Apple Chips - Recipe

I made apple chips yesterday.  All three boys were taking a nap. So, I thought I'd make them some apple chips.

I used 2 gala apples. I cored the middle, you don't have to though.  Oh! First pre-heat the oven at 220F.

I sliced the apples with a mandoline slicer.  While I was slicing the other apple, I set the first slices in a bowl of lemon water to prevent browning.

Heat 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of sugar to light boil. I put them in for a minute or less.

I set them on a paper towel while I was waiting for the oven to pre-heat.  This is the time that you can add spices to it, like cinnamon. But I like it simple with nothing on it.

Now, you can see how dirty our oven is! lol Oh, yes, the apple slices. One tray = 1 apple.

Bake for about 25 min, take it out and flip them over to dry both sides of the slices and another 25 min for the other side. total of 50 minutes.

And D approves! :D
D loved it so much that he ate all of it (2 apple worth). I think S and I only got 1 or 2 chips. It's ok, I don't mind. :)

Happy Friday

Since I didn't do a "Happy Friday" last week... I'm going to try to remember as much as I can. :)

1. I got to spend time with many of Grandma K's family and friends. The memorial service was on Friday, Nov. 11. It was a beautiful memorial service. I, personally, knew that Grandma K was a wonderful person, but after hearing so, so many people talk about her really touched me. She will be greatly missed. Sundays and Holidays will not be the same without her.  I got to meet S's Aunt's family, Aunt Kathy, and many others.  Hanging out with them was great too. Just bunch of great people!  Of course they are! They're family!

2. I ran a 5k on Nov. 12. It was for Girls on the Run over at Town Center Plaza. I've been sick, mostly congested. Unfortunately, I have no been running to keep up with my time. But I was determined to run.
There were so many kids there, I had to try to keep up with them! They were so fast!!!
I'm glad that they were, because I ran my best 5k yet!! 30:51 seconds!  S and the boys waited for me at the finish line. It was cute to hear D tell me that he saw me running :)

3.  I'm so proud of C. He's been starting to talk a little more. He's still working on a few syllabus, but I think it's getting close! Apparently he's been saying 'purple' 'sit' 'blue' at daycare.

4. I made apple crisps for the first time. they were delicious!!!  I would post pictures, but I ate them all! :P

5. If you didn't know I am part of the local street team on Etsy called KCEtsy.  I've been calling around empty spaces to see if we can have a craft show. One of the places called back! I'm super excited. I'm going to take a look at the space on Monday to see how many people we can fit in there! I'm really hoping to share the exciting news that we'll have a craft there on Dec. 3!!

Pressed4Time - Review

Pressed4Time voucher was purchased through Groupon.
The voucher was for $30.

Time is something we don't have. Regardless when we had kids or not. Before kids, we would iron our clothes... I think either S and I did it (whenever we could) about once every other week of a full hour of just ironing all the clothes that needed ironing. This is BC (Before Children).  But even then, we still were crunching for time.
But now, I think I'm just lazy. haha. I don't think we've ironed our clothes for a very long time.

When I saw the voucher, I was like. I NEED this!

Since it was for $30, I really had a hard time trying to come up with $30 worth. The prices were incredibly reasonable.  Since they didn't go out to our house, I had them pick up and drop off from my work place.

I'm at work longer during the day than at home. So, it all worked out.

We used the voucher in September.
I did call them once to ask about the voucher -- left a message, but they didn't call back. I really don't even remember what my question is now. It probably wasn't a big deal.
I called them again a week later -- left a message to set up time.
Shelly called me back and she was going to pick up around noon, and drop off 3 days later at the same time.

The clothes were dropped off at the receptionist desk. The receptionist told me that people were questioning and thought it was a good idea to do dry cleaning that way. I can't complain. It worked out pretty well.

They gave me a bag for future drop offs.

We used to go to Pride Cleaners, but Pressed4Time is much more convenient!

I rate Pressed4Time:  5 out of 5

P.S. I just want to make it clear that no one paid for any of our vouchers. We purchase them as we need them and I write reviews on them. If you have different experience, feel free to comment. Not everyone has the same opinions.

Pierpont's Restaurant - Review

Pierpont's was purchased through Groupon. It was a voucher for $40.

S and I took his parents out to lunch. It has been a crazy week for them due to preparation and everything with Grandma K's passing.

We thought it'd be nice to take them out.
We went to Pierpont's on a Thursday for lunch.

S and Mom had Blue Crab  & Sweet Corn Bisque to start.

Dad and I had a salad. Dad had the Walnut & Pear Salad and I had the Classic Caesar Salad.

For our entree:
S, Dad, and I had the Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin ($14). Mom had the Sauteed Rainbow Trout ($14).

