tastebook.com

so i started this project january 2010, in hopes that i would have a meaningful gift to give my parents and in laws the following christmas. i also wanted to have a quality cookbook to keep all my favorite recipes in. i tend to cook a new recipe once a week so i have come up with quite a few recipes that i love and wanted them all in one place. thats where tastebook comes in. researching different companies and the quality of their cookbooks. i decided that tastebook was the most bang for your buck and so "user friendly." so off i started creating my cookbook. i thought i would initially do just one but i created 5 in the last year. each one different for different family or friends, all with great food. josh and the kids became used to trying my many meals and mom taking pictures of all her food to put into the cookbook. i think my mom loved hers as well as my inlaws. i hope they USE them...hint hint! it took a lot longer than i thought it would to enter in all the recipes but it has been so worth it. we loved the final look of the cookbooks. so now that christmas is over i can share some of my favorite recipes with everyone. here are just a few of the many:

Morning Glory Oven French Toast

After making this recipe all other french toast just tastes bland. This is a family favorite of ours.

• 3 eggs

• ¾ cup milk

• 1 Tbsp. sugar

• ¼ tsp. salt

• ¼ tsp. cinnamon

• 18 slices French bread, ½ inch thick

• Powdered sugar

• Raspberry Topping:

• 1 package frozen raspberries, thawed

• 1 cup sugar

• 1. Prepare topping by adding ingredients to saucepan and heating through till hot. Heat oven to 500°F.

• 2. Beat eggs, milk, sugar, salt and cinnamon in small bowl with fork.

• 3. Dip bread into egg mixture and place on a separate plate. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Heat cookie sheet in oven for 1 minute; remove from oven. Place dipped bread on hot cookie sheet.

• 4. Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Turn bread; bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot with raspberry topping and powdered sugar.

Caesar-Style Steak Sandwiches

This tasty sandwich has all the flavors or a traditional Caesar salad, but the crusty baguette makes it amazing.

• 1½ lb. beef sirloin steak (about 1½ inches thick)

• ¾ tsp. pepper

• 1 baguette, halved horizontally, cut crosswise into 4 pieces

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

• ½ cup refrigerated Caesar salad dressing

• 1 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

• 8 Romain lettuce heart leaves

• 8 tomato slices

• 1. Heat grill. Sprinkle steak with pepper. Grill, uncovered, over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare, turning once. Remove steak; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 5 minutes before thinly slicing.

• 2. Meanwhile, brush cut sides of baguette with oil. Grill, covered 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Brush cut sides of bread with salad dressing; top bottom pieces with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, stead and remaining bread.

Grilled Peaches with Blackberry-Basil Butter

This is another Southern Living Magazine favorite of mine. The blackberry-basil butter really makes this dish amazing.

• ½ cup softened butter

• ¼ cup seedless blackberry preserves

• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil

• 4 peaches

• 1. Stir together butter, preserves and basil until blended.

• 2. Grill peaches on grill.

• 3. Fill peaches with butter and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Fish Tacos

My mom’s version of restaurant style fish tacos. It makes for an easy dinner when you are feeling for something light, yet filling.

• Corn tortillas

• Tilapia

• Taco Seasoning to taste

• Salt to taste

• 1 pkg. coleslaw mix

• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

• 3 limes, quartered

• Lighthouse Cilantro dressing

• 1. Sprinkle salt and taco seasoning over tilapia. Cook Tilapia in skillet over medium-high heat, until fish is cooked through.

• 2. Mix together coleslaw mix and chopped cilantro.

• 3. Make tacos by layering coleslaw mixture, fish, and lighthouse dressing in corn tortilla. Sprinkle with lime juice.

Note: If Lighthouse Cilantro dressing cannot be found, mix ranch with guacamole, lime juice and some chopped cilantro to make dressing.

