my lovely Valentine's tree and waffle agony!

hey everyone! here i am 730 pm on sunday and i haven't studied, not even 1 minute all weekend for my test this week... just don't have the attention span for it right now.

what i did accomplish this weekend is a little cooking, a little crafting, and some much needed sleep

so you want the good news or the bad news first?

ill go with the good: seeing as how i have not gotten to putting away my christmas decor yet i decided that this weekend i would force myself to because the next holiday is only 2 days away: Valentine's Day <3. instead of packing up my tree i redecorated it for vday with some construction paper and yarn

 i made  heart shaped garland out of strips of construction paper

 then i cut some big hearts out and stiched in the word love.

 and cut out some more hearts and stitched in x's and o's

 it was actually good practice at needlework... i'm still at about a 5 year old's level though hahaha

i hope you enjoy my Valentine Tree as much as i do

so this weekend I cooked breakfast cupcakes (mini fritatta's), chicken, and i attempted waffles.

my breakfast cupcakes came out awesome! I will be making them again and make a step by step recipe for you.

 the moment of truth: cutting the first in half and seeing they were cooked all the way through.
PERFECTION

 for dinner saturday i made chicken with white rice and roasted veggies. i used this seasoning as a rub and let it marinade into the chicken for about an hour.

 in the meantime, i washed my rice. it took about 6 rinses til the water was this clear. i started 8 cups of water with 4 bay leaves to boil. once boiling i added my 4 cups of rice (drained from the water it was sitting in to wash), dropped the heat to low, and covered my pot. 20 minutes later i turned off the fire i scooted the pot to another side of the stove. DO NOT PEEK INTO THE POT. let sit for 10 minutes.

 i got a 16 oz bag of frozen veggies and put them in a large ziploc bag with some basil and oregano. shake it up a bit then add a good splash of olive oil and shake well to be sure all are covered evenly with oil and herbs. lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 mins at 350.

 look how white and fluffy my rice is... mmm mmm! (i may just go heat some up cause it looks so good right now)

 i took my chicken breast and cooked it on my Cuisinart griddler checking until all pink was gone. I sliced it into strips and served it all up. oh boy!

 i followed it up with banana splits! i am so addicted to sprinkles

 i was off the hook cooking dinner today because my uncle stopped by with 2 pizzas

so on to the bad news...

i tried to make waffles, TRIED. i followed the directions on the blueberry mix. i decided fresh strawberries would make it extra scrumptious so i cut some up to add in. i had oiled my waffle iron and i made sure to let them cook long enough but they just would not come out

i debated putting them here at all but thought it would be a good idea for 2 reasons:

1) i am still learning and if anyone else reading this is as new as me, i want to show we all have fails and its part of learning. dust yourself off and go buy some fast food for this meal =P

2) i was wondering if any might have some insight as to what i did wrong. my family thinks maybe it was the fresh strawberries... any suggestions?

things i learned this weekend

-it really stings when oil pops and hits your arm

-even when food does not come out looking as it should, it may still taste good

-spices are pretty rad but i looooove herbs

wow! i guess i better warm that rice now and get some studying in... my test on "blood" is this friday =/ and that's 4 weeks worth of info and i haven't studied much at all.

xoxoxoxo

Lily B. Homemaker