Pizza Sticks

 Ingredients:
1 pkg. Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix
1/4 tsp. Garlic & Herb Seasoning
1/2 cup Warm water
3 oz. pepperoni slices, chopped
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Optional Coating:
2 Tbsp. Margarine or butter, melted
1/4 tsp. Garlic and herb seasoning

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Grease baking sheet.
Mix pizza crust, seasoning, pepperoni and mozzarela cheese. Add warm water and mix well.
Spread parmeasan cheese on flat surface; drop dough into cheese and knead cheese into dough.
Roll into bread sticks. Size and shape are up to you.
Bake 15-18 mins depending on the size of your bread stick.
Optional: Brush coating onto bread sticks once they are removed from the oven.

I dipped by bread sticks into spaghetti sauce, but you can do whatever you want.

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

There is a recipe on Pinterest for peanut butter cookies that consists of only 4 ingredients. I went to the photo's link and read that a lady had been making them for a really long time and she said "these are the best peanut butter cookies I've ever tastes". I was pretty skeptical of her statement, having had some pretty darn good cookies in my life time. Since the recipe calls for only four ingredients I decided to give it a try.
The batter actually tastes really good. There is one thing I'd change about the recipe, but other than that the cookies are a success. If you like soft cookies these are for you. They are really peanut buttery, which is a good thing for most of us peanut butter lovers. Just be sure to have a glass of milk or water when you eat a cookie.
Here is the recipe with my alterations to the original.
 Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until combined.  
3. Roll with hands medium balls of dough and place on cookie sheet. 
4. Flatten the dough balls with a fork, making a cross pattern on the cookies.  
5. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. The cookies may look and feel like they are not done, but as they cool they will change. Allow the cookies to rest on the counter for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. In my opinion the cookies taste better once completely cooled.

Cheesy Bean-Bacon-Chicken Quesadilla

Being a college student, I need meals that are simple, filling, and most important CHEAP.

I packed all my favorite things into a tortilla, and came up with a recipe for heaven. Check it out!

Cheesy Bean-Bacon-Chicken Quesadilla

Ingredients

3 Flour tortillas

1can refried beans

2cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

2 strips of bacon, crispy cooked, crumble

1 chicken breast, shredded

1 cup sour cream

1 cup salsa

Butter, melted

Optional: Scallions chopped

Step 1:

Spread beans on half of tortilla. Then, on that same half, put on the cheese, bacon, and chicken (scallions too). Fold tortilla. (Optional: if your tortilla won’t stay folded, then place in microwave for 10-15 seconds). Lightly brush melted butter on both sides of each filled tortilla.

Step 2:

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 filled tortillas at a time 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and heated through. Cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Ingredients

1.5 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts [or any nuts you like]

1/2 cup dried fruit (any you like – raisins, cranberries, apples)

1/4 cup seeds (any you like – sunflower, pumpkin, flax)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp kosher salt

1.25 cups skim milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Method:Preheat oven to 350*

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients.

Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.

Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Cut into 9 squares.

Makes 9 servings .

Each bar is appx. 170 calories, 3 grams fiber and 5 grams protein. [Cut into 12 squares reduces calories to about 125 calories per square]

While delicious, the only sweetness in these comes from the dried fruit. Add in 1/4 – 1/2 cup brown sugar if you like.

The variations are endless: cranberries, coconut, all kinds of dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Steak with Wild Mushroom Barley Risotto

Today I tackled Risotto for the first time. The cooking process went on foreeeevvveeerrr. Sadly, I didn't really like the outcome. I'm pretty sure its because I am not a big fan of herbs. Dad liked it though, which is good. However, dad is a Fotheringham, and Fotheringhams like food in general. Anyway, if I made this dish again, I would changed it up quite a bit. The only part of the dish that I liked was the steak on top. But who doesn't like a good steak. Since I didn't like the meal, I'm not posting the recipe.

Quinoa Muffins

Spring Break means I have time to explore the wonderful world of cooking and baking. Ever since I began running, I have been searching high and low for a recipe that would give me my protein for after workouts. Recently, I found a recipe for Whole Wheat- Honey Quinoa Muffins. I felt the recipe was lacking in some areas, so I added a few of my favorite healthy ingredients. The muffins turned out great. I recommend them for anyone needing a new way to get their source of protein. They would be a hearty addition to a nice breakfast too.

