Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Brats

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The picture speaks for the recipe itself. Not to mention – it includes Bacon! Bacon is gold in this house. Anytime it goes on sale we try to stock up as best we can.

This only takes a little bit of time to put together and it tastes so good. We don’t make it too often because it is very calorie dense, but it certainly is tasty!

Ingredients:

  • 5 slices bacon
  • 5 4-oz uncooked brats
  • 1 c sauerkraut, drained

Directions:

  1. Bake bacon for at 350°F until cooked but still floppy, about 20 min. (I just pan fried for a few minutes)
  2. Boil brats in water for 15 min or until heated through.(Boiled in water till done- Next time, Boiling them in beer)
  3. Remove from water and slice deeply along the length of each brat, being careful not to cut completely through.
  4. Stuff brats with sauerkraut. Wrap one slice of bacon around each brat, securing with toothpicks.
  5. Bake on a rack set over a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes or grill over medium heat until cooked through.

These tasted FANTASTIC! Ate them with Mashed Cauliflower. It was a perfect meal!

Makes 5 Brats/Servings

Jello Fat Bombs

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This was a quick little creation that sounded really good. I used to love jello powder in cottage cheese mixed with fruit, but that has far too many carbs than I care to even think about.
These little things are great in a pinch and a fat bomb to boot! I’ve made them a couple times now and they are almost addicting!
Whats great is you can make these in any flavor you choose! Don’t want to use pre-packaged jello? use gelatin or Xanthan gum and different flavors! The sky is the limit! Let your imagination run wild!
We would love to hear what you tried with yours!

Coconut Rolled Jello Fat Bombs

Servings: 20 Fat Bombs

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Cream Cheese Softened
  • 8.5 g Sugar Free Jello- Any Flavor
  • 1 cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
  • 1 packet Stevia

Directions:

  1. Soften the Cream Cheese
  2. Add the SF Jello and Stevia packet and mix well
  3. Chill in the refrigerator for approximate 10-15 min. This will allow the mixture to be more easily formed into balls.
  4. Roll mixture into 1″ balls and then roll through coconut flakes to coat.
  5. Store in the fridge and enjoy!

Alternate options: Roll in ground almonds or almond flour. This option is one of my favorites.

Almond Coated Jello Bombs

Servings: 20 Fat Bombs
Ingredients

  • 8 oz Cream Cheese Softened
  • 8.5 g Sugar Free Jello- Any Flavor
  • 1/2 cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
  • 1 packet Stevia
  • 1/2 cup Almond Flour (Not likely to use all of it)

Directions:

  1. Soften the Cream Cheese
  2. Add the SF Jello and Stevia packet and mix well
  3. Chill in the refrigerator for approximate 10-15 min. This will allow the mixture to be more easily formed into balls.
  4. Mix in coconut flakes,
  5. Roll mixture into 1″ balls and then roll through coconut flakes to coat.
  6. Store in the fridge and enjoy!


Indoor Shooting Range

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 C’mon! You can’t tell me this wasn’t on your list somewhere. After watching so many movies or T.V. Shows. Reading books about some indoor shooting range and either being a stellar shot or being so bad they should put the gun down and walk away. 

I used to imagine how poorly I’d do, or day dream at being a dead shot.  Of Course, I’m not either. A little education and some slow motion videos, I found out how to shoot better.

Guns aren’t a new thing for me. Growing up we would shoot rifles as kids with parent supervision. Going up to the hunting shack and tacking targets on trees. We were taught how to hold guns, never to point at someone, how to keep your finger off the trigger and so many other things.  I wasn’t raised in a die hard gun family. We had a few guns in the house. I don’t recall anyone going absolutely nuts thinking anyone was taking guns away or rights away or getting mad because someone MIGHT do those things. 

Anyways – that was a tangent and a half. 

Here’s our first time going to an indoor shooting range!

1.2016 – Mesa Arizona

Learn to Ride a Motorcycle

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Growing up, I don’t know that I had much interest in learning to ride. I’m not sure that I even considered the notion of actually learning. My uncles and grandfather rode. In my early 20’s, my dad ended up getting a motorcycle as well. I still hadn’t considered it.

I remember getting rides on the back of my dads bike. It felt good. The wind, the connection to your surroundings vs being in a metal bubble that takes away some of that feel of being in the moment.

Even on the back of my dad’s bike, I had a nagging fear of gravel and the tires slipping. The nagging fear of falling off the back of the bike as well.

After my father died, his bike ended up going to my sister. She couldn’t ride it, neither could her husband. My dads bike was too big and too heavy. A Yamaha Roadstar 1800. I could barely lift it off its stand, much less, touch the ground with both feet when sitting on it.

My husband is a big guy. I don’t mean wide either. He is over 6ft tall and gets to paint the ceilings and reach things down off the top shelf. I say ‘get to paint the ceiling like that is a win. – its really not.’ Either way, he’s a big guy. Don had been wanting a motorcycle for a while and this was a great opportunity.

I struck a deal with him. If he quit smoking we would get him dad’s bike. As you can see – He quit smoking. Very proud of him for this. I’m writing this 10 years after the fact and he, still, is not smoking! I’m pretty sure that is a huge win!

