I..I love you like a love song, baby

Okay, so, excuse the lame title for this blog. I am recently on a "pop" kick when it comes to music and that song by Selena Gomez makes me want to stand up from this chair at work and dance. Please don't judge me. Another long post this time. Again, feel free to skip the food portion if that's not your cup of tea. In the wedding updates I include the abridged story of how Jason and I met. Read on!


Life Updates:
I was hoping to save this post for when we had been successful in our house quest. Well, we've now been rejected for three houses we wanted, and we've seen many more. Wait, I thought this was a buyers marker? I am trying to stay positive though. Our lovely realtor (aka Jason's mom) sends us new houses to look at pretty much daily. And she takes us out for "client dinners". Gotta love that. Yesterday we went to see 4 houses. It's actually kind of an exhausting process. We liked 3 of the 4 houses and after much discussion last night decided to put an offer out on one of them. Now, we wait to see how the owners react to our (lower than they'd like) offer. 
I think part of the problem is that I'm really particular. Call me crazy, but I think it's silly to spend a lot of money on something that doesn't meet my expectations. I will keep you all posted, naturally, as to our progress in this endeavor. 
No, I still haven't found a job. 


Food updates:
Okay, so I know I promised to post recipes from the cookbook my mom gave me, but it's at home, and I'm at work and not clever enough to remember those recipes by memory. So, I guess it's more Pinterest recipes this time. 


Ham, Potato and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups cooked, cubed ham
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can milk
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Cover bottom of dish with layer of French fries. Add a layer of broccoli, then sprinkle ham evenly over broccoli. In a small bowl mix together soup, milk and mayonnaise. Pour mixture evenly over ingredients in baking dish and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Okay, Jason LOVED this. I made it last week and he actually asked me to make it again this week. True to my quest to keep our diets ever changing, I said maybe next week instead :-) This is a great idea for nights when you don't really feel like cooking. It's super simple and has all of your food groups in one.  I used tater tots instead of fries and I think it was a good idea. If you do use fries, use chunkier ones, like waffle fries or crinkle cut. It will offer a better "coating" for the bottom layer. I also used low-fat mayo, milk and cream of mushroom. 40 minutes might be a bit much.. I did 30 instead. 

Chili's Skillet Queso

6-ounce box Velveeta Cheese *1 C. milk

2 teaspoons paprika *½ tsp. ground cayenne pepper

15-ounce can Hormel Chili (No Beans) * 4 tsp. chili powder

1 tablespoon lime juice *½ tsp. ground cumin



Cut the Velveeta into cubes. Combine the cheese with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until cheese melts.

I may or may not have mentioned this last time, but I love restaurant copy-cat recipes, and this is a pretty dang good one. It's not even CLOSE to being healthy, but it does taste like the real deal. I made this for us to snack on during the Superbowl. 

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Well, you guessed it, this cake was amazing. I would highly recommend it if you like cinnamon rolls. The leftovers are better if you warm them up :-) Also, make sure you make the cake and topping portions in a separate bowl and swirl together after you've pored the cake batter into the pan. Yum, yum!

Wedding updates:

We ordered the invitations on Saturday, so everything is officially ordered. We still have payments to make, but everything is in order for July. 

69 days to go!

Okay, so a good portion of you who read this are probably aware of the fact that Jason and I met online. For those of you who are not, surprise! Now, trust me, I'm aware of how this sounds. I'm also aware of the look that people give me when I tell them that. This is part of the reason why I stopped telling people. Never mind that 1 in 4 marriages now begin online or that the divorce rate for couples who met online is much lower. But, if you're up for sticking with me here, read on to see WHY I chose to go this particular route. 

