Tag Archives: Joureny

Adventures, Creativity, Reflections

Our Journey

Leave a comment

This vacation was to visit the newest baby addition to my sister in-law’s family. All the way to Kentucky.

Our trip was a total of 5 days…

Day 1 Drive eight hours.Hotel. Day 2 direct flight to Cincinnati, drive 10min to Kentucky. Day 3 Kentucky. Day 4 Kentucky. Day 5 Fly plus drive the eight hours. 😩

Day 5 was the worst.

But enough of the depressing things I’ll post some pictures. 🥰

Driving out of our home state. Such a beautiful blue sky.
Next state. I feel like their sky is huge!!
An actual conversation that happened in the car.

It’s funny how my mind and my hubby’s mind work differently. Haha 😂 Elizabeth wanted up. This was going to be a fun day, if we were only into the drive by 3 hours.

Finally!

We went exploring because we got there a bit before we could check in. Next step swimming in the pool to get the wiggles out!!

Scratch that. The pool at our hotel is closed. So we went to the park and let Elizabeth get her wiggles out. The hotel was really crappy. In all our experiences, it was the second worst ever. The first being a weed smelling infested hotel that made me puke. So this one was just a smidge better because it did not smell but it was pretty bad.

Elizabeth was over the car. But at least we are on our way to the airport.

I don’t know if you remember Elizabeth with her backpack…but man, was that a life saver! If you have a two year old, get one. It was amazing.

Elizabeth was doing digital Art. I thought this one was pretty.
Digital Art by Elizabeth
6-2-21
I know airline’s say they wipe everything down due to Covid, but I always wipe everything, I think she might touch, down. Luckily I did because my wipe came back a light brown.

I would suggest wiping down things that claim to be clean. It never is. I’ve been doing this even before Covid. Just because my child has always been curious. She touches everything.

The clouds look like whipped cream. I’m hungry.

Finally to Kentucky. It is beautiful. It’s green! But wow it is humid!! It was 50 something degrees and I was drenched. Compared to home it felt like the air was giving me a sweaty hug. 🥵

Elizabeth and Papa. What a wonderful view they have out their windows.

Next, an outing in Kentucky.

Noah’s Ark.
The tail end.

It was truly amazing!! Except at this area they had fake thunder noises and Elizabeth got scared. She got some extra mama snuggles.

Again Elizabeth touching everything. She liked all the wood. I wiped her hands when we got back to the first floor.

This last picture we had gone up to the third floor of the ark and was slowly making our way down. It was huge!!

The center of the ark. Just think people today had tools and machines. Noah had his hands and the tools he made.

Walking threw the ark made me realize something. Noah was the creator of the term rustic. Whoever claims otherwise is a liar. He started it all. Haha 😆

Elizabeth was Done! at around 2:00. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law do not understand because they have a 1 month year old. Their child is fine as long as she gets to eat and sleep. Not so true for a 2 year old. And I must say! Elizabeth walked almost the entirety of the day…except the first floor of the ark. (It was too crowded and the thunder). My fitbit said I did almost 10,000 steps by this point! But she did amazing. Also we got there around 9:30. So it had been 4.5hrs. But the grandparents and the new parents did not understand.

So around 3:00…the hubby and I were Done! We got the keys to the car and took back our screaming child. The instant we got in the car, she snuggled into me and slept. It was nap time. She probably napped for a good hour and a half. I probably got 30min.

Nap time plus waiting was a total of 3 hours before everyone else showed up…😕 it would have been nice to go back to the hotel before dinner.

Bedtime was interesting… Kentucky is 2 hours ahead of us. So when it was 10pm there, it really felt like 8pm. I feel bad for our neighbors because Elizabeth was finally falling asleep around 11:30 every night.

A park near their house.

So sweet 🥰
She got daddy’s hat…❤️
My extended family.

The day at the park was day four. It was warmer, but with a warmer temp meant sweating from the humidity. If it wasn’t humid and the life pace was a bit slower this would be a wonderful place to live.

Day 5

On the plane and the beautiful sunrise.

We had to wake up at 3:50am. 😒 It was good because we still had the eight hour drive after the flight. But it felt like our 1:50am. I was still on our home town time….😵

Home ❤️

Finally back home. There is no place like home!!

Journey With Cookbooks

Journey With Cookbooks #16

Leave a comment

Cheesy Ground Beef Quesadilla!

Another Google recipe.

I wish I could find a cookbook that is only ground beef recipes…

This recipe says it takes 45min…🤨 another easy dinner!! A mom’s happy plan.

My ingredients!!
Defrost the ground beef.

