14 days of Valentine Food

Last year, I celebrated "14 days of Valentines" - an idea I saw on Pinterest.  I did lots of various projects and food items to celebrate (see http://whitmewithyourbestshot.tumblr.com/).  This year, I'm going to focus on just food (it's a lot cheaper that way...).  

Day 1:  Heart-shaped pancakes
This morning we made pancakes.  I love pancakes - especially whole wheat buttermilk pancakes.  Here is the recipe I use: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/03/whole-wheat-buttermilk-pancakes/.  It doesn't take ANY extra time to make them heart-shaped, or even to make them pink.  My husband and I like to try new things, so we make 4 different kinds:

From the top right going clockwise, we have whole wheat chocolate chip, regular whole wheat, pink whole wheat, and pink whole wheat with butterscotch.  It was so fun!  The biggest hit was the butterscotch (and the biggest surprise!).  The flavor of the butterscotch mixes surprisingly well with the wheat.  Give it a shot!

Day 2: Experimenting with heart-shaped cheese

So today I made Pastel de papas (here's more or less the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/pastel-de-papa-potatoe-and-ground-beef-pie-498972).  My husband and I love it with cheese melted on the top.  So I thought I would try two different methods of making the cheese heart-shaped.

In this first method, I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter and put the cheese inside of it.  I think smaller shreds would have worked better.

I did find that if you fill the cookie cutter to the brim and push the cheese down, it holds its shape better.

The second method I tried was simply cutting hearts from a slice of cheese.

They were so cute  I put tons of them on.  Then it was time for the real test: to see how they would cook.

The shredded heart that fared the best was the one where I pushed down extra on the cookie cutter and it formed an indent in the potatoes.  Good to know.  The heart cut-outs kept their shape for the most part, but obviously the one that did the best was the one that was farthest from any other cheeses (the middle one).  

So when you're thinking of a Valentines meal, it doesn't have to be a heart-shaped chicken breast.  It can be a casserole.  This same concept could work with bread crumbs or most other casserole toppings.  Give it a shot!

Day 3: Heart-shaped biscuits

My husbands loves biscuits.  And they are so cute when they are fun shapes!   So I grabbed my go-to heart-shaped cookie cutter and patted out a biscuit, put it on the pan and pressed the cookie cutter into it.  No rolling pin involved!

Super easy and super cute!

And they still taste just as good!

Day 4: Heart-shaped vegetables

You can really make anything heart-shaped, of course.

Yesterday we had lentils (here's the recipe we use http://javirecetas.hola.com/lentejas-receta-de-lentejas/.  Sorry it's in Spanish...) and it just made sense to cut up the vegetables involved into cute little hearts.  Above are some carrots.

And of course it involved potatoes.  Super cute!

Day 5: Bread heart cut-outs

I love eggs.  And toast.  So good.  Last night my sweet husband brought home some rosemary olive oil bread from our local bakery and I was really excited to use some of it for breakfast!

You first need to cut a heart shape out of the middle.  If you're using normal store-bought bread, a metal cookie cutter should work just fine.

I didn't have normal bread, or even a metal cookie cutter, so I went old-school and cut out a heart.

Next, you put the bread in a frying pan with some oil or butter, and carefully break an egg into the cut-out.

You can also toast the cut-out bread heart and add it.  My husband was very impressed and said it was a huge success!

Day 6: Surprise muffins!

Last year, I made almond poppyseed muffins and made hearts to put in the middle of them.  

This year, with a new recipe and a new color, I wanted to try something different.

My husband loves bran muffins, and so do I (I'm too lazy to write down the recipe I use - it's my mother's recipe.  Here's one I found that's similar http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-bran-muffins/), so I decided to do the experiment with this.

First, you take half the batter (or a little less than half) and dye it a color.  I have been doing a lot of red lately, so I figured blue would be just as cute.  Put it in a bread pan and bake until done (this will differ depending on your recipe).

