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Honey Glazed Carrots

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 July, 2014 No comment

These honey glazed carrots are a guarantee in our household. My son loves them and they aren’t bad for you. Honey is a great sweetener that isn’t horrible for your body. This is a great way to get a little vegetables with a twist to the raw crunch that gets tiring.

Ingredients

Honey
Carrots

Simple as that. Two ingredients and an oven. :)

For easy clean up I thoroughly love to line most everything with foil to make it easier on me. Line a broiler pan or cookie sheet with foil and scatter carrots on top. Sprinkle globs of honey throughout the carrots and bake at 450 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

I prefer my cooked carrots still with a bit of a crunch. :) Enjoy!

Creamy Bacon and Chicken

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 July, 2014 No comment

This is a simple go to meal whenever you haven’t planned in advanced. I made this last week and it is ALWAYS a hit in our family. Simply place frozen chicken in the crockpot and begin to cook throughout the day with a little help along the way. :)

This was a day I had the kids and was extremely exhausted between the three little munchkins and planning for my dad and sons birthday get away. This meal couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (frozen works great)
1 Italian Sausage Link (Bratwurst works great too)
1 can cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
½ lb bacon
Rice

In a crockpot place frozen chicken and sausage on medium-high heat for 1-2 hours. Once chicken has begun to thaw, season to desired taste.

Once fully cooked, remove meat from crockpot and slice into decent size chunks.

Return to crockpot.

Add cream of chicken soup and turn to low heat or if your crockpot has a “keep warm” button, use that.

1 hour before dinner, broil bacon until fully cooked and crisp. Cut bacon into medium chunks and stir into crockpot. I do this an hour or so before serving to help release the bacon flavor into the cream sauce.

Right before cooking, add in sour cream and mix well. Serve over rice.

Simply and delicious! Enjoy!

Going Through The Motions

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 30 June, 2014 No comment

Heartache is a horrible thing. The true pain life brings is scary and unpredictable. I thought I knew this world was ugly when I was in college but little did I know how ugly it could really be. The vast waters of sin are beyond my comprehension. Although my eyes have seen but a taste, I can’t fathom the root of where this evil really lays and nor do I want to.

“Our world is so big and scary out there” so they say in all the movies, but if that is true, than how much bigger is our God? How much bigger is our sin? How much bigger is heaven and how much bigger is hell? These are all questions that we get scared to think about, but the fascinating part is, this is all we should think about. Christ came for us, made us and wants to bring us home with Him, yet we get so distracted by the daily troubles of life forgetting about what truly matters.

Thanks to socialshare.com

There was a song on the radio other day that I haven’t been able to shake from my memory. It said this: “I don’t want to spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions.” I know we all can relate to this on some level or another, especially with different seasons of our life. What a horrible feeling to come to the end of your life wishing you had given it your all…but hadn’t. What if you decide today you will do your best with the Lord’s help? How would your life change, what purpose would you fulfill that you wouldn’t otherwise? What regrets would not be there and how many people might you have touched?

This one sentence brought such conviction to my heart but as the day progressed my motions slide quickly back into routine. I don’t want to let my days be a waste, my conversations be worthless and my mind to be on things that I will never remember the next day, week or months. Being married can help gauge how you are doing. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it’s not. I look back on the past couple years of marriage and see how far we’ve come. But, in the same breath I also see how we haven’t moved at all. Within those feelings I have to separate what matters and what doesn’t. Evaluating the things we’ve come far in; is it worldly items and pleasures, or is it of value? That is a tough answer for me and if I am completely honest it’s a good combination. I would rather it be of value than not. And though my combination of the two may seem good, but if you really think about it, do the worldly things even compare to heavenly things? No, not at all!

This doesn’t mean, don’t be thankful in the little things and the worldly pleasures. Christ created this world to be for His glory. I will admit, my little pleasure on a daily basis is drinking my morning cup of coffee. I get such pleasure in this and I get even more pleasure enjoying it with my husband.

Moment of Truth: Are you going through the motions, not giving it your all? How can you make little changes in your day so that when you lay your head to rest, you have confidence that whatever circumstance come your way, God will say “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Pizza Pockets

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 29 June, 2014 No comment

“WHAT??” Pizza pockets are incredible but when you buy them from the store you probably are eating 50 delicious ingredients that may not be so delicious for your body. I love a good pizza pocket and they will forever remind me of driving to Central Washington with my sister. We used to drive the long drive and stop at the half way point at a truck stop. This truck stop had the best pizza pockets to date. I don’t know how to express the incrediblness (not that that is a word) of this pocket without you actually trying it. You may be asking, how can a pizza pocket actually be delicious when it comes from a truck stop? Well, let me tell you. “It is the best I’ve ever had!!!” I’m confident my sister could verify that. :)

My sister called me on her drive to visit my parents a few weeks ago as she stopped to embark on this incredible pocket. She was reminding me of our journey together, years past. It’s probably been about 4-5 years since I actually have had it! I miss them, oh do I miss them.

