Seventy One

We are on vacation! It's been so nice to not have to wake up early to get going....usually I can steal some extra sleep but Joshua never can so I know it's been nice for him. We have been home in Austin since Thursday and we are leaving today to head to DC for a week of educational fun ;) I'm so excited to see one of my best friends and get to just relax for a few more days. We've got lots of things to see in DC as well as the Army Birthday Ball that we're going to! I've got my hair appt, my dress, and my shoes so now all I need is to find a cute clutch and we'll be set! So exciting. Once I get some pictures, I'll have to update! That's all for now! Xoxo, Hannah

Orange-Sesame Chicken

This is one of our favorite asian food recipes that uses stuff that's in your house...I don't have to buy a ton of bottles of crazy asian sauces to make this. It's great. I usually double the sauce recipe so that we have some sauce with our rice. I also usually stir fry some veggies (either a bag of frozen or some fresh) to go with it.

Orange Sesame Chicken

Found on blogchef.net

Verdict: Really good. It's not spicy in the slightest so might want to add some kind of chili flakes if that's how you like your food.

1.5lb Chicken Breast Tenderloin Strips (cut into cubes)

Batter for chicken:

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg beaten

2/3 cup water (or as much as you need to make batter smooth)

3 TBSP Cornstarch

2 sticks of Crisco baking grease (used to to fry the chicken in a skillet)

Sauce (amounts are already doubled):

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup honey

4 tsp sugar

3.5 TBSP white vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

1 cup water

juice of 1 orange

tsp garlic powder

sesame seeds (to sprinkle on finished product)

In a large bowl, combine batter ingredients and mix well. The batter should be thick enough to cover the chicken but thin enough for your chicken to flow easily in the bowl. 

Dump cut chicken pieces into large bowl of batter and mix chicken around making sure each piece is covered.

Deep fry chicken in heated Crisco oil for about 4-5 minutes or until cooked all the way through and golden brown.

In a medium sized pot, mix together sauce ingredients. Cook over low-medium heat until sauce is thick and bubbly. Mix in chicken pieces and top with sesame seeds.

Homemade Cookout Potato Salad

I'm not a mayonnaise person.. Let me say that again, I am NOT a mayonnaise person. At all. In fact, the thought of it is revolting. BUT- this recipe is really good. I love it and most everyone else seems to love it, too!

Homemade Cookout Potato Salad

3.5 lbs red potatoes cut into 1in pieces

8oz sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Boil the potato pieces for 10 minutes or until a fork can easily slip into the pieces.

Drain and lay them out onto a cookie sheet to cool while you get the sour cream mixture prep'd.

Mix mayo, sour cream, onion powder, garlic powder, sprinkle of salt and a pinch of pepper in a bowl. Mix in green onions.

Crumble and smoosh 1/3 of the potato bites and then hand mix them into a large bowl with the rest of the potato pieces. Toss in the large bowl with the mayo mixture. Allow to set in refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Verdict: I really like this potato salad. My mother always had mustard in hers and had the potatoes all mashed but I really like the chunky potato pieces and (dare I say it?!) the fact that there isn't any mustard!

Gooey Caramel Brownies

I found a recipe for these on Pinterest....and decided to change it up a bit.

Gooey Caramel Brownies

1- 18.25oz box brownie mix

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (more if you are a choco-holic)

1-14oz bag of caramel candies (I used half a bag of these from Hammond's Candy Factory. Except I used just regular caramel instead of the Mitchell Sweets.)

2/3 cup evaporated milk separated

3/4 cup butter melted

 Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, stir together the brownie mix, melted butter and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Pour and press (depending on how wet your mix is) half the batter into a greased 9x13in pan reserving the rest of the batter. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven.

Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, combine caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and set aside.

Remove first half of the brownie mix from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. pour caramel mixture evenly over the chips and Crumble (or pour) the remaining dough over the caramel layer and return to the oven to bake for an additional 15-18 minutes.

Cool in refrigerator to set the caramel before cutting into bars.

