MilSpouse Friday Fill-In # 19

Hope you all are enjoying the new pretty layout courtesy of April at Hooyah Wife :).

Friday Fill-in courtesy of Wife of a Sailor!


What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
I can't say anything has really stood out but recently I had a guy share his umbrella with me when it started unexpectedly down pouring while walking to my building one morning.


If you are having a hard time going to sleep, what do you do to help yourself?
Turn the TV on low volume. The background noise helps.

 Name something that makes you wish you were a kid again.
Going to work makes me wish I were a kid so I would not have to:)

What is something you never believed until you experienced it?
that i could have a love like we have

What can’t you say “no” to?
Nail Polish, puppies

Don't forget to link up!

Army Ten Miler

This weekend I had the pleasure of running the Army Ten Miler with some fabulous ladies! HMB over at Pennies from Heaven, lola from alis volat propriis, and their friend A. We kicked some serious ass and ran about 90% of the time.  My super human husband finished his race and met up with us around mile 6.5 to motivate us the rest of the way and take some pictures.  It was great to get to know these ladies better over the 2 hours we shared running together, I hope that we can continue to do this every year :) and who knows maybe even run a few more races together!

finished woo!

10 miles oh ya!

here's a glamor shot for ya

giraffe legged hubs and me

PA Guard Men's team took third woo! Our travel companion is the one in the middle

Army's Golden Knight's Parachute team

PA Guard Mixed Team (and Mr Giraffe Legs) took 1st!

Here's to next year's race 09 Oct 2011!

MilSpouse Secret Santa!

Head on over to Wife of a Sailor and sign up for the MilSpouse Secret Santa!  I think this is such a great idea and am looking forward to seeing who I get matched up with!

Crock Pot Week: Day 7

Ok day 7 is finally here! This recipe is once again simple and only has three ingredients.

1 pot roast
1 can of beef broth
1 package of italian dressing mix


Pour the italian dressing mix on the pot roast and pat until evenly. Pour the beef stock into the crock pot and place the seasoned roast in afterward. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

If you want more delish recipes, head on over to my friend and moh's blog Fooding with Emily

Milspouse Friday Fill-in #18

Friday Fill-in hosted over at Wife of a Sailor:

Are you a night owl or an early bird? I'd rather not get up early but if I have to I will and not complain.

What makes you jealous? ooooooo I can't really say that I get jealous per say. Its more of a "oh I wish i could have that, but i don't, oh well"

Have you started Christmas/holiday shopping yet? When will you finish? (There’s only 63 days left!) I haven't but I hopefully will start soon. I make ornaments every year as a small gift to give to family and friends and I've started brainstorming that!

What would you have a personal chef make you tonight? Probably some sushi or seared ahi tuna or get me some oysters!! I love raw seafood.

Where was your first kiss? in my parents gameroom and he was a douche!

You Can Dress Me Up

You can dress me up AND take me out! I love getting dressed up, its a nice change from my weekly work outfits as a frumpasaurous. When you have to be at work at 730am you mostly dont care what you wear its just a struggle to find the energy to put something on.
In the last month we have had the opportunity to go to two balls :). One was for the brigade and the other was the 100th anniversary of Soldiers and Sailors Museum. My husband interned there for a bit and actually has some stuff in a display on OIF. It was pretty cool to see!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!

us at the brigade ball

the handsome gentlemen at the 100th anniversary celebration

my super awesome frg leader and i

the mr. and me
the super delish and exactly to scale cake of the building

Crock Pot Week: Day 6

My latest crock pot adventure was a success! Last night I made Chili and 5 Minute Microwave Corn Bread.

Ya! Microwave Corn Bread! and it was pretty tasty too!

Crock Pot Turkey Chili

1 pound ground turkey
2 cans of black beans drained
2 cans Busch's chili beans drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chillies with juice
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
chili powder
cinnamon

Brown the ground turkey. While the turkey is cooking, dump the remaining ingredients into the crock pot. Dump the turkey in and stir. Near the end of cooking season with chili powder and cinnamon to taste :). I cooked this on high for 3 hours but you could cook it on low and let it simmer all day.

5 Minute Microwave Cornbread

I saw this recipe as I was hunting for a corn bread recipe last night and didn't feel like letting one cook for 40 mins. So I was decided to try it and figured if it sucked, I'd only be 5 mins behind.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a small microwave safe pan (I used a glass pan), mix together all of the ingredients.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
That's it! It cant get much simpler than this.


Above is the original recipe but I thought it needed adjusting because everyone likes their cornbread a certain way. I thought I liked mine sweeter so I added 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of oil because I read in the reviews that the original recipe could be dry. I microwaved this an additional 30 seconds due to the added moisture. In the end I ended up thinking it needed more salt so I just sprinkled it with salt and it was good!

Overall the cornbread was good. I think with a few more trys at it it will be perfect. Definitely not as good as oven cornbread but really great to have on hand when you don't have a lot of time or simply just don't feel like it :P.

Halloween Carepackages!

I just sent off my Halloween care packages! Even though Im lucky enough to have my hubs home, there are still lots of soldiers that need packages. I am a member of soldiers angels, which is an organization that allows you to adopt a soldier to send packages and letter to.
This year I sent 15 little treat bags with various types of candy and other snacks and a little kit to make your own costume. I hope he enjoys it!

Crock Pot Week: Day 5

Day five can be summed up in one word, FAIL. I tried to make another dessert in it but it burnt on the outside and was raw on the inside. I tried a piece in middle and it tasted baaaaaad. I'll have 2 more crock pot posts this week to complete the series. Any other recipe series you would like to see? Don't worry I have more things common up besides food!

