…simply about g

This is why I don’t garden…Wes found this in our front flower bed.

That was definitely after this pic was taken:

Had Kayla and I saw that earlier, we wouldn’t have been sitting in the grass. Maybe thats why she doesn’t like the grass.

Last night was our long anticipated slumber party. We had a blast, hanging out and playing games till 3am. 

Yes, the blender fought a good fight, but it was no match for Annette.

Date night rolled around and Wes and I had Greek and Lebanese then went to the mall. There we had fun in the Halloween store.

Lastly, we went to see Resident Evil. I knew for sure, this was the last one, but I was wrong, there will be a fourth.  It was a good movie by the way. Can’t beat a good zombie movie.

She can sit! But she doesn’t like grass.

Well I haven’t posted in a while, its been a rough week. Tuesday I woke up with this nagging feeling. Had to take Kayla to the Dr. for her 6 month shots. That was pretty rough, but she took it alright. Ran some errands and tried to organize a little bit even though I didn’t feel that great. Then Wednesday morning, it was here, the mother of all sinus infections. To top it all off Wes caught it and Kayla woke up with a runny nose. So we had to go get Kayla some medicine and a humidifier. She is fine now. She woke up this morning good as new. So we survived our first cold, YAY!!!

Well tonight I made tuna sandwiches, I know that’s not a real difficult thing to make, but I added some things to jazz it up a little. I don’t necessarily have a recipe, I just put in what I like and when it tastes good…Voila, dinner.  Unless I am baking I don’t measure anything, so bear with me on the measurements.

Jazzed up tuna sandwiches
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Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

1 package tuna packed in sunflower oil, 7 oz
2 eggs, hard boiled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup light sour cream
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 stalk  celery, finely chopped
1/4  cup dill pickels , chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
4 slices swiss cheese
1 loaf  bread   , (French, Rye or other good crusty bread)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except for cheese and bread) in a bowl to make tuna salad.

Preheat broiler, slice bread into 1/2 inch think slices, lay in even layer on cookie sheet and spread small amount of butter on each slice.
Put under broiler just long enough to toast up the bread. This should take longer than 1 minute. Spread tuna on each slice of bead and place swiss cheese slice on every other piece. Place back under broiler for another minute, just long enough to melt cheese.

Top with whatever toppings you like, I like a slice of tomato. Sandwich two pieces together and enjoy.

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I also made some fresh green beans, I think everyone knows how to make green beans but I did want to point out that I used the new Glad steamer bags.

They worked great. Steaming instructions were right on the bag. I placed my veggies into the little ziploc bag, microwaved for 5 minutes and they were perfect. I sauteed some chopped onion and turkey bacon in a little butter and tossed the steamed beans around in it. End result was better than anything you get out of a can.

Wes and I had a nice dinner out tonight and we braved the elements and brought Kayla along with us. She did alright for her first restaurant experience. She was most interested in the coaster. Thank goodness for paper coasters. She annihilated it, it was in wet shards by the time we left. I am surprised she is not permanently pink and blue from the ink.

Today was full of shocking events. First of all I woke up this morning and it was cool outside. That usually doesn’t happen around here till mid December. Motivated by the nice weather leads me to shocker #2, I actually went outside and weeded my front flower bed. There were plenty too. After that I laid out in the hammock and read. Then off to Walmart where I got the biggest shocker of all, our bill was half of what it usually is. That is a miracle in itself.

In all seriousness, its been a great weekend. Wes and I got to hang out a lot this weekend. No date night last night, our babysitter was sick. So we stayed home, ordered pizza and played some Wii. This afternoon we barbecued, still nice outside but the mosquito’s will eat you alive at this point. I don’t know where the cool weather came from, but I hope it stays a while.

That about wraps it up. Kayla played dress up yesterday.

Well nothing big happening around here. Beautiful day outside. Wes is outside with one of his buddies working on a mustang. Surprise surprise. I got up early this morning and had a Hot Stone Massage. It was very nice and relaxing. Not something that I usually spring for though, I had a gift certificate that I’ve been holding on to for almost a year. It was time to use it.

Yesterday I went a little bid happy on Ebay. I bought 9 items, 8 from one seller. ( Don’t tell Wes) Seriously, I found a store on Ebay that sells Sarovski Crystals at a great price, so I got a couple different kind to play with. The barrettes are fun, but I don’t know how many people actually wear barrettes now days. So I am going to focus on some hipper trends. I’ll keep you in suspense for now.

That’s about it though, hanging out with Kayla today. If Wes can tear himself away from the cars, maybe we’ll go find something to do. Oh, Wes checked the traffic numbers on my blog and this site averages about 49 people a day. I almost fell out of my chair. So if you like my blog, leave me a comment sometime. I’d love to hear from ya.