So, I was listening to my iPod on the bus last week on the way home from work when the song "Amazed" by Lonestar came on shuffle. I'm pretty sure you know the song. Anyway, this song took me back to 6th grade when I was completely head-over-heels obsessed with a guy who will remain nameless. I spend all of 6th grade pining for him, listening to "Amazed" and pretending that he wanted to sing that song to me when in reality he didn't like me at all. Everyone knew I liked him, including him. Now, the school year ended, summer came around, and I eventually moved on. I actually ended up being fairly good friends with this guy through high school. You may ask why I started the "how I met Jason" tale with this embarrassing tale of a 12 year old girl. This tale of adolescent woe is how the "boy crazy" phase of my life started. From 7th grade until my sophomore year in college, I was never single for more than a few months at a time. Many of those "relationships" were long term, so don't judge me TOO harshly.  Anyway, I spend my sophomore year of college single, which was nice, but come junior year I was back on the bandwagon. I had one fairly quick unsuccessful relationship, followed by another. Now, in this second, Whitney's boy crazy attitude ended and her "I-want-a-long-term-future-seeking-commitment" attitude began. That second relationship which began my junior year of college may have only lasted a short while, but the feelings I had for him remained for nearly 2 years. Nonreciprocating, I might add. Now, anyone else who has been in this position knows exactly how it feels; if you don't, let me just tell you it's pretty much the most emotionally draining thing that's ever happened to me. 

Wah-wah

So, let's fast forward to the summer after I graduated from college. One day, I was in my apartment reading in bed when I had what can only be described as an epiphany. I'm talking like an apple-on-Newton's-head kind of moment. I realized this guy didn't like me the way I liked him. He didn't want a long term relationship. He wasn't "the one". I felt so stupid for all of the time I'd wasted, not just with that relationship, but with basically every guy I'd ever been with. For the record, I mean no disrespect to any of those guys, I just realized they weren't for me. In that moment, I moved on, and vowed to never relapse. I decided to make the new motto for my life "tabula rasa" or "clean slate" for those of you who've never taken Latin. Okay, so, clean slate. I erased all of the "boy craziness", next chapter. 

So, after a few months of enjoying singlehood, I realized that I still wanted that long term commitment thing. At the time, I had just started my master's program and was disappointed to discover that 95% of my classmates were female. Of the males that were present, most were older and already married or otherwise committed. I was also working at an all-woman's gym. Between my female dominated school and work, I had "no time" for dating. So, I took the advice of one of my most beloved friends and joined OkCupid, a free dating site. I was completely honest on my profile. I said I was a nerd and that I was seeking a committed relationship. I filled out questionnaires about religion, marriage, raising kids, movies, music, and everything in between. Finally, I launched my page. I started getting messages fairly soon after. I erased the ones that only said "hello" or something and stuck with those that actually asked me questions or generally seemed interested. The second fellow who messaged me went by the screenname "jmichael08" and his initial message was very pleasant and inquisitive. After checking out his page and reading all about him, I decided he sounded like a good fit (I mean we had like 85% compatibility according to our questionnaires) and so I replied. We started messaging back and forth and each time, the conversation remained stimulating. I found out what he did for work and that he had a dog (I love those puppies!). After a few weeks of messaging he asked me if I wanted to meet. Now, he picked the worst time in the world to ask me because I was smack in the middle of my first round of graduate midterms.. a 2 week journey into a nightmare for me because I was determined to keep a 4.0 (which, by the way, I did). When I explained this to him, he was very understanding and said "maybe some other time then :-)". Now, for the next 2 weeks or so I wasn't really online much. Once my finals ended, I logged back on to OkCupid. No messages from jmichael08. Other messages from no one interesting. Could he possibly still want to meet? I took the plunge and messaged him again. "Hey, my midterms are over and I survived! Any chance you still want to meet up? I'm sorry for being AWOL for so long!"

That, my friends, was the smartest single decision I've ever made. 

He responded quickly and we decided to meet up later in the week at SpiderHouse, a local (very busy, hey, I didn't know this guy from Adam) coffeehouse. The night went stupendously; we ended up staying and talking until they kicked us out. We made plans to meet up the very next night. The rest, as they say, is history. :-)

Wow, that was long. 

Did you really just read that?

-Whitney

food

Good morning from a gloomy and rain soaked Austin, Texas!


This post may be a little longer than most because I'm going to include some recipes that I've been trying lately! If you aren't interested in reading about food, just skip over that part. 


