Tag Archives: Joureny

Journey With Cookbooks #25

So this time I did several different recipes. But a few of them, I’ve done before so I didn’t think to take pictures of the whole process…but I’ll post what I did!

Okay so first I made pizza dough, and I had it rising in the fridge. The recipe I use works wonders if you refrigerate the dough.

I don’t have a photo of the pizza I made, because I made it for the hubby. And I only had 4min to cut it, put it on the pan, get the baby in the car, and drive it to him at work. 😮‍💨

I was only 3min late. 😎 (I drove the speed limit) We just live only 1mile away.

But then I made bread rolls with the other half of the dough.

I doused them in butter and sprinkled our pizza seasoning over them.

So delicious. I had about 3 of them!

Then I decided I should make the marinara meatball idea. The hubby had wanted to go to Subway for lunch, but instead I made him a lunch meat sandwich at home.

Still…I made the food he really wanted to help us save money.

This was a new recipe. But it’s just put everything in a bowl, then form the meatballs.

I used my new favorite marinara sauce recipe. I had that going. I let it simmer for about 30min, while I made the meatballs.

Wow!

Times this by two and you will know how many meatballs I rolled…😮‍💨

While the meatballs cooked I did the dishes…
And made baked donuts.

Our buttermilk was going to expire in 12 days. Since it’s not cheap I decided to use it up and make delicious donuts. Not that we need them or anything.

Baby chose the color for the glaze. Pink! It made about 24 donuts!!🤤 I tested them for poison. Baby did too…

They are done!
I forgot to take a picture when I poured them all in the sauce…since I wasn’t eating them tonight I wanted to get them in containers sooner than later so that they would cool off.

We are going to be eating this for a while…hope the hubby is ready to eat the sandwich beyond his heart’s desire.

Next was salsa…

The hubby had gone to store and gotten some chips and salsa, that was on sale. But sadly the salsa tasted more like pizza sauce…so I was tasked with the mission of making it taste better.

So I chopped some onion, jalapeño, and added some minced garlic. Stir!
I added too much stuff, so I had to add more tomatoes.

I also added some salt. Yummy!! When in doubt, add onion, jalapeño, garlic, and salt. And if you need more tomatoes, I used a can of diced tomatoes. I just chopped them a bit more before adding them.

I about double the amount we had from the start.

Hopefully the hubby approves!

Dishes once again. This is my second load in the sink and also my second load in the dishwasher.

I can’t really rate this blog post, since I did a few recipes randomly. But also the new one I won’t be eating until later today.

But just know easiness of all the recipes I did, would be a 10!! Because I did…1, 2, 3,…6! I did six different recipes from 3:30pm-8pm.

I was pooped yesterday. Today I’m just going to enjoy my Sunday! ❤️

Finally Home.

Our vacation was only four days long…but we did so much in those four days. Making me realize that the hubby and I are very boring people. We are home bodies.

We are exhausted. These last few days wore us out!

So because of all of this…this is my post. I will be just venting my exhaustion.

Also I realize all my posts lately have been poems. But poems are easy and not time consuming. I usually write it the night before, or if I wake up early in bed.

So pardon the repetitiveness. This is not becoming a poetry blog. It is still an everything blog.

Have a wonderful Friday! 🌷Fall is almost here! 🍁

Some photos from our trip.

We rented a house. Very comfy. We actually ended up bringing the mattress from the other room, placing it on the floor, and using it for baby.
I love tunnels. Baby does too! She puts her hands up like it was a rollercoaster.
I love it when the sun comes through the clouds! God is saying hello!
I stayed over here. 350ft drop…Heights…Nope! 😳
Water. As baby says…waaer
Big Waaer! Baby again ran straight for it; thankfully daddy caught her in time!
The dead trees mixed with the alive trees was trippy on the eyes. It was actually giving me a headache when I stared at it too long.
Beautiful mountains!

But still…I’m happy to be home.

