Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

Today I have been married for two years! So much has changed since then, it's crazy. Tomorrow we are going out to dinner and having grandparents watch the babies for the first time since they were born. I'm a little nervous because they tend to act up when we try to change things. Like this last weekend we tried to go to a birthday party for my niece and ended up having to leave early because little Connor would not stop screaming his head off! I'm sure everything will be fine though...

We have a ton of apples that I've been working on getting ready to freeze. I also made my first ever apple pie completely from scratch last Friday! It was delicious and I learned a couple of things for next time to make it even better. Today I'm making apple crisp in the slow cooker and I'm guessing it will make the house smell awesome! Perfect for this cold fall day. 

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Today I am sharing this yummy recipe for Parmesan-Roasted Green Beans. They are so good, whenever I make them it's hard to stop eating them! They are also a bit spicy with the seasoning that I use, so if you don't like spicy things, you might want to just use regular salt and pepper. They are super easy to make as well, which is always a good thing. Recipe adapted from Budget Savvy Diva.

Parmesan-Roasted Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces Green Beans
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Salt
• "Hot Shot" Black & Red Pepper Blend
• Parmesan Cheese, grated
• Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Trim off the ends of the green beans. In a medium bowl, mix the green beans with just enough olive oil to coat them lightly. Lay the beans out on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

3. Sprinkle garlic salt, pepper blend and grated Parmesan cheese over the green beans. Sprinkle a little bit of the shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

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16 Month Update!

Today my oldest little boy is 16 months old! He's growing up so fast. I had to give him about three haircuts already his hair gets so long and curly in the back. He's walking better but still trips all over the place of course. Just the other day he tripped over something and fell on his forehead and almost instantly this huge bump popped up. That's the part I hate about him learning to walk. 

He has also turned into quite the little parrot. It's so cute! He's learning some new words. I usually know what he's saying but I doubt if anyone else would yet. He's also loving his Curious George show that he gets to watch when I pump during the day. He loves his little brothers and always tries to help when they are crying or spitting up by shoving their pacifiers in their face. He tries so hard but is just too rough for them still! 

He is also jealous of any attention they get at the same time. I'm hoping he gets better about this soon. I try to spend as much time with him as possible. Oh and one of the babies just rolled over from stomach to back for the first time today! They are also getting so big so fast! I was comparing pictures of my oldest when he was about the same age as them and they look nothing alike. Little man looks exactly like me (or so I am told) and the babies look like my husband. What do you think? The one in the middle is my oldest.

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Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

Today has not been a great day. It's gloomy and rainy and the children won't stop crying. My little man has suddenly developed a fear of any loud noises, even motorcycles driving by or airplanes and this is just in the last two days. He will cry and cry about it and I'm not sure what to do to help him. It probably doesn't help that he decided to get up at 5am this morning either.

Hopefully this evening will get better. Probably after they all go to bed! But until then, I will have to try to figure out how to get him to stop crying. Last week I promised a recipe for the delicious corn chowder I was making and so here it is! (It's rather hard to get a great picture of soup...) We are actually having the leftovers from last week tonight. Rainy days are perfect weather for soup, don't you think?

Slow-Cooker Corn Chowder (adapted from The Crockin' Girls)

Ingredients

• 6-8 potatoes
• 1 can Creamed Corn
• 1 can Whole Kernel Corn
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 pound Sausage
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 2 cups Half and Half

Directions

1. Peel and dice the potatoes. Brown the sausage and drain the grease.

2. Add potatoes, both cans of corn, chicken broth and sausage into the slow-cooker.

3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

4. Mash the mixture into your desired consistency and add the butter and half and half. 

5. Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high.

It's very easy to make and tastes so yummy! I just have to make sure I get it started early enough in the morning. Oh, and the leftovers taste just as good later on. Hope you like it!

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Sunday Currently

Currently I'm...

READING: The General Discussion forum for World of Warcraft...I'm such a nerd, I know...

WRITING: This post.

LISTENING: Normally I have the radio on, but right now there is no music. I can hear dogs barking and kids playing outside though. And of course my babies playing inside.

THINKING: Of posts I need to write for the week and how I haven't posted much lately!

SMELLING: Clean baby smell after they just took a bath.

WISHING: That The Walking Dead was starting already!!

HOPING: That the boys sleep better tonight and only wake up once to eat.

WEARING: I'm actually wearing clothes for once. Well, that sounds like I run around naked, but really I just wear pajamas most of the day.

LOVING: The roasted parmesan green beans that we had for dinner just now! They are awesome and addicting.

WANTING: Some of the yummy banana bread I have in the fridge. It's my third time making it because it's so good. Plus the first time it turned out perfect, second and third times I can't get it to cook all the way in the middle for some reason and I'm trying to figure out why.

FEELING: Like I need to work out more! All I've been talking about is food here...

CLICKING: Pinterest! Looking for recipes for the week. (Food again!)

Linking up with Lauren for The Sunday Currently!

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How to Customize Your Facebook Page

Do you want to know how to customize your Facebook Page to make it look attractive, professional and awesome? Here are some things that I learned when I was working on mine. If you want to see what mine looks like check it out here!

There are basically three sections of your Facebook Page that you should focus on: the profile picture, cover photo and your apps section. 

1. Profile Picture: Best size = 180x180 pixels. I would recommend using a square image here for best results. If your logo isn't already square, consider making a square version for this. Otherwise it will end up being cropped and part of it won't show or it might look fuzzy from Facebook scaling it. Instead of a logo I just used a regular photo of myself here. 

