Riley’s 2nd Birthday!

My youngest nephew’s birthday was this month.  I made the drive out to my brother’s house for the party.  He was a whooping two years old!

My mom and my niece, Mauryn.  She was a little pouty.  She wanted to go to the pool, but it wasn’t time to go yet.  She’s a bit bossy and isn’t happy when she doesn’t get what she wants.

Riley’s big present was a new tri-cycle.  They have another one, but it was pink and purple.  They got him a new one so he didn’t have to be embarrassed riding the pink bike around the neighborhood… haha! 

My other sweet “niece”, Hannah!  (She is my sister-in-law’s sister’s daughter.  Did you follow that?)Doesn’t she look cute in her sun hat!

Riley had a little help opening up all his presents.  I think he would have been happy with one present.  I’m not sure he understands the present concept yet.  He just wants to play!

 

His little face was all red and sweaty from playing with all the kids!

 

Riley’s “Choo Choo Thomas” Cake!

 

YUMMY!

 

These sweet girls were getting ready for the pool!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, MY SWEET NEPHEW!

Love, Aunt Carrie

Vegetarian Lasagna

Although we still eat meat, we are trying to reduce it because of the animal cruelty in factory farms.  I bought some Morning Star crumbles to try.  I was a little skeptical about how they would taste. 

I decided to use them in a lasagna.  It was just a standard lasagna, but instead of ground beef I used the crumbles.

Taaa Daaa!  It looks like any other lasagna and it tasted like ground beef.  My taste buds were scared, but it surprisingly tasted good.  My boyfriend said he couldn’t really tell that it was meatless.  That’s a big deal because he seems to have picky tastes. 

I think I will use them more often and try some of the other Morning Star products.  I want to try making tacos with the crumbles. 

Dan and Bri’s Wedding

In May, my boyfriend and I went to his friend’s wedding.  He was actually a groomsman and had to rent a tux.  We went to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. 

My dad gave him a Jerry Garcia tie.  My boyfriend took a intersession class in May about the Grateful Dead…. That’s right… the Grateful Dead… and he got 3 hours credit for it.  He wore the tie to the rehearsal dinner.

The rehearsal was at Benvenuti’s in Norman.  It was really good pasta.  We had never been there before that night.  I had a mushroom rigatoni, and it was quite delicious.  My boyfriend had the lasagna, which he liked.

My boyfriend had to rent a tux.  He rarely dresses up because he hates it.   It’s hard to get him to wear anything besides T-shirts, cargo shorts and jeans.  The looks on his face describes exactly how he feels wearing this tux, but he looks nice.

 

My boyfriend and I at the wedding.  His eyes look really blue in this picture.

The groom’s cake had Stewie from Family Guy on it.  It was red velvet.  Yum!

I don’t know what’s going on here, but we did take a small flask on rum, which could explain the expression

 

Isn’t he sexy in those suspenders? HAHAHA!

Baked Dijon Salmon

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, for garnish
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.
4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

I turned this:

    Into something that looked a little like this:

I used almonds instead of pecans and only made about half of the honey mustard and bread crumb mixture. 

It was really good.  My boyfriend ate his piece and half of mine! 

I made some green beans with onions and rice to go with…

I could totally be the Next Food Network Star!  :)

Encouragement to Being a Vegan and Eating Less Meat

As Tom Regan said:

“I think everybody has the capacity to stop and think and say, ‘If I knew you, I wouldn’t eat you.’ And in some ways, it really is that simple.”

Or, from the New York Times:

“There’s a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig – an animal easily as intelligent as a dog – that becomes the Christmas ham.”

Tornados and Thunder

The two big things in Oklahoma news right now are tornados and the OKC Thunder.

On Tuesday, we had several tornados hitting the ground.  One was pretty close to our house.  Luckily, it dissipated before it got to our area, but we saw debris falling from the sky after it had passed us.  It was pretty crazy!  If you were raised in Oklahoma and you hear tornado sirens, you run outside to see if you can spot it.  Kind of messed up but true!

Most everyone was sent home early from school and work to take shelter.  We don’t have a storm shelter in our duplex.  We would either have to try to make a run for it or take cover in my closet, the room in the centermost part of the building.  The puppies and I were freaking out a little (or a lot), but my boyfriend kept saying, “it’s going to miss us.” and “we’ll be fine.” and “you wanna go see if we can track one?”  ummmmm…… no……

Here’s some footage of the tornados:

It’s kind of like the movie Twister.

In other news, the OKC Thunder lost to Dallas.  Boooo… We didn’t make it to the finals. 

Usually, I know nothing about sports and could care less, but it was actually pretty cool having a national team make it so close to the championship from my city.  My boyfriend and I went to a few games last season.  It’s a lot of fun to be there.  It’s much more fun than watching it on the TV.  Anyways… maybe next year!

Day 30: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

Lately, I have been missing my Grandpa Howard.  My grandpa handmade instruments.  He made a few guitars and two mandolins, but he made several fiddles.  My boyfriend loves music and playing string instruments.  My parents gave my boyfriend a mandolin and guitar that my grandpa made.  Before my boyfriend started playing them, they were just sitting in a closet at my parents’ house. 

My boyfriend loves music including bluegrass, blues and everything else.  My grandpa would have really enjoyed talking to my boyfriend and vice versa.  I really wish they could have met.  I know they would have loved each other.  Sometime I joke that my boyfriend would probably have liked my grandpa more than me. 

It makes me miss him. 

I always remember that he was kind to me and made me laugh.  He used to tell me if I didn’t eat my vegetables I would grow hair on my chest.  He liked to tell tall tales like that.  (That was a little bit of a tongue twister.) 

I love you, Grandpa Howard!  I know you are watching over me from somewhere!