When I initially brought the beef up, I thought I had already put it in water. But alas no, I did not. So now I have to wait the 30min.

The tunes are on!

Unless I am trying a new recipe I don’t listen to my iTunes. I usually just roll with my Spotify playlist. Mostly because I used to listen to wide range of music and I would rather Elizabeth’s first words be from an bad song.

Fears of a mama.

Back to cooking.

Dice the onion. Do you see the cute cow butter dish in the back!?! It was my hubby’s grandma’s. I am a lover of cows too!
I have chosen applesauce and corn for the sides to dinner. I know it’s not a real vegetable but it works.
Beef!

I forgot to take a picture of cooking the beef, but let’s be honest…you know what it looks like. It looks the same as always. And this is me draining the fat off.

Oil, onion, salt, pepper!
And my foot down in the left bottom corner…

Sorry. I am a little goofy today as I write this recipe up. No, my foot is not included into the food.

It doesn’t seem right…?

This recipe does not have pictures with the steps. Hopefully this is right…

Warming up the cast iron skillet. I like how the tortilla crisps. The meat mixture looks okay now.

I love Tim McGraw.

I had to skip various songs. Some were too random for my brain. Also some had some colorful words.

Starting to look yummy!!

I added the green onions. It was not in the list of ingredients, but green onions always add more delicious flavors.

Interesting mix.

I’ve already given the hubby his and Elizabeth her Mac n cheese. This one is Mama’s!!
Yum!

Of course the night I choose to make a quesadilla, is the day when we are out of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. 😞 it was still delicious but I was bummed about the lack of extras.

But to the scoring.

Look Like Picture: 9. Mostly because I used the cheese I had. It was the cheddar jack mix from Costco. Not really the right taste, but still worked.

Taste: 9. I think it worked. But I think it would better with some diced green chilies mixed in. I’ve been in a spicy mood. The hubby liked it. He gave it an 8, just because he wasn’t very hungry to begin with.

Easiness: 10! It was easy. Another easy peasy recipe for a baby brained mama. Meaning… “dumb moments”. I have those days occasionally often. 😂

Hope you enjoyed the post. But also my music playlist.

Creativity, Journey With Cookbooks

Journey With Cookbooks #15

Leave a comment

New recipe…

Creamy Ground Beef Pasta!!

Another google ground beef recipe. We still have a lot of ground beef to go. My mother can attest to it; she has seen the goods. 🤩

Do you notice the flowers in the background?
🌸

I was given anniversary flowers/ Mother’s Day flowers. The hubby did good!

Back to the food…

Looks so yummy!! I wish mine had looked like that…

Defrosting the beef…again imagine some calming music… Instead I had…

This is where I am at in my music from 10years ago…strange choices…
Noodles and beef!

Browning the beef and cooking the curly-cue noodles!!

The spices!!

I tasted a few noodles just to make sure they were not poisonous. Not that I love noodles, but for the safety of my family 🤨

This recipe was not really what I expected. I grabbed the tomato sauce, but it didn’t really register in my mind. I thought this recipe was more of a cheesy Alfredo pasta…

💪Wonder Mama!!

I have gotten into the habit of trying to wash the dishes often throughout the day. Because then when it’s dinner time, all I have to do is dinner dishes. So I am probably in the kitchen, at the sink, about 70% of my day…

Heavy Cream! Cheese! Noodles!!

How could it be bad…? Three awesome ingredients will be added to meat. It already is delicious!

Not quite the same…

See how the google picture is so vibrant while mine is kind of boring. Probably because of the cheese type.

But it still tastes good. Yes. I tried it.

The family meal!

Have to have my healthy food… SALAD!! We also had some leftover Hawaiian rolls. It seems like I added a salad just for the refreshing green color. 😂

My food! I did not eat three Hawaiian rolls…I ate two though!

Overall another easy recipe. Especially since I got the ingredients measured out beforehand and I was able to just add as I needed. In total, it was only about 30min to make.

Look like picture: 6. The noodles are the same but the consistency and color are quite different. But I give it a 6 because compared to the photo only the color is different.

Taste: 8! A solid 8. Mostly because it was not what I expected. So my brain was a little shocked. Whereas the hubby and daughter loved it!! If you try this, there is a distinct tomato taste. Almost like a creamy tomato soup pasta. With meat. Can’t forget the meat!

Easiness: 10! Another easy, chill, calm recipe for a mom who is frazzled. I wasn’t frazzled today, but on a day where I am I will probably make this again.

So to sum this recipe up. Not what I expected. Still good however. And the family approved. So I’ll be adding it to my cookbook.

