a recipe that will slay you & a dining room makeover

 Disclaimer: I 100% realize this is quite a random post. Just roll with it homies.

Yesterday I decided that I just wasn't quite ready for it to be Monday, so C and I pretended it was still the weekend and did a whole bunch of nothing yesterday. We did go grocery shopping but somehow those trips have morphed into a happy place for me. C laughing as I sway the cart while pushing is just becoming sort of "our thing". Plus I'm pretty sure Bob Harper would give me the biggest high five if he could look over what I was buying seeing as it was allll healthy... of course, I'd hide the frozen pizza behind my back and cross fingers he wouldn't see it. That and the oreos, and the cheeze its. Okay, it was mostly healthy. Baby steps people.

Anyways in our attempt to extend the weekend, we decided to have my dad over and my brothers for some Chicken Kabobs. Did I mention I surprised Husband with a grill and all it's accessories for Father's day/Anniversary?? Cause I did. I finally totally nailed gift giving with him. He always trumps me. Gotcha this time babe! BOOM! ohhhhhhhhh and I painted the dining room and our long hallway. Our table was delivered and just waiting for him to see it!!! More details on that later, I promise! Not ready to share it all now bc 1. I haven't finished decorating and 2. I totally goofed up and it has to be fixed, but that also means that I'm getting a second table! WHOOP! Like I said more on all that later, but in the meantime... check out my sponsor over there to the right. Furious Endeavors made the table legs and did a FANTASTIC job. I'm actually going to order more for the second table.

And now for a recipe. I've totally slacked on posting recipes on this here blog, but I want to do a better job. Wanting and doing though, yeah, they are very different.

The marinade for the chicken is hands down one of my most favorites ever. I told josh I feel like this is one of the best meals we've ever prepared and eaten. Partly because it was a join effort and partly because it was daaannnnnng good.

Honey Cilantro Chicken (kabobs): 

1/4cup honey
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2tbsp regular mustard
1/4 cup cilantro
Chopped pineapple for the kabobs (if baking, you could lay pineapple rings on top.. yum!)

Mix together and marinade the chicken (whole or chopped depending on its use) for as long as you have time for. I did two hours and it was wonderful, can't imagine what overnight would taste like.

If you are making kabobs, be sure to soak your wood skewers for thirty minutes before cooking. Chop up any veggies you like and arrange! Grill for about 15 mins total turning the kabobs every 3-4 minutes. 

Make that. TONIGHT!

easy peasy VDAY cookies

Friday night we stayed in. I was craving something sweet but didn't have ingrediants for my cupcake challenge. So, I worked with what I had. Thus, my favorite cookies ever shortbread cookies were made. I also happened to find that nifty cookie press in my cabinets a few weeks back. I forgot all about that bad boy! They took like 10 minutes total to prepare. Husband devoured them. 

Cut the recipe in half or you'll have these to munch on for days. 

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Add the flour, salt, and powdered sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add in the vanilla, the butter and the 1 teaspoon of water. Pulse together just until a dough is formed. 

Form into any shape you want. Use a cookie cutter or go ghetto style and use a tooth pick to shape the cookies. Get creative people. 

Bake until the edges are just light brown, about 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans half way through the baking process. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Tansfer to wire racks and cool until room temperature. Enjoy!

Tips: Store in airtight container for up to a week or freeze uncooked log for up to a month.

The Cupcake Challenge: Cupcake Numero Uno

hahaha = Last nights epic dinner fail.
I tried two new recipes on Pinterest. My gosh they turned out horrible in my opinion. Husband ate every bite and swore it was still good. Isn't he the sweetest?

I was pretty darn frustrated that my dinner was a flop. Determined to make up for it, I made cupcakes.

I found this PIN on pinterest a few weeks back. I really want to enhance my baking skills. I do alright cooking wise, ignoring last nights failure. But, baking isn't my strong suit. Somehow, I always manage to over cook cakes or desserts. Baking is my kryptonite. (fun fact, I just googled "superman's weakness" to check out how to spell kryptonite.HA!)

So, in order to push myself a little I'm doing:

Yep, 31 flavors of cupcakes. I'm going to master them all. No, I will not be making one a day. The recipe makes about 20 cupcakes. If I made a new one everyday, husband and I might die of cupcake overdose. I'm thinking 2 or 3 a month. Extra bonus, I'm going to send the leftovers to friends and family. My popularity should grow leaps and bounds:)

Last night, I made the first one. Husband picked Sour Cream Raspberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. (we aren't going in order, instead, we are going by what sounds the best at the moment, which is a much better way to go about it, right?)

