Finished

Dear everybody: I am officially a college graduate! Who would have thought I would ever live to see this day? It feels so strange not having to go to school or worry about planning lessons for tomorrow. Now it's worrying about finding a real job that pays well and actually lets me use my degree that took me 5 years to get. Its so weird. Anyways, I just thought you should all know that I am officially a grown-up now.

Game-changer

This week my second-graders were reading a story called "Jalepeno Bagels." Mrs. Havens and I thought it would be fun to make some sort of bread since the objectives for the story were to follow directions and recipies just happen to have mixed numbers in them which is what I had been teaching in math. So Friday was the day and I brought my breadmaker to school just so we could make double in the same amount of time. After the dough had risen we let the kids make it into any shape they wanted, and then baked them in a little convection oven. Oh. My. Lanta. Our classroom smelled like heaven. And I am here to tell you that this bread recipe has changed my life. And I want it to change your's too.

Easy Breadsticks

1 cup warm water
3 Tbs Brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
2. Let rise for 20 or more minutes.
3. Shape dough into whatever tickles your fancy.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden.

That's it. You're done. There's oh-so-much you can do with this stuff. And its delish. I made some rolls and pretzels with mine. I even braided it. You can put in any add-ins you want. Before I put minein the oven, I brushed some butter overtop. Next I want to do some garlic salt and parmesan cheese...mmmm! Great easy recipe for family night with kids or dinner with your hubby. Seriously, guys. This stuff is so great. Try it out.

Lasagna...soup

Ok, so I've been thinking about ya'll lately and just thought that it wasn't fair if I kept this gem to myself... Here's another recipe for you. Brennen and I love it. Super delish and makes plenty of leftovers that you'll want to every night until it's gone.

Lasagna Soup

1 lb ground turkey, hamburger, or sausage
1 chopped onion
1 qt chicken or vegetable broth
Two 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
Two 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1Tbs Brown sugar
1 pkg Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups broken lasagna noodles
1 cup Italian cheese blend
Cottage cheese

1. Brown onion and meat. Drain fat.
2. Add remaining ingredients except noodles and cheeses
3. Add remaining ingredients. Cook 30 mins on medium high.
4. Add noodles and cook until tender.
5. Add cheeses just before serving.

Feel free to cut it in half...or fourths. This will keep the two of us happy for about a week. Also super easy to make, and tastes JUST like lasagna. Enjoy!

Comfort Food

So. About food. You might not know this about me, but I LOVE food. Especially junk food. You know, chips, ice cream, cookies, the likes. At one point I even claimed that sour cream 'n onion chips were my favorite food. I know, that's gross. And trust me, my body thinks so too. Just need to send the memo over to my tastebuds. Anywhoo, recently a friend posted a recipe for some fantastic looking granola on her blog (which I will gladly put up a link to when I'm not posting from my phone anymore) and it got me thinking about my favorite foods. Now, usually I don't put up recipes because then I feel like I have to take a picture of what I'm making and then that means you seeing my disgusting sweet-potato-baby-poop colored countertops (hey, our apartment was built in the 70s, and apparently it was a popular color back then). So until we move to our new Arizona apt (which has faux granite countertops, yay!) You will just get recipes. Besides, figuring out what it's supposed to look like is half the fun anyways. And so, without further ado I give you:

Dad's Famous Mashed Potatoes

Now, before I go on, there are a few things you need to know about my family and this recipe. First, my dad is an amazing cook. Second, I learned to cook from my parents and neither of them measure ingredients. Therefore, neither do I. Third, we are not ashamed of fat. By fat, I mean butter, cream, oil, etc. So, if you are looking for healthy mashed potatoes, this probably isn't the best place for you. However, if you are looking for delicious mashed potatoes, you have arrived.

Dad's Famous Mashed Potatoes

Red or russet potatoes (red: 2 potatoes/person; russet: 1 potato/person)
Cream (I use 2% milk)
Sour cream
Butter
Seasonings

1. Skin, quarter, and boil potatoes over medium high to high heat. Remove from heat when tender. (This is where a lot of people go wrong making real mashed potatoes. They overcook their potatoes and then it turns into a bland, sloppy mess. I cook them until I can poke a fork into a piece and it will split in half without any extra effort, and then I cook them for 5 more minutes.)

2. Drain potatoes and move to standing mixer or mixing bowl. (You can use an electric hand mixer if you want, but it will get very messy, very fast. I would recommend mashing them by hand .)

3. This is the tricky part. Add cream, sour cream, and butter. How much you add will depend on how creamy you want them and what you want the texture to be like. For 4 russet potatoes I usually add 2 tbs butter, 1/4 cream (milk), 2 dollops sour cream. Taste them often to get them to where you want them. Specific, I know.

4. Add seasonings to taste. These can be whatever you want. I always use garlic salt. Some other favorite add-ons are cheddar cheese and bacon. Add some parsley to give it color. Mmmm...

