Sunday, April 29, 2012

Happy Sunday!

Hey Y'all!
I have two days left on my state park pass.. So I am putting it to good use! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! :)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Hi. My Name is Julia and I Made an ENTIRE Steak Dinner in my Crockpot!

Hey Y'all!

This was not the post I had planned for tonight, but I came across a recipe this weekend and I just had to try it. And y'all. WINNER,WINNER STEAK DINNER!

Hi. My name is Julia Goolila and I like red meat. :) I don't know if that is "politically correct" to say these days. You would never know from that statement that I was a vegetarian for 5 YEARS. Um. Yes. I did it more to help with my Crohn's than as a statement. And it did help me. But I found myself at a party one night drooling over some chicken. So. I started eating meat again and I never looked back!
I love to eat steak, but I have to be very careful about eating it. Because of the stupid, stinkin' Crohn's, I have a hard time swallowing. It's not everyday, but it can be a pain. Hee, hee. Things like to get stuck in my throat and sometimes they get stuck in my windpipe. It can be scary, but I just make sure I chew very, very, very well. And sometimes it still happens. Ugh.

So, when I came across this recipe I was intrigued. I love to grill out steak, but then I have to cut it into tiny, tiny pieces. Well. No more my pretties! No MORE! SQUEEEE!!

And, let me preface by saying that this is a recipe you will use a lot. If you like to grill, this will not have that "grilled" charred flavor. But, if you like meat that is juicy, tender and you will have a whole meal to boot, than this is for you. And. If it is raining and you want a steak dinner. :)

This is what you will need to make Julia Goolia's Entire Steak Dinner in a Crockpot.......
(Legal disclaimer... I did not make up this recipe. I found it on several blogs that I stalk.)


Steak. You want to at least purchase steak that is 3/4 inch thick. I put in four small pieces. But, you can go big, or go home. It's just me, so I stayed on the small side.
3 to 4 potatoes. You can even do sweet potatoes.
A veggie of your choice. It can be frozen. I went with corn. :)
3/4 cup of Heinz 57 or A1. Or your favorite steak or Barbecue sauce.
Tinfoil

Place your steak on the bottom of your crockpot. If you want to put a rub on it, go for it. Add your steak or barbecue sauce and make sure it gets on both sides of the steak.


Now. Add a piece of tin foil OVER the steak. Just do it.

Wash up your potatoes. I salted mine and then wrapped them in tinfoil. Place the potatoes on top of the tinfoil layer.



Do the same thing with your corn, or veggie of your choice. Place it with the potatoes.


Now. Put on the cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Then toss up a salad, make some bread and get your sweet tea ready. You've got a meal!



And. After cooking your potatoes this way, you will never put a potato in the microwave AGAIN!!!

Now. Go forth and make a steak dinner!
Tootles!
:) JKP

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Hawaiian Chicken in My Belly.. Crockpot Style

Hey Y'all!

Well, here it is. The end of spring break. Sigh. I do have the Sunday blues just a wee bit tonight, but knowing we only have 35 school days left in the year kind of makes it just a little bit easier. However, I know one furry buddy that is going to have a temper tantrum when I leave to go to work tomorrow. And. I know he is just plotting to get me back for that bath I had to give him this afternoon too!

Thanks to Pinterest, I spent a good deal of this week trying out some new recipes! Crockpot friendly, of course! When I saw this Hawaiian Chicken recipe on a board, I just knew I had to make it! I love any chicken that has the word "jerk" or "Hawaiian" in it! Say those words to me and my mouth instantly starts to DROOL. The best jerk chicken I have ever had was in Key West, Florida. Seriously. It has been 8 years and I still dream about that chicken! Also, when you see all that you need to make this chicken dish, you will be AMAZED. Are you ready?? Are you sure? Get you pen and pencil ready. The ingredient list is LONG. NOT!!!

All you need to make this yummy dish is......


