Burnt Cheese

Is there anything better than melted buttery cheese taken almost to the point of incineration?

No.  No, there is not.

This past Sunday we went to church and as John and I were dutifully tending to our church calling in the nursery with wee little ones, I thought hard about what to make for dinner.

After much pondering, here is what I came up with.

Mr. Murphy has declared this to be his new favorite way to eat chicken. He has lovingly named this concoction: 

"Rotastic Chicken"

-I beat 3 voluptuous breasts of chicken to death with a hammer. (I have yet to equip our kitchen with a mallet.)

-Then I seasoned each side with sea salt and fresh cracked black peppercorn pepper.

-I cut thick slices of pepperjack cheese and rolled them up in to the now flattened chicken breasts.

-I cooked all three breasts at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Or maybe it was 400 degrees.  Yeah, I definitely don't remember that part.

-At 20 minutes I took them out and poured a can of "Hot Rotel" over the sizzling chicken.  I also added some hot salsa.

-I let it cook for another 15-20 minutes and then took them out and served them with:

black beans

brown rice

and

creamed corn

The next day we ate the rest of our chicken, beans, and rice for left-overs and John prepared it for us.  When I sat down at the table to eat he blessed our food and then told me that there was a surprise under my rice and beans.

Giddy with excitement I squealed, "What can it be?!?"  Then I uncovered something heavenly.

It was a pile of burnt cheese. 

Now that folks is real love.  He is the ultimate eternal companion.

French things make everything better.

Day 4 of the Snowpocolypse.

School had been cancelled for everyone again.

Despite what you might think, we were not going stir crazy.

Good thing we brought some of my homemade wheat bread.  

It is full of flax seed, oats, and crushed almonds.

Yum.

We decided to try to make some homemade french toast with the wheat bread.

Here is how you do it:

This morning John left for his first day of school for this semester. I'm gonna miss that guy during the days.  The Snowpocolypse spoiled us.

I'm feeling a lot this morning as I think about what this semester might hold for us. 

I'm scared I might get bored.  This is the first time, since I was four, that I haven't been a student.  I feel like its hard to gain a sure footing right now.  I am faced with all of this time and the freedom to choose what I would like to do with it.

I have always been an extremely busy lady.  

I have prided myself on my "to-do" lists.  I went through school in a whirl wind of things to do, songs to memorize, assignments to complete, and places to be.  I had a schedule and places where I knew I had to be present.  Now, I feel like I am floating around in some sort of uncharted territory.  Although now I occasionally have work, voice lessons, and a grocery run, I find myself in possession of one of the most precious gifts: time.

My father-in-law encouraged John and I to read (this talk) from October General Conference again.  We did, and I am so grateful for that.  Here are some things that Dieter Uchtdorf said that spoke to my soul.

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives."

"It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Over-scheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks."

"Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.

Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace. "

I am very much looking forward to devoting my time to simplifying my life and emphasizing the basics of the gospel in my life.

I am looking forward to being a supportive wife while my husband soldiers through another semester of college.

I am looking forward to the next time I can make this french toast.

And I am looking forward to all of my precious time and turning it in to something wonderful.

Just a day/night.

I love the times that you have no clue what to make for dinner so you just start throwing random things together.

In to the crock pot I threw:

a pork loin

all of the leftover honey I had in a little bottle

the rest of my brown sugar

hot pepper sauce

Worcestershire sauce

ketchup

apple cider vinegar

a can of tomato sauce

fresh garlic

chopped onions

salt 

pepper

and

chili powder

for 4 hours on high.

Who would have thought I would have gotten this reaction...

And I quote, "Babe, babe, whoa, this is the best thing that you have ever made! Like, ever."

"RealllllyyyY?  I didn't even have a recipe."

"You are lying. What?! You better be able to get this exact combination again!"

Uh oh.  I didn't measure a thing.  Shucks.  I served this Pork concoction over brown long grain rice.  I'll have to try it again and write it down.  I have to admit, there is no feeling in the world like making something for my John and watching him enjoy it.  He makes me feel like the best wife in the world.

After dinner John and I had much studying and paper writing to do.  This is what the table of two married college students writing papers look like...

(John arranged these in the special spiral shape...so artistic.)

Before we really got going on our studies we went to Maggie Moo's Ice Cream Shoppe.

(those look like huge old people scary hands)

I had Fresh Banana Ice Cream with fudge, graham cracker crust, and cookie dough.  Glad we got the small, that stuff was so rich!

Then we came home and wrote our papers til the wee hours of the morning.   We don't remember the last time we went to bed on the same day that we woke up.  Our normal bedtime is anywhere between 1 and 3am.  We can't take it anymore.

Must.

have.

rest.

I guess we are just practicing weird and horrible sleep schedules so we will be better prepared when we have our little babies.