Coconut Curry Hawaiian Haystacks

I really enjoy finding recipes on pinterest and then not following them. I can't be the only one that does this. Usually it turns out good, sometimes not.

The hubby came back from snowboarding with his face looking very sun-kissed (or sun-slapped) So I decided to make something tropical to feed the poor sore man.

So here's a recipe for you.

Coconut Curry Hawaiian Haystacks

This is my Mom's recipe, with a Toni Spin.

I always seem to end up on the phone with her when I'm cooking. The conversations usually go: So I'm making (insert food) for dinner. What do I do?


Haystack Sauce:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Lemon Pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can milk
1 packet chicken gravy mix (mixed according to directions)
1 tsp Curry


Cut up your chicken breast into small chunks.

Cook your chicken chunks in a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkled with lemon pepper in a skillet on your stove. (Do I measure things, Nahh.)

When the chicken is cooked through, add your can of cream of chicken soup, Rinse out the rest of the soup by filling that can up about halfway with milk. Add that to the mixture.

Mix your packet of chicken gravy with the water (mine called for a cup) and add to the mixture on the stove.

Add 1 tsp of Curry and Lemon Pepper to taste.

Cook on low for a few minutes.



Coconut Rice

This isn't my mom's recipe. She uses regular rice, which is delicious. I wanted to be adventurous, so I decided to make coconut rice. If you don't like coconut, use regular rice!

I believe that the ratio for white rice is 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, so I switched things around and just substituted coconut milk for water. Simple as that!

2 cups rice
1 can coconut milk (it was almost 2 cups)
2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Simmer for 18-20 minutes or until the water is soaked into the rice.

If you're cooking in a rice cooker, you'll have to look elsewhere for how to make coconut rice in a rice cooker, because I don't know. On a slightly related tangent, I could use a rice cooker for Christmas.

Serve the Sauce over the coconut rice and top with shredded cheese and whatever you want

We usually do some of these:

Pineapple tidbits
Mandarin Oranges
Chinese Noodles
Toasted Almonds
Tomatoes
Shredded Coconut


It's delightful. I'm glad we have leftovers. :)
 

Cinnamon Apple Scented Puppy Fluffs

I've always loved fall. The leaves changing colors, the days getting colder, and the smell of cinnamon in the air.

My husband forgot to inform me that he doesn't like the smell of cinnamon in the air, so my dreams of cinnamon pinecones have been dashed into a million pieces.

Unfortunately, after much debate and sniffing of the glade scents in Walmart I talked him into a lovely smelling apple cinnamon spray. (I meant to say unfortunately, just so you know.) We keep it handy for when our furry little puppy unknowingly uses her skunk-like scent against us. The poor thing doesn't realize she does it, so when we go running from the room (and I mean RUNNING), she just gives us a confused look and runs with us. She doesn't eat any human food, and we switched her puppy food to hopefully remedy the problem to no avail. So now our house frequently smells like cinnamon apple scented puppy fluffs. Delightful. I really hope that I can still enjoy cinnamon scents later in life, but for now it always seems to be paired with the smell of butt. What can you do?

Even though I frequently have to run from the room in my house thanks to my dog, I had a lot of fun decorating for Halloween. Too bad for you, I'm lame and I didn't do tutorials. I'm always too excited to get the project done to take pictures during the process. I'll try to work on that, don't worry.

Here's a sample of October's fun for you to enjoy:  
 
 
 

 



My sweet husband tried to make his own Halloween costume. I took pictures afterwards, but I can't post them on the internet because modest is hottest and he made it short enough that people would have made fun of him for years to come. I made round two, and it seemed to go over much better.

 

 

Amazon is a great place if you're searching for strange nerdy items like the ocarina that Allen has tucked into his belt. Unfortunately, my cute yellow belt is no more thanks to our smelly little monster.

 

Sancta Mortis is Latin for "Deathly Hallows" according to my source. If not, I have some strange words written in Latin on one of my cute Halloween Books.

Nerds for the win.

 

 

The process for my cute jars was quite simple.

