LONG Overdue Update

TONS of things have changed in the last few months. My dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late July. He had his stomach removed within a week of being diagnosed; I mean, he diagnosed on Tuesday, saw the surgeon on Monday, and had his stomach out on Thursday. It all went so fast it was kind of hard to believe what was happening. He had his entire stomach, 44 lymph nodes (25 of which turned out to contain cancer), his spleen, and the fat layer that is in between the stomach and the muscle removed. He is now doing extensive chemotherapy and radiation. It's been a month of chemo so far and he'll be doing it through February. And that's scary considering they got all of the cancer. His oncologist (cancer doc) has told him that someone with his type of cancer has a 3 year life expectancy. We are not accepting that. More importantly, he is not accepting that. His spirits are high and I know he can beat this.
Dad came home from the hospital the same day that Mike deployed to Iraq. We get to video chat a lot which is really a God send. I've been spending most of my time working, crocheting and knitting, and setting up my 46 gallon fish tank.
Mike and I plan on getting married when he comes home from deployment (and I think he plans on getting engaged during leave, but I'm not sure. I know he bought a ring : D). So far, I've been planning a ton and I'm really excited. We are hoping to get married on a Saturday afternoon at around 2 o'clock. I think it would be really cool to have an afternoon tea for a reception; including tea, coffee, southern sweet tea, lemonade, caesar salad, pasta salad, couscous, tea sandwiches, and cake. After much discussion, our colors are Lavender, Mint, and Gray. (I originally wanted Hot Pink, Lime, and Black. He didn't like the hot pink so I though Plum, Lime, and Black would be cool. He thought they were too bold so we are doing a toned down version).
I've been working almost full time at the school district as a paraeducator and I LOVE it. I'm hoping to get a permanent position instead of being hourly like I am.
On a side note, I turn 21 on the 22nd of this month! So far, I'm excited, but I have no idea what to do for a "party". I think a few friends and I are going to go bowling.

TEST

Teriyaki Sauce and Fried rice

Last night I made teriyaki chicken and fried rice. I loved the sauce but Mike wasn't too fond of it.
: (

I will make this again for myself because I really liked it.
Here's the recipe for the teriyaki sauce:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I love Kikkoman)
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 water
  
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold pineapple juice

Directions

1. Combine soy sauce, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, water, brown sugar, and garlic in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold pineapple juice and add to sauce.
3. Stir constantly to allow the sauce to thicken.
4. If the sauce is too thick add a little water or soy sauce to thin.

All of the pineapple juice can be substituted for water. I just like pineapple with my teriyaki. About a tbs of ginger can also be added. I don't like ginger though, so I left it out. I also upped the garlic a LOT because I'm a garlic nut.

For the fried rice:

Ingredients
4 cups white rice (cold and at least 1 day old works best)
2 large eggs
2 minced garlic cloves (again, I'm a garlic nut so I upped it)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (I used just peas and it was still tasty)
1 white diced onion (I omitted this because I don't care for onion)
½ cup soy sauce (or to your taste)
1/2 cup chicken stock
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil

1.Beat eggs and scramble in about 1 tbs oil. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and one teaspoon of vegetable oil to the wok. Stir fry diced onion (I skipped this step) and garlic for 30 seconds.
3.Add peas and carrots mix and stir fry until vegetables are done to desired tenderness.
4.Add a little more oil and then add the rice and stir fry for a couple minutes. Add chicken stock and soy sauce to the rice while stir frying.
5. Add the scrambled egg and mix well. Heat thoroughly and serve.

You can also add chicken to the mix.

My favorite way to eat citrus

Until I learned about supreming I wasn't that excited about eating an orange or even a grapefruit (which I LOVE). Now that I know this technique I really enjoy eating the aforementioned. To learn how to do this, watch this video.

Now all I do to eat a grapefruit is supreme it, squeeze the juice out of the left over part, sprinkle with a little sugar and eat with a spoon. No scraping out of a grapefruit half that slides all over the place. I can finally eat a grapefruit without having to do so much work.

