Monday....Fruit Dip and doctor appts. BLEK!

well, it's Monday alrighty.  I've already had one dr. appt with a surgical consult set for Thursday.  I'd tell you but you'd be all grossed out so let's just skip that part.  Later today I'm off to the dentist to get two crowns.  Getting old sucks people!!

So this past weekend we went to Schlitterbahn, had a great time and I really really meant to get pics of all the food we took buuuutttt..... I kinda sorta forgot.  sorry about that...however I DID take a few pics of this amazing fruit dip I make.  It's so easy so luscious and so so easy!!

let's do it!

First thing beat up the softened cream cheese. Let that stuff get to room temp and it beats up much smoother, then throw in that jar of marshmallow creme and beat that all nice and smooth then dump in that thawed cool whip and beat again until nice and smooth.  Then it's all done!!

Now serve it up with some fruit and be prepared for people to LOVE you!!! 

I just dumped mine back in the cool whip bowl so it could make the trip to Schlitterbahn with us.

I'm not sure what dinner will bring tonight peeps as getting two crowns at 3:20 in the afternoon is likely to leave me less than thrilled to cook dinner. It might be a fish stick night...you never can tell. :0)

Happy Monday folks and pray for rain!!

Peace, Love and Yummies!!!!

Microtel inns & Suites

Our little hotel in New Braunfels. Completely renovated and very nice. Comfy beds but really BIG pillows. Off the Schlitterbahn
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Afternoon walk in the neighborhood

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It's Thursday already!

It's been a super duper crazy week peeps.  I can't believe I have gotten so lax in my "pictoral" feeding of you.  My apologies.

Tuesday night it was get the door it's Domino's time.  Hubby and I had cracker crust with green olives, jalapenos and pepperoni.  Mere had pepperoni and Abogg had canadian bacon. No pics...just hungry peeps.

Wednesday night was a Schwan's night again.  Here we go:

Looks complicated doesn't it??? hee heee

Ok, get the rice going per package directions people so you end up with this:

Now get the green beans going....

Now get the shrimp on the barbie mates:

Just follow the directions and BAM.... dinner is served

Yummy, easy and deeeeeelish!!  Thanks Schwan's man!!!

Peace, Love and Yummies folks!

TuTu Tuesday...and some Chinese Food

It's still hotter than blue blazes here and it looks to stay that way for quite some time.  I feel like I'm getting up at the crack of dawn to get the laundry started and down before it gets to hot...at 8 freakin' a.m.!!  Geez, I knew I was gonna miss that cold weather at some point, I just figured it would be August.

Yesterday we had a (to borrow the term from Sandra Lee) Semi Homemade dinner. Not bad folks, not bad at all. Especially if you know my feelings about frozen prepackaged dinner entrees.

Thai Beef and Noodles, Schwan's Sweet and Sour Chicken dinner, Shrimp Fried Rice (Tai Pei brand), Eggrolls (also Tai Pei) and fortune cookies for sure!

First up Thai Beef and Noodles (cast of characters)

2 packages of Thai Sesame Noodles or Teriyaki Noodles

12 oz boneless Sirloin steak, cut in strips

1 bag Stir Fry veggies

Cook the noodles per package directions

Heat tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet and season the beef with a little salt and pepper

Now, warm up that oil and toss in the meat to the skilllet and let it brown up. Should take about 5 minutes.

As you can see, it doesn't take long since it's thin and cut in strips.

Once the beef is done, remove from skillet to pan of noodles

Now we need to take those veggies and toss them in the skillet the beef just came out of and dump in 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and let those babies cook for about 4 minutes if you like them good and crunchy. Truth is, I cook mine for about 7-8 minutes.  I hate half frozen veggies :0(

Mix it with the beef and noodles and tadaaaa this part of dinner is done.

Next up the Sweet and Sour Chicken...compliments of the Schwan's man.

I don't particularly care for anything Sweet and Sour but the masses to please around here enjoyed it very much.  One of those members is incredibly picky and she liked it very much.

Once again....the Schwan's folks didn't let us down. Which may or may not be a good thing???

I forgot to take the pic of the Shrimp Fried Rice but it was straight up out of the bag and looked like this when we finished.

Egg rolls.......

