Favorite Food Blogs/Websites

I just got done with my second nursing test. I'm SO tired! Whenever I have a test I go to bed early and wake up about four so I can do some last minute refreshing before the test. So right now I'm running on coffee and post-test adrenaline. Today I give you a very lazy post because I have no time because I'm in nursing school (in case you hadn't noticed).

Y'all know I love to cook... especially bake... cookies cakes, brownies... yum! I just thought I'd share a few favorite food blogs/websites so you can enjoy finding some great recipes too! :)

Sally's Baking Addiction
Probably my favorite baking blog right now. I get a lot of my "healthy" recipes from there. However, when it comes to Sally, her healthy recipes don't taste healthy. Love it! :) Don't be fooled though, there are plenty of unhealthy recipes on her blog too. :) I got my healthy brownie recipe from there and my Mediterranean dip recipe.

Ambitious Kitchen
Another new favorite food blog. It has a variety of different kinds of recipes some healthy some not so (but absolutely delicious).

Food Gawker
This is kind of a recipe center. If I can't find a recipe for something I'm looking for on my other go to food blogs I go to food gawker and search and I always can find at least one recipe for what I'm looking for. Most all of my other recipes I have found there.

Picky Palate
Another great food blog I was introduced to by my cousin. I got my gingersnap cookie recipe from this blog.

Annie's Eats
This is the food blog from which I got my pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe which is a absolutely amazing. :)

Do you have any favorite food blogs?

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Recipe- Refrigerator Oatmeal

Today I am sharing with you my new favorite food! Refrigerator oatmeal! It's healthy, it's got greek yogurt in it (which is always a plus in my book), and there are so many different flavors you can make. I found these recipes from The Yummy Life. In this blog post I am only including the flavors I've tried but there are many more on the website. Also, all of the original recipes called for chia seeds but as that is not something in my normal collection of ingredients I just skipped them. Because chia seeds do absorb some of the liquid you might want to cut down on the milk.

Mocha Refrigerator Oats

1/3 Cup uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

2 tsps honey or other sweetener

1 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp espresso powder (I used cappuccino powder as that is what I had on hand)

Raspberry Vanilla Refrigerator Oats

1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
2 tsps honey or other sweetener

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup raspberries sliced in half. 

Pumpkin Pie Refrigerator Oats

1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsps maple syrup or other sweetener

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Banana Chocolate Refrigerator Oats

1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 T cocoa powder

1 tsp honey or other sweetener

1/2 banana 

Banana Peanut Butter Refrigerator Oats

1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 T peanut butter (or substitute PB2)

1 tsp honey or other sweetener

1/2 banana

Directions for all

Mix all ingredients together and place covered in the refrigerator overnight. Take out the next morning and enjoy cold or if you so desire heat up for a minute (I've never tried them heated). Can keep up to three days in refrigerator or a month in the freezer. 

ENJOY!!!

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

TV Shows

I've mentioned quite a lot on here about the different TV shows I watched so I thought I might share a little about them as well as mention ones I want to watch in the future.

Monk

Is the first modern TV show I ever watched. It follows an obsessive compulsive detective as he solves crimes while ultimately trying to figure out who killed his wife. This show has occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, a couple episodes where there was some suggestive speech, and of course a little gore. I would consider it very family friendly though. My younger siblings are always allowed to watch these as long as we have screened it before. There are just a couple episodes that I would really consider not worth watching and as for the rest they should be fine depending on maturity level. 

Psych

Follows Sean Spencer, a private detective who has convinced the world he is psychic to explain his incredible observation skills taught to him by his ex-police officer father. This show has more occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, some suggestive speech a few iffy scenes, and a little gore. There are only a couple episodes I can think of off the top of my head that one of them I wish I hadn't watched and the other I was warned not to watch and didn't. Psych is definitely for a more mature audience but is still relatively clean. 

Castle

Follows Rick Castle, an author of mystery novels who is called in to consult after a murder uses a method described in one of his books to kill somebody. Of my three cop shows that I have watched, this is the least clean. I have put them in order of cleanest to least clean. This show has more occasional mild bad language, more not so modest clothing at time, some suggestive speech and some suggestive scenes, and some gore. I have not watched all of Castle. I have watched the first season and part of the second as well as random bits here and there. Because its not always the cleanest its hard to consistently watch it and while I do like Castle, there are shows right now that I enjoy more. You are more likely to find episodes in Castle that should be skipped. 

