2017 = Healthy Here We Come

So, I have a confession. For the last year of my life, I have struggled with something I will call a food addiction. I love food, hence the reason for this blog. But I have been having an unhealthy relationship with it. When I'm stressed, or anxious, or emotional, the first thing I want to do is eat food. Because of it, I have gained more weight and body fat than I like to admit in the last year. Even with all the running//exercising I do. I am not comfortable in my body and I am very upset that I let myself get this far. So, I am kick starting 2017 with a low-carb diet to start shedding weight. I am confessing this to the social media world so I have people to hold me accountable. My Instagram story might be more full of food now, more so than usual so there's a warning for you.

Here is what next week's menu looks like: You'll notice there is only meat, veggies, and dairy products. Crossing my fingers that 2017 will help me me break my addiction to food.

	Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Snack	Dinner
Monday	Eggs	yogurt/oranges	lunch meat//pickles// cream cheese//salad	carrots	Eggroll skillet
Tuesday	Eggs	String cheese	lunch meat//pickles// cream cheese//salad	Beef Jerky// String cheese	Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday	Eggs	yogurt/oranges	Peppers and mushroom stirfry	Cottage cheese cucumbers	teriyaki salmon
Thursday	Eggs	string cheese	asparagus// mushrooms stirfry	snack peppers	ham and cheese salad
Friday	Eggs	string cheese	Cream cheese lunch meat	Snack peppers	Pork chops// Green beans
Saturday	Eggs	Apple//oranges	Cream cheese pickles	Almonds	Alice Springs Chicken
Sunday	Ham/egg cups				Straatman's

Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas! I'm sitting blogging from my blogger app (yay!) in my in-laws house. Feet warmed by a fire, breakfast wafting through the room, and Christmas pajamas as my wardrobe. Christmas church as been canceled due to snow and ice and drifts. Welcome to Idaho! 

I decided since we didn't do Christmas cards, I'd write up a newsletter on the blog. 

2016 was a year of up and downs for us. Good times, bad times, fun times, hard times, they all happened. 

Connor started a new job in May, after being let go at his machine shop. He now works as a tile installer. Con also began his first year at USU, carrying on the Aggie tradition in our family. He is pursuing a degree in finance. I am always amazed that that stuff makes sense to him. He still enjoys shooting, snowmobiling and four wheeling. Classic boy. 

I also started a new job at Duo Marketing Group and started my last year of school. So happy to be almost done! I have enjoyed running and gardening this summer. In August I ran my first 1/2 marathon and fell in love with racing. Connor has gotten me into sledding and we will definitely be enjoying this new snow together. 

We've done a lot of camping this summer including a road trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. Our favorite shows have been The Office, Friends, and Chuck.  We love going to movies, eating good food, and spending time together. 

Our tiny apartment gets smaller everyday, and as much as I hate it, we are learning to appreciate this time in our life. 

We wanted to say Merry Christmas to all our family and friends and a Happy New Year!  

Christmas Week (12/19-12/26)

I have gotten out of the habit of writing up meal plans. My bad.

Christmas is a week from today. Eeek!! Do you have all your shopping done? I think I have all mine, but you never know right?

Here's what our tentative meal plan looks like. I'm learning more and more the importance of being flexible when someone asks "What's for dinner?" Sometimes I just want to eat Ramen. And sometimes a beef and broccoli stir-fry sounds great. It all just depends. So I've left a few days blank expecting the unexpected.

S-Teriyaki salmon
M-//
T-Fettuccine Alfredo
W-Beef and broccoli stir-fry
R-Baked potatoes
F-//
S&S- With family.

I'm going to be experimenting with a BBQ chicken quesadilla this week so finger's crossed it turns out yummy! I'll post the recipe if it does.

Groceries .... ya... I forgot. I'm so sorry I slaked these last couple of weeks. With finals and family gatherings, I honestly have had a hard time to blog. But this time I promise to do more of it. :)

Break Down/Tour of Our Apartment

Once upon a time I HATED college. Not really, I love school. But on this particular night I'd had it with picky professors and stupid papers that didn't amount to any of my worth at the end of the day.

