This is this

So…

jennheartsmatt — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:34:52 +0000

So…I really thought I was going to keep up on a blog.

So…I really wanted to.

So…far that hasn’t really happened.

Today is Friday and Fridays are pretty much great. On Fridays I don’t care if I have to cook dinner and that dinner isn’t ready until 8pm, because it took me an hour to drive home. On Fridays I am willing to try cooking something new like stuffed zucchini, without a recipe, based only on the list of ingredients someone told me at work. On Fridays I can open a bottle of Love my Goat and not worry about having to get up early in the morning. On Fridays I can look forward to the movies I am going to see with my Hubby at the drive-in on the following night and think up ways to get myself to stay awake for a TRIPLE feature, because all of the movies are worth seeing. On Fridays I look forward to what yummy thing I am going to bake on Saturday (like apple pie with a crumbly topping using Joy the Baker’s Easy No-Roll Pie Crust, which is 100% partially hydrogenated free!)

On Fridays it is okay to forget my train of thought and end blog post abruptly.

Dish Pan Hands

jennheartsmatt — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:28:21 +0000

So it is about a quarter after nine in the morning…on a weekend…and I have been up for over an hour. Since I’ve been up I’ve started laundry, cleaned the kitchen, fed the dog, took the dog out and watched a clip of a six-year-old sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow from Britain’s Got Talent.

Getting up in the morning on the weekend is getting easier…which is nice. Especially, considering my renewed attempts to be better about housework and all keeping our apartment from looking like a volcano exploded clothes and dirty dishes.

I don’t like housework.

But this morning as I was washing the pans and bowls that remained from yesterday’s cheeseburgers and apple crisp I was thinking about baking. I really like to bake….and cook. And this is what I was thinking – Can people taste the love in it? I like to bake and cook, but what I like best about it is having Matt eat it. Having Matt enjoy it and make those happy food noises. Most of time (there are exceptions) making dinner or baking up something yummy isn’t a chore. Making the house smell all appley or chocolatey or of fresh bread makes me happy. It is an act of love. And I think that makes a difference in how the food turns out.

So this is where I am going with this…I do not like housework and I am sure I never will. But I am going to try to stop thinking about it as a dreaded chore that needs to get done…and think of it more as an act of love. I think that if while I am washing the pots and pans (dishes are the worst) I concentrate on what having a clean kitchen will feel like to me and to Matt (it means he won’t have to do it =D) and this act is a demonstration of my care for my hubby and our home and our things that maybe it will stop feeling like a chore. We’ll see….it just came to this morning and I still have bathrooms to clean.

Happily Ever After Always

jennheartsmatt — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:27:18 +0000

Today Matt and I are 2 years into out happily ever after.

Buffalo

jennheartsmatt — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:18:20 +0000

So…it has been almost an entire year since I last posted anything. In fact, it will be an entire year on Monday and on Monday, Matt and I will have been married 2 whole years. It has gone by so quickly…not a whole lot had changed with us. Up until 2 weeks ago I still worked in mortgage at NBT Bank and we still lived in Norwich. Matt and I spent most of our nights at home hanging out with Hallie, playing computer games and watching TV shows. We still went to spend time with Craig and T and the girls every weekend, cooking and laughing and have a good ol’ fashioned time.

Life was good.

Then we moved to Buffalo.

And it has been an adjustment…a huge change from not only what I’ve been used to for the last two years of marriage, but from what I have been used to for forever. Buffalo is A LOT different from Norwich.

I’ve got two weeks under my belt and I am adapting to the change and I realize that things aren’t a whole lot different. I work in mortgage at M&T Bank. Matt and I spend our evenings hanging out with Hallie, playing computer games and watching TV shows. And we are making plans to go and spend time with Craig, T and the girls as often as we can to cook, laugh and have a good ol’ fashioned time. BUT we got the bonus of having all the restaurants and stores we can think of with in a 6 mile range instead of 45. We are living in an apartment that we love with a balcony, central air and an extra bathroom! And while I was in Norwich all of my siblings were forever away in S. Carolina except for Rabbit who was nearly 3 hours away – now she is just an hour from me, which means an opportunity to spend more time with her which is awesome! So…

Life is good.

