Johnson Family Picture Preview {2011}

Here is a quick little preview of our family photo session this month.
They turned out so darling!
More will be posted soon - I PROMISE!!

Photography by Angie Hatch

Shot Guns and Hand Guns |Ririe Trip|

We had lots of fun in Ririe! Here are some "shots" of the boys shooting it up one afternoon. I shot a few rounds with the hand gun...and I've got pretty great aim! Way fun...
Check out Brian's chevy. So super cool and sexy :-) Who'd of thought a chevy guy would marry a 'ford' gal. :-) hehe

  The SMOKING GUN :-) You can see the shot gun shell flying out. That was a fun suprise!

Homemade Tortilla Recipe - {White or Wheat}

Tortillas are a STAPLE at my house for lunch, dinner, and even snack time. Seriously, I know this recipe by heart because I make it so often. Whether we load them Mexican, Italian, or American style...they are always a big hit.

Homemade white-or-wheat tortilla recipe is below.
Also, plenty of "fixin" ideas with which to load them up to your liking.

(Serving Suggestion)
Above is a picture of a homemade white tortilla topped with pork carnita meat (recipe from my sista Ang), home made salsa, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and black  beans.

Homemade Tortilla Recipe (White OR Wheat):
3 Cups flour (White or Wheat)
1 TB baking powder
1 Tsp salt
1 TB sugar
2 TB oil
1 Cup warm water
2 TB Vital Wheat Gluten (Optional ingredient when using WHEAT flour)

MIX all ingredients together and kneed for approx 5 minutes.
COVER and allow dough to REST for 10 minutes while you gather your toppings
CUT dough into 6-8 equally sized pieces and lightly FLATTEN each piece in your hand.
COVER again and allow dough to REST for a couple minutes.
ROLL or PRESS your tortilla dough until it is 1/4" thin.
PLACE tortilla on hot skillet for approximately 1-2 minutes.
Use the tortillas immediately or refrigerate for up to a week for quick meals in the future.
Yield=6-8 tortillas

(This is the same recipe I use for pizza crust. It works perfectly for BOTH meals. )

Toppings/Fillings/Fixins:
Mexican: salsa, beans, cheese, taco meat, carnitas, spicy shredded chicken/beef/pork, lettuce,
American: ham, cheese, pickles, tomatoes, and sprouts (anything you would put on a sandwich or panini)
Italian: mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, tomatoes (anything you would put on a pizza)

P.S.
Since I make these SOOO often, I'm hoping to get a tortilla press soon. :-)

"Arrrr" Halloween Fun 2011

Ahoy Matey! Its time to walk the plank...cause our little pirate is on the loose!
Owen was a great lil pirate. He watched in amazement as I drew on the eye patch, and kept that bandana on for alot longer than I expected him to! :-)

He liked going from door to door getting candy! He was a NATURAL! 
Once we got home he found our bowl of candy at the door and he took HANDFULS at a time and transferred it into his pumpkin bucket.

Every pirate needs a "MOM" tatoo!

Happy Halloween 2011 from the Johnson Fam

All tuckered out.....Owen would absolutely not let go of that candy bucket. So I finally just let him go to sleep with it. Here is what he looked like an hour or two later when I went in to gather up the candy to put away for another day. haha! He cracks me up!

Zippy Salsa Recipe {From a Spice Wimp}

Dear Tomatoe Plant,
Thank you for abundently producing the most delicious tomatoes this year. You were a real trooper! Especially when we would leave town for a week in the hot summer, and there was no water for you to drink. I applaud you for enduring to the end! And producing tomatoes to the very last day of warmth until the first freeze.
Until next year,
-Adri

Salsa Recipe Below

This salsa can be made as HOT or as MILD as you'd like.

Adjust the amount of peppers according to your liking.

I am a total SPICE WIMP...so I would make it very mild, and then add some peppers to the salsa for my husband to eat.

Click here to see this salsa in action! And to view my homemade tortilla recpie.

Homemade Salsa Recipe:

6    medium tomatoes, chopped/blended to chunky consistancy

1/2   sweet onion, chopped

__    anehiem pepper, chopped (to taste...I used 1)

__    jalepeno peppers (to taste...I used 1)
1   tsp salt
2   tsp black pepper
1   tsp Garlic (I used garlic powder cause I didn't have any fresh
3   TB cilantro, chopped (I use a LOT...cause I like it)
Juice from 1 lime (or lemon...whatever you have)
(optional spices to add: thyme, ground cumin, and corriander)

BLEND together in your food processor or blender, adding ingredients 1 at a time.