Human Target

Only ran for two seasons which made me very unhappy. It follows an ex-assassian who reformed and now saves people with the help of another ex-assassian and an ex-cop. This show has occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, a bit of suggestive speech, and some gore and violence. For its subject matter, this a pretty clean show. I always really enjoyed it and it is so disappointing that it only ran for two seasons.

Foyle's War

Take place during World War 2 and follows a police officer solving crimes during that time period. This show has occasional mild bad language, some more mature themes, and some gore and violence. This was a pretty clean show as I recall and quite historically accurate. I was watching through it during my first semester at Butler but stopped and I can't remember why as I know I really liked it. Someday I need to finish it. 

Sherlock

Is amazing! It is the modern day telling of the story of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. In this show off the top of my head here's what I can think of; some british language, some references to homosexuality and some gore. This is all omitting the first episode of the second season that should NOT be watched. I haven't seen it but I have been informed by everyone that it is inappropriate so I'll take their word for it and skip it. 

Stargate SG-1

I just started this last month and I am steadily working my way through it. Do NOT watch the first episode of the first season. Besides that, so far what to look out for is some not so modest clothing at times, some mild bad language at times and some suggestive speech/scenes in a couple episodes that isn't terrible but I'd just fast forward through. This is my first sci-fi show to watch and I am enjoying it so far. I really can't think of a good synopsis so maybe you should just look it up on Wikipedia. :)

Shows I want to watch/thinking about watching

Doctor Who

I know you can't believe I haven't watched that yet. That is what I plan to watch next and I am really looking forward to it. 

Call the Midwife

My library just got this recently but then someone checked out the first season before I could run it by my Dad. But it looks very interesting and I am going to give it a try. 

Elementary

This is also a modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes but it takes place in America.

Stargate Atlantis

This follows after Stargate SG-1.

What are your favorite TV shows? Any other recommendations? Warnings? 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Monthly Resolutions- September 2013

I made it simple last month and I am going to make it simple again this month.

Read through 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, and Titus

I look at that and notice that they all begin with T... because I always notice the important details first. ;)

Read or Re-Read at least three books

That seems like such a minuscule amount as compared to what I normally will read per month but with school I don't want to overwhelm myself. 

Write a blog post per week

I'm going to try to keep up with my blog a little more. I hope this won't drag me away from my studying. 

Pray daily

Same as last month. I want to make a daily habit of praying.

STUDY!!!

This nursing school thing is hard and time consuming. I want my goal to be that I study for AT LEAST four hours daily (except Sunday). If it is the day after the test or something like that I'll take it down to two hours. I want a total of at least 24 hours studying time per week. I've just got to dedicate myself and keep at it. 

Become more organized

I've made a lot of progress with this. Last year I forced myself to keep some sort of a calendar to keep track of when school things were due. Now that I have an iPhone I set reminders and make to do lists. What I have the most trouble with though is keeping track of things outside of school. I have a confession to make, I missed a doctor's appointment... because I forgot to put it on my calendar! I felt really dumb and I'm resolved never to do such a thing anymore. In the past I have always relied on my mom but with being at school so much I don't really communicate with her a lot. And, as she has told me many times, she can't keep track of everything that all nine of us are doing. I just need to take a little responsibility for my own time. I have come up with a plan to keep a daily word document diary and then a weekly word document diary. This was roundaboutly inspired by Hayley at Victorious Heroine. We'll see how it goes. 

So all the same goals with one new one. I really think that since doing these monthly resolutions that I have done a much better job of getting things done and trying new things. So even if you aren't much of a goal maker, you might want to try this... maybe just do weekly goals and see how that works out. 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Monthly Report Card- August 2013

The end of August has come and here's how my resolutions went.

Do the thirty day shred- B

I am still currently doing it but due to some unforeseen circumstances I missed three days so I wasn't able to finish it this month but I'll be done in just a couple more days! It has definitely challenged me a lot. I think that once I'm done with it I'll keep doing level one every other day or something just to keep the muscle I built up. 

Stick to my diet- B

I have done pretty well. Again, due to the same unforeseen circumstances, I had about three or four days straight where I cheated but besides that I've done well. 

Read Galations, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians- A

Achieved! I appreciated only having sixteen chapters to read, which made it far more relaxed for me.

Read or re-read at least three books- A

I finished Dragonhaven (which I can't exactly recommend... it was okay but had some problems). I also read The Return of the Shadow and Psmith Journalist, which I do recommend. :)

Write at least three more blog posts this month- A

Yes I did it! I wrote this one about my obsessions, this one that included delicous recipes that you should all try, and this one that was about how my first week of nursing school is going. 

