Smoky Chipotle Parmesan French Fries

Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

3-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1-1/3-pound Idaho Russet Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil with the chipotles, Parmesan, paprika, lemon juice and salt, and set it aside.

Peel, wash, and dry the potatoes.  Then, cut them into french fry-sized pieces, about 1/4-inch sticks.  Add the potatoes to the bowl with the chipotle mixture and toss them until they’re completely coated.

Spread the sauced potato sticks on a baking sheet in a single layer, and place them in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until both sides are golden brown and crispy.  They should be flipped about half way through the cooking process, with a flat-bottomed metal spatula.  Leave them on the baking sheet to cool.

Notes:

Exactly what are chipotle peppers in adobo sauce? Well, they’re smoked jalapeño chiles that are canned in a sauce that typically contains tomato puree, paprika, salt, onions, oil, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and oregano. And a little goes a long way.  It’s hot!  For less heat, you can just use the sauce and for extra heat be sure you use one of the peppers, and keep a few seeds in there!

Our Souls Are Lost

I don't really know what the 29th photo challenge was, but I have to tell this story! Katelynn and I were playing around in photobooth on Sarah's computer while her and Paige were in the basement getting laundry. So we decided to take a scary picture and put it up on the projector and hide when they came up just to mess with them. This is the scary picture.

The funny thing is, Sarah changed her desktop picture, threw this picture away, and emptied her trash and this picture wouldn't go away. We reset the projector, we restarted her laptop, we connected the projector to my laptop and back to Sarah's, and this picture popped up everytime!! I told Katelynn that our souls are lost in the projector. It was so scary when it kept popping up, hahaha.

What We Did

Day 28 of the photo challenge was a picture of your day. Well the 28th was the day of Hurricane Irene, which we didn't get much of, but what we did have was a projector that our friend Lucas was so kind to lend us. We gratefully had power all day so we got to watch movies on the wall all day. Sunday some of the stuff we watched was Along Came Polly and the VMAs.

Ps. I am SO excited that Beyonce and Jay-Z are pregnant!!

My Baby Sister

Day 27 of the photo challenge is a picture of you and a family member. This is my youngest sister, Angela.

She just turned 4 this May, and this is us on her 3rd birthday. My younger brother and sister, Olivia and Stefan, came to get me in Boston, and then we drove down to New Jersey where my dad, his wife and Angela live to celebrate her special day. It was a lot of fun and so precious. Her mom asked her the night we got there, what her favorite part of the day was. And I guess she pointed upstairs and named Stefan, Olivia, my dad's parents and me. Her favorite part of the day was seeing her family come celebrate her birthday with her! So cute. I really miss her.

Galen's Unwanted Visitor

Day 26 of the photo challenge is a picture of something you're afraid of. Well, I have a real phobia of hair in the shower and spiders and I was too scared to take a picture of either. But it just so happened that we have a mouse in our apartment and I also am scared. I am a human for goodness sake, and I only want to live with humans. No rodents or bugs allowed!! I know this isn't a picture, but it describes my fear pretty well :)

My favorite part starts around 1:42

I Miss You

Day 25 of the photo challenge is a picture of someone that you miss. My picture is of my grandma Pat.

She is the mother of my Dad's ex-wife, so we're not technically related, but they were married for my first ~10 years of life, so they have always felt like family to me. Even after the divorce.

My grandma passed away in July of 2009, right before I graduated college so it was a tough time of the year for me. I will never forget the woman that she was though. She was warm, loving, generous, an AMAZING cook, and very welcoming. My older brother and I weren't related to her by blood, but she still treated us as if we were her own. She taught us life lessons, how to garden, made me a clothes when I was younger, drove us everywhere. She had such a serving heart, and everyone loved her.

The week before she passed away, most of us came together and spent the week in the hospital with her. My older brother even drove in from Illinois with his three little boys to spend that week with her. It was a great week, just to be able to spend time with family, surrounding the one woman who taught us the true meaning of family.

