Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Life Gets Crazy, But There's Still Cookies!

I knew this was going to happen...

I knew that as soon as I got back to school and student teaching started I was going to be swamped with work.  And, I am! It's absolutely insane over here!  Let me fill you in.

Every day I wake up at 5:30 and get ready for school.  I leave by 6:45 and then school starts at 7:30.  Around 11:45 I run out of the school, hop in my car, and drive back to campus where I either work at VIP or have class at 1.  After work or class, I try to get my butt over to the gym to work out for at least 30-45 minutes.  By this point, we are at 5:00 and it is time for dinner at the house.  After dinner, I have homework or prep to do for classes and by 9, I am exhausted and getting ready for bed.

My days are pretty crazy, but I am having a great time!

School is going really well and I just love teaching.  Every day I am excited to go into school.  I am going to take that as a good sign.  Student teaching is overwhelming in a sense that I do not always know what I am supposed to be doing, but I am figuring things out and learning a lot along the way.

Yesterday, I had my first Education Psychology class for the semester and it seems like a really cool class.  We are going to learn about how people learn and discover some strategies that we can use for teaching.  Plus, we all signed up to bring in snack and snack makes any class better...

After class, I had a DTS dinner/meeting and that is also going really well.  I am working on creating a book/binder for the sisters to use for valuable information on the positions or roles in the fraternity and I hope to put together something that I can leave behind when I graduate.  I am also working on getting to know the new members as well as putting together some fundraisers to help us bring in a little money to support our organization.  While this stuff is time consuming, it is also a great way to support DTS and so I am enjoying it all!

This weekend was my friend Chelsea's bachelorette party.  I can't believe I have a friend getting married! When did I get old enough for that to happen?  Anyways, I am so happy for her and I could not be more excited about the wedding! For her party, we went away to a cabin on a lake and had a fun girl's weekend!  We had a taco night, watched movies, played fun games, grilled out for lunch, went for walks by the lake, went out for dinner, and just had a relaxing and fun weekend!  We also all helped her stock up on underwear and things for her first few weeks as a married woman :)


We all pitched in to supply food and beverages and I, of course, supplied the desserts.  I made my "famous" chocolate chip cookies which are always a huge hit and then I also made my Brownie Peanut Butter Pie since peanut butter and chocolate is Chelsea's favorite combination!


With all this going on, it is really hard to also keep up with this site.  I apologize for the lack of posts lately, but I promise cooking and baking are still very much a part of my life and I will try my best to keep up this blog.  This site has become so important to me and I love the times I get to sit here and vent about my days and my recipe projects.

Oh and one more thing: Buffalo Chicken Dip...guest post coming soon :)

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Foodie Friends Friday: Bazordesigns

This Friday is very exciting for a bunch of reasons! First, this week was my first week of student teaching!  Second, this is my first week participating in Foodie Friends Friday!

I also made these awesome cupcakes!!!

I found the recipe over at Cooking Classy and I have to send her a HUGE thank you because these cupcakes were great! They are applesauce spice cupcakes and they are super yummy.  Then I made some cream cheese frosting to slather on top!  Everyone loved them and I thought they were great.  I am wondering if I could pass them off as a muffin if I nix the frosting or substitute the butter for yogurt/oil or something.  Anyways, they were great and you should all make them!

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes (adapted from Cooking Classy)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain applesauce
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
For the Frosting:
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line/grease a cupcake pan (you will make about 24).
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and then slowly mix in the applesauce.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
4. Fill each cupcake well about 1/2-2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely.
5. Make the frosting: beat all the ingredients until light and fluffy.  Add in more sugar for a more dense consistency or add in milk for a more creamy texture.  Frost the cupcakes!

Enjoy :)

I am so excited to be participating in my first Foodie Friends Friday! I am a huge fan of this group and it is so fun to connect with other food bloggers and discover fun recipes.  Plus, there's giveaways! It can't get much better than that!