TIPS:

Add food ingredients first, add spice ingredients last.

For chunkier salsa, remove some of the liquid by straining all or half of your salsa batch. Then add back any juices  until you reach the desiered texture.

Everything can be adjusted to your liking. That is the BEAUTIFUL THING about salsa!!

**If it tastes too hot, then you have 2 options for dialing down the heat.

1-- Add more tomatoes to dilute the salsa. You may need to add more spices to taste.

2-- Refrigerate the salsa overnight. The next day it will be a little more mild than when its fresh.

More fun in Dixie |St. George Trip|

Here are a few long awaited pictures from our last trip down to St. George in September 2011. Owen had a blast, as you can see, and Brian and I did also!
(More pics from this trip can be found here)

This is so precious! It was lunchtime, and we were right outside Judd's Candy Store when Brian took Owen for a little walk.  I love it in color & BW, so I'm sharing both with you.

Grandma Betty and Owen playing in downtown Dixie.

 

Owen pulled a step stool up to the fridge...trying to sneak some of Grandma Betty's "Green Smoothie Girl" frozen fruitie bites.

Grandpa Jim found a nice place for Owen to hide! I love the expression on Owen's face as he looks up at Grandpa Jim. Pure delight!

DIY Tripod Bag {Sew Neat!} Repurpose PJ Pants

I finally sewed a tripod bag. I'm very pleased with the result. The body is padded and quilted with a lining on the inside for added protection and strength. I also added a shoulder strap, round bottom, and drawstring top (used the drawstring from the waistband of the pj's).
Materials:
1 pant leg (I chose to use some PJ pants I never used)
1 lanyard (used to make the strap)
2 D-rings
batting
(general notions: pins, thread, etc...)

Here are a few pics.

Above: Attached strap detail and D-ring.
Below: Round bottom

ABOVE: Pins are holding the batting and lining in place as I sew the criss-cross pattern on the whole piece.

BELOW: Here is the finished quilting detail.

Here are my pants AFTER the project.

I'm thinking of making this plastic bag holder with the other pant leg.

P.S. I wish I would have taken pics throughout the sewing process...I will for the next project.

Playing on the Swings - STG Style! |St. George Trip|

We visited St. George, UT in September. Loved it!! Here are just a few pictures from one afternoon of Owen playing on the swings with Daddy. He LOVES to be outside, so the backyard at Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jimbo's house was like 'heaven' to this little 20 month old. All swings and trampolines...and mama didn't even have to worry about picking up doggy poopy in this backyard. That a 'yahoo moment' for everyone!

P.S. I love the shorts he is wearing in these photos. Rikki McKim gave those to me when Owen was just a wee little one. Thanks girl!

Daddy pushes OH SO HIGH! 

(one pic from the trampoline fun....because his smile is too cute to keep to myself)

Look at him LOVING this! I should have got this on video camera to capture his laughter.

 

 All this playtime is wearing him out.
I love his sweet expression here....and his dangling feet.
I want to get this picture framed.

Awww....so sleepy!

Watching General Conference!

I've been watching conference this morning and Owen came and sat next to me on the couch. I'm surprised that at his age (20 months) he sat next to me and listened to the authorities of the LDS church for so long. I believe it was a tender mercy from the Lord, so I could peacefully watch and listen to this wonderful message.
Here is a picture of us happily sitting on the couch together while the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang "I Am A Child Of God".
-Adri


Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Fun on Friday Morning!

Owen and I have so much fun together! Today we were practicing saying "GO" and pointing so another part of the room. Then we would giggle all the way running to the spot where we had pointed.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

{Home Made} Best Dinner Roll Recipe

My home made dinner rolls were SO lucky this week. They were privilaged to be served at the Relief Society dinner held just before the General Relief Society Broadcast for the LDS church. Yum Yum Yum! They were so tasty!
I enjoy making these rolls by hand and using Bosch mixer. They turn out beautifully using both methods. Be careful not to over kneed them when using a mixer.
[PS - I loved the relief society broadcast and I'm so happy I was able to attend]

{see recipe below}

Best Dinner Rolls Recipe
1 1/4 cup water
2 TB sugar
1 TB yeast
2 TB oil
1/4 cup milk (heated but not boiling)
1 wisked egg
2 tsp salt
3-4 cups white flour
butter
OPTIONAL: dough enhancer (1 TB powder dough enhancer powder, 1 drop lemon juice, or 1/2 tablet vitamin C crushed)

Preheat oven: 375 degrees
Mix first three ingredients (water, sugar, yeast) and let sit for 10 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and kneed slightly. Handle the dough as little as possible to create a super soft texture. Kneeding too much will result in tough/strong rolls. Dough will be very moist and sticky. Rubbing oil or butter on your palms will help keep the dough in the bowl and off your hands.

