Recipe Blog--Anyone interested?

I was thinking it would be fun to start a recipe blog, but I don't cook enough cool stuff to make it that interesting. Would anyone be interested in being a contributor? You totally don't have to be a great cook--I'm not, I'm just a decent recipe-follower. My personal favorites are recipes that are quick, cheap, easy, delish, and consist of basic ingredients I usually have on hand so I don't have to make a trip to the store; however, any good recipes would be welcome.

If you're into the idea, leave me a comment with your email address, or if you don't want to share that on here, email me at kristina.noall at gmail dot com. It could be really fun!

California highlights

How cute is this? Easter Sunday, before we left, Jason was holding Jamie on him and he just zonked out this way! Poor little guy!

On the road to California! This is our view of our little alien baby in his special mirror, which distorted his face (he of course does not usually look like an alien :)).


A happy reunion with Grandma Yarwood (and meeting Sissy)


Jason came along and attacked me with a baby while I was playing my parents' piano :)

My cousin Liz, and her baby, Lexi, who came over for lunch to meet Jamie

Liz and I are five months apart, and were best friends growing up. Quite by coincidence, we got pregnant 7 weeks apart!

Jamie with Unca Rob

He also got to meet one out of three great-grandmas; This is Great-Grandma Cox

My mom got him a Bumbo seat. Can we say "adorable"?

Craft bragging. Remember I mentioned a secret project like a month back? I learned some hairbows and will be learning more next week. Gifts for Elle (Sam's baby) and Megan (SoLo's baby). So fun!!

More craft bragging. A blanket for Elle, since Sam's theme for her is butterflies.

Meeting Auntie Sam at Elle's shower!

Meeting little Chloe (Ashley's baby) after his blessing on Sunday, which went beautifully!

Blessing picture. We had my huge extended family over right after church, so Jason and I changed out of our church clothes without thinking to get a pic first. :P

Sitting in Grandpa's big, comfy chair

All in all, it was a really good trip. I wish I'd taken pictures with Christy, too. Oh, and to fulfill my comment to the manager of the Oak Tree Inn in Elko, NV, DO NOT STAY THERE. She is a HORRIBLY rude woman who treated me like dirt when I politely and almost apologetically asked for a discount because the bed and pillows kept us awake, they were so hard. Probably because I'm young and poor, she didn't think I qualified to be treated as a human being. Absolutely appalling customer service. (I worked at a hotel, I would know.) Sorry for that unpleasant note, but I promised her as I was leaving that I would never stay there again and would be spreading the word to all my friends not to, either. Feel free to tell anyone else you know who passes through there (right on the way to Salt Lake, all you Mormons). It's a rip-off.

Anyway. Now we're back, Jason will do his seminary student teaching next week, and I've stayed up too long doing this early and now need to skedaddle back to bed and sleep while I can (i.e. while Jamie is still sleeping, of course :))!

Stroganoff

Found this recipe on cooks.com and made it for us, my brother, and Christy and her hubby one night in California. Everyone really seemed to like it and it was really easy, so I thought I'd share.

Ground Beef Stroganoff
1 pound ground beef, lean
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10 3/4 ounces (1 can) cream of mushroom soup, condensed
4 ounces mushroom stems and pieces, drained
3/4 cup sour cream, or yogurt

In medium skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain excess fat. Stir in garlic salt, pepper, soup and mushrooms. Simmer covered, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in sour cream; heat through, but do not boil. Serve over rice, noodles or chow mein noodles.

Serving Size: 4

Christy and I doubled the recipe but only used 1 lb of beef (and didn't tell the guys, muah ha ha) and it worked fine. We also left out the 'shrooms, as Rob put it, 'cause they're icky. Next time I make it I want to try with ground turkey and the plain yogurt.

It was legit!

I got my Living Scriptures offer in the mail--they were out of magnets but I got everything else, and they didn't charge me for it. There was a message explaining that they want people to experience their products so they give a few out for free so they'll buy more. But there was a message hinting that they had more requests for this offer than they thought they would and quantities were limited, so if you're interested, hurry over there and get your free stuff before it's gone! Agaon, here's the link to sign up.

California

We've had two days in Cali now. The trip down was much longer than usual, as we had to stop to change, feed, and burp the baby periodically, but he was really good for most of it. I can't blame him for getting fed up with being stuck in that seat near the end--after all, it took us nearly 15 hours to get here.