Today I made a delicious pizza pocket but considering I do not hold a truck stop at my house, they are nothing alike, but they are worth making. :)

Ingredients:

Pizza Crust or Pie Crust (Homemade or store bought)
Pepperoni
Cheese
Onion, finely minced
Salami
Olives (optional)

For the crust, follow the instructions for preparation on the link above.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once the crust is made, roll dough out onto a floured surface into a rectangle.

Slice dough into rectangles.

Top with cheese

Pepperoni, salami, onions or any additional toppings.

Once you’ve added all your toppings, fold over and begin to braid the edges to hold together.

Place on a greased foil lined baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 11-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

Serve as a delicious snack with blackberry lemonade. :)

OR make additional and individually wrap and freeze. Place in toaster oven when ready to eat until nice and crispy. :) My husband loves these as snacks in his lunch.

Mediterranean Salad

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 28 June, 2014 No comment

My husband and I love cucumbers, tomatoes and rice vinegar with oil as a delicious summer snack. I’ve been making this snack all week long and decided to spice it up a bit by adding a lot more items to use as a main dish salad.

We love this salad and it is healthy, filling and fulfilling.

Ingredients:

2 cups bok choy, chopped
1 cup cucumbers, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, add bok choy, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro.

Mix together in a separate bowl, lemon juice and Oil. Pour on top of vegetables and mix well.
Rinse and drain beans; add to salad. When serving add salt and pepper.

Exhausted Mentally, Emotionally and Physically

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 28 June, 2014 No comment

Boy does the rain never stop in the lives of the Cook’s. We can’t seem to live a life that allows for a breath of fresh air. When we do things we “go big” so to speak. Between my husband and son, these past 2 years, or more specifically the last 6 months have been an utter whirlwind of emotions.

This past weekend was my sons birthday and we headed to the beach to enjoy a nice weekend away and a well needed vacation “from our problems.” Little did we know our problems were going to transpire into an exhausting, scary weekend away from our abode. The evacuation routes you often see when you head to the coast was exactly what we needed this trip…except in the form of a hospital. Unfortunately I saw them when we entered town and bookmarked it in the back of my mind hoping it was my fear stepping in; not reality. Although we tend to frequent hospitals on an all too frequent basis, Ocean Beach Hospital was a step in the right direction.

As we left town Thursday we were driving over the bridge in Portland waving goodbye to Randall Children’s Hospital opting to never arrive there again unless for the delivery of a newborn baby. Well our wish came true this weekend except that it was only granted for the children’s hospital. Stepping foot into an ER at the beach was not excluded from our list of high hopes. The day of Cooper’s 2nd birthday, he came down with a nasty “bug.” I use that word lightly as my son never has symptoms of a common cold except simply not being able to breath or talk. No runny nose, no cough, no sore throat, no ear infections no nothing is ever on the agenda. So when Cooper came down with this nasty little “bug” we were a bit disappointed as it was the day of his birth and we had planned to play most the day at the beach. Well….that did not happen. He was still in high spirits and we still had a great day.

Come evening, I lay him to rest and kissed his little lips. While playing cards with the family I checked on him and noticed he was very wheezy in his breathing; both inhaling and exhaling. It worried me but not enough to let me anxiety kick-in in overdrive. We kept playing cards and headed to bed pretty late. Less than an hour later Cooper was up and struggling to breath, sleep and simply lay still. Laying in bed with us for a bit, struggling to breath and simply not feeling good while I worried all night long if my little man would quit breathing, allowed for very little sleep. It was an exhausting night!

The following morning he woke up in good spirits and within the hour quickly took a turn for the worse. From playing to laying on the floor writhing in pain and a fever that shook my spirits was very unnerving. His breathing progressively worsened allowing for four adults to become highly concerned. Early nap was definitely on the schedule while multiple phone calls to the advice nurse took place.

My mom and I escaped for a couple hours during nap to grab coffee and enjoy the shops in Long Beach. We had a good time and also grabbed some medical supplies for the little man; humidifier, probiotics and honey sticks to coat his throat. Upon our arrival back at the house, my son just woke up to be extremely labored in his breathing to the point it was beyond scary. His little body struggling with each breath wheezing and with no vocal cords at this point was so scary. He couldn’t talk at all!

Off to the ER. We quickly arrive and immediately were seen by a doctor. No cold symptoms still causing for confusion yet again. They decided to treat for Coup and quickly give a steroid shot as well as a ventilator full of medicine. Within minutes we noticed his little voice coming back to us in a very quiet, raspy sense, but it was better than nothing.

