Sharing food with friends makes it taste so much better… March 13, 2012

There are few things in life that I enjoy more than a room full of friends and food! Recently we were able to celebrate a good friend’s graduation from Coast Guard “A” school. The Myers are good friends of ours and we always have a great time with them no matter what we do, but there is one thing that we share, a love of good food! I recently stumbled upon a recipe for Taco Bites on the most wonderful website ever, Pinterest! I am not exactly sure the original source of this recipe because it has been repined a great deal. There are also a few different variation to this recipe, so here is what I have come up with after making these a few times now. Enjoy this easy, pretty healthy, crowd pleasing appetizer. 

Taco Bites

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground turkey meat (can use beef, but turkey is a healthier option)

- 1 package of taco seasoning 

- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

- 1 can corn, drained and rinsed

- 2/3 cup water

- 1 package of either Wonton or Egg Roll Wrappers (wonton is preferred, there is an extra step if using egg roll wrappers, but it it no big deal)

- 2 cups grated Cheddar Cheese approx.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Brown grown meat. Drain any grease and mix in 2/3 cup of water, taco seasoning mix, about half the black beans and corn. Let all the water absorb. Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray. If using Egg Roll wrappers, cut them in 1/4, if using wonton wrappers they are already the size you need. Push one wrapper into each slot, push them to make a bowl. Fill each bowl with the meat mixture, then top with cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes. The cheese will be bubbly and the edges will begin to brown.  Then repeat. Using 1 lb meat will get you two full batches with a mini-muffin pan (each batch makes about 24). You can half the recipe and get 24, but trust me you will want plenty of these!! You can top them with your favorite taco toppings: sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce and tomato… whatever you desire! I love topping mine with my own homemade guacamole! 

Guacamole

Ingredients (pico de galo):

1 tomato  or 3 roma tomatoes, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped  

1 small bunch cilantro 

Ingredients: 

3 avocados

1 lime

garlic salt

Directions:

Combine all chopped ingredients for the pico de galo. I normally chop big chunks and throw it all in my food processor. Then peel and mash avocados. Add the juice from one lime, about 4 tablespoons of pico de galo (or enough to give it texture and it does not just blend in), and then a good coating of garlic salt. Mix well. You should be able to taste a tad bit of salt and lime and lots of yummy goodness! I am sorry for not having exact measurements, but I normally keep adding until it taste just right. I modify it based on the number of avocados that I use. Next time I make it, I will try to measure and update this.

My version of Twas a Night Before Christmas December 25, 2011

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were laid by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nana soon would be there.

The girlies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
Uncle Joe in his jammies, and Aunt B in her’s too,
Had just settled their brains for a short winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a BMW, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a pretty little driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nana.
More rapid than eagles her coursers they came,
And she whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the BMW full of Toys, and St Nana too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nana came with a bound.

She was dressed all in bling, from her head to her foot,
And her clothes were all stylin with diamonds and fur.
A bundle of Toys she had flung on her back,
And she looked like a queen, just opening her pack.

Her eyes-how they twinkled! Her smile oh how merry!
Her cheeks were like roses, her lips like a cherry!
Her droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the blonde of her hair glistened like the snow.

The sophistication of a wine glass she held in her right hand,
And the Christmas lights encircled her head like a wreath.
She had a narrow face and a flat little belly,
That was rock hard when she laughed, nothing like a bowlful of jelly!

She was thin and lean, a right jolly sweet elf,
And I laughed when I saw her, in spite of myself!
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying her finger aside of her nose,
Then giving a hug, up the chimney she rose!

She sprang to her BMW, to her team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard her exclaim, as she drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to-r all, and to-r all a goodt-ninght! Thank yer!”

Gunner Shane update December 23, 2011

I just had to share, the shirts I made and described in the previous post look soooo much cuter with my nieces and nephew in them! Love these babies!

Gunner Shane is here! December 18, 2011

As if 3 nephews and 5 nieces were not enough of a blessing, my stepsister Amber gave birth to my newest little nephew Gunner Shane. He was her biggest baby by 2 pounds! I have not had the pleasure of meeting the little man just yet, but I am already so excited! His big sisters, my two sweet nieces, Chloe and Halie, love him already. Apparently, they are fighting over him and I think a baby schedule is in the works! That cracks me up that my sister has work out a schedule for which girl gets to hold the sweet like guy! They are pretty awesome little gals!

