My Birthday Week

Why settle for just one day of celebrating when you can have a whole week of fun? Exactly.

I kicked off my birthday week with dinner at Slider Bar in Palo Alto. It's SO good. We ordered 3 baskets of fries--garlic, sweet potato, and these greasy fries piled high with pulled pork and ranch sauce. It was heavenly.

Inger gave me a most appropriate gift

After dinner, we came back to my house and watched Pitch Perfect. It was just as good the second time around.

I also hit up Cat Club, and rocked out to the best of the 80's in the back room with Susan and Jojo.

On Thursday night, I went to Bon Jovi with friends. I stole Sharla's hat to prove my theory that I look super hot in sunglasses and fedoras. It's not conceited if it's a fact. (Hi Carly!)

We got super cheap seat online--like $15 cheap! We were technically behind the stage, but Jon Bon had a round stage, and spent a good deal of time facing us. I was quite pleased with the seats.

I pretended to take a picture of Sharla, but I'm really taking a pic of these horrible drunk dancers behind us. Their moves were shameful.

These people in front of us were killing me. They were well into their 70's, and whenever their jam came on, they pumped their fists. This is totally us in 40 years.

The show was well over 2.5 hours. Jon Bon looks sounds, and moves like he's 20. He put on a great show. He really has seen a million faces, and he's totally rocked them all.

On my actual birthday, I headed over to playgroup to hang with my friends and kids. My birthday hair was on a roll.

My so-called friends bestowed these upon me--gag.

But they made up for it with this delicious GF almond cake--thanks Meghan! Love ya--despite the fact that you also gave me those pukey kale chips. Turns out chocolate doesn't actually make everything better.

After playgroup, I met up with Team Gray, and we drove over to my favorite gluten free joint

I had a GF quiche, followed quickly by a light and fluffy eclair. SO delicious.

B dutifully helped out and chomped on a cupcake to join in the festivities

After lunch, we came back, and I hit up our school raffle. I was hoping to win some discount swim lessons--which I did. Score! Then I went out for sushi with friends, and then came home to watch trashy TV all by myself. It was a wonderful and fabulous birthday, though we did miss Lance, who was in Utah for a wedding.

Here's to 37! I'm looking forward to many more adventures!

What a Crock

I like my crockpots. I also like to brag about my crockpotting prowess on Facebook.


This lead to me being asked to teach a class at church on crockpotting. I should have buried my crockin talents under a bushel.

In any case, I told the powers that be that I was happy doing a lesson on crockpotting basics. Here is the presentation if you are the least bit inclined to read it.

Crockpot Tips and Tricks

Purchasing a crockpot

~Make sure you buy a crockpot with a removeable insert for easy washing.

~I recommend a crockpot with an automatic timer. You can set it in the morning, it will cook while you’re away, and automatically switch to ‘warm’ when it’s done cooking. Much better option than one that’s only warm, low, and high.

~Good brands are Rival and Hamilton Beach. A programmable crockpot will cost around $50. All major stores have them, as does Amazon and Ebay.

~I suggest having at least 2 crockpots—one 3 quart for smaller side dishes, and one 6-7 quart for large dinners like roasts, whole chickens, and soups/stews.

Cooking in Your Crockpot

~Plastic cooking liners are a great way to save time and cleanup. Always give the inside of the cooking bag a spray of Pam. Make sure you remove the food from the liner before putting it in the refrigerator to make sure the food has time to cool down—the liners retain heat.

~Never overload the crockpot. Make sure you never fill it over 3/4 full. Always have it at least ½ full, however, or the food will cook too quickly.

~Don’t open the crockpot or remove the lid. If you do, add 15 minutes on to the cooking time.

~In general, one hour on high is equal to two hours on low.

~Though not necessary, searing or browning meats prior to adding to the crockpot brings out the flavor of the meat, and helps eliminate some of the fat.

Why Use a Crockpot?

