Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Granola and Things

another day late, but hey, being late is my thing i guess. i took time today to make some more granola. ☺

i think granola is one of my new favorite things, especially since i can make it in all sorts of flavors.

today i did dark chocolate sea salt granola. i have to stop paying attention to the timing on these granola recipes though, because some parts burned a little again. there isn't much though, and the chocolate makes up for it.

i feel like a lot keeps coming up, and i have been perpetually busy lately. ron brought his car to the shop again to get his brakes done. i still want to punch some of these people, because things keep ending up wrong or they cant do something right for one reason or another.

he ended up putting half of the stuff on himself because they told him it was wrong....or just didnt feel like doing it.

people are just lazy.

one set of calipers were wrong, but the pads and rotors were correct, so we just have to return those now. he painted them red to change things up a little, too.

memorial day was super dead. i dont remember if i said that or not. i ended up reading half my shift. u had most of tuesday off so we went walking until around 6:30, when i went to work for a couple hours. we had to prepare for our store inventory, but it was done pretty quick. wednesday morning we brought his car to the shop before i had to work. did i mention i had to leave work so they made me lose hours, too? theyre lucky we didnt go back, its not worth the money to go back so many times...

on another more amusing note, we also gave the assholes a bath. ohhh they were mad. gizmo tolerated the water for the most part, but rufio.....i have never heard a cat make the noises he was making in the history of forever. he may have been dying for all we know, and i am surprised that the neighbors didnt call the police or something.

did i mention gizmo ate a shoelace and that hes retarded? i think i did, but i just wanted to reiterate the fact that my cat is a dumbass.

lets look at some more yummy granola again. here is the link for the recipe. as usual, its pretty easy. in my experience, the cooking time would be more like 15 minutes. i had it in the oven for 20 and it was too long.

of course, i had to throw some extra chocolate chips in there because you can never have too much dark chocolate.

i have a honey almond granola i will probably make next. this weekend i won't have any new stuff though, because i am going to a bachelorette slumber party and being a girly girl. a friend of mine from college is getting married in july, and i am making her cake. next weekend is our garage sale, and then two weeks after that is ron's birthday, so i have to figure out what kind of cake to make for him this year. we are also going to try to go camping the first week of july. then wedding mid july. then north carolina early august. i am glad i have things to do. i just hope i have enough time to get everything done!

yay, things!

we watched scream last night, and now scream 2 is playing as i am typing this. i feel like i cant tell if theyre being serious or not. i wonder if the next two get dumber as they go along. yes, its true, ive never seen the entire series. there are a lot of movies i havent seen. most of them dont really interest me, and i also lived under a rock as a child. i am more of a disney and comedy movie person. scary or gory movies are just meh.

anyway, i am going to give up for now. i am tired, and have a long day of telling people "no" tomorrow. new amiibos at work, and we didnt really get any, so people are probably going to freak out. is it sad that i enjoy telling people no? thanks for reading! ☺

Another Short Update

A little late, but what better way to start a monday morning. I havent really done much since ive been in and out of the vet, and working until i cant stand anymore. I still have to call the vet back when they open tomorrow because of this asshole. 

"Hi, my name's Gizmo. Im a pain in the ass because i ATE A SHOELACE."

And yes, he actually made this face when i took the pic saturday night. Herp derp. I spent lots of money, had my hands chewed up, and had to sift through poop in a plastic bag to find a shoelace. I have no idea where from, all of our laces are in tact, he doesnt go outside. No idea. But for him, apparently it was the best idea ever. #catsareassholes

About the closest i got to arts and crafts was last night when we painted calipers for rons car. I didnt even do anything other than tape a couple pieces off. Moral support, i guess? I did grab my panini press and "grill" burgers in the garage though. He wanted to be outside, so why not. Then some walking was in order cuz it was still nice out yesterday night. 

Ta daaaa. And that about sums up my weekend. I have to close tonight. Might make some granola if im up for it before i go in, but we'll see. Something for wednesday. Have a good memorial day! Thanks for reading!

Nutella Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes

Well how exciting is this. I finally made something. 

I know its more cupcakes, and theyre my usual recipe that i use all over the place, but theyre easy and delicious, so there. I just added some delightful nutella frosting to top them off. Oh, and sprinkles. Because i can.

Its still spring, right? May is spring, so that means i can still use my spring/easter sprinkles.

Not to mention the nutella aspect of the whole thing. Nutella is delicious, and i havent looked back since i first tried it a few years ago. Im pretty sure it was with heather, and we made nutella smores (aka: graham crackers with nutella and fluff). 