The three of us that had the tenderloin thought it was delicious and it was just the perfect portion for lunch. The tenderloin was cooked well for our liking. S had it medium rare. Dad and I had medium.
Mom thought the trout was delicious as well.
Needless to say, we cleaned our plate.

For Dessert we ordered: 
S and Mom ordered the White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Dad ordered Key Lime Tart
I ordered the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee.
We all ordered coffee. We're all coffee drinkers.

Steve and Mom enjoyed their pudding, but the waitress put too much rum on their pudding to where it was overwhelming. Steve thought the pudding would have been better if it wasn't so cold. I always thought bread pudding should be warm. But he said it wasn't that great. Mom didn't finish her's.


Even though Dad didn't say much about the tart, I could tell it wasn't his favorite.


The vanilla bean creme brulee was okay. I cannot say it was the best I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst.  They put a lot powdered sugar on the creme brulee. It almost felt like that they premade the creme brulee with the sugar burnt on it.... instead of burning the sugar before bringing it out.


The coffee is the issue.  It was the only thing that we all had the same.


I started to feel 'uncomfortable' during the drive home.... I had requested that S not stop at any yellow lights! S started to feel sick maybe 30 minutes after we got home. Later we found out that Mom and Dad had to make a pit stop on their way home. Dad later felt sick, about the same time as S.


So, I'm going to tell you now... maybe not drink their coffee.


Oh yes, the service. Meh. It was okay. The waitress waited a long time to refill my water. It went to empty twice. It took her a long time to take our credit card. And with her putting too much rum on the pudding didn't help either.


Overall, I rate Pierpont's: 3.5 out of 5

I'll probably go back for the entrees. ... definitely not for their coffee!

Banana Crunch Top Muffins

Grandma K passed this morning. S got a call from his dad about 5:45am. We rushed to get ready. S left first and I waited for his call. As soon as the kids woke up, I got them ready for my parents.

I got to the Hospice about 7:20am. She looked really peaceful. She's probably smiling down at us right now. This has been really hard on S. When he's emotionally caught up in something, he just starts not feeling so well.
The boys do not really understand all this.

So, I made a comfort food/snack.  Banana Bread ... kind of.

Banana with crunchy top muffins - 12 muffins. 375 degrees.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 banana mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

1. Mix the dries together (flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl
2. Mix mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and butter in large bowl.
3. Put the dries in to the wet.
4. You can use liner or spray the muffin tin. I sprayed the pans. Put batter in the tin.
5. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter. Mix it until it resembles like a streusel mix
6. Put mix over batter.
7. Bake for 17 - 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I did mine 20 min, and it was perfect.

The boys loved it :)




As I was about to post pictures.... I accidentally deleted them :(
So, I'll take a picture of the boys eating them tomorrow morning! :)

Happy Friday

I think I'm going to try [or attempt] to do this every Friday. I'm really trying to be a better blogger.

I'm going to list 5 things that made me happy this week.  If you know me, it is incredibly difficult for me since I seriously forget what I eat the day before...

So, here is goes.

1. D (Child #1) not going to bed (sometime this week). I think it was 9pm, it was late for the little guy. We tucked him in like 3 times already. We didn't notice him until he was at his last couple steps on the stairs. His last step had a huge grin. He ran straight to S's leg. and hugged him. D knew he was suppose to be in bed. He was so cute! I picked him up, and I said, "do you know who is suppose to be in bed?" He looked at me and smiled and buried his face into my shoulder. That made me smile/happy.
I'm combining this one with D's Halloween. It's his first Halloween where he's excited to go trick or treating.

2. Grandma K. It was last week when we found out she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. It was such a shock. She was perfectly fine and it suddenly happened. We saw her on Monday. S and I went by the hospice. It was such a sad moment... watching her laying there. We talked to her for a little bit. I mostly cried. The happy moment was when I got to tell her how much we loved her before she became non-responsive later this week. She's so special in our lives.

3. C (Child #2). I think D and C are going to be in on my list every week. lol. As much as I love to hold him, he only wants me to hold him all the time. If S holds him, he'll reach out toward me and sometimes cry or wiggle out of S's arms. There is not a moment where I can set him down. IF I do, he'll get right back up... cry as he do it of course, and follow me with his tears. why did you have to set me down momma? ... well deary, momma has to go pee.  It makes me happy that he wants me to hold him. ... I know he won't want me to hold him when he's 18.