~You can use cheaper, tougher cuts of meat. The slow cooking process breaks down the meat, and makes it tender with time. A good example of this is stew meat, which tends to have a tougher texture, but cooks up tenderly.

~It’s convenient. You can be away all day, and come home to a delicious dinner.

~Stronger flavor on day two and later. The longer a dish sits, the better the flavor.

~Crockpots can make an entire meal, start to finish—appetizer, main dish, dessert—even drinks like cider and hot chocolate!

Adapting Recipes to Cook in a Crockpot

Read Here: http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa980215.htm

Vegetables
Dense vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables should be cut no larger than 1" thick, and placed in the bottom of the pot, since they take longer to cook.

Liquids
Usually liquids may be decreased in slow cooking - about half the recommended amount. Unless the dish contains rice or pasta, one cup of liquid is usually enough.

Pasta and Rice
If a recipe calls for cooked pasta to be added, cook it until just slightly tender before adding to the pot. Add 1/4 extra liquid per 1/4 cup uncooked rice, and use long grain converted rice for the best results. For long-cooking recipes, add cooked rice shortly before serving.

Milk/Cheese
Milk, sour cream, and cream break down over long periods of cooking, and should be added during the last hour. Condensed cream soups are good substitutions for milk and can be cooked for extended times. Cheeses don't generally hold up over extended periods of cooking, so should be added near the end of cooking, or use processed cheeses and spreads.

Big Batch Cooking in a Crockpot

~Saves time, energy, and money, and effort cleaning up. You can purchase large quantities at Costco, Sam’s Club, and regular grocery stores when food is on sale.

~You have food on hand to take to people when needed i.e. baby or illness.

~You can tailor the recipes to your taste preferences or food allergies. You can make low-fat, gluten free, or vegetarian options for much cheaper than buying prepared and/or frozen food.

~Great way to make several meals out of leftovers. You can use shredded chicken for enchiladas one night, and then leftover chicken for BBQ chicken sandwiches the next night, or several weeks later.

~Get an electric can opener.

~Get at least 2 programmable crockpots with removeable liners. I have 3. These are the ones I have: http://www.crock-pot.com/Product.aspx?cid=113&pid=10220

~Spaghetti sauce, casseroles, enchiladas, chili, soups, and stews work well in the freezer.

~When making a big batch, simply double or triple all ingredients, including spices and liquid. Some sites say to halve the liquid, but I’ve always found it effective to keep the quantities normal.

~My preference is to buy a Foodsaver, and use it to store the items you want to freeze. The benefit is they lay flat, and you avoid freezer burn. You can also use Tupperware containers, or Ziploc Freezer Bags. If you do this, make sure you use the Freezer bags. The regular bags don’t work in the freezer. The Foodsave is great because food will last in the freezer for much longer than other containers.

~Leave at least an inch or an inch and a half in the top of the bag of container to allow for expansion when freezing.

~Make sure you cool the food at room temperature for an hour (no longer!) before loading into containers for freezing. You should never add hot ingredients to freezer bags or containers.

~I prefer to cool at room temperature for an hour, then cool in the fridge overnight before freezing the next day.

~Label and date your food. Spaghetti sauce and chili, for instance, look exactly the same when frozen.

~Frozen soups, sauces, and casseroles generally keep for 2-3 months; 6 months or longer if you use a Foodsaver.

~A lot of people like to freeze items they can use different ways, such as cooked ground beef, or cooked shredded pork. They cook the meats, freeze the items, thaw them out, add various spices and sauces, and then serve them different ways.

~Don’t re-freeze any food that has been frozen and thawed. It’s only safe to freeze and thaw it once.

~Thaw foods in the fridge, or in a container with warm water if it’s a sealed bag. You can also use your microwave. Then add to a pot for stovetop, or bake in the oven.

~Start small, and use recipes that you know your family already loves. Double or triple the ingredients, and let your corckpots do the cooking for you!