1 jar of Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce (I got mine at Target and it was delish!)
1 can of pineapple chunks (drained. I saved a wee bit of the juice to add back into the sauce at the end.) If you don't like "chunks" you can get the crushed pineapple too.
4 to 6 chicken breasts (as usual, mine were in the fridge)

Now. All you do is add the chicken to your crockpot, add the entire jar of barbecue sauce and then add the pineapple chunks. Set your crockpot on low for 6 hours... or if you were like me and chasing daylight.. and wanted dinner in your belly... I put mine on high for 3 and 1/2 hours. Woot.


Just throw it all in!


And it is cooking! It smells so good!!!

Now, you can opt to do this next step or not. It is entirely up to you. You can leave the breasts in and not shred them. I took mine out about an hour before they were scheduled to be done and I shredded them with a fork. That way, I could eat this as a sandwich or as a meal! :)


Shredding the chicken!



Now, place the shredded chicken back into the crockpot for another hour. Mix well with the sauce in the crockpot. At this point I added a wee bit of juice from the drained pineapple to make it juicier! I am glad I did!


Right before the chicken finishes, you can boil up some rice. I am not proud. I use the "Success Rice" method. This girl can burn rice in a pot in a hot minute. So. For the safety of my beloved cookware....I use the cheater's rice. :) It also comes in brown rice if you want to be really healthy. My tummy can not tolerate brown rice at the moment.. so I had to go with regular.



Add a side of your favorite veggie.... and VIOLA. You are instantly transported to Hawaii. Or. Your favorite vacation spot! Well. At least your tummy is!!!


YUMMY in my BELLY!


Also, do you know what I did this weekend? Besides scour my kitchen from top to bottom? The inside of my fridge is so shiny that you can see your reflection!

I brought out my Amish Friendship Bread starter out of my freezer. Oh. Yes. I. Did. In fact, I just finished baking up two loaves and my house smells so good. I needed some "comfort" to go back to school with this week! And, y'all know how JKP loves to bake!



Interested in some starter or some Amish Friendship Bread? Don't live near me and want to make your own? Visit The Friendship Bread Kitchen. There's tons of recipes! Also, READ THE BOOK! Friendship Bread. It's a great read! And. The main character's name is Julia. Enough said. It comes out in paperback May 1st! Or support your local library and check it out there!


Alrighty. I have school tomorrow. So I must go to bed. I've got to get back on schedule! Pitty Pat is already sound asleep. Or at least I think he is!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Spring Break 2012 Antics!

Hey Y'all!

Well, I am still loving spring break! I love that when I wake up in the morning, I can take my time sipping my coffee and not rush to get to school! Yesteday, I went and had a mani/pedi with my friend Wendy. Wendy teaches right across the hall from me and we decided yesterday was a girl's day! So we went and had our nails and toes done, had lunch and then got a yummy cupcake from our new cupcake store, Coccadotts!
I am trying to grow out my fingernails, which if you know me, is VERY HARD! I have been a lifelong nail biter, so I thought some cute polish would keep me from biting them this week! I chose the color Koala Bear-y this time! I love OPI and their neat names for polish!



Yesterday, I also finished up knitting an upside down daisy hat for my friend Marie. It turened out really cute. You just can't go wrong with a Susan B. Anderson baby hat pattern! And, if you have a minute.. hop on over to Susan's blog. She just got back from a trip to Key West with her family. I LOVE KEY WEST!!!!!!


Today, I have another comissioned knitting project to work on. I am knitting up a baby blanket and matching hat for one of my friends at school. I am also still working on my blasted sock. Here's the updated progress! Since I am catching up on Castle on my DVR I have lots of knitting options!



I have a few errands to run today, then it's knitting time! I have been so bad this week, I haven't gone to Zumba at ALL! I may try and go tonight.. but if not, oh well. I am enjoying my vacation!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Spring Break.... Ahhhhhh..Living the Life!

Hey Y'all!

Well. It is finally spring break! I have been busy having fun since last Thursday night! And, I have also been busy making home improvements AND crafting, of course! And. Pitty Pat just LOVES having me at home. :)

Last Thursday night, my friends from school and I went out to dinner and then on to see The Hunger Games. Let me first say, I did not and will not read the books. The movie was ok, but I won't be seeing anymore. :) I am just not a "fight to the death" kind of girl! I mainly went to have dinner with the girls and to hang out. Hmmm... but I promise, no jumping from bridges!

