Thoughts on a Thursday

Head over to Carolyn's  blog to play along...

• A new gourmet chip shop opened up near where I work.  We went over today and I had the best salt and vinegar potato chips I've ever had.  They were really good kettle chips with balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and onion powder.  So delicious!

• I'm looking forward to a good workout tonight.  I haven't really been exercising as much as I should have lately.  I just got a new workout DVD from Netflix yesterday, so I'm eager to actually feel like I've done something this week.

• I'm looking forward to a weekend with nice weather!  It's been rainy, windy, and stormy here for a long time. Tomorrow I'm actually going to be able to hang clothes out on the line.

What are your thoughts on a Thursday???

Wonderful Wednesday...

Thanks to my mother in law, I got home to find this little guy waiting on my porch...

Too bad it's supposed to rainy and windy and hail-y and tornado-y (if that's even a word) here tonight or I would hang it up right away. 

Please also excuse the pair of hunting boots and glass of water in the background!

Menu Sunday (on a Tuesday)

Due to Easter overload, this week's Menu Sunday post was pushed back to be a Menu Tuesday.  This is a pretty boring menu post, but not every week can be a complete culinary delight!

Mon: Creamy Low Cal Pasta Salad from last week
          We had this last night and it was pretty good.  The dressing was really good and was made with Greek yogurt, so it had a protein boost, but wasn't too fatty.  We took the leftovers for lunch today.  The noodles were a little dry the second day.

Tues: Something from the freezer
          We have lots of random things just hanging out in our freezer.  Tonight's freezer offering was pinto beans.  I cooked them with lots of peppers and they were really spicy, but they froze and reheated nicely.  Yay for easy dinners!

Wed: Cajun Chicken Gumbo
          Everyone knows I love my crock pot, but this recipe looks bangin'.  I haven't had gumbo in a really long time and this recipe looks delicioso.  I forgot to get a bell pepper at the grocery store last week, so I'll be making mine without peppers.

Thurs: Cheddar Rolls
           I feel sort of lame even putting this on here (and even lamer linking a recipe!).  I love Parker House rolls and they happened to be on sale at the grocery store.  We'll be having grilled cheese sandwiches on rolls with some soup......from the freezer.

Fri:  Something!
       I'm not really sure what we're doing on Friday, but I do know that I won't be cooking dinner.

What goodies are you eating this week?

Long Easter Weekend Recap

I made this....

Yes, this is a wild turkey leg......yes, I did feel like Wilma Flintstone when I ate it.  The veggies were very delicious.  The turkey was good, but it was a little weird.

I got this.....

This little ditty was on sale for $12.  I always feel like a blue skirt or pants for work and can never find them.

I cleaned up after this....

This little cutie had some tummy troubles last night.  I was up every 2 hours with a puking dog.  She's feeling much better after a nap on the couch with her dad and some plain Greek yogurt.

We also did the obligatory Easter stuff......but I don't have pictures of that and the most exciting thing we did was throw Easter eggs at a tree to watch them explode.  I know, we're exciting.

Easter Overload

I feel like the Easter Bunny has beaten me up.

I promise Menu Sunday (on a Monday) and a full Easter recap will return tomorrow!

Thoughts on a ......Friday!

It's time for thoughts on a Thursday......but on a Friday.

• I'm off today!  I came home yesterday and did absolutely nothing (hence my lack of posting).  I ended up laying the piano for about 2 hours.  I haven't played the piano in a really long time, needless to say it was a little rough.
• Checking your work email while you're off is a bad idea......a really bad idea.
• I have been so productive today.  I've made bread, roasted wild turkey legs (another post coming soon), thoroughly cleaned our house and went to the grocery store.
• I got lots of free goodies in the mail today.  I'm a sucker for free things (even if I don't really need them).  Today's haul was a sample pack of the new Dove for Men line, a Yoplait Greek grocery bag and a coupon for a free thing of orange juice.
• TV during the daytime really does suck.  I've been sucked into watching 3 hours of Law & Order.  It was either that or the Tyra show "I'm Still Stuck on my Ex".

What are your thoughts on a Thursday/Friday?

Recipe Review: Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

 I realized that I haven't done a recipe review in over a month!  I saw the recipe for Mexican Tortilla Lasagna in my Women's Day weekly recipe email and it looked que delicioso.  I ended up running out of tortillas, so yours will hopefully be prettier than mine above.

