Food Blog

My sister-in-law Collin just introduced me to this great food blog: http://barefootandbaking.blogspot.com/.  It is actually Collin's sister-in-law's blog.  She has a great variety of recipes and everything I have tasted has been delicious!

photo credit: barefootandbaking.blogspot.com

One of my favorite recipes so far was the Crockpot Coconut Chicken Curry.  Very easy and tasty.  I added potatoes and carrots to my crockpot as well.  Also, if you don't add the chicken this is a great vegetarian/vegan meal.  Last of all I would add a pepper- we like our Indian food spicy.

photo credit: barefootandbaking.blogspot.com

The first thing I made was the Quick French Baguettes.  This recipe was VERY quick and easy for a yeast bread and turned out great.  My husband said that it was his favorite bread that I had ever made! 

photo credit: barefootandbaking.blogspot.com

Another winner was the Manicotti.  Like suggested, I used lasagna noodles and they were delicious!  This was one of the first dishes where my husband and I actually ate all the leftovers. Also, you can use low fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta, use less cheese in general, or substitute some of the cheese for spinach!  This one is definitely a crowd pleaser.

A Great "Food" Documentary

My brother-in-law Danny was the one who told me about this great documentary.  He didn't really say much about it, just that it was good.  I was so anxious to see it that I signed up for the month free trial of netflixs so I could watch it.  It was by far the best "food" documentary I had ever seen (and I've watched my fair share).

This documentary focuses on the typical American diet and how we can change what we eat to promote a better lifestyle.  It talks about how many of our diseases our linked to how we live our life and how we can change the course of our "health destiny" by what we eat.  They promote a mainly whole food, plant based diet.  I have been a believer of this way of eating for a while and it was only reinforced after watching this movie.  It is startling how damaging meat and animal products truly are to your body.  I know to many they think you have to have meat and dairy to live- that is what we have been told our whole lives!  I use to believe that too.  I slowly realized the negative effects of meat and now I can see how damaging animal products in general are as well.

I wish I could say that I became a vegan overnight, but I didn't.  However, I'm going to cut out meat from my diet and try to stick to around a 5-15% dairy intake.  I know some people may think this is radical but so is eating terribly (but no one will talk about you behind your back for that).  I just want to be healthier.  I don't see how eating more vegetable, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds will hurt me.  It won't! And I know "health-wise" I will do just fine without hamburgers and hot dogs.  

Christmas Time!

Here is a picture of our first Christmas tree.  It's not the biggest... but its perfect for us (small for storing, and we only have about 10 ornaments).  The other picture is in front of Jake and Bronwyn's beautiful tree. 

This is also the first time I have ever had any Christmas decorations to put up (thanks to my mom) and I love it!  My favorite thing is probably my Christmas candle.  I love the aroma of Christmas! 

This year for Christmas we are going to Josh's families house in California.  I have never spent a Christmas with his family out of the three years I have known them and I am really excited.  It will be interesting to see how another family does Christmas- I have only spent it with my family before.  A bummer though is Jake and Bronwyn won't be there (Bronwyn is pregnant and due right after Christmas.)  

Also, my mother-in- law is throwing me a baby shower when we go down there.  She is so sweet and thoughtful.  

Overall, I am ready for finals to be over and head down to California!

Why the Random Posts?

For my business writing class we were supposed to start a blog.  Also, there were some requirements like each post had to be 150 words, I needed to post a video, etc.  So if some of the posts seem random, or long, it's because they are.  Overall it wasn't a bad assignment- it got me to start a blog!  So from now on I will mainly use this blog to post pictures of our baby and our family.  

Couponing!

So I just restarted an old hobby: couponing.  If you have a little extra time it is a really fun thing to do that can save you a ton of money!  I know it may seem really intimidating and confusing so I wanted to add a couple of my favorite coupon sites I like to visit.  My absolute favorite and the most helpful in my opinion is hip2save.com.  Another coupon blog that is very similar to that one is thekrazycouponlady.com.  Also, some great places to find online coupons that you can print from home are coupons.com, redplum.com, http://coupons2.smartsource.com.  Also, the Sunday newspaper is a great place to start.  You can find newspaper vending machines (I don't know if that is what they are technically called) in front of gas stations or even places like Denny's or Wendy's.  You just go on Sunday, put in $2.00 of change and you will get the Sunday paper which is full of coupon inserts.  Couponing isn't for everyone but I really enjoy it.  I love saving money on groceries, toiletries, household goods, and especially getting baby items like diapers for 50% off or more!

My New Found Love: GREEN SMOOTHIES!

Have you had a green smoothie yet?  They are truly my new found love!  I have always been a fan of fruit smoothies, but now I have an even better excuse to drink them.  First I add a cup of water (you can also add juice) and then whatever greens I want.  I typically use spinach but it is great to add other greens like collard greens, kale, lettuce, etc.  Then I add some frozen fruit and a couple ice cubes.  I typically make these as a fast, nutritious breakfast.  I am not the best at eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetable throughout the day, so I love being able to get these nutrients in at the start of my day.  I mean really, who can say they had a few handfuls of spinach and fruit for breakfast?  Also, you can add less juice and substitute water.  I tried just doing water at first but then I had to limit the amount of greens I added because they were so strong.  So I like to add even just 4 ounces of oj and 4 ounces of water and then I can add as many greens as I want and still have a sweet, delicious tasting smoothie.  You have to try one!  You will see just how great they are.  

