mostly probably

An email from my mother-in-law this morning got me thinking about how sad it is that I don’t have a collection of anything! It always seemed very OCD to me to have a vast collection of trinkets of some sort and it makes me feel sad that I can’t honor my obsessive-compulsive personality by collecting something. So I got to thinking about things that I could collect, and here’s what I came up with:

1. I may have sworn off soda for good (I was doing really well until Thanksgiving, by the way), but that hasn’t stopped me from wanting to collect pop cans and build something out of them. I remember seeing an HGTV special where they showcased a man who had built his house out of soda cans. I think it’s insanely clever to have a couch made out of pop cans and I hope one day to write a blog from an aluminum seat of my own. A girl can dream.
2. Cold, hard cash is pretty much the best thing a person can have. With cold, hard cash, you are more easily able to go to lunch with your best buddies. Also, purchasing shoes at Kohls would be part of your daily routine rather than an activity reserved for your birthday, or Christmas, or when you’re mad at your husband.
3. I have been obsessing over Anthropologie dresses for a long time and have yet to see one that I don’t just have to have–at least at some point. The problem is that in order to collect these dresses, which are, in my opinion, the very epitome of wonderment, I have to also collect Item #1, which is a problem when you have a job as crappy as mine.
4. For some reason I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who collects mugs. My mother-in-law is one of those people and I’m insanely jealous of her awesome collection. However, while my mother-in-law collects mugs from places and shows she’s seen, I would really like to just collect mugs that I think are awesome. While I’m collecting awesome mugs, let’s expand this to teacups. I really think my awesomeness quotient would increase exponentially if I could sit in front of the TV at night sipping hot cocoa from a pretty little teacup.

And now, I’ve decided that in honor of this, my fiftieth post, I will be giving away a major award (not to be confused with the major award of “A Christmas Story” fashion) to one lucky reader! This major award will be a basket full of just a few of my most favorite things this world has to offer. Please don’t get too excited. I’m pretty easily entertained so you might just end up with an empty Pepsi can.

This is from my regular blog and I just remembered it was there so I’m moving it.

My sisters, who may be reading this blog, might recognize most of this recipe as a sibling to Mom Asay’s secret spaghetti sauce recipe. That’s how it started out and then I got tired of making that so I turned it into a stew, casserole, type thing. A stewarole!

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 cups uncooked rice
• 2 beef Ramen noodle flavor packets (I guess if you are upper class you can use regular beef boullion but we are poor and have tons of Ramen so this is what I used!)
• 2 cans (16 oz. each) tomato sauce
• 1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 lb. mozzarella cheese (We are crazy cheese-obsessed people though! We used cheddar since that’s what we had on hand, but mozzarella is probably better.)
• 1 lb. whole button mushrooms (We LOVE mushrooms! Try not to use canned mushrooms. That’s wrong.)
• three ribs celery
• three carrots
• two green peppers
• half an onion

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the rice in the beef boullion until the rice is just about done but not quite. (I don’t know how to describe this any other way.) The boullion is obviously optional but I always cook rice with Ramen noodle packets to give it more flavor and so it doesn’t taste so much like rice.
2. Meanwhile, brown the Italian sausage with the onion. Season it with the Italian seasoning and garlic salt. I kept my sausage in little bite size baby chunks and that’s what I would recommend.
3. Add the vegetables to the sausage and onion in this order (so some have longer to cook than others): carrots, celery, mushrooms, peppers.
4. In a 9×13 baking dish, add half a can of tomato sauce to cover the bottom (to keep the rice from sticking, obviously). Add the rice in a single layer on top of that. Add the sausage and veggies, and then pour the remaining 1.5 cans of tomato sauce on top.
5. Layer the entire thing with cheese and then bake at 350 degrees for I dunno, probably 20 minutes or something. Until the sauce starts boiling.
6. And then it’s done. I was really quite proud of myself.

MODIFICATIONS

None. This whole recipe was born because I was making my mom’s spaghetti and got tired of it. So I put it on top of rice and called it good. So modifications would mean modifying a modification, and that just doesn’t make sense.

And it was good.

Source: Mom Asay (and me)

Does my new header make me look like an evil villain?
Good.

Overall, a successful Thanksgiving weekend was had by all. I took down my prior Thanksgiving post due to the complaints I was getting about how I didn’t mention specific people so let me just say this: I’m thankful for everyone in the world. Did I miss anyone? No? Okay, let’s move on.

The Thanksgiving Extravaganza began on Wednesday afternoon, when I went with my mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law, Kim and Kylie, to the movie “Enchanted.” Kylie and I knew it was the movie for us when we first saw the trailer three months ago and it did not disappoint. It was precisely the type of movie that a creature as obsessed with musicals as myself might be. An added bonus was that Idina Menzel starred in this movie too. I recognized her as soon as she appeared onscreen! (Those who are unaware, Idina plays the part of Elphaba in Wicked the Musical, and you should all know how very obsessed I am with Wicked!) After we got home we all sat down and watched Hairspray, a movie I am determined to own by the year’s end. I’m thankful for good movies!

On Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving lunch, actually, since it was at 1 p.m.) with the dude formerly known as husband’s side of the family. It was there I devoured several chocolate revel bars and too much Spinach-Artichoke Dip. I was worried because my mother-in-law said nobody in the family liked spinach (I married into picky eaters!), but it was gone in about three minutes so I feel pretty confident about how it turned out. I also put to good use the pinecone place settings that we made at our “Enrichment” night on Tuesday and despite finding a worm in one right before dessert, people thought they were pretty cute. I’m thankful for my friends!

I’m thankful for Brita, who has been my closest friend since we moved to our ghetto house in Logan. We laughed our heads off gathering huge bags of pinecones, and then laughed our heads off when I hit the brakes and pinecones went shooting everywhere! We pretty much laugh our heads off whenever we’re together and that’s #1 for me! I’m also thankful that we moved into this ward with DeAnna and Andrew, and that the dude formerly known as husband has someone to obsess about hunting with. An added bonus is that DeAnna is one of my favorite people. She’s always so nice to everyone and so genuine.

At any rate, on Friday morning, the girls all left for Black Friday shopping. It was a pretty good shopping day, but we did decide that Black Friday 2001 was a bit more successful. (That was the year we bought a thousand body pillows and hid them under my dorm room bed.) Good times. Speaking of which, can you believe I’ve been an unofficial (and later, official) member of the Stringham Family since 2001? It’s hard to believe that six years ago I was going Black Friday shopping with them! I’m so thankful for the amazing family I married into!

Friday took us down to Provo, home of my side of the family. I went in and started talking to my nephew, Dax, who was watching cartoons. He must not have heard me, hypnotic state he was in, so I left it at that. Imagine my surprise when, several minutes later, presumably after his cartoons were over, he asked me, “Molly, how come you didn’t say hi to me when you came in?” That kid! I’m thankful for my nieces and nephews!

My sister, Meghan, and I got to work cooking funeral potatoes and bacon (the bacon that was to go into the funeral potatoes). It was a lot of fun to hang out in the kitchen with her, imagining a funeral potatoes cook-off that never happened, trying to sabotage each other’s culinary creations. My grandma, who is one of my heroes, got the flu and then quickly got worse and worse. I was really worried about her, I still am, especially with my parents being gone, but Meghan does such a good job of taking care of her, and I think it’s awesome. I am grateful for my sister, Meghan! (And in case you didn’t get my card or the phone call I am going to make later today, happy birthday Miggity-Megs!)

Anyway, the rest of the night was spent at the House formerly known as Asays talking, holding babies, and laughing. I didn’t want to leave but I had been up since 2:30, the dude formerly known as husband had homework, and I wanted to go lay down in my king sized bed and sleep my life away! So at 8:00 we took off. I slept the whole way and walked straight into bed when I got home. I slept until 8:30 the next morning. Between that 12 hours of sleep and the naps I had taken on Friday, I slept for 16 hours. Only I can accomplish such a feat. I’m SO thankful for sleep!

On Saturday, the dude formerly known as husband and I just bummed around all day. Actually, the dude formerly known as husband was working. I watched movies! I love Saturdays where there’s nothing that has to be done and you can sit around and watch movie after movie without a care in the world! It was fantastic! I’m very thankful for lazy Saturdays!

To top it all off, on Saturday night the dude formerly known as husband and I decided that instead of making dinner (and therefore, being somewhat productive for the first time in 24 hours), we would go to Costa Vida and eat dinner. It wasn’t great, of course. I don’t know why I always go to Costa Vida and Cafe Rio because to be honest, I think they’re both pretty nasty. Oh well though. All I had to do was walk through the line and tell them what I wanted to stuff myself with. After that, I made the executive decision to go get pastries at Sweetly Divine, a little pastry shop here in Logan that makes the prettiest, tastiest pastries ever! I’m thankful for eating out, one of my favorite things to do!

After eating burritos, enchiladas, and chocolate mousse tortes, we browsed ShopKo and BestBuy. For some reason I really love walking around with the dude formerly known as husband just looking at stuff. Maybe it’s because we can’t argue when we’re in the middle of the store. Just kidding. On our first date we walked around the mall and looked at CD’s at ShopKo so maybe subconsciously walking aimlessly around stores with the dude formerly known as husband reminds me of the good ol’ days. I don’t know, but it’s awesome. I’m thankful for time spent with my awesome husband!

And I’m pretty sure that’s a lot to be thankful for. I did forget one though. I’m also very thankful for blogging. This particular blog got me 32 minutes closer to 5:00, and in my opinion, that deserves a holiday all its own.

This recipe comes from my cousin-in-law (if such a relationship exists), Tiffany. It is pretty much the richest and most delicious recipe for any dessert there ever was, with the added benefit of being very good for you!

