Santa Fe Cheesecake

Well, all I have to say is that it pays off to be a planner sometimes.....(okay I think all the time :-) We signed up to bring snacks for our small group on Monday so Sunday afternoon I was busy flipping through recipe books finding the perfect fit.....And I came across a recipe for Santa Fe Cheesecake....we love cheesecake and Mexican but the two mixed you may ask.....SIMPLY WONDERFUL!

Now back to planning ahead. I made the cheesecake base for the dip and then also made our dessert on Sunday night and thank god I did.....my plan for Monday was to come home early and get things around before small group. I also got a call from Eric as I was walking out the door to go to work and he let me know we forgot the GPS in his car. No problem I NEVER get set-ups on Monday....well I spoke to soon! I had 2 referrals on Monday that were going home....now only one actually went home (yes this happens ALL the time) but the one that I did set up was in the country outside of Lincoln.....SO I had to print directions off the internet at work...GASP I know! I was happy the family had also given me directions via the phone.

But anyways Eric got a call at work telling him he would need to finish up the cheesecake and take them to small group because I would most definitely be late. I told him to put the White Chocolate Popcorn in a nice bowl.....Eric's response oh the plastic one in the pantry....Eric I said "nice" bowl....like the ones we got for wedding presents not the 99 cent special from Wal-Mart....sometimes I just know ;-) And of course I told him to take a picture so I could feature the recipe on the blog.....

Don't you just want to dig in....I know you do!

Here's the Recipe:

2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softenend
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups sour cream, divided
1 package taco seasoning
3 eggs
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped jalepenos

Topping:
2/3 cup salsa
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/3 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup black olives

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat at medium speed cream cheese and cheddar cheese until fluffy. Blend in 1 cup of the sour cream and taco seasoning. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in chiles/jalepenos. Pour into a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Top with remaining 1 cup sour cream. Bake 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven: loosen edges from rim of pan. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.3-4 hours. Remove pan rim. Put on plate an top with salsa, onions, tomatoes and olives. Serve with thick tortilla chips. Yield: 20 servings

Note: Half of the recipe can be made in an 8-inch springform pan.

Sorry I have been lagging in my blogging, work has been keeping me super busy and I haven't gotten home till at least 7:00 every night this week and I already know that is going to be true of tonight as well......Oh well at least business is picking up.....Well I better get to work!

Washer Debacle!

You guessed it....Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) called on Friday....I recognized the guy's name because I had talked to him before.....

My first response was "Let me guess you're re-scheduling to next Saturday....AGAIN"

His response, "Actually, March 14"

My response, "Whatever".....I didn't even have the will to fight them anymore.

SO....I then preceded to call my hubby at work and let him know that I was done dealing with this washer mess. So we decided that Eric was going to call NFM and cancel our order for the washer and make them come pick up the dryer for free and in return give us a full refund.

In the meantime I started calling around to find out what companies in town had washers/dryers in stock. And that is when I stumbled upon a salesman named Seth at Lowe's. They had what our W/D in stock and can deliver on Sunday.....ummm let me think for a second YES!! So Eric and I headed over to Lowe's checked it out AND got a DEAL! We asked for the price we payed at NFM and they gave it to us!!!! (What they didn't know is I would have payed anything to have a W/D this weekend.

BEHOLD:

Check these babies out in another angle:

Did we have any hiccups with Lowe's? Well since I'm asking you can probably guess...we ran into a small glitch when they didn't bring the right power cord which we specifically asked about when we bought the W/D. Eric and I were very firm that they would have to go back or have someone bring them the right one. Also they scratched the wall in our laundry room. At that point I really just wanted to do our laundry.

How much laundry do two people accumulate over 2 weeks.....check it out....

YES...it was spilling out over our 2 baskets

Separated into darks, whites, and towels.

The Man-of-the-House had quite the task before him today.....putting up the mural of pictures in our entry way. It wasn't fun the first time in the apartment so I had to do a lot of coaxing to get him to tackle this special project. I cleaned and went grocery shopping during his task because we work better on tasks like this separately.

Check out his handy work....and ENGINEERING skills. I knew I married him for more than reaching tall things :-)

My mom took this picture when my dad and her went to San Fran... I love calla lilies...hint why they were the flower we used at our wedding.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

DELIVERY DAY!!!

BEFORE......

AND AFTER!!!!

TADA!

Here is one of the side tables....

