HAPPY FALL! Salty Sweet Pumpkin Seeds!

Yay! My most favorite time of year. I got my pumpkin last weekend and carved it into a lovely kitty head.

Come on, aren't you impressed? It even has ears! Yes, I'm aware it's got an effed up eye but it gives it character.

So after I had my pumpkin carved, I saved the seeds and then searched pinterest for an easy recipe to make the seeds delicious! And I found something good!

Official Recipe Here (there.)

So I had already cleaned and dried out the seeds for a few days, just because I kind of forgot about them. 

I had originally had them in a bowl but my mom didn't think they were clean enough and so she then laid them all out on a paper towel, so when they dried, they were stuck to the paper towel. DO NOT DO THIS! It was super annoying and slightly time-consuming. I whined enough, so she did it for me, but be smarter about this, don't lay on paper. :)

Thanks mom.





Then I laid them all out on some aluminum foil. I 'poured' some olive oil over it, then sprinkled with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Then I used my hands and a spoon to mix it all around. Super easy.

This blog seems lame, because it's the simplest process. I then turned on the oven to 300 and put them in for 20ish minutes, then used the spoon to mix them around some and finished them off after another 20 minutes.

Took them out and tried some right away...




AMAZEFEST USA! SO good! That perfect blend of sweet and salty. I probably stood over that pan and ate and exclaimed, "OH MY GOD SO GOOD" for a good 5 minutes.

So there you have it, the perfect solution to your leftover pumpkin seeds.
You're welcome. To thank me, you can send me what you make.

Crockpot Chicken Brown Rice Casserole - Deep breaths...

I know. I'm such a slacker lately. With my new job, I work later and then I get home and workout, so I haven't been very ambitious in trying new things. I just make what I know. But I really need to start making stuff again, as I'm wasting too much money (and calories) on going to eat somewhere for lunch as I don't have leftovers to eat!

So, last week I got on pinterest and printed out some stuff to try and picked up some ingredients to make new stuff. So I thought I'd first try this Crockpot Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole. Plus I'd heard many good things about this lady's website and never tried anything, so I was super excited. It had lots of things I like:
Chicken? Good.
Rice? Good.
Mushrooms? Pretty good, I'm okay with them. I'm trying.


So here's most of the ingredients. Keep in mind, I got this all put together at 6:30 this morning. Nothing I want to do less than cook dinner at 6:30am, but I figured it would be worth it.


So the worst part was having to boil some chicken broth and milk and whisking this concoction. Again, at 6:30am, in case you forgot, when I'm cranky, tired and want to just crawl back into bed.


Alright, washed my mushrooms and then added them and the rice to my trusty crock.

Then I had to let the chicken broth/milk mixture cool and I just let it sit for an hour while I finished my morning routine. I didn't want to start this too early anyways and figured I'd throw the last of it together right before I scooted out the door for work. I had to add the chicken last. I was a little skeptical at this point because I thought it strange you were adding DRY ingredients to the bottom, that doesn't make sense. But, I've never made this before, I'll roll with it.

So cut to about 1pm. I'm at lunch with a couple ladies from my last job and I get a text message saying, "Just checked on your crockpot stuff. It is BURNING!" I was like WHAT?! It's only been like 5 hours and it says to cook on low for 8!! So I suggested adding more chicken broth and fingers crossed it would work out.

I get home and look in the crockpot and see THIS!


I'll give you a few minutes to swallow that vomit you just spit up. What a frikken MESS! It looked like crap, smelled like crap and also tasted like CRAP! I was pissssssed. Because not only did I waste 30 minutes of my morning preparing this, it's a WASTE of food and people know that I hate wasting. Especially the chicken! The rice and mushrooms are fairly cheap, but the chicken?! )@(*#&*@#@()! Plus here is another night and lunch tomorrow where I have to find something to eat and waste money I shouldn't be spending on eating out. So I'm just livid at this point, add in the fact I've just had a crappy week already and have been needing an attitude adjustment. So I go in and exercise, trying to brainstorm of how I can save this, somehow. I have the idea that gravy can maybe save anything..? Maybe? I had a jar of turkey gravy in my cupboard I got from using a coupon.
(Side note: How do you pronounce coupon? Q-pon? Or coo-pon? If it's the latter, you are WRONG! Moving along...)


