Social Security Card Party

As many of you know, I received my social security card in the mail a couple of months ago.  So, in January we decided to have a little party to celebrate.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying for this moment.  Please do not stop praying and thanks to those to were able to make it to the party.

My amazing and very talented wife made this cake for the party

(No this is not my number)

Isn't she beautiful

My friends sing "Happy Social Security Day" to me

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it.  We had a great time!






No these pictures do not have anything to do with our party, but we bought curtains and a new chair for our living room and they made into the same picture album for some reason.

  

This is our guest bedroom...the cleanest it has been since we moved in.  We are very proud.

Longest day of our lives, but totally worth it!

A few months ago, David and Stephanie Prysock came over to have dinner with us.  Leading up to this day, Stephanie and I had the awesome idea that we were going to make tamales together from scratch.  Let me just explain that making tamales from scratch is very rewarding, especially when you have good friends helping you, but it takes a VERY long time to do them.  With that said, let me further go on to explain all that Stephanie and I had planned that day.  We were going to get together around 10am to begin this day, this included buying the necessary items.  Somewhere in this day, we were going to make our own pasta, bake bread, and make cookies for April's classroom.  During this time, we thought that we might get bored so we might need to watch TV, play around on the computer, etc.

Though we did do most of the things we set out to do, we were busy the entire day.  We didn't get to make any pasta or watch TV.  The entire day was spent on making the tamales.  We had a lot of fun making them, but by 9pm (that's right, 9pm--11 hours later) we were finally done.  From boiling the meat, soaking the corn husks, to making the masa and finally steaming the tamales, it took 11 hours.  Never again will we decide to make tamales in one day.  If you ever decide to make tamales, please help yourself and cook the meat ahead of time.  It will make your whole day much more enjoyable.

Here are some pictures from a very fun day.

The tamale trinity:  corn husks, masa, and 11lbs of shredded pork and chicken

Stephanie and I wondering what we just got ourselves into  

Step 1: Apply the masa to corn husk

Step 2: Fold corn husk and if necessary tie corn husk strand around tamale

Step 3: Look at finished product and marvel that it actually looks pretty good

Stephanie: "Why are we doing this again?"

Our full (though you cannot see it) steamer full of tamales!

This is the result of 11 hours of making tamales

David however does not seem to be phased and is still going strong with his tortilla chip making

PS: He was not part of the tamales making and thus not affected by its energy zapping powers

April being crafty

One batch of the finished product

Finally we get to eat and man were they worth it 

The end!

We had a great time making these and are planning to make them again soon!

It's been too long...

Well it definitely has been too long since I have added a new post to this blog.  Since that is the case I am just going to add stuff is major themes.  That's right, themes.  It has been that long that I now can just add multiple sections.  First off all, since most of you know that since living here in Denton I have been a dutiful house-husband.  What I have realized with doing this is that I REALLY enjoy cooking.  Not only that but I have taken on the art, and yes it is an art, of grocery shopping.  For those that are just getting into cooking and, especially, learning how to grocery shop I would definitely recommend "The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook" by Erin Chase.  This book has been transformational for me in my appreciation and confidence in traversing the dreaded aisles of the supermarkets.

So back to my main point.  I have really loved learning how to cook better.  However, buying groceries on a Dave Ramsey budget has been the most rewarding thing.  I have loved buying my meats and vegetables on-sale and learning how to batch cook.  For those that do not know what I am talking about, which I am assuming most of those who read this blog probably do, batch cooking is cooking large batches of food and freezing them for later use.  The following pictures are some of my endeavors in batch cooking and baking.

Typically for me I go through the week's circulars and find the deal and cut some coupons...

Circulars and Coupons

Of course the coupon organizer

(Yes, I know it is girly, it was free, get over it)

 Once I have bought the food I prepare my food, so I can put it in the freezer till I need it...

Blanching my broccoli before I put in the freezer

Cutting my potatoes and sweet potatoes to mash and put in the freezer

Bagged and ready for the freezer 

Freezing my bell pepper!

Bagged and ready to put in the freezer

I LOVE SWEET POTATOES!!

As you could tell I like freezing things.  Another thing I have come to love is baking bread.  There is just something about kneading bread that is very relaxing.  The next few pictures are of me making Chocolate Bread, French bread (with a bread maker), and Honey-Wheat bread (from scratch)

My ingredients for my chocolate bread

Of course what chocolate bread is complete without brown sugar on top

Pretty sweet don't you think?

My ingredients for my French bread

Looks pretty good

However, I didn't realize just how small the bread pan was and yes it did rise all the way.

Delicious!

My favorite...the Honey-Wheat bread!!

Well I hope you all enjoyed reading this.  Thanks for letting me go on about some of the things I have learned to love doing!!