Partial Room Picture!

Eric says just adding the TV stand really makes our house feel like a home! I agree don't you!! I was very impressed with Ernie's out of Ceresco, NE.

Delivery on time....check
Quality furniture....check
Friendly staff....check
NOT Nebraska Furniture Mart.....check check

Man of the House

Well Eric is definitely earning his title of "Man of the House" tonight. Eric is very helpful around the house and kitchen (usually his role being doing the dishes after I've cooked.....I think its the perfect deal :-) BUT sometimes Eric has to step up his game on nights that I work late (for instance tonight)

We have been living on leftovers for the last couple of days but there wasn't much to choose from so if we wanted a home cooked meal then Eric was going to have to be the "Man of the Kitchen". I had a list of meals I wanted to try on the fridge for the week so Eric chose off the list....Drum roll please......Skillet Pasta Florentine.

The recipe comes from a Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking Magazine. Want to take a stab at it?? Here's what you'll need.

3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
1 egg beaten
2 cups 2% cottage cheese (we left this out....I can't stand to even look at cottage cheese...it's a texture thing)
1-1/2 cups reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup shreeded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tsp each
dried parsley flakes
oregano
basil
1 jar spaggheti sauce
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 lb ground hamburger (if you're meat lovers like Eric and I....I mean my dad is a cattle producer) I asked Eric to add this to the recipe

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in large bowl, combine the egg, cottage cheese, ricotta, spinach, 1/2 c mozzarella and herbs.
2. Drain pasta. Place half of sauce in a large skillet; layer with pasta and remaining sauce. Top with cheese mixture.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and remaining mozzarella: cover and cook 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

****Eric and I decided that this dish looks better than it tastes. If we make it again we would add more spices...garlic powder, chili powder, ect******

After dinner Eric asked if it was my job to do the dishes?? I gladly did the dishes with all he's done since getting home (later than usual for him too)

Oh yes we had our first how do we (Eric) fix this moment in our house. The toilet made a clicking sound this morning and wasn't filling and emptying properly but I didn't have time to deal with it so I e-mailed Eric at work and told him he'd need to work on it when he got home....lets say I got a phone call shortly after asking if I had left and there was a mess or something (I'm not stupid...I knew I wasn't going to be able to fix it....but you can give me some credit, I called to see if my dad was home...he wasn't so that's basically when I gave up)

After a couple of phone calls, one being to Eric's uncle who's a plumber....Eric had a success!!! He fixed it! AHH! I love my husband.

Eric says that being man of the house is tiring...Guess he deserves a beer!!!

On the Hunt

First of all....I hope you all appreciate my post tonight. I didn't get home till 7:45 tonight and already know that I have a busy day tomorrow BUT I took last night off from blogging so I didn't want to leave you all in the dark. Why did I skip blogging last night you might ask.....Eric and I are in search for a dining room table and we had a couple of places we wanted to look before our church small group.

I had looked at this dining room set before at Ethan Allen but Eric hadn't gotten to look at it.

Imagine this in a darker wood

Here is a fabric we were looking at and next to a sample of the darker wood.

Here it is draped over a chair.

Here's another one...but now that I see it on a picture I don't think I like it much anymore. Glad I took a picture :-)

BUT....I think we are back to square one....Eric's not sure if he likes it. Which is fine because I do value his opinion and we plan to keep this dining set for A LONG time. (and if Eric gives his preference I should really listen because it doesn't necessarily happen all the time)

Usually I took the lead in stores but Eric wanted to try taking the lead in a store and I could chip in when I felt like it. So basically he ran the show but when it came time to take down information the sales lady didn't even want Eric's name, she wanted my information....sorry babe....I LOVE YOU!

Okay I'll try to do better blogging tomorrow night.....GOOD NIGHT!

Still Washerless.....

Saturday was supposed to be the day....our washer was supposed to come; however that is not the case. Nebraska Furniture Mart called me several times Friday....the first to tell me the washer would be delivered on Monday....next call they re-scheduled the following Saturday....at that point I asked to speak to a Manager.....someone called me back but I was on the phone with a patient and on my voice mail basically explained they really don't know when our washer will come because Maytag hasn't updated them....So I called back and asked to speak to a manager who basically was mad that I was calling to complain about the fact we had paid cash, our sales person told us when we bought it, the washer was in stock and no problem to deliver on the 12th. Nebraska furniture mart refuses to take any responsibility on this matter and basically will only apologize on behalf of Maytag. I don't think they understand what a lie is. I told them that when you have a bad experience you tell 10 people and I still need furniture for our house but I refuse to purchase anything from them again because they have never offered to compensate for our situation. The manager's response, well why would be compensate you with a gift certificate excreta if you're never going to shop here again.....And I yes I'm sure that we will be the last people to receive a washer who are on the list because of my complaining.....

