Weekend Plans

Here's what we're doing this weekend! Gonna be a great one:

Going to see movie "Shutter Island" with friends! I normally don't like scary movies now, especially gory ones - but I LOVE Leonardo DiCaprio. And I hear this one is more of a psychological thriller (my favorite genre). He's one of my favorite actors. And he's hot. Blake thinks so too.

Then I am taking Blake to see this musical - he's never seen the play and I think he's going to love it.

Then we are going to this Southern Gospel concert!

Very full weekend. :) I'm glad the next weekend we are not doing anything!

Camping Weekend

I had a blast this weekend, I'm so glad I went. It was full of food and girl-talk, something I am totally rejuvenated by. I'm not much of a game-player, which also was a big part of the weekend, but I enjoyed watching the other girls play. (I am not competitive and so I have to try really hard to keep my interest in playing a game!) I got teased a bunch for going to bed early. I normally go to bed at 10pm, but pulled off staying up until 12:30am and 11:30am on Friday and Saturday, respectively, so I think I did pretty good. (The other girls were staying up until 2 and 3 am, but I have a job and didn't want to be miserable with my internal clock messed up for a week!!) I haven't downloaded the 2 pictures from my camera of the weekend, but my photographer friend Mary put up some pics that I will share. You can view her work at: http://www.tomorrowsmemoriesphotography.net

Slideshow of my weekend!

It was a great weekend and I'm glad I went.

Lasagna Roll Ups and My New Sheep Potholder

I'm ready for a good recipe again. Last night's was mediocre. If you're going to put as much work into lasagna roll ups as they require, you might as well just make real lasagna. At least then you don't have to boil the noodles. Or cut them in half. I say, if you make these lasagna roll ups, then use your own favorite lasagna recipe and then do the roll-up noodle thing. Even though the filling looked so good with these, I was just wishing for my own lasagna taste. But, I have to confess, I didn't use the spicy sausage like the original recipe called for, I used ground turkey. So that could have been the main reason for their bland taste.

Oh, well, I can still show you the photos from making it! :) Here's the link again to the recipe: lasagna roll ups . I will say that having lasagna in little rolls was kinda fun to eat.

Mixing the filling

Making the rolls. Blake cut the noodles for me.

Lots of rolls

This is when Blake told me pictures of food are boring and I needed one of me. Ignore my fancy earrings with my pajama pants.

Ready for the oven

Oh! And this is a potholder I got from a pastor's wife at a church in Illinois! Isn't it cute! She sells them on her Etsy Shop

Out of the oven

On Blake's plate

Bombed Dinner

Well I bombed dinner last night. It happens. I made that Crescent Chicken recipe I posted on Monday and BLECH. It was awful. The crescent rolls just wouldn't cook since it had the soup mixture poured over them so everything was just kinda runny and goopy and just overall grossness. So, at about 7:30 I finally gave up trying to get everything to cook through and grabbed my purse and headed to Panda Express. I came back and Blake and I watched The Bachelor. I was happy after that.

Cabin Fever/Performance Anxiety

This coming weekend I'm scheduled to go "camping" with some girlfriends. Blake says I can't call it camping though since we're staying in a 3,000 SF stocked/electrified/heated cabin. With beds. That is why I agreed to this "camping trip" in the first place. Call me a princess - and I would agree with you.

I'll get some real pictures to show this weekend.

I'm starting to get nervous. I can only relate it to performance anxiety or something? There's about 16 girls going, I think, several of whom are good friends of mine. So why get nervous? I guess because there's such a large group going and I am hoping I don't feel awkward or boring. I'm really not much of a game-player and what else is there really to do when you're somewhere with a bunch of people who want to socialize and not leave anyone out? I know this is an anxiety that has no basis, I don't usually have any trouble in social situations, but still. I'm fighting wanting to cancel because I feel under-confident. I get nervous with large groups. But I'm doing better about having things other than music/concerts to talk about. That is a main reason why I started cooking in the first place, to have something other than our career to talk about that most women would relate to. Also, maybe I'm nervous because you get 16 girls together and there is huge potential for catty-ness. So I'm praying nothing happens along that vein.

Anyway, just was thinking about this this morning and thought I'd write it out. :)

Meal Plan Monday

Monday - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Tuesday - Crescent Chicken
Wednesday - Lasagna Roll Ups
Thursday - Sweet Potato Burritos
Friday - Applesauce Chicken
Saturday - I'm out of town, Blake fends for himself
Sunday - Cornbread taco casserole

Back to Basics

After planning my week of meals to be primarily chicken-based, my husband informed me Monday (as he graciously started the crockpot for me) that we are out of chicken. I said, "No! I just bought a bag, it's in the freezer." He looks and instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I brought home a bag of frozen hot wings. Yuck. I don't even know what to do with them.

So until the next pay period, I have to make do with what I have in my cabinets. What sort of cheap meals do you do when you don't have any ingredients?

This is what I can think of:
-oatmeal
-rice and beans
-eggs and toast
-canned soup
-meatless spaghetti
-cereal
-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

I'm sure there are other meals out there (that don't require chicken) that I can make, but I can't really think of much. Oh, and I'm out of milk. Can't wait for payday!! (I know milk is only $2 but I'm sticking to my budget!)

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- BBQ Chicken
Tuesday- Enchiladas
Wednesday- BBQ Cupcakes
Thursday- Breakfast for Dinner
Friday- Spaghetti
(Saturday and Sunday are traveling concert days this week)

Doogan's First Bath

We heard that if you start young, you can give your cats a bath. Hee Hee (evil laugh). So we tried it on Doogan and it worked! He fully cooperated. He wasn't sure enough to outright enjoy it, but he didn't complain at all. We made sure the water was toasty warm. And then he ran around all happy afterward. I used a tiny bit of dish-soap this time... maybe I'll get some baby shampoo for him!