Thinking…I might make a secondary google inspired cookbook called: The Frazzled Mama. Then when I am uninspired to cook; I can find an easy recipe! 🤔 I like this plan!!

Enjoy!

Journey With Cookbooks

Journey With Cookbooks #14

Leave a comment

Today’s recipe was bagels…

It was from ‘Crusts: The Ultimate Baker’s Book’

Du du dunnnnnnn!!

I was in the mood to try something new. And let’s be honest bagels are awesome!!

My mixer

So I forgot to take pictures of the dough…but I used the mixer of awesomeness!!! It sadly did not like the dough though…

Our mixer is only four years old. It shouldn’t be dying.

They look good 🤩

So it actually looks okay.

I’ll layout the process I’ve already done. -mix dough in mixer until ball is formed.

-roll the ball of dough on a cutting board with a light dusting of flour.

-divide ball into 12 pieces. (I miscounted and cut 14)🤪

-roll into hotdog shapes and form bagels.

-put a light dusting of cornmeal on pan and place bagels on top. Let the bagels chill in fridge overnight.

-… imagine the corny elevator music…

-next let bagels sit in room temp for 2 hours to let puff up.

Now the next picture!

Boiling…
Boil them…

I didn’t realize you have to put them in boiling water for about 1 min. It makes sense, but when they came out of the water they looked really bumpy and were super slippery. I dropped them upside down a few times!

Speaking of bumpy. It reminded me of a toy we had in my childhood. I don’t remember the name but it was a figurine that had stretchy limbs…so you could make him punch himself. But his skin was similar to the bumpiness. Strange… back on topic…

Baking!!

I should say, at this moment I was worried. I was worried it was going to be another failure. Normally I don’t worry but when you put days into something you really hope it works well. But to stay positive…if they come out hard as rocks, like the first time I made biscuits, I will just take them outside and have a bagel fight with Elizabeth!

So pretty!

Now relax! 🙂 they came out better than I expected!!

🥳

Awesomeness!! They are a little crispy on the bottom but they are still soft enough to eat!!

If I keep this up I will never buy anything ever again. Which saves money and I gain experience. A win win. The hubby will be happy. So an extra win!

Mine.

I love just plain bagels. They are delicious to me!!

The hubby’s.

Elizabeth took a bite of daddy’s and made the best disgusted face. It was priceless. Almost like her gramma experiencing lobster. So she proceeded to steal mine. At least I have 12 others to choose from.

Look like photo: 9. Just because I think I need to cook it less time. Meaning I will be trying again.

Taste: 9. Again just because I need to adjust my cooking time. By 5min? We will see.

Easiness: 7. It wasn’t too hard but just since it was a two day process you have to make sure to have space in your fridge. That might have been the hardest part, rearranging the fridge. 😂

Well enjoy your Tuesday!! Maybe have a bagel! 🥯

Journey With Cookbooks, Reflections

Journey With Cookbooks #13

Leave a comment

Mwahahahaha!

Well a new recipe.

I have to admit. It is difficult to stay within just three cookbooks. There are only so many ground beef recipes…and we have a lot of ground beefs to go. So I turned to google again.

Looks easy. It says it takes a total 20min to make. 😎

So I guess I renounce my statement of number of cookbooks. But I will be continuing to share my cooking stories. Let’s begin.

Lots of chopped green onions. These are also from my indoor plant. So they are fresh!!
Beef…

The longest part was defrosting the beef. I always forget hat it takes almost 30min to defrost.

Easy. Took the beef. Drain the fat, set aside.

Next I was to add all the other ingredients and let simmer. But I forgot to take a picture. But it was garlic, soy sauce, ginger powder, beef broth, various spices, and a whole cup of brown sugar…😳 but I realized why that much sugar later on…

Yummy! It smells delicious!

The next step was to add watered cornstarch. I don’t use cornstarch. For no other reason than I never have any and I always forget to buy some. So instead you double the amount and use flour.

It will help thicken the beef mixture. The only difference between flour and cornstarch in sauces is cornstarch stirs in clear; while flour might be cloudy.
Also…my tunes…

I’ve decided to listen through my iTunes music….it’s all the music I bought when I was a teenager…so most of it will probably be weird now…but maybe a few gems. Maybe…

As the meat is simmering for 8min you should also be cooking the noddles. It even suggested the spaghetti noodles. It was not a random decision. 🤓

The brown sugar is to glaze the noodles…🤔 ahhhh!

Hopefully it is good. It smells devine!

Top with the garnish…

Finished!!

….Wow! It is delicious. Even the hubby said he thinks this is his new favorite ground beef noodle recipe. Mine too. I wish I could post the video of Elizabeth eating it….it is definitely her favorite too!

