crying.

Bodie and I hung out all day yesterday while Truman and Gregg had a man date in Salt Lake {getting new tires on my car}.  You would think from these pictures that Bodie hated every minute of hanging out with me!

{something in this picture makes him look like a 'Quinn Boy' to me}.

Tangerine Buns.

Tangerine-Pistachio style buns

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup shelled unsalted pistachios

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Flour for work surface

1 ½ pound pizza dough

1/3 cup orange marmalade

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

In a food processor, pulse brown sugar and pistachios until coarsely ground.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons sugar mixture into a 8-inch round baking pan and drizzle 2 tablespoons butter.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll and stretch dough into a 12-by-18 inch rectangle.  Spread with marmalade.  Top with remaining sugar mixture, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with 3 tablespoons butter.  Starting at a long edge, roll up dough like a jelly roll.  Cut crosswise into 8 pieces and place on pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until buns are puffed and begin to tough, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until buns are golden brown, about 35 minutes.  Immediately run a knife around edge of pan and invert buns onto a serving platter.  Serve warm.

358 calories

14 g fat

8g protein

56 g carb

2 g fiber

Chicken.

Slow- cooker garlic chicken with couscous.

5-6 pieces of chicken

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, halved

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 cup dry white wine

½ cup flour

1 cup couscous

Chopped fresh parsley

Salt, pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Combine onion, garlic, and thyme in a 5-6 quart slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.  Top with chicken, in a tight layer.  In a small bowl, whisk together wine and flour until smooth and add to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high 3 ½ hours (or 7 on low).  Cook couscous according to package instructions.  Serve chicken and sauce over couscous, sprinkle with parsley.

730 calories

29 g fat

56 g protein

47 g carb

3 g fiber

greek.

Greek-style chicken with pickled onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Coarse salt and pepper

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

½ English cucumber, halved crosswise and thinly sliced

2/3 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved.

Cooked long-grain white rice

In a bowl, combine onion and vinegar; season with salt and pepper.  In another bowl, combine chicken, lemon zest, and oregano;  season with salt and pepper.

In a third medium bowl, make tzatziki: combine cucumber, yogurt, parsley, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes (I cooked my chicken on the griddle with no olive oil).

Add tomatoes to pickled onions and serve with chicken, tzatizki and rice.

300 calories

10g fat

40g protein

12g carbs

2 g fiber

Chicken grape salad.

Chicken and Grape Salad

8 slices of bacon

2 rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt

½ cup blue cheese, crumbled

3 tablespoons finely chopped chives

1 garlic clove, minced

6 ounces red leaf lettuce

1 cup seedless red grapes, halved

Salt, pepper

In a skillet, cook bacon stirring occasionally until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, about 9 minutes (or buy the pre-cooked bacon at Costco, it’s the best).

Meanwhile, shred half the chicken, discarding skin and bones.  You should have about 2 cups of meat.  In a medium bowl, mash together yogurt and cheese with a fork.  Stir in chives and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  In a large bowl toss together chicken, bacon, lettuce and grapes.  Serve with yogurt dressing.

360 calories

21g fat

32g protein

10 g carb

0g fiber

tangerine cake.

Tangerine Cake with Citrus Glaze

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

2 tablespoons finely grated tangerine zest

½ cup tangerine juice (about 6 tangerines)

2 tablespoons orange juice

¾ cup low-fat plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze:

1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons tangerine juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on high until light and fluffy, 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in tangerine zest and juices.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two addition yogurt, and beat to combine; beat in vanilla.  Transfer batter to pan, smooth top, and firmly tap pan on a flat surface to remove air bubbles.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 30 minutes.  Invert cake onto rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and let cool completely.

Make glaze; whisk together confectioners’ sugar and tangerine juice until smooth.  Spoon glaze evenly over cake and let set 1 hour.

495 calories

18 g fat

7 g protein

76 g carb

1 g fiber

shirley j.

Check out the video above to see my parents dining room featured in a commercial.  Kind of fun, and they got paid for it!  Also check out the home page for Shirley J to see their dining room on the front page.

Friday Flashbacks.

Valine, Paul, Tiffany, Nathan, Camille, Anthony | March 1988

When Tiffanys oldest daughter Addie was baptized last June my mom and I looked everywhere for a picture of Tiffanys baptism.  I just found this picture of her baptism so I wanted to link the two pictures.

{I remember when this picture was taken!}

Click HERE to see Addie's Baptism.

Truman.

