My very own

First let me vent before I explain...

Okay so lately I have been a little under the weather. Well, to put it bluntly, I have had a UTI the last few days and just started my period today. Man both are horrible and I can usually manage one at a time, but together is not a good combo, let me just say. I have had a headache and felt dizzy all day, on top of everything, so I let myself off the hook today for the gym; However, I did an abb workout at home to help with the cramps. I wouldn't let the bladder infection hold me back from the gym the last few days, until the combo hit. I know I am little crazy, and like to push myself to extremes sometimes. I am that girl who went off sugar for 4 1/2 years during high school. No I never cheated. I have been blessed with a lot of perseverance.


Speaking of perseverance....Let my proudly just say that I have been to the gym every week day prior to today, since I started my gym goal. (I stopped going Saturdays b/c its the only day I get to spend time with my hubby with his new job. Sunday doesn't count much because we spend most of the night getting him ready for his next trip ) I feel so much better! Well not now obviously. ha. But, going to the gym makes me feel so good. I am starting to tone up and see results. Exercise is wonderful. Idk how I have been going so long without it.  I want to keep it up once I get a job in whatever area we end up in.


Okay back on topic. Because I haven't been feeling well, I obviously have had a lot of time on my hands today, so I decided to experiment. I looked at several bread pudding recipes off allrecipes.com b/c its the best site ever, but wasn't liking what I was seeing, so I decided to make up my own. I have never done this before. I am the type of person that doesn't want to invest my time into something unless I know its going to be great. I like having the best of the best when it comes to food. This is why I stick with my highly rated allrecipes.com recipes. Was I scared? Yes. I am a good little baker but thats because I follow other peoples masterpieces. I only did this because I was sick and couldn't get myself do do what I needed to do today: gym, laundry, deep clean room+ bathroom.




SO how did it turn out?


 I was kinda going out on a limb with this one, so I knew it would either be tasty or a disaster. I was guessing on measurements with everything besides the butter and eggs. I am happy to say that it surprisingly turned out great!! I obviously wouldn't be sharing it with you guys if it was horrible.


Everyone loved it and I will definitely be making this again. Adam and I love bread pudding. This recipe reminds me of the awesome bread pudding we had on our honeymoon cruise. Okay, maybe its not that good. But, it is pretty darn good. Ever since our cruise we have been disappointed with the bread pudding we have gotten at restaurants. Warning: Mimi's has horrible bread pudding. This recipe I made up will not disappoint! I know I am partial because its my recipe but everyone in my family liked it.

Holly Towner's Bread Pudding

Recipe Ingredients:


*3 slices of honey whole wheat bread- Most recipes call for day old white or egg bread, but I think that is just gross- I just dried mine out in the oven


*one package of Van de Kamps cinnamon rolls (8 pack) -where I was going out on a limb


*Almost a 1/2 a cup of raisons which is equivalent to 8 tablespoons so Ill say 7 tablespoons


*1/2 cup sugar + another 1/8 cup - random but it worked out- I knew I already had plenty of sugar in the cinnamon rolls


*1/2 teaspoon cinnamon  - didn't want to go to heavy on the cinnamon since I used cinnamon rolls


*4 eggs


* 2 cups heavy whipping cream -most recipes call for milk but I thought this would be much better


* 2 tablespoons butter melted


* 1 teaspoon vanilla


* Apricot preserve jam for glaze on top -I was going out on a limb with this one too- i've randomly been wanting to use jam in something like cupcakes so i settled for on something (raspberry jam in cupcakes sounds nice)

Directions:
I broke up the bread and cinnamon rolls into small-medium size pieces and set them on a baking sheet. I set the oven to 175 degrees and then set the bread in there for 5-6 min.


While I was waiting for the bread to dry out, in a mixing bowl I combined the eggs, cream, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.


Once the bread was done I put it in an 8x8 pan and drizzled the melted butter on top. Then I poured the egg mixture over the top and sprinkled the raisons on top.


I used a fork to mix in the raisons and push down the bread on top, so that all the bread pieces were covered with the egg mixture.


I baked it for 45 min at 375. It makes your kitchen smell soooo good!


ENJOY :)


Before:

After:

After the bread pudding is all done and has cooled down lightly brush some apricot jam on top (after heating it so its liquid) BTW This is optional-dab it on part of a piece and try it first. My parents liked it without. They didn't want to try it.  I liked it with.

Benihana

We went to Benihana's this past weekend with our friends Cameron and Celine. We decided to celebrate Cameron, Celine, and Adam's birthday (since their birthdays are all so close together).  It was definitely a good excuse to eat great food and have a good time. Adam and I both liked what I ordered best, which was the benihana trio (shrimp, chicken, and filet mignon). This is the picture they gave us. I forgot my camera, so check out our experience here.

