Weekend Rewind

What a perfect Spring weekend! After a long week, it was definitely just what Hubby & I both needed.

Friday was an extremely casual girls' night with some of my good friends from high school. We ordered some pizza and just around the dining room table chatting about everything from babies to high school memories to crazy neighbors. We honestly don't get together all the often, but always have a nice time reminiscing when we do!

Saturday I caught up on my duties as housewife and did almost every domestic chore I could think of! I whipped up some banana muffins. This recipe was so easy & they are so delicious!

Next up was tackling the kitchen and bathroom...I cleaned as best I could, and wow did they both need it! Hopefully I finally got rid of all the germs so Hubby won't be picking up this horrible cold. I also managed to throw in a little bit of laundry and I got all this accomplished before Hubby got home at 12:30!

Saturday had been a scheduled yardwork day for awhile. The weather was supposed to be beautiful & we took advantage of it by preparing our front yard for Spring! We pruned all of our bushes, took out the old mulch, put down new mulch, and now we're ready for the gorgeous flowers to start blooming!

Before...

and after...

Thankfully I've already got some crocus making an appearance which means Spring is right around the corner! We decided to stay in for dinner and Hubby grilled up some hamburgers--the first of the season--while I was in charge of the homemade french fries; definitely one of my favorite homemade meals!

Today was a great service at church about sexual purity and the Christian view being so counter to the view the world holds of sexual purity. Some of our teenagers made the commitment for True Love Waits and it was so exciting to see these kids making such an important decision for the futures!

Hubby & I basically did absolutely nothing all afternoon and it was wonderful! A nap and a Spring thunderstorm make such a perfect combination!

It's time for another week and the weather is supposed to be mostly gorgeous again! The sunshine does such wonders for my attitude!

Weekend Rewind

Hubby & I had a great weekend & were able to spend plenty of time relaxing & hanging out with great friends. Friday night we had date night with dinner at Houlihan's followed by dessert & drinks at one of our favorite local places, Parlor 88 Lounge. They have great desserts & even have an indoor firepit that you can sit around. We were home fairly early but it was such a great time to spend with each other relaxing after a long week!

While Hubby was at work on Saturday morning I cooked & cleaned getting ready for a house full of friends on Saturday night. We had all of our college friends (which most of them are also Hubby's high school friends) over to our house for heavy appetizers, football & games. We had lots of yummy food including one of my favorite appetizers...

Crab Meat Appetizers

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp mayonnaise
1 tsp garlic salt
1 6 oz jar of Old English cheese spread
6 oz crab meat
6 English Muffins split (so 12 muffin halves)

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Combine butter, mayonnaise, garlic salt, Old English cheese spread, & crab meat. Mix thoroughly. Spread onto English muffins & place on cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 1 hour or until ready to bake. When ready to serve, cut English muffins into quarters, place on cookie sheet & put under broiler for a few minutes until the top begins to turn brown. These are wonderful & one of our favorite appetizers!

I also had my first attempt at a chocolate cake...FROM SCRATCH!!! I found the recipe for "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever" on the The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog & I can definitely agree with the name! This was so rich & wonderful. Normally I just use boxed cakes & I probably still will for most occasions but this was definitley like a light & fluffy chocolate-frosted brownie...YUM! It was so easy so if you're looking for a cake from scratch, this is definitely one to try!


There were five couples at our house & three of them now have children. The kiddos are all within about 5 months of each other & they were so well-behaved. Of course I failed to take any pictures of the adults, but I got plenty of photos of the kids! Isn't that always how it happens when kids are involved?

Ok, is she not just absolutely adorable!

The 3 kiddos: Easton, Avery, & Sawyer--what a group!

Easton showing off his camo hat!

Three Men & 3 Babies...these 3 guys went to high school with Hubby & let me tell you...they are such great dads!

In between trying to watch football & take care of the kids, we also managed to get in a few games of Apples to Apples. I am happy to report that I won the last game! We had a great time with a group of people that we honestly don't get to see very often. We've been friends for what seems like forever, so it's always so easy when we get back together!

Yesterday Hubby & I had church & then came home to work some around the house. It was finally warm enough & the snow finally melted away so Hubby took down the last of our Christmas lights. We also had our first small group meeting of the year & I am SO excited for this study we are doing. It's called Life's Healing Choices and is an 8-week study that is corresponding with our sermons at church. I can't wait for the rest of the study--I just know that God is going to teach us all so much!

God has blessed Hubby with such an amazing small group, I can't imagine spending our Sunday nights any other way!

