Not too healthy

I am such a crappy blogger. I'm sure you have all figured that out by now, but I still felt the need to voice it. I enjoy reading everyone else's blogs & am on here nearly every day reading them but for some reason when it comes to writing in my own I just suck. I don't know why really. This week has really been a crazy week for me. I am normally not very busy. My typical day is this: wake up, make breakfast for Brandon, then pack his lunch, say goodbye then either go back to bed or go to the gym, get ready for work, go to work, come home from work, make dinner, lounge, bed time. But this entire week has been busy, busy, busy. I am not used to this and come Friday my body was totally feeling it. I was exhausted & had a headache all day long. We were both so tired that we went to bed at about 6:00. ON A FRIDAY NIGHT! Normally we stay up and watch a movie or do something entertaining but neither of us could stand to stay awake any longer. So we were up at about 6:30 this morning. And it feels like a normal Saturday. Whew! This week is looking like a typical week for us and boy am I happy about that! I'm enjoying today immensely! Anyway, with such a busy stressful week, I ate terribly! By the end of the week, I realized how much junk I had eaten & was feeling bad about it. I don't like that just throwing a few more things into my schedule can really throw me off in every aspect. Is this common or just me? I'm making sure this next week to get back on track eating nice & healthy. I took a majority of the junk food leftover from my scrapbooking party to work the next day so that I wouldn't have all of that to eat on my own. So yes, one of my busy days involved a scrapbook party at my house. I love scrapbooking and have a party every 6 months or so at my house. Someday hopefully soon I will post some of the cards I have made here on my blog. Let me know how many of you out there scrapbook or make cards. I'd love to hear from you! I use Close to My Heart products because to me they are the BEST! Well I know this isn't really much of a closing but I really need to go.

So sad...

Remember those adorable little strawberry plants I was telling you about almost a month ago?! Well...I sadly report they are still just little pots of dirt. I haven't seen any green exposed at all! I keep telling myself that I just need to have patience but the little voices in my head keep telling me I haven't watered them enough/too much. I haven't given up yet though! I will keep you posted!

Mandarin Salad

It is dang near impossible for me to make a yummy salad without following a recipe. Honestly, what can be that hard about making a salad? I don't understand how I can fail miserably every time that I don't use a recipe! I found the most delicious recipe for a salad in my Gooseberry Patch Blue Plate Specials cookbook. Best I have come across yet! I love all the colors in it; makes it beautiful looking! Has anyone ever had kiwi in a salad before? This was my first and let me tell you it was GOOD, although everything it was mixed with contributed to the wonderful flavor. I do think that some grated parmesan or even some crumbled feta would have been great on this too and next time I make this I will definitely try it. I have been so excited to tell you about this salad, but enough gushing here is the recipe!

Mandarin Salad

1 kiwi, sliced

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, torn

1/4 bunch Romaine lettuce, torn

1 c. celery, chopped

2 T. green onions, chopped

1/4 c. oil

2 T. vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

3 T. plus 1 t. sugar, divided

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1 T. fresh parsley, chopped (I used dry because I did not have fresh parsley on hand and it still turned out delicious)

1/4 c. slivered almonds (I used sliced almonds)

11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix together kiwi, lettuces, celery & green onion; store in large bag in refridgerator. Combine oil, vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt, pepper & parsley in an airtight jar; refridgerate. Saute almonds & remaining sugar in a skillet over medium heat until well coated; cool & break apart. To serve, place lettuce in serving bowl & top with almonds & oranges. Shake dressing well; pour over the top.

Makes 6 servings.

Isn't this book hilarious?! I found it at Dillards when I was visiting my Aunt & Uncle! It's a book about Yellowstone National Park, but I don't think they could have given it a funnier title. And I found it in the children's clothing section too! I couldn't help but snap a picture! It may not be the best quality because it was taken with my cell phone. This makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Who Pooped in the Park?

Isn't this book hilarious?! I found it at Dillards when I was visiting my Aunt & Uncle! It's a book about Yellowstone National Park, but I don't think they could have given it a funnier title. And I found it in the children's clothing section too! I couldn't help but snap a picture! It may not be the best quality because it was taken with my cell phone. This makes me laugh every time I look at it!

"Cheating" or not?

I don't know if I can explain this very well without it coming across differently than I feel but I am going to try. I normally make all things from scratch otherwise I feel like I am "cheating." It's a silly little quirk I have that honestly can drive me insane sometimes. Seriously, I can't just make a cake from a box mix without adding something or at least making homemade frosting, or spaghetti from a jar without digging through my spice rack adding things as I go, or they even have these great freezer "meals" that comes in a bag with everything needed, all a person has to do is put it in a pan and let it heat for about 15-20 minutes. My sister loves to get them. When Brandon was in Iraq I had many meals at my sister's house enjoying these delicious "freezer" meals. Heidi loves simple meals that can be made easily but taste great and she is good at finding new ideas to fit this criteria. It's a quality I am jealous of. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook & bake but sometimes I just don't really feel like doing it after a long day of work and I wish I could just prepare one of these easy yet delicious meals that don't create a workload of dishes either, but no, I can't bring myself to do it! The simplest route I can go is pretty much tacos, BLT, and these yummy enchiladas I am about to tell you about, which are from a simple mix that I actually follow without changing it up (very amazing for a girl like me). These enchiladas actually do consume quite a bit of time so I don't know if it necessarily falls into the whole category that I am talking about but I'm going with it anyway! Here is a picture of the packaging:




The only thing "special" that I really do is double or triple the sauce while keeping the filling (meat & cheese) amount the same. Anyway, here is a picture of the finished product.