INGREDIENTS

Step #1

• 1 c margarine (2 cubes)
• 2 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 2 tsp soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 c quick cooking oats

Step #2

• 12 oz chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbsp margarine
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 c nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Mix together all ingredients in Step #1 and set aside. Melt chips, milk and butter. When smooth add nuts & vanilla. Spread 2/3 oatmeal mixture in bottome of 9 x 13 pan. Cover with chocolate mixture. Dot remaining oatmeal mixture on top. Bake at 350 deg. for 20 to 30 minutes or until brown. I have found it is usually about 25 minutes that it cooks for. And I think it is better if you put it in the fridge for a while before you eat it, otherwise the chocolate is really gooey and messy.

Source: Tiffany Martin

My sister gave me the assignment to bring cheesy potatoes to Thanksgiving dinner on Friday (I can’t remember the last time the Asays had Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving, we’re awesome!) This recipe comes from the Pam formerly known as mother-in-law and is about the best funeral potatoes recipe I’ve ever had. Believe me. I take potatoes very seriously.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 32-oz. pkg. Simply Shreds frozen hashbrowns
• 3/4 c. chopped onion
• 1-1/2 to 2 c. sour cream
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 2 c. shredded cheese
• 1/4 c. green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• paprika, to garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, combine al of the ingredients except the paprika; mix well. Spoon mixture into a sprayed, shallow 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle paprika over the top. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 to 50 minutes. If desired, this dish can be prepared a day or two before baking, but be sure to cover with plastic wrap & then remove the wrap before baking! (Sometimes I sprinkle some crumbled potato chips on top before the paprika.)

MODIFICATIONS

None. I’m pretty sure these are perfect in every way. But I’ll probably add a ton more cheese since I’m so health-minded and careful about my cholesterol.

Yes, this is my mom’s recipe. She is the best cook alive, no doubt about it. Most of the recipes featured on this page will be from her (even though this is, so far, the only recipe of hers on here). I make this at pretty much every potluck possible and everyone always asks me for the recipe. I’ve never given it to anyone though because I don’t want them knowing it’s only like, two ingredients.

This will probably be my “vegetable” contribution to Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws, as well as the Spinichoke (Spinach+Artichoke) dip. I know it’s not very Thanksgivingy, but I refuse to make green bean casserole anymore. Sick!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pkg (8oz) cheese-filled tortellini, boiled
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 cups steamed fresh broccoli florets
• ¼ cup sliced green onion
• 6 oz fully cooked ham, cut up
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ tsp dry basil leaves
• ¼ tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Sautee ham and onion in butter. Mix together with sour cream, basil and salt. Add tortellini and heat through. EASY and AWESOME.

MODIFICATIONS

None. Except I’m poor so I usually buy thicker lunch meat ham and just tear it up.

Source: Vicky Asay (Mom)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla; beat on medium speed until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

MODIFICATIONS

• I about tripled the amount of chocolate chips and like to use a combination of white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• I added almost a whole can of the 29 oz. pumpkin. The cookies are gooier this way.
• I added about a teaspoon of nutmeg and cloves to get the really Thanksgiving taste.
• And of course, NO nuts were added to the production of these cookies. Sick!

P.S. This makes a ton! I got about six dozen cookies out of this recipe! Half it if you don’t want a husband with a cookie tummy-ache for days afterward!

Source: I don’t remember anymore!

Alright, I’m obsessed with dip. This comes from my friend Michelle, who just moved to the luxurious town of Tremonton from Denver. She calls this Bronco Dip because it’s orange and it’s good. Like the Denver Broncos. I’ll take her word for it.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Large can of canned chicken (10 oz. we think)
• 1 block of cream cheese
• 1/2 C ranch dressing
• 1/4 C cayenne pepper sauce (usually called Louisiana style sauce, or Frank’s Red Hot works great too)
• 8 oz of shredded monterey jack cheese (we’ve tried other kinds of cheese but this is best)

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt cream cheese in medium saucepan over med. heat. When it starts to get creamy, add the chicken, ranch dressing, and hot sauce. Try to break up the chicken chunks while you mix it in.
2. Then you can do one of two options: Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese, then pour everything into a crockpot for an hour on high or until dip bubbles.
3. OR bake in a glass pan. We’ve never done this, so we’re not sure what temperature or how long. Just until cheese bubbles. We’d guess 350 degrees for maybe a half hour?
4. Dip with chips, baked pitas (really good), or celery for a healthier alternative. Yummy!

MODIFICATIONS

• Next time I make this, I think I will use cooked chicken. We think canned chicken kind of tastes like tuna.
• I add garlic and chopped onions to this now.

Source: Michelle Peterson

An avid collector of recipes, I started a new blog today. In case any of you are interested, here is the address: http://chezbrit.blogspot.com/

Please, if you have recipes you want to add, let me know and I can make you an author and you can post right to it. Or email it to me and I’ll put it up. I love trying new recipes!