Even though it's a bazillion degrees round these parts I suffered through and turned on the oven because well dangit....frozen fried items cooked in the microwave are gross!!!

These were not bad....not the best eggroll mind you but definitely not bad for a frozen food item.

And of course, if one is having chinese food then one must have a fortune cookie for dessert.

Peace, Love and Yummies folks!!!

Hot Hot Monday Musings

It's hot peeps....I mean REALLY REALLY HOT!!  

I have a hodgepodge of pics and stuff from the latter part of last week and also the weekend.  Nothing too serious on a Monday for ya!

First of all since I talk about my current obsession with making potatoes, sweet potatoes and veggies a particular way I decided to do a bit more info and add a few pics to the concept.

First of all you gotta cut 'em up:

on this particular evening we were having sweet potatoes and zucchini.

Once they are cut up you need to give a light coating of olive oil and then add some salt and pepper.

Mix that all up really good .....go ahead get your hands in there!!!   Then spread them out on a baking sheet and get that oven going at 375 degrees. 

Once you have them spread out then lightly dust everything with some thyme.

Now pop them in the oven and let them cook up as tender and crispy as your family likes them!

Lesson learned this evening.......when you are cooking zucchini with any other potato type veggie, put the zucchini in one pan and the potatoes in another.  The zucchini almost got too done and the potatoes could have stayed in a bit longer.  No worries .....No leftovers  :0)

This was dinner and if you want to make the chicken sammies, just head over here and find out how.

Now for a refreshing break of summertime food goodies......

Seedless delicious watermelon

This was a chocolate frosty homemade ice cream and the next time we make it... I promise to take photos and share.  It's scrumpdillyiscious!

Hot dogs and Earl Campbell hot links on the barbie mates!

My hubby's favorite condiment!

the plate on the left is hubby's Father's day lunch and the plate on the right is mine.   :0)  hey...I just cook what he requested folks!!!

Peace, Love and Yummies!!!!

To Die For

Get yourself to GoGo Gumbo and get some of this dessert!!
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WICKED Thursday....and some Rustic Pasta

I didn't cook last night, instead I went here:

Court and I headed over to Dallas about 6 pm yesterday afternoon.  Of course, we made a pit stop at the little "hole in the wall" taco stand off Inwood.  SUPER YUMMO....sorry no photos but if you are heading that way, it's off Inwood at a gas station and you literally order your food from a walk up window in the wall of the gas station.  If you want a drink you have to go inside and buy it at the gas station.  Court had the Chicken Taco Special and I had the Barbacoa Speacial. Three soft tacos, the best rice and beans, green tomatilla sauce, a red sauce and some onions and a big ole jalapeno for 5 bucks!!!  Sorry, no pics :0(

On the note of Wicked.....VERY different from the book. Play was very comical and the actors are incredibly talented.  It was a fun time.  The boys were home alone....I do not wish to know what happened to my kitchen while we were gone but my house reeked of fried bacon at midnight last night.

However, Tuesday night we had a very rustic pasta dish.  I can't call it a meat sauce because there was really no sauce.  Different....but tasty.  Now that we know what to expect, I think we will like it more the next time.

Cast of characters:

2 Tbsp olive oil

onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs ground beef

Salt, to taste

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 tsp thyme

2 cans whole tomatoes

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Big box Rigatoni

Heat your olive oil up in the skillet over med-high heat and dump in the onions and let them cook a few minutes, unti they start to turn translucent.

Now once those are almost translucent add the garlic, and cook for about 1 minute.  Don't let the garlic burn.  Nasteeeeee if you do. 

Stir that all around and then dump in the ground beef and let's mix it up really good and let that meat brown up.

Now you're cooking with gas...in my case, literally  :0)

If your meat has fat when you finish browning it then you will want to drain off most all the fat

Mine however came from Sprout's so there was no fat to drain.

Now that we have our meat all ready to go let's add the salt, pepper and thyme.   Stir to combine then add those tomatoes with the juice.   Sitr really good so it's nice and pretty like this.....

Now let's just slap a lid on that bad jamma and turn the heat down to low and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  You can peek inside the pot and give it a stir a few times while it's cooking too.

This is what it looks like when it's hanging out all alone on the stove...shhhh don't tell it that I snuck a photo!

Isn't it cute when it's sleeping???  huh, oh wait sorry.  I tend to get excited about dinner!

