Tea Party

I'm so excited!  I'm hosting a Tea Party tomorrow at my house :)  A while ago a friend and I had been talking about girlie things and I said I wanted to have a tea party.  She said she'd come if I did - so I planned one!!  I just invited a couple friends nearby and my neighbors - didn't want it to be too overwhelming for me for my first one :)

I am having each guest bring a cute teapot, a teacup, and at least one bag of flavored tea they want to try.  Oh, and to wear a sundress for the occasion.

This is my fare I'm preparing:

-Muffins
-no bake cookies
-spinach pinwheels
-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
-Almond Chicken Tea Sandwiches
-Pineapple Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
-Bacon-wrapped Water Chestnuts appetizers
-Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I'll be sure to blog about what was good - and hopefully nothing will not be good :)  I made sure to try to a sweet thing, tea-ish party things, a hearty thing, and a salty thing.  Not a lot of each, just a little.

One key tip I've discovered to having a successful food event that doesn't stress me out because I'm making so many different foods, is to write down a "timeline" of the foods I'm preparing so I can see exactly at what time I need to be preparing things, and at what time to stick foods in the oven.  This also helps you notice if you're planning dishes that will conflict in cooking times -especially at Thanksgiving! You can see what foods you need to pick something else to make sure your oven schedule all works out.

I'll blog about it next week how it went!

Cowboy Pie

I posted on Facebook yesterday that I had 1 pound of ground beef so what should I make?  I got several comments, like the yummy taco cornbread casserole (but I didn't have the right ingredients on hand), meatloaf, tacos, "a cow" (thanks to my little brother). But I had one post that seemed interesting to make a gr. beef/bean mix and then cook it in crescent rolls.  So I went home and decided to come up with something.

So this is what I made:

Cowboy Pie

-1 lb ground beef

-1-2 cans ranch style beans (lightly drained)
-1 can fire roasted tomatoes (lightly drained)
-1 can green chiles (lightly drained)
-1/2 cup ranch dressing (light)
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 tsp paprika
-1 Tbsp onion flakes
-dash red pepper flakes
-1 can biscuits (reduced fat)
-shredded cheese (optional)

1. Brown ground beef in skillet on medium high, adding onion flakes to meat.
2. Preheat oven to 400.  Add remaining ingredients to skillet (except for biscuits). Heat through.
3. Once oven is ready, place biscuits in 13x9 baking dish.  Cover biscuits with meat/bean mix. Sprinkle top with cheese.  (I didn't use cheese and it was still really good.)
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through.

My observations:
-This dish was really good. Filling and hearty.  Blake had 3 helpings. I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch today.
-I think in retrospect I will cook the biscuits by themselves first, then top with the heated meat/bean mix so the biscuits are more like biscuits and gravy texture.  But Blake liked that the biscuits were cooked with the bean mix because the biscuits absorbed the ranch flavor.  So it's up to you.
-I also next time might put black beans in the mix, they'd probably help add more nutrition and texture.  Maybe even a can of corn. You can also just use 1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles already in them. I just didn't have one of those cans on hand.

Last weekend

This past weekend Blake did a mini-concert at First Baptist Norman, OK and that went well.  On the way to the concert we saw this:

Pretty funny. The bike wasn't even really secure, they just looped the band under the pedal-not through the spokes or anything!

Then we went to a concert to hear a quartet we know called The Williamsons on Sunday night.  We wanted to hear them and they even had Blake sing a couple of solos there, so that was fun

Blake and I had a relaxing dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings last night.  That is our go-to place for when we just want to drain away any stress or talk about how things are going.  We have this one location we go to and they have an outdoor patio area.  We sit back in the chairs under the fans and just watch the sports or whatever they have on the TV.  I could immediately feel my body relax and mind clear...and it was just great for us both.  I'm not a fan of the $30 meal ticket, but hey.  It's like we both got a massage for only $30, we left feeling so good.  Money well spent.  And I have leftovers for my lunch today! :)

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas/Burritos

I made some enchiladas last night from a burrito recipe and they were excellent!  Here's the original recipe: Taste of Home   It can be made in the slow cooker, or on the stove top. (I would add the cumin to taste and not the 3 Tbsp like they suggest!)

I'll write my version of what I did.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

• 1 can, whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can, black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can,  fire roasted diced tomatoes, mostly drained
• 1 can (4 oz), of mild green chiles, drained
• Canned Chicken, drained
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt(heaping)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 package (8 oz.), reduced-fat cream cheese
• Shredded cheese
• Tortillas

1. Combine all ingredients (except cheeses) in big pot on stove at medium high, adding the cream cheese when everything else is already warmed. Heat through.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Grease a 13x9 pan. Add filling to however many burritos will fit in your pan. Pour remainder of filling over burritos. Top with sprinkled cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese in melted.


