Weekly Winners : January 8-14, 2012

Not many photos taken this week...but that comes from a not very exciting week.

Self-Portrait for the week.....knee braces are soooo in right now.  Didn't you know that?

Probably the best thing that I ate this week...

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Pinterest Friday Finds

I thought today, that I would share with ya'll some of the things I've been pinning lately that I'm excited to try.  I love Pinterest, and when I have a particular boring afternoon with chores done & kids asleep, I like to search around and get inspired.

So on to the show!

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I've been wanting to add some Apothecary Jars to my decor, but they run over $10 for just 1. I'm excited to make a run to Home Depot for wood pieces & make a couple of these.

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I've been wanting to make a pair of these since it is now cold & I've actually bought a pair of skinny jeans.  Now it's just finding a sweater to make one.  I'm going to have to root around my stash of old clothing {aka..to big}, or cough up a couple of bucks at the thrift store for a sweater.

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I'm always looking for good nutritional breakfasts, and this looks so yummy to make!  And I also like the idea of making them into cups, I mean, I always eat yogurt with my granola, so why not combine the two.

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I love getting inspiration for pictures to take.  I'm not too creative in the photography department, but I always like to try things other people have done.  Now, I've actually got snow outside, I just need to convince my tookus to go out into the cold.

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Here is another great picture that I want to take this year..espcially before Valentines day.  I really want to make the little filters you put over your camera to get the shaped bokeh affects.  I just need to do it.

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Pork Chili Casserole.....this just sounds like an easy going casserole recipe.

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When I saw this cake, and saw the title, I immediately had to look at it.  I like lemon-poppy seed muffins, so to have it in cake form would be delcious :)

And that ends my round-up for the week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Apple Pie Cake

Don't you love it when Inspiration hits??  I do.

I've had these Green Granny Smith Apples waiting for me to do something with.

Baked Apples were calling my name....I swear....I have this thing for cooked apples :)

I mean...look at the picture below; does it not look delicious?

It all started with some cooked down Apples.  And then I add some flours & oatmeal, and baked it in the oven.

And after 30 minutes, the oven greeted me with this:

And to make it even better, I add some caramel sauce {and then I thought later how some vanilla ice cream would also be fantastic}.

When my oldest came home from school, I dished him up a piece after I peaked his interest with "Apple Pie".

Here's the recipe:

Apple Pie Cake

{printable version}

Ingredients:

·         5-6 Granny Smith Apples {peeled and diced}

·         1 Cup Sugar

·         2 Limes {juiced}

·         2 Tbl Cinnamon

·         1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

·         1 Cup Self-Rising Flour

·         1 Cup of Oats

·         ½ Cup Cold Butter {diced into cubes}

·         2 Eggs

·         ½ tsp Salt

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 425˚F

2.       In a sauce pot, combine the apples, juice, cinnamon & juice.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.  We’re letting some of the juice release from the apples & dissolve the sugar.  Because we didn’t add any cornstarch, it will not become thick.

3.       Once cooked, turn off the heat, and let the apples cool down for a bit.

4.       Meanwhile, in your mixer, add the butter, flours, and oats.  Start on low, allowing the blade to cut the butter, making it coarse and crumbly.

5.       Add in the salt and eggs.  Mix it in.

6.       By now the apples should have cooled, mix the apple filling into the flour mixture.  Mix until everything is combined.

7.       Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan, and place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes {until it’s nice and golden brown & a toothpick comes out clean}.

8.       Enjoy!

And I'll leave you today with my oldest enjoying this afternoon snack :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m Linking up to these Awesome Blogs!

Sweet Tooth Friday {Alli ‘n Son}

Shine On Fridays {One Artsy Mama}

Weekend Wrap-Up Party {TaterTots & Jello}

Strut Your Stuff Saturday {Six Sister’ Stuff}
Mouthwatering Mondays {A Southern Fairytale}
Making you Crave Mondays {Mrs. Happy Homemaker}

Tuesday Confessional Link Party {Confessions of a Stay At Home Mommy}

Wordless Wednesday

Yum.Yum.

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I'm linking up to these Fabulous sites:

The Paper Mama - Worldless{ish} Wednesdays

If I'm going to do Something, I might as well go All-the-Way

So I kind of mentioned it in yesterdays post, but I hurt my knee.  I mean...I really hurt my knee.  I was playing indoor soccer two weeks ago, and as I was chasing after the ball, I took a step and that's when it happened.  My knee shifted sideways {at least that is what it felt like}, and I heard at least one pop.  I immediately fell to the ground in pain cradling my knee.  And let me tell ya...I cried like nothing else.  It wasn't a pain that I could just squint my eyes & breath it out.  I had to physically cry the pain out.  The last time I felt that much in pain was when I was labor with my oldest.