Big Sis Halie and Gunner

Well, even in all my craziness these past few months I found the time to make a few little things for Gunner. I made a few onsies: two rocker dude ones (iron on appliqués from Joann’s Fabric, the letters that you can barely see are cut outs from letters I simply printed from online) …

a farmer John Deer one (a little John deer fabric, some extra green fabric sewn with overall snaps and tractor buttons)…

and of course a camo LIL’ BRO one (cut outs from letters printed online and ironed on with bond tape (forget what it is called))…and of course I made BIG SIS (both of them) shirts to match, but had to girl it up a bit…

I also made a few burp cloths but forgot to take pictures. Oh well, not much to see, just a burp cloth with fabric stitches on them

I cannot wait to meet the little man! His Aunt Brandi already loves him and cannot wait to hold him close and kiss his sweet chubby cheeks. For now, I will just have to send my love through the wind (cheesy I know, but that’s the kind of aunt I am… I bought a star for one of nieces once so we could be under the same star and not feel so far away… I am awesome, I know lol).

Gunner Shane

Finding simple joys… December 15, 2011

A few months ago, at a women’s conference at my church, I had a realization! God had been laying on my heart and making me aware of how unhappy I allow myself to be. I have always done this. I go through ups and downs of happiness and it has nothing to do with anything except how I allow myself to feel. Sadly, the ones that get the short end of the stick of my unhappiness are the ones that care the most about me and would do anything to make me happy. I do not allow them to do anything right, even if they do everything right. So, I was sitting at the women’s conference, listening to Mrs. Cremeans speak about being content. Not being content where God has you is like saying “God, I see what you think are good plans for me, but I do not agree… my happiness should look like this!” Wow, I cannot begin to say how much pride is involved in that statement and thought process!! I broke down to my best friend afterwards about how I do not allow myself to be happy, I do not allow my husband to do anything right! She always shoots it straight, which I LOVE about her!!! She told me I need to chose to have joy!! Simple concept, right? Yep, it is that simple!! I have to wake up everyday and choose to be joyful!! I have to accept what God is doing in my life right now, not what has been done, or what I want to be done, but what He is doing now, today, this step, not the next!! He is an amazing God that way, I need not worry about what the next step is, He already knows the next step, I just need to follow Him! 

So for the past few months I have been choosing joy. I have not been 100% successful, but I have been pretty joyful! I have let some walls down to my husband and I accept all the good he does for me. Our marriage is better than it was 6 months ago, as it always should be! My life in general is just happy. I still have low days, but I try to have a better view of it all. God plans my life, I need to stop doing the planning and start living out the plans that He makes! this is still a work in progress, but aren’t we always a work in progress! 

 I leave you with this: find joy in every moment of your life (yes even when your flight is delayed making you miss your connecting to have to get rerouted to a totally different city causing you to not reach your destination at your mom’s for Christmas till the next day… true story, I am writing this on the plane, but instead of getting angry or cry, I handed the not so kind or empathetic girl at the counter a candy cane and wished her Merry Christmas with a smile on my face!!) Every moment has the possibility to bring joy, you just have to look for it. 

 

half the bath, but not half the design… October 7, 2011

I have to say, I love my half bath probably more than I should love a bathroom lol! However, I just love the colors and would do my whole house in grey and yellow, but I guess I will stick to the brown family I have already put so much time and money into, plus I do love my browns. I figured the half bath downstairs where all my guest would probably visit would be the perfect spot to add a little more design for viewing pleasure (that sounds weird lol). My husband was very skeptical about having a dark small little bathroom, “are you sure it won’t look like a dungeon” “won’t it make it look tiny”, but like most things I do, he loves after he sees it finished! I can visualize exactly how I want something to look, he needs to see it, we compliment each other well So this is how the bathroom looked when we bought the house:

The first thing that came down was the ‘ugly-to-me’ wallpaper and border (Im sure that maroon stripes with flowers is pretty to some, but I have more contemporary style). The day that we closed on the house, I started stripping the wallpaper and border. I used Diff wallpaper spray and soaked the wallpaper after I scored it. It came off very easily. Than we painted the ceiling and walls grey (with a huge help from our friend Jake, we put the tallest guy in the smallest space to help, but he did awesome!). We painted the ceiling a lighter grey, and the walls a tad darker. We used Pittsburg Speed Hide paint and it covered great!

Then I wanted to begin adding the touches of yellow.I started with a very towels and white fluffy rug, then I found the most perfect yellow damask fabric at for a great deal! I was so happy with the fabric when it came in, it was more perfect than I even thought it would be! It set the tone for the bathroom. I decided to make a roman shade from the fabric and some cheap mini blinds after seeing this tutorial on Pinterest (which I am totally addicted to!!!). I made my roman shade just as she described, and it came out great! I was very pleased with how EASY it was! It was a great addition to contrast the dark grey!

This was a huge improvement to the maroon strips before, but it still needed something on the blank wall behind the throne…
So I bought a poster size cheap frame, one piece of scrapbooking paper, and one package of white sticker letters. I played with a few sayings, “You are my Sunshine” was on the top of the list till I found this one. So I measured and tried to make sure I kept everything straight and spaced out well. It was very meticulous work, but still pretty easy.