When the "bread" has cooled, cut it into slices and cut hearts out of each slice.  Then, get out the remaining batter and fill each greased muffin tin with about a tablespoon of batter.  Then put a colored "muffin heart" into each tin and cover each with the remaining batter.  Keep an eye on them - they won't take as long to cook as normal muffins since the inside is already mostly cooked.

When they are cut open, there is a cute little surprise inside!

Day 7:  Happy Birthday to my sweetheart!

My husband's birthday is one week before Valentine's Day, so I always make him a heart-shaped cake.  The cake he just LOVES is Italian Cream and it's three layers.  Here's the recipe (courtesy of his mother):

Italian Cream Cake

  2 cups sugar

  1/2 cup shortening

  1/2 cup oil

  5 eggs, separated

  1 tsp. soda

  1 cup buttermilk

  2 cups flour

  1 cup angel flake coconut

  1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

  1/2 tsp. vanilla

  Cream sugar, shortening & oil. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.

  Stir soda into buttermilk. Add buttermilk alternately with flour to batter. Add flavorings.

  Fold in coconut. Beat eggwhites until stiff and fold into mixture. Pour into 3 greased &

  floured 9" pans. Bake at 350 for 25 min. Cool cake layers before icing.

  Icing

  1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese

  1/2 cup margarine or butter

  1 lb. box powdered sugar

  1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

  1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

  1/2 tsp. vanilla

  Cream cheese & margarine together. Beat in sugar gradually. Add pecans and flavorings.

The only problem with it being three layers, is that I only have two heart pans.  So, I could be patient and wait for the two to be done and reuse one of the pans, but I'm not that patient.  So I used an 8x8 pan and cut out a heart.  It worked just as well.

It was such a pretty cake.  And SUPER delicious!

Day 8: Pink biscuits and gravy

So this is an example to show you that not EVERYTHING can be dyed pink.  

I made biscuits and gravy and dyed the gravy pink.  It looked awful (even though it tasted good).  FAIL!

Day 9:  Hearts on waffles

I love waffles.  Like a lot.  But I don't have a heart-shaped waffle iron, so I figured I could use the idea of negative space and make a heart on a waffle.

I cut out a heart from an advertisement (why waste good paper?) and placed it on the waffle.

Then I sprinkled powdered sugar around it.  Pretty cute, right?

I didn't feel like you could really tell it was a heart, so I added peanut butter.

Then I outlined it with syrup (which did basically nothing).  But it was a fun idea!

Day 10: Heart Pizza 2 ways

My husband and I love pizza.  Especially pesto and red pepper pizza

I decided to add some pepperoni to the top in the form of a heart.  I cut the pepperoni in thirds so it wouldn't take up so much room.  Then I added parmesan.

It was super delicious!

On the other pizza, I cut each pepperoni into a heart shape.  By the way, pizza in a cast iron pan = WIN!

It was also incredibly delicious and cute!

Day 11:  Something Red Velvet

It's kind of a must to make SOMETHING red velvet during the Valentine season.  Like these: http://therecipecritic.com/2014/01/red-velvet-sugar-cookie-bars-cream-cheese-frosting/.  Red Velvet sugar cookie bars.  They were seriously the best dessert we have tried in a LONG time.  You HAVE to give these a shot.  We ate the whole pan in just three days (glutenous, I know).  So amazing!

Day 12: Heart smoothie

I love a good smoothie.  You can make your pink by adding berries, but my husband isn't into berries very much.  So I made our usual - bananas, peanut butter, oatmeal, and milk (we used to drink this after going on long runs and add protein powder).  Then I took a banana slice and cut it into a heart, and place it on top.  Pretty cute.

Day 13:  Cinnamon Roll pancakes

If you can't tell, I have kind of a sweet tooth, and pancakes are so good to me!  We once had cinnamon roll pancakes at a bed and breakfast and we decided to give it a try.  You just make buttermilk pancakes, then in a bag put melted butter mixed with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and pipe the mixture onto the pancakes into whatever design you want!

We always eat them with coconut syrup and love them!