Filled the sink with warm soapy water.

Blake even got his head a little bit. Doogan liked it.

On the floor drying off (after I towel-dried him).

His paws were so cute!! Super wet.

Possibly, Maybe, Trying to Start Working Out Again?

I have a couple of nights to myself this week while Blake is out playing (he says "working") in Tennessee. I always enjoy having a small period of time to just be by myself. A week alone is pushing it on my "enjoyment scale" but I then just try to fit some coffee dates in. I was supposed to go to my church's monthly fellowship last night, but was a bum instead and caught up on my "Bachelor" TV show. Yes, I watch that show. I'm not ashamed. I even worked out last night!! I started the Shred workout video again. Last time I did too much too fast and ended up with shin splints and had to stop after doing 10 straight days of The Shred challenge. I really liked the video though, and saw immediate results. This time, I plan to do the video 3 times a week, and then maybe walk/run the other days. We'll see. I just want to feel better, not necessarily lose weight (though I think I need to lose about 5 pounds.) I just feel "yucky" all the time, so I want to feel like a 25 year old should: healthy. After the video last night, I ate a can of straight tuna (lots of protein) to help with the soreness and it worked! I am stiff today, but am still mobile.

I made this Tuesday night and it was very good. I love it as leftovers: Potato & Bean Soup
I like this recipe because it is meatless (i.e. cheap) and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. If you don't like garbanzo beans (they're kind of gritty) then just use another can of navy beans or whatever.

This weekend Blake has a concert in Oklahoma City Sunday morning, but then we are done and get to go to a friend's to watch the Superbowl. Rather, go to a friend's to eat Superbowl food. I'm in charge of dip and chips! I heard a copycat recipe for the awesome queso dip from Chili's - it's pretty good!

Copycat Chili's Skillet Queso
- 1 can Wolf Brand Chili
- Velveeta
- milk (just enough to thin it out)
- optional spices: cumin, chili pepper, paprika, salt & pepper...

You have to eyeball it, and taste it until you think it's about right. Blake's in charge of this dip and it's success. It will be made in my crockpot, but you can just heat it up on the stove, too.

Neighbors over for Dinner

We had our wonderful neighbors over for dinner last night! I've been slowly exercising my "hostess" skills and have been watching other people very closely lately to see what they do that makes me feel special. People have been having us over a lot and I have been so honored. Blake's friend and his wife from church had us over and she used all her fine china and had coffee and desserts and appetizers all set out. Then our pastor's family had us over for Sunday lunch and they also had spent a lot of time on their table and had it decorated and all the place settings out with pretty chargers and napkins. They also had coffee made after the meal and desserts ready.

Now, I know I am not the best at decorating, and so I made do with what I had. The tips I've been taking most are to use your best dishes and make an actual place setting, and to have coffee available after the meal with a homemade dessert. Our guests didn't take us up on the coffee, but I still felt good making it for just me and Blake.

So, what I did was take a recipe that I knew was a knock-out hit. And so I made that Cornbread Taco Casserole. I needed an appetizer or side, so I just had a basket of tortilla chips in the middle of the table and set out a personal salsa dish for each person. And I used my crystal glasses and just had water or sweet tea available. It was so fun!! Our neighbors are retired, and super-talkative. They've been everywhere and know so much. After we finished the main course, I had a new dessert ready that I cooked the day before: Poor Man's Dessert. I was unsure that it would be very good, and had ice cream ready in case it was a flop. But it was AWESOME!!

Poor Man's Dessert
-1 can cherry pie filling
-1 can of pears with their juice, or crushed fruit and their juice
-1 box cake mix (I used a pineapple cake mix)
-1-3 little packets of instant oatmeal (or use plain oatmeal and some brown sugar)
-1 stick of butter
- nuts, as a garnish (optional)
Directions
1. Pour pie filling in bottom of greased crockpot
2. Pour can of fruit with juice over pie filling
3. Add cake mix, do not stir
4. Sprinkle oatmeal on top
5. Cut butter in 1 tbsp pats and lay across top
6. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours. Do not open your crock during cooking time!
7. Serve warm with ice cream



This was good. Very good. I will use this whenever I entertain. It's a pretty dessert and has a wow-factor. I bet it could be translated to an oven recipe, but I sure liked just dumping it into the crock pot and ignoring it.

*Update* my only complaint about this dessert was that the cake was still kinda gummy. Next time I might flip the crockpot to High on the last hour and keep and eye on it.

Strawberry Applesauce

I really like the strawberry flavored applesauce at the store. A lot. So I made some of my own at home! I do think store bought is better, but this is pretty close. And I bet you could experiment with different flavors.

Strawberry Applesauce
-2 cups applesauce
-1 little box of strawberry jello powder
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups water

-Warm up the 2 cups of applesauce for 2 minutes in the microwave or so
-pour jello powder into warm applesauce and mix
-add water to applesauce mix (use less or more water to make it thinner or thicker)
-chill in refrigerator overnight or for 4 hours

It's pretty good! Blake says it needs extra sugar. I think it's fine the way it is. He's been eating it by the bowl-full.

Scraggly Toy

Of all the cute toys he has to pick from, wouldn't you know, this ugly thing is Doogan's favorite

Meal Planning Monday

I haven't gone shopping yet, so this list is wishful thinking. We're still frozen over here in OKC so it may be cereal for a few nights until Walmart's parking lot thaws out.

Monday - Cornbread Taco Casserole (we're having our neighbors over for dinner)
Tuesday - Potato & Bean Soup
Wednesday - Tilapia
Thursday - Spaghettios (just being real!)
Friday - Barb's Amazing Bean Burritos
Saturday - Enchiladas
Sunday - Concert day and Super Bowl food!