They turned out kind of amazing. Okay, really amazing. Like it's 11 in the morning now, and I may or may not be munching down on one as I type. So so so good!

Here's the recipe:

I stirred my raspberries in a little more so that they really mushed down, and the batter turned purple. So much more fun!

Want to join in the challenge? Email me (katie dot kubler at yahoo dot com) I'll email you a few days before I make the next one, you can email me your images of how your cupcakes turned out (and if you did anything different to the recipe), and I'll include them in my post!) Don't feel like you have to do every cupcake like me, if you miss one or don't like one... that's okay:)

We can better the world through cupcakes together:) Happy Baking!

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Since C has yet to arrive, I decided to make enchiladas last night so I could freeze the left overs for after he is born. I've always been intimidated by enchiladas for some reason, but these were so easy and so so good! I've now got 7 meals in the freezer for after C is born! WHOOP:)

*1.5 pounds of ground beef or chicken. (about 4 chicken breasts)
*2 cans cream of chicken
*1 16 ounce sour cream
*2 cans whole green chilis (chopped or diced)
*1 chopped onion
*2 dozen tortillas (I bought two packs of 10)
*shredded cheese

1. Boil and shred chicken
2. Mix soups, sour cream, and chilies. (heat in microwave until a little warm)
3. Microwave tortillas for a few seconds. You  just want them warm so they roll easily.
4. Spoon a little bit of soup mixture onto a tortilla. Top with chicken, onion, and cheese.
5. Wrap tightly and place in 9x13. Repeat step four until you run out of chicken. (I had to use a 9x13 and one smaller pan)
6. When done, pour the remainder of soup mixture (you should have a ton left over) on top of tortillas.
7. Take a knife and separate tortillas so mix gets inbetween them.
8. Sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake at 350 for 30-45 mins. Cover with foil last 5 mins if cheese looks like it might be burning.

YUMMY! They were so delish and I had an entire 9x13 pan left over to freeze.

#score

If you came over for coffee this week...

You would probably have been very very bored. I haven't had a lot to do this week, but relax and get ready for C. 

Monday I started decorating my new shelves. I'm not totally pleased with how they look. I figure it will be an ongoing process of changing things around and adding new things. Husbands work gig got canceled so we ended up having an impromptu date night to Cracker Barrel. Mmmm those biscuits steal my heart every time.

Tuesday, a sweet friend from church came and cleaned my bathrooms to perfection. I'm not kidding they are spotless. It was such a blessing, and I can not express how thankful I am.  I also made homemade spaghetti sauce from scratch. It was divine! I froze half the batch for after C comes. That makes 5 meals in my freezer that Josh can heat up for after baby comes:)!!!

Italian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe:

-1 pound ground beef (I used 3 zucchini instead of ground beef simply bc it doesn't sound appealing during this pregnancy. It was good, but I might use meat next time)

-2 cups chopped onion

-1 cup chopped celery

-1/2 chopped green bell pepper

-1 teaspoon minced garlic

-2 tbl Worcestershire sauce

-1 large can of mushrooms sliced with the juice 

-2 tbl chili powder

-1 can tomato paste

-28oz petite tomatos

-2 tsp salt

-pepper to taste

-1 tsp sugar

-1 bay leaf

-1/2 tsp parsley

-1/2 basil

1. Brown the meat. 

2. add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to meat. Cook for a little bit

3. add all other ingredients and let simmer for several hours. I put my in the crock pot at this point and let simmer on low for 3 hours and then put it on high for 1.5 more hours. You mainly just want to keep it on heat so all the flavors can mesh well. I did end up adding more sugar and basil.

4. you will use an entire box of angel hair pasta, or freeze the remainder of the sauce like I did;)

I didn't feel very good on Wednesday and spent most of the day on the couch. Nausea hit hard for some reason. I made dinner and then Josh and I went to our Wednesday night class at church. It was nice to get out of the house, but when we got home, I was so tired. I would have been pretty poor company that day. It was my 39 week mark, though! WHOOP! See my post here:)

Thursday, I tried everything I could think of to get this sweet baby to come. Nothing worked:( we went on a date night to Olive Garden (love Giftcards). Friday I had an appointment. Doctor said I'm still only 1cm, but I'm 70% effaced. I scheduled an induction for October 11th if he doesn't come on his own. I really think we will come before then. We went to eat with Josh's mom at Kyotos that night.

