Mandy and Jace

We have a crazy week planned this week so I’m not doing a meal plan.

I want to take time to wish my amazing husband a happy birthday. You truly are my other half and I’m can’t picture my life without you. So I have a list for you!
…Thank you for letting me dance like an idiot in the car and not laughing too hard
…Thank you for buying me new printers when I am yelling at the top of my lungs at ours
…Thank you for eating healthy food even though you want fried food
…Thank you for matching socks because I hate doing it
…Thank you for loving me. You are the best husband ever.

Happy birthday!

I have found the one smell that makes my husband melt. No, it’s not my perfume or anything sweet or romantic, it’s browned butter. Just throw some butter in a pan and cook it until it is almost burnt and I can go buy whatever I want. Yup, that’s my secret to getting what I want.

Last week required chocolate chip cookies. It was like I woke up one morning and decided I had to make them. So I threw some together one evening and satisfied my craving. I’m weird like that. These are a little sweeter than your back of the package cookie recipe but the hint of brown butter you get is so good! Another great thing about these cookies are you don’t need a stand mixer. So they are a very easy clean up.


Browned butter chocolate chip cookies
adapted from Dinner with Julie

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until dark brown, almost to the point where it looks burnt, shaking the pan every once in a while so it cooks evenly.
While that’s cooking combine your brown sugar and regular sugar in a large bowl.
Pour the hot browned butter into the sugar mixture and stir to combine. Wait about 5 minutes for the mixture to cool so you don’t scramble your eggs.
Add the eggs and vanilla and stir to combine. Then, add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spoon onto cookie sheets and cook for 10-12 minutes or until they just turn golden brown. Cool and Enjoy!

I am enjoying a very WINDY Monday. They said on the news it was going to be windy and funny how they always get that prediction right. No joke, I’m looking out my window at a little girl holding on to her dad because the wind is trying to push her over. Yikes!
I am in the beginning stages of planning for Thanksgiving. I know it’s a little bit early but we are planning on having it at our house this year, and I want to make sure I have everything that I’m going to need. I can’t believe it is already almost November. Pretty soon we will be getting ready for Christmas and I’m nowhere near ready for that.
If everyone could be praying for our Pastors and Youth Pastors who are on a mission trip in India this week. They will be dedicating churches and doing ministry there and we want to be sure they stay safe and come back VERY soon. I miss my friend, and would really like her to come back in one piece. India is way too far away.

Here is this week’s plan.
Tonight: Steak, lemon spaghetti and green beans (I do realize those really don’t go together but they all sounded good)
Tuesday: Tex-mex pork chops and rice
Wednesday: on-the-go burritos
Thursday: not sure yet. Maybe some kind of soup with the leftovers in the freezer.
Friday: date night!

Happy eating.

I have a rocky past with reading books. I hated to read through school. We had to read so many books to graduate and it was like pulling teeth to get me to read. Then when I did actually wonder into the library to pick a book to read I would find the shortest one possible and flip through it hoping that some of it would seep in. Most of the time it didn’t. When I graduated however, I found some extra time that needed to be filled so I started reading. I read tons of girly books like The Devil Wears Prada and P.S. I Love You way before they were movies. Now I have gotten into this phase to where I have several books at I time that I’m reading. I keep one by my bed to read at night, one in my purse and also several loaded onto the kindle on my iphone. I still typically read girly books but I mix it up with some “smart books” too.

Over the past couple of months I have read too many books to tell you about but I can give you some of my favorites.


The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I decided to pick it up and see what all the hype was about seeing as everyone had read it and couldn’t get enough of it. I really ended up liking this book even though I hated it through the first half. The book was slow and pretty boring. But, once they got the characters established and the story going it became a book that I just couldn’t put down. It has mystery, suspense, love and a good ending, couldn’t ask for much more.


Velvet Elvis
I have read this three times now and have a full notebook of notes after every time. It is written by Rob Bell, who is one of my all time favorite speakers and authors. He sums up Christianity so well and makes it make sense in a modern world. I think he does a great job of helping the church evolve with the times as the people evolve with the times but, he also is sure not to lose sight of where we came from. While I didn’t agree with every word in this book, It made me think harder than I have in a very long time about my faith and where it is going.


Heart of the Matter
Your typical upscale girl’s husband cheats on her and now she is left to pick up the pieces of her marriage and life. I know, it might as well be every lifetime movie ever made but, I wanted a girly book and I got it. It was actually a pretty good read.

Well, we had a wonderful weekend with the most amazing friends ever. Saturday we went bowling with our Quarterlife group at church and while I am a TERRIBLE bowler, I had fun trying, and they didn’t laugh at me too much. Then Sunday afternoon after church we all went to the park and played disc golf. Once again I wasn’t very good but I was better at that than I was at bowling, and by the last hole I was really getting decent and enjoying myself. That is definitely something we will be doing more often.

This week we are having pasta. I have been wanting it for the past couple of weeks and finally put it on the list. That is my favorite dish that we make. I think we could eat it every week and be perfectly happy. We are also having pizza and all kind of other bad foods that I shouldn’t be eating, but I think I’m just going to run double because it is just so good.

Here’s the plan.
Tonight: chicken pasta in a spicy veal cream sauce
Tuesday: cheesesteak sandwiches
Wednesday: breakfast bacon pizza
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: date night

Happy eating!