Quinoa Muffins

Preheat oven 350F

Makes 12 muffins

1c Quinoa

2c Flour

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Salt

1/2tsp Baking Soda

1/2c Dried Cranberries

4Tbsp Ground Flaxseed

1/3c Chopped Walnuts

1/2c Lowfat Milk

2/3c Honey

1/4c Light Olive Oil

1 Egg

1tsp Vanilla Extract

In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and two cups of water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover; and let cook for 15-20 mins, until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Let cool.

(This was the first time I'd cooked with quinoa. Note to self: one cup of uncooked quinoa makes about 3 cups after cooked.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cranberries, walnuts, flax seed, and the cooked quinoa.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, honey, oil, egg, and vanilla.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir until combined (do not over mix).

Divide the batter into muffin cups.

Bake 20-30 minutes. I used a convection oven, and baked the muffins on 350F for 20 mins.

These muffins freeze really well.

Enjoy!

For those of you who like to know the Nutrition Facts....

Quinoa: 1 cup 170g. 626cal, 93cal from fat. Daily Value: Total fat 10g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 9mg, Total Carbohydrate 109g, Dietary Fiber 12g, Protein 24g.

Quinoa Muffin (if I did the calculations right, which I doubt) : 1 muffin 87g. 233cal, 84cal from fat. Daily Value: Total fat 10g, Cholesterol 18mg, Sodium 261mg, Total Carbohydrate 33g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 6g.

We Love Our Missionaries #2

The Elders were at our house again this past week for dinner. After teaching a discussion to a friend of ours, the missionaries vanished. Then we found them in the kitchen. No they weren't eating our food. They were doing the dishes. How awesome is that.

Winter Formal

I think my favorite part of Winter Formal was the dinner. Kelly (girl) Burton hosted my group of friends for dinner.

For a combined mutual activity, we went over to Cornell Estates to chill with the old folk.

I woke up one morning with the image of eating breakfast as a small child in my head. I'm not sure if I dremt about it that night or if the smell of my own breakfast being made downstairs simply awakened it. The image wasnt quite clear, but by the end of that day, I managed to pull my "Four Year Old Lizzy" files out from the deepest corner of my mind. I remembered eating oatmeal with mini eggs inside that turned into Dinasaurs.

Over the course of several months, I willingly offered to go with my mom to buy the groceries. I would search the store shelves, determined to find my dinasure oatmeal. (I went on many grocery trips this past year.)

Have you ever heard the saying "You find what you're looking for when you stop looking for it"? Well, that's exactly what happened to me. I was picking up some milk form Albertson's and right as I turned around my eye caught a long lost friend. My Dino Eggs Oatmeal!!!

I baught a box for myself. ;)

Dearest Friend,

You know what Oregon? I think we have a little love-hate-relationship thing goin' on here. We both know, I love walking out of PDX airport (coming home from smoggy Utah) and getting that first whiff of fresh-Oregon-air. I love your many hiking trails, always packed with pure nature. And of course, I love your extreme stereotypes; tree-huggers, dread-head lovers, Birkenstock-obsessors, etc... But you see, Oregon, there is one thing that causes me to glare at you in cold-bitterness. Year after year, do you provide me with snowy Christmases? I think not. I watch the weather channel and find myself wishing, for one moment, that I could live in Utah. The Christmas songs that sing of snowy nights and hotcoccoa, only mock me as I sit cocoa-less and snowman-less. I'm afraid to say this, but the truth is, your lack of snowfall on Christmas mornings is tearing us apart.

I do have to give you some props for your performance this November. Even if you dropped a lousy 1/16th of an inch, it was still fun to laugh at the many Oregonians who hunkered down, locked their doors, and planned for disaster. School was even cancelled!

Here's the thing, Oregon, my new Nephew is coming here for his first Christmas (from Utah), and I'd like him to see snow. You know I love taking out my camera out and snapping a few shots, so I'd also like it if I had a beautiful, white Christmas as a backdrop to some family photos. If you could manage to paint your landscape white this Christmas, I'd really appreciate it.

-Sincerely,

Most Legit Oregonian Ever to Live, Lizzy

Nevember's snow day:

We Love Our Missionaries!!!

My lil Coop

Okay I feel terrible for not posting about my new Nephew, Cooper. However, with school being so busy and stressful, sadly I have no time for writing a lot about him. Well, here he is...