Hump Day Ramblings

With the holidays over & tax season starting, life around the Layman house is fairly quiet these days. Don't get me wrong, we're finding plenty of things to fill our time but things have certainly slowed down quite a bit & you won't find me complaining. I haven't had much happen that would fill an entire post, but here's some tidbits from our life most recently...

~New year=New tv episodes!! Our favorites are Chuck & The Biggest Loser. If you've never watched Chuck I highly recommend it...it's a Get Smart type spy show & we crack up the whole time! Sometimes I think we're some of the only people in the world that watch this show!

~With the temperatures rising & the sun shining brightly, I'm having a really hard time not daydreaming about Spring. I've officially made the decision that Spring is by FAR my favorite time of year.

~To add to the daydreaming, Hubby & I have decided to take a fun, tropical getaway sometime in May. I've been researching on Tripadvisor (I may or may not be doing this when I'm on the phone, on hold at work). We are mainly looking at Riviera Maya as our destination, possibly an all-inclusive. Any suggestions on a resort?

~I cooked a chicken in our crock-pot yesterday & it was oh so yummy! I was so glad to have dinner practially finished when I got home from work. Just season a whole chicken, put it in your crockpot on low for 8-10 hours...and VOILA!!! dinner is done.

~I try to do a good job keeping our house clean & clutter free, but with the cold temps and Bogey being inside the cleanliness is lacking. So...at the suggestion of Hubby I called my mom's housecleaner & she is at my house as we speak making everything spotless!! We're hosting a big group of friends on Saturday night so that's one less thing for me to worry about! I can't wait to go home to my clean house!

Hope everyone is having a great week...with the sun shining and the temps going above normal to almost 50 degrees I couldn't ask for more!

Bring on the Cookies!!!

So tonight is my 2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. The soup is all made, the tables are all set, & the cookies are ready to be eaten. I'm so super excited!!! There will only be about 7-8 ladies there, but I know we're going to have a fabulous time! As a sneak preview here is the cookie recipe I tried...Mint Crinkles. I've already had a taste & they are definitley yummy--Andes Mints & cookies, how can you go wrong! I'll be sure to have lots of pics tomorrow!

Mint Crinkles

Ingredients
3/4 cup finely chopped layered chocolate-mint candies (about 4 ounces or 24 candies)
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Layered chocolate-mint candies, chopped

Directions
1. In a heavy small saucepan, heat and stir the 3/4 cup chopped candies until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool about 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat until well combined. Beat in cooled chocolate, eggs, and vanilla. Beat or stir in flour. Cover and chill 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using about 1 tablespoon of dough per ball, shape dough into 1-1/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until edges are set (tops should crackle). Sprinkle a few candy pieces on top of each cookie; do not press candies into cookies. Bake 1 minute more. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 36 cookies.
To Store: Layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 3 months.

Chili Cook-Off

Each year Hubby's office holds a chili cook-off between the employees. Last year Hubby took my chili concoction and we placed 2nd in the mild division. However, we still maintain the judging was rigged...;o).

Tomorrow is the annual event and so this evening we cooked up our chili & hopefully the results will be much more successful than last year. Since this is Hubby's deal, I made him cook tonight which was quite an entertaining process all by itself. I played supervisor and watched as Hubby made the spicy yumminess!!! Nothing is on the line except for pride & bragging rights, but for us that's more than enough reason to compete!

Our chili recipe is a very-modified recipe of Skyline chili that my mom got from a subscription to Top Secret Recipes. She & I have made various modifications to it based on our taste buds & I think we've managed to come up with a recipe that is just wonderful. Since I'm practically 100% positive that none of the competition read this blog I thought I'd share our chili recipe! It's so super easy to try it out as the weather starts getting a little more chilly!

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef
2 14.5 oz cans of beef broth
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 tbls. cornstarch
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tbls. white vinegar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles
8 jalepeno slices

Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan over medium heat. Do not drain. Make sure the ground beef is broken up into very small pieces (about the size of uncooked rice).

Turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients to the pan. Whisk the ingredients so that the tomato paste and corn starch are mixed in. Turn the heat back up to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 60-75 minutes or until chili reaches desired thickness. Serve immediately with plenty of cheese & crackers. Yield: 5 cups

You can adjust the chili powder, green chiles, or jalepeno slices depending on how hot you like your chili. Obviously most chili recipes call for beans but we don't like beans in our house so those are obviously left out! I love this recipe because you can freeze or refrigerate the leftovers and use later! Enjoy!

EDITED: WE WON!!! (so there were only 3 other employees who brought chili & the prize was pretty bad--a crappy laptop case, but that's not what matters...the important thing is WE WON!!!)