I havent even tried one of these yet. Theyre sitting in my fridge. I am actually at the vet right now with one of the assholes. Gizmo has been sick, so i rushed him here yesterday, and now hes back. 

He is having some blood work done, and a radiograph to make sure he didnt eat anything stupid. As much as they make me crazy, i still hope nothing is wrong. It makes me sad to see him like this.

The last few days have been pretty blah. Not only has it gone from humidity you can cut with a knife to freezing cold (for may, anyway), but theres this, and the rest of the emotional roller coaster. I am getting drained, and i still have two doubles to look forward to on friday and saturday. I know i worked them last week, but it has been a while and i cant say i miss it. 

Blah. Meh. Thats just how i feel. I have to work in a little bit, and i hope the night is slow. Im just not really in the mood for much. 

Look at his dumb face (on the left). This was yesterday. I dont think theyve actually been separated before now. I wonder what terror his brother is conjuring up at home. I just purchased a couple succulents and put them in my window yesterday. They are hanging out with my pineapple, which is growing up so fast.

I just hope everything works out. I dont need anything else right now. I seriously feel like someone is watching me and as soon as things start to clear up, theyre like,"hey! Lets throw something else out there to mess with your life! It will be fun!" Reading only distracts me so much. I cleaned a whole bunch yesterday. Work is.....its own whole set of things.

Well, i think im going to stop here today. He should be done soon, and i just came here to bring you cupcakes today. Mission accomplished. Enjoy dreaming of some fancy-easy chocolate nutella cupcakes! Have a good weekend!

Another Missed Wednesday

i miss an awful lot of wednesdays. working a whole bunch seems to do that, though.

needless to say, i haven't really been in the kitchen much lately. other than making myself lunch, i haven't had any time to put anything together.

i've been thinking of what i could make next. i have a lot of ideas. i think i may be settling for some kind of cupcakes, though. for some reason, i feel like i need some cupcakes in my life. or more fudge, but i'm using the peanut butter and fluff for my sandwiches.

we weren't able to get any wine racks done last week. ron got really sick, so we didn't do very much sunday or monday. i worked all day sunday, and monday we ended up going out to carousel to walk and go to the melting pot since we had a couple of certificates to use. at some point we went to see the new avengers movie, maybe that was saturday? i can't really remember. that was the rest of the weekend off.

i kind of wish i had a better picture, but we got all dressed up again, and i wore my shawl that i arm knitted a couple months ago, finally. i actually was complemented on it by one of the kiosk people in the mall, and she wanted to touch it. it was pretty cool, i was excited someone noticed.

we got running/walking shoes while we were out, too. i am pretty sure it's my first pair of running shoes ever, since physical activities and i don't get along well. i am going to make an attempt, though. insane inflatable 5k, i will be ready for you in september. color run, you too, whenever we plan on going. it seems like leigh valley in allentown, pennsylvania might be the winner though. it's in october. i just want to be covered in glitter and paint. yep yep yep.

august is high on the priority list, though. outer banks is on it's way, and i can't wait to get away from here for a bit. whatever weekend we go camping will be nice, too. i am so super sick of everything around me. i feel sad a lot, and sometimes it seems like no matter what i do to distract myself, it will not let up. everything is always reminding me of something, triggering feelings and whatnot. it's worse when i have a few good days, am actually happy, and there's always something to ruin everything, you know, like dreams and stuff. i don't want to hurt anymore, and need a serious change of scenery, hardcore.

i've been reading a lot. i have a few books on my phone that i read at home and at work. sometimes it helps, although the last day or so, i feel like i can't concentrate on words. driving has been a little scary, but i try to remind myself that things are okay. meh.

so, cupcakes! i am trying to decide on either chocolate cupcakes with nutella frosting, or some more jello cupcakes, just because. something fruity sounds awesome, but at the same time.....nutella.....

well, i have tuesday off it seems. i don't know how it happened, either, especially with it being a new release day. i don't make the schedule. i'll see what comes out of the oven while i'm sitting at home all day. well, thanks for listening/reading. have a good week!

lol snapchat. derp.

Craft Weekend of Some Sort

And salsa! I almost forgot that i made food, too. Blender salsa; super easy, super fast, super delicious. This probably cost me less than $2 to make. I also grabbed the wrong tomatoes and didnt have any cumin(chili powder is a liytle bitter if you add too much) but otherwise it was pretty tasty.



