Crab Meat Canapés

My mom has a great appetizer recipe called Crab Meat Canapes. I had some English muffins that I needed to use last week so I decided to go ahead and make some to have in my freezer. They also can be eaten as a "crab cake" type of deal so I ate one for dinner with salad last week. So tasty!

Of course I don't have a cooked picture! The above picture does not shown them cut in quarters prior to freezing. A tip for making crab meat canapes is to save the bag the English muffins came in and put the canapes back in there once frozen and place in the freezer. Beware of garlic breath but I promise it's worth it!

Feel Good Friday

Today is the 2nd chemo infusion in 14 days that I will be getting as part of my treatment for Myasthenia Gravis. I am hopeful that the experimental drug will bring relief as it did in 2015. Now to get through the next 24-48 hours without many symptoms would be great. I am taking the opportunity to have a nice date with the couch this weekend. Am so thankful for the support from my family, friends and co workers who had made sure I have meals, rides and company over the past several weeks! I'm missing several NYE brunches & festivities but know in the long run this will all be worth it!

#ihaveheardofmg

Mannheim Steamroller

My dear friend Annie and I had our 2nd Annual Christmas Concert outing in December. We saw Mannheim Steamroller at the Midland. I love the sounds of Mannheim, especially live. So powerful and moving.  The Midland is such a cool place for live music in the midst of chilly December.  I wonder what Christmas concert 2017 will bring?! Cheers!

Potato, Broccoli & Pepperjack Egg Casserole

Who doesn't ❤ a good egg casserole recipe? I recently tried this one and it is delish! I failed to snap any pictures in the putting it together process and then nearly failed to get any pictures before it was GONE! 

Potato, Broccoli & Pepperjack Egg Casserole

Wordless Wednesday

A view of the best sugar cookies made to man! 

The Jaarsma Bakery in Pella, IA

Creamy Confetti Corn

For Thanksgiving, one of the side dishes that I contributed was a new recipe for creamed corn, Creamy Confetti Corn.  It was yummy and so easy. Once again, I am not skilled at taking food pics but here you go!

Creamy Confetti Corn

Feel Good Friday

When I was in Iowa for Thanksgiving I took the opportunity to take a time out and volunteer. There is nothing like the feeling you get after you give to somebody else. I firmly believe that! My mom volunteers every week at the Lord's Cupboard which is a local food bank in Fairfield. What a humbling experience and probably a good thing I don't volunteer there every week or I'd be toting in my own resources to give away if that makes sense. I felt so bad for people. One lady was even crying when she found out she wasn't able to get food on this particular week. Heartbreaking. If you are looking for a place to financially contribute this Christmas I highly recommend a donation to the Lord's Cupboard which you can do here. Stay tuned for my "Advent Calendar" and what I'm doing to give to them.

The second event I was super excited about doing some volunteer time for. Childhood friends of mine have a 2 year old daughter with a rare intestinal disorder and recently started a foundation, The Little Superheroes which will give funds to a family suffering with a child who has a serious medical condition. Over Thanksgiving weekend they put on a Festival of Trees. I failed to capture a picture of the tree my mom and I decorated for the event. The proceeds from all the trees sold went to the foundation. My mom and I volunteered up in the kids area. I look forward to see how this event expands through years to come! If you feel compelled to donate to Little Superheroes you can do so here.

Apple Dump Cake

You know that ever so delicious Pumpkin Dump Cake? Well I think I found what might be the next best thing. And it's entirely too easy! I made it for the first time at Thanksgiving and made for the second time as my dessert for my Corks & Crafts group this evening!

All you need: 

2 cans of Apple Pie Filling

1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 stick of butter

Sprinkling of brown sugar for the top!

Bottom layer- spread out Apple Pie Filling

Top with the Yellow Cake Mix

Slice the butter and place around the top

Sprinkle with brown sugar

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

And if you are like me and my table food pictures. You'll love it so much you won't even get a picture of the finished product!

Beer, Basketball & Rasing $$ for the MGA

Johnny's Tavern in Power and Light is hosting a give back night to the MGA Triple Crown Showdown on Wednesday January 11th. They will donate 20% of their sales to the run! Woo hoo! And the ISU/OU basketball game just might be on TV. Please join us!