Verdict: These were super tasty and even got the thumbs up from a friend of mine's little boy. THAT means it's good! The taste of these was amazing. The only problem I had was the altitude. It messes with everything I bake and this was no exception. It didn't make it quite as fluffy and brownie-like. Instead, it was sticky but I'm not complaining...it was so good!

Seventy

We have a sweet new addition in our family. He's been with us since Dec 23rd, but I haven't gotten a chance to introduce him here...properly :)
His name is Sirius. Sirius Black!

He's 8 months old and black except for a couple little stray white hairs. He's spoiled rotten and is my little partner-in-crime. He sleeps above my head at night and usually likes to wake me up early to be pet and loved on even though I'm exhausted and just want to sleep! He's a minx, but I adore him.


We are moved and almost completely settled in our house on post. There are a few more things we'd like to get taken care of, but as of right now, I'm fully content with this! Joshua really likes his job here in Colorado and I'm really liking the way things are going for now so it's a good thing. In March, I got a chance to visit one of my best friends who lives in DC. It was a super awesome trip and I am dying to go back. When I got home from said March trip, I showed Joshua all my pictures and he was hooked....completely! We are going back in June! I can't wait. 
Here's a couple from my trip in March. It was such a good time and I got to experience things that I never thought I would!

 The cherry blossoms

 The National Cathedral

 The view from the top of the cathedral

 Ashley and I at the top after the 30 story Tower Climb

 Sprinkles cupcakes

Arlington National Cemetery

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Lincoln Monument

 The Library of Congress. Aka- the largest Library in the United States and second largest in the world!

Our Capitol! Was amazing to see in person...but then I remembered that the Texas capitol is bigger and it made me a little happy ;)

Whew. That was a lot of fun! There was so much more that I did, but don't want to bore you with all the nonsense!

I have a couple NEW recipes to share! I can't wait!

xoxo

Sixty-Nine: Panko Fish Sticks

Panko Fish Sticks

Rating: Delicious

Location

1 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup all-purpose or whole-wheat flour

4 egg whites, lightly beaten (I have used less egg whites and was fine)

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 1/2 lb grouper or cod, cut into 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) slices

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 ˚F (200 ˚C).


In shallow dish, combine panko, paprika and walnuts. In another small dish, place flour. Whisk together egg whites and canola oil in third dish.

Season fish with salt and pepper and brush with Dijon mustard. Dip fish in flour, then egg and oil, and dredge in panko mixture, pressing firmly to coat. Place fish on lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes evenly when tested with fork.

Review: These are delicious and one of our favorite dinner treats. It's the classic meal that takes you back to your childhood but definitely has an adult twist. The pecans just make it even better. The recipe originally called for walnuts, but I'm a pecan girl, not a walnut girl so I switched it up.

Sixty-Eight: Meatball Sub Casserole

Meatball Sub Casserole

Rating: Good

Online Location: http://www.brendascanadiankitchen.com/2011/05/meatball-sub-casserole.html

Directions:

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound ground beef

1 loaf (1 pound) Italian bread, cut into 1.5-inch slices

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar (28 ounce) spaghetti or marinara sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

In a bowl, combine onions, bread crumbs & parmesan cheese. Mix in 1LB beef. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes until no longer pink.

Arrange bread in a single layer in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish (all of the bread might not be used). Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, Italian seasoning and pepper. Spread over the bread. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella.

Combine the spaghetti sauce & garlic; add meatballs. Pour over cheese mixture; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Review: Tasted good. I made the mistake of using french bread and it didn't turn out as well as it would have had I used the Italian bread. Was really good and moist. Joshua and I both agreed that we'd make it again. Leftovers were gone in the next day.