BBQ chicken pizzas

With my parents in Vegas/Death Valley for their 25th anniversary I am left to fend for myself. A few days ago I used our Amish bread starter that we got from my aunt to make 2 lovely loafs that turned out so well that my class devoured it. I’ve never seen them eat anything that voraciously. Unfortunately, I can’t post a recipe for the bread because you have to be given a starter from someone. Sorry. Last night for dinner Mike and I had a bbq chicken from Fred Meyer, home grown and canned green beans courtesy of my grandma Gert, and Greek garlic potato wedges. The potatoes were okay but I wish I had had more time to attend to them while cooking. I had to run to the store to pick up the chicken etc and Mike was left in charge of watching the wedges. He let me know that they were browning but failed to mention that the pan was blackening… Oh well. They were still tasty. The recipe can be found here. I plan on making them again at some point but I think I will marinate them a little longer first. Onto the pizzas…

My dad, an excellent chef and smart man, created this recipe a few years ago. Seeing as how it’s not terrible for you, it uses leftovers and is WAY easy, not to mention DELICIOUS to boot, it was a hit. My mom, God bless her, can barely cook and has been consulting me on the subject since I was 12. Even she can make these, and make them well. Have fun!

Ingredients

Bell peppers (I used 2 red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange, but it’s all preference. And that many peppers makes about 8 pizzas)

Red or white onion (I used red and it was yummy. You want about an equal ratio of onion to pepper but again, it’s all preference)

BBQ sauce (I used Longhorn)

Olive oil

Flour Tortillas

Cheese (I used a Mexican blend)

Left over chicken, shredded and cold

(I omit amounts because it really depends on how many you make. You really want to end up with about equal parts chicken and bell pepper/onion mixture.)

Heat oven to 425º

Thinly slice onions and bell peppers. Sauté them in a large skillet with a little olive oil until they are nice and soft and caramelized.

This is what they should look like after cooking

Place 2 tortillas on a cookie sheet. Brush a small amount of olive oil onto the tortillas until they are coated. Brush about 2 tbs of bbq sauce onto the tortilla.

Use just enough bbq to cover the tortilla

Sprinkle on about 2 tsp of cheese (tortilla should still be showing through. I sprinkle a little cheese first so the chicken doesn’t slide off the sauce when you try to eat it.)

Yummy cheese

Place the chicken on the tortilla in an even, single layer. Don’t crowd it too much.

Mmmmm chicken........

Sprinkle another little cheese layer.

Spread the onion/bell pepper mixture in an even thin layer.

Sprinkle a final cheese layer.

Bake in the 425º oven for 15 minutes or until the edges of the tortilla are golden brown, the chicken is heated, and the cheese is melted.

Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes or so and then cut with a pizza cutter and enjoy!

On the left, finished beauties. On the right, waiting their turn.

I imagine that this pizza would also be delicious if topped with a little bacon and ranch dressing and green onions. You could also substitute the bbq sauce for hot wing sauce and make a hot wing pizza. Teriyaki sauce and pineapple would make a tasty treat too. You could substitute burrito or enchilada sauce for the bbq and use taco meat with taco toppings and have an open crispy taco.The possibilities are endless so have fun!!!!

Here’s a pic of what I see every morning when I get to school:

For my class I have to create a wedding portfolio, in which I must spend $7,500 on flowers alone and have examples of everything including dresses, menus, shoes, favors, invites, etc. I have to create my dream wedding. As far as wedding dresses go, I have narrowed it down to 3 but now I’m stuck. Any input would be great!

Dress #1

Dress #2

Dress #3
(It would be white)

Let me know which one you like most!

Hello World!

Welcome!! As this is my first blog, and my first post, I am not sure exactly what to say… My goal for this blog is to document my life and hobbies including, but not limited to: cooking (confections, baking, daily meals, etc), crafts (crocheting, floral design [I'm a floral student at a local tech. college], random art projects, etc), animals (I’m a sucker for aquariums and puppies and quite knowledgeable about both), and random musings about my wonderful boyfriend who is a soldier, eater of my food, walker of my dogs, critic of my crafts, and lover of my heart. I hope you enjoy getting to know me and sharing my world!