Delicious Not Fried Fries

y mother had a recipe for oven baked french fries, and lately I've been really craving them. I found this recipe online at Allrecipes.com and can tell you after trying it the other night that it was a HUGE success. Completely addictive and so much healthier than fried fries, if you're a potato fan, you need to try your hand at these:

Oven Fresh Seasoned Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into eighths

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place Parmesan cheese, olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and potatoes into a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag, then shake to coat the potatoes with the seasoning. Spread the potatoes over a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 25-30 minutes.

***Photo by CookinBug.***

Biscuits, Gravy, and Giraffes

his is a bit of a catch up post as I just uploaded the pictures from my camera and have several rather unrelated things to share. They do all involve Evie, so I suppose they're not that unrelated after all. First of all, we have a picture from one Sunday afternoon when Justin was holding Evie after she woke up from her nap, and she fell back asleep on him for another half an hour:

Next, we dyed eggs for the first time this Easter. It was a lot of fun; Evie mostly colored on hers with the wax crayon and then we dipped them in the dye. Sadly, I did a really poor job capturing the whole event, but here's proof that it happened:

And finally, we took a trip up to Oklahoma City this past weekend. The weather was just so gorgeous, we slapped on our sunscreen and climbed in the car. As our weeks dwindle here in OK, we had to take in breakfast at one of our favorite finds in OKC, Pioneer Pies. They have an amazing selection of fresh baked pies on hand all the time, but I must admit, as wonderful as their pies are, my favorite thing they do is breakfast. It is huge and hearty with choices ranging from fruit topped waffles to pancakes, eggs and sausage, bacon, french toast, omelets, breakfast burritos, country potatoes, and the best biscuits and gravy I think I've ever had.

We headed over to the zoo after breakfast and had a great time seeing the animals. I think Evie's favorite might have been the ducks in the pond, although the giraffes gave the ducks a run for their money.

Playing Catch Up

I hope you were ready for a BUNCH of pictures. :)

I'm trying to play catch up yet again...I have stuff to post still on our trip to Belgium, and things to post about my birthday yesterday, but first things first: Evie's first birthday.

I've never been much of a partier and thus it wasn't natural for me to pull together a big shin-dig for Evie's first birthday. I started sweating the cake a few days ago, and bought some gum drops and icing and a strawberry cake mix, not having any clue what I was going to make. I think it turned out pretty nice. We listened to oldies, had the Blythes over, ate cake, and opened presents. Evie knew it was a special day and was in a great mood all day long. She enjoyed "eating" her cake (I'm still picking out bits of pink from Chokydar's fur, who was eagerly awaiting a taste under E's chair) and loved her new toys (Vanessa, the airplane is a HUGE hit!)

I'm behind on her 12 month letter too...I'm still digesting the fact that she's a year old.

Everything is tastier

I just had to share my breakfast with you.

For months and months while Justin was gone, I didn't have much of an appetite, or even when I did, I didn't have the energy or time to make wholesome delicious meals. I often found myself eating protein bars, frozen dinners, cereal, mac and cheese, or something equally bland and uninspiring. Not only was it difficult to find time to make "elaborate" meals for myself, it just seemed like more trouble than it was worth to prepare something for only one.

Since he's come home, however, we're taking time to cook together and are eating healthier (and much more delicious!) things. I'm finding new recipes and trying new combinations. Life is literally more flavorful with him here.