Week one of 101 in 1001

Exactly one week ago today I started my 101 goals in 1001 days and I thought I would give a little update on how it's going.

Goals completed:

I inspired my sister ( and a few other people ) to make a list of their own.

So that's only one down so far but I'm working on others.

Goals in Progress:

I have sent 2 post cards through post crossing out of the 10 I said I wanted to send.  Honestly I really can't wait to get some postcards from other countries so I think I may go well over the 10.

I have been flossing everyday for a week so far, only 3 more weeks and this goal is done, but I do plan on continuing on with it. It would just be silly not to.

I have left 2 inspirational note in public out of the 101 I plan to do.

I'm saving all my change

I've answered 100 out of the 5000 questions

I'm working on my sales and followers.

So not too bad considering my little guy has been sick with the flu for the last 4 days.

I'll keep updating as I go :)

Mmmm... Apple Pie Muffins

I wanted to try something other than banana muffins so last night I made Apple Pie Muffins.  They turned out really well so I thought I would share them with you....well you'll have to make them yourself.  I'm not going to do all the work :)

Apple Pie Muffins 


You will need :

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 cups diced apples
•  
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well.

Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins.

Looks like I need to get new muffin tins

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

I really enjoyed these muffins and I hope you will too.

Tip:  If you do not have buttermilk you can use 1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to make 1 cup.  Mix together and let sit 5 to 10 mins.

The sun is out!!!

It's been such a beautiful day outside today.  Made me think of these.

Late night...

I finally got these done late last night. My little guy wasn't feeling good all day so I had to wait to do them , but finally here they are.

He seems to be feeling a bit better now, hopefully he stays that way

I will never buy chicken fingers again.....I'll just make them

The other day I was planning on making chicken fingers, basically just using chicken breasts and Shake n Bake.  My husband then informed me that he hates Shake n Bake and asked me if I had a recipe for breading instead. While I didn't at the time, but I started searching and this is what I found.

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 quart oil for frying

1. Place chicken strips into a large, re-sealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and garlic powder. Pour mixture into bag with chicken. Seal, and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.
2. In another large, re-sealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, bread crumbs, salt and baking powder. Remove chicken from refrigerator, and drain, discarding buttermilk mixture. Place chicken in flour mixture bag. Seal, and shake to coat.
3. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

I added a few more spices in with the dry ingredients to suit our tastes, such as cayenne pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning and chili powder.  I also coated them twice.  I made a mixture of 2 eggs and a bit of milk.  Once they had the first coating on, I dipped them in the egg mixture and coated again.  I also doubled the coating recipe.

This is now the only way I'm going to make chicken fingers, they are so good I was craving them for days afterwards.

Something to brighten your day

Looking Back...The Canadian Rockies

I was looking through pictures on my old computer last night and came across some of my favorites that I haven't seen for a while.  They were taken about 6 years ago when we went on a trip to see the Rockies.   I was 20 years old and had never been out of the province of Manitoba.  I was extremely excited, I'd never seen mountains before.  Where I'm from you can look out your window and literally see for miles, long , flat , boring miles.

After a 13 hour drive we reached Calgary, stopped off to get some food and were on our way to Banff.  I remember seeing the first glimpse of the mountains, so far in the distance they seemed small.

  We reached Banff and it was just as beautiful as I'd hoped.  We walked around town and visited the shops, it was so nice to come outside and see the mountains in the background.

We went to the gondolas and ascended up the huge mountain.

This was our view from the top.  Far from miles and miles of long, flat and boring.

As we were up at the top of the mountain looking around a storm was on it's way.  We luckily got back indoors before the downpour came.

That night we stayed in a beautiful log cabin up on the mountain.  It had a fireplace which my husband insisted on using even though it was the middle of summer. :)

The next morning we were off, heading further into the Rockies, we were just going to see where we ended up.  The further we got into the mountains I realized, the ones we were just on were nothing compared to the size of the ones we were driving on the side of.  It was almost like you were driving up in the clouds, they were so close.

As we drove through the mountains there were waterfalls everywhere, they were coming down the sides of the mountains right by the highway from the snow melting off the peaks.

We stopped off to see a few larger ones up close as well.

As we drove over and through the mountains you could see huge forest fires burning on the mountain across from us.  Definitely a sight to see.

We made it all the way to Vancouver to realized that it was august long weekend and there were no hotel rooms available anywhere.  That was pretty disappointing and we ended up having to sleep in the car.  This is the view from our "camping" spot.

On our way back home we stopped back at Calgary again to visit some family and then we were off on our long drive back home.

It was a great trip and I plan on going back someday when the kids are a bit older.  I can't imagine driving that far with a 2 year old and a 1 year old.  I highly suggest it to anyone who hasn't been, it's beautiful.