A game called Tag....

This sounds like fun! I was “tagged” by The Cooking Friend. Thanks for the invite! I hope everyone else who is tagged will enjoy this game too!

Here are the rules since I'm tagging you now! :) Each player starts with seven random facts or habits about himself or herself. A tagged player then writes a blog entry with the seven things, as well as these rules. Then the player tags seven others and lists their names on his or her blog. Remember to leave a comment for your newly tagged players, letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog!

7 random facts about me:

1. I have one green eye and one brown eye.
2. I once had lunch with Senator/former Astronaut John Glenn after I completed a year long internship with the John Glenn Institute at Ohio State University.
3. I wear a size 12 women’s shoe. What is worse…my husband and I wear the same size shoe! Actually….this is kind of nice because if I am running outside to get the mail or something I can slip on his shoes with no problem! :)
4. I am the oldest child. I have one younger sister (age 22) and one younger brother (age 16).
5. If I could live anywhere in the world I would live in Hawaii.
6. I typically require about 5.5 hours of sleep a night- I usually go to bed at 11-11:30pm and wake up at 5am. My husband thinks I am crazy!
7. One day I hope to have my own private counseling practice and work VERY part time while I devote most of my life to taking care of my family (husband and future children ::) )


OK, tag! I am now tagging you – Kayte and Joelen

Easy Supper! BBQ Beef Cups

I am still a little tired from our return travel day and my first full day back to work so I was looking for an easy dinner. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that inspired me to adopt my own! Chris was intrigued by these little beef cups, but after one taste...they met his approval. I knew these would be something he would like...simple and meaty!


BBQ Beef Cups
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons McCormick Grill Mates “Hamburger” seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic, roast red bell pepper, and sugar)
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
1 (12 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the cups of a muffin pan (I used a larger, 8 muffin cup pan because there were 8 biscuits in the package).
In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, season beef with seasonings and cook beef until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in bbq sauce, ketchup, and mustard. Simmer for a few minutes over low heat. Add 1/4 cup cheese and heat until melted. Stir and set aside.
Meanwhile, flatten each biscuit, and press into cups of the prepared muffin pan. Make sure the dough comes to the top of the pan. Bake for 2-3 minutes in oven. Remove muffins and spoon a portion of the meat mixture into each dough cup. Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 3-4 more minutes.

Our Carnival Cruise!

Chris and I just returned from a week long cruise with Carnival. Our ship was called the Celebration. Chris has never cruised before; however, this was my third (second with Carnival). We had so much fun relaxing together, touring the ports of call, participating in shore excursions, dining, and watching the nightly shows on the ship. The Celebration is an older ship....we both decided we would like to try a newer ship next cruise.

Dining:
We had the most entertaining dining staff! Our Maitre 'd, Joseph, was quite a character. He made our dining experience so much fun. The service was excellent; however, the food was nothing to write home about. Chris and I DID fall in love with the Chocolate Melting Cake....we ordered one every night at dinner!

Ports of call:
Key West
We LOVE Key West. Both of us have been before, but never together. We went Snuba diving in the morning. This was so much fun! Like snorkeling, but you don't have to come up for air and you can dive up to 25 feet underwater! We also walked around and visited the shops. We also visited the southernmost point in Key West....it is just 90 miles from Cuba!

Nassau
This was an adventure. The Straw Market and downtown Nassau are full of character to say the least.(You will never have to hunt for someone to braid your hair or try and locate a taxi...TRUST me.)
We also went snorkeling here. The water was VERY rough and COLD, but Chris did get some great pictures with the underwater camera!
Our favorite part of Nassau was Atlantas. This is a BEAUTIFUL resort with a the largest salt water aquarium in the World. We had so much fun walking around and looking at the marine life and beautiful architecture. took tons of pictures!


