Finally Feel Energized

For the first time in a long time I woke up feeling completely energized and it’s absolutely fabulous! I can’t remember the last time I felt this good. Surprising too since Doug got a new phone and his alarm sounds like a nuclear weapon is being fired. It about shot me out of bed the two times it went off.

Anyways, got up and ready for work and was on the road by 7:15. Got into the office early and made my Chai Latte, thank you to our fantastic single serving coffee maker, and now I’m currently participating in our monthly team conference call….well, maybe not so much participating as multi tasking. Have to pick Doug up in an hour for his six week follow-up appointment from surgery. I cannot believe he’s been on crutches for the past six weeks. It will be so wonderful when he can finally walk without all of the hassle with the crutches. He’s really looking forward to getting back into a normal routine. We’re planning on joining a new gym, preferably one with a pool since it would help with his rehab.

Last night for dinner we tried a new recipe – Salsa Burgers and Creamy Cheese Corn, yum!



Salsa Burger:

1 lb ground beef or Turkey

1 cup favorite salsa

¼ cup water

Chili Powder

Hamburger Buns



In medium skillet brown ground beef and drain. Return meat to pan and stir in salsa, water and chili powder. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Serve on hamburger bun and add sliced cheese if desired.

Cream Cheese Corn:

16oz package frozen corn

½ stick of butter

4oz cream cheese



In medium sauce pan and all ingredients and heat stirring occasionally. Cook till corn is thawed. Add salt and pepper to taste.




Tonight is my monthly book club meeting and we’ll be discussing the book The Help. Highly recommend reading this book if you haven’t done so. Dinner is going to have to be quick tonight so I can finish up laundry before heading to the meeting. Tonight’s recipe is Tomato Soup with Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

TGI - The WEEKEND!

I can’t believe how busy the month of March has been! Thank goodness for the kitchen, it’s become my sanctuary with all the chaos going on. With Doug being on crutches since his knee surgery he’s left unable to do….just about everything. I try and have as much done around the house for him before he gets home as possible. I was able to sneak home over my lunch break a few times this past week and get dinner made ahead of time. My crock-pot just might be my favorite cooking friend. It’s so nice to leave in the morning and “POOF” dinner is ready when you walk through the door. The crock-pot recipe this week was: Ham & Potato Goodness


Servings: 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High

Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

1 pound of ham, cut into small pieces.

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 onion, diced

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

paprika

Directions:

In your slow cooker layer half sliced potatoes, ham, cheese, diced onion and one can of soup. Then layer the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker. Sprinkle a little paprika on the top.

Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours

Parker review: BEST DARN SCALLOP TATERS

March 4th

I've found another website that I've fallen in love with - http://www.mixingbowl.com/ - I've gotten some great recipes from not only the website, but the magazine as well. yesterday I made the Chicken Nugget Casserole Dish. Super easy adn didnt' tast too bad. I would however recommend pairing this with some angel hair pasta. The casserole by it's self is good but would be even better with a little pasta!

Ingredients:

1 PKG (13 1/2 oz. frozen chicken nuggets)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 can (26 1/2 oz) spaghetti sauce of your choice

1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Place chicken nuggets in a sprayed 11x7x2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Top with sauce, shredded cheese and Italian seasoning. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or till chicken is heated thoroughly and cheese is melted.

I've managed to find a small amount of time to look through new recipes, get to the store for the food and meal prep, however, havent' found time for a run. Hoping to get that in tonight before it's time to get back home and take dinner out of the crock pot. Trying a new recipe this evening - Potatoe & Ham Goodness - I'll let you know how it is tomorrow after we've tried it!

Kendra

Hello March!

March is shaping up to be a very busy month for the Parker’s! Doug is enjoying his new job with Great Southern Bank and I think he likes the fact that we only work five minutes apart. Makes it really convenient for me to drop off lunch for him, which I enjoy doing! 


We are adjusting to living together and still have many, many boxes left to unpack. The other guest bedroom is slowly coming together and in a few more weeks Doug should have his “man cave” all put together. We only suffered one major catastrophe during the move….I managed to break his prized possession, the TV. Technically, this wasn’t really my fault. The guys didn’t do the best job packing it in the Pathfinder and it was on the very last turn of the drive home when we heard a huge crash come from the trunk. I managed to put a giant sized gash in the middle of the screen. Us girls thought we would be sneaky and run to BestBuy without the guys noticing. I came home with a new 50” flat screen plasma TV to try and smooth things over. Too bad it didn’t work as well as I had expected. The new TV was too large for the entertainment unit that just got moved into the basement and no one wanted to move it out. So, back to BestBuy we went to make a return. Maybe we’ll get a new TV for down there once the basement is finished.