Pepperoni Bread

Tonight for dinner, I am fixing on of Hubby's favorites...Pepperoni Bread. It's super fast & easy & it makes plenty for leftovers. So...I thought I would share the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 loaf frozen bread dough
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
Pepperoni Slices
Cooked Sausage
Mozzarella Cheese
approx. 1/4 cup Pizza Sauce

Layout loaf of bread dough & let rise. Spread dough out onto cookie sheet. Mix egg & Italian Seasoning--brush egg wash onto dough. Set remaining wash aside. Layer pepperoni, cheese, & sausage on middle 1/3 of the bread dough. You can use any toppings you want & fill it as full as you want as long as you can still fold over each side of the dough. After you're done with the toppings, pour the sauce over the toppings. You will want to be careful with how much sauce you use or it will bubble out while cooking. Fold over each side of the bread dough to seal. Also make sure each end is sealed. Flip the loaf over on the cookie sheet so the seam side is down. Baste the top with the remaining egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into slices and serve with additional pizza sauce & a nice salad.


Hubby loves this meal because it is great for easy microwave leftovers for lunch. You can use any pizza toppings you want--these are just our favorite. Enjoy!

Cookies Galore & much, much more!

Wel...as you can tell from my lack of posts, life has been incredibly busy around the Layman household. Christmastime is always so hectic and with a brief vacation in the middle that makes everything that much more crazy (more on the trip in a bit). So...Tuesday night was the scheduled Christmas shopping trip with none other than myself. I seem to shop better when no one else is with me; plus, I needed to get a few things for Hubby so he obviously couldn't be involved. I am very proud to say that as of now I am about 2 gifts away from being done with my Christmas shopping and let me tell you...THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!! I'm definitely not a Christmas eve shopper, but I am never done this early. After I got home I also sat down and wrapped and bowed everything we have! I'll try and post some pictures later of all my progress.

Today my mom had her own Christmas Cookie Exchange so last night I made my recipe, it was fantastic and a big hit at the party today. They were just Peanut Butter Balls, but what's better than chocolate and peanut butter?

Crunchy Peanut Butter Balls

1 lb powdered sugar
3 cups Cocoa Pebbles or Cocoa Krispies
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups crunchy peanut butter

Mix thouroughly and form into balls. Refrigerate for approx. 1 hour.

16 oz milk chocolate chips
16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 slab paraffin wax

Melt the above ingredients and dip balls into mixture. Place on waxed paper until set.

The peanut butter balls that I have had in the past were always creamy and the cereal just adds a special kick! I've also got pictures of these that I'll try and post later.

So now for the most exciting part! Hubby and I are leaving tomorrow to go to Winter Park, Colorado for a short ski vacation. We are going with my parents and I am so excited!!! I haven't skiied in a few years and this will be Hubby's first time skiing since he broke his leg about 4 years ago. It was our first vacation together & it was the first day of skiing, 3rd run of the day...Bummer! That's another story all in itself, but regardless let's hope this trip goes better than that one. We'll be back on Wednesday and then it's practically time for Christmas! Where does the month of December go?!?

I also got a new toy on Wednesday...Hubby had been saying that I could buy a new camera for a long time now and I finally pulled the trigger and ordered it. It's a Canon Rebel 12.2 megapixel XSI. I love it!!! It takes such better pictures than my point and shoot and I just know it will take some beautiful shots of the snow covered mountains!

Hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season...we certainly are and I just love spending time with family & friends!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last night for dinner, I made my favorite soup recipe of all time: Chicken Tortilla. It is a super easy recipe, makes plenty for leftovers and is actually fairly healthy. So, I thought I would share it with everyone else. I certainly can't take the credit for this, it came from my good friend Jennifer. We lived together in college, were in each other's weddings, attend the same church, and I just love her friendship!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

8 cups water
3 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel
12 oz. Velveeta Light
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 cup milk
3 flour tortillas

Bring the water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Boil the chicken breasts until full cooked. Remove chicken from the boiling water and cut into bite size pieces (I normally cut the chicken into pieces before I cook it just because then the chicken cooks faster). Return the chicken to the water and add in all of the remaining ingredients except the tortillas. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for around 10 minutes. Tear the tortillas into small pieces and add to mixture. Boil an additional 10 minutes or until the tortillas are soft. (I normally add around 5 fajita-size tortillas because this is my favorite part of the dish.) Serve with tortilla chips for dipping and enjoy!

A few personal notes:
1. Make sure you keep stirring the mixture because I have trouble with it sticking to the bottom of my pan--even with my expensive Analon.

2. The soup is pretty thin even with the tortillas. If you want a thicker soup I would add some flour or corn starch/water mixture.

3. This soup is great for freezing and warms up really well. Just make a batch and put half of it in the freezer for another cold, autumn/winter's night.