Chocolate Chip Thigh Pie

For any chocolate chip cookie fans out there, this pie is for you! It seriously is like a giant cookie only more impressive. Its got a creamy filling. Yum. Its not very hard to make, so next time you need a chocolate fix, try this. Your husband will love it. FYI its called a chocolate chip thigh pie, because it literally goes straight to your thighs. ha.

Mix these ingredients IN ORDER

* 2 eggs
* 1 cup sugar
* I stick butter (melted)
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 tsp vanilla
* I cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
* I cup chopped pecans

Next pour into pie crust. I like to poke my pie crusts with a fork to prevent bubbling.

Bake for 40-45 min at 375 degrees

Then....

Enjoy!! Its best with home made whipped cream. I have a good recipe for that too. I just love to bake :)

Saturday

We decided to go to California Adventure during Adam's birthday weekend, since he had never been before. Being a warmer day we first headed to their water ride called Grizzly River Run. We were smart and brought ponchos b/c believe me people come off that ride looking like they just pulled their clothes out of the washer and put them back on again. Everyone in our little river raft thingy started teasing us at first calling us wimps. Lots of water is thrown at you basically, and by the middle of the ride everyone was wishing they had ponchos too. They were completely jealous.

(us all nice and dry after the ride)

We used fast pass the whole time, so we never had to wait in line. We went to see the Aladdin show next. I would recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it before. We both really enjoyed it. (I love the magic carpet ride part. It's very cool) Adam thought soaring over California was lame. The only thing enjoyable is all the aromas!! Kinda makes you hungry when you smell the oranges. ha. I took Adam to the tortilla and sour dough bread factories afterwards, so we could get some food in our systems. We didn't plan to stay too long at California Adventure since there isn't that much to do. We went on Tower of Terror the one good and enjoyable ride that they have there. Adam loved it.

(we couldn't get this picture to turn out real well b/c of the sun)

The other rides we went on before were left were the roller coaster, the free fall, and the ferris wheel (in a swinging one of course). Adam wanted to play some carni games before we left. We had an enjoyable time together. We always do. We enjoyed some good authentic Indian food afterwards. They had a sweet 16 party and a marriage going on at the same time. It was fun seeing everyone in those cool looking outfits.

Adam made one in :oP

Twenty6

My HOT, SEXY husband just turned 26 on Thursday! He is so adorable in every single way. I love everything about him. He seriously is the sweetest guy ever. He treats me so well every single day. I know a lot of people that would like to clone my husband, for themselves or their daughters, and I don't blame them.  I am the luckiest girl in the world, seriously! :) I just wanted to SPOIL him rotten this year.  I planned a fun party for him with both of our families. I really tried to by creative this time around.

The outline of the party: It was a fun night. We started it out eating a lovely home cooked meal that Sheila made. Adam eats out all the time with his new job, so we knew he would enjoy a dinner at home. Then we played some games that I put together. Everyone loved them. It was a good time for sure. After we finished playing all the games, we watched Adam open all of his presents. Then we drank some apple cider and toasted, and we finished the night off with some cake and ice cream. The cake flavor was chocolate raspberry b/c Adam LOVES raspberries.

Surprise #1: The Cake
Adam really likes playing and watching golf, so I wanted his cake to be made into a golf course this year. Here is the masterpiece that I designed and James Bishop put together. He is so nice. I was going to experiment and do it myself, but he volunteered to make the cake.

Adam loved it!! It was the first thing he saw when he came home from work Thursday night. He was lucky that his trip to New York got cancelled last week, because he was able to work in San Clemente so he could drive home for his b-day. That worked out well, naturally.

Surprise #2: The Presents

I decided that it would be fun to have 26 gifts for Adam to open on his 26th birthday. Therefore, I spent the last two weeks making a list and shopping. I hid a lot of presents from Adam. That was fun. By the time I had 16 gifts, I decided it would be wise just to wrap them and take them over to his mom's house. I didn't want him to find one of his presents early. I let the parents in on the surprise, so they helped out with some of the gifts which was nice.

The games:

The guessing game. Adam has always wanted to win this game but he admits he is terrible at it, thats why he has never one before. Well, his birthday was a lucky night for him. He won the reeses, which are is favorite candy. I was hoping he would win that is why we even did it. ha. Adam's dad won the M&M's and my mom and Matt both guessed the same amount so they tied for the golf tees. 

Then I had them do some 1984 trivia. I researched long and hard to come up with some good questions for this game. Matt ended up winning it.

Then we played a game I called all about the birthday boy. It was simply awesome. I made up some fun questions that people had to answer about Adam. There were a lot of questions that got some funny responses. We were all cracking up. My checks were hurting because I couldn't stop laughing. The questions were on top of all the golf tees in that little jar. We just passed it around. Each person would first read the question out loud, Adam would write down his answer, and then the person would try to guess what Adam wrote down. Each person answered about 4 questions. Sheila and I got the most correct answers, so she was the winner of this game.

The winners:

Dinner:

Blowing out the candles:

Opening the presents:

More pictures: