Candy Dish and Gardening Hat

So just a quick update from the week. It’s been a busy week and I’m glad it’s Friday! This week in the mail my cute candy dish in the shape of a “P” came in the mail. I’m pretty excited about it! I think its super cute. I posted a picture on Facebook and had lots of questions where I got it so here is the link if you want to order one. They are smaller than they appear in photos but still super cute. I wanted to get a “J & B” for Jace and Brooke but figured I would always get teased about it so I just went with the “P”. But if you know me very well, I ALWAYS have candy jars and bowls sitting out on my counters (just ask my nephews-they know!) So this is the perfect thing for me-all the possible candies I can have in there all year long-Cadbury eggs at Easter, Candy Corn at Halloween, etc.

That same night, Jace and I ran over to Home Depot to grab a few things when I stumbled upon this gem. I’m pretty excited to use this during the summer when were working in the yard. Jace thought I was nuts wearing it around the store and in the car the whole way home. But I think it’s perfect for yard work and it was only $7.99! Then last night I started a small little sewing project but since it’s a gift for someone I will post it after I give it to them :)

My gardening hat :)

Poppyseed Chicken/Apple & Spiced Pecan Salad

So I was in the lunchroom today at work and had some reheated Poppy Seed Chicken and a friend asked me to send her the recipe. I went and looked on my blog almost positive I had posted it somewhere and realized I’ve never posted this recipe! I can’t believe I haven’t because this is probably one of my favorite recipes! Jace loves this and begs me to make it all the time. So here it is.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Kensley Rowland

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts boiled and shredded (check out this post for a fast way to shred chicken!)

2 cups sour cream

2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 stick butter melted

2 cans cream of chicken

Topping:

3 tubes Ritz crackers (crushed)

1 stick of butter melted

Directions:

Boil chicken and shred. Add all ingredients to a bowl with the shredded chicken. Take the Ritz cracker and butter mixture and spread ½ of the mixture onto bottom of casserole dish. Cover with the sour cream/chicken mixture and top with the remaining Ritz crackers. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes covered and another 30 minutes uncovered.

Poppyseed chicken

This is fairly quick and easy but so yummy. I usually end up making extra pans and freeze them since it freezes really well. It also reheats amazingly.

I made this Sunday night this week since I had to take dinner to a family in the ward. I also ended up bringing them a yummy salad and some rolls both of which the recipes I got from my mother in law. Sorry I didn’t really take any pictures!

Apple & Spiced Pecan Salad

Janalyn Olson

Ingredients

6-8 cups assorted greens (anything but Iceburg)

¾ cups crumbled feta cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 large red-skinned apple, diced

Dressing

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon salt

Dash Tabasco sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

**Whisk together dressing ingredients

Spiced Pecans

3 tablespoons butter

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

Over medium heat, melt butter in a pan and add sugar, spices and salt. Add pecan pieces and stir until well-coated. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until sugar caramelizes and pecans darken slightly in color. Transfer mixture to a paper bag to cool. Shake bag occasionally to break up pieces.

Assemble salad ingredients & top with cooled pecans. To avoid browning apples, can be added directly to dressing or diced just prior to serving. Toss salad with dressing and serve.

The rolls my mother in law kinda made up but they were so yummy!

Cinnamon Sugar Rolls

Janalyn Olson

Ingredients:

Butter

24 Rhodes Rolls

Cinnamon Sugar

Powder Sugar

Vanilla

Milk

Directions:

Unthaw Rhodes rolls and cut into ¼’s. Roll each one into melted butter and then cinnamon sugar mixture. Place in pan that has been coated in butter. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Let them rise and then cook at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Make icing mixture with ½ the bowl of powder sugar and ½ a stick of softened butter. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and milk to make icing. Ice the rolls while hot and serve!

