Could LIfe Get Any Crazier?!?!?

I often feel about blogging the same way I feel about journal writing. If you have missed some time you don't want to have to go back and recap the last few months (or years). So I will spare you all (if anyone even looks at this anymore . . . if not I don't blame you). Life in the McCarty house has been a crazy one. Ryan is doing two internships, working, getting his masters, trying to be a real estate mogul, a stake executive secretary, and husband/dad. So we often don't see him for more than an hour or two. I would like to say that I do sleep with him, however with my two children make sure that is not always true. Jackson is such a 6 year old boy. He loves LEGO Star Wars: Wii, his best friend Jack, and soccer. Every once and a while he will be a ninja, or Jimmer, or a rock n' roll star. He loves giving his mom attitude and tormenting his little sister. He really is such a great kid. He has such a tender heart, as of late he is so concerned with those that are affected with the Tsunami in Japan. He wants to learn all about it and help in some way. Miley is seriously so cute. She wants to learn how to read so bad. She loves books and I threatened to throw away her barbies and books (because her room was a mess . . . look I was desperate). She didn't even bat an eye until I started taking books away. Belle, and Jasmine and the other princesses could have met their fate in the landfill, but her books are treasures. I hope she keeps with that. She loves to dress up and when her friend Macie comes over you can pretty much bet there are two naked little 3 year olds in there trying on all the dress up clothes. She is now potty-trained, which could not have happened at a better time. She LOVES primary and is a sunbeam this year. I almostly weekly hear fabulous stories about her in sharing time. She is obsessed with Ryan's ipad. When Ryan comes home it is usually "where's your ipad daddy?" I am treking along trying to be a real estate mogul with Ryan, we are flipping two homes right now and currently have 3 rental homes. It is a lot of work to start off, but hopefully it will be a little less crazy in a while. I am also cooking up a storm. I started a food blog which I love to do, talking about food. It is www.getmeafork.blogspot.com. Because of my love of cooking and food I am also exercising like a mad woman before swim suit season comes along. I am also in Young Women's in my ward which I just love. I feel like I am home. As crazy as life is, I honestly couldn't be happier. Life is good.

Kindergarten

Seriously, how stinking cute are my kids. Jackson started Kindergarten on Tuesday. I can't believe he is old enough to be going to kindergarten. It seems like just yesterday I was holding him and teaching him to walk. Then he runs into the Kindergarten room. I am so excited for him and all that is in store for him. Miley has cried everyday that we have dropped Jackson off for school because she wants to go to big girl school. It breaks my heart, but I am going to keep her close. Time goes by super fast.

Happy Valentines Day!!

I just wanted to share with you all who my valentines are this day.

I am one lucky girl!! Happy Valentines Day!

FLORIDA!!

The Grand Floridian Hotel

The Animal Kingdom Lodge (this was incredible)

Just outside the LEGO store in Downtown Disney

if you can't tell made entirely out of LEGOS

Bon Jour!

EPCOT welcome sign

The giant golf ball . . . pretty cool!

Does this help my head look smaller???
China . . . never thought I would visit there . . . nice place.

This was purely for research purposes for when I open my own pastry shop!!

Just a giraffe having lunch with me outside the Animal Kingdom Lodge

Ryan and I had a chance to go to Florida, just the two of us, for a week. It was so much fun. Ryan had a Educators conference down there and I tagged along. We were able to go to EPCOT on the Tuesday that we were down there which was AWESOME. I loved all the countries and the food. Needless to say we spent way too much money in France with all their yummy pastries. While Ryan was at his conference I hit the many outlet malls, and toured some of the Disney hotels, and slept. I had my trusty Ford Focus and my GPS, I totally owned Orlando. I was also able to go to and see a cousin that I rarely ever get to see who lives down there. It was so much fun to sit and talk and catch up. Thanks Angie for a great afternoon. All in all we had an incredible trip. We were certainly glad to come home and see our kids. As nice as it was to be away for a while we really missed them. They couldn't care less that we were gone. They were having way too much fun with Grandmas, Aunts, and Cousins. I can't wait to go back to Orlando, this time I would like to take the kids and do all the Disney parks with them. So much fun.

Orlando Temple

Banana Bread Pudding at Ohana restaurant . . .

it was INCREDIBLE!!!

Tres Leches

Okay, so I don't mean to make this a food blog. There are a lot of great things happening in my life right now. I just got home from an incredible week in Florida with my husband, without kids. Did you know that you can sleep in and take a shower all in the same day?? I know pretty crazy. I also have been able to play with my kids a lot, things are going great. Since it is so cold outside I find myself cooking a lot. Hence, all the recipes. Tonight we are having the missionaries over for dinner and some good friends of ours. We are having a little Mexican buffet and I thought it would be fun to try Tres Leches. I had all the ingredients which means I didn't have to go to the store . . . bonus. So I found this recipe and made a couple little tweeks to it, and it is INCREDIBLE!!!! Please try it and let me know what you think. Don't be scared of the fancy name. It is so easy to make. ENJOY!

Tres Leche
found on allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
3. Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.
6. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
7. Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!

Amanda's Notes: I used 1% milk instead of whole milk. Turned out just fine. Then I also used cool whip instead of whipping cream and sugar. I topped my off with some strawberries.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

picture from Zupas.com

Okay so this is a follow up from my last post. This is a copy cat recipe for Zupas' Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. This is so good to mix in with the Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup.

• 4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 14 leaves fresh basil
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• salt and pepper to taste

recipe found in allrecipes.com

1. Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
2. Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

Definitely use fresh tomatoes. I used canned and it didn't taste as good, so we made some with real. Holy Cow so good. Try this and let me know what you think.

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I am a huge fan of Zupas. They have great soups, salads, and sandwiches. These are my favorite foods. So when I found this recipe for a copy cat Wisconsin Cauliflower soup I had to share. We made this last night with some friends over watching some football. It was perfect for the snowy day we had.

photo courtesy of Zupas

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

found this on ohmyrestless-soul blog

A couple things that I did differently I cut the cheese into cubes and let that ooey goodness just melt in. Also, when you mix in the blender blend REALLY well. Our first blender attempt we didn't blend as well and it didn't have the great flavor. So Ryan blended one more time. PEREFECTION!! Another thing I did differently is I put whipping cream instead of milk. I had some extra after all Christmas candy I made.Please give this a try and let me know what you think. Another time I will have to post the Creamy Tomato Basil soup we made also. We did a little mix in with the two. FANTASTIC. Even my kids ate it.