Alright, so I tried a new recipe 2 nights in a row, thats got to be some kind of record. Tonight I made Twice-Baked Potato Casserole and it was delicious.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole
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Ingredients:

6 potatoes, Baked & Cubed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound bacon , cooked and crmbled
2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
3 cups sour cream
8 oz. Mozarella cheese, shredded
8  oz. Cheddar cheese, shredded
green onions , for garnish

Directions:

Place half of the baked cubed potatoes in a greased 13″x9″ baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and half the butter pats. Top with half of bacon, sour cream and cheeses. Repeat layer with rest of potatoes and other ingredients.

Bake at 350 for 20 min. Garnish with chopped green onions or chives.

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Wes and I both really liked this dish. It is certainly not figure friendly. I made it as a main dish, but I think it would work better as a side dish. It would also be great to take along to a pot luck or church dinner. By the way, those chives on top are fresh from my garden.

So, I am unveiling a new post topic for my 3 loyal readers out there. You know I like to cook and try out new recipes. So, I have decided to start sharing these recipes with you. Now, I won’t be posting these every day, because I don’t cook every day. But when I do, I’m going to share the recipe, Wes’ and my opinion of the dish, and any tips to go along with it. So this will be my first installment of What’s for Dinner.

Smokey Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken stock
1 lb. chicken tenders
1 bay leaf, fresh if available

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices thick, smoky center cut bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves, garlic chopped
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons sauce
1 can (28-ounce) crushed fire roasted tomatoes
Salt
4 cups corn tortilla chips, lightly crushed
2 cups shredded fresh smoked mozzarella or smoked sharp white Cheddar cheese, 3/4 pound
1 lime, cut into wedges
1/2 red onion, chopped
Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped for garnish

Directions:

Bring the broth to a simmer and add the chicken tenders, poach them for 6 to 7 minutes with a bay leaf.

While the chicken poaches, heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium soup pot or deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook it until crisp then remove it with a slotted spoon. Drain off the excess fat, leaving 2 to 3 tablespoons in the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and cook them for 5 minutes then stir in chipotles and tomatoes.

Remove the chicken from the stock, dice it then add it to the soup. Pass the stock through a strainer then add it to the soup.

Place a pile of crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of each soup bowl. Cover it liberally with smoked cheese then ladle the hot soup down over the top. Serve it with lime, raw onions and cilantro at table to finish the soup.

(I omitted the bay leaf, cilantro, limes and salt. For me there was enough salt from the chicken stock)

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I liked this recipe a lot. The only thing for me was that I didn’t really like the texture of the chips after they sat in the soup. But I am not a fan of soggy cereal, chips crackers etc. So for me personally, I’d rather put the chips on top of the soup. The sharp cheddar really brought out the smoky flavor in the soup, so definitely don’t skip the cheese. Wes liked the soup also, he had no complaints.

Recipe was easy to follow and total cooking time was about 30 minutes. This is not a meal that I’d cook every week, but its great when you want something different. And I also liked the fact that it makes a small amount. I give it a 4 out of 5.

If you try it, please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought about it. ( Sorry there isn’t a picture, I’ll try to include pictures in the future)

Yet I can’t seem to find time to do it anyway. Well its been a while since my last real post. Not much happening. I can pretty much wrap up the last week in one post, so here goes.

Kayla has 2 teeth. She likes to chew on her own or someone else’s finger. Which hurts cause she can bite pretty hard. She is on the verge of crawling and sitting up. I don’t know which one she will end up doing first, but my money is on crawling. She still likes to be entertained all the time, but now we actually get a response.

Yes that is a giggle. But to get one of those you have to do something really silly. If you look close you can see 2 teeth at the bottom.

Again, likes to chew on fingers. She is fascinated by the camera.

So anyway, I’ve been looking for something to do at the house to keep me busy since I quit my job. ( Not that Kayla doesn’t keep me occupied) But, I needed something else to do. So I am starting to make barrettes. Here are a few of the ones I have made so far.

They are pretty fun to make. I am also going to be making other hair accessories and jewelry. I just need to go get some supplies. I don’t know what I am going to do with this stuff yet. I think I’ll try to sell it on Ebay.

Date Night: Wes and I went to Carabba’s Restaurant for dinner. They have the best bread. Its that kind that you dip in the olive oil. Then after that we went to Barnes & Nobles to read a little bit. Wes is a speed reader, he picks a book and reads it there so he doesn’t have to buy it. It takes me forever to read something, so I have to actually purchase the book. I think I may be a little ADD when it come to reading. I get distracted very easily, I tried to read a little while I was there, but there was this moron sitting 10 feet away griping about religion, politics, money, you name it, he had an opinion. So I just bought the book to read later. I bought The Diary of Anne Frank. I had not read it before, surprisingly, because I thought it was a required school book. But anyway, I’m reading it now. Anyway, back to date night. After that we went to see Annette and Daniel @LSU to watch the game with them. If you didn’t watch it, it was a massacre 47-9. Go Tigers!!!

Well I think thats about it. I think I covered it all.