I got home from work and ripped apart my house. Growing up, I rearranged my room probably every other month. I can't handle things being the same way for too long. My sister told me she was surprised that I had lasted this long in our house. But once I got going, I realized I couldn't do it and started crying. In the middle of my torn apart house. (See pictures below)

Normally the TV is on my bookshelf and the couch is the facing the other way

All our stuff was everywhere and the desk sat in the middle of the room

Check out our poor table

After calming myself down, I went to D.I. where I wandered around for a good 20 minutes wanting to buy something, but finding nothing to help my retail therapy. I ended up getting a corn dog from Article Circle and BAWLING in the Lee's parking lot as "O Holy Night" came through my radio. I went home, made homemade fried chicken, got in the bathtub,and watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Connor got home from work at 1 am so I never talked to him about the disaster.

The next day I saw this blue sticky note on our mirror:

I love what you've done with the place ;) -Love you <3 

I didn't have time to clean it up so I rushed to work. I came home to this: 

My husband had put everything back AND made it look good. He'd rearranged just enough to make it look nice, without making it feel cramped. 

I know I brag about my husband a lot, but isn't he just the greatest thing? 

And now you have an understanding of how much I am looking forward to this break. Thank you school for driving me to this amount of insanity. 

We are ready for Christmas! 

Now you get a cute little tour of our tiny 800 sq. ft. house. 

Love, Alisha 

   

Breakfast To-Go

The alarm goes off at 6:30 am but I actually don't get up till 7:20. It's that way A LOT of the time. I love breakfast foods but often don't have time to make something.

Once I tried the smoothie deal but cutting up all that fruit took so much time. I gave up eating breakfast and that just made it hard for me to concentrate at work.

Until I remembered this bad boy that I drank the morning before my 1/2 marathon:

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie

• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1/3 c. yogurt (optional)
• 1-1/2 c. milk (I like mine more liquid-y)

It's sweet but not sugary. And it gives me protein, which is definitely needed in the morning. Put it in my pink blender bottle and I'm off!

I WON!

I have awesome news!!

I won the Dating Diva's #30ThankfulDays challenge and with it came a WHOLE load of stuff. With $100 to spend, I bought a few things from their website that I am excited to use. I plan on updating you and doing a report on how the date went/what we thought of it to hopefully help you in planning dates.

I purchased date packages that I hoped would be cheap, easy, and fun for this time in our lives. 2017 will be the year of dates! No more "Netflix and Chill" dates (although those are necessary) but we plan are really reconnecting and doing more together than just share funny memes. To share what we've done I'll use the #2017DateYourSpouse and encourage you to do the same. I want to see how you guys still date while going to school and living life.

#2017DateYourSpouse here we come!

FINAL WEEK (Dec. 5-10)

ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL! So so excited to be done with classes.

Here's the menu for the week-

M-Pork chops and sweet potatoes
T-Tereyaki steak and rice
W-Baked chicken
R-Baked potatoes
F-At Parents
S-Date night!

My groceries were interesting this week but include:

pork chops
bananas
avocado
oranges
bagels
corn chips
salsa
chicken thighs
frozen chicken strips
milk
string cheese

Stay tuned on my Instagram for some delicious food pics!

"Matchmaker" - A Review on Adventure

Lately I've been home alone many nights, because of Connor's work schedule. I didn't want to be alone AGAIN so I took myself on a date to see Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder performed by the USU theater department. And let me tell you, it was amazing!

For those who don't know, here is a brief synopsis of the play, which was the basis for the Tony Award winning musical Hello Dolly:  http://www.twildersociety.org/works/the-matchmaker/

I laughed almost the entire play. And not just the courtesy laugh that one gives to be polite, but literally LOL-ing. The wit and humor of each individual characters really made for an enjoyable evening. Now, I will admit, the play started off slow, but not because the actors were bad. The story was a little eccentric to get into. But in Act II the humor and farce of the play really shone through.

I walked away tonight generally impressed with the talented group we have on our college campus. Earlier in the year I attended a play done by the same company, and although I didn't enjoy the play itself, the acting was amazing.

Why is this on a married blog? Mostly because the play was free. If you're looking for a date night or something fun to do, many colleges and universities have free-for-students activities. Sometimes they even include food!

