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!!

Don't Judge M&M's

I helped my mom plan her "Speed Friend-shipping" Relief Society activity this week. We came up with this awesome quote to attach the bags of M&M's:

I love this quote because honestly, we all love M&M's and the chocolate happiness they bring us.