So I whip up some gravy (aka open the jar and throw in a pot and taste test a little because I'm not wanting to waste ANY more food!)

Needless to say, this 'meal' can NOT be saved. It still tasted like burnt piece of cardboard pulled out of somebody's ASS. So I just ate the rest of my peas and moved on.


Here is proof. Does this not say LOW FOR ABOUT 8?! It wasn't even on 5 hours before it was SHIT!


So glad I could feed my trashcan, NOT!


Whatever, I really only wanted a pumpkin muffin from Perkins anyway, cause I'm worth it. Screw you "A Year of Slow Cooking."

(Side note part 2: When I found the link to share here, I started reading the comments which I wish I would've done earlier, as all the ones I saw when I skimmed said the same thing. UGH! Then delete this stupid recipe off your stupid website! Now I'm annoyed by this website and I'm discouraged yet again from trying anything new. Everything I've tried new lately has been a bust.)

Lazy Spinster & Million Dollar Spaghetti

GREETINGS!
I know, it's been far too long. That last cold really threw my life out of whack and I've started a new job and now work later in the day, add in the fact that my new job is kind of out of the way so when I run errands after work, it takes a little longer. So after a list of excuses, I've been 'busy' and have made stuff, just wasn't that impressed that I felt I needed to share but I thought I'd share what I've been making..

So I had a recipe for a Parmesan Meatloaf that I gave a whirl. Here's a picture of it.


Yep, tasted about as appetizing as it looks. I had one piece and threw out the rest. I won't even share the recipe. (Truthfully, I can't find it on my pinterest and don't care to look anymore. What is up with them not letting you search your OWN pins??!) Just take my word for it, not worth your time.



Next I tried to replicate these Chicken Stuffing Sandwiches I had at a fundraising garage sale about a month ago! Since I'm combining this journal, I won't go into details. I just cooked some chicken breasts in my crockpot in the morning, they were finished and I shredded them up around noon and started the actual recipe and had them for supper! They were pretty good! Not as good as the one I purchased before, but they were comparable. I would rate them 3.5 out of 5 noms. The only reason it's so low is that a girl can get sick of them when it makes such a large amount. I had them for leftovers way too many times and  I was OVER IT. :) So probably best to make for a large group!

 
Here they are after they had finished. It doesn't look that appetizing, but they were pretty good. :)


NOW! Onto the real point of this! Last night I attempted this new recipe I found for Million Dollar Spaghetti!




Bonus points for someone who can guess where I purchased my ingredients! :)
Tunes provided by Tristan Prettyman, whose new album is FAB and I highly recommend everyone to purchase it!




Water boiling, hamburger cooking. Blah.





In the meantime, you have to keep the cook entertained, so I whipped up all the delicious, cellulite-inducing cheeses.



  My only gripe with this recipe was the fact that it wasn't detailed. I like details! Don't say "a few slices of butter at bottom of pan." I don't know how many a few is. 2, 5, half a stick? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?





 Now I had to boil the noodles. I read a trick once to break the noodles in half, makes it easier or something. It's science. Look it up.


 
What science failed to mention is that it caused stray pieces of spaghetti to rain all over. ARGH

 
Okay, noodles done, poured over butter. Fabulous.








Ahh yes, love break with Bells.



Back to work! Now pour on the artery-clogging cheesy goodness.

 
Meat is finally done, pour on the spaghetti sauce!

Fricken look at that.

Oh wait, fricken look at THAT! I sprinkled some cheese over it for the last 15 minutes. NOM!




Okay, so I know it kind of looks like vomit but it tastes sooo much better. It was seriously really good. Even my mom ate some, and she NEVER eats my cooking. The real test is the leftover test, which I will update  but I'm sure it will be fab! 
So right now, nom rating is 4.5 out of 5. My only gripe is that I was under the impression it was easier to make than spaghetti. However, it used the same amount of pans (plus one more, the casserole dish). Then add in the fact that you had to already make everything and then bake for 45 minutes. So I started it at like 6 something and therefore, wasn't eating until closer to 8. But still, totally worth it!
I don't know why it's called Million Dollar Spaghetti. I was really hoping Ed McMahon would knock on my door in the middle of cooking this and say I was a millionaire, that didn't happen, but maybe he was just running late.

Vicks Vapor Shower Disks - LIES!