I'm spending my weekend shooting a bridal session and walking and walking and walking and lots of other things trying to convince this little guy to make an appearance. 

Come on C!

If you came over for coffee this week...

On Monday, I FINALLY finished and hung my plate wall. I attached paper clips with hot glue to the back of each plate and used command hooks for the wall. I love how it turned out:) The plates are from thrift stores and Anthropology.

I also would have shown you on Monday that I finished my chalkboard canvases and hung them in the kitchen...

One last thing I did Monday before Josh and I headed to my MIL for dinner, was finding a nook for my old bread door/shelf. It's been in my garage for almost a year. I haven't been quite sure where I wanted to put it. I decided on my dining room for now...

Monday was pretty busy for me. Tuesday, however, was much more relaxed. Praise Jesus! I did however make another pair of baby leggings for C. I love them:)

We could have sat outside on Tuesday during coffee time because the weather was UNREAL. You would have experienced the craziness that is Finn with a ball. I would have shown you a new book I started. It's totally about pregnant woman ha!

I would have shown you C's organized closet! Finally have just about every single thing washed and ready for C!!

You could have helped me make dinner. I made homemade rolls and soup! Recipes can be found here:)

On Wednesday, I would have told you how I'm 38 weeks and SOOOOOO ready to have C! 

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 38 weeks:)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 29 pounds at my last two doc visits!

Maternity Clothes: all the way, but comfy clothes and husband's t-shirts. 

Best Moment this Week: spending time at home getting house stuff done and checked off my list!

Gender: a BOY! Canaan Allen Kubler

Movement: I feel every little thing. He is constantly moving. Mostly at night!

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular. my appetite is pretty normal.

Food aversions: red meat still. I just don't want it.

What I Miss: a full nights sleep.

Sleep: I get sleep in between pee breaks and I'm taking naps most days.

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully having Canaan NEXT WEEK!!
Belly Button: It's stretched out. Only pokes out if he is kicking right by it.

On Thursday, you could have come over and helped me clean:) It was about time I got some of that stuff done! I also met up with some friends for an impromptu girls night. Josh had a practice come up, so I got Mexican and Starbucks with some girlies! So nice to do because I know they will be rare for a while.

On Friday, Josh and I went to my doctor's appointment. We heard that sweet sweet fast heartbeat. Goodness I LOVE that sound. Doc is hoping I have him this week, if not, her goal was for me to be 3-4 cm on Friday, so she could induce me on my due date. She is going out of town the day after. So, fingers crossed he comes this week! Please pray that he does. Josh and I are beyond ready to meet him. Friday night, Josh and I got dinner with our good friends (and Josh's boss), George and Joy Ross. We went to dinner at the Butcher Shop. I love these two tremendously and I'm so thankful for their accountability and counseling.

Saturday, we could totally not have gotten coffee because Josh and I spent the day at my parents. Josh and my dad built me these shelves from subtle takeover. I sold some things around the house on FB to buy the kit. I totally helped them build the shelves by going shopping with my mom. Trust me, that's me helping. Husband said he followed the easy directions EXACTLY...

 That night, we had Weaver family night. We ate breakfast food and carved "fake" pumpkins (so they would last year to year) I haven't finished mine yet, but it will be an owl:) We also planned a Weaver family vacation for 2013. I seriously can NOT wait!!

Sunday after church, my dad came over to help Josh hang the shelves! Thanks dad! I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. Now, I did mention that husband said he followed the directions exactly. I believe him... yet, somehow, they turned out a little lopsided in some areas. I personally love it still because it's added character. However, if you buy the shelves for yourself, I would check, re-check, and maybe even email subtle takeover for more clear directions so you don't end up with a slanting shelf

Here's how it looks on the website: 

I think once I really decorate them, you won't be able to notice the shelf furthest to the right and how bad it slants. I love the rustic, homemade look, so it truly doesn't bother me that much. I can't wait to get them all decorated. Maybe if you come over for coffee next week, you can help me:)