Blogging and Job Posts

   I was googling earlier and found this website called stevepavlina.com.  He has some very interesting things to say about blogging and jobs.  So if you're a blogger I would encourage you to read his posts How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog) and How to Make Money From Your Blog. And if you have a job then read this one: 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job.  :)  While I don't agree with everything he says, he definitely has an interesting point of view and I respect his courage to be himself and not stress about insulting people with his opinion.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf?!

   I used Pioneer Woman's recipe from her cookbook: The Pioneer Woman Cooks, An Accidental Country Girl.  She calls for the bacon to cover and tuck underneath the meatloaf.  Like so:

    Then, put the sauce on top.  But it doesn't let the bacon crisp up, which I don't like.  Soggy bacon is sad.  :(  So I thought I'd put the idea out there of either not putting a sauce onto it until it crisped up or putting it underneath the bacon.  I haven't done it yet so I don't know if it'll work but I'd say it's worth a try.  So maybe next time.

Baby Lizard!

   We've seen a lizard around our wood pile and the sides of the house.  He's pretty big.  He'll just sit around waiting for bugs to come by.  He's really cute.  One day I walked outside and saw this little guy.

Little baby!

Sprinkled Oatmeal

   When I was a kid the only way Mom could get us to eat oatmeal was if she got this dinosaur kind.  It had little dinosaur eggs in it.  When you cook the oatmeal and then stir it, the dino eggs would turn into little dinosaurs.  It made eating oatmeal fun.  We wouldn't get it that often.  So whenever we did get it, it was a special treat.
   Well, we were out of cereal one day, so I figured I'd have oatmeal.  Then I thought about the dinosaur oatmeal.  I mean the dinos were basically sprinkles.  Sugary taste and crunchy.

I tried the sequin sprinkles but they weren't right.

Surprise!

   One of my friends is going to college this august.  Her birthday is still some months away (November).  But I figure since she won't be here and we won't be able to celebrate it in person, we might as well take the opportunity to celebrate with her and have a surprise party.  Who would suspect a birthday party four months early?
   We got some party hats, some blower things (I forget what they're called), sparkler candles, a 1 candle and a 8 candle.  And a pinata.  I'm also thinking of getting silly string.  That way I have something I can throw at her.  Easier to clean up than confetti and adds to the surprise.  I'm going to make spice cake cupcakes with vanilla frosting.
   Seeing as how we aren't surprising her for another week, I'm not going to blog this until after, just in case.

   It's after!  And it was a success!

Homemade Oreos

   This is a recipe I got from smitten kitchen.  If you are going to do homemade oreos, I'd suggest using theirs.  I was going to do their recipe but then I found out that we were out of cocoa powder.  (It's always something.)  So i looked up a way to substitute nutella.  Turns out you can put in the same amount of cocoa powder and take out the same amount of oil, butter, or shortening you are using.  Or maybe bacon fat, if applicable.
   However...