Weekend and Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Of course I need to post a weekend update since it’s a Monday morning. Friday night Jace and I went to dinner at Chili’s. When we got there we ran into my mom, Aunt Sharon, cousin Krista, good friend Jen and Kami. They were all going to see the Hunger Games. I haven’t read the book and plan to read it in Louisiana during the races in April so I didn’t want to go see it with them but Jace was a good sport and agreed to have dinner with all the girls :) It was fun to see everyone and dinner was super yummy. I love everything at Chili’s!  We went home afterwards and just laid around and watched movies at home. Then Saturday Jace got up early to go dyno some bikes while I went and ran some errands. That afternoon I also had a bridal shower for a good friend from high school, Kaycee. It was great to see everyone and catch up. The rest of the day Jace and I worked on getting the yard looking decent since it was such a nice day out. Then we went out to my sister-in-law’s Figure competition that she has been preparing for the last 6+ months? It was pretty insane to see everyone there but she ended up taking first place for her division which was pretty awesome. You can check out her blog with all her updates/progress on there. After the competition we went to dinner with her, my brother in law and our friends Jedd and Amy. It was a great night out.

Then Sunday we went to church and when we came home I made some dinner to take over to the lady I visit teach who recently had a baby boy. That night we went to my mom’s for dinner and since I told her I would bring dessert I made some chocolate covered strawberries. I took white chocolate and died it orange so it would look like carrots for Easter but the orange didn’t come out quite how I wanted it to. It was a little more peach looking but they still tasted yummy! The week should be busy so already looking forward to next weekend!

My chocolate covered Strawberries-some turned out prettier than others!

Chinese Casserole

So this week has been busy but flying by which is always great. Tuesday night I went over to my friend Lindsey’s for another facial, a late birthday present to myself-so amazing! Getting facials is my new favorite thing! The rest of the week’s just been busy working in the yard, the house, Jace getting his toys ready for dune season, etc. but last night I actually took the time to make some dinner. This is one of the first things I ever made when Jace and I were married. I think it is what made him believe that he wouldn’t starve in our marriage :) This is a recipe I got from my good friend Whitney Floisand’s mom. She would always make it and I would always come over to their house in high school to eat the leftovers. So when I got married she got me a great casserole dish with the recipe and I love it! Super easy and yummy.

Chinese Casserole

Kim Floisand

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger

½ onion (I just use minced onion/onion salt)

½ cup rice (uncooked)

¼ cup soy sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ cup warm water + little pepper

½ can Chinese noodles

Directions:

Brown meat with onion.

Add all other ingredients (except noodles)

Cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered, then uncover and cook for 20 minutes and 350 degrees. Sprinkle noodles on top and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

I love this recipe because it’s easy to throw together and also reheats well. I like to serve it with cooked veggies and fortune cookies! I am mad at myself though because last night since the pan was still hot when I was cleaning up the kitchen I let it sit out a little longer to cool down. I ended up going to bed and totally forgot about it until this morning when I walked downstairs :( sad that I had to throw it away and wasn’t able to have my leftovers for lunch!

Hash Brown Casserole

Last night I was looking through my freezer trying to figure something out to make for dinner and saw that I had a bag of hash browns that had been in their forever. So I decided to make a yummy hash brown casserole my mom use to make when we were little.

Hash Brown Casserole

Karen Lewis

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen has browns

½ cup butter, melted

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup shredded cheese

1 can cream of chicken

1 tsp. salt and pepper

1 tsp. garlic salt

2 cups sour cream

Topping:

¼ cup butter melted

2 cups crushed Corn Flakes

Directions:

Mix all casserole ingredients together. Put into greased 9X13 pan. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle onto casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hour. Cover with foil for the first hour.

Since it takes awhile to bake you can either do a breakfast themed dinner with muffins, eggs, bacon, etc. or Jace said it tasted like cheesy potatoes and that it would be good with pork or chicken. Either way its super easy and very filling.  

New Truck, Babysitting and Game Night

So Wednesday night Jace was looking online and found a post for a Ford for sale. He has been talking for a little bit about either putting some money into his current truck or just selling it and getting a different truck. So Thursday morning we went out to Murray to check it out, long story short Jace ended up getting a new truck (not really new-it’s a 2008). So if anyone is in the market for a 2004 Dodge dually, ours is for sale. It’s been a really good truck and runs like a champ, the exterior just could use a new paint job. Check out the link here.