Wedding updates:
Last week we ordered the flowers and I was finally able to pick up my dress after all of the alterations were made. We're hoping to order the invitations some time in the next week. My wedding band finally came in yesterday and I'm super excited to wear both of my rings together! 
This past weekend, Jason and I traveled to Ohio for his cousin Matthew's wedding. I got to meet (or see again) most of the members of his dad's side of the family. I didn't sleep a wink, but what an awesome bunch of people! I'm very fortunate that I was raised in such a wonderful family; and now my great fortune continues as join another one. Two great families? I must have hit the jackpot or something. Going to a wedding made me even more anxious for my own. I'm trying not to wish the time away because I know that it will be over really fast, but I just can't wait for it to be here! 
81 days :-)


Life updates:
Okay, so good news and bad news. The bad news is we did not get the house that we bid on. The good news? We found an even better one and bid on it. It's difficult for me looking at these HUD houses because there's no guarantee that we'll get it; and even if we do, we have to play the waiting game while bidding is underway. I'm trying not to get too excited, but it's hard not to. I've always wanted my own home, and I can see the light at the end of the apartment living tunnel. 
I graduated last week. We had a nice little ceremony and then my family took me out to dinner. While I apply for jobs pretty much every day, I still have had no luck in that department. I only have one remaining paycheck at my current job. Yikes! Despite this, I'm still trying to stay positive and have hope that this whole job thing will work out eventually.


Food updates:
Okay, so now that I'm done with school I obviously need a new section. Since discovering Pinterest, I've been kind of obsessed with finding new recipes to expand my cook book. When I first started dating Jason, I realized that I needed to be doing more cooking. I survived living on my own in college and early grad school on primarily sandwiches, salads and boxed pasta. While those things can sustain me, it's probably not a great thing to have every night, especially with two people. And it wasn't just me; Jason ate like a bachelor. He cooks a lot now too; we like to trade off. My mom was kind enough last year to give me a cook book with some of my favorite recipes from childhood (I'll talk more about this next time), but I noticed that even making these things, Jason and I had a two week rotation with food. It was getting boring. I was determined to incorporate some new things into our diets, thus my Pinterest quest. 
Feel free to check out my board, but here are some of the things we've tried so far that we've really enjoyed:


Sweet and Spicy Bacon Chicken

4 chicken breasts cut in thirds (12 pieces)

Bacon slices

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder

chili powder

brown sugar

Cut each breast into 3 pieces, season all the chicken with the spices, then wrap a bacon slice around each piece, roll in brown sugar and place into an oven proof dish....make sure you have some olive oil in the dish too, like 2 or 3 tablespoons is fine. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is nice and brown and crispy.  Delicious served with mashed potatoes with some of the gravy from the chicken drizzled on top.

 This is one of our new favorites. It's delicious and easy to make.
Some changes and important points we've discovered: we use turkey bacon. It doesn't dry out as fast, it's healthier and actually tastes better (at least we think so). Make sure to completely coat both sides of the chicken pieces with the spices, and try to cover the bacon-wrapped chicken as completely as possible with the brown sugar. I also skip the oil step and just use cooking spray. While we haven't tried it, you can also make this on the grill. 

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
4 Tbsp cold butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Oh my gosh these are delicious. The only thing I'd change is that I would recommend using more cheese; sharp cheddar is the best and has the most flavor. Also, be careful with the baking time, it can vary from oven to oven and also based on preferences. I'd start with 10 minutes and go from there. 

Black Magic Cake

Ingredients

1 3/4 c	all purpose flour
2 c	sugar
3/4 c	cocoa powder
2 tsp	baking soda
1 tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	salt
2	eggs
1 c	strong black coffee, cooled
1 c	buttermilk
1/2 c	vegetable oil
1 tsp	real vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 c	margarine, softened
2 oz	melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled
3 c	powdered sugar
3 Tbsp	milk
2 tsp	real vanilla extract Directions 1  Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. 2  Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. 3  Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Batter will be thin. 4  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or two 9 inch cake pans. 5  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes for a 9x13, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans. 6  Combine frosting ingredients and mix with a hand or stand mixer. Spread frosting on cooled cakes.

I made this gem of a cake for Jason's birthday. If you don't like chocolate, it's definitely not for you. It's a little time consuming to make, but well worth it in the end. I did not layer the cake, I chose the 9x13 option, so I'm not sure how laying it makes a difference. Jason LOVED this cake, but it was really rich so I haven't made it again (yet). I will probably just save it for special occasions. You cannot even taste the coffee. I think it's more there to darken the color of the cake and enhance the chocolate flavor. Make sure the cocoa powder you use is semi-sweet. Have milk handy when you eat this!

We've tried more recipes, but I will save them for later. Plus you're probably bored by now. Next time I will post some recipes that I had in my original cookbook. 

Until next time!

-Whitney