Lately...

So, I've been trying a bunch of new recipes lately. I think my new and improved kitchen (including a stove and oven) has inspired me. Here's pictures of a couple of them:

Southwestern couscous (edible, but not very good)

Chicken Tostadas - very tasty

I've also made:

Chicken Lentil Soup (mmmm), Maple-baked Apple chicken (not good), crockpot bbq chicken (yummy), Roasted Veggie Pasta (really good), Four-grain batter bread (a bit tasteless, but healthy), and I think a few others. I love finding awesome new recipes, but it's the worst having a recipe turn out bad and then being forced to eat it.

Also, one of my new favorite things to eat is a can of chicken with diced up dill pickles, apples, and a tiny bit of mayo. Mom Alleman made it for us on conference weekend and I can't stop making it! Oh, and I've been addicted to oatmeal for the past 2 months - just plain oatmeal with some walnuts, craisens, and probably a bit too much brown sugar. So good!

MUSIC - lately I've been listening to a lot of Pandora. I love that there are always new songs that come up that I've never heard. My new favorite group is Lady Antebellum - SO GREAT! I think I love the guy and girl voices together. I also heard a song by Caitlin and Will that I loved - I only heard one song so I don't know if I'm converted, but they sounded a lot like Lady Antebellum. And I still can't get enough of Taylor Swift - totally teenage lyrics, but brilliant music. Oh, and I love any song that Glee sings - never seen the show, but they have a lot of songs on Pandora.

SHOPPING - I went to Walmart the other day at 7 am. Brilliant. I never thought I'd say this, but it was actually a pleasant experience. There was NOBODY there, the shelves were fully stocked, the produce wasn't picked over, and there were parking spots! No more Saturdays or evenings for me.

Oh, and I went to Costco on a Wed night - also a pleasant experience b/c there was nobody there. But you wouldn't BELIEVE how crazy it is there on Saturdays. I always went to the Orem Costco on Saturdays which was crazy...but that was NOTHING compared to this one. Pure insanity.

DISH SCRUBBERS - I need help. For some reason all of my dish scrubbers REEK after like 1 day. Seriously, ONE day. I can't figure it out. I realize I have a freakishly sensitive sense of smell, but I can smell these things from like 5 feet away - they smell up the whole kitchen and I have to take them outside. I have used a Dobie scrubber my entire life and have sworn by them. But they stink now too. So I tried a different kind, and they start to stink even faster. It's seriously making me crazy. I thought maybe they might start to stink after I scrub something with raw meat on it...but I used a brand new one and did not touch meat juice and the next day it stunk. WHAT'S THE DEAL?! Advice pleeeeease.

GO RANGERS! Never heard of the Rangers? I hadn't either until I moved here. I don't think I've EVER watched more than 30 seconds of a professional baseball game in my life. SO. BORING. But the Texas Rangers are making history this year. I think I heard that they have never, ever even won a playoff series...this year they made it to the World Series! The fans here are going nuts. And whenever they're on I've been riveted to the game. Something about having a local team breaking all sorts of records and getting this far gets me excited! Yes, they got whooped on in their first game of the World Series...but hopefully they'll pull out of it. Brings me back to my softball days... I actually know more of the rules than Zach does :)

We got to go to a regular season game a few weeks ago with Zach's family. So fun.