Jace's new truck 

Thursday was also my brother in law’s birthday so we offered to watch the kids while his wife took him to the Jazz game. It’s always fun watching the nephews. We had corn dogs for dinner-very healthy I know so I made them eat carrots and grapes too. Then they wanted to play out in the dirt and in Jace’s new truck. After playing in the yard and a good clean bath we watched Puss and Boots that I had rented for them, secretly Jace and I had been wanting to see it, so it was a good excuse to watch with them. It was lots of fun watching them!

Not sure what this pose is Owen is doing... 

The boys loved climbing all over the truck

The boys crawling in the dirt

Then Friday I went to lunch with my brother’s girlfriend, Kami. It was great to go to lunch and chat with her. That night we went over to Jake and Marci’s for some yummy cake Marci made. Saturday of course Jace worked in the garage all day while I cleaned, did laundry, hit the grocery store and some errands. That night we went over to our friends the Cowdin’s for dinner and a game night. They taught us a new game called Nertz which I loved! It was lots of fun to get together with some of our awesome neighbors and get to know everybody better. Sunday was a typical day going to church and having dinner at my mother in laws. The weekend defiantly went by too quickly!

Noah really enjoyed the cupcakes Sunday night!

Weekend and Linguine with Garlic Breadcrumbs

So this weekend was a good relaxing one! Friday I had a haircut and then that night Jace and I went to dinner at Ruby River for my belated birthday. We had a gift card there so it made it even better J Then Saturday we got up and went to Granny Annies for some breakfast because I was craving a scone. After Granny Annies I went to run some errands and Jace started working on his RZR and cleaning up the garage. I swung by the Gateway and ran into JMR to fine some amazing deals. 75% off a cute skirt and top which I always love finding great deals! The rest of Saturday was spent grocery shopping, cleaning the house and the yard up. I also spray painted my new jewelry holder from my mom black to match my bathroom. I think it turned out really great and I love how much stuff it holds!

Jace enjoying his scone. 

Jace and I at Granny Annies.

(Left-before, Right-after)

After product holding all my jewlery.

Then we went to see the movie “The Vow” since it was my choice Jace was very excited to go. I thought it was really good Jace said it was ok. Then today we went to church and just came home to relax. It was nice to have a day to just sit and relax and spend time together. Tonight I made a delicious Linguine with Garlic Breadcrumbs I found on Pintrest. It was super easy and really yummy. I found the recipe here and I followed everything on the recipe pretty close just made a few tweaks:

Linguine with Garlic Breadcrumbs:

2 slices of bread put in my food processor (toasted at 250 degrees for 20-30 minutes). I seasoned mine with garlic salt and onion salt.

I also added shredded Parmesan cheese

Jace wanted some meat with his so he heated up some Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops I made for lunch. I posted the recipe in this post. I also made up some of my favorite garlic bread to go with it that I mentioned in this post. It was a great relaxing weekend

Haley and Mike Wedding!

Thursday March 8^th was my good friend Haley Roybals wedding. It was great because I was able to go in the temple with her and Mike to watch them be sealed. It was really great to listen to their sealing just 2 days after Jace and I had been sealed. It was a beautiful wedding and she looked amazing and they both looked so happy. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and then had a delicious luncheon at the Lion House. They played a wedding video at the luncheon which was great and then they had a fabulous reception at Oakridge Country Club. I’m so happy for Haley and Mike and that I was able to be apart of their special day. It was also great to see everyone from high school and college that I hadn’t seen in awhile. Congrats Haley and Mike!

Coming out of the temple. 

(Left to right) Bridget, Whitney, Taryn, Hela and me (some of the bridesmaids) 

Carly and I! I miss that girl!

The bride and I at the reception. 

Jace and I at the reception.

22nd Birthday and Sealing

So this past Tuesday, March 6^th was my 22^nd birthday it was a great one! I went to work for a half day and some great coworkers brought doughnuts in for my birthday. I did a little work and then went and meet Jace for some lunch. After lunch he headed back to work and I ran around to do some errands and some shopping J My coworker Holly was so sweet and got my a gift certificate to one of my favorite stores JMR so I went in there and got some amazing shoes! I wish it would stop snowing so I could wear them! After running around and shopping I headed home and meet up with Jace. He was so sweet and got me beautiful flowers and a card. I love cards and I keep every card I get in a box. I had also picked out earlier last week some shoes that he bought for me and some house stuff! I just really need it to warm up now so I don’t have to keep wearing boots.