Family isn't just those you're related to by blood, or those who you see at the dinner table every night. Family are those who make you feel like yourself when you're with them; those who have seen you cry your eyes out and hug you until you feel better; those who see the worst in you and still love you. You're family can be whoever you want them to be because your heart is never limited.

IT IS NOT FLESH AND BLOOD BUT THE HEART WHICH MAKES US FATHERS AND SONS.

~johann schiller

The Yesteryears

Day 24 of the photo challenge was a picture of a childhood memory.

Fall has always been my favorite time of year, simply because it's so beautiful out and that's when soccer started. :) When I was younger my Aunt Laura owned a house with a huge backyard, and it had a pool, a large garden, a tree swing, a hammock, badminton, sitting area, everything!! My favorite thing to do was jump in the large pile of leaves that was raked up from her bug yard, and to this day, playing in a pile of leaves still brings me a lot of joy. :)

Ehh... What?

Day 23 of the photo challenge was to take a picture of something that confuses you. For me that's coding!

Reading or creating code is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Just isn't happening. It always boggles my mind when I hear people can build apps, programs, or websites just by writing code. If you can do that, I think you're soooo smart.

What I Made for Dinner

My mom was here this past weekend and she taught me how to cook a great meal that includes steak, sweet potato slices, asparagus, and side salad. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it! I didn't make this meal last night but I did remake the sweet potato slices.

First you add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan with a dallop of butter. Melt the butter completely and mix it around the pan in the olive oil. When completely melted, add your sliced onion. Slice enough onion to cover the entire pan. Sautee the onion until lightly brown, then lay over your sweet potato slices ontop of the onion and cover. Reduce the heat to a medium/medium-high. Let cook for a few minutes. Then toss everything, it's ok if the onions look brown as they are burning a little. Once tossed make sure the potato slices are flipped on the opposite side than before and recover to let them cook on the other side. They will be ready in a few minutes or when you feel like they are soft enough. They are very delicious and full of flavor from the onions. Even the cooked/burnt onions are delicious.

Along with my sweet potato slices, I had a salad and creamy pesto pasta with chicken. Needless to say I enjoyed every bite!

I Do Love a Good Cup of Coffee

Monday's photo challenge was to take a picture of something that brings you comfort. I took a picture of my morning cup of coffee.

I think the routine of having a cup of coffee wakes me up more than the caffine in the coffee, but either way, I love coffee. My favorite time to actually drink a cup is on Sunday afternoons when my roommates and I come home from church. We have a little routine on Sundays, where we get up early and go to church in the morning, but come right home and get back in our pjs and watch movies all cuddled up on the couches. I feel so comfortable in my sweats, sitting on my couch, wrapped up in all these blankets with a cup of coffee watching movies. It's my favorite thing to do!

I wish...

Sunday's photo challenge was to take a picture of something you wish you were better at. There are many things I wish I was better at, but I chose basketball. I am very athletic and love to play sports, but when it comes to shooting a basketball, Lord have mercy on me. I look like I'm shooting it right, but whenever I let go, I somehow throw it 20 degrees too much to one side. People have tried to teach me so many ways, but I just can't get it. I wish I was better.

I don't own a basketball and didn't want to look like a fool taking a picture of myself at the park playing basketball with no ball... so I just decided to draw my picture.

Butterface...

Have you ever heard the phrase butterface? It's a rude term that some guys use when they think everything about a girl is "cute" but her face. Well, I know I look good from head to toe! But Saturday's photo challenge was a faceless self portrait. So somehow my brain connected a faceless self portrait with the phrase butterface. Kind of makes sense... :)

I got so many compliments on this outfit at church... I was told it looks like something one would find on Pinterest! Oh so flattering... thank you!

My dream!

UGH I love home renovation blogs! Carrie and Chris at Harzardous Design bought a 1886 New England home and are renovating it all.