Word Of The Day: Ossify 08-25-21

Synonyms: harden, stiffen, rigidify, etc.

Fighting,

Yelling,

Tears.

The one becomes two.

Hurting,

Shunning,

Glares.

Hate lives in the forefront.

Harding,

Corroding,

Stiffen.

The heart beats for no one.

Accepting,

Trying,

Defeated.

Timing in love is key.

Freeing,

Living,

Peace.

Love yourself first.

Most everyone has experienced his cycle. Unless you were one of the lucky ones and you had your other half from the get go.

The word is ossify. I must be honest I’ve never heard of this word. When I saw the synonyms my first thought of a break up. My first break-up was…wow thirteen years ago. 😳 Haha, but I tried to remember the emotions I felt after. I also asked my hubby; his was about seven years ago…but he was no help; he was trying to be too deep. 😅

My vacation has been exciting but full. I’m enjoying myself, but I’m also taking this chance to catch up on my sleep. Hopefully my sleeping schedule changes from that of a teenager.

Give your other half, or even yourself a hug today. Love is strong in any form. Enjoy your Wednesday! 🌺

Loss of Love Cycle
emily2jane
08-25-21

Art Through The Years! #2

Originally I had planned to post a comic, but due to different reasons my self drawing came out terrible… like I looked more like a fifty year old man…haha 😂 So I gave up on that route. I’ll try again another day; when my brain is in the mood to draw my face.

Instead I’ll be posting a few more drawings I’ve done. Yes, some of the drawings were inspired by images from the internet, ten or more years ago. So these new drawings are my impressions of my impressions. Impressions are always the best route to take.

Why would you want to paint someone’s work identical…it’s already been done. Put your own spin on it!

2010

It’s not too bad. I will admit, not too bad for the markers I used here. They were those fifty pack of markers…. I don’t know the brand, but they are like $10 from Walmart.

My first day 2021

Can I just say… I want this dress! Maybe I should take sewing up again… 🤨

2021!

This next completed drawing is a mixture of three separate drawings. I added a bit to fill the spaces, but I actually do love the end result!

These are the three drawings:

2011
2011
2010

When you see the finished picture you will see I only used two of the fairies. But I thought it would be too crazy. So I only used the ideas of the flowers; but of course I tweaked them a little.

2021 Finished

This one I framed! I’ve framed others, but only if I really liked the outcome.

2010

As you can see… I was kind of terrible at profiles. I always seemed to chop their noses off…haha! Also the proportions in this drawing seems off.

I do remember though, that the butterfly lines was done with silver sharpie! I will be doing that, or something similar with my 2021 drawing.

2021

I’ve decided to change the colors in this drawing. I want to try something new!

Well I want to continue but…It seems like my baby is getting a little cold. It’s the first day it rained, this season. We needed it desperately, but my daughter just took a two hour nap at 5pm… meaning I’ll be going to bed sometime after 12am. If I’m lucky.

But I’ll be posting my pictures here and there. I’m enjoying going through the pictures, that I chose to draw over ten years ago; reliving my interests.

Enjoy your Friday! We shall see what my brain decides.

Journey With Cookbooks #24

Today’s recipe is Costco’s Chicken Bakes.

The bacon is done already from breakfast; and I have almost all the correct ingredients!

I’m actually not listening to music this time. I’ve been listening to DryBar YouTube comedy videos. They are my kind of humor. 😆

I’ve been wanting to snack all day…so I decided to have a yummy food for dinner. Also in the high hopes that my daughter would eat it.

Homemade pizza dough

I’ve become picky with pizza dough. Mine is delicious and I know what’s in it!

Ranch and bacon

The recipe says ranch or Caesar dressing. I have ranch. I shall use ranch.

2 chicken breast.

I’ve been trying to use less chicken in recipes and only make a smaller amount. I’ve come to find out I can stretch two chicken breasts pretty far.

Cook the chickens about 15min
Look at this!

