Food Fun Friday- Refrigerator Oatmeal

This is a great meal,

either for breakfast or lunch.

You DO have to like oatmeal.
Remember that it is going to be cold oatmeal.  Nice on a HOT day, not so nice on a freezing cold day..
I found this over at www.theyummylife.com.  She has beautiful pictures many varieties of refrigerator oatmeal.   

This is the way I like to make it:
basic recipe:
1/3C old fashioned rolled oatmeal
1/3C Greek yogurt (basically a small tub)
1/3C milk (any kind)
1 1/2tsp chia seeds
now you can make your own 'mix' up.  Here's what I did.
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1 large Tbl raspberry jam (from Aunt Kathryn)
1/3C strawberries (cut into chunks, enough to fill the jar)

Using a small mason jar, add the basic recipe and the flavoring (vanilla extract or almond extract, honey etc.) *(here's your tip)Shake/Mix all this up together now.  There needs to be moisture to mix with ALL the oatmeal.  If it looks too dry and doesn't mix well, add more milk or yogurt.
After you have all the oatmeal mixed up together, add the fruit.  I added cut up strawberries and frozen peaches. 
Leave it overnight.
In the morning shake and mix it up.
You can add more honey or sweetener if it needs it.
I only make two or three at a time.
It tasted good for lunch after sitting for two days... but it wasn't as good on that cold rainy day.  My tummy wanted something warm!

1. you have to like oatmeal
2. know that it is a cold treat
3. shake shake shake

They have these cool freezer jars that are plastic so you don't have to worry about dropping them!

Wednesday Wisdom

I was feeling extremely grumpy today.. so I wasn't even going to post a Wednesday Wisdom... till I read this:


“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” President Gordon B. Hinckley

GO BRIGHTEN SOMEONE'S DAY !

are you having a bad day?

a night at the beach

It's week 4 in the Anne Frank room... it seems we get out more ...see the sights and such

Can you see the lighthouse WAYYYY out there at the end of the spit, just under Mt. Baker

 Watch out the tides coming in.

(a nice end to a lovely day up here in the Pacific Northwest.  (and there's Canada out there in the distance!!! hi Victoria)

thinking about Monday

Wednesday Wisdom

yes, this true and thanks for the reminder!

Before and Afters

Lots of pictures for you today.
We went and saw Grandma Katherine last weekend.  And surprise all the kids were there (well all but Don).

What I want to show you is: Grandma Katherine has gained over 40 pounds since she's been in this 'short term' nursing home.
This is from 9/10

9/10

1/11

and now

4/12

We are happy that she is well enough to eat breakfast while feeding herself!

Another before and after is my mom's house. 

Here it is in all her glory, 

 My Mother just LOVES the color.

Well I don't know how many men would like living in a pink house?  now it looks like this:

We can only hope that it will finally sell!

Picture perfect

this is what I look like right now

Food Fun Friday- Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli

A great crockpot recipe that didn't take hardly any effort.  We will DEFINITELY have this again!!! and once again no pictures... too yummy to stop to take pictures!!

Crockpot Beef and Broccoli
1 lb boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 C beef consomme
1/2 C soy sauce
1/3 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water
Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)
Hot cooked rice

Place beef in crockpot.
In a small bowl, combine consomme, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil and garlic.  Pour over beef.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
In a cup, stir cornstarch and water until smooth.  Add to crockpot.  Stir well to combine.
Blanch broccoli florets and add to the crock pot.  Stir to combine.
Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes on HIGH or until thickened.
Serve over hot, cooked rice.
Enjoy.

recipe found in the 365 days of slow-cooking cookbook.

Wednesday Wisdom

Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It's a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don't have. It's so simple - yet so hard for the human mind to comprehend.

oh come on, you KNOW I usually pick the 'wisdoms' I need to hear... 

and one more I need to hear:

 

There is no one giant step that does it.  It's a lot of little steps.

 Peter A. Cohen

Beautiful Weekend

We've had a beautiful weekend.  I wanted to take a couple of pictures to remember Sequim when ever I leave.

 a little hazy, but the mountains were beautiful

 I'll bet the sunrise service down at the beach was inspiring.

 still plenty of snow in the mountains

 

now here is where it got interesting, there was this weird 'cloud' that kept following us:

  

cloud? ? ? or UFO

Trust issues??

this is for you!(explains the trust issues)

Food Fun Friday

easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy-easy

Living in a small space ALSO defines your cooking.

This is a small delicious meal, and what's the word I'm looking for? 

EASY

Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Breast
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1 C Greek yogurt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
and obviously chicken breasts (about 3)

spread mix over chicken breasts
bake at 375 for 45 minutes

THAT'S IT
(although next time I would pound the chicken breasts so the creamy/cheesy goodness has more area to cover).  And maybe for an extra kick, use red pepper flakes!

from food.com

Wednesday Wisdom

New Beginnings

Here's to new beginnings.
Life has a way of moving on.
We have sold our cute honeymoon house.
We packed up everything and put it in storage.
(Well everything but the piano we took that to my moms)  
...And now we "live" in a room at my mom's house that we affectionately call the Anne Frank room. It is not a place we hope to be in for long. More like a stop over.  

You would think that I would have lots of time now.  Frankly there is never enough time. run run run to get everything done.......then spend the left overtime looking at pinterest (wink wink)

After a week of packing up and moving into storage, we took off and had a fun couple of days in Arizona:

Lauren's office 

 the many faces of Carson..

 

he may or maynot love a bath 

 

little fairy princess 

the newly engaged couple

Wedding dress shopping

And really it only served to make me miss them all the more.

Speaking of missing things....I miss all my bloggy friends! ! ! !
I don't know how long it will take me to catch up. It actually frightens me because I don't think I'll ever catch up!!

I plan to keep blogging so friends and family can catch up. I don't think I can blog everyday- but I promise to keep you all updated, informed and by all means entertained.

Life is in flux~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Well just have to see how it all plays out