Below are videos of him riding the motorcycle the first time. A couple grand later and we added a motorcycle to our insurance policy and an endless amount of worry about his safety.

I am not sure I seen him so happy riding around on that motorcycle.

After a while, I got the itch. I wanted to ride with Don, and I wanted to learn to ride as a way to connect with my dad. So, I learned!

We started the search for a cheap bike that would accommodate my fairly short legs. That went on for a while, but we finally found a Virago 750. That bike was ugly! But it was cheap and it was a great option to find out if I would even like riding.

After getting a bath and de-uglifying the bike a bit, my old man got to work on teaching me how to ride. This man is nothing if he isn’t patient.

Soon after learning how to ride from my husband, I enrolled into a safety course and got my endorsement. I loved it at first, but I was nervous, always nervous. The least bit of gravel and my entire behind would be eating my seat! HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE! because I knew that there were only 2 patches of tire on the ground and if one hit something it didn’t like, I’d be sliding or flying and I couldn’t get that out of my head.

I went on several rides with friends, to and from work, around town. I had one instance where the ground was covered in car oil and I couldn’t stop – slid right through a red light. Scared the living crap out of me.

I was always self-conscious on the bike. Was I doing things right, what code was there that I was absolutely not aware of? (like what? – Not riding side by side. Yeah they talk about it in the safety course, but it seemed to me of an unwritten rule. Even the wave that people with motorcycles give to each other. – just self conscious. It’s who I am! )

The Virago was great but because I was so self concious it was also horrible. Virago’s are known for their grinding start. It sounds like shaking pennies in a jar. (Probably not the best description, but its kringe-worthy none the less.)

I ended up upgrading to a Vstar 1100 and absolutely loved it. It was comfortable. Not as nimble as the 750. And hindsight being what it is, I probably should have stuck with a smaller bike. I got even more in my head and more anxiety. It was a much heavier bike. (at least it certainly seemed it).

I really enjoyed the little 250 that I had rode in the safety class.

The Virago was sold off to a friend of mine. My husband trained her as well, how to ride. And the Virago did what it does best, it teaches. She eventually got the riding bug that I had hoped for but couldn’t quite reach with all the ‘what ifs’ filling my head of impending doom.

A few years ago I sold off the Vstar and turned in my drive to ride again. I was not safe to be on the road with how much anxiety it gave me, no matter how much I loved it. I can be a passenger when I know I’m in the right headspace to ride. Until then – I have some amazing memories and I think I got the connection with my father that I really wanted.

Buy a House

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 I’ve often walked around slightly butt hurt about everyone around me doing so well with their life. I think the big part of my life being butt hurt was when I was living out of my car for a bit. Using the gas station bathrooms to clean up or sneaking into my parents house to sleep. (Not sure they even know about that. Maybe they do – either way, it was years ago!)

Many of the thoughts that crossed my mind was “How on earth can a single person just out of high school afford to even get an apartment?!!?!?! – Who the heck makes enough money to pay 1st and last months rent & Security deposit? How am I ever going to afford that? 

With my several years of trying to keep up on bills and rent, car payment etc I did a number on my credit trying to live alone. I didn’t have the best paying job and I would get dejected quite a bit. Things looked up a bit when Don moved in.  I had another person helping with bills. 

I remember applying for a pre-approval letter when Don was on a work trip to Columbia. There was an add that popped up and I said “what the hell!” So I applied. 

All I have to say is “those poor lenders” that had to put up with me. Im certain I called them every other day “You are sure I’ve been approved?!?!?” followed by “I’m not going to find a house and then y’all end up turning around and saying ‘too bad so sad’??”. 

I couldn’t believe I got approved. I told Don and then proceeded to go house hunting with my mom while he was out of the country.  We looked at some interesting places. 

The Pink and Blue House – Everything in this place was painted pink or baby blue. The entire 1st floor was pink. and the 2nd floor Blue. The whole place was set up strangely but it was an interesting walk through for sure!.

The Creepy Basement/Garage place. I don’t remember a ton about this house, but I do remember this! Open the garage door to a dirt floor and these steps going down into a very short basement.  We looked at the house, but I was very much not interested. I’ve seen too many horror movies and this garage/basement fit too closely too them.  (We’ve already come to the conclusion that my imagination runs wild. There’s no logic about it. I recognize this.  Just accept it with me, okay? )

Basement Bar  – Okay, so this one isnt really odd, but I did like the basement bar for nostalgia reasons. It reminded me of my Grandpa’s basement (Which is now my uncles basement) and holidays and drinking (well the adults drinking – I was just a kid). I could remember the smell of the house and all the noise. Playing Cards (poker). It was fun! Why is it we need to grow up? I missing having 0 responsibilities!

The Runner up! – During our hunt I found 2 houses I was quite fond of. This one and then the one we bought.  with out him. This one had things I liked on the outside of the house. The layout of the house just wasn’t ideal. Very sectioned off. But overall a great place. I had to wait until Don got back – but at least it was only a day or two. 