You are probably wondering why I’m pointing out this amazing paper covered pan…because I didn’t read the next step and it said to oil the pan…😑

So….

I’m saving that paper. Not so much for the being frugal… but because one day I’m going to use it correctly and when it is needed and I shall do a wonderful maniacal laugh!! Mwahahahahahaha!!

Back on topic…

Chicken is cooking nicely!

I’ve always cooked chicken a solid 20min. No matter how it is chopped…so my chicken has been pretty dry, 8 times out of 10. So I looked up How long to cook cubed chicken? Google says 15min…I shall trust google…

My rolling station is complete!
Look at that bowl…

Not the bowl of bacon…but the bowl of death… usually you only see about 1-2 TBSP in a salad… but not the cup amount in that bowl.

Done!

I always drain the chicken. Only when it is being added to something else.

Dough.
Ranch.

Plop!

Bacon!

Best part! I would totally sample some but I wouldn’t have enough.

Cheese and chicken!

Even though I’m using less chicken, I don’t skimp out of the serving size of the chicken!

Roll similar to a burrito…

Sandwich/ burrito…I now know how wraps were discovered…

On the greased pan!

Stupid greased pan…

😳

I ran out of mozzarella cheese…like in the entire house. We just went to Costco too.

😎

The recipe said to make 6…but let’s be honest I wanted a big one for dinner. Don’t worry I’ll be eating some celery later…

So that is an egg/ lite ranch/ pizza seasoning topping wash. It smells delicious!

Dishes…

I of course had let the kitchen go a little crazy because I’ve been drawing and painting. Moms out there… you understand, you give yourself some you time and the house falls apart…

Yumm!

For mine I used less ranch. I wanted to keep it a little healthier, but I wanted to eat all the delicious dough! So realistically not that much healthier…

So excited!

Look Like Photo: 8. But who really cares about this part…you want to know about the taste…

Taste: 10!! So delicious! I will definitely be making this again. But probably not often because of the amount of calories I just devoured.

Easiness: 9. It wasn’t really hard. Quite simple if you have all the ingredients. Just the prep, before the oven, is what takes most of the time.

Overall a keeper!!

DryBar Video to watch:

Your Dumb Friend – Cam Bertrand

This was the video I watched. My hubby kept looking at me funny, as I busted up in laughter. Only I could hear it. Haha, I probably looked insane.

Enjoy your Tuesday! 🤤

A Piece

Colors bleed,

Mixing and twisting;

Becoming one.

Light defies darkness;

Casting aside,

Into the shadows,

While instead gleams thrive.

Someone is watching you;

Your eyes meet.

Dare to look away?

No…stay.

Question their story,

Push the boundaries;

Enter their fantasy.

I’ve been drawing. It seems like it has taken over my life once again. The poem is inspired by artwork. If you label yourself as an artist you understand, not being able to look away. Wanting to understand everything about the piece.

Recently I’ve decided to redraw my old drawings. As I started, I discovered that my old drawings are from 10 years ago…! (I never throw anything away…)

I now have 10 more years of experience, 10 more years of supplies, 10 more years of patience.

I’ll share the few I’ve done. It’s only been 2 days since I decided to try this…and remember I have a 2 year old. It’s been hard to stop my creative bug; and return back into a responsible mama…

09-03-11

I believe I found this off the internet. I have no recollection of where or by whom…but I am sure it did not look like this.

It’s not too bad. But seeing it makes me wonder why I didn’t measure out a square…or even attempt to make the border straight…

08-11-21

This is my impression of my impression from 10 years ago… I like this one better!

I went all spiffy on it and added the stars detail with paint… because I can. 😎

Next one…

09-05-11

This picture…I believe the stance of the girl was off the internet, but it was just a black line drawing of the girl. I did all the rest from my imagination.

I must say. I still like this one. It’s inspiring! Embrace life! Be free!

08-11-21

This one is still beautiful, but it seems more… graceful. I’m actually not completely done with this one. I still need to add some details.

