Strawberries & Cream Stuffed French Toast

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Chelsea

Guys, I think this is like the best idea I’ve ever had. I got a hankering for french toast one day at work, and I remembered I had strawberries in the fridge. The wheels started turning, and Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast was born. This recipe is probably my new favorite food. I’ve been on some sort of carb frenzy this week, and this has been the most perfect fix!

I used gluten free bread, but this can be done with any bread! And, this recipe isn’t too sweet. The syrup makes it perfectly sweetened. It would be wonderful topped with some whipped cream as well. I was just trying to rein myself in. I basically can’t stop thinking about this and want a constant supply of stuffed french toast! And please, use real maple syrup. The flavor really works with this, and really I’m just biased because I love maple syrup’s flavor. The cream cheese gets slightly warm while cooking, which is just wonderful!

Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients:

4 pieces of bread
4 Tablespoons cream cheese
4 medium strawberries
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Maple syrup

Directions:

Mix the egg, milk and vanilla extract in a shallow bowl. Spread one tablespoon of the cream cheese on one side of each slice of the bread. Then, you want to create one layer of strawberries on one piece of the bread so they stick to the cream cheese on both pieces. This helps to keep the french toast together. Once you’ve placed the strawberries on one side, you’ll want to press the pieces together–somewhat firmly. You really want it to stick. Once you’ve done that, place the bread in the egg mixture and flip to the other side. Spray a pan, over medium-low heat, with non-stick cooking spray. Place the french toast “sandwich” into the pan, cooking 2-3 minutes on one side then flipping. Place on a plate and top with Maple syrup. Enjoy!

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

Really Happy

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Chelsea

I’ve seen a lot of people participating in this, and while it’s not something I feel compelled to do, there are a few topics I’d like to write on. I’ve been struggling a lot lately. Struggling with being happy, finding the good in things, understanding why things are the way they are, accepting things, choosing to be happy, getting overwhelmed, worrying about the future, etc. Basically, I need to go eat a Xanax…right after I get some of those.

I thought today’s top was a good way to make an effort toward positive thoughts and whatnot.

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

When Sully gets back from sea. I miss him while he’s gone, but I also enjoy the time to refresh myself, focus on my priorities and worry a little less about being a perfect wife (cleaning, cooking, etc). I get this wonderful wave of happiness when I finally see him again. It’s an overwhelming reminder of why we choose to be together.
Walter’s happiness. Something about that little hound dog being happy to see me at the end of the day is just the best. He has so much love to share, and I cherish that about animals. They love unconditionally.
Spending an evening on the patio in good weather, sipping a good bottle of champagne, talking about life. We don’t get to do this enough, but it’s a wonderful thing I hope we can do more often.
Capturing life. I’ve been at a loss without my SLR for the last two months. I kind of don’t know what to do with myself. I want to capture so many things and I can’t. I probably share 10% of the photos I take on my blog. Some are private. Moments I want to keep for us. Smiles that belong in our annual photo book and not all over the internet. Weirdly enough, I’m actually a rather private person.
Fresh flowers. A bouquet of peonies has the ability to change my outlook on life. They bring so much joy to our house and a renewed sense of faith in the world. If the world can create something so beautiful, things will be OK.
A hard workout. The sense of accomplishment I get from a hard workout is amazing. Knowing my body can do some of these things and seeing that mentally I can accomplish my goals gives me a sense of pride.
A good cup of coffee in the morning sun. Some of my best memories are of sitting on the porch at my parents house in the morning sipping coffee together. It’s such a simple memory that brings me so much joy.
Thinking about raising kids and having a career I like. My future could hold many things. I have these beautiful mental images of days spend at the park with our kids, and successful days of work that leave me feeling fulfilled rather than drained.
A phenomenal meal. I’m not talking about the “oh I had a good salad for dinner” kind of meal. I mean the meal that you remember years later.
Exploring the world. I have this desire to travel the world. I want to live more simply so we can see more of the world. The newness of everything is such an amazing feeling, and it makes me happy to experience new places.
(Because I couldn’t help myself) I love time spent in the kitchen with music playing. It’s therapeutic for me. Anytime I get a day to myself, you can usually find me in the kitchen listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Lamontagne or something else relaxing while I cook.