Day 14:  Make something he (or she) loves

Valentine's Day is TOMORROW!!!  Make something that you know your significant other will love.  Above are some ideas.  My husband LOVES Reese's, so tonight I'm going to make this:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/03/homemade-reeses-eggs.html

only, I'll make them into heart shapes.

I'm also going to make him a snack of spiced pecans:

Spiced Pecans

3 Tbs butter
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Over medium heat, melt butter in a pan and add sugar, spices and salt. Add pecan pieces and stir until well-coated. Continue to cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar caramelizes and pecans darken slightly in color. Transfer mixture to a paper bag to cool. Shake bag occasionally to break up pieces.

(recipe courtesy of his sister)

So make this Valentine's Day special without spending a fortune or going out to eat.  Have a nice, romantic, heart-themed dinner at home!

Book Review: Leadership and Self-Deception (by Ashley)

My brother Derek gave me this book for Christmas. It's a great book that gives a practical view of the philosophical idea of self-deception. It's a good read for anyone who's hoping to improve themselves, which Derek & I happen to be freaks about. So, good gift-giving on your part, Derek. It's written by a bunch of Mormons ("feelings" and "impressions" aren't fooling anyone, dude. I know you're talking about following the spirit). It's told in a story format, and with businesses in mind, which might explain some of the quotes that follow.

"And through it all we think that all our problems would be solved if Jack wouldn't do this or if Linda wouldn't do that or if XYZ department would just straighten up of if the company would get a clue. But it's a lie. It's a lie even if Jack, Linda, XYZ department, and the company need to improve, which they surely do. Because when I'm blaming them, I'm not doing it because they need to improve; I'm blaming them because their shortcomings justify my failure to improve." p. 110

"Whereas before, he would go to the person he thought was causing the problem and demand the person fix it, the CEO began to consider how he himself might have contributed to the problem." p. 188

When things are going wrong, I find I blame people a lot (and if I'm smart about it I don't say those things out loud, at least). In marriage, with my kids, whatever it is. It's always a good reminder that you, yourself, are the cause of all of your problems.





This book is centered around the idea of "the box," or in other words, seeing yourself as a victim and people as objects (not as people with the hopes, fears, needs, and wants that you have).

"There's a fundamental problem with asking 'What do I need to do to get out of the box?' The problem is that anything I tell you to do can be done in or out of the box." p. 142

When you are so self-centered, your checklists are just that, checklists. "Be a good neighbor" means nothing. "Go visiting teaching" bears no fruits. You are so focused on your checklist and your time crunch that the person you are trying to help is not lifted at all. I know this so well, because I am slowly learning how to come out of it. So how do you get out of a place like this? ...


"And that Tom--acting on the sense or feeling I have recovered of what I can do to help another--is the key to staying out of the box." p. 149

Act on the feelings you have to help another person immediately (make that any person you have an impression to help). Even if it's not the relationship or problem area of your life you are trying to fix, doing things for others each time you get the idea to, makes it easier the next time. And the next and the next. Then it no longer becomes a game of "I just can't seem to remember to fix this about myself. I keep putting it on my checklist and keep forgetting!" As soon as you act on one of those impressions to change, in the very moment you get the impression, it will be easier to remember next time. And I promise, if you think you only get one small impression a day in how to change your "problem area," the second you do it more will come.

Chicken Lasagna (by Haley)

Are you getting tired of making the same thing every night for dinner??

Are you too poor to go out to eat with your friends?

Are you trying to impress your in-laws with a scrumptious meal?

Or impress that special someone?

Or are you trying to find a healthy meal to feed your growing kid?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions, I have a great solution for you...or at least Betty Crocker does. Last week I was getting sick of making the same meals all the time and I came across her chicken lasagna recipe online. If you are a chicken and cheese fan you will LOVE it. I only made it a few days ago and I'm ALREADY craving it again. Sorry I didn't post any pictures, but you can check it out here. It is super healthy and cheap to make. Give it a try!