He had a few problems, so he had to be behind a window the whole time I was with him.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

I'm pretty lucky to have such a cute nephew.

If you want to see good pictures go to Melissa and Brett's blog.

A little goes a long way...

Imagine this... you're sitting at home watching TV with your brothers and sisters, then your parents walk into the room and ask to have a family meeting. The summer is drawing to a close and school is almost here, so you fully expect your parents to be calling a meeting to talk about the new school year. So, you turn off the TV, get comfortable on the couch, maybe stick your toung out at one of your siblings, and the next thing you know your parents are telling you something that changes your life forever... "Mom has Breast Cancer."

Along with many other people, I dont need to imagine this, because it actually happend to me.

These words are said too often. The only way to put a stop to this scary disease is to find the cure.

I recently excepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Portland Race for the Cure on September 19th, 2010 in the fight to save lives and end Breast Cancer forever. Along with raiseing funds, I will be running in a 5k race.

I have made a goal to raise at least 100 dollars. With your help WE can accomplish my goal. Please donate anything from 5 dollars to 100 dollars.

Thank You!

http://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR/Race/PortlandRacefortheCure?px=2001657&pg=personal&fr_id=1130

Another Side of Heaven

Every summer my family leaves the green of Oregon to enjoy yet another side of heaven, Bear Lake, Utah. There are so many things to do, and see, at Bear Lake. We stay at my wonderful, aunt Laura's house. The house sits right on the lake; so close, you can fall asleep to the sound of the tide coming in and out.

We've been going to Bear Lake for only six years and the traditions that we enjoy year after year feel decades old. Shakes at La Beau's, famous Bear Lake Pizza, tee time (yes, golf), smores, Phase10, midnight star gazing, the grandma catcher, and Laura's cookies. These are only a few of the little things that have left a big impact on my childhood memory.

There are fish in lakes, right? Yes. I am scared to death of fish. My cousins just love to shout "fish!" as we swim out to the dock. I, on the other hand, jump in fear every time they do it.

There are tons, and I mean tons, of frogs by the lake. No matter how long or how hard I try to catch a pet froggy, I never seem to catch one.

Not one single Fotheringham leaves Bear Lake without pigging out at the famous Bear Lake Pizza place.

Every one in my family knows how much I love strawberries. They don't last very long when I get to them. Because of my mad affair with strawberries, my mom has to get the jumbo pack at Costco so that the rest of the family can have a few. Anyways, my grandma brought strawberries and chocolate to the house one night. Oh boy, did she win my heart that night.

Back home Sarah and I always jump in the car late at night, drive out to the country, and go on what we call "Scary Drives." We get a sick thrill out of it. Becca, Sarah, and I decided to go on a "Scary Swim." Yes, it was creepy.

Bear Lake is a beautiful place to be, especially when your family is with you. I cant wait to get back.

Girl's Camp 2010

It was ridiculously HOTT at camp this year. Me and my gals are cooling off in the stream.

On one of the days we learned how to do "food art".

I got pretty bored of making flowers out of carrots.... so I made a sculpture of ME in a canoe.

The youth leaders had a special night without our girls.

Tree Hugger.... gotta love nature!!!

Waiting for the bus.

Nerd, and proud of it!

I was standing on a bench behind the stage at camp. I got really excited to sing a song, so I ran and jumped off the bench. But was the landing pretty? I think not. I fell into a pile of logs. I began laughing and crying at the same time. I was behind a divider, so the crowd of campers couldn't see what was happening to me. As I lay dying on the ground, the camp nurses ran to my rescue.

All that's left now is a great big scar and a dramatic horror story. The pain was worth it.... good times.

Picnic at Hagg Lake

My family had a picnic at Hagg Lake with the wonderful Preece family today. The weather was so nice and the lake was gorgeous. I love how Oregon is infested with green trees.

After cooking hot dogs on the grill, Jen spotted four dear up in the field across the street. J* wanted to see if his Frisbee skills were good enough to hit a dear. I bet him the last cupcake if he could do it.

Throw #one...miss, but close. Throw #two...miss. After the second throw, the dear ran off....with the Frisbee. Looks like the Preece family is going to be buying a new Frisbee soon.

I had a great time at the lake with some of my best friends. I cant wait to do it again.

(Gotta get my Zen time in.)