Vowing to not shop at Nebraska furniture mart might seem like an easy thing to do.....however, finding other furniture stores to shop at......not an easy task here in Omaha!

So Eric and I made a little road trip on Saturday...to Ceresco, NE. What is here you might ask.....Ernie's of course....the largest family owned furniture store in Nebraska and yes Ernie's is about the only thing in the town.....BUT WE HAD SUCCESS!! We bought a TV stand and 2 side tables for the living room. Both Eric and I were impressed with the selections and quality of the furniture at the store. I forgot my camera on the trip but I promise pictures to come when the loot gets delivered on Thursday.

Why we need a TV stand....This used to be our dining room table!

If you look closely that is my glass of tea just waiting to be knocked over. We (I) can't wait to have side tables.

Oh yes, we are using a folding table and chairs as our dining room table....but in all seriousness what a great wedding gift!

Eric's parents called on Saturday morning and were coming to Omaha for a Home and Garden show at the Quest center so after a quick trip to Ceresco we headed to downtown Omaha for the show. We got lots of brochures from fence companies, landscaping businesses and tree sellers. WHEW! Lots to do!! No we won't do it all this spring/summer but we decided that it would be a good time to collect information.

(Tired yet??) Well Saturday is definitely not over....Then we jetted back home grabbed our dessert bars and threw together a salad for Eric's work party. We watched a movie that was aired on HBO, called Temple Grandin. She is an autistic woman who has become one of top scientists in humane livestock handling and yes Eric's company is one of the best in the nation on this subject and Temple herself comes several times a year to bring students from Colorado State to teach them. Temple designed the barns for Eric's plant. Okay, I will admit I wasn't super excited to watch what I thought was going to be a biography about this woman but it was a movie that was really funny. I always enjoy hanging out with Eric's co-workers.


The couple who hosted the watch party live a couple of blocks from us so Eric asked if we could bring a load of laundry....when we walked in Beth asked if we felt like we were coming home from college. When Eric asked if we could do laundry, Beth said we could as long as we would serve as a "safe house" for her kids to come to in the neighborhood. :-) Her kids are adorable and I hope they do come over sometimes when it gets nicer out!

WHEW! Sorry for the long post...today was equally busy with church....dining room table shopping....set up for a patient that went home from the hospital...Eric made dinner....BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Ho Hum....

Honestly I don't have much to report today kind of a boring day here in the Ladd Household. Eric and I went back to our Fireproof your marraige class tonight after missing last week (I worked till 9 that night, we were packing, and we didn't feel like we got out a lot from going the first week......and honestly we were disappointed there wasn't anyone our age) But last night I got a call from one of the leaders and she was wondering if we would be coming this week.....I'm pretty good about saying no and being assertive but I just couldn't tell her no so......Eric and I were rushing around to get to the church on time and I didn't have time to make dinner.....I wasn't thinking about how long it would take to make all of the recipes I choose this week and I didn't have anything on the line up that we could whip up quick so we ended up eating out. (note to self: you are no longer a stay-at-home-wife pick quicker and easier dishes to make during the week....note taken)

AnyWho! We tried a new place called Newman's Pasta Cafe. It was in between fast food and sit-down (kind of like panera only pasta instead of sandwiches)

We ordered a Omaha Originals Dining Card when we first moved here. You can use the card at local restaurants and get good deals. For instance tonight we bought one entree and got the other free. Can't beat that right?!?!.



Okay back to fireproof your marriage sorry I got a little off track, I mean food does that to a dietitian :-) I'm glad we went tonight, everyone talked more and it was nice to hear other opinions on the covenant of marriage (topic for this week) I think we will go back next week as long as I'm not setting up a patient.....

On the way home it came to me that I would like to be an office manager....I actually really enjoy that part of my job, ordering inventory, keeping par levels, making set up packets, writing notes on patients, filing, ect...... so of course I shared this with my husband:

Eric's response: I think some nurses work their way up to that

My response: I know I've been thinking about it a lot..I might need to go back to school

OH what am I supposed to do with my life.....another day...another day :-)

2 more days this week :-) Have a GREAT THURSDAY!