Our San Diego Honeymoon on the Cheap - by Bethany

Note: If you've been following my posts for the past few weeks, you've probably noticed a pattern emerging. Free dates at home, free dates outside, and now our cheap honeymoon. Leading up to Valentine's Day, I thought it would be fun to do some romance-themed posts. These first three also happen to show how romance doesn't have to be expensive. Anyway, if you're sick of hearing about our wonderful, yet cheap, love life, you may want to skip the next few posts until after Valentine's Day. That is all:)

Like many people, we paid for our own honeymoon. Paul and I had been home from our missions for less than a year when we got married. We had been going to school, and working part-time jobs, but we didn't have much money saved up. In fact, Paul was the only one with a  little savings. So he decided to spend half of it on the ring, and the other half on the honeymoon.

I can't remember why we chose San Diego. Paul was really open to wherever I wanted to go, especially when I shot down his camping idea so quickly. I had never really camped at that point, and I certainly didn't think my honeymoon was the time to learn! We were living in Utah, so San Diego seemed exotic, without the flight being ridiculously pricey. Plus, I served the second part of my mission near there, so I felt like I had some idea of what to expect. 

Paul's grandma had offered to pay for our hotel for the first night, when we would still be in Salt Lake. Awesome wedding gift! To this day, my only regret from our honeymoon is that we chose the Anniversary Inn over the Grand America. I didn't know! I was so stupid! Someday...

But anyway, at the time, I dreamed of spending my first night in the Anniversary Inn, so I was very excited. And, we got a really expensive room - for free! We stayed in the Savannah Nights suite. Seriously, click on the link. It's cool. It has a giant fluffy king-size bed, an amazing jetted tub, and a little sitting area in a turret with lots of windows. We ate our free croissant, cinnamon roll, and yogurt parfait breakfast there the next morning. Perfect!

Our first full day as a married couple was a Sunday. So we went to church of course. It wasn't hard to find an LDS church in the area! Then we were off on our California adventure! (Am I allowed to write that without a little TM or circled R or something?) 

The #1 thing we did that made our honeymoon unique and fun (and cheap) was not renting a car. We figured out what it would cost in gas, rental fees, and parking, and decided to just take the bus. We didn't have a laptop or smartphones back then, so we tried to do all our route planning ahead of time at the computer lab on campus. It mostly worked!

Once we got to San Diego, we hauled our luggage with us through a few bus transfers before arriving at our hotel far outside of the main city. It was really pretty on the outside with lots of plants and flowers and a fountain, but just regular on the inside. We didn't care. The price was right! We ate at the Asian buffet next door before soaking in the outdoor hot tub.

The next day, we took a bus to Cabrillo National Monument. It was a bit of a hike from the bus stop, but well worth it. I can't remember if it was free back then, but now it's $3 per person. Not bad!

From the Monument, you can see the whole bay, and across to San Diego. There are also cool boats and battleships to look at.

Then we walked down to the Point Loma tide pools. We saw so many little crabs and other sea creatures, and the cliffs and waves were amazing!

Old Town San Diego was our next stop. So much free fun! We explored around, checking out gem and fossil shops (Paul was a geology major - I humored him), the Mormon Battalion Museum, the first Jewish synagogue in San Diego, and tons of other fun shops.

The food wasn't free, but we didn't eat anything extravagant. Old Town San Diego has some good Mexican food though!

After that, we went to Ocean Beach. We got off at the wrong stop and had to walk a ways, but we made it in time to wade in the water a little, and watch a beautiful, romantic sunset together. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were hungry. We didn't want to spend too much, and we had a microwave in our room, so we just went to a nearby gas station and got some junk food. Too classless for a honeymoon? We didn't think so!

The next day, we did our one activity that cost money: the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. (Seriously, I had to make up for not giving Paul his camping honeymoon!) $13 per person, but it had tons of cool exhibits, and a motion simulator ride. Then we walked around beautiful Balboa Park. 

