Romano's macaroni gill's rosmary bread

I got bored this afternoon and decided to make some rosemary bread. i don't know if any of you have been to the macaroni grill before but they serve this divine rosemary bread when you get there so i am making an attempt of recreating it. we will see how it turns out. right now it is rising on the stove. and after about an hour i will put it in the oven. yay! here is the recipe in case you are interested.
ingredients:
Servings:2 loaves

* 1 tablespoon yeast
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons rosemary
* 2 tablespoons butter
Directions:

Prep Time: 2 1/4 hrs

Total Time: 2 1/2 hrs

1 Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.
2 Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
3 Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.
4 Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5 Add more flour if necessary.
6 Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.
7 Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.
8 Punch down dough and divide in half.
9 Let dough rest about 5 minutes.
10 Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.
11 Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.
12 Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.
13 Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
14 Preheat oven to 375°F.
15 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
16 Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired.).

okay i tried out the bread and it is heavenly i love it.

new recipe!

Ingredients

* 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
* 2 cups water
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup butter, cubed
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

1. Place potatoes and water in a large saucepan; cook over medium heat until tender. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, saute onion butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme, rosemary, and pepper. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add potatoes with cooking liquid; heat through.

i am making it for dinner tonight and it sounds sooo good. Adam added the comment that you can sprinkle bacon and cheese on the top. tasty and decorative.

bogey birthday

Adam is 26 on Augest Second. We had a small celebration with just us before we left but we also are celebrating tonight with his parents in Salt Lake City. We are staying with mom and dad Gedeborg at their new appartment, they will be staying there for their mission and I am pretty sure they will be starting their mission on Friday. YAY!! Sooo this week we left on Saturday morning and went to Manti for Emma's baby blessing. (for Bob and Amanda's newest baby). that night we had a hot dog cook out and slept in tents outside. It was really funny that night when we woke up to a symphony of cat meows and that morning to the rooster's crow. We woke up Sunday morning and got ready for church. I was really grateful that i got to get Emma ready for church. I got to give her a bath (first baby bath for me), and get her dressed in her beautiful little white dress. When Amanda was telling me what to do for the bath she wasn't kidding that she would get slippery. haha. After church we went to a park in Manti and ate. there was a wide variety of food and lots of little kids running around and having fun. After the Lunchin we decided to go to Becky and Jim Bob's for the night and we at a big bowl of chili for dinner and went to bed in their tree house. Now this is no ordinary tree house. it is 3 stories tall and the top layer even has screen windows, a loft, and a skylight. BEAUTIFUL! every little kids dream complete with christmas lights wrapped around the trunk and a 2 person swing. In the morning we woke up, it was Adam's birthday, YAY!! We ate micky mouse waffles that were SOOO good and had cranberry apple juice. there was even huckleberry syrup. After a very filling breakfast we headed out for SALT LAKE CITY!! woo hoo. Oh did i mention that we are rereading the Harry Potter series on all of our road trips. Yes there has been that many. We are on the 4th book already. Anyways, we helped mom and dad Gedeborg move into their new appartment they will be staying in for their mission. We went to the store for a few things and then ate dinner at Jenny's brother's house (She is my new sister-in-law). It was a full day. When we got back we set up our bed and crashed for the night. Today we have done a ton! We woke up and went to the Welfare Square in town and did a tour. I recomend it to everyone. It was amazing to learn about how the chruch functions and helps everyone and the saints to live comfortable lives. This truly is an amazing church. We also went to costco and Adam and I went with my family to visit my Great Great Aunt Caroline. She lives right across the street from temple square and we visit her as often as we can when we come to salt lake. She is such an incredible woman. So independant and so many stories. Now we are at the Family History library doing some research on family names. Adam and his dad are trying to find some names on their side that have been difficult to find sometimes. Tonight we are going to go out to dinner to celebrate Adam's birthday. (if you celebrate it late it is called a bogey birthday-according to Becky) Then we are going to a concert at a park on temple square. WHAT FUN!!! Tomorrow we will be going to Chase and Jenny's wedding at the Salt Lake Temple. I am so excited for them they are such a good match for eachother. Chase is my brother. Afterwards we will be going to a lunchin at a chruch nearby and then heading back to our little quiet home in rexburg Idaho. Oh and the best thing about the trip home is that we will be picking up a baby kitten on the way home. Her name is Oreo! She will be our first cat EVER so if you have any tips let us know. We will be getting her fixed so we don't have to worry about kittens. Anyways. That is our fun and exciting trip so far. I will post pictures as soon as we get home and can do that.

As scar says in lion king "be prepared!"