In all of this, it has been fun to go back in time and see my old self in my art.

Maybe you should try this too! Dig through the drawers and find a drawing, painting, doodle; and redraw it. Maybe your skills have improved too!

Enjoy your Thursday! May it be filled with color!

Art Life Today!

Since I’ve moved my art stuff into the living room I’ve actually been drawing more! I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed it…

For Christmas this year I’ve planned to give people paintings. I’ve finished part of my mom’s and I’m in the process of my little brother’s.

I found out from my spies (mom and sister) that there is a painting that my brother keeps seeing at Home Depot. It’s a print of course, but I totally understand. It’s by Leonid Afremov. He is my favorite artist!! But the painting is not one of his typical ones; which gave me a challenge. I love challenges. 😎

So when you are painting someone’s art I believe in drawing it first. Because then you put your own spin on it. Why paint it exactly the same? That’s boring. It’s your impression of their work. So in a way…it becomes your own.

This was day one.

I decided to use my markers. I knew it was not going to give me the effect I wanted, but I was going to put in the effort and frame the end product.

I actually used the perspective training you get in fifth grade…it actually looks. This is the first time I’m mapped out my drawing. I usually just wing it!

Well…

Again I forgot to take pictures of the stages. But this is the finished product! I actually really like it! It is already framed and finished.

You don’t get that wet feeling with markers but it still works.

This composition was on accident.

I had the wood slices on my desk…I needed a propping type thing… I really liked how this picture looked so I’m sharing it. Haha 😂.

So now all I have to do is paint! I’m planning on using a canvas I found from the thrift store. Repurposing!! I’m using oil paints! And because of the smell; I’ll be doing this outside.

So excited!

I haven’t painted with oil paints in almost…4 years! 😳 I’ve missed the smell; I like the smell. It reminds me of my college days where I took a painting class twice a week; it was an 8 hour class…!

My set-up is on a folding, lifted table. Drop cloth for cleanliness! And I’m located under the carport. It is a prefect makeshift painting area!

Mapping out my canvas…

This is my first time doing this…I thought I should because there is a lot of perspective involved, and that is not my strong suit, with freehand.

Day one!

Again another first…I used to make my first layer just by just coating the canvas with the primary color…in this case it is white…so I found that ridiculous. So I did what my teachers were trying to tell me, and mapped out my painting with thin paint.

Weird…it actually works! 😅 This is going to save me so much paint! I was just stubborn before…

Well that as far as I go today! Don’t worry I will be better at taking pictures through my process.

Enjoy your Wednesday! We are off to story time at the library! 🌼

Word Of The Day: Flexuous 08-04-21

Synonyms: bending, crooked, curving, meandering, serpentine, etc.

The start,

Is vast,

Calming cheer,

Peaceful.

Troubles and worries,

Never exist.

Middle…

Constantly fast,

Never care or fear.

Always gleeful,

Twists and turns,

Whatever you please.

Persist.

Life.

Was it all a riddle?

Still living in the past.

Career disappeared.

Body crooked and feeble.

Desires still burns.

But feel the cool breeze.

Resist.

End…

My time has come.

Life stabbed by the knife.

Waddle down the path,

Only to fiddle and twiddle.

Shows great contrast.

My destination cleared.

Direct like a needle.

No returns.

God hear my pleas.

Missed.

I wrote about life. The journey of life has twists, turns, hills, and great falls. That what I thought of when I read the synonyms of flexuous.

Take life one day at a time. You never know what’s around the corner.

Enjoy your Sunday 🌼

“Life”
Digital Art
by emily2jane
08-07-21

Change!

We decided to completely change the layout of our house… now three days ago…🥸

Haha! I mean completely! We moved our bedroom from the second floor to the basement. My art room from the basement to the living room. Eli’s bedroom from the second floor to the basement. The guest bedroom from the basement to the second floor.

The hubby’s “man cave” (more of a desk area) from the living room to the second floor; he now has an official man cave. He is super stoked!