My ultimate dream is to design and build my own home one day, but who knows what kind of money I will be making in the future and if that will be possible. So I guess I can settle for buying a fixer-upper :)

Here are some before and after shots of the rooms in this old home. They have done a great job turning something outdated and historic looking into something up to date, and classy. I just love it!!

Something Orange

Day 19's photo is a picture of something orange. I decided to take a picture of my shower curtain rings from Urban Outfitters.

I was really into interior decorating when we first moved into our apartment last September. I think I was going into a big phase of nesting or something. My bathroom is pretty small, but perfect in size for me. So I went to town in decorating it and making it feel like it was apart of my home. I fell in love with my Pottery Barn shower curatin and really wanted to work around the color scheme found in it's deisgn.

Shooooes

Day 18 of the photo challenge was a picture of my shoes. I took a picture of my cleats because they may be the most worn pair of shoes I own.

I started playing soccer when I was about 5. Basically, since I was big enough to move a ball. I started off during the noraml fall season. Then as I got older, I played in a traveling spring league, where we kicked butt and won the championship. Then in middle school, I joined a summer league, which was brutal sometimes because of the heat. But we always had awesome soccer moms who brought orange slices. Then in high school, I joined an indoor league during the winter. So eventually I ended up palying soccer year-round. I proudly was named captain my senior year of high school. I would have played in college, but the college I decided to go to didn't have sports. :( LAME!

So now I wear them to play ultimate frisbee with my coworkers on Tuesdays, and I wore them in a World Cup fundraiser where we played soccer to raise money for the Medical Brigade in Central America.

Ribs Recipe

SHORT RIBS

4 to 5 lbs beef short ribs, cut into pieces (for four servings)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (I prefer fresh ground)
1 12-oz bottle chili sauce
1/2 cup beer
2 TBSPNS minced onion
2 TBSPNS Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSPN chili powder
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper the rib pieces
Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan; bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 mins -then set aside.
Grill for 20 minutes on med-high, turning frequently.
Baste liberally with sauce; continue grilling/turning additional 20 mins.
Serve on platter with final slather of sauce prior to serving.

BABY BACK RIBS
3 to 5 lbs. baby back ribs (makes 4 servings)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup hoisin sauce
1 cup grape jelly
2 TBSPNS Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSPNS dry mustard
1 TBSPN brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Tabasco sauce
Juice of one lime
Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and set aside while grill preheats.
Place ribs on preheated grill over medium heat (use disposable drip pan directly beneath ribs, or make one from heavy-duty foil) -this will keep ribs from drying out
Cover and cook approx 1 hour (until tender)
While cooking, combine remaining ingredients in saucepan; bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 mins.
When ribs are tender, remove drip pan, exposing ribs to direct heat; continue to grill uncovered, basting with sauce, turning until crisp on both sides - about 5 mins.
cut ribs into sections; serve with remaining sauce.

Hands

Day 17's photo was of hands. Hands are so interesting to me. They express emotion. People can throw their hands around angrily when yelling, or they give high fives for encouragement. Hands create art. They can paint, mold, build, draw. Hands speak a language. A hand's finger tips are our identifier. Every finger print is different and is unique to each one of us. Anywayyy.... they're pretty cool. My picture is of my hand in my gluten free cranberry maple nut granola bag that I was eating last night.

I highly recommend buying some!

The Person Who Inspires You the Most

Today's photo is one of someone who inspires you the most. For me, that's definitely my mom.

She had me 2 months after she turned 21, and we had to live in a homeless shelter for a bit because she had no where else to go. The thought of turning 21, with a new born in a homeless shelter gives me major chills and to see the life she has created for me and herself today is so inspiring! She is so strong and has so much heart. I love her so much. 

What I Made for Dinner

Monday's picture was supposed to be a silhouette... well I forgot and don't have one on hand. So I'm deciding to put up a picture of what I made for dinner because it was that gooooood. This is what I like to call "Goat Cheese Ravioli a Pesto". It's goat cheese and sun dried tomato ravioli, pieces of chicken coated in adobo all purpose seasoning, and green beans... alllll coated in pesto sauce. I could have died a happy woman after eating this dish.