Anniversary

jennheartsmatt — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:43:55 +0000

So Matt and I have been married for one whole year today…today is a great day.

Who are you calling chicken?

jennheartsmatt — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:12:14 +0000

I mean turkey…so, I decided to make meatloaf and ground turkey was on sale, so I decided to make turkey meatloaf. I had never actually made meatloaf by myself ever (I mixed up the meat with my hands as a kid when my daddy made it)…but really, it didn’t like that hard…fortunately, things were as they appeared. I used a recipe I got off of myrecipe.com…which a new site that I like. It compiles recipes from a variety of different cooking magazines, which is cool…and it is free, which is cooler. I served it with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. I bought the asparagus and brought it home and then found out that Matt doesn’t like asparagus, or well, at least he thought he didn’t like asparagus (but I can almost distinctly remember Matt stealing asparagus stalks off my plate on another occasion…anyway)…but he said he would try it. First bite and he says, ‘mmmmm…’ Matt likes asparagus.

So I had to make the meatloaf in 2 halves, because the husband hates the onions and it actually worked out well. There have been times when I tried to split up the cooking of things and do the onions seperately and it had yet, until the meatloaf, to turn out right…so here is the recipe I used…the recipe calls for 1.75 pounds of turkey, but the package I had was only 1.3 lbs and that was more than enough for 2, so I just left out the egg white all by itself, so it wasn’t too wet.

Turkey Meatloaf

Prep: 5 minutes; Cook: 66 minutes.

Yield: Makes 8 servings (serving size: 1/8 of loaf)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons ketchup, divided
1 3/4 pounds ground turkey, 97% lean
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, broth, and 1 tablespoon ketchup; transfer mixture to a large bowl, and cool.

2. Add turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, egg white, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to mixture in bowl, and mix well. (Mixture will be very moist.)

3. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and coat lightly with cooking spray. Form the turkey mixture into a loaf, and place on the pan. Brush meatloaf evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons ketchup. Bake 1 hour or until thermometer inserted into center registers 170°.Let meatloaf stand 5 minutes before serving.

so tasty…

We were French on Tuesday

jennheartsmatt — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:01:35 +0000

or well…we at least eat French food…well French Dip?!?! It was delicious (Thanks for the recipe, T)!

So…I like to try new recipes and Matt likes to eat the new things I make, so it works out well.

One night Matt suggested that we devise a way to keep track of the new recipes we try so we know what was good and I should make again and what was gross and should never be mentioned ever ever again. Actually, I think Matt specifically suggested that we have a spreadsheet with a rating system…I love spreadsheets! So, when I was laying in bed on Monday (which turned out to be way productive for me) I made a spreadsheet and came up with a rating system.

* = YUCK!

** = Enh…

*** = Okay.

**** = Yummy!

***** = Feed me this ALWAYS!

The French Dip got *****.

beds are nice

jennheartsmatt — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:02:18 +0000

so it is about 2 in the afternoon and I am in bed…I was at work, but I feel yucky and all of my files are at a stand still. It stinks having to wait for things…either paperwork that should have been included are appraisals that never want to come in…so while I have several files that need to be finished, all of them get to sit and rot…Fortunately, that means I don’t need to feel be stressed about coming home and laying in bed all afternoon because I feel yucky.

I have plans to be productive while I lay in bed…like make a shopping list…but I haven’t gotten there yet. Right now I am just relaxing and enjoying my free iced coffee (iced coffees are free in the McDonald’s in town on Mondays for now) and watching TV online.

Excuse me…

jennheartsmatt — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:02:42 +0000

SIMS 3 release date has been pushed to JUNE!!

poo.

I am in laptop love.

jennheartsmatt — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:57:23 +0000

My new laptop plays SIMS!! The laptop we got for Matt for school did not. I thought that Vista hated Sims…but maybe it was something else.

ANYWAY!

This one plays Sims…and I pre-ordered SIMS 3 (I am well aware that I am a bit of a dork, but my Simmers are my friends) and that should be here week after next!

YAY!

Sleep time is now.