...happy hump day...

It always amazes me how when Monday comes around, the very thought of getting through 5 whole days before Saturday arrives is just something that I can not wrap my head around. And yet, after I season my dreary ho-hum week with some girls nights, game nights, nights hovering over my stove, and the inevitable OCD cleaning session and BAM we have arrived at the weekend!  This week I started off with a super duper bang, I went and attended a class at the school I am interested in attending.  Oh-me-oh-my was that just what the doctor ordered.  I have to admit the idea of sitting in on a 3 hour class reminded me of how it felt to have 8am classes back in the day...and I can honestly say I went to about 4 of them....total...ya.  This class had 8 ladies total in it, including the teacher, and those 3 hours flew by in an instant.  The class was interesting, informative, and fun.  Great conversation and insight, the "students" treated me like I was in their class not just an observer.  It was just what I needed to give me that final push to want to apply and make the next year of my life intense...but worth it.

So now I need to apply.  More on that later.

Now the fun part:  food bucket list wrap up.

This weekend was a cooking extravaganza.  Let me recap on the loveliness that I made.  I made corned beef and cabbage (which I admit I have made before so it wasn't soooo much a food bucket list item but it was delicious so silence your judgement!!), I made bread and butter pickles, corn dogs, hummus, tabbouleh, crock pot chicken, and chicken stock.  My fridge is packed to the gills! 

Here is a picture of my bread and butter pickles all mixed up and ready to go in the jar:

They take 5 days to marinate before they are officially ready, but in true Husband's sisters form, my sister and I cracked them open on day 3 to have a little test and they are feeeeee-nom!!  Sooooooooo good! 

The corn dogs were born out of a craving.  I often wonder how I am going to be if I ever decide to breed because even when not pregnant I get cravings that rival a ravenous wild animal salivating over a piece of meat.  Its intense.  This past week I wanted corn dogs.  I yapped poor MP's head off about how much I wanted corn dogs, how many I would eat, what I would dip them in...etc.  Poor guy, the things he has to put up with :)  So thanks to being bitten by the Pinterest bug I searched for a way to make my own!  They were delicious and tasted much more "fresh" (if you can imagine processed meat, covered in a thick batter and then deep fried to all heaven "fresh" but you know what I mean...).  They weren't that pretty...here is a picture of them (I ran out of sticks so I just turned the last 2 dogs into little corn dog nuggets.  Equally delicious).

The hummus is also super good, and with a huge 24 ounce can of garbanzo beans it is sooo worth making it on your own.  Especially when they go on sale for 10/10 or something.  Yum!  I didn't take a picture of the hummus, we ate it too fast, and my sister was getting mad at how loud my little blender is....so I forgot.  :)  Take it from me.  Nom nom nom.

The chicken was created sort of on accident.  I had a whole chicken I bought way back when chicken was half off at the store.  It was less then 4 dollars, such a steal!  I froze it and the other day in prep for the rainy weekend I took it out but as the weekend of food came upon me I really had too much to cook (if you can even imagine that being possible), so I was going to roast it but then I remembered I had that class to observe from 430-730.  I was all in a tizzy when I went to bed and then it hit me!  I remembered on Pinterest someone pinned about cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot!!  What a great idea!  So I threw in some onions and carrots and tossed the whole chicken in on top all seasoned up and stuff and 10 hours later I had a crock pot full of chickeny goodness and my house smelled like a chicken dream.  As an added bonus after you shred the chicken, which is super easy thank you crock pot gods, you put all of the bones back into the crock pot with the juices from the chicken, add some water and cook it low and slow over night.  In the morning you have home made (and practically free) chicken stock!!  What???  Amaze-balls! I am telling you people.  Do it.  Do it for love, do it for me, do it for the love of all things foodie and luscious.  You will thank me later.  Hopefully with a bottle of wine.  Juuuust saying.