Warm Summer Peach Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-G​inger Glaze

Recipe:  *Disclaimer:  it's a fairly complicated recipe, but WELL worth it!!  I've made it three times this summer and it is ravished every time!

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon powder
2 teaspoons ginger powder (can be purchased at the dollar store rather than pay supermarket prices)
3 or 4 large, ripe peaches and/or nectarines: pealed, pitted and diced
OPTIONAL:
1/3 cup, plus 1/4 cup sliced (not slivered) almonds
3/4 cup fresh raspberries: rinsed, drained and gently patted dry
fresh mint leaves for garnish

GLAZE: (establish a "drizzle-able" consistency ... add more conf sugar if too wet; add more drops of milk if too dry)

approximately 3/4 to 1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
several drops of milk, perhaps one tsp
1.5 tsp cinnamon powder
1.5 tsp ginger powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.
In large bowl, cream softened butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and ginger powders.
Submerge diced fruit into bowl with #2 mixture and let "stew" while managing remaining recipe.
In a second (large) bowl, combine flour, white sugar, salt and baking powder.
In third bowl, mix applesauce with egg and milk.
Fold fruit stew into dry-ingredient bowl.
Spray entire inside of bundt pan with Pam's baking spray (shake can intermittently and use tiny, little baby-spritzes over entire inner surface of bundt pan - I do this over a sink or trash can as can become sticky mess but works awesome!)
Sprinkle 1/3 cup sliced almonds evenly around deepest well of pan, which form the rounded peaks of the bundt cake
Immediately pour batter into pam-sprayed bundt pan (the almonds will get baked into the top of the cake - visible once removed from pan)
Bake in preheated oven for 55 mins; then cool 15 mins before inverting bundt pan to release cake onto lovely serving platter.
Glaze:  establishing balanced consistency can take longer than expected - ok to glaze cake when still warm
Use fork tines to drizzle glaze in diagonals or criss-crosses across top of cake; allow to "drip" down sides
Sprinkle remaining sliced almonds on top of glaze before glaze 'sets' (best to glaze cake in sections, sprinkling almonds as you progress)
Serve cake warm or at room temperature with coffee or tea - INCREDIBLE warm, with vanilla bean ice cream and coffee or Earl Grey tea!!
In order to serve warm, prepare your timing such that the glaze-portion is completed precisely 1/2 hour before you sit for dinner.
Optional:
If using fresh berries for presentation/garnish: add to center of ringed cake JUST before bringing to table; also -place berries in odd number (three or five) spots around outer perimeter of cake on top of clean, dry, mint leaves.

New Recipes Tab!

One of my goals in life is to learn how to cook with out recipes or cookbooks. I would love to be able to create something delicious just by tasting it as I go and making up what I think it needs. My mom is an AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG cook and baker and so I want to learn a lot from her. So I thought I would post recipes and pictures of stuff I've made or want to make. I will post it on the main page, but will also have a recipes tab at the top.

More Than I Will Ever Know

Day 14 of the photo challenge was to take a picture of someone or something that you couldn't live your life without. This was kind of a hard thing because there is a lot of things that I think I can't live without like my cell phone, hot water, my hair styling products. But there are millions of people all over the world who live without these things everyday. So I could technically live without those things but I wouldn't be happy about it.

So, I chose to take a picture of my Bible.

As many of you know, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and it's my desire to go to heaven one day and take as many people with me as I can. Even though the thought of going to heaven is so powerful and amazing, it can be hard sometimes to remember that power because we can't see God in human form like we can our roommates, or coworkers. We have to rely on our faith, and prayer, and scriptures we read. And then God becomes clear to see in our everyday lives and in the miracles he performs for us.

I really wanted to take a picture of Ephesians 3:17-18 because I can't live without my Lord's love.

Christ's love is SO BIG and so great, that it surpasses my knowledge. He loves me so much that I just can't understand it. There's no way I can live without that type of love.