You can probably make it to your own liking and adjust the ingredients. I found the recipe from pinterest, via avery cooks (if you google "restaurant style salsa" it should come up. I am using my tablet and can't add links for some reason.) buuut yeah. You get some canned tomatoes, an onion (i used a shallot for a little milder flavor), a jalapeno or two, a couple garlic cloves, and some seasonings. Throw it in a blender or food processor....bam. Salsa. I also made these delightful chicken taquitos in the crockpot to dip into said salsa. Win.





Ron has been working on his dresser the last few days. It was his grandmas, so its like 80 something years old. He stripped the paint, sanded it, and just painted and stained it. There were like 3 layers of old paint and stain on it. Now it looks all shiny and new. He was pretty excited. It came out pretty nice. I like it.





Of course, the only thing ive done is be moral support. I also picked these knobs for the drawers. Oh, i also helped move stuff a little, and rinsed paint out of the brushes :) And made hair bows? #Whatamidoing?



We got it most of it finished on saturday, minus the clear coat which he did today while i was at work. Longest day ever, by the way, but i got free food, so im not complaining. Ron was sick most of the day, so he didnt do much other than the clear coat. Tomorrow is our last day off to see if we can get stuff done. Hopefully he is feeling better after a day of mostly relaxing.



At this point, we have to attach the bottom panel and it is done. Hopefully the pallets wilk get some love tomorrow. They take up a lot of space so the garage is unusable for now. They will make some nice wine racks to hang off of peoples walls.



Yay hair bows! Because video games. I will be selling these during the garage sale, too. I have lots more to make. Whatever i dont sell, i might try something via paypal or etsy or something. Where theres an internet, theres a way. Or something like that. Man, i wish i didnt have to go back to work, and i still have a day left before i go back. That makes me sad. Oh well. I have thegarage sale weekend, rons birthday weekend, i am hoping to plan camping, i have north carolina, and a wedding so far. So weekends off. Yep.

I guess i will leave it at that for now. Hopefully we can get some stuff done and i will have more to share on wednesday. Thanks for reading! 😃

posted from Bloggeroid

Lemon Raspberry Scones and Parmesan Fries

How awesome do these look? I am impressed with my scones.

For whatever reason, struggle when it comes to baking breads, biscuits and doughs. I can't do everything. I am not perfect, despite what some people claim, and the fact that i like to pretend that i can do everything sometimes.

I got these from pinterest, of course, via my baking addiction.


I also added a little extra to them. Today's secret ingredient: CHEMICAL X.

Or some people like to say,"white chocolate." So technically now we have white chocolate lemon raspberry scones. Fancy stuff right there. Don't complain. Last minute decision that was the best idea ever.

Pinterest is all full of summer and spring, so of course i fell into the trap of wanting something springy. I've been thinking of these for a couple weeks now, and have been meaning to do something with the raspberries i picked (and froze). These were awesome.




that's not even complete yet. i am so excited at how great these turned out. i am not sure why, but usually when i make things like this, they all react as if they've been over mixed. i don't even mix things sometimes, like it can still be partially liquid with giant, dry lumps, or mostly powder, cold butter, etc, and they always come out crappy. not this time though.  maybe it was because it called for frozen butter? i had to grate said butter, too, and gave my arm a real workout. holy crap. anyway....

something about this time, or maybe just this recipe, was magic, because i have fabulous scones.
☺☻☺☻☺

yeeeeeeaahhh buddy. scone glam shot. fresh (kind of) raspberries. lemon glaze. white chocolate bits. don't you just wanna lick the screen inappropriately to try and taste it? i know i do, and i have the real ones sitting in a container in my fridge.

right now, my apartment smells like parmesan steak fries though. ron is out in the garage attempting to grill some chicken, and he decided he wanted some kind of coated fries, so i pinterested and found something that looked good. they smell really good. ohhhh yeah.

i seriously can't wait for this weekend. i need a break from my job. at least one, anyway. i have to work all day on mothers day. i have saturday and monday off completely. ron and i (or mostly ron, i'm pretty sure i'm still just moral support) are going to work on our pallet wine racks and stuff to get ready for the garage sale in june. i want to try to work on my lanyard hair bows for that, too. i cut a whole bunch of them up, so now i need to tie them and assemble them at some point. i also need new wood burning tips, since i broke the only one that i have while etching images into the last wine rack. i'd like to do that for these, too.