So our ward was holding a preparedness fair, man it was fantastic! the taught couples about first time home buying and about marriage and ways to make your spouse feel loved. It was a lot like the book called the five love languages. we highly recommend it! once the talks were done we went into the cultural hall where they had a bunch of booths set up! LOTS OF COOL STUFF!! the first one that we went to though was bread making. So i asked do you find your bread crumbly and a bit dry and she said "no, try it." OH MY GOSH it was so soft and yummy!!! and she gave the recipe to all of us. It is whole wheat bread but the secret is putting 2 tbsp of dough enhancer in it and vital wheat gluten. i will share the recipe with all of you!! i am going to try it this weekend i hope!

easy bread recipe
this makes 4 loaves
5-6 cups of hot tap water (hot to touch)
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
2 tbsp instant yeast (SAF is recommended)
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp dough enhancer
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
12-16 c whole wheat flour

pour warm water into mixing bowl. add approximately 6 cups flour on top of liquid. then add dough enhancer, oil, honey, yeast, and gluten. mix well.
add approximately 5 additional cups of flour, and salt. Turn to speed 2. continue adding four 1/4 cup at a time until dough pulls away cleanly from sides of bowl. continue kneading on speed 2 for 5 min.
oil or grease hands and counter. divide dough into equal portions and shape into 4 loaves. put into well greases pans. Let rise until double the size. bake at 350 degrees for 23-30 min until golden brown on top. remove from pans and cool on wire rack. top of loaves can be brushed with water or butter for shiny appearance. dough can be used for pizza crust. cinnamon rolls and monkey bread.



Monkey bread
pull off small pieces of dough about the size of a golf ball. roll into a ball. then roll in melted butter or margarine and then in 1 c sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon mixture. layer in loaf pan or bunt pan. let rise until double. bake at 350 for 23-30 min. when they are done invert pan onto a plate and pull apart to eat.

if you want any more information or cool recipes go to www.everydayfoodstorage.net

Watching the plants grow

Okay so this may sound weird but Adam and I discovered that we like watching the plants grow. There is something satisfying in know that all the hard work is paying off when you see the plant get bigger and stronger and then you get yummy rewards.
We aren't plant killers after all! OUR TOMATO PLANT IS ALIVE!! We have been watering our tomato plant for a while, half hoping it would bounce back and some what thinking we had false hope for it. BUT THEN i spotted 2 little flowers on it along with new green branches. WOO HOO!!! Now it has 4 flowers on it and we are hoping to get some tomatoes before it gets cold.
our other plants are doing fantastic. We have had 3 strawberries grow so far but only got to eat one because we think the other two got eaten by birds or children. haha. But man was that strawberry was good. it was super sweet and perfect color. OH we also have a GIANT banana pepper growing outside our front door and a baby pepper following shortly behind it. we are going to try cooking with them soon but i hope we don't burn our mouths off. but yeah that is the exciting tale of our tomato.

Epic moments

So on Friday Adam and I were asked to go to a movie party by some of my old roommates at the single girl's apartments. Some of our friends were in town and they wanted us to come and visit them. So we got there and chatted and hung out til about 11:30 (really late for us). When we were finally leaving music was playing it was the song "Don't stop believing". while walking to the car we walked passed the neighboring apartment whose door was wide open and a girl was in the living room. She had her arms stretched out and spinning gracefully in a circle while saying very loudly "I'M IN LOVE AND I DON'T EVEN CARE!". Adam and i stifled our giggles till we were out of earshot and then laughed remembering the single life! Oh how life has changed. I LOVE IT!

Ward Camp Out

I am super excited this weekend our ward is doing a camp out!!! Adam and I have been wanting to go camping for a while now and we are super excited to go. We will take lots of pictures and try to remember all of the funny stories

okay so we went on a camp out! oh my word it was so much fun. Our ward threw together a camp out up at our bishop's family's cabin. (but we didn't sleep in the cabin) We ate BBQ pulled pork sandwiches that were amazing and enjoyed brownies and an array of salads brought by different families in the ward. That night we got to enjoy smores, this crazy game kind of like horse shoes, and playing catch phrase in a huge circle and being entertained by babies and children noises.
After we were all stuffed and ready to catch some Zzz's we went inside the shop and had a spiritual thought and then the families who didn't want to stay the night (because of prego bellies or babies already born)left. The rest of us got to enjoy watching Madagascar 2.

actually Adam and I were really tired so we decided to go to bed...but... there was a HUGE thunder storm and it started to rain. So all the families pulled their tents into the garage so they wouldn't get soaked. So Adam and I joined the party and watched the rest of Madagascar 2. By the time the movie finished it had stopped raining and we were able to go to sleep. We woke up early in the morning though to a wet tent and sleeping bag. The water seeped through the tent and was now on the inside. We got pretty cold but at least we can cuddle and get each other warm again. you couldn't do that at girls camp or scout camp. WOHO for married life! haha. That morning we got up and ate breakfast with some of the other families in the ward and had interesting conversations ranging from Lord of the Rings to doughnuts. What a fun time. I loved getting to know all the couples in a ward a little better and hanging out with them outside of church. Such a fun time!


