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Simple White Sauce

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 March, 2014 No comment

Simple White Sauce is an easy recipe for any pasta dish you make that deserves a good white creaminess.
I made this tonight and Michael acted as if I’ve never made it before. :) Even after our sweets for the night he couldn’t stop talking about the sauce.
Tonight I made Seafood Alfredo with ceaser salad. It was quite tasty and even Cooper who hasn’t been eating partook in this meal as well. Made my soul happy.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups milk
2 tsp garlic salt
1-2 tsp Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan add cream cheese and butter and begin to melt on low heat.

Once half melted, add minced garlic.

When fully melted add milk and simmer on low heat, whisking to get any remaining lumps.

Add garlic salt, paprika, salt and pepper.

Mix with any pasta dish and enjoy!

Life is Short

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 25 March, 2014 No comment

8 weeks ago I met my mother-in-law for the first time. My husband has had no contact with her for roughly 27 years and little did we know that she lived less than a mile away from his previous work location. Through the no communication there has been a lot of emotion and pain that has had to be addressed for my husband. As the years have past he hasn’t actually had to fully deal with it…until now. Back in January my husband received an email from her stating that she has been very ill and doctors informed her she has only 6-9 months left to live. This shocking news struck my husband to the core. He was speechless, lifeless and full of emotion. Immediately responding to her email we headed out to visit her that following weekend.

She had been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer that had been so aggressive it has taken over her entire body. Through this tragedy, we have been getting together with her and her husband for the past 8 weeks allowing Cooper to put smiles on the everyone’s face in the midst of the heartache.

This past Sunday we were headed out for our weekly visit but as we hadn’t heard back from her in a week, we decided something must be wrong. We emailed, called and emailed over and over hoping to let down the anxiety of “what ifs” we held in the pits of our tummies. My parent’s came down specifically to meet her and be a support to my husband in the midst of this heartache. As we pulled up to the house our conversations fizzled instantaneously as we all process an ambulance sitting in the driveway. Immediate fear plagued my husband and I as we slowly approached the doorway where a stretcher sat. We quietly walk in hoping for the scenario to be better than our fear.

There stood 3 gentleman speaking to Marlin, Cathy’s husband while he looked white as a ghost trying to hold his bearings together. Cathy sat in her chair beyond exhausted, breathless and full of pain. That morning she had collapsed to the ground hoping it was from the medication but would not know anything further until she was under surveillance at the hospital. She spoke with us but definitely was so tired and struggling to get many words out. We hugged and kissed her goodbye as they drove off to the hospital.

Little Cooper terrorizing the backseat of our car while my parents tried to entertain him finally came to an end. My parents brought him in and met Marlin. He explained the condition and how the previous week had panned out. We hoped for the best knowing that the ultimate result still remained the same which none of us wanted to address.

24 hours passes and we receive a phone call from Marlin last night giving us our official update. We find out she is progressively getting worse and what happened earlier this week was due to her cancer taking over. My husbands face turned white while the fear plagued his body unsure what words to form next. How do you continue a conversation that has an end result of utter sadness and loss? Both a son and a husband exchanging words about a woman they are about to lose. Watching this play out while I prepared dinner and distracted Cooper was very difficult but knowing I need to be the strong one for the night, I did my best to accomplish this task.

The reality of life is a sad reality. We all come into this world as a helpless babe, while at the end of our life for the most part, brings us full circle back to that same position; a helpless babe! How does one process this reality? Where is the hope for those left behind? The many questions and utter sadness fills the room longing for it to simply be “okay.” Knowing at some point it will be okay, it is still a new normal that will be forced to take place.

My prayer is for those who are left behind is to see the Lord working “all things together for good.” Knowing her fate and feeling confident that the Lord has rescued her and she has a hope to look forward to; perfection with Jesus! The condition of our souls needs to be re-evaluated as we face the reality of death and although most of us want to pretend it doesn’t exist until absolutely necessary, it is a topic that makes people squirm but it’s a good thing to think through asking yourself if this was your last day, do you know where you are going?

Moment of Truth: Life is a challenge in and of itself. Do you live in fear or walk in confidence knowing your life could end at any moment and where your fate lies? Hold tightly to the truth of why we are alive and here on this earth, one purpose; glorify God.

Babies are Cheap?

