Busy Schedules, Crock Pots, and Navy Bean Soup

I can't believe I haven't written anything in two months.

Ok, that's not exactly correct.  I have written a lot in the past two months!

Papers for history.  Papers for art.  Papers for math.

I have written loads over the past couple of months, just nothing food-related.  I'm not going to go back and check, but I'm fairly certain that hasn't happened a single time in the past 5 1/2 years I've kept this blog.

I've been gleefully busy, I forgot how much fun school is.

Can I make being a student a profession?

I think if I ever win the lottery I'll split my time between globetrotting and taking classes.

I 'm fairly certain that I would be incredible at that job.  :-)

Anyway, so I've been neglectful of the blog as I've been finding my groove in balancing school and household.

Homemade Peanutbuttery Dog Treats

When my sister and I were kids we begged for a dog.

We wanted one so very much.

Sadly, my mom was not a dog person.  Not even a little bit.

Then, one glorious day, my dad came home with the news that a doctor he worked with at the hospital had a litter of puppies that needed homes- and my mom caved.

I remember the excitement of picking out a puppy- the family had already named them all after characters from Popeye.  Olive Oyl, Sweet Pea, Brutus, Popeye...we took the quiet and calm little guy  they'd named Popeye home with us that day and he was a loyal friend to our family for the next 15 years.

This was a dog who eagerly anticipated his very own pancake every Saturday morning.

How I Make Free Money - And You Can Too!

I know, I know...that sounds like some kind of an over-the-top marketing ploy aimed at suckers.  But really, I'm just sharing my experience- and it's been a good one!

First of all, let me just say that I am the world's most skeptical person.  I'm the first to Snopes something and I take just about any new piece of information with a massive grain of salt.

That being said, when a page I follow on Facebook- Coupon Clipinista- started posting about earning money by taking surveys, I took notice.

Then she kept posting...but what really caught my attention were all of the people commenting on her posts about how they too were making money- like, a LOT of money.  Pay for Christmas money.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

I woke up to a gray day.  The kind that just oozes cozy laziness.  The kind that makes you want to cuddle up on the couch and start some kind of movie marathon.

When I suggested we spend our day having a Doctor Who-athon or a Lord Of The Rings-athon or pretty much any other kind of -athon my family was feeling, it was met with excitement- and one question...

What were we going to eat?

You can't have an -athon without good eats, can you?  :-)

I ended up making a double batch of my new favorite, Zucchini Tots, a loaf of Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread (more on that one in my next post!), and these amazing Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ok, I take that back- my 8 year-old made these wonderful cookies!

I love sharing my love of cooking with her.  I love explaining the cooking terms, walking her through the directions, and seeing her excitement at the final result.

Does This Count As Being Famous?

Allrecipes.com has launched a magazine of it's own.  It's still a fledgling publication and only out bi-monthly at this point, but the two issues they've published have been great.

I may be biased, but I think the second issue was even better than the first.  

Why?

Well, pick one up on the newsstand November 12th (then like it so much you get your own subscription!) and turn to page 70.

See that wreath?

Pretty Exciting For a SAHM!!

I've always loved to cook, but I really threw myself into it about four years ago.  I think it started when I was out of work for nine months- it filled the time and made me feel useful.  Boy did I send a lot of baked goods to work with my (now) husband during that stretch!  Since then a lot has changed...I've gone back to work, gotten married, gotten pregnant, had a son, quit my job to be a homemaker, gone from long-time user of Allrecipes.com (I've quite literally used the site since it's first inception as "cookierecipe.com" 16 years ago, though I didn't even register until that stretch of unemployment) to Allrecipes Allstar (a gig that even got me an amazing trip to Seattle last year!)... the past few years have been quite an adventure!

The Allrecipes Allstars program is something I have truly been blessed to get to be a part of.  It's just so much fun!  What a lovely community of (mostly) ladies I am a part of, working with them is a true delight.  Each month we receive "assignments" and goody packages and get to work- sometimes those assignments require that we write up a blog post and share our experiences with you guys.  For many of us this has been a struggle, certainly not something that comes naturally.  Personally, it has become a nice outlet for me.  I've been able to find a balance, I think, between sharing my assignments with you and other goings on in my life.  I get a little giggly when I have a post that really takes off and I can see my page views go nuts for a bit, or when another website with a larger following than my own shares one of my posts.

On it's own, that's been a silly little thrill for a lady whose days often consist of speech therapy appointments, dirty diapers, laundry, and never-ending house cleaning.

In Which I Put My Nerdiness On Full Display

As a kid I think there were two reasons I watched Star Trek: to spend time with my sci-fi loving dad and because I was in love with Wil Wheaton.

As a grown up?  Well, I've become the sci-fi lover myself...and I'm still a little in love with Wil Wheaton. ;-)

I was a nerd before being a nerd was trendy, and I'm cool with that at this point in my life.

 This Halloween is going to be amazing.  Why?  Because my son is going as Captain Kirk.  Yep.  My 2 year-old is going to dress as a Star Trek character before he's old enough to tell me "no."  My daughter?  Heehee...Superman.  Errr...Supergirl, I suppose that would be.

Ignore the crooked emblem, I was short on time
and lacking safety pins :-)

In the past she's been fairy princesses, Disney princesses...lots of princesses.  This year I wanted to do something different, and I figured out that as long as her costume included a big, fluffy tutu she didn't really care what she went as :-)