I hope you all had great weekends! what did you do for the weekend? do you have any fun plans for the 4th of July?

The Audition

So today I auditioned for a RFinity commercial. It is a new technology they developed here in Idaho where you can use a chip in your phone to pay for everything-it replaces your credit card, debit card and my student account. cool huh!? Talk about nerve racking. I was pretty nervous because i don't do much acting but i thought...if i could be an extra in the background that would be cool, i mean i do have pretty fun facial expressions and that is what they are looking for.
so i actually get the nerve to finally audition and then all my nerves were gone...well most of them. but i felt pretty comfortable. I am somewhat wishing i can get the part because it sounds way fun and really funny. if i don't i won't be heart broken or anything.
but here is the major conflict. they are filming the commercial tomorrow and i am babysitting tomorrow until 3ish. so i hope they liked me enough to go around my schedule. anyways. that was my random step out of my comfort zone thing i did today. WOO HOO!

Elder Holland! Fantastic talk about coming unto christ!

 I had to write this for my religion class and i always like to save it somewhere for back up so i thought why not post it as a blog. hope you like it!

                Elder Holland gave an excellent talk about coming unto Christ and how that can impact your life. Whoever we are and wherever we are in our lives it is critical that we follow Christ because he will give us the way to return to our father in heaven. Elder Holland said “first and foremost of which is a personal spiritual relationship with deity, including the Savior, whose kingdom this is.” If we understand the savior then we will understand the type of life we need to be living in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“I don't know what things may be troubling you personally tonight,” said elder Holland. “but, even knowing how terrific you are and how faithfully you are living, I would be surprised if someone somewhere weren't troubled by a transgression or the temptation of transgression. To you, wherever you may be, I say, Come unto him and lay down your burden. Let him lift the load. Let him give peace to your soul. Nothing in this world is more burdensome than sin. It is the heaviest cross men and women ever bear. And while I believe you to be the greatest generation of young adults ever to live in this Church, nevertheless the world around you is an increasingly hostile and sinful place. Occasionally that splashes onto us, and perhaps, in the case of a few of you, it may be nearly drowning you.”

Lay Down Your Burden, Is the first step of coming unto Christ. So many of us are in this world carrying our own burdens and wondering, how much longer will we suffer? It is up to us to lay our cares, troubles and trials at the feet of the lord and he will lift us and make our burden light again. “All he asks is that you walk away from the darkness and come into the light, his light, with meekness and lowliness of heart.” One of my favorite quotes from this talk is this. “For anyone out there seeking the courage to repent and change, I remind you that the Church is not a monastery for the isolation of perfect people. It is more like a hospital provided for those who wish to get well.”

Peace to Our Souls, is the second step of coming unto Christ. Elder Holland put it this way, “Just because God is God, just because Christ is Christ, they cannot do other than care for us and bless us and help us if we will but come unto them, approaching their throne of grace in meekness and lowliness of heart. They can't help but bless us. They have to. It is their nature.” Because of God’s nature he wants to bless us, we should have peace for the things that are out of our control. Heavenly Father will comfort us and give us strength at times we need it most.

Heal One Another is in my opinion the biggest and hardest step to accomplish. The reason it is so hard sometimes is because we are asked to serve, and love all man not just the ones that are nice to us. Elder Holland put it this way, “one thing I would now ask from you tonight--healing, healing for others, healing for those you love and, yes, perhaps especially for those you don't. The people around us need a lot of help, and I think the Lord expects us to join in that effort.” I have heard many times that the lord blesses his children not through angels but through those who are already on the earth. If we do our best to be open and serve those who are around us we can bless other people’s lives. If we are humble and come unto Christ we are better able to become tools in his hands to help our fellow brothers and sisters here on the earth.

Christ Watches over Us. We can take comfort in the fact that we are always being watched over and cared for by our father in heaven and by Christ, and he always bacons us to come unto him. Through Christ we can have our burdens lightened and we can return to our father in heaven.  Though we may not think so sometimes we constantly need Christ in our lives to help us and guide us and through his glorious atonement we are able to repent and change our ways.

R mountain!

