ROCK THE VOTE 2018

I voted today. And you should, too.

I grew up in a house that always talked about the importance of respecting your elders, saying "no" to drugs, and voting in every election. Today is no exception! I got up this morning, got dressed for work, then promptly headed up the street to cast my votes... all of them. And there seemed to be quite a bit to vote for this year. 

In this election today, my community had the chance to vote for those people that are to represent us for the next few years. They are our voice. They stand for us. So vote for who is listening to you!!

Also on the ballot for Warren County, KY is whether or not to make the county a wet county. The city of Bowling Green has been wet for as long as I can remember. But outside the city limits, you cannot buy adult beverages. It seems to me that we are behind the times here. There is a lot of money to be made for our community with the taxes off of alcohol. Lets bring it to Warren County! 

Another topic on the ballot that has been gaining a lot of attention is for Marsy's Law. Y'all... read it. Do not depend on the wording that is on the ballot today. Read what it stands for. Read up on what it will mean for you and your Right to Stand Your Ground. I'm not saying which way I think you should vote on this. But I will encourage you to do what is right. Read the proposed Law. Find out what it could mean for you. And vote.

40 New Recipes Before 40: 6-7

I am moving right along with all of my "lists!" Because of this, I have added two more recipes to my 40 Recipes Before 40 List. Here's the info:

Coconut Macaroons: Now, I do not eat coconut. Let me just start with this one fact. I like coconut flavor in some things, but I hate the texture of flaked coconut. However, I was in the process of making a care package for my best friend just to let her know I was thinking about her. I texted her husband to find out what her favorite cookie was so I could include some in the package. After some investigating, he said "anything coconut." So I thought I would try out these lovely cookies. According to her, they turned out well! I'm so glad seeing as I never tried them.

Fried Apple Pies: This was something else that I do not eat. I love a crisp apple. But I do not love cooked apples. For over a year now, I have been promising my father that I would make these fried apple pies like his mom used to make... using dried apples. I finally came across some apples that were already dried for me. Of course, that was last year when I found them at Huber's Orchard & Winery in Indiana. Anyway... So I found the courage to try this recipe that I have thought to be intimidating. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I made them in really small sizes because of the cookie cutters I have at home. In the future, I will probably make them about double in size. But the filling was amazing! My father and sister were happy eating the filling just as it was.

All in all, I think both recipes were a success! I have marked two more on the list and I am looking forward to whatever I can find to make in the future.

40 New Recipes Before 40: 1-5

I am creating lots of lists that I would like to accomplish before I turn 40. And one of those many lists is this one... 40 New Recipes Before 40. I'm trying to up my skills in the kitchen by trying out some new recipes.

Because I just came up with this list over the weekend, I am only starting with any new recipes I've tried within the last week. I will try to chronicle this list with you, too. I did a lot of cooking this last week, so here we go...

1. Crock Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup. I'm sure we all have a potato soup recipe that we know and love. But I did not. I have tried many potato soup recipes, but a lot of them were just "add a little of this and a little of that." I did not write down my recipe before so I could not really recreate it again. But this time, I searched the internet until I came up with a recipe that I wanted to try. And Oh. My. Goodness. Was it good?? It was amazing!! We served this up with some little dinner rolls for dipping. I had this for supper on Saturday night. Then lunch on Sunday. And again... lunch on Monday. It was the perfect soup to start the fall season (especially here in Kentucky where the weather has been cool, grey, and rainy).

2. Pumpkin Bread. Now I don't know about you guys... but I LOVE pumpkin bread. And what better way to start your autumn season than with soup and pumpkin bread?! This bread did not last long at my house. Both loaves were gone completely within 3 days. In fact, I still have some pumpkin and I might have to make a couple more loaves before the weekend, or maybe a bundt cake with it?! I made a simple glaze of butter, milk, and confectioners sugar to drizzle over this slice of bread below. But it, honestly, was so good without it. #glazenotnecessary

3. Pillsbury Crescent Cinnamon Rolls. Okay. So this, visually, was a complete failure! However, it did taste pretty good. I followed the directions in the recipe exactly. But the crescent dough was not easy to handle. And in hindsight, I might have done it all differently. The dough did not puff up. The filling oozed out all over the pan. It ended up tasting more like cinnamon toast... which I did not hate. This is actually what I made the glaze for (used on the pumpkin bread). I was so ashamed at the way these turned out that I did not photograph them. They looked HORRIBLE!! But they were eaten anyway.

4. Pioneer Woman Lighter Chicken Parmesan. This was amazing! I love most every recipe by Ree Drummond. I use her recipes all the time. This one was featured on one of her shows recently and I thought I would give it a try. So the Sunday before I started making these lists, I made this for dinner. Everyone loved it! And it was gone pretty fast. I also made The Bread (which my mother refers to as Crack Bread because it is so good). I am not including The Bread in my list of new recipes because I've been making this amazing wonder of deliciousness for years!

5. Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo. This was one recipe that surprised me. I thought it might be decent, but it was so much better! I grilled up some chicken inside on the grill pan with a little salt and pepper to add to my pasta. This really was the best Alfredo sauce I've had besides Olive Garden. I served this up with some frozen garlic breadsticks that filled the air in my kitchen as they baked in the oven. We ate on this for a couple of days, too. It was that good.

Overall, these five recipes were a good start to my 40 New Recipes Before 40. Comfort food always makes me feel good, like a warm hug. I cannot wait to try some more and add to my list! And I highly suggest you give some, if not all, of these recipes a try!

40 Before 40

I'm staring at 40... right in the face. 

I have just about eight months left in my thirties and I realize, now, that I have so much to do before I can turn the page on another year, another decade really. So this is my beginning. 

I posted to my Facebook page recently that I was looking for some ideas of what to put on my "40 Before 40" bucket list. Fifty-some-odd Comments later, I had a list that included a lot of traveling, skydiving, and adventures. I'm ruling out skydiving right now. That is something I am not at all interested in doing. Not today, not tomorrow, not by the time I turn 40. Traveling I do as often as I can, so that is easy to incorporate. And I just got to thinking about how I was going to go about adding things to my bucket list, and if it was important to chronicle it for others to see. I think it is more important for me to know that I am marking things off of my list, though I have decided to start this blog back up and include my accomplishments as I work toward becoming 40. 

For those of you reading, wish me luck. I've got a lot of things to work on!

 

This is me... Looking at you 40!