Recipes

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite recipes for yall!

CINNAMON ROASTED ALMONDS

This is like eating candy without the worry of it being bad for you....almost. It does have sugar in it but I kid you not these things are ADDICTING. Try them, so easy, so yummy

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 4 cups whole almonds
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
2. Lightly beat the egg white; add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.

AMISH WHITE BREAD

This is the most amazing bread EVER! It is so good. Especially if you use bread flour. This one SAVED me when I was on no dairy. I would roll it out into a long roll and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on it and it makes the most amazing cinnamon bread. Pretty easy one too.

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

BALSAMIC-GLAZED SALMON FILLETS

I have been wanting to try new fish recipes to see if we can work it into our routine meals more. Charles of course still wouldn't touch it but I LOVED this. It was so good. I doubled the sauce and used it as a little drizzle over brown rice. SO yummy.

• 6 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Coat a small saucepan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium heat, cook and stir garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Mix in white wine, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
3. Arrange salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush fillets with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle with oregano.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Brush fillets with remaining glaze, and season with salt and pepper. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving platter, leaving the skin behind on the foil.

More to come soon...those are just a few off the top of my head.

A little Love

Just a few seriously cute ones of the love of siblings.

Cute Hairdo

Looked online for a cute idea of something to do with Audrey's hair for church. I found THIS lady with an entire blog devoted to hair ideas!!!! For the love of mother's with little girls.....Here is the outcome

Ethan discovers his toes

Yeah for $3 Goodwill toys

So you don't feel bad when you hate them and want to throw them away!!!

This thing looks like so much fun, and is of course to Audrey. But it is so loud and annoying. I might try to stuff cotton into the speakers or something. Otherwise it might have to go to a nice, warm, caring home....any takers?

Little homeless girl

This is what I found Audrey doing one day. She packed all her earthly possessions into that laundry basket. Maybe she thought the world was ending and she needed to get it all together. Who knows

Easter

Easter was a nice time this year. We got to listen at home with just our little family to conference. I made us a nice breakfast to eat all together and then on to Lambs later for dinner and Easter egg hunt. So fun. Audrey liked opening all her easter things, and Ethan's too after all since he couldn't 'open' them.

I must be a true housewife to let myself be not only photographed without makeup, but then put it up for everyone to see.

I made the kids 'I spy' bags this year. Audrey got a duck and Ethan got a fish. They turned out cute. I got a few other little dollar section things. Audrey however to this day still refuses to actually wear this dress. I am not sure why. She never has an opinion about what she wears.

One of those moments that is super cute, but just didn't quite get captured on camera, because this is not a very cute picture.

Stanley Easter Party 2010

We always get to invade the Stanley (my sister-in-law's, inlaws) family gathering for Easter. They have a big thing in the park every year and it is a lot of fun, despite not knowing very many of them closely, we see them every year at this party and it is a lot of fun.

My cute boy given me the smile

There was no messing around this year. She went right for the eggs and filled up her whole basket so fast.

And then went straight to work.

And this is what she wanted to be doing the rest of the time. I guess I count myself lucky that she actually ate a hot dog. That probably a little better than straight candy right?

Audrey took a two second break from the candy to responsibly hold her brother and at least look in my direction!

Love this face....Running to get some bubbles.

Ethan and his cousin Jacob that is about 5 weeks his elder.

And his smoking hot mom my sister in law Cassidy.

Nathan Connelly teaching Audrey to catch a football.

A message to all men

If my two year old can multi task, I absolutely refuse to believe that the men in our lives CAN'T!!!

It is not that hard....see.

Clark County Fair

I shared a first with my kids last Friday. We decided last minute to go to the Logandale Fair with Audrey's cousins. It was a blast and so fun to see her light up and watch everything. It was a beautiful day for it. Audrey doesn't have any hats for this summer that fit her. So I decided (kind of in the crazy way that I do things) to MAKE her one! to wear that day. Actually it went really easily and turned out pretty near to perfection. It only took me a couple of hours, so make sure and check it out.

Audrey loved the fair. She went crazy. I made her wait till Camille got there before I would let her ride the Ponies, and $6 later!!!!! EEK! But it was worth it. She sat there with her little back so straight, her hands daintily placed on the horn of the saddle and this little smile on her face that made me want to put her in pageants! She was so cute.

We saw lots of the livestock animals, (twice) and went an one more little car ride before heading home. We made it three hours and it all went fairly well. Ethan got pretty tired and slept for a little bit, but not as long as he should have so got kind of grumpy at the end. It was an awesome time though!

They had this fun little area with a bunch of toddler kinds of games.

Not sure how camel qualifies as livestock, but they had one. It was so funny, and a lot taller than I thought.

Audrey is going to have a great relationship with her older cousin Marinda. She just loves her. She will sit at her feet and just watch everything she does with admiration probably. I think it is cute. I had a cousin like that when I was young. Good thing Marinda is a super awesome girl and I couldn't ask for a better example.

I WANT TO DO THIS! Look at how fun this would be. Human bubble walking on water, sounds fun to me!