Three hours later they send us home with strict instructions to follow up with our pediatrician. Talk of further complications such as cystic fibrosis came up which of course plagued me with fear. On the other hand, finding something that could be causing this is more of a relief than simply no answers at all. All I want is to find a reason and start treating. Now of course, I really pray nothing is wrong with my son and that we can avoid further hospitalizations but that doesn’t seem like the easy answer we will receive.

Wednesday we followed up with our pediatrician with great success, I feel we finally are in forward motion in search for answers. We have an appointment set with a pulmonologist and will be treating Cooper for croup on a preventative level. Our doctors believes Cooper unfortunately will continue to get croup and has had it previously. We will be treating on a daily basis to lessen the severity of croup as we cannot actually prevent it at all. But the goal here, is to keep us from frequent hospitalizations and labored breathing.

This is only the beginning of the long road ahead, but in some weird way I feel confident and relieved that we are seeking this further and searching for answers. Hoping his little esophagus is our only issue will require us to continue battling croup until he’s roughly 5 years old. The good news in that this condition does not have long term effects. Praise Jesus!

We will wait, pray and be thankful that as of right now, what we know to be true is bearable! I will keep you all updated with how the appointment with the specialist goes.

Moment of Truth: Life was never promised to be easy, but God did promise He will never give us more than we can handle. At many times in my life, I have felt I was on the edge and God swept in and allowed a calm in my storm. Circumstances may not change, but our hearts do. I pray my heart grows tender and I continue to seek the Lord, rather than build resentment and allow fear to take over my life.

Sweet and Savory Stuffed Bell Peppers

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 27 June, 2014 No comment

Tonight I wanted something a little different, something with a pop. I am sick of the Mexican style stuffed peppers that everyone makes. I wanted something a little Sweet & Savory for a change. I taste tested along the way until I found what I believe to be the best combination of flavors.

Tonight was a night I didn’t really want to cook. It seems as of recent with the whirlwind of life, I often have days that I simply am not motivated. With that in mind, I knew I couldn’t skimp on dinner as I have a family to feed. So, while my son napped, I cooked the meat and stuffed the peppers. When he woke up we went for a long walk and came back and popped the peppers in the oven. My son thoroughly enjoys our long walks to the dog park to watch the puppies frolic in the park or to head into the woods on the walking trail and look at the water along the way. Today…we did both.

Anyway, while the peppers cooked, I used my wonderful rice maker. I love my rice maker as it does all the work for me and gets the rice perfect every time.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (Beef or opt out for vegetarian)
1 small onion, chopped
4 medium mushrooms, diced
1 small parsnip, diced
1 heaping cup bok choy, thinly chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
Garlic Oil (EVOO works as well)
¼ tsp garlic salt
¾ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp thyme
1 tbsp + 1 tsp honey
¼ cup green salsa
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Large green peppers, sliced in half
Blue Cheese, Ranch or Sour Cream for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large skillet chop onion, mushrooms, parsnips, bok choy, and garlic.

While the veggies begin to cook on medium heat and add the meat.

Once meat is cooked and vegetables are tender, add in 1 cup of cheese.

Wash and slice peppers lengthwise and place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Use a spoon to fill in the crevasses that are hard to get.

Pile high and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes sprinkle with cheese (optional) and broil for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve with rice! Enjoy!

Fondido Burrito

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 June, 2014 No comment

I am one of those people who tend to get migraines. My mom gets them as well but even worse than I. Unfortunately, I inherited these terrible things. I can’t even begin to explain the intensity of a migraine if you have never had one previously. All you need to know is you never want to experience it. They cause sensitivity to light, to the point I need to lay in bed or I could throw up from the pain. If it doesn’t subside, I would head to ER and get a shot to help alleviate the pain.

On the other hand, I have been migraine free since I became pregnant almost three years ago. I was so ecstatic that my headaches had dissipated with the pregnancy hormones. Well….three years later, I wake up at 4 am from the pain. Writhing in bed, I finally took some medicine which at that point, was already too late. Finally, after falling back asleep for a little bit, I woke up and had to immediately put my sunglasses on to help mask even the dim lighting first thing in the morning. My head was ragging with a splitting headache directly between my eyes. Unfortunately this was typical for me three years ago.

This day in particular, was the day we celebrated our Father’s Day dinner. My husband was very specific on his request for dinner; a Fondido Burrito wet style. We have a favorite burrito place we frequent for massively cheap burritos that you cannot pass up. My husband was very specific on how he wanted this meal to look. Having my father-in-law over for dinner, was just another reason I had to make this meal succeed regardless of my migraine.