Facebook Event Page

Wordless Wednesday

Remember when you used to have to thrift to find your ugly Christmas sweater? Or raid your teacher mommas closet for her stash? Now you can buy them in the drug store. (As spotted in this drugstore in Seattle!) That's no fun! Takes away the whole point! 

Wordless Wednesday

Nothing says Merry Christmas like vintage bulbs. Love them! 

Bring on December!

Giving Tuesday

Did you shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Well now is the time to give back on #givingtuesday. We hope you'll support the MGA Triple Crown Showdown this #givingtuesday. Donations of $250 or more are considered sponsorships.

Click HERE to donate.

Wordless Wednesday

Doing a little work at my parents house, got up left the room & returned to little miss keeping tabs on my casenotes. Might have to train her on HIPPA!

Vidalia Onion Cole Slaw

Quite possibly the easiest and most tasty Cole Slaw.

1 bag of Cole Slaw

1 or 1/2 bottle of Tastefully Simple Vidalia Onion Dressing

1/4 to 1/2 cup of sliced almonds

Mix together, chill and serve

I took the above mentioned salad to Friendsgiving over the weekend. How blessed to be surrounded by so many great friends. This napkin sums it up!

Thankful Tuesday

My ❤ overflows. With the combined several weeks of not so fabulous news on the health front, back to monthly treatments, back to experimental chemotherapy and then last week's confirmation of an aneurysm in my upper arm above my fistula which calls for a fistula gram to clean that sucker out I have been feeling like I'm fighting an uphill battle.  Several friends reached out last week and one in particular suggested a Meal Train to help me out. I was reluctant at first and also embarrassed. I HATE asking for help and having my independence taken away. HATE it. But as I thought about it and thought how helpful this would be for me I said go for it. And let me tell you within 12 hours every meal was covered. Oh my gosh. Thank you! I have the best support system. I am so lucky.

#thankful

Pumpkin No Bake Cheesecake

Are you scrambling to find a PUMPKIN recipe for Thursday? I came across this great and super easy no bake cheesecake recipe on Pinterest. You simply buy a can of pumpkin and a tub of cheesecake filling, mix in the crust, refrigerate and there you go! Delish! (And pardon my awful phone pictures!)

Pumpkin No Bake Cheesecake

bevRAGE

By now you should realize I am obsessed with coupons and deals! Anything to help the pocketbook! A guy at work told me about bevRAGE which gives you rebates for drinks (alcohol!) Brilliant huh? You can find the app in your app store and once you redeem a rebate money gets sent to your paypal account. Easy peasy! Click this link to use my referral code!

By the way, this works on trips to purchase wine, beer, liquor at the store or at restaurants. My favorite rebate might just be the $2 Wine Wednesdays!

Crockpot Beer Can Chicken

A lot has gone wrong this week. ALOT. Just when you think you can't handle more something else happens. I'm trying to keep laughing. One thing that did go right; This meal! Who doesn't love Beer Can Chicken?

Just the image makes me crack up! I have actually never tried it on the grill. I bought the stand once and then something about taking the innards out scared me! When I came across the crockpot recipe on Pinterest I decided to try it. So easy and takes about as good as the Rotisserie chicken you buy at the store but without the yummy skin! Double thumbs up for my new FOOTBALL crockpot courtesy of my friend Chad.

Crockpot Beer Can Chicken

And little miss thing LOVES the smell of meat so guess who patiently waited at my feet for any dropped food. 

Think It Out Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

I hopped upon this in Target, retro toys. Oh the memories!!

Inverted Wedge

A hair dresser once coined my hair cut as an "Inverted Wedge". Not sure if my current hair dresser agrees on that terminology but at any rate I love a good wedge. Whether that be the hair style or the salad. In fact I pretty much have some restaurants in KC ranked on how good their "Wedge" is. Naturally a recipe I cam across on Pinterest spoke to me when it was titled "Inverted Wedge". My mom visited a few weeks ago and I gave the recipe a try for a side salad. They turned out cute although it also turned out to be a LOT to eat for one person!