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 24 March, 2014 No comment

Although my son is almost 2 years old, I felt the need to share this all with you since this is what my experience was becoming a new mother…

Haven’t we all heard the grumbling that babies don’t cost anything the first year? I truly believed that statement when we had our little munchkin. But let’s back up a bit; around the second trimester we really began shopping around for the nursery; we had nothing considering this is our first time around. I started gathering ideas for the nursery and ended up loving Noah’s Ark theme. I registered for baby showers at Babies R Us and thoroughly enjoyed the look of Noah’s Ark. I wanted to branch out a bit and go for a different theme and color since so many baby boy rooms are blue. I landed on orange and brown with a bunch of cute little zoo animals.

Now, I greatly appreciated the many gifts given at our baby showers, but it is never enough to cover a first time baby. We had to get a crib, rocker, dresser, clothes, swing, diapers, bassinette, and diaper changing table, highchair and many more gadgets. You get the picture. Being as I love to find deals on quality items I began my hunt early. I decided I would look on craigslist to see what they had. Trial and error I presume. I found a crib and decided to have my husband stain it to match the color of the furniture I had envisioned. In the process of him staining this I also found a rocking chair I absolutely loved. It was painted black so it had to be stripped to the wood and stained as well. This began a huge project neither of us realized we had a mountain ahead of us. All the rings on the crib and side of the rocker were very time consuming. Being as my husband was such a sport with all these projects, he kept at it and made it our little project together. I would sit with him while he sanded and I helped stain as well. We even took this to my parent’s house up in central Washington about 5 hours away to get as much help as possible while we visited one weekend. We really took advantage of making this a family project. :) Once we realized how much work it was, I decided to go to Ikea and get a dresser that was unfinished so it wouldn’t involve sanding; we could jump straight to the stain. At this point I got the crib for $40 which included a Sealy Mattress. The rocker I got for $20 and bought the dresser from Ikea for $60, totaling $120 for furniture, this was a steal and I was super happy with my findings as well as my husband being a great support and giving a helping hand to our sons nursery.

As we began to assemble the crib once the stain had dried, we realized something wasn’t quite right… the side of the crib was supposed to slide up and down, but it wouldn’t lock. It ended up being a “daybed” not a crib. After all the commotion we realized the safety of our little one was really important and we needed to invest in another crib. It was unfortunate after all the time we had invested thus far but knew it had to be done. Through talking with my sister, her neighbor happened to be selling their crib they bought two years ago from Babies R Us. She was willing to sell it for $40 as well. So now we were out $40 but at the same time a crib costing $80 you can’t find at the store, so we were still pleased. Honestly this crib was way more sheik and just the right color we didn’t have to color touch it at all. We put the crib together and the room began to look just as I had pictured.

I happened to run across a picture that I kept prior to the problem with the “daybed.” I knew at some point I would love to make this happen. Well now that we have our extra crib we will be doing this project in our next house. :)

Now that we had most the furniture we began looking for clothes, a bassinette, and swing. My sister was pretty good friends with her neighbor that she started pulling things together from her two little boys that are about 18 months older than Cooper. Just enough age difference that we began collecting bags of clothes, shoes, toys, and even a swing. This swing was barely used and is still at Babies R Us to purchase for $170. I got this for $40 along with two large bags of clothes.

Now the bags of clothes her neighbor friend was giving us was name brand clothes such as Gymboree, Baby Gap, Nike, and Carters, Nike and Hurley to name a few. They were all in great condition and were 0-3 months. We were basically stocked on newborn clothes. Since then we have continued to gather clothes for each age group and I am set until age 2. Garage sale season also began while I was about 7 months pregnant and my sister snagged the cutest little vibrating bassinette for $10 along with my sister giving us their car seat (she has a little girl that’s why a car seat has been the only thing given by them; gender neutral). I started feeling as though we had the big things accomplished and was feeling really good about everything. The nursery was finally finished! YAY!

Fast forward a few months, more like 12 months; here we are 9 months into the birth of our first son. I will go back to my comment that babies don’t cost anything the first year. Apart from doing an entire nursery, clothing our child, making sure he has diapers which already cost quite a bit he is in a highchair, needs a new car seat, needs new toys and more. Again, babies do cost and they cost a lot. This is a huge fairytale others must be living in to honestly believe the first year doesn’t cost much. It actually may be the biggest cost having to purchase everything all at once. The second baby actually may be cheaper because we will have all the furniture and it happens to be gender neutral. The clothes will be the cost if we have a little girl because I will not dress my little princess in the clothes of my little prince.