Overall the recipe was pretty simple and was very yummy.  I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef because it was on sale (of course!).  The recipe says to divide the ingredients between two small dishes and freeze one, but I ended up making one big lasagna.  KB will be eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I mistakenly picked up some super hot enchilada sauce, so ours were a little spicy, but they were still muy delicioso.

Easter Obsession

Can't.....stop.......eating.....


Seriously, I need these to be gone....NOW!

Menu Sunday

Here's what the Browns will be eating this week:

Mon: Quick Crab Cakes
        I've gotten into planning my meals around what's on sale at the grocery store (nerd alert!).  Crab happened to be on sale, therefore we'll be having these easy crab cakes.  I'll be serving this with some mixed greens that we need to eat before they go bad.

Tues: Mexican Tortilla Lasagna
        Since ground turkey was on sale, I'll be using that as my base instead of ground beef.  The recipe gives directions for making two (one to freeze), but since our freezer isn't that big and it's already full, I'll be halving the recipe.

Wed: Creamy Italian Pasta Salad
         I love pasta salad (and whole wheat pasta was on sale).  This recipe looks pretty simple and like you could easily add more veggies to it.  Since tomatoes are still super expensive, I won't be adding those, but I may add in some peas instead.

Thurs: Something from the freezer
          I'm off on Friday (woohoo!) so I can already tell that I won't feel like cooking on Thursday night.  Right now we have pinto beans, beef stew and caldo verde in our freezer.  I'm sure we can make a meal out of that.

Fri: Who knows!
       I'm off work (yay!), KB isn't (boo).  I'll probably do some of my Easter cooking on this day.  I'm still not really sure what we're doing, so I can't really plan ahead.

What goodies will you be eating this week?

Thoughts on Thursday

Link up with Carolyn to play along!

• A lady I work with sent me a recipe for cake batter truffles.  These look so delicious and delightful!

• My mother is on a mission to learn how to make her own laundry detergent this weekend.  I'll be testing out her concoction next week.....here goes nothing.

• KB is off work Friday and Monday.  I am not.  We normally carpool and he drops me off.  Not only do I have to work while he's at home, but I have to drive myself.

• I've been seriously slacking in the reading department.  It's taken me almost 3 months to read one book.  In the winter I was powering through books, but this spring I haven't been as motivated.

• We were able to take the puppies on a nice long walk today around the hood.  It's been a little chilly and rainy here this week, so this was their first walk in a while.

• My company's summer outing is a "spa day".  We basically get $200 to spend at a spa in A-ville on whatever we want and we get to take the day off to use it.  SCORE!

What are your thoughts on a Thursday????

Fake 'n Bake Dilemma

I'm not the palest person around, but I do like having a good glow.  Since it's gotten warmer, I've been wearing more skirts and dresses without tights or leggings and I've noticed that I've started looking a little scaly.

Last year around this time I was getting ready to get married and I was all about the self-tanner and sunshine.  This year I'm old and married and I have a real job (aka I'm too lazy to apply self-tanner every day and I'm too busy to lay outside).

I've used a few self tanners, but they were mostly cheap Hawaiaan Tropic ones that were a little orangy.  I want to be tan, but I don't want to look like this:

I'm looking for some legit self tanners that not only won't make me look like Xtina, but also 1) don't have to be applied every day 2) aren't nasty and gloopy (if that's even a word) 3) won't rub off on my clothes or sheets 4) aren't super expensive.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Guilty Pleasure

While being lazy on Sunday and watching mindless MTV shows, I renewed my love for this little gem.  I could watch hours of this show.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of the lady MCs, I even like Lil Mama on this show.  The dancing is insane and something that I could never do.

Here's a little snippet of my favorite crew from a few seasons ago:



I think it's the fros that get me.

Menu Sunday

Menu Sunday will be a little boring this week.  I have all of these great cookbooks, but I forget about them all the time.  This week I was determined to cook everything out of some of my favorite cookbooks.

We'll be eating various and assorted goodies from these bad boys:

The slow cooker book is the best.  It's made me love "feasting with my slow cooker".

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's time for Thoughts on a Thursday (once again....my brain must be empty because I don't have that many thoughts).

Link up with Carolyn to play along!