Overall
We had a great time together. Our favorite parts of the cruise were definitely seeing Atlantas and Snuba! We also really liked Joseph and the Chocolate Melting cake :) We agree that we probably will not go on another Carnival cruise; however, we would LOVE to try another cruise line...maybe to Hawaii! :)

Chris' Surprise Graduation Party

I can’t believe how long it has been since my last post! Things have been very busy and time is flying by so fast! Plans for my husband’s surprise graduation party kept me very busy….but I am happy to report the party was 100% a success!

About the party
The theme was "A Prescription To Party" (I thought it appropriate since he is graduating from Medical School :).)

There were 50 guests...mostly family (due to it being Mother's Day), but some friends made it :) Everyone dressed in scrubs or white coats. At the door, they were given name tags with famous doctor's names on them. (Examples: Dr. Pepper, Dr. Doolittle, Dr. Evil, Dr. Frankenstein, etc.)

The decorations were apothecary jars filled with candies (jelly beans, hot tamales, mike and ikes, etc.) to look like medicine, old fashion medical bags with flowers BLOOMING from them :) , and green/yellow table clothes, plates, cups, napkins, etc. in honor of Chris’ school colors.

As the guests waited for Chris and I to arrive, the kids were given anatomy diagrams to color and played a "GUESS HOW MANY PILLS ARE IN THE BOTTLE" game that I put together. The “pills” were Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and Hot Tamales.

When we arrived…Chris saw a special sign in the drive-way...Chris laughed about it, but still did not suspect. When we walked inside, everyone jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE". Chris was so shocked.

Food
We grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, bbq and italian chicken, and veggies. We also had fruit trays/veggie trays, mac and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, and various chips/dips.

For dessert...I made sugar cookie-cut outs decorated like scrubs, white coats, and nurse uniforms. We had brownies and whoopie pies (Chris’ favorite). My grandma made a cake and topped it with a stethoscope and surenge needles..it was TOO CUTE!:)

To top it off....I revealed my surprise gift to Chris….he is SUPER excited about the cruise we will be taking 4 days after he graduates :) I am excited too!

I will cherish the memories for a long time...It was a great time and I am SOOOO proud of Chris! :)

I hope you enjoy the few photos I have (more to come).

Oreo Cheesecake

My husband loves Oreos! So I made him an Easter treat :)

OREO Cheesecake

1 cup crushed OREO cookies (about 12 cookies)
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 pkgs (8-oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
20 OREO cookies, quartered

**NOTE: Regular OREO cookies are recommended, the cheesecake will not set as well with Double Stuffed.

1. PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees if using silver springform pan (or 300 degrees if using a dark non-stick springform pan). Mix crushed cookies and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.

2. BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently stir in quartered cookies. Pour over crust.

3. BAKE 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional cookies, if desired.

Source: Nestie Lalabee0425

Cream Cheese Strawberry Pie

Cream Cheese Crust:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, soften cream cheese and butter and mix together. In a separate bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients. Incorporate this flour mixture a little at a time to cream cheese and butter mixture.
Roll out with a rolling pin between 2 wax papers. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate and prick with fork before half-baking to prevent shrinkage. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees

*For this recipe I fully baked the crust (since the filling does not require baking). I baked it 18-20 minutes total.

Strawberry Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
8 ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed
10 ounces strawberries, mashed with juices drained away
1 teaspoon lemon juice
fresh strawberries, sliced
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in mashed strawberries and lemon juice. Fold in whipped topping. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Top with sliced strawberries and store in refrigerator until serving.

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Last night at 2:00am (when I couldn't sleep), I made this pie for the "OSU Basketball Tourny Get-Together" this evening at my parent's house. I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Piggies!

These are usually called "Pigs-in-a-blanket", but my husband calls them "Piggies"

Ingredients:
8 Smoked Sausages (We like Johnsonville Smoked Sausages) or Hot Dog
8 slices American or favorite cheese (I also like using Provolone)
1 (10 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Wrap cheese around each Sausage or Hot Dog then the crescent roll around that. Place these on a cookie sheet with the overlap of crescents face down (that way you don't have to use any tooth picks).
Bake in preheated oven until crescents are brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.