Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Time for Some Changes

Well, now with my husbands time in the Navy coming coming to a close I figured it is time for some blog changes because after this week I will no longer be a Navy Wife.

1 of these changes is blogging more. Yes. You have probably heard me say this a billion times. But I am getting my life more organized...



...so I will be more on top of blogging, and hopefully building a bigger blogger base.

2. I am going to try to move my blog from being about my life to more about Recipes, How-To's and Tips and Tricks I use in my own life to make life easier. I'll still have stuff about my life, just less (because let's face it, my life is less than exciting most of the time).

Let's see how this change goes. My first new and improved post will be on Thursday...LOOK OUT!

Monday, June 4, 2012

It Has Happened...

We moved!

This was our weekend in a nutshell...

We moved to my parents place in Ladera for my husband to finish his last 2 months in the Navy. We have took over their guest bedroom and it is a big change from having our own place but I LOVE it!

Our room is pretty much all bed and a little TV

I love being around family.  It perks me up so much. 
AND
I have already gotten to work
Babysitting the cute little kids I used to watch since I was 15

It feels so good to be home!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Easy Honey Wheat Rolls

I have been baking my own bread for a while now I have this fabulous, trusty and awesome bread maker (that I may, or may not have stole from my mom...). So now that I have mastered a loaf of bread I wanted to try something different.

That's when I found a recipe for Honey Wheat Rolls on All Recipes, and I had to try it!

They turned out sooo good, my husband and I ate them all in one day
(we seriously cannot control ourselves)

I wanted to share this super easy recipe with everyone.
If you have a bread machine you MUST try it.

Here's what you need...
(ignore the knives, those are not a necessity, I was just too lazy to move them)

Bread Machine
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
3/4 teaspoon salt (I use a tad less because I used salted butter)
2 3/4 cups bread flour (or all purpose white flour)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast (rapid rise yeast)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
I start by whisking the egg and warming up the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds (if the milk is too hot it'll kill the yeast, and we don't want to be murderers do we?) 

 Then combine all ingredients into bread machine 
(except melted butter, that's for yummy goodness at the end)

My machine specifies to add wet ingredients first then dry ingredients on top with the yeast last






Make a well for your yeast (I just stick my finger down in there) and add the yeast, make sure the yeast is not touching any wet ingredient.

Why am I telling you this?! if you have a bread machine you probably already know huh?


Anyway! Pop that sucker into the bread machine and set it to the Dough/Pasta mode

Now relax! 
(I spent all that time looking for cheap airlines, I was NOT relaxing. Why is booking airfare so stressful?)

After the dough is done, flour a surface (and your hands, the dough is stickyyy) and dump the dough out


Pinch off dough. The recipe wants you to roll out the dough and cut it using a biscuit cutter I've done that before and it is just extra work and extra dirty dishes, pinching is much faster!
The rolls will double in size when they sit
Today I wanted to make large rolls, like burger/sandwich size, so I pinched off dough in about the size of a lemon. If you want small rolls, pinch off a small amount
Place on a cookie sheet and cover with a warm towel (I stick my towel in the microwave for 30 seconds, but be careful, if you microwave a towel for too long you'll burn it! Just ask my new cleaning rag) and let sit for an hour. 
Uncover your pan and it's magic! The rolls have doubled in size!
(the thought of yeast being alive and doing crazy things in the bread freaks me out so I like to think of it as magic)


(I don't really shape my rolls all nice but you can if you want, I just plop them on the pan for the "rustic" look)

During this time you can preheat the oven to 350

After the hour, bake rolls for 10-15 minutes
Since I made large rolls yesterday I baked them for around 13 minutes


Once finished you'll pull out these scrumptious rolls.
Brush with melted butter (I leave some rolls unbuttered because they are better for sandwiches, less greasy on the fingertips)
 and transfer to a cooling rack 
(My kitchen is unequipped  so normally ghetto rig some cooling contraption, this day it was made out of aluminum foil)

If you practice self control (like me) don't even wait for it to cool. Steamy warm bread is sooo good, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!


Enjoy!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Packing!

I can't believe this is happening so fast! Today my mom came down (she lovesss me!) to help me do some more packing. Today we took all the pictures off the walls, packed up our bookshelves, boxed up kitchen appliances, just about everything that is not a necessity has been packed. It is looking so bare and sad in our house. Just as it did when we first moved in. My husband officially has 40 more days in the Navy (not counting all the leave we will be taking) and we will be officially moved out of our apartment on June 2nd. 

Is this happening?

This is really happening! 

Time to move onto a new much better chapter...


Monday, May 14, 2012

The 12 Tribes of Israel Can Make a Mean Sandwich!

First, Thank you to all the lovely new followers! I am so excited you want to share my adventures with me!

On Friday this lovely lady...


The best momma ever! Came to visit me. 
We went and did some shopping at the new Exchange
Hit up the Commissary
Then hit up the Yellow Deli for lunch

I wish they had locations everywhere because it is so AMAZING!
If you live near these places:

Chattanooga, TN
Vista, CA
Valley Center, CA
Boulder, CO
Ruthland, VT
Island Pond, VT 
Oneonta, NY
Oak Hill, NY
Chilliwack, B.C (Canada)

You NEED to eat here
1. It is super cute!
 (from yellowdeli.com)

2. Their food is DELISH
(look at this yummy menu! 
and most of their food is grown on their commune/ made at the restaurant)


and 3. The people who run it are amazing and super friendly.
 Basically, the people that work and run the Yellow Deli are members of the 12 Tribes of Israel a "spiritual nation made up of families and single people who have come together from all walks of life"
They all live together, work together and worship together. They live as a community, sharing everything from homes to finances. The 12 Tribes believe there should be no distinction of wealthy or poor so they share everything!
Some may call this a cult (I could never imagine living with 20 others, sharing my income and not wearing makeup--seriously, that's a scary sight) but I don't think they are...
They are an amazing group of people. So nice and warm, and completely genuine. When you enter the doors of the Deli you can feel such a welcoming spirit.

AND

They can make a mean sandwich! 
 And that's what is important right? The food?! 
Of course!
 I intend on going back and trying everything on the menu
If I planned out today better I would have gone while my hubby is at a going away dinner in the area

I am bummed I did not learn of this place sooner since we are moving in 2 weeks
I guess this just means I'll have to go every day until we move!