Monday, January 31, 2011

Sarah Sanns Snood

This snood I made for my oldest sister Sarah. I titled it Sarah Sanns Snood because we grew up calling her by both her first and middle name, Sarah Ann. However, being little kids it came out Sarah Sann. Pretty cute huh?? This was a super easy knit but rather boring. I still like the finished product though. If I make this again I will most likely use a heavier yarn so it lays down more and isn't quite so "fluffy."

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ike Taylor and Swagology

The praise and worship band at our church has been struggling for awhile now. They finally seem to be getting into a groove and things have improved, but it is still not up to par. However, being a person with a degree in music I probably have higher standards than most so I guess they get a little bit of a pass.

Anyway, this past Sunday (the Sunday Jay and I just sat in the lobby and talked) I admitted something to Jason. I prefaced my statment with this, "Now this is going to sound really really arrogant." To which he laughed and said, "Uh Oh." So here goes my confession. I told him that I sometimes think about joining the worship team just so they will sound better. I KNOW I KNOW that makes me sound like a horrible horrible person right????? I felt so guilty after I had said it.

Jason then began to tell me about Ike Taylor and Swagology. Ike Taylor is a football player who plays for the Steelers. When he tells me this I think, "OF COURSE Jason is going to make a football analogy. He always does." But I let him finish. Ike Taylor apparently has a degree in Swagology. No I am not kidding. What is Swagology you ask?? Well let me tell you... Swag is the sweet spot between being confident and cocky. You are more than confident but you aren't an asshole and therefore you have SWAG.

So Jason thinks my statement doesn't mean I am arrogant it just means I have Swag. I'll take it. Even if it is completely made up. :)

~Em

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

This Book is Hilarious


I haven't finished it yet, but so far I love it. Thank you Lori for an awesome Christmas present!

Monday, January 24, 2011

2 easy fish dinners

Both of these recipes are from 29 Minutes to Dinner, The Pampered Chef cookbook. My Mom is a Pampered Chef fanatic and gets all kinds of free stuff from hosting Pampered Chef parties at her house. She has double of just about all their products so she then passes along things to me. As a result of her dedication to Pampered Chef I have received several cookbooks, a garlic press, a slap chop, measuring cups, and a steamer! Yay Mom!

So here are the recipes!

Garam Masala Salmon

Raita (yogurt sauce):

2tsp freshly grated gingerroot (I found 2tsp to be a little much. I may use 1-1/2tsp less next time)
1 lemon = 1 tsp of juice
3/4 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 pressed or finely chopped garlic clove
1/8tsp ground cumin
1/4tsp salt
1tbsp cilantro

Mix all the indgredents in a small bowl.

Salmon and Zucchini:
2 boneless salmon fillets
1/4 tsp salt
2tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garam masala spic blend (Indian spice blend you should find in your grocery store)
3 small zucchini

NOTES: *Try to find "Wild Caught" salmon. I found out that Farm Raised salmon is really just white fish and they inject it with dye to make it look pink!!!!! Gross! Spring for the real thing.

* I just used 1 large zucchini and and still had leftovers.

* I forgot to find the garam masala at the store and just used cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper to season my salmon. It was still super tasty!

Salmon:
Season salmon with salt and place in 1/4 cup of raita. Turn to coat salmon.

Heat oil in pan over medium heat with the garam masala till fragrant.

Add salmon to pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on both sides or until browned.

While salmon is cooking use a vegetable peeler to peel ribbons of zucchini.

Place zucchini ribbon on plate and drizzle remaining raita over ribbons.
Place salmon on top.


Voila!!!!




340 Calories and 30 grams of protein!!



Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

Pineapple Salsa:

1/2 medium fresh pineapple

1/4 small red onion

1 serrano pepper (I used a pablano pepper b/c I couldn't find serrano)

2tbsp cilantro

1/8tsp salt

1 lime

Trim and core pineapple. Cut 1/2 the pineapple into strips. Grill pineapple on a medium-high heat grill pan or saute pan. (I used a saute pan). Grill until pineapple is lightly browned on both sides, aprox 2-3 min.

Finely dice the remaining indgredients (excluding the lime) and combine in a bowl. After pineapple is cooked chop and add to mixture. Zest lime to measure 1tbs of juice and zest 1tsp. Add to bowl and mix all ingredients well.


Tilapia:

1 packet of taco seasoning mix (I got the original mix, but could have had for more spice. Next time I will get the spicy mix.)

3tbsp olive oil

4 boneless, skinless tilapia fillets (At my grocery store they have this fish SUPER cheap! I can get 4 frozen fillets for $4.99!)