Got to go shopping with Crystal and Christy yesterday, which was AWESOME. My husband is wonderful, but nothing can replace shopping with the girls, of which I have none in Idaho. Gotten more sleep thanks to a a grandma who is eager to take the baby in the morning (YAY) and get to introduce Jamie to Great-Grandma Cox, cousin Lexi, Liz, and Aunt Linda tomorrow. Oh, and got our taxes done and get to look forward to a reasonable return.

Haven't taken too many pics yet, but I'm sure TONS will be taken tomorrow and Sunday, especially. Friday we're going to the Jelly Belly Factory so Jason can continue his addiction to wild cherry flavor, Saturday we go to Meggie Beth's birthday party and Elle's (Sam's baby's) shower, and Sunday Jamie will be blessed and most of the fam and friends will be over for a party afterward. Good times.

No-sew tutu

Found the address for a little girl's tutu that looks really easy over at my friend Jennie's blog and thought I would share. I plan to keep it in mind for someday when I have a girl (fingers crossed)! Hope at least someone out there enjoys it :)

Congratulations, Jason!!

Homemade Chili

Made this tonight and thought I'd share. Such a good recipe; easy, cheap, really good. Suggestion: serve with Marie Calendar Cornbread mix (deliciousness by just adding water and baking--love it). If you're not an expert cook, the seasonings might look intimidating, but once I bought them, it's been easy to just pull them out to make this every once in awhile. I've always gotten good reviews for this recipe.

DIRECTIONS:
Brown 1 lb ground turkey or beef with dried minced onion and garlic powder to taste. Drain grease and add following:

28-oz can tomatoes, undrained
27-oz can kidney beans, drained
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 can corn (optional)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp worcester sauce

Simmer one hour.

***WARNING: may cause intolerance/disgust for the canned, storebought junk.***

Salt Lake trip, etc.

A lot going on this week, between Jason doing three all-nighters, finishing his classes for good today, his parents getting into town last night, frantically cleaning for their arrival (and for our own sanity, the place had gotten pretty bad by our usual standards), and Jason's graduation tomorrow. So here are the pictures I promised, a few days late.

We really like this one. Us in Temple Square. We went down to SLC Wednesday to see our friends Jina and Stacy.

Jina with Jamie at The Garden restaurant, top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Stacy with Jamie

In front of the viewing windows (hard to get a good pic with all the glass)

Behold, the power of Mario Kart for Wii. I caught Jason being "innovative" and had to get a pic!

Just a darn cute smile!

Apparently there was something shocking about the Care Bear! (I also took one of him smiling at it.)

I hope this worked okay. Am I the only person whom Blogger takes FOREVER to load a video for? Like, 30-45 minutes??

P.S. My husband GRADUATES tomorrow! Holy snot!!

Know what I think?

I think baby girls not only get cuter clothes, but cuter outfits.

Jamie hardly has any outfits. Usually just onesies.

The pictures of the baby girls I see always seem to feature them wearing adorable matching pants or skirts.

No fair. ;)

Grown-up Easter Egg hunt

Do you feel like I sometimes do--that you don't do much to help in the community or anything? I think I've discovered an easy way to contribute a bit. I've been noticing the little "Box Tops for Education" coupon on some foods we buy, and I decided today to start clipping them. Jamie isn't in school yet, but you can send them to any school you want, so I'm collecting them for my former elementary school for now. Also, by registering online, you get coupons for about 55 cents to $1 off certain products that have the Box Tops coupon on them. I'm down with that.

I had fun this morning going on a hunt for them and have found a fair number. I looked at their complete product list and found that I have more! And once I've collected a lot, it won't be hard to either turn them into the school's office or mail them. Some products I found them on:

Diapers

Hamburger Helper

Cereal

Bisquick

Juice

There are lots more out there, like wipes, Ziplock bags, etc. Go to the Boxtops website to download a complete list of products that have them so you can keep a better eye out. (Yes, I figured out how to make the word a link! It's the little button up top next to the text color button when you create a post. I feel so cool! :D) So start collecting--you might be suprised at how satisfying it is--and help one school!

Soon to come, maybe even later tonight: pics of our trip to Salt Lake (before General Conference, funnily enough) and a few others!