So I've always kept this Vicks Vapor Rub Shower Disks DIY project in my head for sometime when I get a cold, that time is now. My head is full of boogers and germs and anything else that sucks at life. I've been miserable all weekend and so Friday night I decided to make these. There's nothing I love more than Vicks, it's just so wonderful, so this is bound to be a win, right? WRONG!

So for one, I noticed that you have to let them sit for 12-18 hours after you make them. Okay fine, I made them Friday night and figured I would relish in the amazing power of Vicks on Saturday.


Alright, directions and ingredients. No tunes, I'm too sick to even enjoy music.


Now my first problem with this recipe is that I hate people who make these instructions and then don't inform people of the exact measurements. This person is like, "Oh put some baking soda in a bowl, I didn't measure." Then why the eff are you sharing?! Someone isn't like, "Oh yeah, okay.. I'll just use this imaginary amount, that sounds good." Idiots. So I figured I would start with 6 and if I needed more, just add it.



This is me, feeling like poo. Kill me now.


Okay so then you add water and mix it, not too hard.


Then you fill the little cups, I think my estimation was perfect, with 6 disks.
So then I followed the recipe at the bottom where she suggested baking them first, then adding the oils, as other people said they had a problem with them crumbling and this would solve that.........




NOT!


I go to take them out of the tin and they tear apart, sure my liners were thin and maybe if I used those metal ones or something thicker, it wouldn't be as big of an issue. But also, "HEY MENTION THAT IN THE DIRECTIONS!" I ended up using a spoon to kind of scoop them out.


This is what I'm left with. Faaaaab. This is off to a wonderful start.


Then this is what's left. Nothing I love to do more, when I'm sick as a dog, than have more cleaning to do.


So then I let them cool for a while and added my essential oils. I didn't have rosemary and didn't want to go to the health store just for that, so I substituted peppermint instead.

Now I let them sit overnight and I was hopeful as I left them in my kitchen and anytime I walked past, I smelled them and it was heavenly to my snot-filled nose. So I was super excited to use them in my shower on Saturday...........



Cut to THIS! Piece of CRAP! I grab my first disk and then start to remove the liner and it completely turns to a crumbly mess. Are you frikken KIDDING me?




I end up just pouring it out into my hand and throwing in a corner of my shower.



Nailed it. NOT


I figured maybe it doesn't matter, it'll work just as good. It doesn't. I couldn't smell it at all. It washed down the drain pretty quickly anyways. Stupid junk. Don't do this, waste of time and expensive essential oils.

Crock Pot Chicken & Biscuits

Alright, this is delayed because I made this earlier this week but I've been busy with starting a new job and now I've caught a cold and I just haven't gotten around to it until now! Plus I was unable to upload pictures for a while, for some reason, but that's now fixed so here I am! My head is full of snot and medicine, so I probably won't be as witty.

Alright, so I've had this Crock Pot Chicken & Biscuits recipe saved for a while but the problem is, you're supposed to cook in the crockpot for 2-3 hours so it's not one I could make before I go to work and have it ready when I get home, I needed to make it on a weekend, so I finally did last weekend!


It called for some cream of chicken soup, which looks so revolting when you slop it in. Mmm lard.


Since I had all day, I put some chicken breasts in the crockpot in the morning and cooked them for a few hours. The worst part is cutting it up!


Ooooh look who's here!


So I mixed everything together as directed and realized I didn't think it was soupy enough. I determined that after a couple hours, it would be pretty thick and dry, so I opted to add another can of cream of chicken.


There, that looks better.


Mmm mixed veggies and I found the kind without lima beans! Seriously, who's idea was it to add lima beans to it? Barf-a-roni.

Now, in the background this has been cooking for 2ish hours, so time to make the biscuits!


Gah! I hate when this happens! It's that scary anticipation of it to pop and then it doesn't!!

 
Easy peasy.You'll notice one biscuit has a bite out of it. Yes, I love raw dough and I always take one bite before baking. :)


That poor biscuit got all deformed.


And there it is, after a couple hours! Looks pretty good! Good 'ole comfort food!


Delish!

I will say, it was pretty good! The only problem was the leftovers weren't as good. Heating up those biscuits makes them tough, so that kinda sucks. I would maybe make it again, but the whole short cooking time kinda screws me up.