Pray Daily- D

I am working on developing this into a habit. I didn't pray every night but I did pray some nights. There have been many things that have been going on in my life right now that have given me reason to pray but it is good for me to remember that even if everything is going well I should still be praying. 

Start of school well- A

I was planning on being really on top of it and having stuff done ahead of time but unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, that didn't get done. However, despite that I believe I started of pretty well and I am keeping on track of all that I need to do.

Bonus!

I crossed two items off my bucket list.... I learned to swing dance and I learned to waltz. I'm not saying I'm good at swing dancing or waltzing, but I know how to. Proficiency is yet to come. 

Final Grade- B (I'm guesstimating on that but I think I'm right) 

Life has been busy, hectic, and stressful but life goes on. My grandparents did get into the assisted living home they were hoping to so last week we moved them in and so far it is going well. My sister and I ended up moving back into their old house again, this time though because my grandparents want someone living in it and keeping it up. 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

First Week of Nursing School

In my Butler Student Nursing Association shirt.

In my scrubs that I will
wear for clinicals.

School and my first semester of nursing school started this past Monday and oh my has it been an experience! First off, I can't believe I am FINALLY IN THE NURSING PROGRAM!!!! Sorry, my enthusiasm just spurted out of my fingertips. But seriously, it is such a weird feeling to know that I am really in the program and well on my way to being a nurse. It has been quite time consuming so far and I certainly haven't found myself with spare moments yet. When I'm not in class there are power points to listen to or text books to read and of course if I finish up with those there is all of the extra credit work that I know my grade will need. My first test is this coming Tuesday! (insert panic attack here) Hopefully I'll do alright on that. :)

It is odd not having several classes to balance my time between. I am so used to having several different teachers, several different groups of students, several everything. Now, whether I like it or not, I have the same teachers and the same students (the students for the next two years!). Thankfully though I like my teachers and fellow students. I imagine I'll have a lot more adjusting I'll have to do in the future as the nursing program goes on.

So far I am learning about the basic nursing process, ethics, terminology... all that fun stuff. About mid September I'll start my clinicals (insert another panic attack here), which will be a very interesting (definition of interesting is up to you but I think you know what I mean) experience.

I'm still working at the library but only twelve hours a week thank goodness! I don't know what is going to happen when I am done with nursing school and I have to work as a nurse and leave the librarian profession. Shriveling up and dying seems likely. Don't get me wrong though, I think I'll like nursing. If I didn't think I would, I wouldn't be going to school for it. But I love my work, I love my bosses, and it will be sad to leave. Once a librarian always a librarian I say!

So who else has started school? Is it fun? Challenging? Boring? Comment below and let me know! (notice how that rhymed? Yeah, I'm just clever that way. ;))

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Desserts... You Can't Go Wrong!

Today I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite desserts that have both peanut butter and chocolate in them and therefore are absolutely delicious. The peanut butter marshmallow brownies are especially good and I got a purple ribbon on them on them at the county fair. You'll notice in both of the recipes there is coffee involved in them and that is because it helps bring out the flavor of the chocolate... you will not actually taste any coffee flavor. 

So here are the recipes! :)

Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 cup strong black coffee OR 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. 

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. 

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired. 

Yields: One 9X13 pan or two 9 inch round baking pans

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/black-magic-cake/

Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing (for Chocolate Cake)

Ingredients

1/3 cup softened butter

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

4-5 T milk

Directions

In a bowl, cream butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar, cocoa, salt and enough milk to achieve a spreading consistency. 

Yields- 1 1/2 cups... enough to go over a 9X13 cake though a double batch would make the cake doubly delicious. :)

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Brownies

Ingredients

For the Brownies

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp espresso powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 butter 

7 oz dark or semi sweet chocolate

For the Peanut Butter Marshmallow Mixture

1/2 cup butter

1 (11 oz) bag of butterscotch chips

1 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

Directions

For the Brownies

Preheat oven to 350˚. In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla on high for at least ten minutes. A meringue like consistency is needed. 

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and chocolate and microwave on high for thirty seconds. Stir and repeat until chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.

With mixer running, slowly add the chocolate. Then add the flour mixture until just combined. 

Pour into a greased 9X13 pan Bake for 25 minutes or until is matte and a bit cracked. Don't over bake... the brownies will set as they cool. Allow the brownies to cool 10-15 minutes before topping with the peanut butter marshmallow mixture.

For the Peanut Butter Marshmallow Mixture

Melt butterscotch chips and peanut butter together (in double boiler or microwave). Add marshmallows and stir. 