Truman | age 2 1/2 {33 months}

I have already mentioned on this blog how much Truman loves to draw.  He drew this picture today on the back of my shopping list and I thought it was to cute to throw away.  He told me it was him so I wrote his name across the top; he drew the rest including the sideways "T" on the right side.  

New Beginnings.

 We held New Beginnings tonight.  It was alot of work, as usual, but it turned out really cute.  Pictured above is one of our new beehives who will join our Young Woman group in March.  She sang a solo!

 And of course, amazing food by all the advisers {I didn't get a chance to try any of it - it must have been that good}.

Our mutual theme for 2012 is "Arise and shine forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations;"   We incorporated that theme into our New Beginnings.

 Each of our girls has a beautiful necklace they got two years ago from the out-going Young Womans presidency.  We have been adding charms to that necklace.  Tonight we gave the girl a sunshine charm to remind them of the new mutual theme for 2012.

clapping.

Bodies loves to clap.

He claps when ever anyone else claps {in the room or on TV} or if Truman yells horray.  He can also clap along as you sing "Pat-a-cake".  I will post a video.

Book Club.

We had book club today.  This month we read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  It is about a girl who is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913.  She arrives with only a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a book.  She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raided as their own.  And that is where I will leave it - I don't want to spoil it for anyone interesting in reading it! 

I liked the book.  I have had a crazy couple of weeks so I didn't get to focus on the book as much as I would have liked to.  I would still recommend it three stars our of five.

Thanks Tami for the fruit and sweet breakfast rolls!

Volleyball.

Our brother-in-law {Chris} is the new BYU Men's Volleyball coach.  We went to his first home game tonight to show our support.  I accidentally called Cosmo {the cougar} a bear, he wasn't to happy with me ... opps.

Chris getting interviewed by BYU TV.  Truman and Bodie both got air time on BYU TV - super cute.

Bodie showing off his new clapping skills.  By the end of the games he would clap when everyone else in the Smith Field house would clap.  Super cute.

Trumans latest sports obsession ... volleyball.

Friday Flashbacks.

My dad's car | 1975

My mom and dad talk about this car often.  I found this picture on my dad's computer {along with some other really good photos from the 1970's} He sold this car to go on a mission.  I wanted to use it as my Friday Flashback so I could remember it.

Pasta Carbanara with Leeks

Pasta Carbonara with Leeks and Lemon

6 slices of bacon

4 leeks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

¾ pounds short pasta

2 eggs

½ ounce Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

Set a large bowl of salt water boil.  In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8-10 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel to drain.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet.  Add leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until leeks are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add pasta to pot and cook according to package instructions.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, and lemon zest and juice.  Whisk ¼ cup pasta water into egg mixture.

Drain pasta and immediately add a egg mixture along with bacon, leeks, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.  Sprinkle with more cheese if desired and serve immediately.

Ferarri

Thanks Dallin for this video.

drawings.

I posted some of Trumans drawing here.  My sister had fun analyzing them so I took some more so she could see his progress.

He always says "I'm drawing my best friend"

When you ask him who his best friend is he usually says Enoch, Ira, or Lincoln {his three male cousins}.

Army Crawl

Bodies latest trick!

friday flashbacks.

 This Friday Flashbacks is dedicated to my cousin Lindsey who is having her second baby boy today {hopefully}.

I think her son Crew looks just like her in the picture above.

August 1986

for sale.

It's official.

It's for sale.

{see the blue and white Realtor sign on the left}.

My parents built this house in 1988.

We moved in when I was about to turn 8.

Now it's time to sell it.

Time for a new adventure!

{I am starting to have mixed emotions about my parents selling all my childhood memories}

See more HERE.

Winter Swimming.

 We took Truman and his cousin Presley {who lives across the street} swimming at Red Ledges last night for FHE.

Truman adores her!

I think this is a cute picture of Presley.

Presley jumped right in the heated pool and swam like a 'mermaid'  She remembered all her swimming skills from this summer.  It made me excited for summer swimming season again.  Truman likes to hold on to the edge and swim around the pool and every time P dunked her head, Truman had to as well!

She thoroughly enjoyed the 'spa experience' after swimming.  She took a long shower {using all the hot water} used the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, baby oil, deodorant, hair dryer, tooth brush, cotton swabs, etc, etc, etc..you get the picture!  She enjoyed pampering herself before she was chauffeured home by uncle Gregg!  My kind of girl!

Truman lifting a few weights before heading home for bed!