Eggs... YUCK!!!

Day 13 of the photo challenge was to take a picture of something you hate. Well I HATE eggs!

I hate how they taste, I hate the texture, I hate how they smell. It's even traumatizing to talk about it anymore.

They Grow Up Too Fast

It's my little sister,Olivia's birthday today, she just turned 17. And guess what she decided to do for her 17th birthday weekend... COME VISIT ME!!! I feel so special! Even though we are only half siblings, I still consider whole. I believe family is family, whether blood related, half, step, adopted or really close friends. My family is my past, and hopefully in the future will be my own family. So today's photo is a picture of something you love. I decided to take a picture of my sister.

The something that I love is what we represent together.We have different moms, and only saw each other during my visitations with my dad. I know it's corny, but a saying that comes to mind that describes all my siblings and me together is, "we ride together, we die together.Bad boys for life!" haha But with all joking aside, all my siblings fight for one another, we cry for one another, we support one another. I really wish my younger brother could have come this weekend as well so I could take a picture of him too. Wait... I'll just pull one off facebook.

This is Stefan, my younger brother. I just love him to pieces :) He is only 21, but I truly respect him from the bottom of my heart, as if he was older and wiser than I am. He does such a great job taking care of Olivia, and holding his dating relationship to a righteous standard, and just so much more.

I love my brothers and sisters, I love what we represent together.

Photo Challenge Day 10 and 11

Day 10's photo was someone you're silliest with... well that definitely is Katelynn Grim. Most days we function on the same brain wave, and love a lot of the same stuff, such as being silly. She loves to be spontaneous and go and do so many things, which helps me to stay young and silly hahaha. One of our guilty pleasures is to go to McDonalds after midweek or devos. I went to McDonalds maybe twice in my four years of college... now that we live so close to one and the fact that Katelynn and I have the same late night McDonalds addiction, it's embarrassing, but we love it!

Day 11's photo was a black and white. No explination needed :)

The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating

My roommate, Katelynn, was emailed this link that has a bunch of sermons from the LA church and we've been listening to the one titled "The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating". Oh my word, this is amazing!! I am totally the type of girl to get wrapped up in a love story. I love surprises especially when it has to do with love, so Lord knows that my mind can wander and hope in something that just may not be in his plans. So I have to make sure that I keep my self grounded in his word, and trust in his faithfulness that he has plans to prosper me and to give me hope and a future, whether that includes a husband or not. But I want to listen to the four lessons on these "new rules" and post my notes for those who care to know what I think about this stuff. Maybe you can listen to the lessons too and tell me what you think. Stay tuned!

My Bad Habit

So today's picture of the day is my bad habit. I don't know if I have a lot of bad habits, but the ones I do have are bad enough. :) So this is a picture of some of my pens.

You're probably wondering why this is such a bad habit... well I didn't buy any of these pens or pencils. My bad habit is I am a pen thief. I'm not a criminal, I won't come up with a plan on how to take your pen from you or steal from stores or anything. But if you happen to leave your pen lying around, and I think it's the type of pen that will delicately slide across my page without leaving any ink goups for my hand to rest in, only to graze across my face later on as I scratch my nose, I will take it. The irony is though, I bought like a 50 pack of great pens so I could repent of my ways and not steal anymore, but somehow I'm only down to two pens, one of which doesn't have a cap.

What a Relaxing Weekend!

This past weekend my roommates and I went up to Chantel's cottage on this lake in New Hampshire. It was so beautiful, calm, relaxing, and so much fun! We swam, tanned, jetskiied, tubed, went to get ice cream, and puzzled! I hope we can make it an annual thing. So because we were gone for the weekend I have a few pictures to put up for the photo challenge.

Day 5 was a picture of the sky

Day 6 was a close up picture

Day 7 was a favorite memory from the weekend... My favorite part wasn't the Corona, even though it was the best first Corona I've had. I just didn't take much pictures on my camera so this is kind of all I have for now. Just imagine this picture representing fun and relazation :)

And Mondays picture, Day 8 was something that made you laugh.