But also for this quote:

I think that having adventures is important, and that we should have more of them. In the play, whenever Barnaby thinks they are in an "adventure" he yells out "Pudding!" I loved it.

My goal for you is to find an adventure with your spouse and then GO ON IT! Do something sporadic like a drive up the canyon or stay home and have Nerf gun fight. Just have an adventure this next week and see where life takes you.

Healthy Holidays (Nov. 28-Dec.3)

Meal planning notebook-poor quality I apologize...

Did you survive Thanksgiving? I learned the art of homemade rolls, which was a blast. But now I'm REALLY needing to start eating healthy. I've made it a new goal of mine to keep to healthy eating as well as college-budget friendly.

Because of the stress I've been under the last month (don't worry, I think I can see the end of the tunnel), I have been eating my feelings away, resulting in not-so-fun weight gain. Now I am determined to lose this stupid weight and feel great in my body again.

M-baked potato
T-Spaghetti
W-Crockpot Chicken tacos
R-Ramen
F-grilled Pork chops and rice

Breakfasts:
oatmeal
eggs
smoothies
toast

Lunches:
sandwiches
leftovers
frozen veggies
soups

Snacks:
string cheese
clementines
crackers
chips and salsa

Groceries (I have no idea how much they will cost, but considering I haven't gone for two weeks and my fridge broke...we literally have nothing)

bananas
clementines
spinach
chicken breasts
string cheese
lunch meat
cheese
pork chops
taco seasoning
ranch packet
salsa
PB bites
spaghetti sauce
bread
eggs
yogurt
frozen veggies

I'm really trying to stay as healthy as I can. Who's with me? *insert hand raising emoji*

Chicken Fried Steak

With Thanksgiving over, and family headed home, we decided to opt out of family gatherings on Sunday and spend a little one-on-one time together just relaxing. Ok, just kidding. I was furiously writing an essay I have put off for weeks. But you know, cuddling with our space heater and watching Disney movies is always relaxing.

And today, a storm blows in with big giant snowflakes. My husband LOVES the snow because it means snowmobile season. I on the other hand want nothing more than to eat comfort food and read a book.

So, the biggest comfort food I have been craving is chicken fried steak, country gravy, mashed potatoes, good ole' comfort food:

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs. of cubed steak
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp Montreal seasoning
• S&P to taste
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 egg. 
• 1/4 c. oil
• 4 tb. butter
• Use whatever spices you like, these are just the ones that we have found we like the best. 

Mix together the milk and egg in a shallow. Mix flour and seasonings in another bowl. Keep in mind you'll be dipping the cube steak in them so don't fill them too much.
Dip the steak in the flour, then the milk, then the flour. So the pattern is dry/wet/dry.
Heat the oil and add the butter. Once melted cook both sides of the cube steak until brown and crispy. Make sure the insides are cooked. 

 
Serve with mashed potatoes, country gravy and rolls. (At least that's what we ate it with)

 
What kind of comfort foods do you turn to on cold days? 

All the delicious ingredients! See my cute crockery?

I had to download these from my Instagram story...

Butter AND oil makes for great frying


The finished results! I did learn, however, that my basement is waaaay too cold for Rhode's rolls. Lesson learned.

Puff Pancakes & Sweet Syrup

One of my favorite breakfast foods to make on Sundays is German pancakes, or as I call them, puff pancakes. They are super easy and don't use a lot of ingredients:

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. flour
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 Tbs butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. As oven preheats, put the butter in an un-greased 9×13-in. baking dish and place in oven, just until melted.
Place the eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla in a blender; cover and process until smooth (or if you're feeling lazy, mix by hand). Pour batter into baking dish.
Bake, for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and puffy.

This is my favorite new syrup recipe. I wanted something different than maple one Sunday so I invented this: (well I like to think I invented it)

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 c. butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• dash of vanilla 

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Don't let it boil, just melt.
Slowly add sweetened milk until thick. Whisk in vanilla.
Simmer until it's the consistency of syrup.

So yummy! And perfect for a Sunday brunch.

When done, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and syrup.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm writing this as my rolls rise. Ya, you read that right. I'm making homemade rolls. Thank heavens for Mom and her extensive knowledge.