Sixty-Seven

Update!
I haven't updated in months. Like literally, MONTHS! How depressing. Sure there's not many who read this, but that's okay. I will just talk to myself!
First update, Hess (Joshua's very good friend from Korea) was living with us for the first 3 months we were here at Carson. It was stressful but I'm glad we could help house him in his hour(s) of need.
My best friend, Ashley, came and spent Thanksgiving weekend with us. We had just moved into our house so we were literally dodging boxes everywhere we walked but I was so glad to have here there. We had been living in a hotel for the entire month previous to that and I had been stuck with two boys. Needless to say, I NEEDED to have some girl time.
It's so nice to finally have our house...an American house! There's not much about it that I don't adore. It's so nice to have an oven that I don't have to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit every time I want to cook something (I still remember that it's 180C when you are trying to cook at 350F).
Let's see...what else is new?
Oh! I know! Sirius!
Sirius is our newest addition to the family. We got him about a day after he turned 3 months, on December 23rd. He is now 4 months old and a definite mama's boy. He sleeps with me (won't sleep on Joshua's pillow..only mine) and will fall asleep at my feet while I'm washing dishes. He's such a little cutie and we just adore him. He's black with grey white behind his ears and his back is a bit peppery. He's got little grey and white hairs mixed into his black fur on his back. I always tell people he looks like a 45 year old man who just started to grey.

^This is our sweet Sirius Lupin Delp

I am job searching but haven't had much luck yet so for right now I've just been doing the housewife thing. I make sure lunch and dinner are done, floors are clean, clothes are washed, and our pantry is stocked. It's been a lot of fun but I really would like to find even just a part time job.
I've got a few recipes to add to the blog, so I'll be doing that over the next few days. :)
Xoxo,
Hannah

Fifty Seven

Sorry I've been MIA for a while! We are home on leave and about to head up to Colorado. Once we get there and can get a break, I'll update more! Lots to talk about :)
Xoxo,
Hannah

Mini Ice Cream Sundaes

This was our dessert for our mean on Thursday! They were SO yummy and I got tons of compliments on them!
Mini-cookie icecream sundaes.
1 pkg pillsbury Ready to Bake sugar cookies (24 pack-break and bake)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (I used a shaker of sprinkles instead)
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam (I didn't use this either)
1 1/2 cups vanilla bean ice cream
24 fresh raspberries (I used cherries instead)
1 can whipped cream

Grease mini-muffin/mini-cupcake pan. Place one cookie dough round in each muffin cup. Bake 12-14 minutes on 350F
In a small bowl, microwave choco chips uncovered for 80 seconds stopping and stirring every 20 seconds until smooth.
Let cookies cool in muffin pan about 20 minutes or so before removing. To remove-run knife around edges or cookie (I didn't do this because with the pan greased, they came out very easily)
Dip the rim of each cup into the melted chocolate and then sprinkle sprinkles around the edges. (If you were using walnuts, at this stage you would dip the cup into the chocolate and then dip it into the chopped walnuts)
In another microwaveable bowl, microwave jame uncoverd for about 15 seconds until melted. Spoon half a tsp into each cup. (I did not to this step)
Freeze on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set.
Spoon small scoops of ice cream into each cup. When ready to serve top with whipped cream and a cherry (or raspberry) on top.
I got this recipe from Pillsbury on the back of their cookie package and it was so very great. I changed it up a bit as the original recipe didn't even call for whipped cream, but seriously, how can I not have that?! I'm sorry I don't have a link for it! I do have a picture though!

Fifty Six

....wow. It's been exactly a MONTH since I last wrote. Holy macaroni. Things have been beyond busy. I leave here in exactly one week from today to head back home before our big move to Colorado. Joshua has finally started the 'clearing' process of making sure that everything here on post is settled and ready for us to leave! I have started slowly packing and our movers will be here on Sept 14th to pick up all our junk to move it to Fort Carson.

We are ready but I have to say it's bitter sweet. Sweet to go home, see family, start on our new adventure in CO, but so bitter to leave these sweet friends of mine and this easy-going way of life. We are happy to get home to the land of dollar aisles but sad to leave this place we call home and these people we call friends. I'm intrigued to see how our Colorado adventure turns out!

When I say this past week has been busy, I mean- it's been BUSY! Let's start at the beginning.

Last Wednesday (Aug 31), Joshua's battalion took a trip to the DMZ in Seoul. We had a BLAST! I love history so when we got to the DMZ and actually saw the North Korean soldiers first hand, I was in awe. We got a look at Propaganda Village and the buildings where the presidents of each country meet to sign paperwork and to have peace talks. We saw numerous monuments and saw the bridge of no return. Amazing. Truly amazing.

