Dinner Time Tuesday 2/19: Shrimp Alfredo

It's Tuesday!  That means it's time for Dinner Time Tuesday, hosted by yours truly.  Don't forget the link-up rules:

1. Grab the Dinner Time Tuesday button (over there-------------------------------------------->)
2. Follow your host, and link back to my post.
3. Snap a picture of what you had for dinner.
4. Write a post on your blog- however long or short you would like. Feel free to just snap a picture and tell us what you had or share your recipe!
5. Submit your link.

  

Tonight I had Shrimp Alfredo.

Basically, make the shrimp (or chicken) and pasta however you normally would.  Then use whatever alfredo sauce tops your list, or you can try the recipe I share below.

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Scott and I have bought a certain brand of Alfredo sauce that I am not really fond of. To be truthful, I always remember it as being worse than it ever actually is. It's not bad. But the fact of the matter is that the other evening for dinner, Scott suggested Shrimp Alfredo for dinner, and neither of us had the urge to run out into the rain to go to the store to buy Alfredo sauce.

Cue the internet, without which, we would probably go hungry a lot.

I found this recipe on cooks.com. Here's the link directly to the recipe. We did not have any half and half, and since the purpose of making this was that no one wanted to go to the store, I just used milk (nonfat).

You will need:

• 1/2 cup butter (or 1 stick)
• 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
• pepper, to taste

In a sauce pan, melt butter.

When the butter is melted, add the cream cheese. (Cutting it into cubes will help it to melt faster.)  I must warn you.  I used to make this with Country Crock Spread.  Butter doesn't seem to blend as well with the cream cheese.  So after mixing this up a bit, I grabbed the whisk, and added the milk even though it wasn't well mixed.  That helped a lot!

After the butter and cream cheese are melted and mixed together well, add the milk, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.

When the ingredients are well mixed, shake pepper on top to your taste. Mix together, and when you are satisfied with the consistency (smooth & creamy), remove from heat to let the sauce thicken. Stir occasionally.

Done!

Pour over your pasta of choice with shrimp, chicken or whatever! :)  So what did you have today?? 

Monday, Monday

I know that Monday is just another day, but really...why does it feel like the worst day of the week?

I actually don't have a lot to say today.  I didn't want to share an old recipe from my other blog because I just did two of those since I was out of town this weekend.

I thought about sharing a post about teachers, but I still have a lot of stuff to do.  I'll save that for another day.

What I WILL share today is that tomorrow is Tuesday!  Last week, I had one person join me for Dinner Time Tuesdays (Thanks, Kim!).  One is better than none, so I am off to a good start!  So come on over and join me!  The link-up goes live no later than 7:00 PM.  I will post as soon as I have dinner, so if I can, I will post it before then!

I hope to see you tomorrow!  If you are looking for another link-up for today, hop on over and visit Tarole and Logan for Monday Mingling. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I'm out of town this weekend, so yesterday and today were the perfect days to share some recipes from my old blog.  I made this for Easter last year, and it was a hit.  You will love it, I'm sure! :)


I'm not sure how I have survived without Pinterest. I'm sure I probably got a lot more accomplished, but then again, I also find a lot of ideas and inspiration. I found this recipe there, and now, the world is a slightly better place. (By the way, the link is directly to the recipe, not the pin. You're welcome.) I plan to take this to share at my family's Easter dinner served with Graham crackers (I still have some after making my Easter treat bags) and Vanilla Wafers.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Your ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. brown sugar, slightly packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
• 1 c. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar. Whisk together over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract.

 

3. Set aside to let it cool. (The recipe I link you to suggests putting it in the freezer for about 15 minutes if you're in a hurry. I was not in a hurry, so I just parked my rear-end back on the couch for a bit.)

4. OR you can get to work on this step: cream together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar.

 

5. When it has cooled, slowly pour in the butter/sugar mixture until combined.

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

 

This will be transferred to a nice bowl with a plate to serve the graham crackers and vanilla wafers.

I definitely had to sample to be sure that it's "safe" to share with my family. It is. :) Can't wait for Easter!

The Best Stromboli Ever

I would like to start today's post with a little self-promotion.  I am looking for blog sponsors!  The amazing Ashley from Simply, Ashley is my first real blog sponsor, and I'd love to have some other awesome people to join her.  Just hop over to my sponsor page!  Ads start at just $2!  (Please be aware that for some reason when I've gone to my sponsor page today, the list of ad options doesn't come up right away.  Just click refresh, and they should show up!)