 I have so many things to be grateful for this year. If you have been following me on Instagram you've seen just a few things. But for my Thanksgiving post, I wanted to write out 100 things I am grateful for. Here we go! (I've used this prompt from Daring to Live Joyfully to help me get going)

1. The sound of my husband singing in the shower
2. Rain falling on a tent
3. Horses winnying in the morning
4. Summer sunsets
5. Mud
6. Frost sparlking on trees
7. My soft blanket
8. Warm jeans straight out of the dryer
9. Roll dough
10. Tacos
11. Sweet potatoes
12. Chocolate cake and cream
13. Utah State University
14. Connor's blue eyes
15. Lakes
16. Bugsy our Yorkie
17. Pigs-think bacon
18. Deer
19. Friends
20. Coworkers
21. All my sisters
22. My parents
23. My parent's in law
24. Dawn - My only sister-in-law
25. Grandparents
26. Kitchen-Aid
27. Space heater
28. Bed
29. Cafe Sabor hiring me with no work experience what-so-ever
30. Anderson Seed and Garden- for teaching me and introducing me to a new passion
31. Duo Group- for putting me on the path to my future career
32. Jackson Hole/Yellowstone with my husband
33. Disneyland
34. Washington, D.C. my senior year
35. Running
36. Paddleboarding
37. Fourwheeling
38. Christmas
39. Fourth of July-I love BBQ
40. My birthday
41. Harry Potter
42. Gone with the Wind
43. O Pioneers
44. I'm grateful that I can forgive easily
45. My can-do attitude
46. The ability to change
47. The man who told me not to sweat the small stuff
48. The old ladies from the Knotty Knitters
49. The woman who picked me up after I got lost
50. SOCKS!
51. Cowboy boots
52. Gardening gloves
53. Iphones
54. My laptop
55. Christmas tree light fixer-seriously saved Christmas
56. My hands
57. My feet
58. Grandma's hugs
59. Babies
60. My primary children
61. Funny YouTube videos
62. Chuck
63. The Office
64. Once Upon a Time
65. Writing
66. School
67. Social media
68. March in Washington D.C.
69. Go to General Conference
70. Serve a mission
71. Bubble baths
72. LARGE brownies
73. Hotels
74. I've learned to not worry about making a mistake because it's the only way you can truly fail/learn
75. Everyone is different and that's ok
76. Happiness comes from Jesus Christ
77. Police officers
78. Check-out people at the grocery store
79. Gas station attendents
80. Hot chocolate
81. Reading a book by firelight
82. Smore's
83. A jewlery box from my husband
84. Heat blanket from my Mom
85. A guitar from Santa
86. Running a 1/2 Marathon
87. Seeing someone from my mission get sealed
88. Graduating with a 4.0
89. I love the memory of fourwheeling with my Grandma Nancy
90. 25 Days of Service in December
91. Star-gazing with my husband
92. The temple
93. Mtn. Dew
94. My husband's flirty texts
95. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
96. Instagram-for giving me a place to brag about all the food I eat
97. The ability to drive a car wherever I want to go
98. Shoes!
99. Thanksgiving food with family
100. The blog I stole this list from to get to 100. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Spilled Black Beans

\\Guys, this might be a stretch of a parable but please, use your imagination//

This morning we woke up to a broken fridge and soured milk. Half of the food was ruined. We scramble to clean up before work and in my rush, I knocked over a can of black beans. The lid had been opened and I literally "spilled the beans." Small black pods were all over the fridge, all over the floor.

Piece by piece I attempted to pick up the beans. If you have never picked up beans, I don't recommend it. They squish easily making a bigger mess. Beans aren't super liquid so a paper towel didn't mop them up either.

Some choice words came out of my mouth as I spent the next five minutes picking up each individual bean.

As I sat picking at the small, squishy particles, my thoughts went to the language we used towards our spouses.

In a heated moment, sometimes words can be said that aren't meant. Or cruel, unnecessary things may fly out of our mouths. We never mean to treat our spouses with such distaste, just like I didn't mean to knock over the black beans. But just like those beans, our words, once out, are hard to take back. It's difficult to say a lump apology for a week of bad things said, just like I couldn't pick all the beans up in a large chunk.

