Dirty Floors Beware.

I have tried Pine sol, hot water, sweeping, even buying rugs to cover the entry way. But nothing would get out the deep down dirt the previous tenants had left on the linoleum floors. Gabe wasn't much help either, tracking his work shoes around the house. Finally, I decided to kick the cleaning products and go natural.

Best Floor Cleaner Ever!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. Distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 c. Baking soda
• 1 tbsp. Dawn Dish Soap (I used the original blue kind)
• 2 Gallons water, extremely hot (it cleans better, and it dries faster when its close to scalding)

Now I did two versions of this, one in my bucket, and one downsized into a spray bottle for the walls and both turned out awesome.

Everyone Loves a Little Comfort Food.

Pre-warning: This definitely challenged my time management and multitasking skills.
However it turned out amazing! Because who doesn't love pretzels, beer, and cheese?! Also, originally the goal was to make pretzel bowls, but mine didn't stay tall enough, oh well. Don't be weary of making the pretzels either, the hardest part is kneading the dough, and trust me anyone can do it.

Beer Cheese Soup with Pretzel Bread
Ingredients:
For Pretzels:

• 2¾ cups bread flour
• 1 envelope quick-rising yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about) hot water (125F to 130F)
• Cornmeal
• 8 cups water
• ¼ cup baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg white, beaten to blend (glaze)
• Coarse salt

For Soup:

• 4 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 3-inch strips
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pale ale
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups (about 1 pound) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper, to taste
• extra crumbled bacon, for garnish

Directions:

For Pretzels:

1. Combine bread flour, 1 envelope yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and water in large bowl (or stand mixer) and stir until dough comes together in a ball. Put on floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.
2. Flour baking sheet. Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 2 pieces. Form each dough piece into ball. Place dough balls on prepared sheet; cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease another baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Bring 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (water will foam up). Add 1 bowl and cook 30 seconds before flipping over and cooking for another 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer bowl to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining bowl.
4. Brush bowl with egg white glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool until you can handle them.

For Soup:

1. In a 4½-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes.
2. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat in the pot. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, carrots and celery, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ale and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Worcestershire, milk and broth, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth (or use a regular blender and do it in batches).
3. Set the pot over medium-low heat and add the cheese by the handful, stirring constantly; do not allow the soup to boil. Taste to see if you need salt and pepper – remember that your pretzel bowls are heavily salted so go light on the salt in the soup. Ladle into pretzel bowls and top with extra bacon, if desired.

It's BBQ Season.

Unfortunately we live in an upstairs unit at our apartment complex, so we can't have a barbecue grill. We were actually really bummed about this because Gabe is the grill master. I've made him barbecue chicken in the skillet, and my favorite potluck bean casserole, and all have satisfied his manly need for barbecued meats. Today, I decided to try a recipe I'd pinned that didn't use chicken.

Smokey Mesquite BBQ Meatball Sliders

Ingredients:

• Dozen rolls (King's Hawaiian)
• Sharp cheddar, sliced
• Large onion
• 4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• 1 lb. ground beef
• BBQ sauce
• 1 bag Kraft Fresh Take Smokey Mesquite BBQ (By the cheese in the store)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by laying parchment paper on it.
2. In a medium skillet, over medium heat, cook bacon and onion.
3. In a medium bowl, mix beef, Kraft Fresh Take, and egg with hands.
4. Roll each meatball into a 2-inch ball. Place each ball on the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Once the meatballs are cooked, place on rolls and brush with bbq sauce.
7. Then cover in cheese and onions and bacon. Top with the rolls top and eat.

Going Out!

Love date night. headed to see Ironman 3.

Celebrating Krisi's 30th birthday at Block 15 in Corvallis, she so doesn't look thirty yet.

With Love, There is Trust.

To most that know me, Gabe may not seem like the man I would end up with; and honestly, before we started talking I would've agreed. However, here we are, almost six months into this and blissfully still in love. Now, before you go reaching for the barf bags, this isn't a nauseating post about my undying love for Gabe. In reality this is on a topic much harder to deal with.
Everyone has experienced at least one bad relationship, or at least one terrible date, and we all cringe at the memories and eventually move on with our lives. But for those of us who have had to experience the worst of the worst relationships, ones that make it seem like guys are competing for Who's The Biggest Asshole Awards. Those are the hardest to move on from. To be clear, by moving on, I don't necessarily mean that you want the jerk back, I mean it just takes longer to heal those wounds. Best advice I ever got, don't rebound, but of course what do we all do? You guessed it, it's rebound. We go on a date with that guy from that class you had, or you call up someone you knew from way back when, and you try your best to prove to everyone you're superwoman. Nevertheless, inside you are still mulling over what happened with your ex and in my case, why you always made him so angry. And I swear, break-ups and pregnancy are neck-in-neck for who gets more advice thrown at them. So the next piece of fabulous advice I get, the famous "Move on and forget the loser." So much easier said than done people!
Finally months go by and you are out having fun with your friends, doing things for you, and if your me, then you run into an awesome guy in your psych class. Now here comes the hard part, you end up really liking this guy, but in the back of your mind you have a cowering version of you saying that men are evil. I knew when I heard that voice that I obviously wasn't done healing from my last bad relationship, but I was also bound and determined not to let my catch get away. As Gabe would put it, I had chosen, and he was surprised I hadn't peed on his leg just to mark my territory. I laughed at his joke, but in the back of my mind I knew I really was that crazy jealous. More time went by, and Gabe and I became insuperable. He was my perfect man. I am high-strung, clingy, and passionate while he's powerful, calm, and caring; we balanced each other out. I needed his traits to counteract my overpowering personality.
Now here we are, present time, and he's still treating me amazing. Yes, he plays video games for hours, and I swear I could be walking around naked with my hair on fire, and he wouldn't notice till the smell of burning hair became to strong. And sure, he works a lot, and smokes sometimes, and grinds his teeth in his sleep (which I've decided is way more annoying than when he snores). But watching when he gets on the ground and plays with the dog, or when he makes me hot packs for my cramps, and especially when he brings me home my favorite ice cream, it just shows that the things I love about him by far outweigh the little things that pester me. Although this is the hardest part for me, it's admitting that I am really in the wrong.
Here's this amazing man, who treats me like a precious gem, and I am such a tyrant. I have a quick temper, a jealousy streak that goes for miles, and some deeply embedded trust issues. As I mentioned earlier, I was in a not so sweet relationship previous to my finding Gabe, and I understand that my issues stem from my past experiences. What I don't understand though, is why I have to take that butt-heads mistakes out on Gabe. Working on your issues can be very challenging, and addressing them is honestly the hardest part. So lately that has been my goal. Logically of course, I can work out that Gabe is not my ex-boyfriend, and he has never done anything to deserve mistrust. But in my mind it's hard to hear the logical voice over all the imaginative scenarios I can create. This was really beginning to create a problem with Gabe and I, and though he is understanding, a person can only be so kind. Finally he drew the line in the sand and made me confront my issues. Without going into detail, we agreed that I really needed to work on being able to trust people again, and that he was definitely a person worth trusting, so all we can do now is move forward and work on it every day.
The challenge of finding a person that is so great, we often try to sabotage it, assuming that no one could truly want to treat us this nice just because they love us for who we are. Perhaps some advice is best to be taken, you can't truly love someone else until you learn to love yourself. I'm still learning everyday that if someone is willing to let me in and make me happy, maybe I am worth it, and maybe he's worth letting down my walls and learning to trust again.