Changing Life, Changing Blog

Hey all!!!!
I'm back. Since the last post I have ran my very first 5K and went on vacation. I really enjoyed my 5K mainly because my husband did it with me. It was the most fun I have had in a while.

My cute new skirt. (sorry for the bad iPhone photo)

Me after the 5k.

I'll be blogging more often and creating more things. I have made a really fun skirt and enjoyed the whole process. I will be creating more things and I'll post pictures.

Tell me what you have been up to lately? Creating? Cooking?

Blood Orange Italian Soda

I had never had a blood orange before so I decided that I would try them and also try making Blood Orange Italian Soda. I found this recipe for the soda and went out and bought some blood oranges. Well they sat for a couple days because I became really busy with work and home stuff. So one day my husband said lets make some! So while I did the dishes he made the soda.

 First cut the oranges in half and juice them.. (we also strained the pulp to maximize the juice amount)

 We used a strainer...

and a homemade paper towel strainer. You don't have to do this, but if you want to minimize the amount of pulp in your soda you should at least use a strainer.

Next, make the simple syrup. I stirred until the sugar was dissolved and then took the pot of the burner.

Once that is done you can combine all ingredients and chill. Then taste and adjust the flavors as needed.

Ingredients:

9 blood oranges medium to large
1 c simple syrup (1c water & 1c sugar)
1 bottle of Italian mineral water (about 1L)

That's all you need. It is sooo good!

Shrimp Parmesan

My husband and I have been eating a lot of chicken. David doesn't mind at all. Me on the other hand, I get bored with it and get bored with trying to make it exciting for me. One of David's favorite meals is Chicken Parmesan so I decided to change the meat and make it the same way. Man, that was a great choice!!!

The shrimp I bought were the large shrimp. They were frozen, uncooked with tails. So the first thing I did was to thaw them out and then take the tails off. Next thing to do is dry them. I put a paper towel on a plate, put the shrimp on the towel and then put another paper towel on top of them and press it dry.

They don't have to have every last bit of water off them but they need to be dry enough so the butter will stick to them.

Next, prepare your butter and your bread crumbs.

The best bread crumbs to use (my opinion of course)

Take the bread crumbs and the cheese and combine in a bowl. Also make sure you have your cookie sheet ready. I lined mine with aluminum foil for easy clean up.

 Put the shrimp in the butter...

And then into the bread crumb mixture...

then onto your pan.
Once you have a full pan put it into the oven at 450 for 5-6 minutes. Not much longer or the shrimp will become rubbery.

Once they are done you can put them on top of pasta or eat with veggies. You can even put a red sauce with them and enjoy.
It was late and the hubs was hungry so we just ate with some pasta and of course more parmesan!

Ingredients:
Shrimp 16 oz large shrimp
1/2 c Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs
1/2 c Parmesan Chesse
1/2 c Butter melted

Enjoy!

Surgery Can Be Fun

Well sometimes in the right circumstances. This past Thursday I went in to have some large cysts removed off my ovaries. I was not too excited about the actual surgery but I was excited about all the pampering that I would receive from my wonderful husband in the days after. I have not been doing much cooking or crafting because of it. I have played a ton of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean on the PS3. and that is about it. I am itching to get some crafts done so I may work on some tomorrow. It all depends on how I feel. I do have a couple photos to share with you from the day we were at the hospital.

My husband always likes to makes silly faces.

I hope you all are doing well and having fun. Tell me about some of your crafting adventures or cooking adventures.

Giveaway

My favorite online handmade jewelry store is having a giveaway. Check it out at thevintagepearl.com! I am having surgery tomorrow so I will be out of commission for a little bit but I will be back with some yummy foods for you to try! :)

5k

Sorry I haven't posted in a little bit. I have been extremely busy. David and I were trying a bunch of different restaurants this past weekend for Triangle Restaurant Week. It was fun and we tried a bunch of great food! I have decided to sign up for a 5k this April and I have been training for that. I am extremely excited to see my progress for that. I think my biggest set back will be my surgery (more on that to come). I am hoping to at least be able to run half of it. I am training using the Couch 2 5k program and I am enjoying it very much! I like the Christian Indy version and find it to be helpful to worship as I am working out. It definitely helps the time go by much faster. So keep me in your prayers for this new goal I have for myself. I am very much excited and am enjoying the exercise very much! (We'll see if that changes) :)
I will be putting up another post either this Thursday or Friday. When I get the chance.
Next topic making a meal plan and sticking to it!

The BEST Apple Butter You WIll Ever Have!!

I enjoy trying new recipes and also making things with fresh and local ingredients. I made apple butter and it was gone in the next 2 days. I bought a 1/2 bushel of seconds apples and peeled and cut and cooked them until they turned into DELICIOUS apple butter. I use this recipe. She is simply the best! :)

The thing in the middle is an awesome corer!

First get your dutch oven or crock pot out and gather your tools. I used a corer, knife, peeler and a cutting board.  

 If you start peeling horizontally it works better and you can get more peel off of the apple.

Peel a bunch at a time, it goes faster.

Core the apples.

Punch out the core

Coreless apple ready to cut.

I then cut the apples in half and then chopped them into small sections.

Add spices and let simmer on low or warm for a LONG time!

Finished apple butter

I then canned the apple butter to give away to family, friends and coworkers. I ended up with 36 half pint jars. If you have any questions about he process of the apple butter or canning you can email me.