 

Materials:

 

Hot Glue Gun

Jars of Various Sizes

Black Matte Spray Paint

Silver Paint

Paper Towel

 

I just drew my designs on the jar with my hot glue gun *not as easy as you think it is* I only peeled it off 10 times before I gave up.

 

Then I spray painted the whole thing and waited for it to dry.

 

I then dipped my paper towel in a little bit of silver paint and rubbed it all over til I was satisfied.

I think they're cute :)

I'm not even going to pretend like this wreath deserves a tutorial. It turned out cute, but trial and error is the way to go. I couldn't remake it if I tried.

 

Not being artistic in any way, I was pretty proud of my haunted house. I sat it on my front porch to display in my apartment complex. Our apartments are pretty spaced out, so we pretty much never get anyone walking past that isn't on their way to our apartment, so I peeked out the window when I saw a shadow passing by  a few days ago. A cute little boy walked up to my pumpkin and I watched him sound out the letters to figure out what exactly it said. It was really cute. Then he stole our newspaper and ran away, and I haven't seen him since.

And some adorable floating witches hats for you.

 

 

Also, I made some great little cinnamon apple chips too. They smelled and tasted delightful. It was just sliced apples, cinnamon, and sugar on a baking sheet and then you baked them at the lowest temperature until they're dry. I made a pretty small batch.

 

 

Just don't attempt to cut off your finger halfway through slicing apples and you'll be able to make a batch big enough to share.

 

 

 

getting a facelift

Excuse our mess. The blog is getting a facelift.

Married Life

Look at my hot husband. Just look at him. Hot. 

Who needs makeup?

People keep asking me how married life is, and I don't really know how to answer them! So far, it's not a lot different than dating other than we get to share a bed and make love. I almost feel like they're asking about the love making, and it's none of their business! (It's great, by the way.)  

We've been married a little over a week now, and I love it. I adore my husband. He's a cute one, and he's so darn sweet.

He's a hard worker, so his 5:30 alarm clock isn't my favorite thing, but I do love that he doesn't ever leave before waking me up with like 12 goodbye kisses. I hate it when he leaves. 

I've heard that he'll start doing things that annoy me, and so far I've only found one! He chomps his teeth together while he's sleeping, and then denies that he does it. I've found an easy solution to this problem though. I just casually stick my finger in his mouth to stop it, and he's such a loving husband that he doesn't bite my finger off while I'm doing so! He doesn't even wake up or anything!

We take naps a lot. Like a lot more than I ever expected. We just really like to cuddle, I guess. 

And sometimes we go to bed at like 7 p.m. We're getting old. It's great. 

Wedding Playlist & Realizations

I'm putting together my wedding playlist, and realized that Allen and I don't have similar music taste... like at all. 

I don't have a favorite song, but among my favorite are a blend of artists that sing soft, sweet songs. I love the upbeat songs as well, but they just don't seem to touch my heart in the way that my favorites do. And Allen? Well, he loves the upbeat stuff. 

Music is an extremely important part of my life, and the fact that I don't share musical interests with a lot of my friends, or even my future husband, makes me sad. 

So as I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself as I look through my music, I found this song:

Did it make me cry? Yes, it did. 

And it made me realize something.



I used to find myself overwhelmed by sadness. I'd hide in my room and cry and cry all day, and I couldn't quite pinpoint why. My world was ending while the sun shined around me, and I didn't know how to stop it. It happened frequently, and while I think I seemed to be a pretty stable person to all of those around me, I was really on the brink of crumbling at any second. A lot of people don't believe in depression, but I can say first hand that it's a real thing. No matter where I ran, the sadness was always hiding around the corner to catch me. 



I can't recall having one of these days since I met my prince charming. 


Shared musical interests or not, he loves me for me, and I love him too.

Things that are of the Devil.

1 - Pap Smears
2 - Calories
3 - Squats
4 - Pamphlets regarding the reproductive system.

My day consisted of far too many of all of the above for my comfort.

On the other hand, today was also rather eventful in good ways as well. 

