new belgium brewery tour

Alex and I and a few friends went on a brewery tour in Fort Collins, CO. It was a free tour and really entertaining! They gave lots of free beer samples along the way, explained how they make the beer, and told us all about the kinds of beer they make. We got to see the bottling process and hear a little bit about the New Belgium Brewery as a company.

It was so much fun, and completely free! I completely recommend looking up any breweries or other companies that may offer free tours in your area.

white chicken chili

We got this recipe from Alex's friend's mom. There's a lot of prep work, but once everything is chopped it's really easy to toss everything in the crockpot and it's so delicious!

White Chicken Chili
3 15 oz cans norther beans, drained
2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped red pepper
2 chopped jalepeno peppers
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 1/2 cups chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours. Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

pork with potatoes and apples

This recipe is one of the first dinners I ever made for Alex, so it is always a little nostalgic to make it! It's a great recipe and we always enjoy it.
 
Pork with Potatoes and Apples
pork roast or pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 onion (optional)
3 potatoes
3 apples
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Salt and pepper the pork. Heat the oil and 1 tsp of the rosemary in a skillet on the stove and add pork. Turn to coat Arrange onion around the meat, and cook til lightly browned.
3. Transfer the pork and onions to a glass pan and put it in the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes. 
4. Cube and boil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain, toss with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic powder (optional) and arrange around the meat.
5. After the 30 minute timer goes off, arrange the apple, also tossed in oil and rosemary, around the meat and cook for 15 more minutes.

Note: Cook in the oven longer for a bigger piece of pork, and increase apples and potatoes as desired.

turtle brownie pie

The other night, Alex and I were craving something extra sweet, and came up with this beauty of a recipe! Enjoy!

Turtle Brownie Pie
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/2 package brownie mix
caramel sauce (to taste)
hot fudge sauce (to taste)
1/2 cups pecans (more to taste)

1.  Put the ice cream in the fridge to soften. In the meantime, cook the brownie in a pie pan, as directed on the package. Cool in the fridge while preparing the ice cream.
2.  Put the softened ice cream in a mixer and mix while adding caramel sauce, hot fudge, and pecans.

3. Spread the ice cream on top of the baked brownie. Top with extra caramel sauce, hot fudge, and pecans.
4. Cut and enjoy!!

jumer's cinnamon rolls

A couple weekends ago, we woke up to this lovely view out our window. With not much food in the house, we decided to make a cinnamon roll recipe that my mom makes, Jumer's Cinnamon Rolls. (I actually have no idea why they are called that.)

 

The recipe itself is pretty simple to do, but is really good!

Here are the cinnamon rolls before they went in the oven:

 Here are some of them after they were baked...we were so anxious to eat them that I didn't take a picture until after we dug in!

Jumer's Cinnamon Rolls

1 tsp dry yeast

1/2 stick butter

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 1/4 C flour*

1 1/4 tsp baking powder*

1/3 C instant milk*

1 tsp salt*

1/3 C shortening (can use butter)*

1. Add pkg of yeast to 1/4 C warm water and set aside. 

2. Melt butter and set aside.

3. Mix cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

4. Mix *'d ingredients and cut in Crisco.  Mix in 1/2 cup cold water.

5. Add yeast and water mixture, and let sit 10 minutes.

6. Divide dough into four equal parts. Roll out each piece, brush with butter, and spoon on cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

7. Roll each piece up long ways, and place them in a lightly greased pan. Every inch or so, cut a slit almost all the way through the roll.

8. Top all four rolls with extra butter and cinnamon/sugar.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

gradient purple nails

I painted my nails shades of purple this past week. The color that is on the thumb is the original nail polish, then I added more and more white polish for each nail after that.

Overall, I think they turned out really great!

black jean/dress pants

In an effort to dress a little nicer for work, I bought these black pants. They look mostly like black dress pants, but they fit and feel more like jeans. They're so comfortable and look nicer than jeans. And, they were only $23.88. (I think I got these at Gordman's, if I remember correctly.)

The shoes are silver with a very small heel and a decorative buckle on the toe. They were $33 at DSW, and go well with these pants as well as jeans.

(I also mention these shoes in this post, worn with my other pair of new dress pants.)