Let rise until double in size, then punch down. (approx 45-60 mins)
Again, let rise until double in size.
Punch the dough down and them form in to 12 balls.
Roll each ball in a little butter
Place formed dough balls into a greased pan close together so as they rise, they will be touching.
Let rise a third time.
Once the rolls are double in size, bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 mins or until tops are golden brown and dough is cooked all the way through.
Butter tops of rolls when they come out of the oven.

Yeild: 12 rolls per batch
(there are 18 rolls in the picture because I doubled the batch and used 2 differnt sized pans)
Recipe may be doubled, trippled, etc...

Credits:
A relief society sister in Southern Utah gave me this bread recipe when I was first married. However, I was in a new ward and cannot remember the her name to which this credit should be given. I am so thankful to this sister, and wish she knew the impact she has made in my life and my kitchen. I have made a few modifications  when converting this recipe from bread to rolls, but it is still pretty close to the original

Owen is 19 Months!

Owen happily played in his room as I played with my camera...trying out different flash settings.
Look at those blue eyes! No color enhancing or photoshopping done here. (I only sized the pics down for the internet, corrected the white balance)

Owen SMILING BIG!

Owen CLIMBING in his CRIB!

(He is the best climber I've ever seen...I think we're in trouble Mister!)

Owen showing off his TRICKS!

 Owen balancing with NO HANDS!

One of his favorite tricks!

 Owen loves to READ his BOOKS!

 Owen playing "MECHANIC"!(I love how he chose to kneel by the bike/zebra toy...so cute!)

Owen being SILLY!

I LOVE THIS BOY!

Pizza From Scratch {Home Made Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe}

I love making food from scratch, and pizza is no exception. This is the best home made wheat pizza crust ever! The ingredients for the crust and toppings were mostly what I had on hand. I didn't plan this in advance....dinner was supposed to be in 40 minutes and I just whipped this up and YOU CAN TOO!

It TASTES even better than it looks :-) Yum!
**Pizza is so versatile. You can top it with practically anything**
Today I used fresh tomatoes from my garden, which gave it a unique flavor. I will certainly use tomatos again.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place pizza stone or teracotta tile in oven while oven is preheating

Home Made Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe:
3 Cups fresh ground wheat flour
1 TB baking powder
1 Tsp salt
1 TB sugar
2 TB oil
1 Cup warm water
Mix all ingredients together and kneed for approx 5 minutes. Let dough rest for 5 minutes while you gather the pizza toppings.
(Yeild=Two 12" crusts)

Pizza Toppings on tonight's pizza:
Pizza Sauce (I used tomato sauce and added garlic + italian herbs. Randomly...no measurements)
8 oz Motzerella cheese per pizza
Fresh tomatoes from my garden
Handful of olives (sliced)
Shredded cooked chicken (you can use leftover chicken from another meal)

Once oven and pizza stone are preheated, stretch out your dough and form the crust. Place the crust on the hot stone and it will start cooking immediately. Quickly add the sauce, cheese, and toppings and place it in the oven for approx 7 minutes (until cheese looks bubbly and slightly toasted).

Gettin' Corny in the Kitchen {Corn-Wheat Tortilla Recipe}

These were the yummiest home made corn-wheat tortillas ever!. The recipe on the maza (corn flour) package was mis-printed...so these were totally experimental and turned out delicious!

The made-from-scratch corn-wheat tortillas were the perfect addition to my chicken enchiladas. Extra tasty and healthy was what I was going for. SCORE!

Brian gave it 2 thumbs up - yippee!

(RECIPE BELOW)

Here is what I used in my home-made corn tortillas last night! I was running out of corn flour so I added a combo of white and wheat flour. Super yum - I'm glad I did it that way.

CORN-WHEAT TORTILLA RECIPE:
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups maza (corn flour)
1 cup fresh stone ground wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 scant cup white flour (add this flour last...add just enough to make the mixture a "stiky dough" texture

MIX all ingredients together
KNEED for about 5 minutes
REST dough in bowl for 5 minutes
ROLL golf ball sized dough into flat tortilla on well greased surface.
COOK on preheated medium-high skillet for 20 seconds.
FLIP and cook for another 20 seconds or unitl done.

Yeild: 18 tortillas

Ta-Da! And you'll have the best home made corn-wheat tortillas on the block.
Enjoy.
Love to all,
Adri