(p.s. if you want to see the entire cookbook, leave a comment and i can email it to you. happy eating! now go make a cookbook for yourself!)

another cute conversation

Brookie, "is this heaven?" (as we are walking into TJMaxx)
Mom, "no, we live on earth." (i can tell she is sad)
Brookie, "why?"
Mom, "we needed to get a body, are you sad this isnt heaven?"
Brookie, "yes"
Mom, "how come? do you want to see the angels and Heavenly Father and Jesus?'
Brookie, "yes"
Mom, "me too!"

birthday love

i feel truly LOVED!!! my birthday was on friday and i was so completely spoiled in every way. my family and friends called, texted, emailed, sent cards, wrote on facebook, etc. i have never been so loved on my birthday. thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes. friday morning i woke up to breakfast in bed made by my wonderful husband before he headed to work. brody doesnt go to school fridays so i was lucky to have him home with me on my birthday. i have to say that BRODY made this a birthday to remember. as i was picking brooklyn's outfit out for the day in her room, brody came in and said,

"mama, i have a surprise for you."
"what handsome?"
"a hug! happy birthday" (he then gave me a BIG hug).

my heart melted then and there. then when i was getting my gym shoes on in my closet he came in and said,

"mommy, i have another present!" (he then gave me one of his matchbox cars in a blue cardboard box that he had painted a long time ago. he keeps all his special treasures in this box. everything he doesnt want brookie to get. he had emptied everything out of this box, so he could have something to wrap my present in).

i was trying to get to a yoga class at 9:30 and so i was trying to rush the kids a little. brody was taking his time in his room and i couldnt figure out why. i went in there to check on him and all his special things that were in the blue box he had emptied out on brooklyns bed in specific piles. he was putting them away in his drawer nice and neat like brody does. i said,

"here brody let me help you." (i then grabbed his silly bandz and asked him if he was going to wear them today. then i grabbed his money ((made up of pennies and dimes)) and asked him where he wanted his money?
"no mom! thats for you!" as he puts it back in my hand.
"oh that's okay" i said not getting what he meant.
"NO MOM! thats for you! you said you wanted money for your birthday!"

i stopped right there in my tracks, holding pennies and dimes....my four year old was giving me all the money he had so his mom could have the present she wanted most. lets just say i was choking back tears as i gave him a big hug and said,

"oh handsome, thank you so much, that means so much to mommy that you would share your money with me, but this is your money and i want you to keep it. daddy is going to give mommy money for her birthday, so you dont need too. thank you though."

I HAVE THE SWEETEST LITTLE BOY IN THE WORLD!

so off we went to the gym, i am almost there when elise (a med school friend) calls and asks where i am. i tell her and she said i had ruined the surprise. elise and calli had come to kidnap me and take me out to breakfast for my birthday. i turn around and go home to meet them. there plan also backfired when they learned that i was not hungry since josh had made me breakfast in bed. so instead we let the kids play while we hung out. can i just say i have the best friends ever. they are so thoughtful. not only did they come to make me feel loved on my birthday but they served me...the best gift they could have given me. they emptied my dishwasher, did my dishes, and elise, bless her heart she is seven months pregnant and insisted on giving me a massage. we and not talking just a casual massage no we are talking a full back massage. she does a GREAT job and i cant wait to go get a massage on her massage table. thank you calli and elise for making my birthday special and making me feel so loved. i will always remember your service. for it touched my heart and i felt so grateful to have you both as friends.
after the girls left josh was home from work already. it was noon. he spent the afternoon with brody washing my car. the day before he had washed it and cleaned the inside with brooklyn but it got some dust on it so he washed it again. i relaxed while he took care of my grumpy girl and my hyper boy. we opened the presents they had got me, all things that i had picked out at target and said, "i want that, and that, and that." i know i am so lame! but i got some paring knives, cookie sheets, a pitcher i have wanted, and a swim suit cover-up for the beach this summer.
that night i felt like the luckiest girl in the world as my handsome husband all decked out in his best duds, took me shopping and to my favorite restaurant. we took the kids over to aunt patti and uncle johns and off we went. i tried on each outfit for josh as he "oohhed" and "awed" or "booed." dinner was tasty and the conversation was even better. we had a wonderful evening and the best part was that our kids were bathed and happy when we got back to them. thank you john and patti for watching them. i had a fabulous birthday. thank you josh for all you do to make me feel special. you are the love of my life.