~Some people find it helpful to have a master list with all of the frozen items so they know what they have, and what they need.

~When in doubt, throw it out! If something looks bad or smells bad, toss it!

Foods that Don’t Freeze Well

~Dairy products—cheese, sour cream, milk

~Mayonnaise

~Jell-o

~Fried Foods

~Cabbage, celery, cucumbers

Favorite Books for Big Batch Cooking

Once a Month Cooking

Frozen Assets

The Best Freezer Cookbook

Best Websites for Crockpot Recipes

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

http://crockingirls.com/

http://slowandsimple.com/

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/main-dish/slow-cooker/

http://www.momswhothink.com/crock-pot-recipes/crock-pot-recipes-for-the-crockpot-and-slow-cooker.html

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cooking-Style/Slow-Cooker-Recipes

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/slow-cooker-classics-00400000001101/

http://www.myrecipes.com/slow-cooker-recipes/

http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm

http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=slow+cooker

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/preparation/slow-cooker-recipes

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-dinner-recipes/pkg-crock-pot-recipes/

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/slow-cooker/

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites-00400000038588/

http://www.familycircle.com/recipes/slow-cooker/

Best Books for Crockpot Cooking

Fix It and Forget It Series

Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Series

The Gourmet Slow Cooker

My Most Requested Crockpot Recipes

Nanny's White Chicken Chili
3 cans of white northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
3+ cloves garlic
2 4oz cans green chilies, diced
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 t cayenne pepper--omit if you don't like the heat
1 t oregano
1/2 t salt
One whole cooked chicken, shredded
1 large (49 oz can or box) chicken broth
1 cup water

Put all ingredients in the crockpot, and cook on High 3-4 hours. Serve with grated white cheese (Jack, Muenster, Mozzarella) and corn chips.

Crockpot Kalua Pork
5-7 lbs boneless pork shoulder ribs
1 Tbsp mesquite liquid smoke
1.5 Tbsp Hawaiian sea salt--available at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's

Place ribs, liquid smoke, salt, and 1 cup of water in crockpot. Turn on low and cook for 12-16 hours. If your package of ribs is closer to 5 lbs, cook it closer to 12-14 hours. If it's closer to 6-7 pounds cook it 14-16 hours. Shred with forks, and enjoy! Gluten-Free.

Hayley's Crockpot Veggie Soup

1 onion, diced
1-3 cloves of garlic
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of water
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 12 oz. can of tomato paste
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
(2) 10 oz bags of mixed veggies--I use the one with corn, peas, green beans, lima beans, and carrots
16 oz of Knudsen's 'Very Veggies' juice--can use V-8 instead. I bought the VV @ Whole Foods

Mix together and heat on low for 6-8 hours. Freezes well. Can stir in cooked pasta or meat when serving for a heartier meal.

Brooke's Crockpot Creamed Corn

2 lbs frozen whole kernel corn
12 oz cream cheese cut into cubes (can use low fat)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Spread corn over bottom of crock pot. Top with cream cheese cubes. Stir together remaining ingredients in small bowl; pour over corn and creamed cheese.
Cover and cook on high heat setting 2-3 hours.
Stir well before serving. Corn will hold on low heat setting up to 2 hours. Stir occasionally.

Kaari's Spicy Homemade Crockpot Chili

2 lbs lean ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 TBSP bottled minced garlic, or 1-3 cloves of fresh garlic
2 1/2 cups water
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes, drained
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 10 oz can Rotel--diced tomatoes and green chile peppers, undrained
1 TBSP yellow mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper--omit if you don't like spicy

Brown beef, onions, green pepper, and garlic until meat is brown and onions tender. Drain fat.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large crockpot (4, 5 or 6 quart) and stir. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5 hours. Freezes well!