That evening, we strolled through the Gaslamp Quarter, full of shops, restaurants, and night clubs. We were in search of a restaurant worthy of the other half of our wedding gift from Paul's grandma: $100 cash to spend on one meal. I can't remember if that was her stipulation, or if that's what we had decided it was for, but either way, we found our place. We had Persian food by candlelight at Bandar.  The lighting and music were soft, and we ordered sparkling water, filet mignon, lamb shank, and fancy desserts. We felt a little under dressed with our traveling clothes and backpacks, but we soon forgot all about it, and enjoyed our romantic meal. It's the most expensive (yet totally free!) dinner we've ever ordered, and we still say we've never had a meal that compares.

And, the next day, we ate at a weird little Chinese-American cafe called Mr. Bon's, next door to our hotel. Haha, that's okay. We followed it up with a visit to the beautiful La Jolla shores for some wading, and then on to Mira Mesa for some nostalgia. I served part of my mission there, among the Filipino people, so there is plenty of Filipino food to be had there. Paul served his mission in the Philippines, and was dying for some authentic cuisine!  We ate fried bangus and rice with our hands, got halo-halo for dessert, and spoke Tagalog. Then we bought pandesal,  ice candy, Royal, and Sarsi to have with our movie back at the hotel. 

On Thursday, we had to get up early and head back to the airport. Our final hurrah on the public bus system. Where else can you get so much free marriage advice from crazy people, or guys who have been divorced multiple times? Once we got back to Salt Lake, we stopped at Paul's parents' house (they weren't home) to pick up wedding gifts, then got back to our apartment. For the first time, we were living together! But we didn't want the parties to be over. So we immediately got all dressed up, and went out to dinner. Ha! Way to end a cheap honeymoon!

Be Happy (by Ashley)

I've been feeling like I need to work on being happy. I wouldn’t say that I’m unhappy, necessarily, just that most days are just average. If I let my days swing one day it’s in the “bad day” category. So I would say 30% of the time I have a “bad day” and 70% of the time I allow myself to have a “blah” day.

It’s something all people have to sort through, not just stay-at-home moms who have screaming kids. This is how the majority of people live their lives, every day is just average.

I have subconsciously assigned “happy” days with activities, “fun things” that happen or we create. It’s the perfect day I’ve been concentrating so hard on. I’ve been so busy learning, trying to give meaning to everything, that my life as a whole is pretty serious.

So. Fun or happiness is not an activity. It’s a state of being.

I’ve been trying to smile more. Just the act of trying to smile more has made me realize that I don’t do it that often. I’m not talking about while I am interacting with my children, playing with them, etc., it’s easy and natural to smile then. I’m talking about while I’m doing the dishes, cleaning up the toys, wiping down a toilet. Everyone would agree those aren’t fun tasks, but that’s no reason not to smile.

I don’t think I need to ‘look for’ the joy in my life. I know exactly what I have to be happy about, it’s written all over this blog, it’s not like I don’t know what I have or I think my life is horrible. I have the “joy” part figured out, for now.

What I want to add to my life is a constant state of being happy.

Happy: feeling or showing pleasure or contentment

Joy: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires

There is a time and a place for sorrow. Sin causes sorrow, trials are hard to deal with. But what should the rest of life be filled with? Happiness. God commands us to “Be happy.”

I am going to resolve to be happy. Not happiness in retrospect (“today was a good day”), not happiness in activities, but happiness in my day-to-day activities. Happiness in work. Happiness in drudgery. Happiness not as a part of each day, but as a whole. Happiness not in looking for little things, but happiness as WHO. I. AM.

I will be happy.

The Solution to Cabin Fever (by Haley)

Okay so maybe I don't live in a place where it snows, but I know many of you do! SO...

Are your kids driving you crazy because it's too cold to go outside (or you don't want to take them outside)? Have you experienced a few too many "snow days"? Do your children keep telling you they are bored? Are you going out of your mind? Well, you may have a serious case of CABIN FEVER!! 

I know, I know, these winter months can be tough. But no worries, I have a solution for you...it's called 'Candyland'. Yes, every child's dream. They will stop telling you that they are bored. 'Candyland' is fun for all ages. Better yet, here's a way to make the game educational:

Write one letter on each card included in the board game (color is irrelevant). When the child picks up the card for his/her turn, the child must say what sound the letter makes. If the child says the correct sound, he/she can move the game piece to the color the game card indicates.