Pour mixture on top of brownies and evenly spread over them. Allow to come to room temperature before putting them in the refrigerator to firm them up. 

Cut into squares and serve. 

Yields: One 9X13 pan... about twenty brownies.

http://culinary-cool.blogspot.ca/2013/05/peanut-butter-marshmallow-brownies.html

Try these recipes out... hopefully you'll love them as much as my family and I do. :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Things I Geek out/Obsess Over

If you've been reading my blog long enough, or know me in person, you'll probably already know most of these... but here it goes... things I geek out/obsess over.

1. Jane Austen and her books- Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book... has been for years. I love all of her other books too and I honestly can't get enough of them. One of the things that I will get worked up about when it comes to Austen's novels is anyone trying to call them romance novels... no, just no! Read this earlier post to see why I would NEVER give them such a title. 
2. Tolkien and his books- This is kind of recent... since the beginning of the year... I fell in love with The Lord of the Rings. So far I have read it about five times, The Hobbit too many times to mention, and The Silmarillion once. Currently I am reading the first in a series of four books compiled by Christopher Tolkien (JRR Tokien's son) that includes Tolkien's drafts and notes of The Lord of the Rings. It is super fascinating to see how the story evolved. I was reading reviews of it on Goodreads and one person said that only a person obsessed over Tolkien would read them. That made me smile, and then laugh, and then smile again. :) 
3. The heart... anatomically speaking. Most of you will know I am going to be starting nursing school in just a couple weeks. All of my preparatory classes for that... Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Pathophsyiology... have caused me to have a fascination with the whole human body, but especially the heart. My dream is to see open heart surgery. Don't even get me started on how cool I think that would be. 

Those are probably my three biggest obsessions at this point in my life. You will have noticed two of them have to do with books... and yes, in general, I tend to geek out/obsess over books. Austen and Tolkien are just my favorites. 

What do you geek out/obsess over? Comment and let me know! :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Monthly Resolutions- August 2013

I'm making this as simple as I can so I won't fail miserably... like last month. Here goes.

Do the thirty day shred

So I hit a plateau in my weight loss and it was recommended to me to try some more intense workout to kickstart losing weight again. So I chose Jillian Michaels thirty day shred. I did my first day of it yesterday and I'm pretty sore right now. I'm not really looking forward to these next twenty nine days.

Stick to my diet

Besides the normal calorie counting I'm also going to try and cut down on processed foods. I really don't eat too many of them already but I'm going to try and cut down on them even more. 

Read through Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians

If I counted the chapters right that should only be sixteen chapters, which isn't much but I'm trying to take it easy this month. 

Read or re-read at least three books this month

Only three. Hopefully I'll do more but I am really just bogged down with so many things that I'd like to lower my goal for this month.

Write at least three more blog posts this month

Just three. I can do that... right?

Pray daily

Self explanatory.

Start of school well

I can't believe that I'm going to be starting nursing school in just a couple weeks!!!! I want to be well prepared, have a cheerful attitude, and start off with a bang. 

I'm trying to make it simple this month with the same goals I normally do but just less intense... except the thirty day shred... that's intense. :(

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Monthly Report Card- July 2013

I really didn't want to write this post... because this month was an epic failure. These things do happen... I know... I just wish they didn't happen to me. So here's the bad news.

Read or re-read at least ten books- F

I finished re-reading The Return of the King, read The Phantom of the Opera, and got a good chunk of the way through Dragonhaven. That's it. 

Exercise in some form fifteen minutes six times per week-A

Achieved.

Stick to my diet-A

Trudging along. 

Cut down on electronics time- D

meh

Write at least five more blog posts this month- F

Obviously if you have been reading my blog you will have noticed that I only ever did one other post.

Read through 1 and 2 Corinthians- A

Completed.

Memorize that scripture

Uncompleted.

Try at least three new recipes- A

Yes! I did do that! And it was fun! I made peach pie bars, banana bread, and... and I'm super proud of this one... made my own bagels. All were absolutely delicious. 

Start Praying- B

I've been pretty good about this... but not perfect.

Be patient with what the future brings- D

I'm not a patient person... and I don't take things in stride. :( Update on this... my grandparents have moved in with my family for the present until they are able to get in to an assisted living home.

I really just didn't have a good month as far as resolutions go and in a lot of other ways as well. I did have tons of fun, don't get me wrong, but I was very busy and I'm so tired. VBS was a blast and we just got down with the county fair, which was also fun, but both wore me out a lot. I want another summer... where I get to relax more. I wish. 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.