I have an intense relationship with chocolate.
I LOVE it, but LOATHE it at the same time.
Does anyone else experience this emotion?
Jared's Mom sent us an awesome Valentine's Day box with fun treats for everyone. Jared and Aubrey got some gummy treats. I got 2 bags of Hershey kisses. Yes, I claimed both bags as mine. Jared, my wonderfully sweet husband agreed. He understands that I will eat the majority of the kisses.
I put them in a cute vase for decoration. I hoped that having them on display would stop me from eating them so quickly. But, I forgot how Laura's knowledge of my addiction to Hershey kisses happened.
We were at Jared's parents' house over Christmas one year. Laura has all these cute decorations and one of them is a snowman jar that she filled with kisses. I thought, "Hey! There is chocolate in this snowman!" And I began eating them.
Laura soon realized I was the one eating them. She caught me red-handed about 15 times...
Now, as a tradition, she sends me Hershey kisses in pretty much every holiday box.
Back to most recently. Having them in the vase just seems to make them more accessible. It would have been better just to keep them in their respective bags and have Jared hide them somewhere in the apartment.
I can't just eat one every now and then. I go for rather generous handfuls.
It's pretty obvious that after a week, the 2 bags are pretty much gone. I can't explain it, but it's just impossible to walk into the kitchen and NOT walk out with about 5 in my hand (after eating 2 while standing in the kitchen).
Chocolate is so yummy! But I really shouldn't eat as much as I do! I understand that the treats Jared gets for his seminary class is off-limits. Those aren't a temptation. But knowing that there is chocolate in our home that I am allowed to eat just makes me go crazy! If I know it's here, I have to find it and eat it.
The day after Valentine's Day will be a special day. Candy will be on sale and I can stock up for the next few days.
I do have standards though. I don't eat chocolate if it's mixed or covered in coconut, mint or marshmellow. But if it has chocolate or cherries, it's doomed to be eaten immediately!
One day, my metabolism will shut down. And all this chocolate consumption will be my downfall. Chocolate will be near me when death comes. If I can manage it, I will eat a Death by Chocolate cupcake on the day I die. Then I can legitimately say I was killed by chocolate.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
I love crockpots!
Jared and I got married 3 years ago and we got some awesome wedding gifts to start of our lives together. But there were still some things missing that would have been most helpful for us.
My wonderful aunt Adria gave me a couple things that I use on a regular basis, even after 3 years!
She lovingly gave me a box of plates (I think she got them for her wedding!) because we didn't have any. And she also gave me her old crockpot! It's just a little thing, but I absolutely love it!
The reason I feel the need to post about it, is because I'm starting to use it more and more. Before, I just used it a couple times a month doing sloppy joes or pot roast.
Now I'm finding all these great things to put in it! For example, just last night I made some honey barbecue pulled chicken.
Best thing about crockpots is I can put everything in it early in the day and just let it do it's thing while I spend time with Aubrey. She gets a bit cranky when I start working on dinner right before Jared gets home, and when she's cranky, I'm frustrated.
I decided I wanted chicken for dinner that night. So I put 2 pieces out to thaw in the morning while Aubrey had breakfast. Aubrey has her quiet time/nap time from about 11-2. I used that time to put the thawed chicken in the crockpot and mix up the sauce to go over it.
In a bowl, I put in enough barbecue sauce to coat the pieces and put in 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Mixed it up all nice and happy. Added a tablespoon of water.
Pour over the chicken and make sure it's mostly covered. Add a little water to help with the steam.
All in all, it was all ready to go by 12:30. Just let it stay on low til Jared got home and we ate at 6:30. I would check on it every now and then. About halfway through cooking time, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces to help the sauce marinate all of it. Added water throughout the day for the steam.
I love cooking in crockpots! In the near future I will try and do a copy cat Cafe Rio recipe. Mmmm Cafe Rio....
My wonderful aunt Adria gave me a couple things that I use on a regular basis, even after 3 years!
She lovingly gave me a box of plates (I think she got them for her wedding!) because we didn't have any. And she also gave me her old crockpot! It's just a little thing, but I absolutely love it!
The reason I feel the need to post about it, is because I'm starting to use it more and more. Before, I just used it a couple times a month doing sloppy joes or pot roast.
Now I'm finding all these great things to put in it! For example, just last night I made some honey barbecue pulled chicken.
Best thing about crockpots is I can put everything in it early in the day and just let it do it's thing while I spend time with Aubrey. She gets a bit cranky when I start working on dinner right before Jared gets home, and when she's cranky, I'm frustrated.
I decided I wanted chicken for dinner that night. So I put 2 pieces out to thaw in the morning while Aubrey had breakfast. Aubrey has her quiet time/nap time from about 11-2. I used that time to put the thawed chicken in the crockpot and mix up the sauce to go over it.
In a bowl, I put in enough barbecue sauce to coat the pieces and put in 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Mixed it up all nice and happy. Added a tablespoon of water.
Pour over the chicken and make sure it's mostly covered. Add a little water to help with the steam.