2. Cover Photo: 851x315 pixels. This is the very first thing people will see when they go to your page so make sure it is kept up to date and reflects your style. I would avoid enlarging an image for this. use one that is already this big or it will appear grainy and blurry. You can add text to this image as well if you like. Facebook guidelines say that up to 20% of the cover photo can be text.

3. Your Apps: 74x111 pixels. You can easily customize the images that come with your apps that you have installed on your page to make them match everything else. Create a graphic that is the specified size and save it. Then click on the down arrow next to your row of apps. 

Hover over the app you would like to change and click on the pencil icon that appears in the top right corner. Click "Edit Settings" on the menu that appears. 

A pop-up window will show up on top of your Facebook Page. Click on the "Change" link next to "Customize Tab Image."

A new page will open and you will need to hover over the app image and click "edit." Choose your file from your computer and save it!

Check back and see how your new lovely Facebook Page looks. Do you have any other tips or suggestions for customizing a Facebook Page? Let me know in the comments!

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Apple Cheesecake Crumble Bars

How does the weekend go so fast? Or the entire week for that matter! It feels like I can never keep up with everything. I've been slacking on posting lately, but today I have this super delicious dessert. (Again with the desserts!) In case you can't tell, we have an awful lot of desserts around our house all the time. I love baking and trying new things and figuring out what works and what doesn't! 

Today I've been making a yummy corn chowder in the crock pot all day. It's going to be fantastic when we have it for dinner tonight. I'll post the recipe next week, because I know you all will want to try it! Okay, here's the recipe for my Apple Cheesecake Crumble Bars.

Apple Cheesecake Crumble Bars
(adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Crust:

• 2 cups of Flour
• 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:

• 2 packages Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Apples:

• 3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons of Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

Crumble Topping:

• 1 cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Quick Cook Oats
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir to combine and pour over the warm crust.

4. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.

5. For the crumble topping: In a small bowl combine all ingredients and sprinkle over apples.

6. Bake 40-45 minutes or until filling is set. Let cool before serving. Serve cold. 

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Day Two: Favorite Song Lyrics

Day two of the October blogging challenge! This is the prompt for today: Get a certain or favorite lyric/s from your favorite song, and tell us how it inspires or describes you. Well, this is rather difficult since I have way more than one favorite song! Here is one song that I absolutely love, though. I liked it before I had children but now I love it even more. 

(Find Your Wings by Mark Harris)

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams

And that faith gives you the courage

To dare to do great things

I'm here for you whatever this life brings

So let my love give you roots

And help you find your wings

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky

I'll have tears as you take off

But I'll cheer as you fly

I love this song because this is exactly what I want for my boys. I hope they have huge dreams that they follow with nothing holding them back. I also want them to know that no matter what happens I will always love them. This song makes me tear up every time I hear it. (I know, I know, I'm such a baby!) I have plans to make a poster with some of the lyrics, along with all my other projects I want to do..! Anyways, I just hope my boys grow up knowing that I want the absolute best for them in life!

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The October Daily: Blogging Challenge Day One!

Can you believe it? It's already October 1st today! Pretty soon it's Halloween and then shortly after it's Thanksgiving (and I turn 30, yikes!) and practically Christmas already. I love this time of year, except for the fact that it goes by so fast! I'm so excited to be participating in a blogging challenge this month. My first time ever. I mean, sure I'll probably miss a few days here and there, but it will still be lots of fun!

Today's prompt: Share at least five reasons why you blog.

I remember back in April or so of this year I was bored and looking for something to do to occupy my time as I waited impatiently for the twins to be born. I came across a couple of awesome blogs and I loved the design of them and I thought "that's so cool, I wonder if I can do that too?" So I started this blog in May without really knowing much about what I was doing and have been learning more about blogging ever since.

This is why I blog:

1. To give me something to do. Back when I started I was really bored, I am not so much now. In fact I am super busy all the time! (It feels like it at least.) I still love blogging though and do not want to give it up even if it takes lots of extra time. I just don't always have as much time as I used to.

2. To keep me motivated. For example when I do my fitness challenges and I blog about them, it gives me motivation to stick to them. If I didn't write about it I would have a much harder time sticking to it! I also wanted to stay motivated to finish some of my many projects I have half completed, but that hasn't been the case. Not enough time...(hopefully that will change as the boys get older.)

3. To meet new people and make some friends. I don't get out of the house much. I love reading about other people's lives and it's awesome when people comment on my posts! Lately I have been terrible about keeping up with comments and reading other blogs. I need to get back to that.

4. To work on my writing and maybe get better. I wish I was a better writer. I guess that's part of the reason I started this blog, to practice. I would love to get better at it but I don't think I work at it as much as I should! (If I ever was granted one wish it would be that I didn't need to sleep anymore, I'd be able to get way more things done that I want to do!) My little sister, however, is an awesome writer. I'm so proud of her! Check out her blog here if you want to see what I mean.

5. To work on my design and tech skills. I love designing things for my blog. You might have noticed how often I have changed the design in the past few months. I have also had to learn a lot about HTML and other simple tech things as I updated my blog. Still learning, of course. There are still lots of things I need to figure out how to do!

6. To share my life with anyone who wants to read about it. It started out with sharing about my pregnancy and now I get to post lots of cute baby pictures! That way friends and family can see what's going on with the boys. (I actually don't think very many of my friends or family read this blog, so it's mostly sharing with strangers I guess. Hopefully you all like to see lots of pictures!)

So that's why I blog. I wasn't sure when I started if I would continue very long, but it's already been 5 months now and I still love doing it!

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