i also got our vacation set up, finally! i can't really remember if i mentioned that in the last post. i technically reserved it on friday, and made the payment monday. come august 9th, i will be in a little three bedroom house not far from the ocean in southern shores, north carolina for a whole week. i am seriously debating turning off my phone again or leaving it in airplane mode so noone can reach me. i am so done with everything. of course, i am also hoping by then that some things will change for the better. it's still a few months away. but we aren't gonna get into that for now.

oh my god, these fries.

i was going to wait and post them, but they're fucking amazing. sooo here they are.

italian style baked parmesan fries

they're so crispy. perfect saltiness. i think it's the panko bread crumbs. i don't know. they're also like magic. i think this is the first time i have ever purchased them. i knew of them, sure, but for whatever reason i've always opted for the regular italian style bread crumbs. panko bread crumbs make me want shrimp, though, so i think that is going to be on next week's list of dinners. maybe monday night since we both are still not working. i don't know. it would be like a nice reward for the weekend if we actually get any work done.

alright. dinner is waiting for me. i must devour these fries. hope to have some pictures for you this weekend, too! have a good weekend, all! thanks for reading! ♥

also, you know you can leave comments, right? if you don't have a google account, you can choose the "anonymous" option and then don't have to log into anything! i like to know people read, if anyone does!

posted from Bloggeroid

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola

how about that? i made a healthy (ish) treat! it is pretty freakin spectacular, too.

AND.....super easy!!

i've been thinking about making granola for a while now, and i had it down to a few recipes. then i thought: why not mash them all together? pretzels with chocolate are good. pretzels with peanut butter are good. peanut butter and chocolate is a given.

so i give you this: chocolate peanut butter pretzel granola! i bet this would be delicious on waffles or pancakes.

i got the basic recipe from pinterest, via cooking classy. it's an easy 4 ingredient peanut butter granola recipe, in which i added some crushed honey wheat pretzels, flax seeds, and dark chocolate chips.

chocolate peanut butter pretzel granola

2c rolled oats
1/4c honey
1/4c peanut butter
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1-2 tsp flax seeds
1/3c dark chocolate chips (although you can add more if you wish)
1/2c pretzels crushed, with some chunks remaining

preheat your oven to 325F. line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
combine your rolled oats, pretzels, and flax seed and mix them together.
in a microwave safe bowl, combine the honey, peanut butter and brown sugar. microwave about 30 seconds until runny. stir together well.
add to the rolled oats mixture and stir to coat. spread evenly on the baking sheet. bake about 5 minutes, stir them around, and bake another 5 minutes or so, until the granola browns. cool completely before storing, and adding chocolate chips. **it is very important to let it cool, because that's how it gets crunchy!! don't even think of putting it away warm!! also, your chocolate chips will melt.

ta daa! how awesome is that?! its sweet and salty and crunchy, and sooo yummy. i am excited. pancakes sound awesome right now, except its almost midnight.

so yeah. i know i didn't post on wednesday, as usual, i was busy with work and stuff, and i also didn't have anything to share. nothing unusual or weird or awesome happened. i just worked a whole bunch. then worked some more. i did that today too, along with laundry, groceries, and granola. speaking of groceries, this happened today while i went to tops.....

just take that in for a minute. that is definitely a car trying to park or get out of a cart corral. i didn't know what was happening either, at the time. i just looked up and heard a loud crash from the car hitting the carts. #instructionsunclear

it was pretty awesome. i think. funny to me, anyway.

so is this asshole. this was a couple days ago. darling poopsicle now has a fortress of cardboard surrounding his house, and he absolutely loves it.

i made this interlocking cardboard thing for him, and he also has a girl scout cookie box, which he made a home in.

he doesn't actually go into the boxes most of the time, he just tears them apart. except for this day. i forgot what i was doing, but i looked up and the whole bird was in the box, chewing and tapping away.

i was even able to get close enough to take his picture in there. another first, since he gets extremely camera shy.

whatever makes him happy. cardboard and cantaloupe are like magic. or whatever i am eating. they all have to have my food. it's like its better than theirs or something.

anyway, i have some lemon raspberry scones planned for this week, because breakfast is the best meal of the day. i will conquer scones and biscuits someday. i always have crappy to mediocre luck with them, but each time they get a little better. most dough things i don't have luck with, like bread and stuff. this will happen someday. *furious fist shake*

check back later, i should have time to make them by wednesday. i also am hoping to make my hair bows. i cut a bunch of lanyards, so there isn't too much left. oh! north carolina is planned!! going back in august, and i can't wait!! i need to get out of here for a bit. camping weekend needs to be planned soon, too. have a good week, all! ☺