1 - The OB/GYN's Scale told me that I was 143.2 lbs. I think that's quite the accomplishment from the 160 + that I was in high school. And it's still going down! 

2 - Zumba : Hot Hula. Aside from the fact that this class is buckets of fun on it's own, The Hula instructor told me I was really good at moving my hips. Awkward Toni is good at moving her hips. SCORE!

3 - We planned our wedding luncheon in a matter of 5 minutes. The reception is clocking in at 3 months so far, so it's an impressive feat. 

4 - I'm registered for school through fall, and so is the cute fiance! 

5 - I GOT A NEW JOB! :D Paid Training starts on Monday. I couldn't be more excited.

6 - My (tuscany gardens) boss sent an auto-text to me saying "I'm in a meeting with a bride, I'll call you as soon as it's done. I love you!"

It's always a bit awkward when your boss declares his love for you, but it makes for a good laugh when you realize the text was meant for his wife.

7 - After months of talking to representatives at turbo tax and H & R Block, and never being able to contact the IRS, I FINALLY got my taxes done. Thank goodness for helpful ex-boyfriends. 

Cedar City Is Getting a Temple, AND a Toni!

Excuse the crappy phone picture with a couple random people in the bottom.

This is the Salt Lake Temple, and I'm getting married to my handsome fiance there in just over 2 months. I couldn't be more excited, or stressed! 

I was a bit late in getting to listen to the Saturday session of conference this last weekend, and much like the text that I got from Allen in October telling me about the missionary age announcement (when I was working instead of watching conference), I got a text telling me that Cedar City was getting it's own temple. I happen to think that this is pretty darn exciting news due to the fact that, (Drum roll, please) 

We're moving to Cedar City! 

So we're going to have a temple right there in our own little city!

The church is true, brothers and sisters, the church is true.

love & gas

Sometimes he's super cute and cuddly,
and other times he's super gassy.
Sometimes I want to smother him in kisses, 
and other times I want to kick him in the shin. 

But every single moment of every single day, I love him.

This is real love like I've never experienced before, and I couldn't be happier.
I love him, and I can't wait to spend the rest of eternity with him. 

Bridesmaid Blues

Hi there. 

As you probably know, I'm getting married to my best friend! He's cute, he's silly, he opens my doors, AND he's a good kisser. Ah, I'm in love. 

So now comes the stressful part: PLANNING THE WEDDING. 

I went dress shopping, and found my dream dress. CHECK.

Picked adorable colors. CHECK!

Venue hunting, and found a beautiful venue. CHECK.

Photographer hunting, and fell in love with some pictures. CHECK.

Picked my gorgeous bridesmaids. CHECK

Now comes the part where I'm ripping my hair out. Bridesmaid dresses. Who knew it would be so stressful?

Here are my requirements.

In my colors (Yellow and Grey)

Vintage

Knee length

Must have sleeves

Available in sizes between S and 2X

Less than $100, preferably closer to like... $20. 

Minimal alterations required.


So... If you can help a sister out, please do! 

Coach & Caillou

One of my favorite teachers in high school was Coach White. I took his psychology class because I thought psychology was interesting, and I ended up in his AP class and as his Student Aide because he was just that cool. 

He had a couple cute kids that we would hear about often, and apparently they had a fascination with the cartoon character Caillou.

One day, as we were learning about serial killers, the Caillou theme song found it's way into Coach White's thoughts. He started by humming it, then singing it, and by the end of the class he was whispering it psychotically as if it were some sort of creepy mantra. 

I guess this memory sticks out because it's so easy to relate to. Everyone's had a song stuck in their head that stayed there for so long that they felt as if they should checked into a mental hospital because it's causing a mild nervous breakdown. 

Some artists you can handle, and some (Cough, Ke$ha) Make you want to shoot something. 

Here's the theme song if you're lacking in obnoxious tunes. Knock yourself out, kids. 

Caillou Theme Song

Adventures with Emily

We enjoy catching up for hours and eating good food. 

I've missed her. 

We also like finding new indie bands too. 