One by one, we need to think of the wrongs committed against our spouse and ask for their forgiveness. Being specific in our apologies makes them more genuine and real.

So next time you are tempted to say not-so-nice things, remember the beans.

Bad Week (Nov. 14-17)

I don't normally do this, but I could really use some prayers. People always say that they "go through" a trial but right now I feel like I'm just "in" a trial. That I can't see the end, and I can't exactly pin-point where it began. Wow that sounds depressing...because I know I will be ok! Faith, trust, and a few bubble baths right? Maybe Netflix binge session? How do you cope with a bad week?

As I walked up Old Main today, I realized that once I got to the top, I could blog. Blogging is a way to forget about myself and just write. It helps me cope with wanting to eat every snack food item in the vending machine across the hall. Food blogging is my escape and I'd like to thank all 5 people who read my blog. *insert fist bump emoji*

Background info: last week was one of the worst weeks I've had personally in a long time. I had no appetite, nothing sounded good, and it was just easier to eat out. Note to self (and everyone else) don't let your emotions control your stomach.

Menu:

M-Shrimp tacos
T- Homemade mac'n'cheese
W-Hawaiian Haystacks
R-I have a RS activity so Connor is on his own (poor guy)
F- Burgers

Because of my crazy week, I totally forgot to keep my grocery list and receipt to finish out this blog post. I promise I will be on top of my A-game next week.

Thanks everyone!

Brrrr (November 6-12)

Lazy Saturday's call for meal planning in  bed

I am soooo not ready for the cold. Have I said that already?

I did a little revamping my apartment today adding in some cuter drawer vinyl and just getting rid of things I never use. It feels good to de-clutter and rearrange a bit.

Here's this week's menu:

Saturday: homemade burgers (can you say YUM)
Sunday: chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, rolls, chicken gravy
Monday: shrimp tacos
Tuesday: broccoli mac'n'cheese
Wednesday: pot roast and potatoes
Thursday: baked potatoes
Friday: chicken teriyaki

Groceries: $50 this week. A bit more than I want to spend but I splurged a bit on the chicken for Connor. (:

clementines
broccoli
coleslaw
guacamole/pico
chicken cordon bleu
ground beef
pot roast
sharp cheddar cheese
corn tortillas
buns
cream mushroom soup
flour
milk
eggs
chicken gravy mix

If there is a recipe that you need or want, please let me know!

Shooting = free date! 

Easiest Chocolate Cake Evah

Guysssss. Ever have those days that make you NEED chocolate cake. You know that if you eat one piece of real chocolate cake, not the boxed kind, that every thing will be better. That was me today. I'm heading into the home stretch, my senior year of college and my classes are becoming harder and harder to work with. The subjects are fun but the classes are really hard to try and have a job with. My bosses are great and I know they'll work with me. Still hard though. 

So that was me this evening when I got home from school. I wanted chocolate cake so bad and pinned this beauty from I Am Baker. (Here's the original Chocolate Craving Cake)



I tweaked it just a bit to make it my own and adapt to missing a few ingredients.

What I loved about this recipe is that I just naturally have all the ingredients on hand, baking staples. And if you don't, they aren't expensive to buy.





Without further adieu, the easiest, most delicious cake evah. 

Cake 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt 
• 1 large egg 
• 1/2 cup whole milk 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup boiling water 

Frosting

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray sides and bottom of glass pan. If using a metal baking pan, heat oven to 325.
Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl of stand mixer.
Add in egg, milk, oil, and vanilla and mix on low until incorporated. When mixed in increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.
Add in boiling water and gently stir- batter will be very thin. Like, watery. You might think you did something wrong.
Pour batter into prepared dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick is removed clean.
Cool for 10 minutes in pan. While cake is cooling, make the frosting.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each heating, until they are fully melted.
Add the sour cream and vanilla and stir by hand until frosting is well combined, smooth, and fluffier.
Spread over cooled cake.

Delicious with liquid whipping cream.