other things...

besides the things already mention january was busy with cami making valentines crafts, which i have no pictures of. i also received a new calling in addition to my other one...we are lucky to have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir coming to norfolk so i got put in charge of ticket sales. a lady i visit teach had a baby in december and with holiday craziness i didnt get a chance to throw her a baby shower so that was done at the end of january.
february brought another new calling teaching brody's primary class...hum that makes three callings now...a little crazy for me. i also started back to the gym since hurting my leg and i am still working on getting full motion back. it is very frustrating but i keep at it in hopes that one day i will be normal again. josh finished psychiatry and is now on family practice. brody had a dentist appointment and left with bad news of cavities. brooklyn had no cavities thank goodness. in a week i will celebrate another birthday. but this does not seem like a fun one since i will be turning 26. i guess i cant stop myself from getting older so i will have to enjoy each and every moment. besides those things we are enjoying the warmer weather this week. i cant wait till spring is fully here!

valentines day

the kids helped me make sugar cookies to send for brody's valentines party at school

we had a special family valentines dinner planned

cupid brought presents

we had a great valentines day together as a family. i am the luckiest girl in the world with three valentines that i love so much.

daddy-daughter date

our ward primary was hosting a daddy-daughter date night for all the girls. technically the nursery girls were not invited but josh asked the primary president if he could bring brooke. brooklyn was so excited. it was a princess themed party. brooklyn got to pick out what she wanted to wear and she told me how she wanted her hair done. mommy made it extra special with some perfume and blush. i think josh was just as excited as she was. luckily for me, brody was having a movie night at his school so we turned that into a mommy-son date. i had so much fun being with just brody on our date. we talked about things that are important to him and we had a good time together. i got home and josh told me everything they did on their date. they got to dance, and play a game, and eat dinner together. josh said that when they got back in the car brookie said, "that was my bestest party ever!" so adorable!

snow day

building a snow man

best smile ever

so strong

good helper

we doubted the weather man when he told us we were getting snow, especially since it was like 60 degrees the day before but we woke up to SNOW! brody of course didnt have school so we played. daddy helped the kids build a snowman. mom and dad had a good snowball fight. brooklyn got a snowball in the face from brother...brother got in trouble....classic family moment.

charts

while at the outer banks brody got sick and you know how it goes....brody gave it to brooklyn and josh...luckily i didnt get it this time. so for two weeks of january we were home from school sick and mom was taking care of everyone. it was no fun, especially since i started potty training brooklyn when brody was sick and then brooklyn was sick. poor girl, shes sick and her mom is trying to potty train her. i should have waited but really she did AMAZING!!! she was so ready and she had it down in three days. well with her potty training she had a sticker chart for going potty. brody needed a chore chart. once the charts were all filled up with stickers brooklyn got to pick out a toy and brody decided he wanted a fish. meet optimus our first family pet. optimus now is in the kids room and brooklyn says he protects her at night from the bad guys.

long weekend

josh was lucky enough to be working at a government hospital over martin luther king jr. day so he got the day off, which meant a long weekend for us...and what else do we love to do when we get time...TRAVEL! we headed to the outer banks for a family break from normal life. we loved our hotel and you couldnt beat the price. it had a kitchen which was even more perfect so we could cook our meals instead of eating out. we love the drive to the outer banks because we take the back roads, and it is so beautiful! josh and i got a much needed chance to talk and the kids were just excited. we explored the wright brothers memorial and museum. the outer banks is where the first flight occurred. we loved learning the history and of course getting toys for the kids.

the wright brothers actually attempted a flight the day before on the top of the sand bank in the background but a gust of wind came and blew the plane over and a part of it broke, so they flew the first flight on the next day

while there we also went back to a bowling alley we had been to a couple years before. brooklyn loved strutting her stuff. plus those shoes could not be any cuter.

brody loved bowling by himself for the first time.
josh got his PR of 181, so he was pretty happy.
mom was just happy not to hurt her leg even more.

on sunday we took a drive to see the rest of the lighthouses we have not seen yet. cape hatteras was first on our list. the drive couldnt have been more beautiful. cape hatteras is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. because of erosion they had to move the lighthouse back. it was pretty neat to see the old site and new site.