Adam and I put together a hike to R mountain It was SOOO MUCH FUN! we invited as many people as we could and encouraged those people to invite friends. We ended up with a pretty good turn out.
While hiking I realized how out of shape i was. We went up the side that is short but really steep so I had to take quite a few breaks on the way up and by the time we got to the top my legs were burning. We got to the top and ate our lunches. My brother (chase) and his fiance (Jenny) and some of my brother's roommates/people he knew decided to go repelling just down from where the rest of us were (John, Leeann, Jordan, Heather, Adam and I). we camped out and ate lunch. We talked threw lots of rocks to see who's got the furthest and took lots of pictures. Leeann collected all the different flowers we came across and we all didn't get injured. YAY! here are some fun pictures from the trip!

Pretty view from the top!
and Funny sign we saw
John and Leann's new house--and a scary robber

Chase and Jenny


Jordan Adam and John throwing rocks to see who gets the furthest. really cute!

Jordan and Heather




and Repelling!

Plant killers?

So we got some strawberries a few months ago when it started warming up in Rexburg. I think it was in march... It was a warm sunny day when we decided to plant them. We decided to plant them and put the pot outside. BIG mistake. It snowed! so unfortunately all of our strawberry plants died!

So our second atempt at being "Green" we got a tomato plant from the farmer's market, but forgot to plant it for about a week. So it started to die. We planted it in a Topsy Turvy and hung it on our front porch and so far it is still HANGING in there. haha. I think it is getting some color back and looks like we might have some tomatoes.

So it is good that we can repent of our bad planting skills. We decided to get some new strawberry plants (3) and some lavender (good for medicine and is used in Adam's favorite spice Herbs de povonce) and we got some Hot banana peppers, which we hung upside down too. We were going to redeem ourselves from being plant killers. So we planted them the next day and got some pots for a really good deal at the family dollar. We planted them and have been watering them often. and we are seeing progress... the banana peppers have a new blossom and the strawberries have some strawberries starting to grow and some new blossoms. and the lavender has a new flower starting to turn purple. YAY maybe we aren't plant killers after all!

Me with our dying(?) tomato and our banana peppers! on our front porch

Adam with our strawberries and lavender on our back porch

our lavender! it smells sooo GOOD!

Kristen week!

Well this week has been a fun adventure!
Adam and I have had a pretty crazy week but it has been really fun!
This last weekend we went to the temple which is always really refreshing and fun. We work in the laundry area at the temple every other Friday.
Kristen
This semester I got a calling of being a Choir president. I really like the calling because i get to help motivate people to come to choir and have excuses to make treats for people who do come. I also have the calling of Relief society directory specialist. It is always fun to finally get the directory finished and then 5 new girls move into our ward. But it is a fun calling because it helps me to get to know the girls faster.
I had a test this week for Anatomy and Physiology. Our teacher said it was the hardest exam that we would take all semester. So there have been some long hours put into studying and going to a tutor really helped me to make sure i understood everything. We are also studying muscles in my A&P lab class and we just started studying the muscles with cadavers. Interesting. The chemical the bodies are preserved in make my eyes and throat burn and when we have the test on the muscles we will be tested using the cadavers.
I babysit for a family that lives behind us. They have a little boy that is (i think) almost 2. He is really cute and super smart and most of the time is pretty helpful but this last time babysitting him you could tell he was getting into his terrible 2's. He is super smart! He can unload the dishwasher and put everything in the right places, change the load of laundry from the washer to dryer and put it in the right setting and then load all the dirty clothes into the washer. THIS IS A 2 year old! But yesterday when i was babysitting him he ate breakfast and wanted a snack. it was almost lunch time so i didn't want him to not be hungry for lunch. So i said "no" and he flipped out and started crying. I let him cry for a few min seeing if he would stop and it didn't so i gave him a few animal crackers. once he finished those he wanted more so again i said "no" and he started crying again. I tried to distract him with other things to see if he would stop. like i tried to get him to play with his blocks or drink some juice (which he loves) but he kept crying. If this were my kid i would probably let him cry it out but he was crying for a while so i finally gave in and gave him some apple which is at least healthy. does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in situations like this?! i am open to any!
The relief society had a fun activity this week. we got to bring a couple wedding pictures and talk about how we met our husbands, tell engagement stories and anything else that was funny. It was really fun getting to know some of the girls in our ward that much more. I loved the stories that some of the girls told! so funny!
This week in general went really well though i really enjoyed watching a movie with Adam! We got Alice in Wonderland from netflix and it is pretty good. I thought it was a fun twist on the classic alice story! We decided that it wouldn't be a movie we would buy but it was worth watching.