Beef Stew - It's What's For Dinner...

On Sunday I found a really nice looking Crock Pot Recipe book and decided to buy it...

There was this really nice looking Beef Stew and the recipe was pretty easy so I decided that I wanted to make some for Sunday dinner... I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out - but then again you never know how anything you cook for the first time is going to come out :)

It did come out REALLY good though - I was pretty impressed!! The flavors were amazing, and it was full of vegetables - which I love, so I was a happy girl :)

All Ready To Start Cooking...

The Finished Product...

What I Hate & What I Like About America...

Since I was here as an Au Pair for 18 months from 2006 - 2008 I have been able to learn what I like and what I hate in this country... There are more likes than hates though which I guess is good :) This is what I have learnt so far, I'm sure there are more to add to each list that I'm not thinking of right now, but this is it for now...

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT AMERICA….
The seasons
No fences around properties
Feeling safe in some places
Automatic Cars
So many different choices of cereals (lol)
Halloween
How everyone goes all out with Christmas decorations outside their houses
Cable
Coupons
Freebies (:))
911
How quickly the police act
The way traffic police work
All the ice cream choices (haha)
All the purchases one can make online :D

WHAT I HATE ABOUT AMERICA…
The way people eat here - slurping, crunching, drinking out of their cereal bowls etc
The way people complain about the country – go live in Africa or even better Haiti!!
Use different measurements
You pay for incoming and outgoing calls / texts
You need a credit score to be able to do anything – like get a car / rent an apartment
The only way to GET a credit score is to get a CREDIT CARD – so freaking dumb!
The bills are all due on different days
Oh and you need an SSN (Social Security Number) for EVERYTHING too…

Although I am loving being back here in Michigan, I do miss the comfort of home and everything I grew up and am use to! I am becoming an American but will ALWAYS be a South African at heart no matter what :) I do love my home country!!

Max Has His First Grooming...

Max has been with us for just over a month now and just turned 4 months on Sunday... :)

I hadn't realized how much his hair had actually grown in the month that we've had him, I noticed over his eyes but elsewhere not much, but when I put the pictures I've taken next to each other I can REALLY notice it! He was LONG overdue for a grooming - but he was so fluffy and I LOVED that about him :)

So we took him to get his first groom on Saturday, at "Pet Supplies 'Plus' "... I was so nervous / sad to leave him there with someone that was a stranger to him, but I knew it would be good for him to get a grooming... She was a lovely lady and loved Max... Dustin made sure to tell her that I still wanted Max to be fluffy so we decided on her only cutting off half of his hair, but when we got back there to pick him up he was SO short! I was a little disappointed because he was no longer fluffy, and he looked like a completely different puppy :( But I am getting use to it - he does look like a real little boy now :)

This is transformation...

Elephant Ears...

So again I saw something of Nikki's that reminded me of when Gina, Chantelle, Jean-Marie (I think it was these girls) were still in the US as Au Pairs, and one of them posted a pic of them with things called "Elephant Ears", I told myself that if I ever go back to the US I would really like to try find them and try them...

Well I still hadn't tried them until I saw that pic of Nikki's, then I just HAD to try find out where I could find them... Apparently they feature in a lot of Country Fairs in the Summer... Rebecca (a friend on FB) had a recipe for them and kindly gave it to me - I have now saved the recipe on my computer!

So I tried them out today - what an easy recipe AND the best part - SOOOO divine!! WOW!

All The Ingredients...

1 1/2 Cup Milk
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tbs Sugar
3/8 Cup Shortening
2 Tbs Active Yeast
4 Cups Flour
1 Quart Oil
2 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Ground Cinnamon

1. In small saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar and shortening. Heat until shortening melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm, 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Sprinkle in yeast and let sit until foamy.

2. Transfer mixture to large bowl, and stir in flour to make a dough. Knead until smooth, cover and let rise 30 minutes.

3. In a large heavy skillet or deep fryer, heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4. Roll out 1 to 2 inch balls of dough into thin sheets. Fry sheets 1 to 2 minutes on a side, until puffed and golden. Drain on paper towels.

5. Combine cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle over warm pastries. Serve.

The Process...