Easy Halloween Costumes for Couples

I know, Halloween is on Monday and I should have planned better but, maybe you're a last minute Halloween costume do-er so this works? I don't know. But here it is anyway. I see all these cute costumes on Pinterest and I think, hmm could I really pull that off as a married student? The only reason we dress up is for our annual trunk-or-treat at church. Connor and I like it though and I feel like we'll be dressing up even when we start having kids.

Last year we did a pretty easy costume.

Connor wore camo and I found this great deer jacket from DI ($6) I wore black skinny jeans and boots. The ears I made out of an old headband bought some felt from Hobby Lobby ($2) The makeup was $5 at Halloween City coming to a grand total of $13 for our costume. This is becoming a pretty popular costume around here but I think it's still pretty cute. 

This year we went as a cow and dairy farmer. 

I spray painted a long sleeve white shirt from Joann's (paint=$5, shirt = $6) and then with my free shipping through Amazon student prime, I bought the ears and the tail for $6. I'm sure they could be made as well but I didn't feel like being creative. My face paint I had from last year still so that worked out nicely. Connor wore a plaid shirt, straw hat, and muck boots, which he already owned. The costume was $17, so a little bit more than last year. I'm sure that if you wanted to use a Sharpie and find a white shirt at DI that could work too!

Here's a great list of other Halloween costumes from the Dating Divas for couples that I wanted to share: 

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/last-minute-halloween-costumes/

Happy Halloween! 

-The Reeds

It's NOVEMBER? (October 30-November 6)

Where has October gone?? That's what I want to know.

Confession time. This week has not been my week. I have felt the beginnings of a cold coming on and with mid-terms and other stress, I did not want to cook. The very thought of doing anything in fact made me hurt. I've also been having some weird back pains that make it hard to stand or sit. The only thing that feels comfortable is lying flat. Strange! But my confession is I hardly cooked the meals I said I would. Which is a positive thing because it meant I had things to carry over, but a negative thing for poor Connor. He was such a help though so I didn't complain.

M-Grilled pork chops and asparagus
T-Shrimp and pasta
W-Campbells chicken noodle soup and bread
R-baked potatoes (We still have 49 lbs of potatoes in storage)
F-Chicken breasts and sweet potatoes
S-NO IDEA! I'll see what sounds good when I go grocery shopping.
Sunday-Probably the Reed's.

Groceries: $40
bananas
sweet potatoes
chicken breasts
lunch meat
shredded cheese
more pumpkin spice bagels
pumpkin
pumpkin spice seasoning
corn syrup
cream
Mtn Dew-Connor
mac'n'cheese

I'll be making some pumpkin pie bars that I'm SUPER excited about for tomorrow. Follow me on Instagram and watch my story for yummy details!

Shoes

I absolutely love my husband so much. He sent me the following picture from work today with the caption: "I think it's time for new shoes."

The image of his socks poking through his shoes brought tears to my eyes.

This picture, of his sock sticking out of his shoe, summed up how amazing my husband is and why I fell in love with him in the first place. My husband is a hard worker, he knows how to sacrifice. He doesn't care about the things of the world and doesn't let hard times stop him from doing his work.

 He and I have been having a rough patch in our marriage. We're kind of moving past the honeymoon phase and into just, well... life. We are learning more about how to serve and love each other and we know these trials will bring us closer. That picture, of his poor sneakers reduced to sandals reminded me of my admiration and love for him. To work your shoes to that amount of damage must not have been easy. I don't think women EVER work their shoes to shreds (kudos to you if you have). It gave me a new appreciation, respect, and love for Connor.

My husband and I are united in Christ. We may not always be on top of prayers or reading scriptures or even going to the temple. But we talk every night, we take the sacrament, and we are learning to sacrifice for each other. His shoes, torn and tattered, I'm sure can be compared to what Christ's looked like after years and years of serving the people around him.

Connor is my hero. And don't worry, I plan on buying him new shoes tomorrow.

Halloween Weekend (Oct. 24-30)

Anybody else REALLY looking forward to holiday foods? I know I am. This week I not only listened to Christmas music at work, but I began planning Christmas gifts and decor for our tiny abode. Trust me, they'll all be married student budget friendly.

