White Cheddar and Broccoli Mac & Cheese

This is one of the images responsible for my finding-and-trying some new recipes. This particular recipe just sounded really really delicious, and really really easy. So I decided to go ahead and try it. The recipe can be found here.

Last Friday (exactly a week ago), Tyler and I decided that we wanted to try and make this delicious-looking mac & cheese. Now, if any of you know me, you know that I don't love macaroni and cheese, but about once or twice a year I decide that it "sounds good" so I'll have some. I'm usually pretty disappointed whenever I try it too. That night we went to the store and bought some groceries, we were sure to include all of the ingredients for the recipe on our trusty shopping list.

On Saturday, we woke up to rain. I was really quite disappointed because I had wanted to play some tennis that day. Tyler bought be some new tennis shoes and I was really anxious to play in them to see if they improved my game. Things started looking better as the day went on ... the rain cleared up, the sun was shining and the courts were finally dry! We went and played, and the new shoes definitely helped. Once we got home though, it was time to cook.

I'm so lucky to have a husband who is willing to help me in the kitchen and who will also eat pretty much anything I put in front of him. I knew that even if this mac & cheese didn't turn out, he would tell me it tasted good and would finish his portion (and maybe even plus some)!

So we started cooking. Tyler did such a good job with the broccoli (putting it in the microwave is a really difficult job) and with the macaroni! The part I'm really grateful for is is ability to take really good pictures, especially of me.

This is why I try to avoid exercising ... see how bright red my face is? The bad thing is, this picture doesn't even show off how red it usually gets after a good workout. Lucky me. Anyway, back to cooking. After melting the butter, whisking in the flour, milk, and cheese, it was time to combine everything!

I'll be honest, I didn't really taste anything at first. That is probably because I had a stuffy nose and couldn't smell much either. Who knows. One thing is for sure, it is a really bad idea to put Parmesan cheese on this stuff. That makes it taste like stinky feet smell. Good thing I only did that on a little bit of mine. Anyway, I know you are all anxious to see the final product, so here you go. It looks quite lovely!

We had quite a few leftovers, so for Sunday dinner we breaded some chicken with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, and voila! A delicious, easy dinner! By the way, it tasted MUCH better with the chicken to go with it.

If any of you want the recipe, you can click here, or the link that I have at the top of the post. I think it was a success. If there are any recipes you want me to try and post about, let me know. I'm always game for a little bit of adventure!

A lot of catching up to do!

I was looking through the pictures on our camera, and I realized how many things I have meant to blog about, but I always forgot about it, or else I just didn't feel like getting the camera out to upload some pictures. So, here we go...

For Christmas we got an awesome puzzle with a picture on it from when we were in Cancun! I just wanted to prove that we actually did the puzzle and that it turned out great!

What a wonderful gift idea! Plus, in the middle of winter it reminded me of the warm sun in Mexico.

I also forgot to tell you guys about the awesome cupcakes I made at the beginning of this month! They were inspired from stumbling at work. They didn't turn out as good as I hoped because of some improvising, but they were still really yummy.

Inspired from this Zebra Cake

Just one more thing, then I'll get to a more recent post, and something I'm even more excited about. One of our wedding gifts was an indoor grill! Let me just tell you, it is AMAZING! Take a look:

This grill is great for a winter BBQ when it is just too cold to go outside.

Sorry it took me so long to update you about all of these really exciting things. I'll try to be better about posting when I actually have pictures!

Dear Mom,

I would just like to say...

Happy Birthday!!

Love,

Katie

P.S. Remember when we went on this really fun trip?

Yeah, we should go again. Thanks! Love you.

The weekend!

I have a lot to post about, but I'll catch up on those posts later. I just have a quick story for you all! Here we go...
I have been saving some spare change since I was in junior high, I think. I had a total of about $40 in silver coins, and just this last Saturday I decided to spend a little bit. We decided to work on our movie collection by going to Walmart and finding a cheap movie.
Since Tyler and I are both really funny people (just kidding...but really) we put $14 in a plastic bag and headed to Wally World. Once we got there I was very disappointed with my options. Walking away in defeat, I looked to my left and there it was! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1 for $13.96! We decided to make the purchase because that was quite a deal, buying Tangled new was a whole $20!
Needless to say, I was excited! Plus paying for something in change  is always fun!

My Awesome Wife

Last night there was an awards banquet for the J-com Department and Katie was recognized a few times. Once because she will be the Director of the student run PR firm. The best thing was she was one of the Outstanding PR Juniors. That was really cool to see her get recognized for all of the hard work that she does!

T.G.I.F.

I am so happy it is Friday! This has been a super long week. Today has been a really long day too though. I've been working since 10:30 this morning. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, it's a fabulous job, but really? Sitting in a computer lab for that long without being able to do homework tends to get a little bit boring and lasts forever.

As for the weekend, we might play some tennis; thank goodness for good weather! I think we're probably just going to take it easy though. Watch some Prison Break. This is the life!

What are your plans for the weekend?

P.S. There was an awards banquet for the JCOM students last night. I may or may not have won an award. If you want to know if I won (and what I won) you will have to convince Tyler to blog about it.

Have a great weekend everybody!

School is (in no particular order)...

• A blessing
• A curse
• Stressful
• Boring
• Busy
• Hard
• Never-ending
• A great opportunity
• Expensive
• Fun
• Something that really teaches you how to procrastinate but also how to get things done.

Most importantly though... School is almost done for the semester! Good thing I get a week off and then back for some summer classes. Oh well. Only one year left of school, then I have to go into the real world (I don't think I'm excited though)... This is mostly what I'm thinking about today, what are you thinking about?