Not-Yo-Momma's Apple Bread (Or Is It?)

Husband, via text, Friday at 4 pm: Want to make a coffee cake tonight for me to bring to work?
Wife: U know it
Husband: Yup. Best wife ever

I tell you that not so you can puke on your keyboard at our newlywedness. I tell you that so you know why I had to bake after work yesterday. You heard him. The husband really twisted my arm.

All the way home I debated as to whether I should make the boys at the quarry another coffee cake or if I should switch things up a little and make a cinnamon Bundt cake. Decisions, decisions.

Then I walked in the door and saw the husband had brought home a bag full of apples.

"Can you make apple bread?" He asked a bit tentatively. 

I just looked at him.

Winning Chicken Dinner

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Bake chicken, ham and cheese. Who knew that's all I had to do to make the husband an ah-maze-ing dinner? Seriously. He loves chicken cordon bleu so much (news to me) that I've made it twice in the last three weeks - and one of the last three weeks we weren't even home. So let's just say I've made him this meal twice in two weeks.

I can't complain, though. This a simple dinner that tastes great, is low in carbs and the husband absolutely loves it.

Baked Zucchini Fritters

Clean the living room, dust, vacuum, clean the kitchen, put away the dishes in the dishwasher, change the sheets on the bed, sweep the hallway, clean the bathroom, go back to the kitchen and eat all the produce in the fridge that's about to go bad, and then take out the trash. That's how it goes in our house the night before we leave to go somewhere. That way everything is nice and clean when we get home. Unfortunately, it also means we return to an empty fridge.

The husband and I have spent the last couple of nights scavenging for dinner food. We had meat we could thaw (thank you, Da, for the venison!), but sides required a bit more imagination. Lucky for me, Momma grew about a hundred zucchini. Why I only brought one home is beyond me. Maybe I didn't want to look greedy. Or maybe I only snagged one because the husband isn't always a fan of this versatile vegetable, as evidenced by his "What are you doing with that?" inquiry when he saw me making these for dinner.

"I'm making something up," I told him.

The Circle Game

L & K's cupcake tree

What I learned on our mini holiday:

1. It's extremely hard to eat well on the road. And even when you find something "good" to eat, you'll still want to scream at your husband's French fries for making the truck smell like fried deliciousness.

2. Not cooking for the husband for five days makes me feel funny - rushed and incomplete in a strange sort of way.

3. Even if no one else things your high-protein pancakes sound edible, your little brother will eat them. 

4. Pumpkin spice coffee should always be available. "For a limited time only" is just silly.

5. The husband must have listened to a lot of House of Pain back in the day. He knows all of the words to "Jump Around." All. Of. Them.

6. There's a chance your husband won't let you drive on your next road trip, if you've recently had a minor fender bender.

7. The term "boot scoot" is not limited to a line dance.

8. Your dogs will appreciate you that much more after you've banned them to the kennel for  six nights. If they don't show their appreciation for long, they'll at the very least give you 75 kisses all over your face as soon as you get home.

9. The husband is going to love me no matter what I put on my feet.

10. Weddings never get old. It doesn't matter how cold it is, how far you have to travel or how dull the autumn leaves are. Congratulations, again, L & K. We love you, and we're so happy you'll be spending forever together.