Kaari's Split Pea Soup in the Crockpot
1 lb package of dried green split peas
2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, diced

3 ribs of celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
5 1/2 cups hot water

1. Layer ingredients in the crock pot in the order that they’re listed and pour in water. Do not stir ingredients.

2. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft. Remove bay leaf. Serve. DOES NOT work heating it on high, low only.

BBQ Baked Beans

1/2 pound sliced bacon, diced

1/2 pound ground beef

1 c. chopped onion

1 (28 ounce) can pork and beans—remove fatty pork

1 (17 ounce) can lima beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. barbecue sauce

1/2 c. ketchup

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

2 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chili powder

In a large skillet, cook bacon, beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Transfer to crockpot; add all of the beans and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir into beef and bean mixture. Cook on low 2-3 hours.

Lazy BBQ Pork

1 container of Costco’s pre-cooked and shredded pork

1 onion

1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (don’t sub in another brand!)

Heat pork in microwave for about half the time. Sautee the onion, and add to crockpot. Add the bbq sauce and pork. Heat on low 2-3 hours, can keep on warm until you serve it to prevent overcooking.

Lazy Spaghetti Sauce—Triple Batch

6 lbs of ground beef

6 jars of spaghetti sauce—I prefer the taste of organic sauce

6 lb can of drained diced tomatoes, undrained

3 large cans of drained mushrooms—the size from Safeway

1 large can of tomato paste—the size from Safeway

6 onions, chopped

3 green peppers, chopped

8 TBS jarred garlic

1/2 bottle of red wine—omit if you don’t care for the taste. The alcohol burns out during the cooking process.

Brown beef, onions, garlic, and peppers. Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients. Split the mixture between 3 or 4 large (5-6 quart) crockpots and cook on high for 5-6 hours. Freezes well!

Here is the recipe for Janelle’s coconut curry chicken: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/slow-cooker-coconut-chicken-curry/

New Years and Napa

Our friends like to party. You may have realized this by now. The only thing we like more than partying is competing. You may have also realized this by now. We compete over cookies, strength, pumpkin carving, gokart racing, decorating....the list goes on and on.

Our lovely friends over at Team Andersen decided to up the ante and stage a "Mr. and Mrs. 2012" competition. I knew in advance the winners would get matching sweatsuits adorned with logos declaring them the winners. I wanted them so badly it hurt.

We brought our 'A' game. This included matching sweaters (the oft alluded to argyle sweaters)

Great faces at charades

A wildly entertaining and horribly undervalued Matrix skit. I say undervalued because I'm kind of certain half the people in the room had never see the movie. No worries, weirdos. It was only the most influential and groundbreaking movie of the 90's.


A rousing round of the Not So Newlywed Game. This was a *real* blast. One of the questions was to identify a not-so-nice name I called Lancer when I'm mad. He had nothing, so he wrote down ASSFACE. For the record, I have never referred to him as ASSFACE. This was awesome because Tyler Carter saw it, and now thinks I'm a ball buster of a wife.

Haha! Look at ASSFACE over there!

A dance-off, for which we have no photos because the person on camera duty was less than stellar.

In the end, our efforts were for naught. The Grays took 3rd place. The Andersens took 2nd place. Yes, they tried to win at their own party. I judge them for this. And, last and most certainly least, 1st place went to these jokers.

They paraded their matching suits around the room. That's cool. Because when they dance, they look like this. I'm not sure you can attach 'winner' to anything that looks like....that.

You can read the full account HERE. It's good stuff.

After such a crushing loss, we headed to Napa to lick our wounds and regroup. We stopped in at Taylor's Automatic Refresher. A milkshake helped.

So did a set of spicy pulled pork tacos with a side of sweet potato fries.

And a grilled cheese sandwich

A visit from a friendly dog also helped out.

B ran around their spacious field. She captivated kids and adults alike with her outgoing personality and fetching striped pants.