Wedge Salad

Feel Good Friday

Jusf sniffing around Seattle this morning with my nepdog!

Think It Out Thursday

Anybody else feel like this yesterday?
#imalwayswithher 

#notmypresident

#youcantunifyanationwhenyoureracist

Feel Good Friday

I saw this the other day at a gas station. A recycling container instead of the trash. I love it! How many times do you get out of your car and have stuff that you can recycle but there isn't that option? I hope more of these start popping up!

MG Update

I thoroughly enjoyed 6 months of no treatments but for now its

Back to monthly Plasmaphersis treatments. :(

And insurance approval for a few more chemo (rituxan) infusions in the coming months.

Consultation to get fistula inspected due to growing aneurysm.

Never a dull moment but

much to be thankful for.

#ihaveheardofmg #myastheniagravisawareness #mga5k

Wordless Wednesday

#imwithher #nastywomen #trickledowneconomicsdontwork #nevertrump

Happy Howl O Ween

The little grape made her debut at Bark Appy's Howl O Ween Party on Sunday. Unfortunately after trying to take bully sticks off the shelf in the pet store and relieving herself just outside Tail Waggin Pet Stop it was determined that Howl O Ween just wasn't her thing. (And she let everybody in a 5 mile radius know it)

Friday Funny

When you buy a new North Face jacket (kids size) and you discover a patch inside to write your name! #winning #sometimesicanwearkidsclothes

Think It Out Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

When you stop in DSM to visit friends and they feed you this beautiful cheese & meat platter with wine & good laughs of course! #winning #dearfriends #thanksB&K

Happy Anniversary Cubs Style

How can you NOT smile when you think about the Cubs in the World Series? I mean really? So fun! Two dear friends of mine were featured on the news tonight for their LOVE of the Cubs. Adorable and such a great pair!

Click HERE to see the news story!

#imwithher

Does that surprise you? Ha! I have a fun story to share. My dear friend Ashley and I were eating dinner a few Friday nights ago at C.Frogs in Prairie Village- amazing by the way. I left the main room in the restaurant to use the bathroom and got "wanded" when I tried to return to my seat. To be honest,  I was quite offended and had no idea why they would think I had a weapon on me. As I sat back down in our booth I shared with Ashley what happened. We proceed to ask the waiter who told us Tim Kaine was in the restaurant for his high school reunion (Rockhurst). Talk about two girls who were completely starstruck and nerding out on this celebrity sighting! The waiter loved our enthusiasm and helped us move seats and eventually get down to the bar so we were poised to shake hands and get a photo op.  Once again, birthday made!

Our waiter first asked him for a birthday greeting for me!

Cheers to hopefully the next VP of the USA!

#37

#36 was not my best year. #36 was a hard year. At times it was a pretty freaking terrible year. It was a year filled with a lot of change and painful moments. I ended year the year with a Plasmaphersis treatment. The first one in 6 months. I was pretty anxious to get the bad drained out, literally! I woke up on my birthday, you know, year #37 feeling pretty good. My mom was in town and we had plans to lunch, to shop and to do First Fridays. As we settled into Tavern at Mission Farms for lunch and sipped on some Kim a face popped up from around the booth. MY DAD! Never been so surprised in my entire life. I think I said about 30 times, "that's my Dad!" I was shocked and thrilled! Definitely made my birthday and helped bring in #37 with a smile. It was a fantastic birthday, surprise flowers from of a college bestie, exploring, wine, sushi, dessert and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have continued celebrating these past few weeks with dinner after dinner, glass of wine after glass of wine with those dearest and nearest to me. Like never before have I so cherished and appreciated the spirit of my parents, C/G, and my very special friends who have lifted me up and onto #37.  I am so grateful for the love & support. xoxo

Lunch @ Tavern with a SURPRISE visitor!

Spending the day at one of my favorite places, Somerset Ridge & Winery with some of my favorites!

Sunday Funday @Amigoni Winery

The Birthday Girls!

And to those who I did not get pictures with. Thank you for celebrating with me, making me feel good and making October SO FUN! Now to dry out and eat a few salads..... :)