Weekend Yumminess

I've been working really hard at cooking my breakfast and most of my dinners at home during the week. Even on weekends I've been doing pretty well. My usual go to is a Trader Joe's whole wheat cinnamon raisin English muffin, a couple pieces of Trader Joe's Black Forest Bacon, egg whites, and coffee. But on weekends I like to get a bit fancier but I still like simple so I go for German Pancakes. This is such a quick recipe you could even make it on a weekday as a treat. I started with the recipe from Redhead Recipes but since it is just me I've cut it down a bit...

Original Recipe:
German Pancakes (adapted from allrecipes.com)
3 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Place butter in 9x13 baking dish and place in oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining ingredients in blender, blend until combined. Once butter is melted, remove baking dish from oven. Poor in batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with strawberries, powdered sugar, or maple syrup!

My Variation: 

(basically I just halve the recipe)

1 1/2 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

Place butter in 8x8 (or 9x9) glass baking dish and place in oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining ingredients in bowl, mix with an electric mixer until combined. Once butter is melted, remove baking dish from oven. Pour in batter. Bake for 15 minutes. (check it, it should be full cooked with a bit of golden brown on top) I sprinkle it with powdered sugar and eat it with Trader Joe's real maple syrup.

As I read this I'm realizing I may have a problem. I am addicted to Trader Joe's. What can I say I like good food at good prices.

Menu Planning Monday - Week 3

I've just gotten back to menu planning. So I was excited when I saw this! This week is actually a bit of a crazy week for me work wise so I'm trying to keep it fairly simple. For better or worse the weather is making me crave warm and savory comfort foods. So here is the plan...

Monday - Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken with Trader Joe's Brown Rice (very easy to make...you throw the chicken on a cookie sheet and bake it and the rice goes in the microwave)

Tuesday - Ms. Arnita's Meatloaf (I'm not a huge meatloaf fan but I love this meatloaf...it is yummy and relatively easy)

Wednesday - Leftover TJ's Mandarin Orange Chicken (there is something like 2 1/2 servings in the bag so I'll have that to use it up)

Thursday - Leftover Meatloaf (It's even better the next day or two...I'll put some single serve portions in the freezer for use at a later date)

Friday - Leftover Chili (I made a crock pot of chili last week and put some in single serving containers in the freezer so all I have to do is reheat them)

Saturday - Dinner Out

Sunday - I'll have Easter Dinner with Mom either at her house or we'll go to Cinebistro for dinner and a movie

Want to join the fun? Head over to The Young Retiree and Taingamala and link up!

I took a bite...out of Apple

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I've been using an iPod for about 6 1/2 years (yes I was a bit late to the game), I started using an iPhone about two years ago, and now I'm using a MacBookPro at work. I have to say I'm an Apple girl and I like it. I wasn't so sure about the MacBookPro because I've used a PC for years but I've become very accustomed to the Mac quite quickly.

Then there is the iPad. I'd like to say I fought the good fight and resisted temptation. I'd like to say it but I can't the truth of the matter is plain old envy kicked in and I couldn't resist. So J got me one for my birthday/Christmas present per my request. However, the joy of being a deployment spouse is sometimes you get to shop for yourself. So on Black Friday I went to the Apple Store and bought myself an iPad 2. I promised J I would wait until at least my birthday (Dec. 16th) to play with it. Well being the sweet husband that he is he said I could go ahead and open it and play with it. So of course I did. I love it!

I confess the two apps I use the most are my kindle app and the dropbox. Oh and of course Angry Birds lol.

So what are some of your favorite apps?

I'm Back...and Coming Soon!!

Well hello there...

I didn't realize how long I had disappeared. I confess I've missed it. I've missed you guys. And I hope to become more regular about posting again. So I thought I'd give you a heads' up on what will be coming soon.

• The story of my husband's final R& R! (yes the next time he's home he's home for good)
• I Will Thrive: Surviving Deployment
• When Your "Deployment Spouse" gets a better offer
• Understanding a calling
• When God speaks to you...and you don't listen
• Yummy recipes
• My status on the Couch to 5K program
• My "race" schedule
• Furbabies
• The reality of not dealing with it
• The beauty of technology
• The beauty of a cleanish house
• and more...

Sweatin' Like It's 1980...

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I'm not an exercise person. Ok I've said it. But I know that exercise is important for your health and to lose weight. So I've been in search of something that would get me motivated to go. I am still working on the walking/jogging for 5ks, etc. but I wanted something else to give me some exercise. So when a Groupon popped up for our local jazzercise classes I decided to give it a try.

I went to my first class last week. I love it! It is so much fun. I felt like a goof because I didn't know all the moves but I liked it. It included stretching, aerobics, and some strength training. I'm looking forward to using the rest of my Groupon then I'll decide what to do from there.  

I am also wanting to try some of the aqua aerobics at the Y too just to see how those are. I know they say variety is the spice of life and I think for me that is so true with exercise. 

What is your favorite exercise?

O Christmas Tree...O Christmas TreeMy M

My Mom's Tree

This weekend my brother was in from England. He had to come to the states for work and decided to make a jaunt down for a long weekend visit. It was nice to see him. I miss him. And we had a lot of fun and laughs. He through us for a loop on Friday because he said he wasn't getting here until 8:00 pm and he showed up at 4:30 pm. But it worked well. We had a lovely dinner and spent some time at Mom's house which was fun.

Saturday I had to work in the morning. So my brother had breakfast with our Dad and then Mom, D (my brother) and I went and did some shopping after I got off work. Then we had dinner at a yummy BBQ place. 

On Sunday we decided we'd have a later start because we wanted to go across the water to do some shopping. D bought Mom and I's Christmas presents while he was here. (it's hard knowing what's under the tree and not being able to play with it) Shopping and lunch took longer than expected because the restaurant was slow and Pandora (our main shopping destination) was crowded beyond belief. We decided later we should have started there not ended there. But oh well. We came back to this side of the water and had yummy Mexican food at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Then we went back to Mom's and decorated the tree. 

Mom hadn't put up a tree for the past two years due to the divorce she just wasn't feeling it. This year it was nice because we decorated it as a family. Although Mom and D gave up hanging ornaments and just unpacked them so I did a lot of the "decorating." But it was fun and it made Mom happy. She says she really likes having a tree back. 

J and I haven't put up a tree together. We haven't quite figured out where we would put it. But we also don't have a tree. This year when I was helping Mom pick out her tree at Walmart I saw a tree that I think would be cool. I may go get it so we have it for next year. It is a black Christmas tree with white lights. 

Have you put up your tree yet? Do you do it the weekend of Thanksgiving? Do you wait? Do you take it down New Year's Day? 

The Beginning of the "Lasts"

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It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is Thursday. How time has flown. And yet in some aspects of my life time has moved slowly. On September 28th of 2010 I put my husband on a plane for Japan to begin his 3 year geo bachelor tour. This year begins the beginning of the end. This Thanksgiving will be the last Thanksgiving I spend without him before he is scheduled to come home from Japan. It is hard to believe. It seemed like such a long time to have him gone and it was. But the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. For those of you with loved ones near by appreciate them and let them know you love them. For those of you with loved ones far away you are in my thoughts. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!