Despite such a faux sour end to 2011 (suck it, Carters!!) I'm really looking forward to 2012. I don't really have any goals to speak of. In general, I would like to be healthier, eat tastier food, and most importantly...continue to have fun and live it up with Beezie. Let's go Twenty-Twelve!

Chugging Away

We've been hard at work and play this last week.

We had a fun little joint baby shower for our friends from the ward. Each one was on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th baby, so we kept it low key. We did a chocolate fondue night--one peanut butter and chocolate, and one plain milk chocolate. It was divine.



Beezie and I packed up and headed up to Sacramento for the day to visit friends. Our first stop was seeing my crazy-fun NKOTB friend Shauran. Here we are over the years at NKOTB concerts:


She has an adorable little boy a few months older than Beezie. They played on the carpet, rolling around and having fun while we ate lunch and caught up on the NKOTB cruise her husband so generously sent her on. Talking about the cruise fueled my DDub fire, and I am SO excited for the back to back concert dates in July!!

Our next stop was at my friend Rachels. We roomed together in Provo in 1994, and have stayed in touch ever since. She has 5 kids, so it's nearly impossible to get together. But every time we do, it's like no time has passed at all--except we have better hair, and our jeans aren't 5 inches above our bellybuttons.

We went to the Fake Cafe Rio spot I have been hearing so much about-Costa Vida. It was SO tasty! Naturally, I got the pork barbacoa salad, and I have to say, it's really the only salad I enjoy eating.

Next on the agenda was a much deserved and long overdue GNO with the girls in the city. You know the night is going to be good when it starts with car service!

Our first stop was Orson--it's run by Top Chef and Citizen Cake Chef Elizabeth Falkner. I'm sure you've seen her on the Food Network over the years.

The restaurant was gorgeous, and the food did NOT disappoint!

We started off sharing the prosciutto and melon salad. This was followed by the duck fat fries topped off with brown butter béarnaise.Re-read that, and take it all in. For the main course, JoJo and I shared two dishes: the smoked pork chop on top of creamy polenta and collard greens with an orange chutney AND the grilled rib eye with asparagus and marble potatoes. I'm drooling thinking about it.

Next 2 stops were at Roe, and then off to Cat Club. It was 90's night, and the music was awesome. I needed a good night of dancing. Except that dumb-dumb JoJo convinced me to wear these shoes. They have a killer spiked heel.

I had on cute and comfy flats because JoJo told me that everyone was going in "dressy casual." I showed up, and everyone looks like they are going to prom! To dress up my boring mom outfit, I popped on the Lanvins. They looked great, but after 20 minutes, I was ready to kill myself. I kicked them off, and probably need a hepatitis C test now.

I also got some allergy testing done. I have been getting these horrible canker sores in my mouth and down the sides of my throat. It was horrible. I basically had a raw, sore throat for almost 2 months before I caved and went to the doctor.


I would have been scared I picked up some weird disease from the Cat Club floor, but the symptoms appeared long before the shoes incident. I thought my allergy was to nuts--specifically almonds.


Nope! The culprit was soy and...gluten. I also have bad seasonal allergies. Duh. I reacted like crazy to the wheat, barley, rye and oats. It's also likely some nasal drainage (so hot!!) combined with my sensitivity to gluten. I had accidentally ingested some gluten several times, and it kicked off this horrible immune reaction, which caused the neverending canker sores. They also told me to slow down, and rest a little. I have been napping with B for the last few weeks, and its really helped. That whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" business is solid advice! Who knew?

Beezie is teething again--argh. When not shredding on her guitar like her daddy...

...and playing with her fun and exciting toys...

She's been serving me up a main dish consisting of this....

with a side of this......

...and this for dessert!

She's been a total stalker. I read an article titled "7 Signs That Your Baby Loves You" and it kind of sounds like the Stalker's Handbook--a book that apparently, B has been reading nightly. Of course, my friend Mary wisely pointed out that she inherited her stalker tendencies. I have no idea what she's talking about!