More music for you to try out:

Suitcase - The New Electric Sound

Viking - The Brocks

New Music & Old Friends

Putting new music on your ipod is always refreshing, but putting music on your new ipod is an awesome feeling. Especially when you've been lacking a music player for a while. 

I'm currently taking the train to go see an old friend with my headphones in. I was having fun gazing out the window while listening to my music, but I started to feel a bit cliche', so I pulled out my laptop to blog instead. Because that's so much less cliche', I guess. 

I'm really looking forward to reuniting with this friend. We were really close in  high school until she moved to a different state, and the distance caused a bit of distance in our friendship. It'll be fun to catch up with her. We have years of gossip to squeeze into one night. (malicious laugh) 

Music & Old Friends? What could be better?

Here's some of the songs that I'm listening to:

Carry On - Fun. 

(I dare you to try to listen to this while you're in a public place. You will be physically restraining yourself from singing with it.) 

Home - Phillip Phillips

(I'm pretty sure this song is on an insurance commercial or something, but I like it. It's one of those ones that works great for staring out the train window at the passing scenery. I'm weird, I know.)

Lego House - Ed Sheeran

(His voice makes me melt. Something about the way his lips wrap around the line "It's dark in a cold December, but I've got you to keep me warm" makes me fall in love. In LOVE, guys.)

Dear Bobbie - Yellowcard 

(I can't listen to this song without tears finding their way to my eyes.) 

The Best Thing - Relient K

(I've liked Relient K since Jacob Sobers introduced me to them in Junior High, and I don't think they have a single song I don't like. So is this song about God, or is it a love song? It depends on the day for me.)

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

(If you go listen to it, you'll probably understand why it's on this list. It has a lot of power in it, and I like it.)

What songs do YOU like?

the adventures of allen & toni''

I'm sure that for any of you that are paying attention, the whole Allen & Toni timeline doesn't make a lot of sense. 

It's okay.

It doesn't make much sense to me either. 

The day that Allen told me that "friendzoned" didnt describe our relationship. "sisterzoned" was the appropriate word:

The second day Allen ever grabbed my hand. He was super smooth, and I took the chance to tell him that I wasn't looking for a relationship, and that I just wanted to date around. He flashed gangster signs, I told him to stop, and then made a weird face when he flashed "I love you" in sign language. See Below. 

Fast Forward.

Like two days after he managed to plant one on me. More than a month after the idea of kissing me occurred to him. 

P.S. The paint colors don't taste good. 

We're both cougars fans. He bought me a ticket to the game. I don't even think I held his hand. 

This might be the moment that I started to fall really hard for him. They both stuck their heads out the window and enjoyed the wind in their faces, and I apparently find that to be a really attractive quality. It makes my heart melt. 

We were matching Zombies for Halloween. The makeup brings out his pretty eyes. 

...

To be continued. 

Creepy Hallways and such.

About 45 minutes ago, I set off on an adventure to find my math class. I found it. In a creepy basement. I didn't want to brave the cold to go back to the student center, so I located a lonely table and chair in the creepy basement instead. I like it. This might be my new chill-spot on campus. 

If you're concerned for my safety, don't fret. There's a nice "Rescue Assistance" button next to my little table. And a fire alarm. 

I'm definitely ready for a nap. Only two more classes to go. Who goes to school from 8:30 Am to 7:50 pm? This crazy girl. 

I'm terrible at writing

College starts up again next week, and I get to spend mornings (and afternoons) on the frontrunner with free wifi, and that sounds like an adventure and the perfect opportunity to blog a little more... depending on my homework load. It also sounds like the perfect opportunity to run into people that refuse to talk to me. Oh, goody. Maybe I can make amends? Thank him for introducing me to my handsome boyfriend? Be friends again? We'll see. 

Am I excited to go back to school? Yes & No. I really don't want to take a math class, but alas, I have to. But I also get to take a video production class and that makes me so excited that I want to do a little happy dance. I sense a lot of stress this semester. Hang on folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

The semester hasn't even started, and I'm already freaking out about finals week.