My mom came into town last Friday. I don't know where you are dear reader, but last Friday was a chilly, willy one here at the beach! We started the afternoon by going out out to lunch and then we HAD to make a trip to Lowes! I found a rug on clearance a few days before that I really liked and wanted to make sure it wasn't toooooo artsy for my house. Pitty Pat has been sliding all over our new floor, hence the need for a rug. That and he won't eat anywhere except on carpet. And only in this one spot of my living room. So. there you have it! Here's a quick shot of my new rug... AND Pitty Pat in motion!



On Saturday, we ran more errands and just took it easy. On Easter Sunday, we went to my church's fantastic service at The Market Common. This has been the first Easter in a long while where I have been a member of a church, so I made sure to get an Easter Lily in honor of my friend Joy. The service was awesome and I got to bring home my lily after the service.


Since I have lived in this house for almost 6 and 1/2 years, I have had wallpaper for my upstairs guest bathroom. Well, one thing or another happened and it never got put up. The one thing I really wanted Mom and I to do this weekend was to get that wallpaper border UP! It is really cute and it is made up of different flip flops. It goes with my shower curtain up there and it really ties the whole "look" together. So, Sunday night, we did a wee little home improvement project!


Yesterday, I decided to do another craft with flip flops! I have had material to make another no sew fleece blanket for a while, so I plunked myself on the floor and got busy! Pitty Pat plunked himself right down on the fabric and "helped" while chewing on a bone. The result... a precious blanket for us to cuddle on while we watch a movie!


I have also been knitting! I am working on a baby shower gift for my friend Marie. No, she is not having a baby, but she wants to give one of my hats as a gift! I am working on Susan B. Anderson's Upside Down Daisy hat. I am knitting this with cotton yarn since the baby is due in July.


Today, I went to the dentist and got my teeth cleaned. YAY for no cavities! I also worked in the yard for just a bit. Pitty Pat and the new dogs next door are NOT getting along through the fence. So I had to work my patio chairs into a barrier so Pitty Pat can do his business in peace. Really. It is supposed to be REALLY cooler tomorrow, so I am probably going to go shopping for my garden. I have gotten an idea off of Pinterest and I want to see if I can "make it work!"

Anyhoo...I am off for an afternoon nap! I hope you are all doing well! I can't believe that today is already Tuesday. Forget this spring break stuff... BRING ON SUMMER!!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Monday, April 2, 2012

Tired!

Hey Y'all!

Well. This weekend I set out to do a lot around the house, and I actually got it done! :) I mowed the grass, scrubbed all of my floors and baseboards, switched out my winter and summer clothes, did a ton of laundry, organized cabinets, and managed to do two crafts! It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that when it was time to rise and shine this morning, I couldn't move. Really couldn't move. To say I "overdid" it this weekend would be an understatement. :) But, I had the idea in my head that if I got my "to do" list done this weekend, then I wouldn't have to do it over spring break! YAY!

One craft that I worked on this weekend was a Chunky Mochi Baby Hat by Susan B. Anderson. I knit these a lot for baby showers, because they only take a few hours from start to finish. The mom to be is a teacher at my school and she requested the color green. So there you go!


 I also created a wreath using Fun Fur yarn and some ribbon daisies! I got the idea off of Pinterest.  It came out very cute, and I will have step by step directions up tomorrow. I am not feeling great tonight... my tummy has really been bothering me today. I don't think it is a virus, but rather something I ate that is not sitting well with the ol' Crohn's.


Lastly, (ha, ha... I taught the suffix -ly at school today, so I had to use it! ) It is the beginning of the month and Miss Farley has up the Currently meme for April. I love the choice of super power on this one! I would totally want the super power to stop time! Oh yes! Click to make mine bigger.


If you want to make one yourself... visit Miss Farley's site and then click HERE for directions on how to upload it. It takes about 5 minutes and these are really fun to do!

Well, let me run. I have a TON of Castle episodes to catch up on. I know. I can't believe I am behind on one of my favorite shows! I need to go and drink some ginger ale and chill!

Tootles!
:) JKP