Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lucky Ducky

I hit up the local Goodwill over the weekend and found this little gem...




Not too shabby for $4!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Menu Monday

I got a flat tire on my way to the grocery store (luckily I was still in my driveway and KB could fix it), so I didn't have much time to plan/go.  This week's menu is a little lackluster.....but I have a fixed tire and working car, so that wins.

Mon: Breakfast for Dinner


We're going to have more than just these, but these will be the star.  Tomorrow is KB's birthday and since tax time is right around the corner, he'll be working 80+ hours from now until the end of March.  These are not my personal fave, but whatever.  I'm also going to be making eggs, toast and bacon to go with them.

Tues: Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy



Tuesday is KB's birthday, so I'm going to make him something really good. He loves meat and pot roasts and stuff, but I'm normally too cheap/lazy to cook them. I'm actually going to be using pork (hope it turns out) because Wal-Mart was having a major sale on some pork roasts. He's also getting a birthday cake. He always asks for yellow cake out of a box and chocolate frosting out of a can. Can't argue with that.

Wed: Freezer Food

We have tons of food in the freezer and I might go to an exercise class after work.  Looks like it's pinto beans/collard green and black eyed pea soup/random Mexican food casserole for dinner.

Thurs: Breakfast Pizza



I don't normally repeat recipes, but this one was really good (and really easy). It's another breakfast food, but it doesn't really taste like one. The key is the cream cheese on the crust - it makes it so creamy and smooth.

Extras:

Easter Egg Bread



Since we watched chickens last week we now have a ton of eggs. I was planning on making this over the weekend to leave at the house we were watching, but I watched a whole season of Girls instead. Go me.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Friday Randoms

It's been a busy week around here with lots of work going on.  My new job is taking off in a big way.  They are definitely getting their money's worth!

Here's some random things going on with me.


I just don't like yoga.  I've tried to make it work for me and I just can't do it.  I'm not flexible, I can't "quiet my mind" and I just don't feel like it gives me a good workout.  I know that none of these things are supposed to matter in yoga and that's why it's so great, but the fact that I can't do it just ends up pissing me off.

KB put up a bird feeder outside of my office window over the weekend and it's been really neat.  I've seen a lot of birds really up close.  This morning I also saw a hawk take out a squirrel that was eating on it.  Needless to say there hasn't been any more squirrels on it today.

On the same bird nerd note, when I was walking the dogs today I saw a whole flock of bluebirds.  It was magical.  I just stood there and watched them for a while.  Then Pancho got antsy and started barking at them and they flew away.

KB's birthday is on Tuesday.  He won't tell me what he wants, but did say last night that he wanted to try out wood burning as a hobby.  Wood burning?  I didn't even know that was a thing. He says he wants to make a sign for our house saying who lives here.  My grandma has a sign.  His grand parents have a sign.  I think I see a trend here.

I'm planning on getting my yard ready for spring this weekend, but it's supposed to rain almost all weekend.  I ordered a bunch of flowers this week, so I've got to get my yard in shape before it's too late.  It's rained all week almost - over it!

We're watching chickens for a friend this week and I love them!  They are so funny and pretty easy to take care of.  I've gotten 5 blue eggs already.  They are little and pretty.   I just want to look at them and not eat them.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Pinteresting Wednesday

There's really only been one Pin this week that has knocked my socks off.




Channing Tatum Tot

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Menu Monday....on a Tuesday

I had yesterday off for President's Day.  I thought I was going to get so much done (including updating this), but I didn't.  I ate a huge lunch, went to the grocery store and then came home and slept on the couch for 3 hours, then worked some.

Pretend that you are reading this on Monday.

Mon: Easy Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken



I made this last night and it was really easy (so easy that while I was on a conference call KB did most of it). I substituted turkey bacon because I like it better, but I'm sure it would be even better with real bacon on it. I also used dijon mustard instead of regular because that's what I had. It still tasted very honey mustard-y though.

Tues: Sweet Corn Frittata and Salad



I love eggy things like this. They are easy to make and they taste really good. I couldn't find shredded swiss cheese at the Aldi and I didn't feel like grating it myself, so I'll be substituting an italian blend. I'm thinking it will probably taste the same.  I did score lots of grape tomatoes for 50 cents a package though.

Wed: Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice



Red beans and rice is so easy to make and tastes really good (even though we are a bit late for Mardi Gras). I couldn't find red beans at the Aldi, so I'm going to be substituting with pinto beans. I'm not sure if it's going to work, but I figure for the most part a bean is a bean. I also don't have any cajun seasoning, so I'm just going to make my own. We'll see how that goes.