as you can tell brody was happy with his helicopter

it is off season right now in the outer banks and the lighthouse was unfortunately closed for climbing up it. we went to the visitors center and museum and the nice man in the museum said he would let us in the lighthouse. we were ecstatic. he even let brody open the door to the lighthouse.

on our way home we had to stop to see grave digger and the other cool monster trucks. we always drive by whenever we visit the outer banks but we had to stop this time. brody thought they were pretty cool, especially since grandpa bingham bought him some awhile ago and brodys toy monster trucks are just like grave digger.

it was such a great family vacation. as always brody and brooklyn loved the hotel room more than anything else. we started a new family tradition in sun river and continued it on this trip of eating warm chocolate chip cookies and milk just before bed. bad habit to get in to but oh so yummy.

santa came to our house too!

santa came to our house while we were at grandma and grandpas house. he left presents by our tree for us to see when we came home. it was a LONG day coming back but we finally made it home at about midnight. brody loved his new big boy bike and brooke love her kitchen. i think the kitchen has been the best present...the kids play with it everyday. we saw this one at christian and moe's house and had to ask santa to get the same one for our kids. truly, it really is the best one. we had a wonderful time visiting my family back home and there was just so many fun things we did...i didn't even capture our trip because i was too busy having fun. mom and dad thank you for flying us home for christmas. i loved seeing all of you.

sun river

my parents took my whole family to sun river for a family vacation after christmas. when we arrived there was snow and lots of it. the kids couldnt wait to get out and play in it.
josh tried but lucky me he missed

but brody got him for me

building a snowman after dark

one of the traditions we have while visiting sun river is to go to town and go ice skating. brody did NOT like it at all but i think that was more because he was tired. brooklyn was all smiles and laughter. she LOVED it!

as you can tell...

brody did like going in dad's arms though

one morning it was SOOO cold outside. just walking from our room to my parents room was killer. but despite the cold my mom decided to take the kids for a ride in the sled.

i think they had fun...

our last day there we went sledding with all the kids (i couldnt go because my leg...more on that later) but these hills were so big, even the adults had a blast

tiffany and her boys

chris

my dad..shortly after this picture he fell off it was pretty funny

chaser

my mom went with brookie since i couldn't. while in sun river we decided that our family skiing day at mt. bachelor would be on wednesday. not knowing what the weather would be like we took our chances to book all the kids in day care or ski school. well we got up to the mountain and it was a white out. the snow was falling so hard and the wind was blowing. it was COLD!!! we got the kids signed in to their stuff and got our own skis. josh had asked me to ski with him since we have been married and i never have (i always snowboard). well i had said i would ski before but would always chicken out since his family are all amazing skiers and i didnt want to look like a dork! i know silly me! well my family i dont care what i look like so i skied. (mistake #1)! because the snowfall had been so much the main runs were not even groomed. needless to say my legs were burning just to keep control of myself on skis. we were on our third run and after this run we were going inside for lunch. i told josh halfway down the run that i was going to trade my skis in for a snowboard after lunch. i could see the lodge, and i had a feeling that i should take this last part slow, but i just wanted it to be over...and fast! so i went fast (mistake #2...always listen to that still small voice), couldnt slow myself down and right under the chair lift biffed it. i heard a pop when i flipped and was in pain. josh got to me and i said i think i broke my leg. he came over and helped me get my skis off and my leg out from under me. they called ski patrol...i was tobogganed down the mountain and taken to their little emergency type room. my dad came to check out my leg and said i had tore a ligament in my leg. the day was OVER! josh and mason got the kids in the car...thanks to alyssa and my mom for feeding my kids lunch. my mom sat with me as i tried to get warm. my dad was trying to find taylor who was lost on the mountain...it was a very scary day skiing and we have learned our lesson not to ski in bad weather. overall though, sun river was a lot of fun...i loved seeing my kids have the same memories i had when i was a kid. that was more special to me than i could even explain in words. i love sun river and i loved being with my family there. thanks dad for all you do and thank you for a great vacation.