My wonderful husband {who was playing with me} carried me off the field, and then out to the car to the ER.  The ER was crazy busy & we were there for 3 hours {start to finish}.  We had x-rays done, which showed that everything was clean bone wise, and told to call a orthopaedic surgeon in the morning.

I went to see the surgeon the next afternoon, and after moving my knee around {ouch}, we decided to wait a week to see how things looked & set-up an MRI.  I had been hemming & hawing over having the MRI done.  It was going to cost a bit of money, and I just wasn't sure....I mean yes, my knee was still swollen & I couldn't bend it or walk on it normal at all.  I guess when it comes to my health, I'm a little more lax.  My parents wouldn't have it though; they've both had knee issues that they didn't take care of when they should of, and became more of an issue for them later on.  So I went and had the MRI done.

~This pic shows how swollen my left leg is compared to my right~

Yesterday, I went for a follow-up with the surgeon, to check up on my knee & go over the results of the MRI.  Guess what I did???

• Completely Tore my ACL
• Partially Tore my Meniscus
• Sprained my MCL
• and I've got Bone Bruising

Like I said....If I'm going to do something, I might as well go all the way.

I found some pictures online that show what I did:

-the blue pad below is the Meniscus-

Fun huh???

So now I'm scheduled for surgery in two weeks to have it repaired.  I'm young, I have kids, and I still want to play sports, plus I don't want to have further knee problems later on in life, so having surgery is a no-brainer.

I'm glad I've got two weeks to figure & organize everything for being out of commission {there was the possibility of having it this week}.

So if you don't see alot of posts after January 24th, you will know why :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Chicken Bean Salad w/Cilantro Ranch Dressing

So it's been a crazy week & a half.  So much changes when you can't use your knee.

{I possibly tore my meniscus or acl playing soccer}

So with the injury, I've kept cooking to a minimum...and frankly non-existent. 

The other day though, I was trying to figure out something for dinner.  I had forgotten to take out any type of meat to thaw, so I headed down to our food storage room to gardner some ideas.  I had originally planned to make a BBQ Chicken Salad the day after my injury, and there...in front of me were all of the ingredients to make a decent-filling salad.  Thank you inspiration!

Romaine & Iceberg Lettuce.

Black Bean & Kidney Beans.

Corn and Tomatoes.

Chicken.

Cilantro Ranch Dressing.

My husband was a very happy man when he came home from work & placed a forkful in his mouth.  This dressing is one of our favorites that we've created, and it been great on alot of things.

And not only did this make a great salad the night we made it, but my Husband proceeded to eat the leftovers in a tortilla with some cheese....Great idea Honey!

Chicken Bean Salad w/Cilantro Ranch Dressing

Ingredients:

• Half of a Romaine Bunch-chopped
• Half of a Iceberg Head-chopped
• 12oz can of Chicken
• Can of Corn
• Can of Black Beans
• Can of Kidney Beans
• Can of Tomatoes
• Handful of Cilantro
• 1 Cup of Sour Cream
• 1 packet of Ranch Dressing
• Zest & Juice of a Lime
• 1 Garlic Clove-slighty chopped

Directions:

1. Throw the chopped lettuce into a bowl...a big bowl, because it'll make it easier to mix everything up.
2. Place your collander in the sink and dump the beans & rinse them.  Proceed to dump the corn & tomatoes & then the chicken.
3. Meanwhile {while letting everything drain}, grab your food processor & proceed with the dressing.  Puree up the Cilantro, Sour Cream, Ranch Dressing, Lime goodness, & Garlic clove.
4. Dump all the food from the collander onto the lettuce.  Pour some dressing on top & have a mix.  Add enough dressing to coat all the ingredients.

I hope you give it a try.  And to close this post, I'll end with a silly self-portrait :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m Linking up to these Awesome Blogs!

Makin’ You Crave Monday {Mrs. Happy Homemaker}

Mouthwatering Mondays {A Southern Fairytale}

Weekend Wrap-Up Party {TaterTots & Jello}

Shine On Fridays {One Artsy Mama}

Strut Your Stuff Saturday {Six Sister’ Stuff}

Weekly Winner's : Jan 1-7, 2012

*All shots are taken with my Canon Rebel xsi*

-Oooh....A Penny!-

-When there's snow.....-

-Self-Portrait for the week-

Thanks for stopping by!