The DMZ. North Korea is in front of us. The three soldiers farthest from us are North Korean soldiers. The 3 soldiers closest to us are South Korean soldiers.

South Korean soldier guarding the door to North Korea...as if any of us actually want to go there :P

Propaganda Village

Then Friday, we went with Joshua's unit to Everland theme park in Suwon. Suwon is a city about an hour or so train ride south of Seoul. We went to the theme park and then went to the water park. Was a lot of fun!

The water park

Me in one of the picture places

Joshua and his friends on a ride

Joshua and some of the guys.

Saturday, Joshua and I traveled down to Busan. We hung out at the beach a little and then went to the really big aquarium. It was a lot of fun and nice little getaway.
Sunday we took the train in and I got off a stop early and met some of my girlfriends for lunch and pedicures. We are all slowly departing Korea so we met to say goodbye to one of our girls. :( It was a nice day but sad for the reason we were meeting. Monday (Labor day), Joshua, me and a few friends met up at the pool on post, grilled out and swam. It was a lot of fun! Tuesday, we went to Woobang Theme park which is here in the Daegu area. It was mostly filled with rides suited best for the little ones, but it was a lot of fun nevertheless. We really enjoyed ourselves. Wednesday morning, I had coffee with the girls as the one last thing we could do before any of us left and then that evening, we ate at grill-your-own-steak night at the bowling alley. That was a lot of fun, as well.
Tonight, we are cooking for the guys. Broccoli, rice and cheese casserole as well as 'funeral potatoes' and a new dessert that I'm testing out.... will update with the recipe soon :)
Okay, I've spent so much time writing all this that now I've got to get started cooking in preparation for tonight!
Off I go! Hugs! We'll be home soon!
Xoxo,
Hannah

Fifty Five

One week down and only a couple more to go! Since we have officially received orders, we were able to get Joshua's flight. So exciting! One step closer to home :) We have a meeting to go to before we can figure out what day they will come and pick up our household goods that they will move to Colorado for us. This is all so exciting. I am leaving a little earlier than Joshua so I am about 5 weeks out from my date of my flight :) Woo!

In other (semi-less exciting) news, this past week, I cooked the ever-yummy broccoli, rice and cheese for the boys. This week is going to be a little different. This week, we have a birthday and someone who's leaving. We are doing two cooking nights. Tuesday, we're going to make homemade lasagna with homemade bread sticks (I'm going to try and make cheesy bread sticks) and we'll also have salad and pink stuff for dessert. Then, on Thursday, it's going to be a mix of a going-away party for one of the guys and a birthday party for another. We're going to have mexican food night. Tacos, taco salads and I'm going to try my hand at enchiladas. I'm sure they won't be so fabulous, but that's okay. These boys tend to be easy to impress. lol. For dessert, I'm going to make a flan. Yum! Flan is one of my most favorite dishes!

Anyways, I'll let you know how it turns out! It's sure to be fun no matter what.

This Friday, I went out with some girlfriends to say goodbye to one of the ladies. We ate dinner and chatted for a while. Afterwards, the group split in two. The two ladies I went with found a shoe store that had shoes that actually fit me (Heaven!!!!!) and went to the accessories store nearby. After we had our fill of shopping, we ran and got some Baskin Robbins ice cream. Yum! It was lots of fun and relaxing. These are the memories that I will cherish when I get back to the states and aren't with them any longer. Just silly little evenings, but meaningful none the less. Saturday, Joshua and I had a date night. We went to Daegu, ate dinner, stopped at a little cafe to have some cake (they had red velvet! Yum!!) and then walked around a bit. We ran into some of our friends from Waegwan and so we stopped to chat with them a little. It was a nice night out. I really enjoyed it.

Do I have pictures? Why yes, yes I do :)

The restaurant we ate at. Italy Italy. It's pretty good italian food.

Joshua enjoying his alfredo.

My heart-shaped pizza. I figured it was appropriate for our date night out :)

The red velvet cake we had for dessert!