As the days at work end a big portion of my thoughts is about going home to eat these as leftovers! Jennifer, a co-worker and friend, keeps harassing me about my "obsession" with these enchiladas, but she was very interested in getting the "recipe" and excited to find out how easy they really are. I hope she likes them as much as I do, otherwise it might be a little embarrassing how much I have gone on & on about them!

Instead of baking them in a 9x13 pan I decided to make them in two separate square pans so I can freeze one for later (they freeze very well). So much for that! We have already dug into the second pan! Goes to show how absolutely delicious they really are!

I love strawberries

Strawberries have always been my favorite fruit. When I was little we would try growing them in our garden but I guess birds like strawberries too. We would cover the patch with a netting so they couldn't get to it but that didn't keep those persistant birds from the oh so delicious fruit. I was always so jealous of those birds because they got to the strawberries before I did. Even after all these years though, I haven't learned my lesson; I guess I am too darn commited to that divine fruit! I found these cute little plant kits in the dollar section at Target!

I have been wanting to share about this for quite a while now because I am so excited about them! They are SO EASY! They come with everything you need to plant them, the dirt, the seeds, the pot, all you gotta do is just add water, give them sunlight & wait for them to grow! See:

My sister got me one of these adorable plant kits last year that grew some beautiful red flowers and I think I actually saved some of the seeds just so I could enjoy them this year too. Hmm...I really need to look for those & plant them! I come home from work everyday and run to check and see if anything has started to come up yet. Nothing yet, but the day is coming, I can just feel it! ;) Actually the instructions say that germination may take about 4 weeks. It's been about 3 or 4 so it should be happening soon and I am so excited! I love spring!

I'm ba-ack!

Ok so I decided to come back to my blogspot page. I wasn't gone for very long and honestly the reason I am coming back is because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put a picture on my wordpress blog. It's ridiculous, really. But here I am, back in full force. Ha! Not full force at all but hopefully since I am back here I will be posting a little more often. Blogs without pictures just aren't as fun as blogs WITH pictures. Just thought I'd let everyone know that I am back. Maybe in a day or two there will be more action around here.

Why does this feel so weird?

Well I did some searching and have found another blog site that I am really into. It has a lot more backgrounds to choose from (which I need since I'm don't really have a clue when it comes to making my site looks really sweet on my own) and some other pretty neat options. I feel so funny doing this since I started my blog just last month but I feel like things are better this way. I have imported all my previous blogs to my new page and all new posts will be there too. Please stop by my new blog at cookinkayla.wordpress.com and leave me a comment; I'd love to have you!

Sounds a little fishy

When Brandon was in Iraq he found a new love for fried catfish and wanted me to make some here at home. I've never really cooked fish or seafood before so this is all new to me. I have been experimenting with different recipes on a search to find one that catches our hearts. My first attempt I used my grandma's beer batter recipe. When I was little my grandpa loved to fish and after a successful fishing trip Grandma & Grandpa would invite the family over for a fish fry. My grandma always made beer batter fish; it was the only way I would eat fish...until I discovered halibut, but that's a story for another day. Anyway, my first attempt at fried catfish was pretty tasty and Brandon really liked it although it was a different style from how it was fixed in Iraq. Mine had more of a thick "breading" rather than a thin "crumb" crust. So I decided to find out which was really the better of the two. I found a recipe in my Southern Living cookbook Grandma bought me that resembled the "Iraq" version. I tried it and it had great flavor, looked much prettier, but still doesn't compare to Grandma's old family recipe. I do have to say that it is good enough to recommend and share the recipe here on my blog. I think the reason I am partial to Grandma's recipe is because not only does it bring back fun memories it also takes away that fishy flavor. One thing I might try next time is adding the garlic powder from SL's recipe to Grandma's. Sounds rather delcious! I didn't get pictures of the batch of Grandma's but I did take pictures of the Southern Living recipe.

Grandma's Beer Batter

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
salt
1 can beer
2 egg whites (stiffly beaten)

Mix first 3 ingredients. Add beer, then egg whites.
Cut fish into approximately 1 inch pieces. Fry in oil.
*Cut in half for just one family.

Classic Fried Catfish

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
12 catfish fillets (about 3 3/4 lb)
vegetable oil

1. Combine first 4 ingredients and 2 tsp salt in a large shallow dish. Sprinkle catfish fillets evenly with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and dredge in cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.
2. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 350. Fry fillets, in batches, 5-6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels.

Note: For a quick weeknight version, skip the deep fryer. Cook catfish in 2 Tbsp. hot oil, per batch, in a nonstick skillet 5 minutes on each side.

Make 6-8 servings.

*As I type this recipe, I realize that I completely forgot to add the red pepper! Oops! It still tasted delicious! I also did the second option and just poured a small amount of oil into a pan instead of pulling out the deep fryer.