4. I haven't been feeling very well. Not like I'm deathly sick or anything. My tongue has been swelling, not like allergies, and it feels like I burnt it or something. Which I didn't. I haven't eaten anything unusual. So, it's been like this since last week. I've been super stressed out about it because I've really lost my appetite. It hurts my tongue to eat... and i love to eat. This whole situation has made me unhappy.
Here's the happy part. :) My doctor who is extremely busy. extremely. I called to her nurse to let her know what's going on. My doctor later had the nurse call me to tell me to come in. So, I'm waiting on the patient's table/bed thing. My doctor comes in and I feel bad. because I know she's busy. So, I tell her that I know "she's busy and all." She cuts me off [probably because she's busy! I wasn't offended that she cut me off from my sentence], and says, "We are totally booked today.  But we like you. So, I wanted to see what's going on and have you come in."
So, I'm happy because my doctor likes me. LOL. So lame, isn't it?

5. Sandiego.schmap.com used my picture that I took when S and I went on our babymoon (when I was pregnant with D) to San Diego. I didn't realize that I was such a good photographer. lol

New Dream House

I've always dreamed of a nice lake house ...
Today, I changed my mind.

Yes...

This is the house. ... when we retire.

This house was built by Simon Dale with his family and friends in Wales.

I love how it's part of a hill. It's low-impact, and just a really cozy home.

The plan is really simple. I wish he had drew grade lines. I'd like to know the grade of the hill.

What's taking you so long? Com' on! Let's go in!

Oooo!!! Ahhhh!!!!
Look at the light coming in! It's a miniature Panteon! Beautiful!

It's like it right out of Lord of the Rings! So cozy!!!

I'm going to say that the fire looks a little fake.
But it's still lovely (the room, not fire).

Interesting section cut.

Overall, it's pretty cool huh?

moving... blogs.

so, I've decided that I have too many blogs. two really. I'd just like to focus on one. so I don't have to keep going back and forth.

I'm going to be moving my posts over to my personal/family blog.

All craft and family posts will be combined. Feel free to check it out.

Sorry if this will be causing any trouble.

I'll probably be posting more... I do reviews of vouchers to local Kansas City area places that we purchase from deal sites (i.e. Groupon, Living Social, etc.)

I think that's it. This is my last post here.

Operation Craft Room Part 2

[VERY] slowly, but surely...
the room is getting cleaned.

I'm hoping to have the walls painted by end of this year.

Here is the link to what the room used to look like.

Blanc Burgers - Review

Blanc Burgers was purchased through Groupon. It was a $20 voucher.

S and I decided to go to Blanc Burgers for our much needed date night. We went there the same night as the Fire show at the Plaza. Parking was absolutely terrible! We seriously spent an hour looking for a parking spot. I was getting so hungry - it was almost 7. lol, I know, 7pm isn't even that late! Our normal dinner time is around 630pm, and if you know me... when I'm hungry... I get angry and sometimes turn green, possibility looking like the Hulk. So, I told S to park further away and we can walk... it's a good way to walk off dinner too right? See, I'm thinking! lol

The wait. oh the wait. It was 40 minutes. So, we didn't really sit down until almost 8pm.  Can you imagine what my angry face looked like when the hostess told me 40-45 minutes?

But... patient ol' me, waited the lovely 40 minutes.

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures. I think my mind was more focused on when I'll be eating.

Since I was about to eat the menu, We orderd fries and onion rings first to come out. They came out in cute little shopping carts! Both were delicious! There were two different sauces. One is homemade ketchup, and the other was Chipotle aioli. Both delicious. I like how the homemade ketchup wasn't runny, it's not as good as Heinz, but still pretty darn good. Yes, I love my Heinz ketchup.  There are some places that make their own ketchup and it's super runny.
I ordered the Bison burger, and S ordered the Au Poivre.
I think S's burger was a little too peppery because he'll sometimes start coughing after he takes a bite or two.
I really enjoyed my Bison burger. It was what the waitress recommended.

All in all, I thought the burgers were delicious. I wish mine was a teeny tiny bit pinker. But it was still good. Can't complain!

And of course, we ordered dessert! :)
We ordered the salted caramel shake! DELICIOUS!!! Definitely would go back for that!

The environment was lively, fun and modern decor.

Overall, we had a good time. Good service and good food!

I rate Blanc Burgers: 4.5 out of 5.

We went to the one on the plaza, next time if we decide to go there, we need to make sure there wasn't an event going on! lol

Our Halloween

D as a robot and C as a monster.

The boys, technically D, had a really good Halloween. C.... not so much. He's been teething and it's really put him in the worst of moods :(  Soon, this will pass.

S took D trick or treating, which he was super excited for!
C wasn't too excited that I was taking candy out of the bowl.
I asked all the older kids who didn't wear a costume what they were suppose to be. haha, they responded with "Uhhhh...." ... then I told them to go! lol I'm just kidding, I gave them candy any way. haha, I'm not that cruel!

Hopefully it'll be a better Halloween for C next year.

We hope you had a great one too... with no teething kids!