i've been inspired..

by the pioneer woman...
i got her cookbook for christmas and can't stop making her yummy comfort food. every recipe sounds delicious, and those that i have tried have not disappointed me a bit! not really helping with the new year's goal of eating healthy, but there is always next week to start on that right! ;)

and the movie julie & julia...
over the holidays i also finally saw the movie. it was so great and inspired me to start cooking again. i really do love it, just have to make myself go to the grocery store and find things that excite me. i am going to attempt some julia recipes soon! :)

so with those two inspirations this blog entry was born... a recap of all the pw dishes i have cooked up and my opinions of each.

the pw cookbook is one of the best cookbooks i have ever received. just like on her blog (which is fabulous, if you are one of the last people that don't read it!) she takes pictures throughout the cooking process. so not only do you have a picture of the final product, but what it should look like along the way!! so helpful, at least to me!!

in the last week i have made... (sorry i have no pictures, i never dreamed i would write a blog post about all this cookin')

simple, perfect chili-- i would say the title sums up the dish perfectly. i made it last night since it was cold and we were just bein' lazy watching football. my kids, my husband, and i all gobbled it up! mark and jack liked their with rice, while o and i preferred ours with some crunchy fritos.

twice-baked potatoes-- yummmm! they were so good!! we had these new year's eve at the lake with family and friends. there were no complaints and several people went back for seconds! that's success to me. pw (pioneer woman) says they freeze really well, so i think i might make them again soon and freeze a big ole batch so i can pull them out and have an instant side for our weeknight meals.

cheese grits-- mmm, mmm, good! our good friends, ivy and drew, came to the lake new year's day to hang out. ivy loves to cook and she brought her pw cookbook, so we decided to whip up a few items for dinner. we had so much fun planning and cooking together. the grits were a side dish to our dinner and they were good. mark and ivy had some leftovers for breakfast the next morning and said they got better overnight! :)

steak with whiskey cream sauce-- delish!! i actually made this two nights in a row. the first was new year's eve. followed the recipe, but added some mushrooms. so good. no leftovers!! :) then drew and ivy came and we decided to do steak again, so we HAD to make some more sauce. this time no mushrooms, but just as tasty!! i can't seem to make it as thick as in the book, but it is still tasty!!

homemade ranch-- is ranch ever bad? the correct answer is no, but this ranch was oh so good! we served it over a wedge salad and with the jalapeno poppers. it was also consumed with some tortilla chips because it was that good!

olivia cheese bread-- good if you like olives. honestly, this one has been my least favorite recipe, but it was still good, especially if you like olives.

bbq jalapeno poppers-- perfect!! perfect amount of heat, sweetness, cheese, and salt from the bacon. and absolutely divine when dunked in the homemade ranch. these might take the prize for "best recipe tried so far"! so, so good!!

and the "cookin' pw style" hasn't stopped! on tonight's menu- chicken spaghetti. it is already made up and ready to pop in the oven closer to dinner time. the few tastes i have had are really good. looking forward to dinner tonight.

diaper duty...

i have been changing a ton of jack's diapers, but i have also been making a bunch of diaper cakes over the past several weeks. this has been a fun time of celebrating friends and their new little ones. i of course did not take pictures of all of them, but here are two of the four that i have made in the last month...

this one was for andrew cade wasserman. we used this at the "sprinkle" we had for his mommy right before he arrived.

and this one is for nate florence. he surprised us all and arrived very early, so we got to celebrate his birth a couple weeks ago AFTER he was safe and healthy at home.

i also got to make a really fun girly one for my friend kandy and just yesterday i helped my friend kristen make a diaper cake for her best friend and her lil pumpkin for the shower they are having this weekend. i really do love making them. so easy, but allows me to use some of my creative juices. :)