We have hit that age where his car seat is so uncomfortable for little Cooper. He loves to sit up right, which he can’t quite do in the newborn car seats, they lean back too much for Coopers liking. His feet also hit the back of the seat, poor little man. So finally I began the research to embark on this new purchase that won’t be cheap. How expensive was this really going to be? I had to research safety in convertible car seats so we wouldn’t have to purchase another one in the next year. If safety was a concern for me, I had to swallow the reality that it would cost quite a bit more unfortunately. Well, my husband kept getting on me to make the plunge considering we didn’t want to drive around with our son outgrown in his current car seat and I had to agree with him. The very next night we had a “neighborhood clean up,” this allows each house to put as much garbage, furniture, or whatever lying around the house that needed to go out for garbage day. There were washing machines, dryers, couches, bed frames, mattresses, lawn mowers and much more out on curbside. It was such a beautiful day out I decided to enjoy my lunch on the porch and saw our neighbor down the way bring a highchair and car seat to the curb. I didn’t think too much about it at first; as I sat there I really began contemplating the products sitting in my view as I gazed at them with thoughts pouring through my head. I wondered many things and finally after the distractions of the day, I walked down to get the mail and happened to be standing next to the car seat. I was baffled by the condition and the reality that this was a convertible car seat, one that I was in desperate need of. I decided to sneak it up to our house and look it over a little more. Now, we know our neighbors, but it is always a weird conversation asking for their “garbage.” I’ve never really asked our neighbors before for their garbage previously and didn’t really want to have this conversation….ever. So I walked it on up to our driveway and headed back down to get the mail again. My husband got home and I was in the bushes calling out to him in a loud whisper, “babe? babe?” Being my husband, he is very carefree and not so sly with these things. I quietly asked him to grab the highchair and he thought it was funny and walked on up the hill with the highchair in hand. As we reached the driveway he spotted the car seat and starts hysterically laughing. “Nice job babe” he tells me as he realizes this big accomplishment I just embarked on.

The following morning I was so excited to look into the car seat and see how used it really was. This thing was basically brand new. It looks the same as the current one in Babies R Us just a WHOLE lot cheaper. Now you must know this about me, I am not the type of person to take things from the curb, let alone other peoples trash. I live in a great neighborhood; safety is fighting for number one in all of Oregon. They may have a couple people like me who take things from the street while most of the city is wealthy, high maintenance families who can afford anything and everything and don’t give things on the street a second glance. Now had we lived in another area I wouldn’t jump all over this find because you do need to be careful about car seats and things that have to do with safety for your kids but I must say I was very excited. The more research I did, the more I realized what a steal I found, literally. ;) Britax is one of the top names and I was so excited to have found this one.

The highchair also looks brand new. The current highchair we had is cute but also 11 years old. I got it from my sister who has an eleven year old and we have passed this through the family. It actually is in great condition but this new one is super cute and has Cooper’s little animals on it. There are also little wheels that allows it to move a lot easier, and it has a cute little clip that you can attach toys to and outsmart your child. Now when Cooper attempts to throw toys off the side of his highchair they will only dangle down and mommy does not have to give in to this little game he plays. :)

All of this to say, you must be creative in escaping the high cost of having a first born. But…. I must say, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love my little Cooper Man.

If you need tips on street finds let me know. ;)

Blueberry Oatmeal Scones

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 23 March, 2014 No comment

I made these scones today while I also made Banana-Crumb-Muffins. I haven’t baked in awhile and knew I was well overdo. I knew my parents were coming into town this weekend as well as visiting my mother-in-law who is sick with terminal cancer. I thought it would be nice to share the food-wealth and make some tasty food for them and my parents. I decided to make Creamy Enchiladas, scones, and muffins. Although I had cheddar English muffins on my list, I didn’t quite get around to those yet.

I had a recipe for scones from my mom and since you already know I love my carbs I decided blueberry scones would be a great fit as we are all coffee lovers and pastries for some reason couldn’t go any better than with a good cup of coffee.

These scones are simple and not too time consuming as you see I already made muffins prior to these! :)

Blueberry Oatmeal Scones:

3 cups + 2 tbsp flour
½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
2 ½ tsp baking powder
10 oz (2 ½ sticks) cold butter
2 cups oats
2 tsp orange zest (optional)
¾ cups buttermilk
¾ cup dried blueberries (fresh/frozen work too)
½ cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine everything EXCEPT oats, buttermilk, blueberries, and pecans.

Beat well until butter forms small pea size pebbles in the mixture.

Add oats and continue to mix.

Slowly pour in buttermilk just until dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Divide dough in half and place on a floured surface. With both hands, form dough into a mounded circle. (A little higher in the middle than the edges)

Cut dough into 8 triangles (repeat with the remaining dough)

Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until light brown.