The "Gentlemen of That Great Street Called Priscilla", or "the Fab 5", or "The Priscilla Boyz " (they change their name all the time) sent the "Galen Girls" an invitation to dinner via Youtube and I almost peed my pants, I was laughing so hard. This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Today's picture is supposed to be "my bad habit" so I will post this later on today... get excited! :)

Lifesavers

Day 4 of the photo challenge, we are required to take a picture of something green. Today Joe, asked me to make sure he didn't eat all his Lifesavers in one day, so I hid them on my desk. And they're green! Wint O Green to be specific :) Not as an exciting picture as other days :(

Frankie is Crazy!

Day 3 is a picture of your craziest friend... I don't really have crazy friends, but I do have Frankie.

Frankie is awesome... he is so smart and full of Biblical knowledge. He always has a smile on his face and loves to laugh.

My Momma

Day 2

Today's picture is of the person who has been the closest to you for the longest. So this is a picture of my mom and me. Obviously I knew her the longest, but I've always been super close with my mom. I was teased when I was younger because my friends just didn't understand how I could get along with my mom so well.

I guess it's because she was all I had. We didn't have a lot, but what little she had, she made sure I had all of it. She is the strongest person I know, and I would be so blessed to become half the woman she is.

One of the great things about my relationship with my mom is that we can make each other belly laugh for hours!!! Sometimes I don't even know what we're laughing at.

The sweetest sounds to mortals given

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.

~William Goldsmith Brown

I love you Mom :)

Boy Meets World!!!

I was browsing on Pinterest the other day... like usual :) and I saw this picture and description:

“Mom, listen, I haven’t been together with Topanga for 22 years, but we have been together for 16. That’s a lot longer than most couples have been together. I mean, when we were born, you told me that we used to take walks in our strollers together around the block. When we were two, we were best friends. I mean, I knew everything about this girl. I knew her favorite color, her favorite food. Then we became six, Eric made fun of me because it wasn’t cool to have a best friend that was a girl or even know a girl. So for the next seven years I threw dirt at her. I like to call those “the lost years”. Then when I was thirteen, mom, she put me up against my locker and she kissed me. I mean, she gave me my first kiss. She taught me how to dance. She always was talking about these crazy things and I never understood a word she said. All I understood was that she was the girl I sat up every night thinking about, and when I’m with her, I feel happy to be alive. Like I can do anything. Even talk to you like this. So that’s, that’s what I think is love, mom. When I’m better because she’s here.” - Cory Matthews, Boy Meets World

I LOVVVEEEDDD watching Boy Meets World growing up. Whenever the theme song came on, I would throw my hands to side as if I was surfing. Embarrassing, I know. But, with this picture as inspiration, I bought the first 3 seasons off Amazon for like 25.00 for all 3!! So I will definitely be participating in a BMW marathon when they get here :)

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words...

Well in my case, not as many words. If you know me, I'm not very good at keeping up with my blog. But for Day 1, the challenge is to take a picture of yourself and write 10 facts. Taking a picture of yourself can be difficult because, when holding the camera out your arm is always 3x the size of your face. Or you get the tacky reflection picture, where you take a picture of yourself in the mirror.

So anyhooo... this is me :)

And my 10 facts are:

1. I used to be blonde in high school

2. If I could be anything in the world, I would be a carpenter like my grandpa

3. Piggy-backing off #2, I want to design and build my own house one day

4. I organize and think in blocks of color, hence my movies being organized by color and not alphabetically

5. I could spend all day in the Norman Rockwell Museum

6. It took me 20 minutes to get to school one day, where it normally took 7 minutes, because there was a cow in the middle of the street

7. I was terrified of dogs until college, I couldn't even walk on the same side of the street

8. I love Jesus

9. I'm extremely gullible

10. I want to learn how to cook without recipes

Our friendship is now 10 facts deeper :)