I just thought this was interesting....I found a "Sex and the City" clothing store lol. It's not legitimate or actually have any sex and the city style clothing, but I thought it was cool that it had the name.

Okay, I'm off to go read some. I'm working on the Twilight series for a while just to get myself back into my 'reading zone'. Will write again when there is more to tell :)

xoxo,

Hannah

Fifty Four

Woo hoo! As of today, I am officially 45 days away from being back home (Joshua is officially 53 days away). We are excited and trying to get everything in order with the Army to make sure we are ready to leave this place when our date comes up and then we can head to our new home... Colorado!

I have been mapping out our route to take to get to Colorado Springs from Austin. Just over halfway in our trip up, we will pass through Amarillo. I, personally, have never been there, so we decided to stay overnight and do a little sight seeing. They have some really cool places that I'm excited about. First, Palo Duro Canyon. I've always heard of it but never seen it. I am beyond ecstatic to know it's just south of Amarillo. The next exciting place is The Big Texas Steak Ranch. It's a large (cheesy Texas) restaurant with a motel attached. I checked prices on the motel and they're pretty cheap, so that's where we'll stay overnight. I think we'll have fun doing the silly cliche Texas things that we've never done before.

Probably the best thing about Joshua is that he just goes along with the silly things I want. He's really flexible and as long as it's not awful, he'll do it. He's so much fun and I can't wait to experience these little things with him.

Other than officially having our orders and trying to get things ready for the big move home, we haven't been up to much. Joshua was gone this past week to a field mission so last week was dead boring. This week, he is home so I am MUCH happier.
I finished the entire new collection of 5 books that I bought. I ordered some new ones to help take up some more time while I'm off work and Joshua is working. I got those in very quickly! So this is my list so far:

Hunger Games-finished
Catching Fire-finished

The Mocking Jay-finished

Sarah's Key-finished

The Help-finished

The Time of the Butterflies

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Vampire Diaries (1st book)

Room

I'm currently working on The Time of the Butterflies. So far, it isn't half bad! Hopefully these books will help hold me until I can get home to America and head to Half Price Books or at the very least, a Barnes and Nobles!

Well, that's all I have for now. Until next time :)

xoxo,

Hannah

Homemade Fresh Peach Jam

I have stolen a recipe. A delicious recipe. From: here. It's a recipe for homemade peach jam.
I made a white peach jam with this recipe and it turned out quite well.
Here are the steps in case you don't want to link over:
2lbs (or 8) peaches
2 tsp lemon zest (I didn't do this one)
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 cups sugar

-Blanch peaches.
[How to: put peaches in boiling water for exactly one minute, no more, no less. Remove and place peaches in cold water bath for one minute, no more, no less.]
-Peel peaches, cut out the seed and cut peaches in to slices
-Put peach slices, lemon zest and lemon juice in large pot on low/med heat.
-Cook for 15 minutes or so until the peaches are soft and juices have been released. Once peaches are soft, smash with a potato masher or spoon. (I used potato smasher)
-Once your fruit has been smashed into mush with small pieces, add your two cups of sugar and stir until dissolved.
-On Med-high heat, bring mix to a boil. Cook for 5 or so minutes, stirring constantly.
-After 5 minutes, reduce heat to low-med and allow to slow cook (not boil) for 40-60 minutes (I did 22 or so minutes).
-Remove from heat and allow to thicken.

Enjoy :)

All of it went as planned as said on the recipe except blanching didn't work on my peaches. Not sure if it was the fact that they were white peaches instead of yellow or if maybe my peaches weren't ripe enough (or overripe). The second thing that didn't go well was the last step: putting it on low heat and letting it stay warm, but not boil. I couldn't get my pot to stop boiling so after 20 minutes, I cut it off and it still turned out very well.. maybe a little more 'watery' than what they wanted it to be, but it's really tasty.

Now for the pictures!

First step, cutting and peeling the fruit.

My lovely chopped peaches!

Peaches in the pot

Slowly being smushed into submission :)

Just before I let it simmer over the stove....almost finished!!

Finished products. Just as delicious as it looks!

xoxo,
Hannah

Fifty Three

This past week and weekend have been so busy. Joshua was gone all week on a field mission and it seemed that no matter how positive or happy I tried to be, every day something worse would come along. By the end of the week, I was defeated so I was happy to have Joshua back home.
During the week while Josh was gone, I had dinner with a friend of mine (whose hubby was gone, too) and her little ones twice. First at our house and then the next night, we ate at her house. It was nice to have someone over to our house since that's such a rarity due to the fact that we live so far away from everyone.
Late Friday night, Joshua and I went to Daegu and saw Harry Potter.... *sigh* Loved it but was so sad that finally Harry was over. All those years of reading and it's finally done.
I have been reading a lot. I ordered 5 new books from Amazon about 2 months ago. When they finally came in two weeks ago, I picked them up and haven't been able to put my books down.
I have read The Help, Sarah's Key and am starting on The Hunger Game series.
This past weekend we went to the Boryeong Mud Festival. Now, THAT was interesting. It's basically just a bunch of people getting together getting really drunk and really dirty. I didn't do much of either. I sipped on my water bottle and got a little muddy. Joshua, however, drank a few beers and got VERY muddy. I didn't get in any of the pictures that we took because I knew how yucky I looked, BUT I'll post some anyways :)
The prison you climb into and get sloshed with mud every 2 seconds..
The aftermath of the prison

The aftermath of the mud wrestling pit

Joshua's face all calico looking from half of the mud drying and the other half being fresh! haha

That's all for now..
xoxo,
Hannah

Fifty-Two

Gosh, over two weeks in between postings! I feel like I'm slippin'! We have had a nice past two weeks. This past weekend was lots of fun. We celebrated July 4th with a much needed 4 day weekend. This (much needed) four day weekend was then followed up with a 3 day work week for Joshua which meant our weekend came again even sooner. It was nice to have him home for a while.
I've been busy just working/volunteering and all the housework that is still necessary here in our little casa de Delp. Washing clothes, washing dishes and keeping the house clean can be hard work sometimes! Sigh. Other than that, we are just counting down our time left in Korea. In 5 days, it will officially be 2 months left for me! I think it will be bittersweet. I've gotten so used to being here and living this way- no car, no family, no best friends and yet still being able to survive. It will be weird to go back to the states and have a car, my family and my closest friends all within the same continent. Not really sure how it will be. I think I'm in for some major reverse culture shock. Waiters that actually come by your table to check on you and refill your drinks, sales people that don't follow you around the store, not being watched as I walk, people being able to overhear any of my conversations because they will all be able to speak my language. Oh how odd it will be.
The next three weeks will be high-stress.Joshua's schedule is: this week Tues-Fri in the field, the next week mon-fri in the field, the 3rd week mon-fri in the field.
Could they take my husband away enough? I swear he's not supposed to be deployed yet, they treat him as such. Oh well, I guess I'm just glad I have him all the other time and at least he'll be home on the weekends. That is definitely something to be thankful for.
This week for the boys, I'm making chicken and dumplings. Not sure how it will turn out as I have never made it before. My back up dish (in case I fail miserably) will be tatertot casserole. Yum! I may just make the tatertot casserole just so that I can have it even if we don't eat it.
Anyway. That's our life from the past week or so. Will write again soon.
Xoxo,
Hannah

Fifty-One

So much to say in such a small amount of time to say it!
First, I will start off with my discovery today. I realized that one of the COOLEST Sunday school teachers from my Junior and Senior year lives in Colorado (where we are being stationed after Korea). Also, used mapquest and discovered that she's only an hour away! I am BEYOND excited. I haven't seen either of her boys that she had since I graduated high school and I can't wait to meet them. She and her husband are really cool, down to Earth, God-loving people. They are JUST the kind of people we need to have when moving far away from home :)
Second, we had dinner with the guys yesterday. We had a summery and childhood type meal. Sloppy Joes, french fries, corn, and peach cobbler.
The sloppy joes were delicious. I ground and browned 3 lbs of meat, added 3 cans manwich and added in one can of pork and beans (an extra addition that I threw in from a suggestion on a recipe that I found). There were 8 of us all together and almost ALL 3 lbs of sloppy joes were gone. I made LOTS of to-go plates for the boys and sent them on their merry way. Hopefully they enjoyed their dinner again tonight.
Nothing exciting has happened. I am waiting on a big package in the mail: books! LOTS of books!! Okay, so maybe only 4 books, but still- BOOKS!!!! I can't wait for them to hurry up and arrive. I've been waiting almost 3 weeks and they still haven't made it here :( My best friend sent me a package in the mail. In the package, she sent me Water For Elephants (the book). I read it in three days! I have been yearning for more books ever since. I love reading. Book worm over here, for sure!
I made some snickerdoodles 2 days ago, so I will post the delicious recipe here soon. I also have a recipe (and pictures) for my peach cobbler that I made for the boys so I will post that soon, too.
Off to shower and get to bed. Will update with pictures soon :)
Xoxo

Meatloaf

...I was going to take a picture, but then it was gone before I could! Ha :)
My meatloaf recipe probably is nothing special. My mom gave me a recipe and then Joshua and I just altered it to our tastes. On any given night, I can say "How about meatloaf for dinner?" And his response is always "Yeah!". Needless to say, it's one of our favorite dishes.

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
8-10 croutons crushed by hand
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
Mix all together in a bowl. I usually add most of the Barbecue sauce but leave a bit left to drizzle on top.
Press meat into bottom of loaf pan and drizzle last of barbecue sauce on top of the meat mixture.
Cover loaf pan with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

My grandmother adds a can of Rotel tomatoes and peppers to her meatloaf. That would be a great variation to this already 'Texas style' dish but Joshua (and I!!!) are not spicy food type people so we veto this addition.

Om nom nom
Enjoy :)

Fifty

I had a ladies movie night at our house in Waegwan tonight. All the hubby's stayed home and kept their kids while we hung out. I tried my hand at popping pop corn on the stove top. (It was okay.. Some of it tastes a bit burnt to me, but oh well.) We ate chips and salsa, homemade popcorn and some cupcakes! I made some yummy cupcakes that I found the recipe for on the Kraft food website. They were white cake cupcakes with cool whip frosting then I cut up marshmallows and pieced them back together to make it look like pop corn on top. They were cute and I felt the need to share it with everyone tonight :)
I took a picture of them, so I will have to share soon :)

EDIT:

Caramel 'popcorn' (caramel dribbled on top of the marshmallows), Plain 'popcorn', Buttered 'popcorn' (half a cup of water and 3 or 4 drops of yellow food coloring brushed on top of the marshmallows give them the yellow color!)


There is one recipe that I have tried numerous times only to have it flop every. single. time. Pudding. Seriously, pudding?! How hard could it be, right? Well it was apparently difficult for my mind to comprehend.
When mom came to visit, I had her show it to me again. And finally it clicked! Now I have been on a rampage of pudding making. I have made it 4 times since mom left. LOL! That's 4 times in one and a half weeks!!
This was the ubber yummy banana pudding that I made!


All for now.
Xoxo,
Hannah

Tater Tot Casserole

Last night, some of the boys came over. We ate tater tot casserole. It was my first time making it. I couldn't find a recipe that I thought would be fabulous, so I just created my own. :)

Tater Tot Casserole

1 32oz. Bag frozen tatertots

2 cups cheddar cheese (seperated)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 lb ground beef

2 green onion stalks

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon garlic salt(we REALLY like garlic :))

Preheat oven to 350F

Brown beef

Cover the bottom of a greased 9x13 with the browned beef. Top with salts and slices of green onion.

Layer chicken soups and 1 cup cheese on top of beef.

^Meat and soups before cheese and tater tots

On top of soups and beef, press in tater tots. I didn't end up using the entire bag, just about 3/4ths or so.

Top off tater tots with 1 cup cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until tater tots are cooked and cheese has melted.

^The finished product before the oven

The boys LOVED it. Usually, they eat one helping and they're through. They ate two BIG helpings. I had to make them stop going back for more so that the others would have some left! This was definitely a hit and will be made again soon.

Yum!

Enjoy :)

xoxo,

Hannah