And now, here's another recipe from my WordPress blog:

Last week, I made the best Stromboli that Scott & I have ever had. No, seriously, it was THAT good. And because I want you to share in the delicious goodness of Stromboli, I'm sharing my recipe with you here. Keep in mind, though, that good Stromboli (and pizza, for that matter) has a lot to do with adding the fillings (toppings) that you enjoy. That is the first step to making the best Stromboli YOU'VE ever had.

Becky's Stromboli

(The crust recipe is from our Kitchen Aid Mixer cookbook and contains my additions.)

1 package active, dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 1/2-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbs butter, melted
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tbs cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Use a dough hook and mix on speed 2. Next, add the remaining flour, butter, garlic powder, & basil leaves. Continue to mix the dough on speed 2 until dough starts to clean the side of the bowl. (I did have to add a little water because the dough wasn't sticking together. A lot of the powdery ingredients were still at the bottom of the mixing bowl. The amount I added was less than a 1/4 cup. If you need to add water, add just a little until all of the dough is staying together.)

Place dough in a greased bowl (I just spray a container with cooking spray) turning to grease the top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place free from draft, about 1 hour. Punch dough down.

Preheat the oven to 450* Brush a 14" pizza pan with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough across the bottom of the pan. (Let me be truthful, I have NO idea how big my pizza pan is. I pressed the dough as flat as I could because if you don't, the stromboli crust gets to be VERY thick, and you get a lot of crust with very little filling at the ends.)

Now comes the fun part: toppings! I like a lot of toppings on my pizza and the same goes for stromboli. Each half of this particular stromboli had slightly different toppings because of our different tastes. First, I put a thick layer of sauce on half of the crust (P.S. I LOVE a lot of sauce on my pizza, stromboli, & pasta, for that matter...). Then I sprinkled it with shredded mozzerella. We also had recently purchased a TON of lunch meat, so I added a layer of ham. On Scott's side, I put a layer of hard salomi. I followed the salomi with a layer of American cheese singles for both of us. After that, I also did a layer of pepperoni for both of us. (Scott's layer of pepperoni had no gaps. He really likes pepperoni, so I covered his half, overlapping the pepperoni a little!). I added more shredded mozzerella and put mushrooms on my side.

Once you've added as many (or as few) toppings as you would like, take the other half of the crust and pull it over your toppings. Pinch the ends together. (I took a knife and made an "x" on Scott's side so I would know which was which.) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I usually only bake for 15 minutes, no more than 17.)

Enjoy! :)

Our Story, Part 2

Yesterday, I shared the story of how Scott and I met.  Part of our story is that we had a legal marriage AND a wedding.  I thought that today I would explain why we did both.

It's all because of this beautiful girl:

 

This is a picture of my stepdaughter, Amber.  At 18 months, Amber was diagnosed with Epilepsy.  Through many years of doctors and hospitals, her official diagnosis was Severe Intractable Epilepsy.  Essentially, this means that her form of Epilepsy could not be controlled with medication.  By the time I met Scott, Amber had to be put into her second or third medically induced coma to stop her seizures. 

 

The moment Scott introduced me to her, I loved her.  She loved shopping, "bling", and Scooby-Doo.  I knew things with Scott would be serious when he allowed me to go with him to visit her in the hospital.  He had never taken any other girlfriends with him before.

 

As the years progressed, Amber was spending more and more time in the hospital about 2 hours from our home.  When Scott proposed, we were going to wait a bit before getting married, but something was telling us we needed to grab an opportunity to get married with Amber in attendance.  After a few other options didn't pan out, my friend Leann was able to help.  Her husband's aunt is a magistrate in a nearby county in Pennsylvania.  She agreed to do a marriage ceremony for us, even if it had to be spontaneous, and she was also willing to come to our home to do it!

 

On February 15, 2010, Scott, Amber, and I got dressed up and headed to the next county for our legal marriage ceremony.  We each told only a couple of people, but I didn't want any one in my family to know.  I still want my wedding day to be my wedding day in everyone's eyes.  My friend Leann was our only witness.

 

 

 

We just had a basic ceremony and didn't even exchange rings.  Just the judge, ourselves, Amber, and Leann (who ended up being our photographer).

 

 

 

Our decision to have our marriage done legally with Amber there was a good one.  On our wedding day on August 7, 2010, Amber was in the hospital in a medically induced coma.

