Apple Cinnamon Pork

For Friday night's meal, I threw the apple cinnamon pork into the crock pot. I know I had planned on the three pepper pasta sauce, but Josh decided to have pork. Which is the great thing about having ready made meals in the freezer. They are interchangeable! Now, the beef stroganaff was easy, but this, this recipe is a breeze! It only require a few ingredients and honestly, a kid could put this one together.

Apple Cinnamon Pork:

6 boneless pork loin chops
4 medium Golden Delicious apples, sliced
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place pork in crock pot. Cover with apples.
Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle over apples. Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours.

DONE.

Now, this was not an instant favorite at our house. Josh let it cook for the whole 8 hours on low. The pork got a little dry and the apples were mushy and the apple skins were really chewy. The flavor was great though. So, I'm going to try it one more time. Next time it will only go for 6 hours and I'm going to dice the apples rather than slice them. That way there won't be any skin, and maybe they will produce a little more juice for the pork to roast in. If we still aren't thrilled about it, no big deal. At least we tried.

Maybe you guys out there have other suggestions?? I'd love to hear them.

 

Beef Stroganoff

I realize this is not a good picture at all. While getting dinner ready, I was also getting ready for work, and totally forgot to take a picture of it in the pan. Sowwy. 

Beef Stroganoff. One of my favorite meals growing up. This was the very first time I made it, and it was soooooo good. So good in fact, that when I got home from work, there were no left overs. Good thing I took some for my dinner, huh? 

This meal takes about  at most 45 minutes total to make and all you need to go with it is your favorite type of noodles. Easy. 

Here's what you need:

Stewing beef or a good roast, cut into small cubes

1 onion, chopped

1 can of beef stock (14 oz)

Sliced mushrooms

Sour Cream ( 16 oz.)

Salt

Pepper

Flour

Olive Oil ( 2 tablespoons)

If beef is not already in small cubes, cut into cubes.(The kind I got was already cut, but there some REALLY big pieces, so I just cut those down. 

In a small bowl, mix together a small amount of flour, salt and pepper (to taste). I also used some of McCormick's Chicago Steak seasoning. To get the beef flavor. 

Combine this with the beef cubes, to get them lightly coated.

In a large frying pan, heat Olive oil. Add beef and brown.

When beef is browned, add onions and cook until onions are tender. 

Pour in beef stock, cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 20- 30 minutes.

Add mushrooms and continue simmering.

In the meantime, start your noodles and get them cooked. 

Last, add your sour cream, stirring constantly. Start with half the container, about 8 oz. If it does not thicken, take some of the sauce and put it in a side bowl to cool down. Add a little more flour and some sour cream. Pour back into the frying pan and continue to stir.

Put beef mixture over noodles, and serve.

Enjoy! 

This was a big hit in my house and really easy to put together. I can't wait to make it again! 

Mighty Mouse

This was written last night. For some reason, it did not post til today when I realized it had not posted. Enjoy! 

That's my nickname tonight. Yes, I realize Mighty Mouse is a boy...but to be honest, I like him a lot better than Wonder Woman. Every woman considers themselves Wonder Woman from time to time, why not Mighty Mouse? I digress.

After sleeping in most of the day (it's okay if i worked last night, right? Right.), Josh and I got up and got some errands done. Well, one errand done, since the bank was already closed when we got movin'. (Yes, early evening. bah.) Our cupboards were bare and for the remainder of this week, and all of next week, Josh will be staying home for reasons I'd rather not get into. I had the brilliant plan to have meals fixed for him, so he would not have to worry about what he was going to do for dinner. Especially since I would have the car, and he would have no money. So off to the grocery store we went, (first we stopped for a bite to eat, you can't ever go to the store on an empty stomach. I take that back, you can, it's just very costly.)

We got home, I got to work on dinners, and Josh fixed the clogged sink.

After two trips to the store and a few hours spent in the kitchen, I not only had a working sink, but also 4 meals  in the freezer, dinner in the oven for tonight, dinner planned for tomorrow (to be made BEFORE I go to work), and other frozen meats put away so that Josh and grill anytime.

I am Mighty Mouse.

Here's what's on the menu:

TONIGHT:
baked ham
pasta salad
California mixed veggies in butter sauce with salt and pepper
Rolls

Now I'm not going to lie. The ham was pre-cooked and only had to go in the oven for about 30 minutes. The pasta salad came from a box, and the veggie were frozen. A pretty easy meal? Sure. But that gave me lots of time to put the others together.

THURSDAY:
beef stroganoff served over bowtie noodles

FRIDAY:
spaghetti with home made three pepper tomato sauce

SATURDAY:
shrimp jambalaya served over white rice

SUNDAY:
cinnamon apple pork chops

MONDAY:
cook out/ go out (I will also be off on this day)

TUESDAY:
chicken teriyaki served over white rice

Impressive, yes? I thought so. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday's meals are all in freezer bags, sitting in the freezer waiting to be cooked. All we have to do is throw the contents into the crock pot in the morning, set it to low, and 8 hours later, Josh will have a nice, hot dinner ready. I'm stoked.

I'll do daily posts of each meal and the recipes, just in case you out there would like to try them out, too!

Again, I am Mighty Mouse. ha!

April Birthdays

There are a lot of special people that have their birthdays in April. I wish I could spend each day with these wonderful friends and family, but unfortunately I can not.  But each of you are always in my thoughts and I love you all very much.You bring laughter and smiles to my life and without any of you, I would not be who I am or where I am. I wish we could spend more time together, but when we do see each other it's like no time has ever past. I hope you all have the most memorable and fantastic birthday, I love you all!

Katie Herndon, April 2. 

BFF Jill, Penis Fish. Words can not, and will never, be able to express how much I love your face. But these pictures help. I had the best time picking these pictures, I could have made a whole post filled with pictures of us. WAAAY too many to choose from. I laughed. I laughed a lot. 