Carley and Chad's Kids

This is my other cute niece and adorable nephews.  On my side of the family none of my brothers have kids but when I married Josh I became an aunt.  I love it!  It is so much fun having little kids at family things to play with.

Braden is 8 and is going to be getting baptized this Christmas break.  He is very tender hearted and sweet.  One time while we were at Josh's parents I came down for breakfast and didn't have any makeup on.  Braden turned to his mom and asked her: "why does aunt Jenna look funny?"  I think he was truly scared that something had happened to me.  He is a sweetheart.

Kade is so fun and playful.  He is 6 years old and just started Kindergarden.  Carley just told us that he had a parent teacher conference and she was rehearsing with him and when she asked him what his name was he couldn't remember.  Then when he got to the conference he forgot his name again.  Such a cute kid!

Shea is 2 and is too cute and full of personality!  She is a perfect mix of a girlie girl and a tom boy!  It is amazing she will just sit there for half and hour while I curl her hair and paint her nails- and she likes it.  Also, she just acquired a new nickname: Princess Potty-mouth.  She was titled that because she loves saying things like butt crack and poo-poo-ria with her brothers.

SODA aka: Liquid Satan

I have a new goal to not drink soda.  I didn't drink soda for five years and I didn't miss it at all.  The first time I drank it after the long drought was during a road trip I got a coke to stay awake and I hated it!  I slowly started drinking soda again and honestly at first I had to make myself like it again.  Now unfortunately I really like the stuff.  However, I know it is terrible for you and so unnecessary.  My problem too is that I don't want to drink diet soda because of the chemicals so I drink regular soda which is full of sugar and calories.  So basically I want to and need to quit.  The picture I posted has some facts on the negative effects of soda.  If I know why behind why I shouldn't be doing something it really helps me not want to do it!

My Little Niece CHLOE!

This little girl is the cutest, sweetest thing ever!  She belongs to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law Danny and Collin.  It has been so fun to see her grow and develop this past year.  From finding out Collin was pregnant, to being there for Chloe's baby blessing when she was an infant, to seeing her crawling around right before her first birthday- it has all been so wonderful!  It is amazing how much you can love your family members!  Also, it has been so fun seeing Danny and Collin become parents.  They are some of the best parents I have ever seen- they love that little girl so much.  It was so cute, right after they had Chloe Danny was trying to convince Josh and me that we need to have a kid ASAP because how wonderful parenthood is.  I can't wait to see this little girl grow up- it's amazing to think I will know her my whole life!

20 weeks!

I am finally starting to poke out!  I have been so anxious to get a "belly."  People aren't asking me when I'm due yet, but at least I am on my way.  Also, I have started to feel the baby move.  To me it is the best part of pregnancy!  It makes it seem so much more real!  Also, now Josh can feel the baby kick too!  We still haven't come up with a name yet so we just call it "baby."  Too, if we do come up with a name I don't know if I want to tell everyone.  I don't want to have to deal with people saying they don't like it or not giving the reaction I am hoping for.  Also, I think it would be horrible if we decided to give him a family name and then when he was born we realized that he wasn't supposed to be named that.  I don't think the honorary member we were naming the baby after would appreciate that.  So we will see, were still undecided for now though.  

Halloween!

Can you guess what we are?  Josh is Johnny Lingo and I am his eight cow wife!  Josh of course came up with the idea.  At first when he told me I thought I was going to have to dress up as a cow and I was not for that.  In the end I actually ended up really liking it- it was fun and easy!  Halloween was on a Monday this year and we did absolutely nothing; however, we had a great Halloween weekend.  On Saturday was Bronwyn's (my sister-in-law) baby shower/Halloween party.  It was super fun!  Great decorations, food, and games.  It was a great Halloween!  I can't wait till next Halloween and we have our little baby!  I already bought his first Halloween costume.  He is going to be a little chicken!  I think the best part will be that I finally have an excuse to go trick-or-treating again!  

HorseBack Riding

Josh had a work party the other weekend.  It was up in Park City at the head doctor's house.  We got to his house and it was amazing!  It was at the top of a hill and in the middle of the mountains.  We first went on a 4 mile hike that about killed me.  The fifty year old doctor was in better shape than I was!  I was in the very back the whole time panting (at least I had the pregnancy excuse).  Then we had a great meal and went horse back riding!  It was so fun being on a horse again.  The best part was definitely the trail.  It was in the middle of Fall so all the leaves were bright yellow, green, orange, and red.  It was the most fun I had had in a long time.  I had forgotten how fun it was to ride horses.  Overall it was a great work party!

My Cousin's Blog

My cousin Kylee was the one who helped me start my blog so I figured I would pay a tribute to her blog.  Her blog is about her life and her passion- photography.  She is quite the artist.  It is amazing what you can do with a decent camera and some talent.  I feel like a lot of people try to do photography but there are so people that are definitely better than others.  My cousin, Kylee definitely has a knack for it.  That is one talent I would love to have, especially with our baby on the way.  I love looking at newborn and baby pictures, it is such an important time to capture.  So if you like to look at photography blogs you should definitely check her blog out!  Some other good photography blogs I like to follow are: http://chealambphotography.blogspot.com, http://madelynwphoto.blogspot.com/2011/11/elles-newborn.html, http://www.katiehagen.blogspot.com/.   Chea Lamb was the one who took our engagement and wedding photos.