Me Having My First Taste... :)

Fall...

We are in my FAVORITE season right now!! I absolutely love Fall in Michigan - the colors are just amazing, they just seem so much more striking for some reason, think maybe it's because we don't have as many trees around in Pietermaritzburg as we do here in Michigan?

Anyways this year I got pretty excited at the thought of my first Fall in the US in my own place, and being able to buy my own Fall decorations and decorating our balcony! I've had the decorations up for a while now, but only just thought about blogging about Fall - why I have no idea :) I still have to get a real pumpkin though for near my little decos, and also fake pumpkins for the top of the edge of my balcony...

The Inside Decorations...

The Outside Decorations...

I Got A Sign And Bigger Scarecrows... (I think the scarecrows are adorable :))

About 2 weeks ago we took Max to the park to run around a bit without a leash and I asked Dustin if we could find some trees that have changed colour, so we did, we went on a drive and I saw these two trees that were BEAUTIFUL!! So I made Dustin stop and I had to take a few pics 

Happy Birthday Dustin...

So Dustin turned 31 on Friday. I wasn't going to make anything but I got bored so decided to bake - a cake :)

I guess it is a bit childish using sprinkles etc, but I had fun anyways...

The Cake, Fresh Out The Oven...

The Finished Product...

We went to one of our favorite Sushi buffet places for dinner... They make the most amazing Sushi and they have an amazing variety of chinese foods in their buffet!

Chicken Soup...

On Thursday, I was reading a friend of mines blog, she had not been feeling well and had tried her hand at making some Chicken Soup... It looked so yummy and easy, that I decided that I wanted to try make some...

I wasn't too sure how it would turn out, but it turned out GREAT!! It was so yummy - I was pretty shocked! Haha

All The Ingredients In My Crock Pot...

The Finished Product...

All I used was :

1x Whole Chicken

2x Tins Chicken Broth

Tins of water (I put as many as it took to cover the chicken)

Carrots

Celery

Onion

Salt

Pepper

I had it in the Crock Pot for 6 hours, took the entire chicken out, put it on a board and pulled the chicken off the bone - it was so nicely cooked, that the meat was just falling off the bone - just perfect :) I put the pieces of chicken back into the liquid, mixed it in a bit and served it....

DELICIOUS!!

Freshpet...

So because we don't have a baby, but a puppy I will blog a bit about him now and then :)

**This will probably only interest people that have pets**

He has been a little sick for a few days, so the puppy that came into our home 3 weeks ago has been non existent and I have been trying to get him back to his old self... He still isn't being 100% his old self, but he is getting there slowly! It is funny how you don't need to introduce a new puppy / dog to human food for them to know that their food is different to ours, and they think it smells and probably tastes a LOT better than their dog pellets...

When we got him, we both said no human food for Max, but you start to feel so bad when he is SO adamant to get a taste of what you are eating, that we would give him a LITTLE taste... Then the other day I saw an advert of TV for a product called Freshpet - they use human food in their cooking and have a range of different products available and ALL their products are stored in a refrigerator... So Dustin went to the store I located on their site that has the Freshpet products, I wanted him to get the Freshpet Select roll, but he got the Freshpet Deli Fresh roll... It's small and will be finished quick so I will be able to get the roll that I want to try with him next, LOL...

But they are pretty awesome! What I have started using is called a Slice and Serve roll... On the package they have a feeding guideline for how much to feed your pet with regards to how much they weigh, and they also have (on the one I have now) 1/8 markings on the lb roll, which really helps someone like me that is still learning the lbs etc.

He seems to like this one I gave him, but he is such a slow eater - hopefully he'll enjoy the Freshpet Select one more that I want to get him... I wanted to take pics of the Slice and Serve roll before I sliced it, but I forgot, so these pics will just have to do for now :)

This is the Freshpet Deli Fresh - Chicken, Vegetable and Rice flavored Slice and Serve Roll...

You can see here that there are carrots and peas in the roll...

This Is What I Want To Try With Him Next... (They have different flavors)

The Other Products Are Nice Too...

Roasted Meals....

Treats.... (There are different flavors too)