Serve warm with butter and/or jelly!

Enjoy!

Creamy Enchiladas

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 23 March, 2014 No comment

While I was baking this afternoon I decided to make ahead my enchiladas as they are a great freezer meal or make-ahead-meal. Since we will be headed out to my mother-in-laws tomorrow I wanted to get it done and ready to go.

These enchiladas are simple and very tasty! Although I prefer green sauce I wanted to switch it up as my husband prefers red sauce.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey
1 lb spicy sausage
1 cup onion, chopped
2 can olives, chopped
1 large can diced chilies
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp Garlic salt
1 tbsp prasley
1 large can red enchilada sauce
6 cups shredded cheese
Tortillas

In a large saucepan cook the meat and onions until full cooked.

Add olives, tomatoes, chilies, cream cheese, garlic, and parsley. Mix well.

Add 1/2 can of enchilada sauce with 2 cups cheese.

Place mixture into tortillas.

Top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese.

Freeze, refrigerate or cook immediately.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with homemade chips and salsa!

Toddler Outsmarts Mommy

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 March, 2014 No comment

My son refused to eat lunch or anything good for him. He wanted the muffins and scones that are hidden in the cupboard (good memory). I told him if he ate his sandwich he could have a treat when we go to starbucks. He replys “okay!” Than refuses again. His little toddler brain is too small to understand the negotiation process. So since he wasn’t given it, he finds it himself…

Banana Crumb Muffins

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 March, 2014 No comment

I got this recipe from my mom and tweaked it slightly. It’s very delicious and extremely easy to make. I don’t know if any of you have found a “keeper” recipe for banana bread but I haven’t and continue to try and find one. If you have one, please share. These are my alternative to banana bread as we sometimes have bananas take the next stage in color; dark brown/black. I can’t even eat a banana once it’s fully yellow. GROSS! I have to have I slightly green if I am going to eat one.

With that said, we had a couple bananas left over and I wanted “banana” bread and made these quick muffins. Along with the muffins I made Blueberry Oatmeal Scones to take to my mother-in-laws and as well as feed my parents who are visiting for the weekend.

Banana Crumb Muffins:

¾ cup sugar
1 egg
3 bananas
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Crumb Topping:

½ cup flour
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup oats
4 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a standing mixer add sugar, egg and bananas; mix well.

Add butter, flour, soda, powder and salt. Mix until moistened.

Add Pecans

Fill muffin tines 1/3 full.

Meanwhile make the crumb topping and top with muffins.

Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy fresh out of the oven or slice muffin in half and spread a little butter on warm muffin. ENJOY!

Weekly Look

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 March, 2014 No comment

Friday night lights! While watching a Friday date night movie, American Hustle, I took the liberty to change my nails again. I did get a good 10 days out of the previous set but as always can’t make it to 14 days with the excitement of this beautiful, classy look!

Distant Horizon and Gold Pinstripe

This is pobably one of my most recent favorites!

Cheese Please!

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 21 March, 2014 No comment

I absolutely love cheese. While I was pregnant I was so sick I couldn’t really eat much nor did anything sound good when I went to eat. The only things I could stomach were the little tangerine “cuties.” I went through boxes of these, literally 15 or more boxes during my first trimester. I would pop 5 at a time. I loved them so much and was so happy they made my tummy feel better. Morning sickness is truly the worst; nothing can actually describe these feelings. The only thing that brought light to my life during these 13 weeks of misery was my cuties and of course knowing I had a little baby I was growing. If you are pregnant or have been pregnant you are the only women who truly know how this morning sickness actually works. It’s a weird concept that eating actually helps the sickness, yet the thought of eating may cause you to throw up, while throwing up makes you not want to eat again. This vicious cycle can’t be tamed.

As my tummy started to settle and my cravings picked up, I began turning my appetite towards cheese as well as my cuties. I have always had a deep love for cheese even prior to pregnancy. I would buy blocks of medium or sharp cheddar cheese and cut chunks and melt them in the microwave. I have pictures of eating my cuties and cheese while my husband downs a bowl of ice cream. I would literally eat this melted cheese with either a fork or my fingers, it was so delicious. You hear the rumors that the husbands gain along with the wife; well I have proof that my weight was not ice cream induced but his most likely was. :) The thought of melted cheese right now actually turns my nose up, but I must say at the time it was fantasy land.