Blake gave this 2 thumbs up!  Best part was that it took maybe 20 min to make. That's my kind of recipe!  I have discovered I really like homemade enchiladas - but am grossed out by restaurant enchiladas. I think the soggy texture gets to me.  Enjoy!!

Picture of me and Blake

My sweet Grandpa took this picture of me and Blake after our concert in Pampa TX.  We all went to Long John Silver's after the concert and got to see each other. :)

In Memoriam (the Jenna version, not Lord Alfred Tennyson's)

So long my unwanted friends
with your gleaming strands and peeking ends.

So long premature markers of age
that belie decrepitude and debility, a false gauge.

I have conquered you, Gray Hairs!
I have doused you, no one can refute!
Well, at least for 26 washes - or when you reemerge at my roots.

More Decorating!

Blake and I had a great weekend, though it was more full than I would have preferred for a holiday weekend.  I tend to become a homebody when I have a day off work because we travel so much.

Friday we got off work and went to our next door neighbor's house, their daughter was celebrating her first birthday, so we were there for a while.  Also, Friday was the day I was trying to decide what to do with the stray cat that I found our doorstep.  He would come around every couple of weeks, and he would tear my heart out because he was so injured.  He wasn't neutered and appeared to be on the bottom of the totem pole - so he was really torn up every time I would see him.  His face was pretty disfigured from old wounds, he had a large area of his face and cheek that was without fur and had thick scar tissue.  He had trouble opening one of his eyes.  But that wasn't the part that got me.  He had a wound on his shoulder that was about the width of 2 quarters, and it was gaping.  You could see his muscle underneath.  It wasn't pouring blood or anything either, so it looked like it had been open for a while.  I saw him twice over a couple of weeks and each time that wound was open.  And he was all scruffy and his coat was really thin and dirty.  He wasn't interested in cleaning himself.  He'd just sit occasionally on our stone wall out front.  He didn't seem to be hindered walking around, but that open wound was just serious.  I fed him a couple of times, and he seemed content to adopt me as his new home.  He wasn't concerned when I'd approach, just watchful.  I brought him dry cat food, and then a half serving of tuna.  He gobbled them down.  On Friday when I got off work, when I gave him the tuna, he was so appreciative that he rubbed his head on my hand and it just broke my heart.  I called the vet to see what they do for strays, but they didn't quote a price break to fix him up, so I had to decide to take him to the OK City Shelter.  Saturday after we had sound checks at a local church, we came home and he was still on our wall out front (Sticker was not a fan of this guy). So I coaxed him into a carrier with more tuna and we took him to the shelter.  I really hope they try to heal him and not just put him down.  I know it was the right decision, but it was hard to take him there when he trusted me.

So, Saturday, after that heart wrenching task, we were invited to go to a friend's house with a bunch of people.  Sunday we had a concert at a local church and Blake got to do a few songs, and even one patriotic song.  He sang really well and everyone loved it.  We are always so tired after a concert, we went home and made another appearance at a friend's house for a few hours.  Then we crashed at home until 11pm when Blake got inspired to hang the ceiling fan I recently got for the guest room. With flashlights as our only lighting, he got it hung by 12:15am.  He did good :)

Monday is when the fun started!!  Inspired by the success of the ceiling fan hanging, Blake and I set off to find more guest room decor.  Kohls was having a great sale so we were picky and found exactly what we wanted for the bedding.  Here is our guest room now:

I really wanted to recreate a wheat field look so I'll be on the hunt for more items that are organic and textured with that wheat color.  I'm thinking also of doing a "frame collage" with empty picture frames above the bed. I saw that in a magazine, too, and it looked so cool!

I'd seen in a magazine a really cool burlap bed skirt that was $60.  So I thought, well, I could probably just get some burlap from Hobby Lobby.  And yep, only for $15!!  We just tucked the burlap fabric under the bed (we'll have to figure out how to make it more permanent) and it looks great and adds the organic texture that I wanted for the room.  I have one more accent pillow to get that will be the same green color as the throw.  Doogan loves the new bedding; we have to watch him because he likes to bite the throw.

Here is a pic with the new ceiling fan and I tied our curtains back with chocolate brown ribbons.

The sheets are a green paisley print.  And, if you'll notice, I have my lamp I redid, and I got a little antique clock for the bedside table.

So Blake and I keep peeking in this room, proud of our creativity and that the ceiling fan is the most expensive item in the room!  Everything else we got at over 60% off!  I really suggest going to Ross for bedding, too.  We got the sheets and throw there, as well as the curtains (at $4 each!) 

It is very possible to do a cheap room makeover.  Just be extra selective and have a general look decided on before you start.  That way you can predict what items will help you achieve your overall look.  For this room, I decided on "Wheat field after a rain storm."  So that decided my colors (white, blue, green, wheat) and textures (classic and clean, with accents of rough fabric and organic leafy-ness).  As you can see, it's not done, but the feel of the room is decided and will be easier to find accents to complete the room.