So…

Look Like Picture: Maybe an 8. Just because it looks like they used a different option on the noodles. The more authentic version. We might have to get some next time.

Taste: 10! 100% 10!!

Easiness: 10! Another put it all together and then enjoy! I sent this recipe to my family. It is definitely a dish my brothers and nephews would love.

Also…

Cookies

The hubby made his chocolate chip cookies earlier so we already have dessert. It’s the normal nestle cookie recipe but somehow his cookies always come out amazing. One recipe I will not make; the hubby will always be in charge of chocolate chip cookies. And this time around he tried something new…

Fancy butter.

Nick’s friend gave us some fancy butter…if you love chocolate chip cookies, try making it with this butter….you will never be able to eat other cookies.

I’m usually good about not eating too many cookies… these ones I had 8 after dinner. I gained back all the weight I worked so hard to lose… 😩

Enjoy your night. I wish it to be filled with delicious food! But if it is filled with cookies…be strong…don’t eat too many! 🤣

Journey With Cookbooks, Reflections

Journey With Cookbooks #12

Leave a comment

So I choose a meat first. I decided on beef…but for some reason I was having trouble finding a simple ground beef recipe that we haven’t had yet in the cookbooks…

Nothing…maybe it was because I was uninspired but I found nothing…
So I ventured into a few more…

Nothing…well that’s not completely true. I found a few in the casserole cookbook but none were sounding appetizing.

So I opted to one of my previous simple recipes…

It is a google recipe that I’ve edited, typed up, and printed into my goggle inspired cookbook.

So it says Korean…but since I didn’t have the right ingredients, when I first made it, I kind of Americanized it….so I apologize to the Koreans or foodies in the world that may cringe at some of my changes. Sorry. 😓

So first things first…defrost the beef…

It would take hours if I let it sit alone…so hot water, meet meat…

This is from the cow we bought…the meat doesn’t truly taste different to me, but when I cook it, it has a nice smell to it.

Rice maker…!

Funny story about our rice cooker. My brother didn’t end up wanting this rice cooker when he went back for his second year of college…so I took it. 🤓 And it still lives!! It’s about 4 years old. When it eventually dies I will be very sad…😞

Anyways back on topic. Rice is cooking!!

The sauce and meat cooking pan is prepared…
A little bit of olive oil and start cooking the meat. Just until no longer pink.

Can you guess what I decided to do while I waited for the meat to cook?

Get the dishes prepared for after dinner…🥸

It is not my blog unless doing dishes is mentioned at some point…

I decided to add my always green bean recipe. It’s not really a recipe…

You know when you cook something so often that you no longer measure…that would be my green beans. Some butter, green beans, some salt, a little pepper, a lite sprinkle of garlic powder…and a five finger pinch of brown sugar. Mix it up and let it simmer until you are done with everything else…

Drain off the fat…
I changed my mind about the sauce…I wiped out the bit of fat at the bottom of the pan and added the sauce.

Yeah it means one more dish…but to be honest it was the same pot I used to boil Elizabeth’s noddles for Mac n cheese…so it was already used. Another confession…I just wiped it with a paper towel after lunch…But all it had was a couple stuck noodles. 🤪

Stir the meat. Add the flavor!!

Now I’m hungry. I wasn’t really hungry when I started. But now I’m a HUNGRY THING!!

The rice is done.

We get a sushi rice. It’s the best! Costco!!

The garnish…🤩

Green onions just add that extra yum! to certain foods. I usually add them to anything hat sounds remotely good.

My food!

I’ve been trying to be better at my rice consumption. I now measure out my rice. It also makes the plate look pretty and professional…but honestly it’s just for measuring purposes.

See this was a normal cooking process before I got the cookbooks. My google inspired cookbook is huge. I gave my siblings a copy for Christmas this last year.

Even though it’s a bit simple it was delicious!!

I guess I’ll rate them since this is a recipe after all…

Looks Like Picture: 10! I do remember the picture. It always looks the same.

Taste: 10! I always love this meal. It’s a little sweet, spicy, and salty. Everything you usually crave rolled into one recipe. In case you try it…if you do not like spicy don’t add the red pepper flakes. Or maybe just half… also my hubby wanted seconds but again I said no. Just because I knew ice cream was in the near future…

Easiness: 10! It’s pretty much an add everything together and wait. Also since I use a rice cooker it makes this meal extremely easy!

Also to give you an idea of amount of beef mixture it makes… I had about a small heaped 1/2 cup. The hubby…3/4 cup?? I think. And there probably 1 cup leftover. So for two people, it’s a one dinner and one lunch kind of meal.