If a child has a difficult time with a certain letter sound, write that letter on multiple cards. Also, if you write the letters in pencil, you can erase them later! 

This is a great way to see what your child remembers and what letters you may need to review. Your child will be entertained for hours and better yet, so will you!

FREE Dates! (Outside the Home) - by Bethany

Last week, I posted about in-house dates. I have to admit that more than half of our weekly dates fit into that category. Why? Well, three reasons: Grace, Alice, and Charlie. 

I know, they're adorable. And we can't bear to be away from them long enough to go out on a date...

Okay, obviously that's not it. It's the babysitting of course. It doesn't fit into our tiny date budget to pay someone to watch our kids. In fact, I can count on one hand the times I've paid actual money for babysitting, and I wouldn't even need all five fingers!

But we are always looking for ways to get free babysitting so we can go on out-of-the-house dates. So far, we've had some success with babysitting swaps, neighbors that live close enough to "babysit" the baby monitor, and definitely grandparent babysitters. We almost always go on a date when our parents are in town!

So, when we can work the babysitting out, the next hurdle is the cost of the actual date activity. I don't think we've ever gone out to dinner and a movie. Not once. Admittedly, when we can get free babysitting, we sometimes splurge on a date that isn't totally free, but we go on free dates most of the time. For instance:

- We like outdoor dates, when possible. We love going on walks - it is such a luxury to be able to go at our own speed and have a conversation without kids! Sometimes, we choose a neighborhood with cool, old houses to walk through. Other times, we walk on a river trail. Once, Paul planned a date where we walked all around the local golf course - it was beautiful, and we even got yelled at by one of the golfers!

- We love libraries and bookstores. It's fun to be able to spend some time at a library together and explore more than just the children's section. Sometimes, we find a cozy spot to look at magazines together. Other times, we pick out books that look interesting (with lots of pictures and quick facts) to look through together. Once, we planned a dream vacation using library materials. Another time, we went to a bookstore and read children's books together. Free fun!

- Parks are always fun. We went on a double date once where we played with boomerangs in a park. We've also flown kites at parks, played on park playgrounds, fed the ducks, explored around - and of course picnics in the park are the best!

We found this great secluded picnic area by a river - it was perfect!

- Window shopping. We're pretty good at looking without buying. I already mentioned bookstores, which are fun. We also love to walk down a nice main street and find interesting stores to explore. Housewares, design stores, kitchen supply stores, anything with showrooms, and fancy food stores are our favorites. Yes, even an upscale or foreign grocery store can be fun!

The long line was more of a deterrent than the cost:)

- Related, but deserving of their own category, are big theme stores like Cabela's and Scheels. They are so fun to explore together! There are taxidermy exhibits, live fish, photo ops, and tons of stuff to play with. I might also put IKEA in this category, just because I love the showrooms so much:)

Scheels has an awesome aquarium!

- Sunsets - You can't go wrong with a beautiful sunset. I assume sunrises are great too, but I wouldn't know:) You can't NOT feel romantic when cuddled up together watching the sun go down. Add some roasted marshmallows, and it's perfect! 

Just before sunset at an overlook.

- Free stuff around town - There is always free stuff going on. Want to go to the movies? We've gone to free movies at the library, on college campuses, or in the park. Free live music is usually easy to find too. Free art gallery strolls, free museum days, and other free performances happen all the time!

My town has LOTS of free stuff!

- Free to you - We love when we get gift cards for birthdays or Christmas, because that's an automatic free date! Even going to Costco or Target can be a fun date when you have free money to spend together on whatever you want! What other free stuff do you have available to you? When Paul was a graduate student, his student fees included a lot of campus performances. We went to a night of opera at the campus performing arts center for free!

It doesn't take money to have a fun and romantic date, as long as you're open and a little bit creative. I know I'm happy just as long as we spend time alone together building our relationship!