Tiny Homes

I got a little overwhelmed with everything yesterday. Not everything as in my job, family, etc. but everything as in stuff... as in all of the stuff we have. It is excessive really.

I have FOUR brushes...for me. Why does someone need four brushes?

I just looked around our house at all of our stuff and the mess that is our house and thought about how I can NEVER keep it clean, and I got OVERWHELMED. It is too much. And then I got philosophical because that is just pretty much how I am and I decided we need to simplify.

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Cut to the discussion Kyle and I had on the way to meet friends for my birthday dinner at Sushi on McKinney (YUM!).

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I asked Kyle if he had ever seen the tiny houses. And he was like, "Huh?" So, I told him how I heard something on NPR one day about Tiny Houses and saw something on TV (channel 13 or something) and I thought it was interesting. And when I explained that the houses are sometimes as small as 89 square feet, he looked at me like I was crazy. CRAZY!

So I used my trusty iPhone and "The Google" to locate this video about Jay Shafer and his tiny house.

I told Kyle that I think it is cool and it would be an interesting adventure to live in a tiny house with a toddler and document our experiences. Kyle's response was something like, "I don't understand where he puts the TV."

Yeah... needless to say, I don't think we will be moving to a tiny house anytime soon (although I still think it would be kind of awesome).

Here are some links to some more info on tiny homes in case you are interested!

• Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
• Tiny Green Cabins
• Wee House

I still think they are cool! :)

Cupcakes!!

I like cupcakes. I admit it. I like cupcakes.

They are delicious bites of cake tastiness with a dollop of frosting... what's not to like?

So, due to my cupcake adoration, I became a little (OK... a lot) fascinated with the recipes on this site. Some of the recipes look AMAZING. The problem is, if I make the cupcakes, I will EAT them... ALL.

But despite this predicament, I broke down and made these Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. They are GOOD. VERY GOOD.

Dylan helped and, he took his job VERY seriously.

Just for the record... I am eying these Orange Devil's Food cupcakes and these Key Lime cupcakes. YUM!

What's for dinner?

Last night I was thinking about the Internet and internally evaluating the personal sites I use most often... I came up with Google (for searching, Reader and other apps), Facebook, and Allrecipes.com. I was a little shocked at the last one, but the more I think about it... I pretty much use it every day.

Since I cook dinner every night (or at least MOST nights) I use Allrecipes to help me locate meals and plan menus for the week. And I frequently use the ingredient search to look up recipes to use the items I have on hand.

Since I find Allrecipes so useful, I decided to make a little tutorial video for you so YOU can find it useful too (humor me... the "teacher" side of me is showing). So here you go...

As an added bonus, here are a couple of my favorite recipes from the site...

I like biscuits, and I like whole wheat, so I LOVE these biscuits. I have played around and made them exactly like the recipe, with 100% whole wheat flour, with half the butter and more milk.... they have been good each time. When I make them I usually bake a double-batch and freeze the biscuits for later. Once they are thawed and zapped in the microwave for 10 seconds or so they are delicious. This is pretty much what I had for breakfast on the drive to work every day last year. 

Which leads me to my other favorite breakfast item... these muffins. They are low-fat and tasty. I use the recipe as a base and then add other ingredients l like - vanilla extract, cinnamon, apple chunks, banana, nuts... pretty much whatever sounds good, and then I freeze and follow the same re-heating process as above.

This slow cooker chicken taco soup is easy and yummy (it is also good with ground beef).

And, if you like quiche this recipe is a great base from which to work. I have made it as the recipe states and with other ingredients (ham, bacon, various veggies). It's quick and easy and delicious.

Oh, and to answer the question... what's for dinner? We will be trying this tonight. Hopefully it will be good.

Enjoy and feel free to share some of your favorite recipes with me!

From My Ivory Perch

Welcome to my new blog and what will prove to view a peek into the random thoughts that rapidly and successively pelt my brain like... (insert cliche' simile here).

I already have a somewhat established web presence here and here, so why something new?  The easy answer is that the purpose of the other two websites is specific and somewhat confined and the audience is homogeneous. The more precise answer is I'm tired of writing specifically for chosen topics and set audiences. I need to spread my wings and release my disordered thoughts.

I don't have a specific plan of action but knowing my thoughts (and myself) it is a safe bet that I will write about things I like and am passionate about - family, friends, reading, education, technology, cooking, gardening, travel and leading a healthy life (which may or may not include exercising).

I have vacated my ivory tower and am now sitting on my ivory perch peeking at you and contemplating my current surroundings.