So I forgot to post last week so this week is a 2 for 1 :). The past 2 weeks have been ordinary. Work is the same as usual as is school. only 6 more weeks to go until the final and the certification test. Long days make for long weeks but it will all be worth it.
So now for the recipe for beef tips. Now these are slow cook tips in the meaning that you make them and bake them for 3 hours. Gives you the convenience of a slow cooker type recipe (set the timer and go about your business) but half the time of a slow cooker to cook it.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. beef tips/stew meat/chuck roast/chuck eye, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet brown gravy mix1 packet dry onion soup mix1 cup water or ginger ale soda
Preheat oven to 300
Put cubed meat into 9x13 baking dish
Mix all the other ingredients and pour over meat
Cover with foil - DO NOT REMOVE UNTIL COOKING FINISHED :)
Bake for 3 hours
Serve over rice/mashed potatoes/egg noodles
**The original recipe can be found here:http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2008/08/no-peek-beef-tips.html
And for the cookie recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box triple chocolate fudge cake mix
1/2 cup veggie oil
4 oz toffee bits
4-6 oz chocolate chips
2 eggs
3 heaping tablespoons of toffee cappuccino mix
Preheat oven to 350
Combine all ingredients together
Spoon onto cookie sheet
Bake 10 min
**The original recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/semi-homemade-cooking-with-sandra-lee/stephanie-tylers-chocolate-surprise-cookies-recipe/index.html
So little man turned 3 months last week! How time has flown by. Doesn't seem that long ago we were discharging to bring him home. Work has slowly gotten back to normal (after 1.5 months of being back). School is still going well although I am finding out that the "real world" of medical records is so much different than the "select world" of medical records. But i am learning a lot and still enjoying it. I am considering in the future going back and getting my degree and certification in health information. But that's a while off.
So in my quilting pursuits I have done quite a few baby quilts. Each one has the baby's name cross-stitched along the bottom. Here are 3 that I have done:
Bush baby - girl
Brasel baby - boy
Henry baby - girl
So this week I started "back to school" so to speak. I am taking a certificate course in Electronic Health Records Management. My employer is converting from paper charting to electronic over the next few years and I figured this would be a good jump start. I am also considering going back to school and getting a degree and certification in Health Information Technology. But right now that's just a thought :)
Little one turned 3 months old today! He is growing so fast. Starting to teethe already. And still hating tummy time lol.
So now for the rest of the title. For Christmas the past few years I have been making homemade gifts for some of my family members. I have been into quilting but decided this year I wanted to do something even more personal for my mother. But before we get to that, here are the 2 quilts I made as xmas gifts:
This one was for my mother - it is queen sized, backed with a lime green flat sheet, and stitched with hunter green thread so there is a design element on the back.
This one was for my aunt - it is also queen sized,backed with a black flat sheet, and stitched together with yellow thread so there is a design element on the back.
As I mentioned above, this past xmas I wanted to do something more personal and much more challenging than a quilt (because my quilts are just squares sewn together- not very hard). So I got together with my aunt and got a hold of some of my grandfathers Air Force uniforms. He was a retired Senior Master Sergeant and passed away when I was one. So, I made something that my mother could use for multiple occasions (including a diaper bag) and she would have something to remind her of her dad. This is what I came up with:
The bag is 85% used/worn uniform with a navy lining. The side pockets are his actual rank (although from his Technical Sergeant days) and the front flap has his actual name tape and branch tape. And it goes without saying that it was a HUGE hit.
Not sure how I am going to be able to top that this upcoming xmas season but I better put my thinking cap on now!
So this past week was relatively uneventful minus the ice storm that hit. Now ice for us is much worse than snow bc even fewer people know how to drive in the ice LOL. Was still made to go to work but that just meant that I had time to rearrange my office :).
panoramic of the before (sort of) from the back corner looking towards the door
the new arrangement looking at the back corner from the door.
Also finished another quilt. This one was for a co-worker.
So this week was an interesting one to say the least. Car was in the shop until Thursday only to have to return Friday to be fixed again. But it is finally fixed yay! This made for a week of car pooling. Not a bad thing except for Thursday when the snow hit.Now for those of you who don't know, snow is a 4 letter dirty word here in certain parts of East Tennessee. It means that you must go to the nearest grocery store immediately to buy eggs, milk, and bread (all of which are pretty much perishable if the power goes out - smart huh). 9 out of 10 times the snow never comes. This time it actually did. We got 3-6 inches in my area! That's a lot lol. So thanks to my car being under the weather I have been carpooling as mentioned earlier. Now, the snow made this interesting because the day the snow came, my ride was not able to come get me at work. I had to walk 5 blocks in the snow to meet my ride. Talk about a cardio and breathing workout :). But there was no way I was staying at work overnight. By the next day it was already melting which is normal here. We haven't had a good snow / storm in YEARS. Little one had his first snow experience - was not a fan this time around. Next time it snows he should be old enough to enjoy it.
Work this week was much better than last week as I have almost gotten everything caught back up. Got the dirty job of archiving done with the help of a co-worker. Only took 5.5 hours and I no longer have any space in my office to move from all the boxes but I now have shelf space again :). Only 6 months until I have to do it again.
So this week, I don't have a recipe to post. This week I am posting a quilt that I have done. This one was my first ever quilt I did several years ago when i was in high school. Found the pattern in a book from the library. It is a pinwheel design and the colors are my high school colors.
So my first week back to work has come to a close. Let's just say that after 4 months off for bed rest / maternity leave it was a change of pace. Still drowning with the amount of work that needs to be caught up on but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. If only I could pull overtime to get caught back up (I know that makes me crazy but I feel so out of sorts being this far behind lol). Little man is still not on a schedule yet so to speak but getting there. Thinking that he is starting to teeth already too which accounts for his fussiness. Next week is his 2 month visit / shots - hoping for the best. Finished out the week with a conked out vehicle. Overheated on my way home from work - oh joy. Thankfully we can get it all fixed for a good price but I will be car-less until next week. Wont even have the parts until Tuesday. Gonna be carpooling with my mom and me and baby are going to be staying in town until its fixed. But anyhow, now to the fun part of this post - the recipe!
Pizza roles
Ingredients:
Rolls
1 8 oz package cresent rolls
4 cheese sticks, halved
1 3.5 oz package sliced pepperoni
marinara sauce (for dipping)
Seasoned butter
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Seperate crescent rolls and place onto ungreased cookie sheet
Place 6 (or more to your liking) pepperonis at bottom of each roll
Place one half of cheese stick on top of pepperoni
Tightly roll up and place tip side down onto cookie sheet
Bake 10-14 min
While rolls are cooking, combine the seasoned butted ingredients into small bowl
Brush mixture over the freshly cooked rolls
Serve with marinara for dipping
Enjoy!
So I am going to try my hand at blogging. A few of my friends do this and it seems like it would be something new and fun to try. I hope that I can keep up with it. My goal is to post once a week. Mainly recipes, crafts, and the occasional random update about my life as a mother and Army wife. So here goes nothing :)
Here is a recipe that I found that is so simple and yummy. Great for eating by itself, with stews, or making a sandwich.
Beer Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 12 oz beer - your choice
Preheat oven to 375
Mix all ingredients
Pour into greased bread pan
Bake 35-40 min
And voila!