     


     

 

Mom O'Dell, April 7

I couldn't ask for a better Mother-in-Law. Since the first day I met Josh's mom, I was a part of her family. She is sweet, loving, and nurturing. And if it weren't for her, Josh would not the man he is

 

Ashley Pirkle, April 21

We've been friends since first grade. No matter what, I know there will be lots of laughter when we are together. And even still act like 6 six year olds most of the time. I wish I had more pictures of us from earlier days on my computer, but there are definitely some classics. You are the best and Mason is so lucky to have a mom like you. Loves!

Amy Horne, April 28.

I love your face. You and I have been through a whole lot of fun times, sad times, and some of the best memories of our lives. We became friends by chance, but I am sure lucky that it happened. I can't wait to see what else is in store for our friendship. You da best. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL! 

 

Working Out- Week 1

Here's my recap of my first week at doing this work out thing. I slacked at the end of the week a little, but that's just because of work.

Sunday April 1: walked 1.6 miles in 30 minutes, burning 90 calories
                         used dance workout DVD for 30-45 minutes.
                       

Monday April 2: walked 1.7 miles in 28 minutes, burning 99.4 calories
                           used my Wii Fit for 30 minutes

Tuesday April 3: During the day: walked 1.309 miles in 22 minutes, burning 74.6 calories
                          During the night at work: walked .954 mile with a total of 23.5 minutes, and burned 54.4
                          calories.

Wednesday April 4: walked 1.375 miles in 23 minutes, burning 78.4 calories
                               did crunches, bicycle spins, push-ups, and some stretches for 30-45 minutes

Thursday April 5: During the day: walked 1.309 miles in 22 minutes, burning 74.6 calories
                            used the Wii Fit for 30 minutes
                           During the night at work: walked 1.274 miles with a total of 33 minutes walking time, and
                            burned 72.7 calories

Friday and Saturday I forgot to take the pedometer to work, but I'm guessing I walked about a mile and burned probably 50-60 calories each night.

I haven't really started a food journal yet, but I intend to. This week I did really well by not going for fast food, and trying to make healthier choices when picking my dinners, especially at work. And I have been sticking to my  one soda product a day and being really really good about only drinking water after that.  I have yet to weigh myself since using the Wii Fit on Thursday, but as of Thursday morning I dropped 4 lbs. AMAZING!

Hopefully I can keep this up!

Let's Get Physical...Physical!

Is the song in your head now, too? Good I'm not alone!

Sunday, while out with my mom shopping, I decided I have a had enough of being unhealthy. I'm not really sure what flipped the switch, maybe it was trying on clothes and not being super pleased with how it looked, or finding great deals on workout stuff, but something changed that day. I have been saying for a over a year now (since I was giving a Wii Fit and planning the wedding)  how I want to get in shape and be healthier, but never actually doing anything about it. Times are a-changin' my friends.

After Mom and I got back to my house, we put on some workout clothes, laced up our new walkin' shoes and headed out to conquer the hills of Fairfax Drive and Azalean Drive (About 1.5 miles, pretty good startin' out if you ask me). She even came over after work on Monday to do our walk as well. It's hard at first, especially on Monday when we were so sore from Sunday, but I love pushing myself, and feeling more awake and energized. I didn't get to do anything yesterday because I had to work. However, I did get another walk in this evening and worked out in the living room for about 30 minutes.

Now, in order to make sure this just isn't another one of my phases, I'm going to ask you guys to help keep me accountable. I'm going to try my best to post a weekly (let's be honest, daily is just a bit annoying) journal of how far I've walked, how long it took me, what other exercises I did, and maybe even a little bit of a food journal. If anyone has any comments, or words of wisdom and advise, please share them with me. I've never been one that likes a "typical" workout, but that's just because of dance. Dance class and practice was my work out. I don't have the endurance for something that extreme quite yet, so anything helpful will be much appreciated! Since I started on Sunday, I will try to post  my journals on Sundays. I'm actually really excited about this. EEK!!

Maybe I can even get Josh to join me....maybe....

 

April Goals

I'm not even going to subject myself to a March Overview. It would be depressing to see how little actually got done. There were a few things that finished around here, like our kitchen reorganization project. However, the dining room only got half done. Josh and I did get to have not one, but two date nights. Rather than staying home like we usually do on our Wednesdays off, we decided to hit the town. Nothing extravagant, just hanging out at our normal spots; but still, a night out for us. We also had our friends, Sarah and Jerry over for dinner and game night. I have also been keeping up with my savings of 25%. It's amazing how quickly it adds up, and how much easier it is to pay off some outstanding debt. So, that was what was done in March.

Now April is here, the weather is WONDERFUL and work is just gonna get busier and busier with each week. Rather than making up new goals, I am repeating ones from last month. Be on the look-out though, there will be a couple news ones crammed in there. Let's take a peek, shall we:

ME:
-Read more. (I obviously can't get an exact number of books read, so we'll try just reading more this month)
-Wake up in the A.M. and get movin'
-Limit to 1 soda product a day
-Start trying to eat better
-Work-outs (check back for more about this)

US:
-Date night with Josh (even if at home)
-Be patient with each other

Home:
-Clean and organize the dining room
-Redo dining room chairs
-Make Lola's doggie bed
-2 new recipes

FUN:
-Visit Josh's family at the end of the month
-Dinner with friends
-Lunch with one of the girls

MONEY:
-Save 25% of weekly earnings
-Pay off one credit card


Okay, so maybe I added more than a couple of things, the list looks longer than last months. But really most of this stuff is just trying to change daily habits and form better ones, right? Not a whole lot of things that need to be completed. Right. That's what I thought, too. Well, we shall see.