All in all, it was all ready to go by 12:30. Just let it stay on low til Jared got home and we ate at 6:30. I would check on it every now and then. About halfway through cooking time, I cut the chicken into smaller pieces to help the sauce marinate all of it. Added water throughout the day for the steam.
I love cooking in crockpots! In the near future I will try and do a copy cat Cafe Rio recipe. Mmmm Cafe Rio....
Monday, January 6, 2014
Christmas Vacation Part 6
The morning was filled with packing and saying goodbyes. Or rather, saying goodbyes without actually using the word "bye."
Aubrey seems to have abandonment issues and gets really upset when Jared or I say goodbye around her.
Somehow, we got everything packed up and loaded stuff into the car. Aubrey woke up and people played with her for the last time (at least for the year 2013).
Tim and Laura drove us to the airport and things went a lot smoother than the trip coming to Utah.
Except for the fact I completely forgot my backpack at the house! It had the second computer in it and several of Aubrey's favorite movies. We called Laura and asked if anyone at the house could bring it to the airport. Ashley and Nicole were rockstars and offered to bring it up for us.
Jared waited for them while Aubrey and I made our way through security and getting to the right terminal. Things went pretty well! Jared got the backpack in time, the flight had no delays. Things were good! And it worked out that on the plane, we had an empty seat by us, so Aubrey had plenty of space in her own seat, rather than sitting on our laps the whole time.
Plane took off, no problems. She was well-behaved on the plane. Aubrey was even good when I had to change her diaper on the plane. Those bathrooms are tiny and rather uncomfortable for one person, let alone someone and a toddler!
But we made it to Chicago. That's where things got a little rough. It was cold and snowing. Our gate was taken by a flight that was delayed so we had to wait an hour on the plane before we could get off.
Our luggage came in good time and we made our way to the shuttle to get our car in a park, ride & fly. It was snowing, but everything seemed fine. The car started, which was a miracle.
The drive home was pretty great. I had accidently left two unopened Dr Peppers in the car, and they totally had exploded while we were gone. Oops.
Jared sat in back and put on a movie for Aubrey. She fell asleep and he hopped up front with me. Driving from Chicago to Fort Wayne was pretty stressful sometimes. The windshield got dirty and I could hardly see out of it. Jared was also inspired that we stop somewhere to eat and it happened to be right before midnight. I totally forgot most places are closed New Years Eve!
We stopped at a Burger King, which thankfully had still been open. We were that store's last customer of the year :)
We made it home and got ready for bed. Poor Aubrey didn't appreciate being woken up and was rather upset to be woken up and then put to bed. But she was fine after a while and we all slept in.
That was our Christmas vacation!
We miss them all very much. Tim and Laura were so great for letting us stay with them so long. Brandon, Ashley, Nicole, Megan and Spencer were also great for playing with Aubrey and letting us invade their space for a while.
Everyone was so patient with Aubrey and we had such a great holiday!
Aubrey seems to have abandonment issues and gets really upset when Jared or I say goodbye around her.
Somehow, we got everything packed up and loaded stuff into the car. Aubrey woke up and people played with her for the last time (at least for the year 2013).
Tim and Laura drove us to the airport and things went a lot smoother than the trip coming to Utah.
Except for the fact I completely forgot my backpack at the house! It had the second computer in it and several of Aubrey's favorite movies. We called Laura and asked if anyone at the house could bring it to the airport. Ashley and Nicole were rockstars and offered to bring it up for us.
Jared waited for them while Aubrey and I made our way through security and getting to the right terminal. Things went pretty well! Jared got the backpack in time, the flight had no delays. Things were good! And it worked out that on the plane, we had an empty seat by us, so Aubrey had plenty of space in her own seat, rather than sitting on our laps the whole time.
Plane took off, no problems. She was well-behaved on the plane. Aubrey was even good when I had to change her diaper on the plane. Those bathrooms are tiny and rather uncomfortable for one person, let alone someone and a toddler!
But we made it to Chicago. That's where things got a little rough. It was cold and snowing. Our gate was taken by a flight that was delayed so we had to wait an hour on the plane before we could get off.
Our luggage came in good time and we made our way to the shuttle to get our car in a park, ride & fly. It was snowing, but everything seemed fine. The car started, which was a miracle.
The drive home was pretty great. I had accidently left two unopened Dr Peppers in the car, and they totally had exploded while we were gone. Oops.
Jared sat in back and put on a movie for Aubrey. She fell asleep and he hopped up front with me. Driving from Chicago to Fort Wayne was pretty stressful sometimes. The windshield got dirty and I could hardly see out of it. Jared was also inspired that we stop somewhere to eat and it happened to be right before midnight. I totally forgot most places are closed New Years Eve!
We stopped at a Burger King, which thankfully had still been open. We were that store's last customer of the year :)
We made it home and got ready for bed. Poor Aubrey didn't appreciate being woken up and was rather upset to be woken up and then put to bed. But she was fine after a while and we all slept in.
That was our Christmas vacation!
We miss them all very much. Tim and Laura were so great for letting us stay with them so long. Brandon, Ashley, Nicole, Megan and Spencer were also great for playing with Aubrey and letting us invade their space for a while.
Everyone was so patient with Aubrey and we had such a great holiday!
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