We have an interesting week coming up. Connor has a new calling in the Young Men's leaving me alone on Wednesday's needing a quick dinner idea. Also, temple night is Tuesday, Monday is FHE, Thursday is Institute, Friday is date night, and Saturday is our ward Halloween party. Phew. Are you tired? Cuz I am and it's only Monday.


Tonight for dinner I had leftover potato and sausage in the Crock-pot so I grabbed some bread-sticks from the store and called it good. We're hoping to go to the pumpkin walk tonight (fingers crossed) but a dark cloud seems to be coming in. Who knows?

Menu:
M-Crock-pot potato and sausage
T-Papa Murphy's Pizza
W-Glazed pork chops and asparagus
R-Baked potatoes
F- Date night! (Thanks to my wonderful bosses)
S-Ward Party (Chili)
S-Dinner with the Straatman's

Groceries: $40
bananas
asparagus
lettuce
pumpkin bagels (I don't normally hop on the pumpkin bagel band wagon but MAN these are good)
cream cheese
shredded cheese
frozen pizza (on sale 5/$5)
bread-sticks
milk
hot chocolate
fruit snacks (yes I'm going to be THAT mom)
croutons

Let the holidays begin!

Yarn Pumpkin Garland

I mentioned in our Anniversary post that I had made some cute yarn pumpkins. They turned out so cute! This craft comes from the blog Honest to Nod and the original can be found here.

When my friend Lexi and I made them, they didn't turn as round as her's but still freaking adorable.  . Go ahead and follow the instructions here but don't be discourage if they aren't perfectly round. We concluded that practice makes perfect pumpkins. They turned out adorable regardless of not being perfect.

And it looks very cute on bookshelves, tables, or mantles.

All the supplies cost me $5 so it wasn't expensive at all.

This is what Lexi's looked liked hanging in her house. 

It was a super cheap yet cute fall craft to use in decorating your home.

Sales (Oct. 17-Oct. 21)

I love when meat is on sale. Very rarely do I buy steak but this week I had a $2 off coupon. So here's the layout:

M-Broccoli soup
T-Steak with baked sweet potatoes
W-Mexican pizza
R-Crockpot potatoes and sausage
F-Pork chops with apples

Groceries: $40.00
onions
sweet potatoes
thyme
steak
ground beef
sausage
Mexican cheese
canned tomatoes
re-fried beans
milk
cream
eggnog
mushroom soup
Doritos

Sorry, not a lot of commentary this week. Lots of homework. You know. College life.

Happy Anniversary to Us

This has been one of those weeks that make you want to run away and live out your days as a hobo. School pressure, work projects, just the busyness of life was wearing me down. On Thursday I texted my husband saying "Can we have an adventure soon? You know, like a sporadic moment?" The previous week I had also expressed to him my desire for a vacation. There's something about leaving Logan and staying in hotel that is so relaxing to me. I love hotels. When I'm at a hotel, I don't worry about cleaning or being lazy because they signify relaxation and vacation.

And boy did I need that.

My Apologies (Oct. 10-16)

GUYS! 

I'm so sorry! I totally forgot to post the menu and grocery list. This week has been crazy and a little overwhelming at the Reed home. Connor's been staying late at work and I've had oodles of homework. Sounds like quite the married student life right?

M-Enchiladas (recipe from My Litter)

T-Grilled pork chops and creamed peas and potatoes. I'm working on the "perfect marinade" so bear with me. 

W-Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo 

R- Leftover night

F-Broccoli Cheese soup

Saturday is our Anniversary so we'll be celebrating at our favorite restaurant: Hut Hot.

Sun- Reeds

Groceries:

Mexican cheese

Chicken Broth

Cream

Chicken breasts ($1 off!)

Pork chops

Fettuccine noodles

Milk

Parsley

Bananas 

Broccoli crown

Carrots

Tortillas

Canned green chilies

I had to buy laundry detergent and a few other things for my mom so the total ended up being $54. A little more than I like to spend but that's ok. Having a grocery budget is important, but you need to be flexible and allow yourself to fluctuate from time to time. 

Sorry I've been a slacker this week. Definitely could use some extra prayers. 