Mix oil and taco seasoning mix in bowl and marinate fillets. Cook tilapia in a medium-high heat pan on both sides for 2-3 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork. Remove from pan and top with pineapple salsa.


Voila!


Sorry this pic is half eaten! I forgot to take a pic!!!
240 Calories, 23 grams of protein!
This salsa is soooo yummy! This is one I will most definitely take again. :)

~Em

Sunday, January 23, 2011

We were bad Christians today...

Tsk Tsk on Jason and myself. Today we went to church like we do on most Sundays, but instead of going into the actual sanctuary we sat outside in the lobby drank coffee, ate doughnuts, and talked to each other. :)

So now I am going to justify why we did this....

Heres the thing, we hardly ever get time to just talk to one another these days. If one baby is asleep then the other one is upset or hungry or needs attention. This tag team rountine goes on ALL DAY LONG. By the time we get into bed at night we are both spent. We pass out. So it was nice to just sit and talk while taking advantage of the free child care.

Also, our pastor has been on Ephesians FOREVER!!!! Seriously, there are 6 chapters in this book!! We have been beating this dead horse for far too long.

So Jay and I took a break today. A much needed break. :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Rob and Elvis

Is it just me or does Rob Pattinson resemble a young Elvis Presley?


Somebody write this boy a screen play pronto!!


Friday, January 21, 2011

My new love: Fair Isle


This Fair Isle hat is my most recent finished object (FO) and I loooooove it!!!

Fair Isle is a style of knitting I have wanted to learn for quite sometime but I have always been too intimidated. What I discovered as I was knitting along is that it looks much more intimidating than it actually is. This is something that continually happens in my knitting, learning a new technique is always easier than it appears to be.
So now that I feel I have conquered my fears of Fair Isle I am obsessed with it! I plan on knitting some Fair Isle Christmas stockings for us. A nice heirloom piece for the boys to have and keep. I have an heirloom Christmas stocking my grandmother made for me that is completely gorgeous. I love it so much I tried to replicate one for my husband and while it is nice it is nowhere near as lovely as mine that Nana made. I am a knitter not a seamstress. So I will place my heirloom stocking in safe keeping and make some new ones that all match for this new little family I have created. :)
A pic of my most favorite FO to date....

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Things that have changed my life

Ok, first off I must specify that these are THINGS that have changed my life. Of course, I love my babies and they changed my life, but this isn't about them. :)

1.) DVR - Holy Crap how did I live without this for so long!?!?! Never again. Never again.

2.) Pandora - When I discovered Pandora on our Bluray player and what it could do, I cried. No joke. I literally cried with happiness. Sometimes sitting at home with 2 babies all day long you can go a little stir crazy. Especially here in Cleveland when its snowing and you can't go anywhere. Listening to music is so soul satisfying. It has a way of reminding me who I am. That I am more than a butt wiper and milk machine. I <3 Pandora.

3.) Bluray - Not only does it make movies look spectacular, but it also plays my netflix Q, my Pandora radio, AND gives me the weather! One device + many functions = money well spent!

4.) My mattress - Its the bomb! Never again will I sleep on a hand-me-down mattress that is older than my grandmother. NEVER.

5.) My zester - When you zest something while cooking it will immediately make your meal 100x's better. I guarantee it! Find a recipe where you zest something (lemon, lime, orange, hazelnut) go buy a zester, make the recipe and tell me its not delicious! Yay zesters!

6.) My coupon organizer - Jason got me this for Christmas and it was almost my favorite gift! So so so handy and great. So great that my mom saw it and was jealous. She immediately went home and got one for herself and then sent me a text saying, "My Christmas is now complete!" If you are a serious coupon cutter like myself you need to go to Staples and get one. Right now.

~Em

Frog my life??

To "Frog" something in knitting means to unravel it or unknit back to a mistake and either correct it or start over again. For example, say I've been knitting along for rows upon rows and suddenly I realize I dropped a stitch over an hour ago and now there is a huge hole is my knitting I would say, "Dammit! Now I have to frog this whole thing!" Frogging isn't always a bad thing though. Sometimes you just realize half way through a project that you just aren't "feeling it" anymore and want to use your yarn for another project you like better. Example - "I'm just going to Frog this project and use the yarn for a snood for my sister. She will really like this color." So frogging isn't all bad.

So this blog is all about unraveling my thoughts and ideas on what goes on in my day to day life. Sometimes there will be expletives (hence the play on F***MyLife or FML) and sometimes there will be revelations. I will do my best to entertaining!