Southwest Nachos

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Chelsea

We love mexican food. It’s usually pretty easy to make gluten free, and it’s cheap! Plus a good margarita? Sign us up. For Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to do something simple. Neither of us were in the mood to do much of anything fancy, and quite frankly when it was like 80 degrees out 1) I wanted to spend all my time outside enjoying the rare weather and 2) There was no way I was standing in the kitchen cooking all day. We don’t have A/C–neither does most of Western WA–so our house was a sauna. So, nachos it was.

And, if you don’t tell your husband, he won’t know it’s greek yogurt instead of sour cream! For the jalapenos, I prefer to partially seed them to cut down on the heat a bit. This is totally up to you. The chicken taco meat is my go to recipe for anytime I need shredded chicken. It turns out super moist and flavorful. Garnishing this with some cilantro would also be great! I wouldn’t put Salsa on the nachos though, because they’d get too soggy to really eat without a fork. I also prefer to put my tomatoes on before putting the dish in the oven, but that’s up to you. We ate about 2/3 of this dish for dinner, but it makes a great appetizer.

Southwest Nachos

Ingredients:

12 ounces tortilla chips
2 cups drained black beans
2 cups chicken taco meat
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 medium red onion, diced
2 jalapeños, sliced and partly seeded
2 small vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
1 cup greek yogurt
1 avocado, diced

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425. On a large, ovensafe platter put a layer of tortilla chips, making sure to cover the whole surface of the platter. Add the chicken then beans, evenly distributing them. Then, add the pepper jack. Top the cheese with the red onion, jalapeños and tomatoes. Bake for 15 minutes until warm and the vegetables are slightly cooked and golden. Top with dollops of greek yogurt (or sour cream if you want) and the avocado.

Serves 4-6 for an appetizer and 2-3 for dinner.

Catch up

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Chelsea

I’m a little behind on things. I took my Chem midterm Monday morning, and I’ve been studying for that for basically the last two weeks. I got an 88–though I changed two answers at the last minute to the wrong thing…so I would have gotten a 96. I’m mildly annoyed by that. Anyway, I’ve got some catching up to do on photos and life. And, I still haven’t bought a new SLR (thanks, tuition), so the 6 new recipes I’ve thought of and tested will have to wait a few weeks.

April 26th was Beard Hat Night at the Mariner’s game, so clearly we had to go to that. We went with some people from Sully’s boat which was fun. Sully was happy to get a beard hat…which I don’t really get.

That Saturday, the Fairy God Parents (FGPs) came to visit. They’ve been our family friends since I was 10 and lived across the street from us. One of them married Sully and I and my sister and her husband. And yes, by “Fairy” we mean gay. One of them came up with the name! They’re the best. It was great to see them. They came over and met Walter. I made lunch. We went to the farmers market and downtown. It was a great day. Note that they call themselves the Fairies:

Sully and I spent the night in watching a movie, sipping red wine and eating smoked salmon and smoked gouda from a great little local shop downtown.

Walter “found” this hole in the backyard. It’s about eight inches deep. But note his “no, I definitely found it. It looked like this when I got here” face. And the lack of eye contact.

Walter’s other shenanigans include cleaning out Dorito bags. And, Tapatio Doritos are basically the best thing ever. You should try them. I don’t really like Doritos, but these I love. And I’m embarrassed to admit that Doritos are about the only “regular” guest in the processed food column of my grocery list.

Sully got his Naval Achievement Medal. Basically, it’s for doing his job really well in the shipyard. Only three people on his boat got one of these. He’s pretending it’s not a big deal, but it is. And I’m proud of how hard he has worked. Granted…it’s from September and just now got to him. Love the boat.

I was having fat kid cravings for two weeks or so. Basically when I eat really well for a few weeks, I go through a phase of wanting fat, sugar and carbs. I indulge. This cake lasted in our house about 4 days. I’m impressed it made it that long. I got caught with a fork in the cake in the fridge more times than I’d like to admit.

