Pullman

I love Pullman.  It is a magical place that you cannot describe in words.  You just have to experience it yourself and be there.  I had the pleasure to visit Pullman and the Palouse for a work trip.  I work as an Admissions Counselor for WSU in northern King County.  I love, love, love my job!  I work with some pretty neat people.  We had two jam packed training days in the snow and even WSU school was cancelled.  We got to go to the men's basketball game vs. Stanford and won!!!!  I saw a lot of friends as well because I stayed through the weekend.  I had a blast!

Chicken Pot Pie with my Momma

Found recipe here.

My mom has never made one before and neither have I, but we were up to the challenge.

Ingredients:

Servings: 6-8

Units: US | Metric
1 cup potato , diced
1 cup onion , diced
1 cup celery , diced
1 cup carrot , diced
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chicken , cooked and chopped
2 pie crusts (either store bought or your own recipe)  We used my great grandma's pie crust recipe

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400°F.

-Saute onion, celery, carrots and potatoes in margarine for 10 minutes.

-Add flour to sauteed mixture, stirring well, cook one minute stirring constantly.

-Combine broth and half and half.

-Gradually stir into vegetable mixture.

-Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.

-Stir in salt and pepper; add chicken and stir well.

Mom made homemade crust :)

-Pour into shallow 2 quart casserole dish and top with pie crust.

-Cut slits to allow steam to escape.

-Bake for 40-50 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly and cooked through.  We added foil around so the crust did not burn.

So yummy!  It served four people plus a lot of left overs.

Confession

Source: via Hayley on Pinterest

Yes, I love having stuff.  It is not like I am a hoarder, I just hate throwing stuff away..... Sean loves throwing things away or giving stuff away.  When we first got married I found out that Sean periodically would take my stuff put it in a bag, wait a couple weeks and if I did not say anything, would give it away or throw away old papers, etc.  I found out because he shared it with our close friends in Moscow in front of me.  I could not believe it!  But he asked, can you remember one thing I threw/gave away?  And the sad part, I could not remember.

So this is the challenge:  The Beckman household will be doing 40 bags in 40 days.  I found this on pinterest and will change it to add our own places and spaces in our apartment to de-clutter.  We will start sometime this weekend or next week.  If you want to follow along, I will keep you posted!  This blog is awesome and she describes her process and what spaces you can do here.

 
I think there will be a lot more of my spaces than Sean's places.  I am determined and excited and to be honest, a little nervous.  This is going to be awesome? haha.

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

Source: via Sarah on Pinterest

Adding ingredients

So good!

Almost gone

This was awesome!  I found it on my friend, Sarah's Pinterest account.  Unfortunately, Sean and I did not have almonds so we used walnuts.  We also did not have soy yogurt or plain so we used raspberry with fruit on the bottom and I scrapped the plain yogurt from the top and it worked well!  My pictures are not as good, but it tasted awesome!

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie: ■2 whole Chiquita Bananas (best with brown flecks on peel) ■2 cups Ice ■1/3 soy yogurt ■1/2 cup Cooked oatmeal ■1/3 cup Almonds

Pour all ingredients in blender pouring ice in last. Blend on high for 30 seconds or until smoothie thickens.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Calories 380; Total Fat 15 g (Sat 2 g, Trans 0 g, Poly 4 g, Mono 8 g); Cholesterol 5 mg; Sodium 35 mg; Potassium 690 mg; Total Carbohydrates 53 g; Dietary Fiber 9 g; Total Sugars 19 g; Protein 12 g. Percent Daily Value: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin B6 25%; Vitamin C 20%; Vitamin D 0%; Calcium 15%, Iron 15%.

The Chiquita Banana Recipe site was awesome!  They have different recipes for all stages of the ripeness of your banana which was sweet because I hate throwing old bananas out.  I am excited to try new fun recipes here.  

Its been a while....

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I am going to catch you all up very soon!  Was at a work retreat in Pullman, WA during a snow storm.  Fun stories.....  Going to post some pics from friends and also some fun new recipes I have tried and LOVED.  Stay turned my friends.

Pug Hill

Source

I just finished the book, Pug Hill by Alison Pace.  Cute little book about a woman who loves Pugs. I never thought I would read a book about pugs in a novel, but it was cute.  I got it for a present for my birthday in November, so had to read it.  Rudy always seemed to cuddle with me when reading it as well.  So cute (see below).

I then found Rudy found my Pug Hill book and he chewed it a little bit.  He never does that with my books...but Pug Hill lol.

New Years 2012 resolutions

Source: via Hadley on Pinterest


Source: via Amy on Pinterest

Sean and I decided to do New Year 2012 resolutions.  So here it goes!


Sean

1. Be more actively involved in prayer throughout the day.

2. Join a men’s golf league or enjoy golf more.

3. Healthier eating habits, healthy weight loss, spend less on going out.


Hayley

1. Be in the bible daily and actively in prayer.

2. Read more books and blog with Sean as a family.

3. Eat healthier and understand it.

Beckman Family Goals:

-Move into a house (Julyish)
-Start adoption process (Haiti) by June
-Create new financial budget

So excited that Sean wants to start blogging as a family, that is why I made it one of my resolutions.  I am excited for what 2012 is going to look like, but more excited that we want God to be the center and want to focus more on him in our daily lives.  We have BIG goals for a house and starting an adoption process.  SO EXCITED for Haitian babies.  Yes, I said that!!!!!  My babies, one day!!!!!

What are your goals, or how do you keep your resolutions?

Thanks for stopping by,

The Beckmans

Rudy Wednesday

Source: via Hayley on Pinterest

Boy, have I missed my Rudy.  I did not see him when I was in Haiti, came home for 4 days and then we went to Boise, ID for a funeral and to be with Sean's family, because his Grandpa, Charlie passed away.  I have missed Rudy so much!  He is just the little cuddle bunny.  For those of you, who have not read my blog or know me at all, Rudy is a pug, and also my little boy.  Sean and I do not have any children, so Rudy is the closest I have to one.  Isn't he cute?