Football (www.iowathunderfootball.com) is now two months into practice. We have seven weeks left till our first game and things are coming together. I really enjoy the group of women we have playing this year. Everyone is putting in a lot of work and we should have another successful season. Hoping to make it into the post season with the main goal of making the National Title game. I will be taking on two new roles this season, one as team captain, two as a wide receiver. I’ll still be playing free safety and will remain as the kick-off and field goal kicker.

I’m starting to find more time now that Doug is back for working out and cooking. My goal is to keep an update of my workouts and new recipes on here so keep checking back! Maybe this will help keep me motivated if I’m held accountable for updates.



Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Ran two miles today and feel like my legs are about to explode. Apparently my body disagrees with me taking two months off after the honeymoon for some R&R. Hope to get in another mile or two tonight and then it’s on to push-ups and sit-ups. Nothing like an old school workout to get me back in shape.



Recipe of the day: Ham & Potato Goodness

6 – medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

1 pound boneless ham, cut into small pieces

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

1 onion, chopped

1 – 10.5 ounce can cream of celery soup

1 – 10.5 ounce can cream of mushroom soup

Paprika



(1) In a 3 ½ or 4 quart slow cooker, layer half of the sliced potatoes, half of the ham, 1 ½ cups of the cheese, half of the chopped onion, and one of the cans of soup. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle a little paprika over the top.

(2) Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Makes 4 servings

Make it a complete meal with a simple salad of spinach, chopped apples and walnuts + frozen cooked carrots glazed with coarse mustard and honey.

FINALLY

The day I've been waiting 1 year, 7 months, 18 days and some 14 odd hours has finally arrived. Doug's last day of work and last day living out of town is here!!!! My husband is finally moving into our house with me and Sophie. We are so excited to begin this new adventure, slightly nervous but highly optimistic. It's crazy to think back on our adventure and life thus far together. We never thought we'd be living this long apart, let alone be newlyweds and doing this. So it's February 19th and at 5:10 PM my husband pulled into the driveway for the first time as a resident of Ankeny.
Now the difficult part begins. We've got five days to get the house reorganized, his place in Fairfield, IA packed up and get him moved back to start his new job. There are lots of transitions that will take place in this short amount of time but I can't wait to start.
This past week I wasn't able to get much accomplished around the house as I was on a business trip in Vegas. Had a blast but I'm pretty sure my liver is shot and I now have lots of work to catch up on. Wish us luck in this new chapter and we're looking forward to providing new updates soon!

So many blogs, not enough time in the day

My best friend, Brooke, has gotten me addicted to several blogs. It would have been fine if this addicition developed over several days, or even weeks for that matter. But sadly my friends, this addiction happened in less than 24 hours.
I said I was going to do a better job of updating my own blog, which I have. The problem is, is that this makes me look at other blogs. Sometimes for inspiration, sometimes to see what is going on in other peoples lives.....Brooke has introduced me to several fabulous sites this morning

www.iowagirleats.com
www.ourbestbites.com
www.stellaanddot.com
and finally
www.etsy.com

All of these sites have made my productivity level for the day come to a screeching hault. While I've enjoyed every minute of my web browsing, I now have a grocery list a mile long with items I want to try, five pieces of art work being shipped to the house, a new pair of earrings and a new collar for the dog.

All in all, I believe it was a great shopping day and I can't wait for all the packages to arrive. It's going to be like having Christmas all over again. Look at the time - better get off to bed!

Knee Surgery

Well, Doug finally had what we hope will be his final knee surgery on Monday, February 1st. The surgery took 3.5 hours and went well. He's been in a lot of pain and the meds keep him in and out of consiousness, but he's being absolutely great about everything.
Exercises his knee two times a day with the therapy instructions they gave him and hope in six weeks to be able to put weight on his leg. Till then, I will play the role of taxi driver extraordinaire! Because of the surgery Doug had to take this week off from work. It's been great to have him home but we wish it wasn't under these conditions. Sophie has really enjoyed having dad around. She's really careful of all the medical equipment filling up the living room. I'm exhausted and still have a cake to bake to go with dinner tonight. Talk to you all soon!