Thurs: Tangy Tzatziki Pasta Salad



I love greek food and greek salads, so I'm going to plan on mixing this pasta salad in with a greek salad to pump it up a little bit. I couldn't find sun dried tomatoes, so I'm going to cut up some of the grape tomatoes I got on super sale and see what happens. I also got some of those spicy little green peppers that are in greek salads.  Hopefully that will be enough to throw KB off of the fact that there isn't any meat in here.

What will you be cooking up this week???

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Thoughts on a Thursday

I haven't blurted out random thoughts in a while, so here goes...

-It's my first week of completely working at home (I used to be able to every now and then at my old job) and I'm amazed at the amount of work I get done (both personal and professional) when I'm all by myself.  This week alone I've done all of my regular work, had 3 contractors out to look at our kitchen, deep cleaned a different room every day, kept up with laundry, and had dinner done by the time KB got home.  It's been pretty glorious.  I'm sure once I get up to speed with actual work though lots of the personal stuff will have to go away.

-KB has decided that he wants to go to law school (why I have no idea).  This would involve us moving at least 3 hours away from where we are now.  I'm not sold on the idea.....and he knows it.  I'm hoping that it will just go away.  He says he's tired of his job and he's bored with what he's doing.  I'm hoping he gets a new job soon and the law school idea dies a quick death.

-I"m in the process of decorating my office/closet room (pictures to come).  KB and his grandpa built me this huge corner desk.  We decided to stain it in the basement and then move it upstairs to my office.  Needless to say this desk weighs a million pounds and I was pretty sure I was going to die last night moving it.  We also had a slight issue fitting it through the door, but made it (after scratching the door and walls which will now have to be repainted).

-I got to spend some quality time with some lovely lady hens yesterday.  A friend of ours is going out of town for a few weeks and just moved close to us, so we're watching her chickens for her.  I get to keep all of the eggs and hopefully it will be good practice for when we get our own chickens (hopefully this spring).  We've got plans to build a log cabin coop like this one from Backyard Chickens that will use up a bunch of tress that KB has cut down.



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pinteresting Wednesday

I'm back on the Pinterest bandwagon.  Here are my favorite Pins of the week (okay really the last few weeks, but who's counting?)








Source: cozamia.com via Rachel on Pinterest





What are your favorite Pins this week???

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Pretty Pretty

When I got home from NY I found this little lovely waiting on me..



I'm trying to get into orchids, so KB got me one for a little present while I was gone.  I have another one that finished blooming, I repotted it and it hasn't flowered again (apparently it takes them a really long time to reflower).  It's not looking too hot these days, so I'm not really sure what's going on.

Any orchid growing tips?  I see them in design magazines all the time, so somebody out there has to know what's going on.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Menu Monday

Here's what I've got cooking this weekend....

I've been gone for work for a while, so I think KB is glad to have actual food and not be living off of pot pies and pizza rolls.

Mon: Quinoa, Veggie and Feta Stuffed Peppers



I really like stuffed peppers, but they always taste weird when you use green peppers, so I bought some red and yellow ones. When I was unloading the groceries I realized that I still had 2 big bags of green peppers left over from random recipes a few weeks ago. We're going to be eating lots of peppers this week...

Tues: Nieman Marcus Chicken Salad

Source: saveur.com via Rachel on Pinterest


This is probably about the closest I'll be to a Nieman Marcus anytime soon! I really like chicken salad with grapes in it, but I hardly ever make it. It's going to be like a baby shower or wedding reception up in here!

Wed: Stuffed Pepper Soup



Still on the "use up all of the peppers" kick, we're having stuffed peppers again, but in soup form. I'm going to sub out some ground turkey instead of ground beef and also throw in some red and yellow peppers. I'm also going to use brown rice instead of white.

Thurs: Deer Steak with Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms

Source: ziplist.com via Rachel on Pinterest


It's Valentine's Day on Thursday and KB loves meat and deer and chocolate and all things manly. These mushrooms look like they would be especially delicious. I'm just going to marinate the deer in some spice mix that I got a few months ago. I made it that way a few weeks ago and it was really good.

Extras!: Because Valentine's Day is a good excuse to eat chocolate, I'm going to make this little guy that looks really good (but also really easy).

Granny's Chocolate Cobbler (not my Granny...someone else's)









What will you be cooking up this week???

Friday, February 8, 2013

I'm Bacckkk

I've been MIA recently due to some work things that have taken me here.....literally right above the Boardwalk Empire sign.....right there...for a while.



After some terribleness on the tarmac at La Guardia I'll be back to regular posting tomorrow.