries because I have 75 inches of 5 inch foam.  At JoAnn Fabrics that would have cost me $150!!  I bought the entire thing for $5.  Pretty darn good if you ask me.  I will make my ottoman...I just need to find a suitable crate (or I could upcycle an old coffee table)...

Another item that my mom and I got at a garage sale last weekend was a love seat for $30!!  It is now sitting proudly in my brother's old bedroom at home.  

My mom can now have her very own reading nook in the house!  I guess it is more appropriate to call it a reading room instead of reading nook...but regardless it is pretty exciting!  She has all these built in bookshelves that are just screaming to be filled with books!!  I am picturing the "library" from Beauty and the Beast right now and I keep thinking that my mom is going to have it!!  

Ok so it will be scaled down quite a bit, but a girl can dream right?!  Stay tuned to see the outcome of the DIY ottoman...I will be sure to take pictures as I go along.

Welcome to Minnesota

Well I have been here for nine days.  Yep I am counting!  Yesterday we went to the Tigers/Twins game and it was the first time I went into downtown Minneapolis, let alone drove into downtown Minneapolis...during "rush hour" nonetheless. That was fun.  

First let me tell you that there are all kinds of highways around here.  So to top off the fact that I am driving at a high rate of speed, there are also all kinds of cars around me, merging onto the highway, exiting off the highway, getting into "carpool lanes"...it was stressful.  So I get downtown...then I had to deal with the fact that like every other street is ONE WAY.  Joe informed me that there are a lot of one way streets at home too, (but in my defense...those one ways don't count because I had grown up dealing with them). hehe.  I managed to find a parking spot and Joe found me. In fact I ended up parking like a block away from his building.  (Lucky me!).  We went to the game and the Tigers lost :(  But we are going back tonight so hopefully they will rally with a win.  

Ok but to be completely honest I decided to make a post today because I have been really working on organizing the apartment.  I have been reading organizing blogs and checking out ideas on pinterest.  So far my favorite organzing blog is orgjunkie.com.  She has seriously been an inspiration! I kept thinking about all the containers that I have used in my classroom just sitting in storage now that we have moved and I don't have a classroom, and so I decided to try to make use of them.  Check it out: 

 Here is my closet where I have labeled tubs!!  WOW!

 I have a serious Bath and Body Works problem.  (And this doesn't even show the soaps and candles...but in my defense some of them have been gifts!) :D

 Isn't the corner of the bathroom counter pretty?!  I saw someone on pinterest suggested using a cake stand to display bathroom items.  I just happen to have one of those handy!!  All my brushes went into a school container (hence the primary color) and my curling iron, curling rod, hairdryer and straightener all went into the basket we received as a wedding gift a few years ago.

Here is a picture of my utensil drawer in the kitchen.  I really wish I would have taken a "before" picture to go with my "after" picture (Rookie mistake).  But the little containers that used to go on the tables with crayons in them in my preschool classroom now house my utensils in an organized way! Wahoo!!  

I think I am on a roll.  Stay tuned to see what else I can do with my excessive amount of time here! 

I grew up in the fabulous state of Michigan.  My husband grew up in both Minnesota and Michigan.  We have spent the first three years of our marriage living in my hometown in Michigan and are about to relocate back to his hometown in Minnesota at the end of the month.  I am coming to terms with not being able to spend time with my friends and family on a whim anymore, but I know that I will get to go back home often.  And I mean Minnesota does border Lake Superior, so technically I can still say that I am living in a Great Lakes state!

I came out to visit Joe this weekend (he has been living here for two months with his aunt and uncle) and we drove around town (and by town I mean a town that has 70,000 people in it....Holy Moly that's double the amount of people that live back home!!).

Let's talk about some of the similarities: There is a Target (who wouldn't be happy about that?!), they have garage sales (did I mention that is one of my favorite past times?!), and we still have family close by.  Now to be completely honest, the Target store is called a "Super Target"...and let me tell you it is JUST LIKE Meijer!! I am pretty sure that I am not going to have any issues with "grocery shopping" anymore.  And after talking to Joe's aunt, the garage sales out here are just as awesome as back home.  Apparently even the shops get involved and have sales in the neighborhoods with last year's leftover products at super discounted rates!

Stay tuned...I am sure I will find more similarities, I just have to adjust to settling in.