Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Blackberry (well, any berry) Cobbler


The weekend before we left for Germany, Kevin, Rosalie, and I went for a walk. On our walk we came across an empty Italian home that had blackberry bushes growing wild out through the fence. We decided to pick some. We ended up picking A LOT lol. We knew we would never eat them in one day, so we decided to freeze them and I would make something yummy when we got back from Germany. I must say this Cobbler was ohhh soooo yummy. Kevin loved the cobbler part, but he decided he doesn't like the grittiness of blackberries. I'm going to try it again with a different berry, preferably blue. I have no doubt in my mind that this will taste delicious with any type of berry or fruit!

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients:
1/2c butter + 1/4c butter
1 1/2 c self rising flour. I DID NOT have this, so I substituted with 1 1/2c all purpose + 1/4 teas salt + 2 1/4teas baking powder = perfect.
1/3c milk
1 c water
2 tbls sugar
4 cups of blackberries (cleaned)
cinnamon

  • Melt 1/4c butter and pour into a baking pan. (i used a large corningware dish and it worked out perfectly. Unfortunately after the cobbler was all gone and i was washing it, I accidentally dropped it and broke it. danggggggg. Now what I am going to use for my cobbler?!??!?!) You aren't going to want a very large pan, but something some what deep.
  • Set the buttery dish aside.
  • Place flour (or flour combination as I had to make) in a bowl. Cut 1/2c butter in until fine crumbs. It is much easier to cut the butter in when it is softened. (don't you dare soften it with a the microwave! Let it soften naturally!!!)
  • Add 1/3 c of milk
  • In a small saucepan heat 2 tbls sugar and 1 c of water until sugar melts.
  • Split your dough mixture in half. Lay half of it onto the butter pan and work it out til it touches the sides.
  • Spread berries onto dough.
  • Sprinkle berries with some cinnamon. (However much you like!)
  • Place the other half dough on top of berries and cinnamon. Work it until it touches the sides. Be very careful not to smash your berries!
  • Sprinkle top with cinnamon.
  • Pour water and sugar mixture over the top. I know what you're thinking OMG this is a mess! It's going to look like a water logged mess, but trust me, it will bake beautifully!!!
  • Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
  • Remove and sprinkle with sugar and return to oven for 15 more minutes or until nice and golden brown!
  • Serve warm with icecream and or cool whip! When eating it after it has set, pop it in the microwave for about 15 secs.. PERFECT!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Family Photoshoot.. Warning Picture Overload.

On the day before the 4th of July I had to go to the base to deliver bows. On my way home I spotted this perfect little spot down a lil farming road to take some pictures. I ran home and snagged up Kevin and Rosalie and we went and had some fun. I loved how they turned out and I even ordered a bunch of prints to make a wall collage in our room. These aren't the family pictures we had done this past weekend, these were just Kevin and I playing around the with the camera. I'm just now getting around to uploading them onto blogger!
























Sesame Street Live

I have so many different things to catch up on.. I'm really trying! I've posted more this week than I did all last month! lol! Kevin's been working ridiculous hours lately and Rosalie and I hardly ever see him. They were suppose to be on 12 hour shifts all last week and it kind of bummed me out because Sesame Street Live was coming to the base and we wouldn't be able to make any of the shows. If Kevin would work a normal shift, we would be able to catch the last one on Thursday. Kevin came home Wednesday night and announced that he would be working until 4 on Thursday instead of 6!

We got up early so we could take Kevin to work. We left for the base around 2 because i had a PILE of errands to run. After I got all of my errands done I went across town to another part of the base and picked up Subway for dinner and then went back to Kevin's shop. Kevin changed at work, we ate, and then headed to the show!

We made the mistake and got there 20 minutes early. That was 20 minutes of trying to keep Rosalie sitting in one spot. Not exactly easy. lol.

When the show started her face LIT up like a Christmas tree when she saw Elmo. For the first half she kind of just sat there and watched, mesmerized. Finally she got up and started dancing and having a good ole time!

I'm so grateful for the things the USO does for military families!











Monday, August 1, 2011

Weightloss

Since having Rosalie I have lost 60+ lbs. (Almost 65lbs to be exact) Last summer and fall I was doing great with my weightloss.. then around last Christmas I put some of the weight back on. I decided for my New Years Resolution I wanted to lose 20lbs during the deployment, which I did! That brought me to where I'm at now. Since Kevin has been back I have yo-yo'ed the same 3-4 lbs. Last week I got back on the wagon and I'm back to my -65lbs. Kevin and I were talking in the car just the other day how after I had Rosalie I told myself if I lost 50 lbs I would be happy with myself. 50 lbs later I wasn't happy. I started putting some of it back on. I told myself that if I lost the 20 lbs during the deployment I would be happy with myself. 20 lbs later, I still wasn't happy. I'm back to my pre pregnancy weight, but I'm shooting for my high school weight. I keep telling myself that if I can manage to get down another 10-15lbs I would be happy. I guess I won't know until I reach that goal if I truly will ever be happy with myself. I guess I just don't see the results. Sure I've had to buy new clothes 3 times now, but I just don't my hard work paying off...

until now.

I compared our family pictures from last year to this year.. and yeah, I guess i do see a difference!

Fam[ily]

I know I've been the world's worst blogger lately lol. We've been terribly busy. We had family pictures yesterday with PumpkinCharm Photography. I got a sneak peek this morning and I love them so far! I just wanted to share!