Confused by this picture? Walter knows he’s not supposed to get on the couch. He’s figured out if he puts his front paws up and lays his body down, he won’t really get in trouble. So he wedges himself between us on the couch, puts his head under one of our arms (so it’s dark) and falls asleep. His legs basically just hang off the couch, hardly touching the ground. It’s an art.

Friday was in the 70s. That’s like a miracle for May in Washington. I spent the day outside studying on our deck.

If you look at the bottom of Sully’s phone, you’ll see that “412.” That’s the number of days until we move. Yes, he has a countdown. Yes, he wants to leave that badly.

The awesome weather carried over into Saturday, which meant Sully could finally put up his hammock from Christmas. The three of us spent a lot of time in it Saturday. Walter really likes the hammock. And he’s spoiled…This is the view from the Hammock:

We had to get a picture together so there are things to put in the annual photobook. Basically May-October are going to be really lacking in photos of us.

Walter digs hammock snuggles too!

Sunday afternoon was spent on the deck drinking margaritas and eating nachos. Walter really enjoyed the nachos. Anytime something fell, he was all about it. Such a good cleaner. He also managed to have a few sips out of a margarita glass, which we think caused his droopy-eyed nap around 6pm.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to clean the dish mom?”

And that’s basically the last two weeks in a nutshell. Once I get my new camera, I’ve got tasty waffles, hummus, kabobs and a few other recipes to share!

Longing

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Chelsea

I’m longing for summer. For sunshine, for warmth, for those weekends spent at the beach having a wine and cheese picnic, for days spent in the grass on a towel with Walter, for sipping drinks on the patio talking about life, for adventures out in the woods, for sunshine until 10 pm. And, at the same time, I dreading the turn of the season.

This summer is going to be tough. For me, for Sully. For us. Sully starts shift work the second week of May, then leaves for three months not long after. And, he’ll be out of touch for 4-6 weeks straight during that time and probably a couple other 2 week periods. By out of touch, I mean, he can read what I send him, but can’t respond. That’s the thing about subs. When they’re out, they’re out of touch with the world. No internet, no news, nothing. They can receive plain text emails. He won’t see a single picture for three months about what is happening in my life. He can just read my words. I think it’s made me a better writer, if anything. When other guys are on carriers or on land, they can get mail, they can get photos attached to emails, they can get internet and they can make (really expensive) phone calls. We get plain text emails for three months that mostly can’t be responded to.

This is a huge reason Sully and I don’t see this as a lifelong career right now. He’d miss months of me being pregnant, or the birth. When we get pregnant, will he come home to a wife with a big belly that looks nothing like the wife he left? He’d miss first steps, first words. He’ll miss birthdays, passing with no phone call from dad. He’ll miss Christmas. That’s hard for both of us. We want a family. It’s my number one priority, and it’s hard to enjoy that alone. Words can only explain so much. Sure, I can show him pictures of things when he gets back, but it’s not the same. It’s a tough life. And, maybe we’ll change our minds, but I doubt it. (No, I’m not pregnant)

When you’re missing a big piece of your heart, it’s hard to celebrate and enjoy such a beautiful season like summer. Sure, I’ll make the best of it and spend time with friends doing some of my favorite things. But, it’s not the same. It’s not the same sipping wine on the deck alone at night. It’s not the same seeing fireworks on July 3rd in downtown Poulsbo. Going downtown for rich dark chocolate ice cream alone just isn’t the same. It gets lonely, and not in the sense that I’m alone. I’ve got an awesome best friend here and other friends who make it great. I’ve got a support system. It’s just tough to not have your “person” to share something so wonderful with.

He’ll miss my birthday. He’ll miss our anniversary. He’ll miss me running my first half marathon. And, sure I knew these things when I married the military–though the picture they paint about subs is not very accurate. But, that doesn’t make it less difficult. Sometimes, you need to mourn the loss of time. Sometimes I don’t mind him being gone. It’s a nice break to focus on me, spend time on crafts, watch the movies I want to see, eat salad for months on end. But usually, it’s nicer to have him home. I resent that we won’t get to spend the part of the year with the best weather going camping, visiting wineries, hiking in the Olympics, taking trips and enjoying the sunshine.

