baking up a storm

oh hi there,

   sorry i missed you yesterday but i was cooking and baking up a storm! i mixed up some applesauce granola, artisan bread, and my own simpler version of these creamy chicken taquitos . am i insane? yes! was a hungry? very!

   i've been searching for cheap and yummy granola for a while and found the recipe for the applesauce granola and fell in love. it's cheap, tastes amazing, and is good for Mr. H and i! we've been munching on it ever since it came out of the oven!

this was right before it went into the oven, i may or may not (i did) have added the raisins prematurely but they turned out just fine!

 while my granola was toasting i moved onto dinner aka creamy chicken taquitos. except that my version had one can of chicken mixed with half a packet of taco seasoning, homemade flour tortillas, cream cheese, and jalapeno slices. i rolled a decent amount of the taco chicken, one jalapeno slice, and a chunk of cream cheese into the tortilla, placed them into a baking pan and sprinkled cheese on top. when Mr. H and i ate them we use salsa to top them and had rice on the side.. YUM! they were so much better than the boxed freezer kind and so much cheaper. the tortillas take a little more time to make but were so worth it!

  my last idea of the night was to make this artisan bread. i left it overnight and baked it tonight and man is it good. it was crunchy on the outside and nice and warm and soft on the inside!

  i keep realizing that making things like bread, granola, and tortillas is really going to save me money in the long run and everything tastes so much better homemade. i already have people asking me for the granola recipe! thanks to everyone who experimented in finding the best way to make these foods and sitting down and writing the recipes. i am very grateful!

  enough about BAKING... so,  things are going well here at the HAN (Mr. H, myself [amanda], and Nala [zee kitty cat]) household. i think i'm done being sick, nala is gearing up for winter (and eating triple the food she normally does), and i think Mr. H is a little less stressed about student teaching and working at the same time. we're warm, happy, and content in our little apartment waiting for winter to attack us like we know it will.

  i'll leave you with a few photographs of Nala bear, last winter's wrath, and other such nonsense.

last winter 2010, and it happened overnight with no warning

this past friday, i went glow-bowling.. and it was AWESOME!

meet Nala bear.. the cutest, furriest, cuddliest cat you'll ever meet.

 good night friends.. see you soon. -amanda jane

full moon hangover

   we finally got hit with some snow here in Erie, PA. there's just enough to stick but not enough to really interfere with my morning commute to work, which is only a 5 minute drive. i don't know about you but i absolutely despise driving in the snow.. i'm the girl that you assume is an 80 year old man or woman because of how slow and close to the steering wheel i am, then you pass me and realize i'm a 20-something girl who's just terrified. oh well, i'd rather tick a few people off and get to where i'm going in one piece.

   any-who, today was a ridiculously busy day at work. i don't know if it was because it's Veteran's Day or because people saw snow and thought CHRISTMAS!!!! LET'S GO SHOPPING! or if it was a combination of the two.. but man it was exhausting. also, the full moon last night seemed to roll over into today i swear.. like a full moon hangover.. and not the naked butt kind! bahaha..

   i really need to get me a pair of new slippers... mine just aren't warm enough. maybe i'll get some for Christmas, these ones are going on my wish list:

sherpa lined moccasins via Old Navy

or maybe i could con someone into making me these! via this free pattern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   well, tonight i shall be having a few drinks with friends and maybe that will warm me up physically and emotionally (they are sure to make me laugh)! and possibly tomorrow i'll go out and buy myself a heated blanket (my cat just isn't cutting it).. those things are heaven on earth i swear!

hope you all have a happy friday full moon hangover!