I sprayed adhesive to the back of the cardboard part of the frame and attached the yellow damask print, then trimmed up the sides with my rotary tool to make a straight line. I then attached each letter on the scrapbook paper and then attached the paper to the fabric and framed it. I added some sunflowers underneath, my favorite flower! I love easy projects that make a big difference.

All in all this is a small bathroom, with simple design, but lots of charm! A sophisticated little retreat indeed.

We are HOMEOWNERS!! September 24, 2011

Well, I am a little late on this news. I have been a somewhat busy girl. Ok, I am only a little busy, I just do not use my time that wisely, but I am trying. I digress. In the end of May, my wonderful hubby and I became home owners!

We were your typical super excited young couple at our closing with our car full of boxes ready to move in and get to work!

I will spare you the million pictures of before and after for now, my plan is to feature specific rooms for individual posts so I can show you all the DIY projects I did for each room. I have had a lot of fun making this house our home! We are truly blessed with our home and so much more! The biggest piece to this recipe that I call life if God and what He does in my life, the good and bad. However, lately the good is all I can see! In the time since the last blog (middle of May and now its the middle of September… eeekkk) we had a visit from my mom in June. She came to see our house and spend some wonderful quality time together. My mother and I did most of favorite things: relaxed and talked on the Ocean City Beach, clam chowder at Smiths Clam Bar, NYC Central Park and Chinatown, and just had great time together!

Grand Central Station

Central Park

Central Park

Then as an extra added blessing, my husband and I got to make a trip to Boise to see my mom, brother and his family. We had not seen my niece since she was 6 months old in January. We spent our time shopping, laughing, talking, floating the Boise river,visiting some of the most beautiful parts of Idaho, going to the Boise State Fair with my nieces Brooke and Ava, sitting around the fire outside at night, and just enjoying being together. I am so blessed that I have such a wonderful family that I cherish with all that I have. The only drawback: the moment that I board the airplane to come home.

ShoShone Falls: Mom, Me, and Joe

ShoShone Falls: Mom and Me

Twin Falls

Under the waterfall

Twin Falls

Ice Cave

The girls presenting their play

My precious niece Lauren

Hubby found his redneck side

Mommy Ava with her baby Chickie, it apparently thought she was her mom. LOL

Apparently something the girls have always dreamed of doing

Brooke and Ava in their bedroom at Nana's

Since then we have been doing lots of new decorating to the house, courtesy of Hobby Lobby in Boise and a wonderful Mommy!! I do enjoy blogging, so I will try to post many more soon. The want to is not the problem, it really is the time. I guess the only drawback to a truly blessed life.

A few of my favorite things… May 19, 2011

The other day I was slightly disappointed because our house closing got delayed and I did not want to have a negative attitude and started thinking of the things I love in my life. So I decided to share a few of those things with everyone else.
So here are a few of my favorite things…

*The Bible: I can always find all the comfort, encouragement, knowledge, wisdom, and direction that I could ever need. It is filled with amazing stories and lives that have helped me get through my stories and life.

*My Husband: He loves me. He trusts me. He provides for me. He makes me laugh. He looks at me like I am the most beautiful, most amazing, only girl in the world, because to him, I am. He loves the Lord and I can always count on him.

*My Parents: They are both so strong and have spent the better part of their lives loving and caring for their children. Without them there is so much that I would not be and so much I would not have. I will forever be grateful for them.

*My Nieces and Nephews: I wish I could give all eight of them the world, I love them so much! My only non-favortie thing is that seven of them live so far away-nothing breaks my heart more!

*My Friends: Some of my favorite moments are spent talking though ideas, thoughts, and randomness with a sweet friend. I may only a select few, but those few mean so much to me. I can always count on a few laughs, tons of inspiration, and lots of comfort.

*Music: I love to sing. I am not really that good, or even somewhat good, but I love it and singing makes me happy. Music inspires me, lifts me up, reminds me of the things I love, and soothes me.

*Sweet Tea: I was raised in good ole Texas with plenty of sweet tea! Now that I live in Jersey, I either have to make my own sweet tea or go to McDonalds or Chikfila. When I have a glass, for one quick moment, I feel at home! Silly I know.

*My Iphone: I have all the information I could ever need at the tip of my fingertips. It is a life saver when I am bored or need to figure something out. I love my phone!

*My Apron: I love to cook and when I put my apron on I feel like a pro and am inspired and challenged to create something new and exciting. I also love when I take the apron off, right about the time that my husband takes the first bite and smiles. ahhhh…. satisfaction.

*My bed: It is not necessarily the most comfortable, it is old and pretty broken in, but its cozy and warm. I love snuggling up surrounded by fluffy covers and my squishy (my pillow that is super squishy, hence the name! lol).