 

 

We wanted to have a wedding because we really wanted to celebrate with our friends and family.  It was bittersweet because Amber couldn't be there, but we really did have an amazing day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that our decision to do both things was very wise.  On September 2, 2010, Amber passed away from complications of epilepsy.

 

Losing her was a devastating blow.  We went from the joy of being married to the lowest of lows.  Marriage vows state "for better or worse," and we certainly started out with a lot of worse.  But we have grown stronger through it all.

 

Not a day goes by that we don't think of Amber and miss her.

 

I know that this post has a major does of sadness mixed with a lot of good.  But the sadness is a huge part of our story.  Now that I have gotten to know some wonderful people in the blogging world, I wanted to share our story: the good and the bad.  Both parts make up the person that I am and the couple that we are.

 

Our Story

I realized that I've never shared my "love story" with my blog readers.  Since today is Valentine's Day, and now that I have actual real followers, I thought it would be a great time to tell you how Scott and I became Mr. & Mrs.

It all began in May 2006. 

Well, maybe it began earlier than that.  Scott and I grew up in the same town.  We went to and graduated from the same small school (although, he graduated in 1995, and I graduated in 2001).  Scott's older sister was a friend of my aunt's growing up.  She attended my church, and I had known her my entire life.  We were so close that I used to refer to her as "my other mother" and I was her "other daughter."  Earlier that year, she moved out to Oregon with her daughters to get married.  She asked me if I would fly out to sing at her wedding.

And THAT is where things really began.

Scott's mother is terrified of heights, and therefore, deathly afraid of flying.  His stepfather feels the same, and he flat out refused to fly to Oregon.  Because he didn't want his mom to fly alone, Scott got on the plane instead.

When they first arrived in Oregon, he just assumed that I was a friend of one of his nieces.  Soon, he found out that I was actually there from Pennsylvania to sing at the wedding.  He didn't think much of it...until he heard me sing.  :)  That's how I won him over, friends.

This is me at the wedding rehearsal...it seems to be the only picture I have from the wedding on this computer.

After the wedding, we went out with another couple that was part of the wedding.  We had a great time!  VERY early the next morning, I went along to take Scott and his mom to the airport.  I didn't have anything to write on, but I told him my number.  I totally expected him to forget it.  My flight didn't leave until the following day, but we had about a 6 hour drive to Portland to fly home.  While I was still in the Portland airport, my phone rang.  It was Scott!

The rest, as they say, is history. 

Taken in the summer of 2006

 

At my friend Lindsay's wedding in May 2007

 

This picture makes me laugh.  This is from a wedding reception in October 2008.

 

Ocean City, MD Summer 2009

 

Our legal marriage ceremony on February 15, 2010 with Scott's daughter, Amber

 

Our Wedding, August 7, 2010

 

At the Absinthe Lounge in Dallas, Texas in May 2011

 

At Medieval Times in Dallas, Texas in August 2012

 

There is certainly A LOT more to our story.  I'll share more tomorrow....it's our anniversary! :)

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 18

 

It's my first offical "My Harry Potter Fix" as a co-host!  This is seriously SO exciting! 

 

Don't forget the rules: Grab the button, follow your hosts & co-hosts: Kim, Tarole, Erinn, & Me, link back to us somehow, and most importantly....post about Harry Potter!

 

Questions:

 

1. If you could be any Harry Potter character, which one would you be, and why?  I have to say Hermoine.  I was very similar to her in school.  I was an overachiever, and I hated any subjects in which I did not excel.  I was certainly more timid about breaking the rules, but even when she's doing so, she is still a voice of reason.  We both love books, and Ron is one of my favorite characters.  Obviously, we know how she feels about Ron. 

 

2. Favorite single chapter in a Harry Potter book? The Deathly Hallows Chapter 33 "The Prince's Tale.  This is the one that kept coming to mind as I pondered which single chapter was my favorite.  I think that this chapter is incredibly moving, and it finally explains SO many things.  It's as if almost every question I had about Harry Potter was answered in this moment. 

 

3. What would your ideal class schedule at Hogwarts look like? Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, & History of Magic (Despite the boring Professor Binns, I LOVE history!)

Next week's "My Harry Potter Fix": Harry Potter Pins

 Kim, Tarole, Erinn, & I can TOTALLY use your help to create questions for our link-up!  If you have an idea, please submit it below!  You could have a chance to be a guest co-host!! :)

Come link up with us!