And the Winner! This is the place we landed on. Sadly – when we put our offer in, it already had an accepted offer. I’m not sure why kind of hoping, praying, sacrifices, blood oaths or anything else we ended up doing, but the offer fell through and we swept in as quickly as possible! In June of 2011 – this place became our new home.

In 2015 we sold it and left the state. These are some of the changes we had made to the house.

Ice Fishing

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I’ve seen ice fishing on TV. Heard friends and family members go ice fishing. But I never had. I might have had the opportunity, but I’m pretty sure the smart side of me said “What the hell could possibly be good about standing in the middle of a lake on ice, freezing your ass off?”.

I should have listened to myself. Because I still do not have the answer to that question other than figuring out how important body heat is.

You can see Don piling snow on the edges of our ‘tent’ to try and keep the breeze out. Just thinking back to this (Over 13 years ago) I can still recall how Ice cold my feet fingertips and nose were.

Our friend had taken my husband and I out to go ice fishing and he had an extra ‘shanty’. Is shanty the right word?

An extra Thing. I’m grateful for the experience – but – I’ll not be doing that again.

Aside from my frozen limbs my fear of the ice breaking was prevalent as well. While I know the ice was thick enough – as my wonderful husband tells me ” I didn’t rationalize myself into being afraid, I can’t rationalize myself from not being afraid” – Or something like that!

Travel in an Airplane

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 I never thought I would ever get to experience riding on a plane. I was never able to experience it as a kid like most of my other siblings. As an adult I was always far to broke. How anyone can afford to have a life when they are single is beyond me. 

For  my birthday my boyfriend and my mother got together and planned a trip to see my uncle in Florida. I was beyond excited. 

The first plane was a little puddle jumper from Wisconsin to Chicago. Don and I weren’t able to sit next to each other, and the guy next to me thought I was going to puke. Really – it was I was so excited, had a window seat, and was eager to start taking off.  My little excited seat bounces weren’t moving the plan fast enough. 

All the pictures below are from the Chicago airport and plane. And as far as a first trip by plane it was amazing. I still get excited when taking a plane somewhere. Since this flight I’ve been on a plane about 8-10 more times. And each time I’m still amazed!

When landing in Florida the plane fish tailed a little bit. That gave me a very small start, but it was a new experience, I lived, and all is outstanding. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better future husband!

See the Ocean

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 I have always been fascinated by water. How the light reflects off of it, catching the sun, or our reflections. The ripples, waves, splashes and spurts of water. 

I can remember moments as a kid at the public swimming pool and lowering my head so I’m more level with the water. I’d sit and watch the sun glint off the water and how the water reflected itself against the walls of the pool building. I even remember just listening to the sounds underwater and how they would change. 

I think my interest in water ultimately lead to my fear of it as well. I’ve seen so many strange things come from the ocean. I like my documentaries. 

This one was ticked off with a few different items related to a flying for the first time and a birthday present from my mom and my boyfriend.  (I really couldn’t ask for a better husband!)

I remember my impression from seeing the ocean for the first time. Wow! And this covers a huge part of earth. Stretches out to different continents. People get lost out there. There’s no seeing land out in that distance. 

I also remember being in awe at the color of the water. Water in Wisconsin is brown. Like making tea with all of your tree leaves. Its the tannic acid in the tree leaves that give the lakes their merky brown. 

Shortly after getting in the ocean I remember seeing a school of trigger fish. Barely afraid of me. Swimming curiously around my arm and playing with the hair that floated with the waves. 

This was all at Caladesi Island in Florida. Our hosts, Uncle Scott and Leoma. It was an amazing visit, and I was able to check a few ‘firsts’ off this bucket list of mine. Some of my favorite memories are with these two!

One of my poor attempts at a sand castle as well. Making an epic sandcastle is on my list, but this certainly was not it. I recall Don saying it looked like a cake. Now all I can see is a carrot cate with cream cheese frosting and those little waxy chocolate shell molds. I will get a chance again. 

And here I go, rambling – 

So for the entertainment. This little shit right here.. Just below this text. These little assholes .. When someone tells you not to feed them. LISTHEN TO THEM. My cousin Ryan went down to Florida with us and he was kind enough to feed these starving sky rats. (Its not all bad – I love rats! ) They all came chasing me for more. That  – at the time wasn’t super funny – but really  – it was!

Hug A Palm Tree

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Growing up in Wisconsin, I had never seen a palm tree. At 28 I hadn’t been further south than Oklahoma and I’ve never seen the East or West coast. The chances of me having seen a palm tree were very slim. 

I am used to trees like Oak, Maple, Poplar. Pine trees. Palm trees were very exotic to me. They were in places like Hollywood and Miami. Places I never wanted to go, but likely would never have the opportunity to go as well. 

On my birthday I was surprised with a trip to visit my uncle, which luck would have, lived in Florida. 

I am not sure what I expected. And while the photo is nothing like what you often see in movies of trimmed up, pristine looking trees. It was still a palm tree and I was still excited to see it. 

I remember running over and hugging it. Then of course, demanding a photo for memories sake. This was just off the beach from Calidisi Island. 

It may not have been a “WOW” experience but I still remember it well.