Good Day....GONE BAD!

So I was having a perfectly good day at work....extremely busy... but good. Tomorrow I should be setting up my 7th patient for the month which is one better than last month and it's only the 16th. AND THEN DISASTER STRUCK!!! I LOST MY PLANNER. This isn't just any old planner it's my lifeline for work it has all of my lunches written down notes on when to call certain people excetra and now it's GONE. I think I put it on my trunk and drove off including my notes from the past week or two.......AGH!!! I called the med center's lost and found and went back after discovering I had lost it and drove around the parking garage but no such luck. AND because of my detour I didn't get home till 6:45....so pancakes it was for dinner tonight because it was quick, easy and I had the ingredients (sorry no pictures)

BUT I did get a much needed haircut today and I was mentioning to my stylist that my flat iron was turning my bathroom counter brown and was wondering if she had any ideas and she gave me a travel holder for free that folds into a mat! SCORE!!! Of course I left her a nice tip.

BEFORE!!

Folded Case

Case folded out as a mat

Well that's it for tonight.....Hope all is well in your lives

Vacation Day?!?!......HA

Well I would say that I got the morning off for President's day but after that not true.....of course my set up couldn't be in Omaha but rather Lincoln. I knew about this patient beforehand so I had all of her stuff at home with me but that doesn't work so well when her orders changed so off to the office I went to get different formula. GOOD NEWS though it only took me 40 minutes to get home from Lincoln today....living so far West has its advantages for both of us. I was supposed to set up another patient in Omaha today but he ended up staying overnight so tomorrow it is.

I got home around 4:00 this afternoon and decided to get back on the exercise train (because I promised myself I would after we moved) SO.....I did a biggest loser DVD that Eric's parents gave me for Christmas. Good workout and I can guarantee I'm going to be feeling SORE tomorrow! (I'm definitly a "little" out of shape) BUT tomorrow I'm planning to get up before work and do my BOSU (check out tomorrow's blog)


Sometimes I wish we could go back to Jamaica where the sun was shining and there were no worries.....(I'm working on Eric to let us take a nice warm vacation next winter.....working being the key point) AnyWho....Tonight's dinner is one of Eric's all time favorites....HAWAIIAN CHICKEN!! I could totally go for visiting Hawaii how about you?

So here's the recipe!

2 pounds of chicken breasts (I use chicken breast tenderloins because they are smaller and cook faster than the hour and half suggested)
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worchestire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a 13X9X2 pan, place chicken breasts.

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Cook until thickened. (Yes I know it doesn't look great but I'm not lying it so good)

pour over chicken.

Bake, uncovered for 1 1/2 hrs. Yield: 6-8 servings

ENJOY!!! I serve over fried rice.....

Happy Valentines Day!!

Hope all of you had a nice Valentines Day! What did the newly married couple do??? Well.....we cleaned our apartment...I know I know we are so exciting and romantic....




Do you notice that I'm cleaning down low and Eric's cleaning up high? That is what makes our relationship work so well!! Eric is there to reach high things for me and I'm little enough to get into small spaces.

AND YES crazy from down below watched us from the blinds as we left the apartment.....we waved :-) Turning in our keys felt awesome!! I can't tell you all how happy we are to be in our very own place; however at the moment all of our neighbors can keep an eye on us as we have no blinds or curtains. Hope they are all saying that they want to meet that nice couple when it gets nicer out.

I made Special K Bars this afternoon for a sweet treat for Eric on Valentines Day. Eric's mom Christy gave me this recipe and says she used this recipe often when the boys would forget to tell her they needed to take treats for something.

Eric shoveled snow while I made him treats!! I like that arrangement.

Here's the recipe for Special K Bars!!

1 c white syrup
1 c sugar
1 1/2 c peanut butter
5 c special K or corn flakes
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c butterscotch chips

Combine 1 c white syrup and 1 c sugar and bring to boil and remove from heat.



Stir in 1 1/2 c peanut butter until smooth



Pour over 5 c special k or cornflakes



Stir and press in 9 X13 pan


Top with melted 1/2 c chocolate chips and 1/2 c butterscotch chips.

ENJOY!