And while he’s gone, I’ll be working and taking 2 chemistry classes in four weeks each. And a nutrition class from May to August. And I’ll start three other nutrition classes and anatomy and physiology this fall semester and quarter. It’s hard to go through a season of change alone. I’ve got a great support system in my family, but they’re 2,500+ miles away. It’s not the same.

So, I’ll survive by buying peonies at the grocery store, soaking up the sun with Walter by my side, eating salad every day for three months (because cooking for one is too depressing), sewing dates and dog play dates with Sarah, constantly reminiscing about all the times Sully and I have shared together and reminding myself that he’s relatively safe underwater. I’ve been trying to tell myself the time will fly by because I’ll be so busy with school, and then we’ll have Christmas together. We’ve got a big adventure in the works for Christmas if we can swing it. You see, this is the first Christmas we’ve lived here that Sully will have more than three full days off of work. But nothing is set in stone yet.

Maybe this summer will surprise me. We shall see.

Weekends

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Chelsea

My weekends are now three days long. I switched to four ten hour days at work last week, which has been a really wonderful thing–though sort of tough to adjust to. I use “weekends” loosely, because what I really mean is “three days filled with school work.” I really don’t know how I’m going to manage that whole full time job with a full course load this fall. I don’t foresee it working too well. But, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. But, I’ve come to realize there’s a huge difference between having a job 40 hours a week and having a job where your boss thinks this is your passion 40 hours a week. I have to still fake my love of PR to keep my job. I have to still do my job really well and with passion. It’s tough. I’m not going to lie. I want to hurry up with this school thing and start working in a field I love. But, that’s going to be a while. So, I present to you my Friday through Sunday in pictures.

Friday

I spent the first 4 hours of the day doing homework (while Walter napped, shocking I know), then ran to the grocery store. And, then I chopped all my hair off….

(also, let’s all note the LOVELY border in our bright yellow kitchen…ugh renting) I’m in love with my hair. It was getting to be too much. Sully informed me I had “grunge” hair while we were on vacation, so I think a cut was necessary.

Saturday looked a little something like this:

piles of homework

Crepes at the Farmer’s Market (I had strawberries and cream. Sully had one with capers, smoked salmon, green onion and sour cream. Both were amazing)

Tulips from Sully

Then, a little more homework

And, a drive in movie with our friends Peter and Sarah. Sully and I had never been to a drive in, so it was fun to do something new. I’ve always wanted to go to a drive in, so it was fun to finally get to one. We saw Oblivion, which was surprisingly really good, and then Jurassic Park after that. I saw about 4 minutes of Jurassic Park before passing out. We made a cozy spot in the back of my CR-V to watch from–but I learned we need more pillows next time. I think we’ll be going back soon!

Sunday involved a test and a paper, and then I let myself be done for the weekend.

Tulips make studying better!

Sully and I went for a (really slow) run. We got passed by an old guy. In my defense, the hill is really big on the way up and a huge one on the way down. And I didn’t really want to, but I did. That whole already paid $100 to run a half thing is incredibly motivating…because I’m not going to go and make an ass out of myself when it’s still 5 months away. Eeyore got a bath.

This is his Eeyore Face. I consider it one of his finer skills in life. Basically, you ask him if he wants a bath and it’s like you said “we’re going for a walk to treat heaven.” Then, we get upstairs and he realizes what “bath” meant. Every. Single. Time. So then, he finds a corner and looks about as pitiful as possible, which for a hound dog is really pitiful. You have to pick him up to put him in the tub. Then, he won’t look at you until the “pain” is over. He’s a baby.

This is our “please stop now guys” look. He shakes and whimpers his way through bath time–and we use warm water. No clue why he hates baths so much. But, when I take a bath, he howls at me the entire time. Real relaxing.

I finished up Sunday by making some amazing hummus. Recipe is coming soon-ish. Assuming Ch. 4 of chemistry isn’t that hard. So, maybe next week??

Sub Ball (and our weekend)

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Chelsea

Friday, I did homework for a few hours after work then made salads dinner. Walter went nuts with Sully in the backyard for half an hour and then didn’t move all night. Side note: I LOVE how big our backyard is for him. It’s massive and I wish we could keep the yard forever (not the house….).

Then, we settled in on the couch to watch Finding Nemo (I got lucky when I squealed we saw it was on TV and got to keep it on that channel) and drank some tasty wine! Pretty sure we were in bed at 9 pm. Things get real crazy at our house on Friday nights.

Saturday we had Sub Ball in Seattle. We opted not to stay the night since I had so much homework this weekend. After the actual ball part, we went to a dueling piano bar we really like. It was fun, but really overcrowded with rowdy people being kind of gross. It was interesting to people watch since I was DD. We got home at 3 am, so Sunday was a sleepy day!

Sully’s captain’s name is Tiger, so they all got tiger striped bow ties to surprise him that night. He loved it and wore one too. Sully was really happy to be going to the piano bar. I feel like this is a five year old being blinded by the flash while smiling for his mom…

Sunday after doing 5 or so hours of chemistry, I took a break to pot my little herb garden. We spend so much money every week on fresh herbs, so I figured I’d try growing them for fun! I got one pot at Trader Joe’s for $6 that has oregano, thyme and rosemary. Then, I got sage at Safeway and Cilantro and basil at Lowes (as well as the adorable wooden planter box). Then, I did another three or four hours of homework before making dinner and going to bed!

Also on Sunday, Walter was snapping at the air on the couch. I was worried there was a fly, so I got up to check on him….nope. Dust particles were floating in the air and the sun was hitting them. He thought something was flying around. This continued for a good 20 minutes. In good news, he apparently has great eye sight.

Best Video Ever

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Chelsea

I feel like it’s a duty of mine to share this video. I basically nearly lost it at my desk while watching this. I also don’t know why this is so funny to me.

St. Lucia

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Chelsea

I wasn’t really sure where to start with this post. Basically, we landed last Wednesday in Seattle and I’ve done nothing but work and school work. I’ve been getting up at 4:45 am to go to the gym (or study) then working from 7-3 then homework until about 8:30 when I crawl into bed. So, I’m tired, grouchy and overly emotional. And, I’m really bad at chemistry. Like embarrassingly bad. Sully is a good teacher though. He’s a keeper.

Anyway, vacation.

The good: We had an amazing vacation and both relaxed for once. I think this is the first vacation we’ve been on together that was longer than a weekend and where we were both relaxed. Our last legitimate trip was our wedding trip, and that was horribly stressful and made me cranky. But, those are not stories for the internet to read.

The bad: My camera got lost or stolen. We had it, then we didn’t. Oh, and I got car sick after our hike and vomited in the van (in a bag at least). And, then I basically wanted to vomit the rest of that day. And, either the food there or the water created a lovely 10 days of upset stomach. But, I really think the good was much more of an overarching theme than the bad. I just really want to remember the bad of this trip.

So, since the “bad” includes the camera I lost (and let’s all recall that I broke my SLR before vacation–and haven’t replaced it courtesy of vacation and tuition money), the photo situation is kind of sad. Fortunately, I bought a waterproof case for my phone (Lifefactory –worked really well!), so we have some photos.

We got to the airport around 7 on Monday night and decided we needed drinks and snacks while we waited. So, who goes and gets a fatty fried potato thing covered in cheese and sour cream before a vacation where we’ll be half naked for 8 days? Oh, us. And, it was delicious (and, I lost a pound on vacation probably because I wasn’t eating my feelings at a desk all day).

We landed in Atlanta at 5:30 am, so 3:30 am our time and had breakfast at TGI Fridays because that was our only option. And, did you know you can’t have a steak knife at a restaurant past security (but you can fly with a pocket knife), so you get a plastic knife to cut your steak.

We landed that afternoon in St. Lucia and took the death trap van to the resort. They drive like 60 on curvy roads and pass each other on curves. It’s a death wish. And, I had a “before” pasty white picture of us, but now someone in St. Lucia has those pictures. And, then, it rained (like torrential downpour) the first morning we where there which lead to heavy drinking and cursing about how we couldn’t escape our weather.

Which then led to a lot of pictures like this: (drunk fingers)

Best “before” picture of the whiteness–watch how Sully gets brown and I don’t.

Note the finger again…it’s a theme.

Here’s the swim up bar where we basically lived the whole time.

Note that I’m red and someone else is brown.

This was the view from our room:

Sully played golf. His caddy Dave is basically the only reason he got any balls in…and I say that in the nicest way. It was a weird course.

Morning view from our room (we were up at like 6 am every day from that whole sunshine thing)

We hiked the smaller one of these, Gros Piton. It’s apparently 15,000 steps round trip. It’s strenuous. Like climbing over rocks. Also, I took a picture of the picture in the guide book since these pictures were on my camera. The drive there was horrible and windy. Then I got sick in the car on the way back. You couldn’t pay me enough to do it again in hot weather, but it was totally worth doing. The views were awesome. And, the guides hike it twice a day, so they like text while you’re walking and struggling. And then you look like a fat American.

The chef was awesome at Sandals La Toc where we stayed. I had gluten free mozzarella sticks and gluten free pizza:

Trying to make up for lost pictures:

The beach outside of the resort:

Before dinner at the french place on the property one night. Speaking of food, it wasn’t too exciting. The food quality was mediocre. It was like eating at a chain restaurant every night, which isn’t terrible. We just spend our money on food. However, for an all inclusive beach resort on an island, it works. I wouldn’t want to have to go find food every night.

Certain people got burnt, so we spend our last day inside. I read a bunch, Sully napped a bunch. It was probably one of my favorite days of the trip, even though we weren’t outside.

Here’s some gluten free pasta I had. The chef had a whole shelf of gluten free food he showed me.

I’m slightly less pasty.

This is one of the nasty cats on the property. They have tons of wild cats and apparently some guy’s bag got sprayed by one of the cats. yum.

The local beer there is Piton, and since we hiked the one Piton and Sully got a Piton at the bottom—but the picture was lost, we have this to remember. We also went on this really great sailing cruise to the Pitons. I got tons of great pictures…then lost the camera between the sailing place and the resort.

And here’s the only picture where I sort of look brown. My stomach is the darkest part of me, and I put sunscreen everywhere, so I don’t really get it. But, I didn’t burn, so I was proud of myself. I had 3 spots cut off of my stomach last year, one of which was precancerous, so I’m kind of paranoid now.

We got Wally back when we landed Wednesday. He had a great time with my friend. The four kids sent him home with a stuffed panda that he carries around all gently, and the youngest cried when Wally left. Basically, kids love him and that warms my heart! He also didn’t move from this position for two days. He didn’t even want dinner the night we got him back. So tiring.

And my souvenir, since we try to get something useful each big trip we go on, was this little bowl. Still searching for the right home for it!

On vacation I read:

1- Maine- I liked this book. It was kind of depressing, but also kind of happy. Not a new favorite, but a decent book.

2- Girls in White Dresses- This sucked. I basically feel like it’s the story of 98% of college graduates who move to NY to find themselves and get screwed over. It was a waste of a day of reading basically.

3- The Help- I really liked this book. The dialect at the beginning is tough to get into, but it’s a good story. It’s very similar to the movie, which I watched before reading the book (which is basically breaking one of my own rules).

4- My Life in France- LOVE. I love food. I love Europe. I love Julia Child. Basically, it made my heart happy. It was a really great read, and I basically slobbered the whole time while reading about the things they ate and cooked. I would read this a million times.

And, as a side note, until I feel like I start to really understand chemistry (meaning, when I stop crying every night while trying to do my homework), I’ll probably be back to a more normal posting schedule. Until then, you can follow me on Instagram @chelseaqe

Apple Feta Salad

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Chelsea

This is a favorite in our house when I don’t feel like cooking! My favorite is when we use butter lettuce. But, in all honesty, I could eat butter lettuce all day and never get sick of it. It’s a nice quick weeknight dinner when we’re busy! We usually toss it with an orange oil and some champagne balsamic from The Olive Press. It’s a staple in our house. Plus, it’s stuff we always have on hand! It makes an appearance in my lunch box regularly.