After Jace gave me my sweet presents we got ready and picked my parents up to head to the Bountiful temple. Saturday I had received my endowments so Jace and I could be sealed on my birthday. We were married civilly in Las Vegas, NV on December 30, 2009 but by getting sealed in the temple we would be able to be married for eternity. Such an amazing experience! I’m so thankful for all our family and friends that came from Idaho, Midway, Provo and all over the place to be with us. It was just a very special moment to share with those closest to us. I’m grateful to have such an amazing husband and without sounding too cheesy was so thankful for the greatest birthday gift he could have ever given me. It was also cool that our sealer was the same sealer who sealed Jace’s dad and his stepmom to one another. He was great and I’m thankful he was there to seal us. Again since it was a personal and special moment I won’t write much here about it but I’m so thankful to have been able to go through the temple and to be sealed to Jace for eternity. I defiantly wouldn’t want to be with anyone else but him for that long.

After the temple we went to Five Guys to celebrate my birthday and our sealing. It was nice to see everyone and chat with them for awhile. My father-in-law and his sweet wife got me some kitchen supplies for my birthday and a statue for Jace and I’s sealing. It was very sweet of them. My brother and sister-in-law then were so sweet and got me a gift card to my other favorite store, Marshalls! Will have to go shopping soon Marci! My mother-in law was awesome also and gave me money to go pick out what I wanted and I was able to get a great new purse. After Five Guys we went back to my parent’s house for some cake and ice cream. My mom made another incredibly delicious cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday. My mom had purchased my temple clothing but also got me this great jewelry holder that I’m excited to load up with all my jewelry! It was a great day and I’m so thankful for all the birthday wishes and that I was able to spend the day with family at the temple. Thank you everyone so much for everything.

Jace and I after the sealing, outside the Bountiful temple. (Please ignore the red eye and the dots everywhere which is snow). 

Jace, me and my parents after the sealing.

The bag I bought with my mother-in-laws money. Thanks Janalyn! And the flowers Jace brought home for me. I love the two-toned colors. 

The blue shoes Jace gave me (I picked them out!) and the brown shoes I got with my gift card at JMR! 

The statue of Jace and I and the jewelry holder from my mom.

This cake was delicious!

Weekend and Endowments

Well this past weekend was an exciting one. Friday night Jace and I were both so tired and lazy for some reason so we just laid around the house all night and didn’t do anything. Then Saturday we had to be up bright and early to head out to the Jordan River temple since I was taking out my endowments. It was a long day but a very good one. My mom and dad went with us early and my mom was able to escort me through the temple for my first time. It was amazing having her there and I’m not sure if I could have made it through without her. Then my wonderful cousin Krista came down from Provo to attend the session as well as my in-laws Dennis and Gayleen. Our bishop and his wife were also kind enough to come to the session. I’m grateful to everyone who was able to make it but it was really amazing having Jace there as well. I’m not going to write a whole lot about the entire experience since its personal but it will defiantly be a day I won’t forget and will treasure forever.

After going through that morning we went to breakfast with my parents and my Aunt Sheryl who is in town visiting from Vegas. The rest of the day we spent doing laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. That night Jace and I went to Café Rio for dinner and just ran some errands. Sunday we had church and then went to my parents afterwards to have my birthday dinner! This is a tradition we’ve done since I can remember. Every Sunday before our birthdays we get to pick what meal we have and my mom always goes all out. I choose Fried Chicken (so delicious) and cream peas and potatoes. Yes I’m from Texas-it cracks Jace up how much I love fried chicken. Then my mom knowing me way to well also made an incredible 3 layer chocolate and coconut cake. She is amazing. My birthday isn’t actually until Tuesday March 6^th but it was fun to celebrate a little early with my family. We also had my cousin Conner, Aunt Sheryl and Kami over with us so it was fun to see everyone. Looking forward to the rest of the week!

 

I asked Jace to take a picture with me and this is what I got...

My mom and I with my cake :) can you tell were related?

Kami and I