Hopefully this recipe made you hungry. Usually I won’t post the recipe but since this one is a recipe I tweaked to work fo me I shared it.

Have a great dinner tonight!!

Journey With Cookbooks

Journey With Cookbooks #6

Leave a comment

Well I felt super ambitious the other night. I decided to make the Sloppy Joe’s recipe from the, The Frontier Cookbook. I already have a recipe that I’ve always used, my sister found it. But I decided to branch out and try a new one…I also decided to make those “fluffy rolls” again!

And so it begins again my foe…
Mwahahahaha!

If you can’t tell I am taking this rematch seriously…😜

Wow…

So it turns out…I killed the yeast last time. I thought my thermometer worked…nope. I had the water about 60 degrees too warm. We got a meat thermometer; I was able to use it for the water, it’s digital. 😎 Well must wait two hours…

Brown the meat.
Since I didn’t read the entire recipe again…😓😂 I didn’t realize I needed 2.5 lbs of beef, so I’m just making half of the recipe. Dicing!!!
Yum!

Well my plan of making half went okay…except I forgot about cutting the garlic in half…at least my hubby and I like garlic.

I forgot to take pictures of the rolls…but the dough did double in size! I made bigger rolls because they are for the Sloppy Joe’s .

Don’t kill the yeast, best advice ever!…and I have to admit I didn’t wait the full 2 hrs. It was more like 1.5 hrs. Just because I wanted the rolls to be done around the same time as the Sloppy Joe’s.

All the spices and deliciousness! It called for chili powder and red pepper flakes. Which was different. We shall see. Simmer 20min.
???

Yep that’s right. I decided to be ambitious…French fries it is…but not only that, I’m going to fry them!! I normally bake them in the oven, but since the oven is being used and now I find frying interesting, let’s try it!

So because my knowledge of frying is still small I looked up a fries recipe on google. It was Chef John’s French Fries. I only referenced the temp of the oil and how long. Just because I wanted them to be plain because we already have enough salt… but also I plan to eat them with lots of ketchup!

So I don’t know if you are supposed to do this step when you fry the fries, but when I baked them, I would let them soak a min or two and then pat them dry.

I cut the fries a little thicker than when I baked them, because I like my fries to be crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside!!

I tried to use the meat thermometer again to figure out the temp but it would only go to 165…it showed 180, I just left the oil alone about 5 more min and then began.

This is the same oil from when I did the Spicy Asian Wings. So there is a little bit of flavor added because of the oil. It smells delicious!!

The fries on the left: Well I doesn’t look like much but they have one more round in the oil before the results!
Mwahahahaha! I have succeeded! I can’t wait to see what happens when I make it 100% correct…🤩 but I’m super happy with the result!

And this time I tasted it…as I said normally I don’t taste as I go. But I had a little nibble and it was delicious!! 😎

I decided to add a salad to the dinner. Everything was starting to seem a little heavy…

I try and keep the dinners somewhat healthy. Maybe I should say, I try to have one healthy thing to make it seem like we are healthy…haha.

Mission complete!

I will say it looks delicious, but it taste way better!!

Fries done! They came out exactly as I hoped! Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

The hubby and Elizabeth are already eating. I had to finish the fries so I ate my salad first. Maybe two sloppy Joe’s is too much for me, but I’ll just exercise extra tomorrow!! I’m going to enjoy my hard work!!

Yum!

Well I guess I will be saying goodbye to two recipes I’ve used for forever. “So long, my baked fries and sloppy Joe recipe. You have been great through my journey of cooking but I’ve found my perfect match.” So long!

Well, let’s start the grading!

Look like picture: 10! Except for the bun it looks the same!!

Taste: I guess through this blog post I gave my input. Maybe I was especially hungry this time…But I would also give it a 10! Definitely trying again! The hubby said, “Mmmmmm,” and “I love the fries!” Elizabeth proceeded to copy her daddy. So they would give it a 10 as well!

Easiness: The sloppy Joe’s: 10! It was super easy. Pretty much just prepare and then let simmer. The rolls: 8! I think when I’m less rushed it might even make it to a 10. The fries: 8.5. The time it takes to fry, but still have the fries hot to eat was difficult. But worth it! Baking is easier in that way…you just put in the oven 20min and can still do other things. But since I’ve tasted these French fries…never again…

So all in all a fun and delicious dinner!! It was great that I was able to be ambitious and actually accomplished my goals. I’m getting more confident in my cooking. A big thank you to my hubby’s friend who gifted us the cookbooks!! Cooking has become fun again!!