Crock Pot Week: Day 4

Day 4 was another hit! This one is called Autumn Delight- not sure why, but it was tasty.

What you need:
4-6 cube steaks
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I used low fat)
1 cup water
1 package french onion soup mix
olive oil


Brown the steaks in the olive oil, then place them in the crock pot.
Combine water, canned soup, and soup mix in a bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture over the steaks and cook on LOW 4-6 hours.

I made baked potatoes in the microwave when I got home and VOILA!


Not exactly "food porn" but you get the idea!

Crock Pot Week: Day 3

Today I was ambitious and made dinner and dessert in the crock pot!
First up, dinner was a spicy chicken breast. This recipe has been one of my favorites so far and I will definitely make it again.

Chicken and spicy black bean tacos

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained (15 oz)
1 can of tomatoes with green chillis such as RoTel, (10oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 package chicken
Olive oil
Tortillas and taco toppings of your liking

Drain and rinse the black beans, drain the can of RoTel and pour into the crock pot.
In a bowl toss chicken in spices and small amount of olive oil until the chicken is coated. Place on top of beans and tomatoes in crock pot.
Set the crock pot on high for 1 3/4 hours.
Once cooked remove from crock pot and enjoy with tortillas and taco toppings!



Now for Dessert!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 large sized box instant chocolate pudding
3 cups of milk
1 box of chocolate cake mix and the ingredients to prepare it

Whisk together the pudding mix and the milk in the crockpot. Prepared the cake mix according to the box instructions and CAREFULLY pour on top of the pudding mixture. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours. Mine actually took about 2 hours to cook all the way through.

This was kinda like a cheap imitator of one of those molten chocolate cakes.
The cake overall was pretty good, I definitely enjoyed the cake/ pudding combo in my mouth.

Sears Heroes at Home

If you haven't heard about this program, it's a wonderful program of generosity that Sears does every year. It's run like a lottery and I you win you get gift cards for Sears based on people donations to the program! Registration opens today and closes on the 15th so take advantage of this and I hope we all get picked!http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_HAH+2010?storeId=10153&vName=HAH+2010&catalogInd=DAP&catalogId=12605&i_cntr=1286965158040

Crock Pot Week: Day 2

Ok so this next recipe was good but nothing amazing. I actually got home from work a little early and just made this knowing we would eat a late dinner. Its good for one of those "let's see what the pantry has" nights.
This kinda reminds me of a super easy Chicken Parmesan.

Here it goes:
1 package of chicken boobies
1 box of penne pasta (uncooked)
1/2 of a larger jar of pasta or enough to cover

I placed the chicken boobies in the crock pot and covered them with some sauce. I place the noodles uncooked on top and then covered them in some sauce. I let it go on high for about 4 hours. If you are looking for a faster cook time the chicken should be done in approx 1.5 hours. The pasta was definitely mushy much like it would be in pasta bake of some sorts but it wasn't bad, so if you don't like mushy pasta, cook it separately :) I just served this with some Parmesan cheese, a salad and some garlic bread.

Day 3: dinner AND dessert!

Crock Pot Week: Day 1

Ok so I've decided that I'm going to use my crock pot for a week straight! Today is day 1. I have made a pot roast with carrots and roasted red skinned potatoes. You can put the potatoes in with the recipe also if you'd like.
1 pot roast about 3 pounds
1 small bag of baby carrots
1/2 bag red skinned potatoes or whatever potatoes you may like
1 packet of French onion soup mix
1/2 cup water

Place the pot roast in the crock pot and pour the French onion soup mix on top. Place the carrots and potatoes on top and pour the 1/2 cup of water on top. Set the crock pot on low for 7 to 9 hours, come home from work and dinner's ready!

I usually throw the potatoes in with the pot roast, but today I made them a different way.
I cut up the potatoes and coated them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I put the oven on 425 degrees for 25 minutes. This temperature cooked the potatoes and left them nice and crispy!

Hope you all enjoy!

Our First "Date"

A little over 4 years ago Dan and I went on our first "date"( don't worry he took me out on a much better date after this ha). This date could have very well been on My Very Worst Date if I was uptight, but I was actually pretty amused by the whole thing.

We met working on a gubernatorial campaign. I walked into the filing room and noticed him right away. We talked for 2 weeks while we were at the office together and I decided to invite him to my birthday party as I was turning 21 in a few days. That day came and he bailed because he was too hungover from the previous night. Luckily, later that week he asked to take me out for a birthday drink. We both had a night class and we met up afterward at a bar where he bought me my drink then I had to leave to go to a meeting. After my meeting I got a call from other people from the campaign saying they were going out so I called Dan back up and invited him out.

We went out to a bar that was a short walk from my dorm. These were my glory days and my drink of choice were Long Islands. Well little did I know that while I was in he bathroom Dan would drink some of my Long Island, in addition to the drinks he already consumed, then fill my glass back up with a friends drink. Needless to say he was SCHWASTED by the time the end of the night rolled around. I'm talking barely walking, incoherent, goodness.

I laughed at his state of drunkeness as we walked back to my dorm room. This walk was topped off by him stopping to take a pee on a construction sign. Definitely the makings of a future husband right?

We get back to my dorm room and I asked him if he wanted to stay on my futon. He comes up to the room and goes in the bathroom to puke and then decides he wants to sleep in his car and tells me to wake him up in the morning because he has class. So I walk down to the parking lot in the morning tap on his window and open his door. Tell him its time for class, and he gives me a very confused look and closes the door and drives off. He later tells me his confused look was because he forgot who I was! How romantic!

We continued to go out with the campaign for a few days and later that week he took me on a much better, real first date.