And voila!! The best mashed potatoes under the sun. You'll never go back to using those fish-food-flake insta-potatoes again!

From the smartphone

So. I don't have a computer anymore since mine pooped out on me last week. So I downloaded this nifty blogger app on my phone...It's not that fun, but oh well. Right now I'm just waiting for Brennen to get home from Priesthood session of conference. Talk about a boring night by myself. So around 7 I hit the gym. What a ghost town. It was dead. There were maybe 4 other people there besides me. So I just busted out a few hundred calories and called it good. Then I drove around for a while just to let the air conditioning in my car blow on me for a bit. And now here I am, sitting in the dark, busting out a blog post from my phone. Haha. Well, I gues I feel semi-accomplished.

Yesterday I got to hang out with one of my best friends and her darling little boy, Kroy. He's just a month old. In fact, his birthday is the day before mine. He was super tiny, only about 7 or 8 lbs. What a doll. And now its her fault that I'm having baby dreams. Haha. Around 7 this morning I told Brennen "you're not going to like what I'm having dreams about.." Of course he guessed babies. Sheesh. That kid can read my mind sometimes.

Well, our lives are pretty exciting. Going to the gym and dreaming about babes. I only have 17 days left of student teaching and then we'll be moving out of dear, sweet, windy Rexburg! Woohoo!

Good, Good News

If you know me at all, you know that when things go wrong, I tend to be a little 

on the sarcastic side.  For example: I have no good news to share.

In fact, I only have bad news.  And I need the blogging community to feel sorry for me.

Again, that last part about feeling sorry for me was sarcasm. First things first.

About 3 weeks ago, I came down with this awful nasty cold, flu, virus thing.

One day I came home from school feeling nauseous.

Which is strange because I usually have a pretty tough stomach. and I haven't 

actually thrown up since my senior year of high school

(yes, I remember the last time I threw up because it was THAT bad.)\

I wasn't really hungry so I didn't eat anything.

Brennen told me to take some ibuprofen and benadryl (because it helps with nausea?)

so I did, and threw in a multi-vitamin too because I need to start taking them again.

Worst. Decision. Ever.

When I finally decided to eat some pancakes...well, lets just say that I probably 

won't eat pancakes again for a while.

The next day, I started to get that congestion/cough thing.

Within 2 days, I completely lost my voice and didn't get it back for about a week.

All this time Brennen's like

Go to the doctor, go to the doctor...

And I'm like

No, I can't miss school...No I can't miss school.

I finally decided to see if they would take me as a walk-in

and they wouldn't.

So we called up our handy-dandy doctor/brother-in-law

who was able to prescribe me some meds.

Then four days (no joke) after I end my medication

I get sick.  AGAIN.

This time I'm majorly congested and can't even breathe out of my nose.

This was the only way to provide temporary relief.

Shove toilet paper up my nose so far, it made me sneeze.

And then, 

Brennen came home from Wal-Mart with this magical stuff called

NASAL SPRAY

As soon as I used it, I could hear the angels singing hallelujah.

It was amazing.

I went to the doctor today and they basically told me there was

nothing they could do, 

I was practically already better,

and that I should use hand sanitizer more often.

How cool.

Got the the doctor and confirmed that I have gained 5 lbs since Christmas.

5 pounds! Most women would be sad, but

I'm sort of ecstatic. 

I have been around 103 my whole marriage, and have been

wanting to put on a few more pounds.  The only problem

is that it is all around my stomach.  That's right.

I have a pooch.

So, to the gym I go.

Also, my pulse was in the 90s?  So weird

because when I take my pulse at home, it's usually in the 60s.

Ok, you guys.  I'm not even done with my great day, and this post is already too long.

So I will post the rest of my day in ten words or less:

Hard-drive failure. Everything gone. Computer not worth fixing. Day made.

What's Happening

I know you have all been wondering.

What have the Larsen's been up to?

Well, let me show you :)

First, my birthday. 

Brennen made me this cake.  It's kind of a tradition :)

\

We had dinner at Blister's BBQ...it's this place inside a gas station.

But trust me, it's amazing.

It may not seem like much, but I was SO glad to have my car back this week.

I love my little car.

Got my boot socks made!! :) and still managed to salvage

the sweater.

Brennen is seriously a jack of all trades.  He tiled

his parent's mud room/laundry room/half bath.  This picture

shows it without the grout which he did today.

In other news, we signed the lease on our new apartment in Mesa this week!

Woo! Best part is the lease said our rent was almost $200 less than what

they told us on the phone! And I tried to call them to let them know,

but no one would answer.  Oh well. At least I tried, right?

So we will be moving mid-May. Woohoo!

Also, I have a new phone number. So, if you don't have my new number,

and would like it, post a comment with your number and I will text it too you (all comments are moderated, so I see them before I publish them, and I won't publish your comment :))