*My jewelry box: I saw it and fell in love! So my wonderful hubby made me a happy wife and bought it for me! It makes accessorizing so easy and fun.

*HGTV: I cannot get enough of designs and home buying shows, they make my dreams much bigger! uh oh!

*Lists: I love making lists, I love organizing and things in order. I am a visual person and need to see my to do’s and other such things written down, it’s soothing to me.

*Blogs: I could spend all day looking at other’s blogs. There are some really creative and innovative individuals out there. I love to be challenged and inspired and blogs do that!

*Facebook: To me, facebook is a way to stay connected with my family and friends. I watch my little nieces grow, share laughs with new friends, and memories with some old ones. I ‘stalk’ all my friends to stay up to date with them in this crazy busy world. I can help encourage them, share in their happiness, and pray them through their trials.

These are just a few of my favorite things. I feel it is always important to remember even the little things that I am blessed with in life. What are you blessed with? Stop and think about it, I guarantee you’ll begin to smile! Enjoying smiling!

Patience… April 27, 2011

…is a virtue I have never really had, however recently the Lord is really calling on me to use it more than ever. In the past four months I have been tested with so many things that have forced me to learn to simply wait on the Lord. My husband and I began house hunting for our first home together. We have been renting from his father for a year now and have been blessed with our current home, but we figured it would be wiser to put our money into something of our own instead of just ‘throwing it away’. We found a home we LOVE and it is just about perfect for what we want, even the price! So we put an offer in over 45 days ago to the bank, as our dream home is a short sale. I am not sure why it is called a short sale, there is nothing short about it! We put the offer in at the asking price, which the bank had approved prior to our bid for someone else, hoping to get a quicker response. However, here we are 45 days later and we have only had the bank respond once with a counter offer, guess they were not satisfied with the asking price. So it has been a week since the counter and I am so anxious and excited. I have had to exercise a great deal of patience since this process started in January, but it is really wearing thin, not that it was very thick back in January! I have also started two new part-time jobs in addition to my other three part-time positions. Starting something new has had my patience exercise level higher than ever, a good kind of exercise, but nonetheless it is being exercised! We have had some car trouble and are waiting to see how a few other things pan out before we make any big decisions regarding said troubled car. There are so many other things happening that are presenting themselves constantly as an exercise of my patience. So there are many things that are testing my patience. I have had to use my patience and faith more than ever lately it seems. I believe God uses different things in your life to teach or show you something, and I think He has been teaching me to lean on Him and trust in Him, so I have been going to His Word and prayer to allow Him to teach me patience during this time of life. The funny thing is that things always seem to happen when they need to happen, although it may not be when we want them to happen. So for now I am patiently waiting on life to happen, I just hope I remember to live the life that is here now while I wait.

So to pass the time I have been trying some favorite new recipes… hope you enjoy this one that my husband and I loved!!

Stuffed Mexican Cornbread

Ingredients:

3 boxes Jiffy Cornbread
3 eggs (as stated on Jiffy box)
1 cup milk (as stated on Jiffy box)
1 lb ground meat (any meat will do, I use soy ‘beef’)
1 package Taco seasoning
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel* tomatoes
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I use cheddar, but a taco blend will work great)

Directions:

1. Brown meat with taco seasoning (may need to add a tiny bit of water for mixing). Add corn, beans, and tomatoes.
2. Mix cornbread, eggs, and milk.
3. Grease 9×13 baking dish and pour 1/2 of the cornbread mixture in the dish and spread evenly. Add meat and cheese and then spread the remaining cornbread mixture on top.
4. Bake at 450* for 20-25 minutes, or whenever the cornbread is no longer wet, stick a toothpick in to test.
*you can modify this recipe by adding whatever spices and extras (like the corn, beans, and Rotel) you like.

This recipe is easy and quick, and requires not a lot of patience!!!

New Year = Happy Year March 25, 2011

This New Year’s Day was spent with my mom and family in Idaho. Joe and I flew out to gorgeous Boise to spend time with my mom and brother and his family. The most exciting part of our trip was getting to meet my newest niece for the first time. Meeting Lauren Kelley, or LK for short, was so amazing. She is so wonderfully sweet and adorable! My family is so very important to me and nothing is better in my opinion than spending time with them. Having the warm embrace of my mom is something that I miss more than I can say when I am away, and something I cherish when I am with her. I got to see my niece smile at me, fall asleep in my arms, and laugh at our singing to her. She is truly amazing just the way she is! This was Joe’s first time to Boise, so we showed him the beautiful scenery, or at least what we could for it being winter time, and tried lots of new restaurants. Our trip was way too short, but filled with so much love and fun! You know it was a good trip when you cry on the airplane going home and already miss those you have left. Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful family!