Now that I am post pregnancy I still love my cheese; cold cheese that is. I’ve found that Fred Meyers is one of the best places to buy block cheese for less. They have a refrigerator section at the end of the isles full of cheese. They have a big sign above that says “CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE.” They have sharp, medium, Pepper jack, Monterrey, and swiss. These are decent size blocks that are roughly $2.30-2.50 each. They almost always have these cheese piles and you can get a variety for a great deal.

Trader Joes also has cheese for an impeccable price. They have authentic cheese and delicious soft cheese for a good deal. We loaded up on cheese from there for our wedding and had many different platters full of many different tastes.

Here’s a few pics:

Display case for Hors’ devours

Cake Pops for the guests!

Fred Meyers and Trader Joes, I’ve found have the best bang for your buck for block cheese. Costco on the other hand has the best deal for shredded cheese. I buy the double bag for $12-15 depending on the kind. I have a container I use for the fridge, and constantly fill that with the remaining cheese I keep in the freezer. It’s a way better deal to purchase this in bulk rather than buy a couple smaller 8 oz or 16 oz bags from your local supermarket. This will last you a long time even if you are a household such as mine that enjoys their cheesy meals.

Belief

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 21 March, 2014 No comment

This morning in my bible study I was struck by one verse. The entire study was impeccable and very convicting that I wanted to share with you all the glorious riches we have been offered, but as I neared the end of the study, a verse leaped off of the page catching my attention.

Romans 10:9 most of you have probably heard this verse multiple times in your life, even those who don’t follow God’s word. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What brought my soul to such agony while reading that verse was the power in the word “believe.” Many people I encounter regularly openly admit their belief that Christ died for them and was raised from the dead. But as I pondered that statement a little more, it struck me how this word is not talking about head knowledge; not only believing that this took place in history but having a deep heart knowledge of this concept. There is a huge difference here. Head knowledge doesn’t bring the outflow of living in that knowledge, but with the heart, actions will follow. I yearn for all of those who have verbalized that they ‘believe’ Christ died for them and rose again from the dead, but the reality is the power within that statement should bring us all to our knees for what that one sentence holds for all of eternity.

Unfortunately, head knowledge isn’t enough to convince you to walk on the opposite side of the street, the side that feels uncomfortable, the side of the street that brings about gawking and humility. The side of the street that brings about ultimate life, and not only life but abundant life. We walk the side of the street that feels accepted, fitting in, being unnoticed carrying our shackles and chains down the street that leads to death; this is where the enemy tromps. The opposite side has life and is only a few steps away, yet the shackles pull you down, holding you captive. Your freedom is starring you in the face while you let your head knowledge control your next step rather then living in the knowledge that you truly believe Christ did die for you.

Understanding that concept of what believing truly looks like will be the manner of breaking you free from the shackles around your ankle or continuing to live a life of despair. The answer seems so simple, yet we all wonder why we can’t obtain that freedom Christ talks about. It’s our sin that holds us captive and the uncomfortability of walking in truth rather then societal acceptance.

Friends, this is a concept we don’t truly understand the depths of the meaning behind ‘belief.’ Are you walking in that belief that Christ died for you? Or are you walking in a knowledge that Christ died for you while remaining in your shackles, residing where the enemy tromps?

I honestly believe we all long for a life that is abundant; living a life full of opportunity and love. The reality is we have that offered to us and many of us choose not to accept it. “Of all the Jews that had the chance to experience the promised land, only two took God up on His offer.” They say there was about 2 million Jews that were given this opportunity. That’s a 1 in a million chance. Don’t you want to be that one in a million?

Pricilla Shirer said it like this:

“The curse of sin enslaves our souls; it is a lock and chain that keeps us from finding freedom. It guarantees every human a life of separation from God…Church ministers, and messages address lighter spiritual topics that draw crowds without stirring controversy. While we often skip around the very issue that most needs to be addressed, we remain shackled, peering through the fence wondering why we cannot experience true freedom. Until we deal with the shackle of sin, we cannot cross the boundaries that keep us from experiencing an abundant relationship with God.”

Need I say more?

Moment of Truth: Take a moment to ask yourself: Are you living an abundant life, walking in the freedom you’ve been offered? Have you graciously accepted that freedom, or are you walking in the shackles with a head knowledge that Christ died for you unwilling to accept that freedom from slavery? “The Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.” Deuteronomy 4:20 The Lord has lifted our souls from a bondage that is associated with a hot iron furnace. This is your fate my dear friends, pray that your head knowledge outpours into your heart giving you the response to break free from those shackles.