• I watched TLC's Extreme Couponing last night.  While I'm all one for a deal these people are crazy.  This one lady bought 150 bottles of mustard and 35 bottles of Maalox and ended up paying $2 for it all.  That's great, but what do you do with 150 bottles of mustard?  In my life I don't think I've used 150 bottles of mustard.
• Speaking of crazy people who have their own reality shows, I can't wait to watch this little gem:

 

 VH1's Mob Wives looks so delightful.  A part of me thinks it would be really neat to be a mob wife and to be super Jersey fabulous, but then the whole KB would have to be a mobster and in jail and crazy part kicks in.

• We've been able to take the puppies on a walk everyday this week!  The weather has been pretty nice all week so we've been getting the little fatties some exercise.  Rosie has gained so much weight that she's outgrown her harness and Panchie's collar is getting a little tight.
• KB finally did our taxes!  Taxes scare the bejesus out of me.  I'm paranoid that I'm going to miscalculate something and I'll end up on a JK Harris & Co commercial talking about how the IRS was hunting me down for tax evasion.  Luckily I have the hookup on the tax situation since KB deals with taxes (not really the personal income kind, but still) everyday for his job.  After months of nagging, he finally did them and I'm pretty sure the IRS won't hunt me down.

What are your thoughts on Thursday????

Granny Bread

After a few requests, here is the bread recipe from my grandmother.  This is from a cookbook that she wrote for me when I got married.  She put some weird things in the recipe and I'm not one to edit for content, so here goes:

Basic White Bread
This recipe sounds complicated, but it's not & you can use this dough for lots of things

3 C of unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
2tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp. salt I just fill the spoon really full
3 T. sugar
4 T. softened butter
1/4 C non-fat dry milk
1/4 C instant potato flakes instant mashed potatoes
1 1/8C luke warm water

Combine all ingredients in your large mixer bowl and put in your dough hook.  Beat on med. speed for 6 min.  Dough should clean bowl sides.  If dough is sticky, add flour in small amounts.  This dough should be smooth and soft. It's my favorite dough! Put in a greased glass bowl - one side first and then turn it over so both sides will be greased.  Cover with a light cloth and let rise about an hour.  Transfer to a lightly greased surface (I just use my counter top and some Crisco).  Punch down and shape in an 8" log and put in a grased loaf pan.  Cover with sprayed plastic wrap for about an hour or until the loaf is about an inch above the edoge of the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 min.  Tent with foil for the last 15 min to prevent over-browning.  When it comes out of the oven, turn out immediately and cool bottom-side down on a wire rack.  If you want the crust to be soft, place a clean dish towel over hot breast ast it cools.

There you go....you can now make this:

Compliments of this crazy lady....

Please excuse my lovely bikini bod in the background!

Ode to a T-Shirt

Oh Gap Cap Sleeve V-Neck T how did I ever live without you.  With your super comfy, super soft and super tissuey self, I can do the dishes, sleep on the couch, workout, go to work, and never take you off.  I've never had  a t-shirt quite like you and I probably never will.  I'm thinking about buying you some friends of your own kind this weekend.  Don't be jealous.....I have enough love for you all!


Seriously people.....buy this shirt.  It's so comfortable you'll never want to take it off.

Menu Sunday

Here's what the Browns will be eating this week:

Mon: Sausage, Egg and Vegetable Casserole
         Eggs were on sale at the grocery store and I had a coupon.....so we're eating lots of eggs.  I'm a big frittata fan and this looks pretty similar, just in casserole form.

Tues: HG's BLT Pizza
        I'm becoming a HUGE fan of the Hungry Girl.  This recipe looks really easy and delicious.  I will be using a leftover pizza crust from the last time we had pizza and cooking my own bacon.

Wed: Slow Cooker Veggies and Meatballs
         I never want to cook on Wednesdays.  All the good shows come on and I need to workout before I watch them AKA I'm too lazy to cook by this point in the week.  My crock pot is my best friend on these days.  I'll be making my own meatballs though because ground turkey was a lot cheaper than the premade meatballs.....seriously people, how hard is it roll up some meat!

Thurs: Turkey with Bacon and Swiss
          I successfully made my own bread this week!  I ended up using my grandmother's recipe and it turned out much better than last time.  I'm itching to use up my delicious homemade bread and who doesn't like turkey and swiss!

Fri: I'm lazy!!!!!
      I could really get used to this whole no cooking on Friday thing.  KB will be camping out at my parent's house (literally....he's camping in the woods) to go turkey hunting on Saturday morning, so who knows if we'll even be here.

What goodies are you eating this week???