All around it is now a better layout. We also get all the luxuries that we initially wanted. A bedroom with a bathroom attached. Laundry on the same floor as our bedrooms. And a man cave for the hubby.

But it meant carrying our king mattress down two floors and a queen mattress up two floors…😳 it was a lot! I’m amazed the hubby did not strangle me, as he tried to direct me and I was hearing the opposite. Haha!

I’m sore and exhausted. But I still have organizing to do! Which I like organizing! I would say it is a guilty pleasure. Especially now, since our house is completely flipped, I will be happy and content with all my new projects!!

Hope your life has not been completely flipped, but change it up and do something new today! It might just surprise you! 🎉

Change
emily2jane
08-05-21

Journey With Cookbooks #23

Well as I scrolled through Pinterest and I found this recipe!! Wow! I showed the hubby and it was decided that we should have this for dinner.

🤤

Since we decided upon this we had to go to the grocery store to get buttermilk, sriracha sauce, coleslaw, and buns. Yummy here I come!!

Buttermilk and the spices!

My luck of spicy is not the greatest so I decided to only do half the desired cayenne pepper. Hopefully it was still be yummy and not burn my face off.

Defrosting

The bacon will be cooked later. First I must deal with the chicken.

Start your engines!! Begin!

I decided to cut the breasts in half and do six smaller chickens. The recipe said to do a full breast for four breasts. I did three and made it into six-ish servings.

The prepared buttermilk.
Chicken.
😂 haha

When doing the smashing I got out the smaller of my two rollers. The hubby was next to me and he said, “Use the bigger one.”

I said, “I want to use this smaller one, in case it breaks.”

Him: “You don’t have to worry about that, you won’t have that much force…”

Me: “SMASH! Smash! Smash!” -the hubby walked off. Since one of my hits, broke off a piece of chicken from its whole. 😂 haha!

All the chicken has been beaten! Mwahahahaha!!
This is is lunch.

We have gotten to the point that one pizza can feed all three of us. It should be able to feed another person but the hubby was hungry…one piece for Eli, two for me, and the rest to the crazy eating machine!

😎

The recipe said to let it marinate for at least four hours. So I will be back in a bit to complete this blog…

Prepare the coleslaw and let it sit for a bit in the fridge.

We got a prepackaged bag of the shredded coleslaw. I found a secondary recipe for the dressing.
Yum!

I know some people are not a fan…I wasn’t either, but now I love it on certain foods!

I’ve been adding more songs to my favorites list!!
The spicy, honey sauce…

🥵 wow! That sauce is killer…as in melt my head off!! I split the concoction in half and added way more honey!!

My trusty frying pot!!

We got this pot from someone who was moving…best pot ever! Sturdy and free!!

Bacon…

Baaaaaccccccon…..!!! Mwahahahaha!!

Dust the chicken.

That’s a lie!! Coat that chicken with the flour mixture, until you think it can no longer take anymore…then add more!!

😳

That is for one sandwich… maybe next time I’ll cut the chicken breasts into thirds…

I also found out, that you should never place fried chicken on paper towels; it ruins the crunch. So I used my cookie rack.

More tunes!

Tunes are key to a successful dinner!! 😎

Oooooo

I know this is strange, but as I’m writing this post, the song, “Let’s Get It On,” came to my brain…haha 😅

Anybody order a tall sandwich?

It will be a challenge, but somehow this sandwich is going to fit in my mouth. 🤨

Looks Like Photo: 10! My sandwich is taller but that perfectly fine. Bigger is better!!

Taste: 10!!! 100!! Wow! It was amazing! Worth the wait and time! But for my sandwich I put the coleslaw on top of the chicken and bacon. My bun was not soggy!!

Easiness: 8…since there was lots to do and it did take some time. But I will say…it was easier than making orange chicken. Will definitely be making this again!!

I’m currently in a food coma… Enjoy your day! I will be trying to move…in the next hour…or more…🥱