This week is sponsored by bazordesigns and you can win an adorable towel! You can find this great Lemon Kitchen Towel on Etsy.  Three randomly picked links will win one! 

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://ww.foodiefriendsfriday.com
Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com
Angie at A lil Country Sugar  http://alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com/  
Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/
Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/
Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com
Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com
Keira at Luscious Delights www.lusciousdelights.blogspot.com.au
R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade  http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com
Ericka at Chef Picky Kid  http://www.chefpickykid.com
Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com
Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com
Skye at A Virtual Essence http://www.avirtualessence.blogspot.com
Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

One more thing: The Rules

Step 1: Make sure that anything you link up is:
  • A recipe that is made and photographed by you
  • Not part of a sponsorship/sales/giveaway or other promotions/linky parties
  • Linked to a specific page of your recipe, not your homepage
  • Please limit your link-ups to 3 per party
Step 2:
If you want to be the very best Foodie Friend Ever...
Step 3: Come back on Sunday and vote for your favorite recipes by clicking on the star  under the recipe.  You only get 3 Votes so use them wisely!
***Please note that by linking up your recipe you are agreeing to allow Foodie Friends Friday and any of it's affiliated websites or publications to use photos/links/recipes for any reprint, republishing and distribution without monetary compensation to you.  If photos/recipes are used, proper credit and link backs will be included. 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Super Stuffed Mushrooms

I have been crazy busy lately with school starting.  Today is my first day with 8th graders and I could not be more excited! Yesterday was the first day of school, but it was a 6th grade only day and so the other grade level teachers had more time to get ready.  However, we did have to chaperone the 6th graders around the school for a scavenger hunt.  It was pretty fun and so cute to see them running all over the school.  I can't wait to see my students today!

In the meantime, I wanted to use up some the veggies in my fridge including the fantastic portobello mushrooms that I got at the Farmer's Market.  I decided to do this by making a sort of stuffed mushroom.  It was a yummy, comforting meal and I loved all the fresh veggies! This is definitely something I will do again or even mix it up with different veggies and flavor combinations.

Super Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
2 portobello mushrooms, no stems and washed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped into slices and then quartered
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 and lightly grease a baking sheet.  Place the portobello mushrooms on the baking sheet.  Brush with balsamic vinegar on both sides.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan.  Add in garlic and saute for a few minutes, until garlic becomes lightly browned.  Add in the pepper and zucchini and saute until veggies start to soften and peppers become translucent.  Add in the spinach until wilted.  Pour into a bowl and mix with the feta cheese.  Spoon half the mixture on top of one prepared portobello and spoon the other half over the other portobello.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.  The feta will be lightly browned and mushrooms will have flattened and be juicy.

Enjoy :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Taste of Madison

I'm not sure I can think of a better way to end summer and kick off the new school year than celebrating the Taste of Madison.  The Taste of Madison is so much fun and it is great to see all the amazing foods Madison has to offer.  Also, it is a great way to hang out around the capitol!  I walked on over with my girls, Lauren and Caryn and we enjoyed some fantastic food.

My favorite item is the Betta Bruschetta from Johnny's Italian Steakhouse.  It is absolutely delicious! The tomatoes taste so fresh and juicy and it was the perfect treat on such a warm day.

Source: Johnny's Italian Steakhouse

After the Taste, my day just got better with a visit from my friend Anna from back home.  We had a great time shopping with my other friends, Tamara and Courtney and then going out at night!  Anna even gave me a great cocktail recipe and I can't wait to share it here!


After a fun night, Anna and I started off Labor Day with a nice breakfast at the Sunroom Cafe.  Afterwards, she had to head back towards Chicago and I needed to start getting ready for school!


I can't believe summer is finally over.  It was an amazing summer and now I am ready for a great senior year! I am already all ready with my Algebra warm-ups for the first week and I can't wait! Also, tonight is my first DTS meeting with the other members on the exec council.  Senior year, here I come!