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Personally, I don't like baking. But this recipe from Kirbie Craving's (original post here) was to die for! My muffins didn't turn out nearly as pretty as her's but they tasted just the same:

Ingredients:

muffin base:

• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar 
• 1 large egg 
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 2 tsp baking power 
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 3/4 cup fat free milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

cinnamon swirl

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 3 tbsp butter, melted and hot 

vanilla glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 1/4 tsp vanilla 
• 1-2 tbsp milk 

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a regular muffin tin with cupcake liners (12 total).
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until combined. Add in remaining muffin base ingredients and whisk until batter is smooth.
Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. You will have leftover batter which you will add later
In a small bowl, mix hot melted butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. The mixture should have the consistency of a thick liquid. Add a small dollop of mixture into each muffin cup (about 1/2 tsp each) and swirl it a few times into the batter with a fork, careful not to let it completely mix. You want the cinnamon sugar mixture to remain as swirls in the batter. You should only use less than 1/2 of your cinnamon sugar mixture for this step, reserving the rest for later. Add remaining muffin batter to muffin cups, covering the swirled mixture. Each muffin tin should be about 2/3 full and you should have enough batter for 12 muffins.
At this point, your cinnamon swirl mixture is likely getting a little more solid. If this is the case, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds, so it becomes very fluid again. Add mixture into something with a narrow spout to pour out of, like a syrup dispenser, a beaker, or a small liquid measuring cup. You want something that will control the flow and pour just a thin line of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Make a cinnamon spiral on top of each muffin (like in photo). If your mixture gets too thick, you can always reheat it again for easy pouring.
Bake for about 20 minutes until muffins are puffy and knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let muffins cool in baking pan.
While muffins are cooling, make the glaze. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tbsp milk. Whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add a little more milk, careful to not add too much at once. Once your glaze reaches the consistency you desire, drizzle on top of muffins. Serve once glaze is set.













DELISH!

My Kitchen

I truly have a tiny kitchen. People who live in those small houses and think they're cool, I don't see the appeal. I decided to just take a few quick pictures this afternoon to show you guys the area that I cook in and maybe get sympathy for why my food photos are also so horrible.

Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

I have been wanting something along these lines for quite some time now. I found a few recipes that looked good and sorta combined them to make this one! My sister Whitney, fresh home from working in Alaska all summer, came and helped me out.

Serves 3-4 people. Takes about 30 minutes top (not including brown rice)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 minced gloves of garlic
• 1 TB sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3 TB brown sugar
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
• bunch of green onions
• brown rice
• butter-crunch lettuce

 Brown the beef and garlic. Reduce heat and drain fat.
Add sesame oil, chili powder, brown sugar, ginger, and soy sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add in carrots and green onion. Turn off heat. Cover and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
Roll in lettuce with rice if desired.

I loved it! Whitney had to put ranch on it and ended up dumping it everywhere. I liked the wraps without lettuce, personally, but Whitney liked it with the brown rice. This recipe was fast, easy, and cheap. It also was low-carb which is always a bonus.

Browning the beef

Aren't we just so cute?

Added everything together! Whitney says we should have added more ginger here but I disagree. 

 The finished meal with pot-stickers and sweet&sour sauce. 

Aaaaaannnndddd......Whitney's ranch fail. 

Super yummy!

Cold Weather (Oct. 3-9)

It's gotten so cold around here, we almost turned on the heater .But we are trying to hold out as long as possible with blankets and socks and lots of cuddling. Don't worry we aren't freezing, just trying to save money where we can.

I've been CRAVING a few comfort foods this week:

M-Olive Garden Gnocchi soup and bread sticks--I was going to attempt to make it but got too lazy so we ordered take-out.
T-Connor will be all alone this night as I have a work project in Davis County that night.
W-Asian Lettuce Wraps. SUPER excited about these as I'm kinda making it up
R-Crock pot pulled pork
F-Red potatoes and creamed peas
S-Emily's birthday!
S-Reed's

Groceries: $29--What a STEAL!
onion
lettuce
oranges
bananas
pork roast
ground beef
tortillas
buns
granola-I love when the Sunbelt kind goes on sale!!
sesame oil
milk
Dr. Pepper


Can't wait to try a new recipe this week!!