My parents stayed on Friday night and tonight Eric's cousin Leah is staying with us as she was driving from Iowa back to her job in South Dakota and interstate 1-29 was closed due to white out conditions. We had lasanga and are now watching the Olympics! I LOVE that we now have room for visitors and they can have there very own room and bathroom.......we love to have visitors and we would love to have you here!!

We're HOME!!!

YES we all survived the big move and we are getting settled into our house! Bad news I couldn't find my camera during the move......and I'm new at having internet on my phone and a little to late I realized I could take pictures on my camera. Here is the moving crew eating lunch. Christy brought her famous Chicken Tortilla Soup.....so yummy.....and great on such a cold day!

Where's Alan you might ask?? Just sitting by himself at the bar.

I'm honestly surprised how much stuff we got put away....lots of thanks to our moms. The boys were good at moving the big stuff but after that part of their job was done they didn't have much motivation to do much else. I believe they read the paper and sat on the couch. Alan did try to get out and scrap off our patio in our backyard that we still haven't seen.

We got lots accomplished today and it felt like we had a revolving door......first Nebraska Furniture Mart came and delivered our Fridge and dryer....are you thinking to yourself won't they need a washer??? Why yes but that will not be delivered until Saturday the 20th. (Long story short Whirpool ran out of a part and now are behind in production.....yes we were promised when we bought our appliances that they were in stock and no problem to deliver on the 12th when we bought them....ha!......okay back to who came to visit....next, Budget Blinds came and we decided on faux wood blinds in the bedrooms and roman shades for the living/dining room (Brian and Jillian used them for their blinds and were happy we even got 10% off for saying they referred us) and finally.....Cox came by to set up our cable and internet and after much searching he discovered that our builder had stapled through the cable wiring.....YHEW!!!

Well we are busy watching the Opening Ceremony to the Olympics and tomorrow our trip to the Little Apple for the Basketball game!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!

Well tomorrow is the big day! We are moving on up in the world and into our very own place! We packed the U-Haul trailer tonight and its completely full and ready for the first trip to the house. Sorry I haven't been blogging much this week. Late nights at work (2 days of getting home around 8) and trying to get everything all packed up leaves little time for blogging. But no worries I will "try" to take lots of pictures of my moving crew and our weekend festivities. Oh no we couldn't just move into our house we are also headed to Manhattan for the basketball game on Saturday.......when we put the closing date on the paperwork we had forgotten that Brent had gotten us tickets to the game that Saturday!

Wish us luck!!!

Weekend Fun

YHEW!! I'm one tired girl....I went to Fairbury, Nebraska this afternoon for a set-up which I learned this morning was 2 hours and 15 minutes away from Omaha and I just got home at 8:15 p.m. But as promised I am blogging just for you all. So you please enjoy every word :-)

This weekend we celebrated Christy and Eric's January birthdays by going to the Iowa State vs K-State basketball game in Ames, Iowa. This was my first game in an opposing stadium and it was definitely weird being the minority. Here are a few pictures from the game.

From our seats

Alan, Christy and Carol sat in the row above us

I will admit that Jillian might not have payed such close attention to the game as we were a little distracted with catching up since the last time we had seen each other. At one point during the game Alan leaned down and asked me if we were ahead or behind. He laughed when I looked at the scoreboard to reply......to my defense Jillian didn't know either without looking ;-)


We headed back to Atlantic for dinner were we at the Feedlot. Alan and Christy had a couple of gift certificates that they needed to use up. The boys got stuck holding our purses while we went to the restroom. Thanks Jillian for capturing this great picture of the guys!

Yesterday was a big day for Eric and I.......it was our 6 month anniversary. Are you asking what did we do to celebrate??? Well at 6:00 in the morning I got a call from Eric who had slid into a ditch on his way to work. During his time waiting for the tow truck 5 other people slid into the ditch. I drove to pick Eric up but the tow truck showed up about the same time.

Eric got home from work late since he had difficulties getting to work and by the time he got home it was almost time to leave for our church small group. The mall is on the way to our small group and I needed to return something so our 6 month anniversary meal.....the mall food court. :-)

Eric choose Indian food for these reasons.....they gave him a free sample and he felt bad for them because no one was getting food from there......

These are my new scrubs. I've gotten several compliments on them. It really is great basically wearing pajamas to work.

As promised....Here's my Valentine's Heart Healthy Snack Mix I've been giving out this week. The response has been good from my referral sources and I think they are enjoying getting something more healthy than the typical Valentines Day Treats!!