I headed for the store to purchase the items I needed for dinner, hoping and praying that my migraine would subside. As the day progressed, it wobbled back and forth but never really depleted in intensity. As the evening approached, I felt a little bit better but still not so hot. Luckily dinner was a success but definitely took time to prepare as I was lollygagging around trying to keep my thoughts focused on the task at hand.

Ingredients:

Burrito Assembly:

1 medium onion, diced
Spanish Rice
1 ½ cups black beans (16oz can works as well)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 large burrito tortillas
Green or Red Enchilada sauce
1 ½ lbs stew meat
Tomatoes
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Hot Sauce

Marinade:

2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp itallian seasoning
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ cup Teriyaki Marinade (Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki)
¼ tsp Paprika

Put together the marinade along with stew meat in a large zip lock bag. Marinate over night or at least for 5 hours prior to cooking.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large pan, saute onions and garlic until tender.

Once onions and garlic begin to cook add in meat and cook over medium-low heat. Cook until no longer pink.

Note: The higher the temperature, the more tough your meat will become.

Allow the juices to soak in and continue marinating while cooking over med-low heat.

Meanwhile, cook Spanish rice and prepare black beans. Once meat is thoroughly cooked, on a large tortilla assemble a large spoonful of meat, rice and beans. Add cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, tomatoes and cilantro and fold up edges. On a large foil lined broiler pan, place burritos and cook for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

After ten minutes take burritos out and top with cheese and enchilada sauce. Turn oven to broil and cook until cheese is melted and burrito begins to crisp up.

(Sorry for the lack of pictures during assembly, I was completely distracted by conversation with my father-in-law and my migraine.)

Serve with homemade chips and a fresh salad.

Luckily, even with my migraine, my husband was completely satisfied with his dinner of choice and it exceeded his expectations. :)

Father’s Day Weekend

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 June, 2014 No comment

Yes, Father’s Day has come and gone but can’t we still celebrate it more than once a year? Okay the real reason I am posting about Father’s Day two weeks later is because our lives continue to take the roller coaster ride and apparently we never want to stop and get off.

Between a sick child all the time and leaving town for a long beach trip, I finally got around to Father’s Day weekend. :)

For father’s day weekend we went out to one of our favorite breakfast places, Cafe Du’berry. They have great breakfast for a good price! They have always had amazing food and most of the time we get the same thing. Although, this time, Cooper is old enough to eat his own little dish and boy was I impressed with their french toast. It was beyond amazing. I think the toast was homemade with a lemon-egg mixture that the bread soaked in before cooking. I would never order french toast when out for breakfast but this french toast is something I would consider ordering next time for myself. It was that good! :)

Here’s Cooper and Daddy waiting and playing patiently before breakfast arrived.

I ordered a dungenous crab omelette. It is and was always delicious. They use massive chunks of crab with an incredible sauce that makes your mouth simply water. It was so big I shouldn’t have ate the whole thing but I did was uncomfortably full afterwards but comfortably satisfied.

Cooper decided he wanted to play on the tables outside of the restaurant after eating. That lasted about a minute as he wanted to get into all the sugar packets and crumple them up and toss them on the ground.

Stopping at Fred Meyers on the way home, daddy put this 4th of July hat on Cooper and although he always looks adorable….. HE HATES HATS!!!

We had a good morning with breakfast and ended the day with a round of golf! :)

Happy Father’s Day honey, I love you!

Silver Falls

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 25 June, 2014 No comment

We went to Silver Falls a couple weeks ago and couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was BEAUTIFUL and the best weather possible. We had such a good time and Cooper couldn’t have been more entertained. Cooper has an obsession with water and this was exactly what he needed to keep him more than entertained. He kept asking for “more wa.”

This was the first waterfall we came upon. It was beautiful and a very short little walk.

We decided to walk towards the large falls and see what was in store for us. As we walked along the way this was the calm part before the storm, or shall I say the enormous waterfall that laid ahead. Cooper enjoyed slapping the cool water while his little brain soaked in the beautiful scenery.

Finally we approached the enormous waterfall that began to get really loud the closer you got. It was a huge fall and with my fear of heights, I had to keep my eyes ahead, not down.

As we got closer I noticed the walk behind the fall that you can embark on. I was terrified as it looks very narrow and deathly from here. I kept telling Michael he can walk it if he so desired while Cooper and I stay behind. But as we got closer the path was very wide and actually really incredible.

Here’s Michael walking ahead to test it out!

This is the view from behind the fall. We made it! It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was incredible. Unfortunately it was also extremely loud. It sounded as if I jet engine was taking off right above you. Cooper’s little ears began to hurt so we quickly walked through after a few photos.