Now then it's time to take the lid off the pot and give it a good stir and let it cook uncovered for another 30 minutes.   When there is about 15 minutes left it's time to get that Rigatoni started. Just cook it following the directions on the box.  Drain the pasta once it's cooked and hopefully you had some yummo  5 cheese Garlic Bread from Schwan's that you were baking up and a salad.  Dinner perfecto!!!

I was hungry...yeah yeah what's new right???.....and I got excited and forgot to take some finished photos but my son saved the day and snapped a few of his plate before he started digging in.   Don't you love our fancy napkins!! haha    Once again folks, it's not about how fancy or how elaborate your meal is, it's the fact that you feed your family and you enjoy dinner together. Buy the best ingredients that your budget allows and then experiment a little.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes not so good but have fun and enjoy your family!!!

Peace, Love and Yummies folks!!!

p.s.  The not so successful chicken strips the other night at dinner....are fabulous cold out of the fridge leftover :0)

TuTu Tuesday and a 50/50 shot at dinner last night!

well folks sometimes you win and sometimes you lose....dinner was a 50/50 last night.  That's ok, you never know what you like until you try and in the process you find something you really like.

Let's start with the good....the baked beans.  I've made these before but boy are they a hit!  I'm gonna use some old photos and add a new one in but let's do this:

Cast of characters:

8 slices bacon, halved

1 med onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

3 - 28 oz cans pork n beans

3/4 cup bbq sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp dry ground mustard

Cook that bacon in a big ole pan!

Since you are going to need a big pot I just cook my bacon in a big pot and on the plus side....keeps that grease from splattering so bad.  Now cook the bacon to chewy and remove to drain on paper towels.

Now drain off most of that grease and toss in the onions and green pepper. Now....I know I said use 1/2 of a pepper but I buy peppers on sale and chop them up when I get home and food saver them so I just used a whole pepper.  Hey, it's my beans and I can do what I want to them...besides I'm lazy sometimes. :o/

You are going to cook those until tender or about 5 minutes.

Now let's add the beans and the remaining ingredients...well, don't add that bacon just yet but you should check to see that everyone in your family hasn't snuck in and nabbed every gosh darn piece...you know just in case you need to cook some more. While you are at it...flip that oven on to about 325 degrees.   Now mix that all up and bring to a simmer on the stove.

When that's all done just dump into a 9x13 baking dish and top with the bacon. You might want to spray that dish with some Pam too.  You are then going to bake those babies for about 2 hours or until the consistency of pancake syrup.  Then pull 'em out and slap 'em on the table and be prepared to be amazed at what happens in the oven during 2 hours!! YUMMMMMMOOO!!!!

See what I mean, I couldn't even get a photo before they starting digging in!  I'm sure you have noticed that this isn't a full dish of beans.  I actually made the beans on Saturday for our friend Mark's party but didn't take all of them to the party so I finished cooking the remainder last night.  Unless you have a big shindig....you could easily split this recipe into two pans however I'm not sure how they would be frozen so maybe just make a friend with the neighbor.  You know right before you go on vacation and need them to water your flowers or something!

Honey Mustard dipping sauce....this was super dee duper!!   Def. a keeper and a have a small jar of it in the fridge ready and waiting for any chicken strip emergency that might arise.

Cast of characters is simple!!!

This recipe makes a bunch but I cut it in half and still have lots of leftover.

1-1/2 cups of mayo

1/4 cup dijon mustard  (I used spicy brown 'cuz that's what I had)

1/2 cup honey

That honey is from our friends the Runneberg's and it is sooooo good!!  On the off chance they might read this....I'm gonna need a refill soon.  :0)

Now just mix those ingredients up in a bowl and wah lah ......dipping sauce!

Here are some photos of the remaining dinner....talk to me if you want to know more about the chicken or the corn ....have I told you before how much I HATE frying things in my house?? Plus I'm not very good at it.  The corn was a hit with my son and I liked it but will lay off the pepper next time.  I think it overpowered the dish. This was fresh corn so the pepper was too powerful for that lusciousness.  Sorry mr. corn, next time I'll be nicer to you and not douse you in pepper.

Jeff needed to spice up his chicken

chicken strips finally done

Alex can wait no more, he fixed his plate.

and finally....the dog who waited patiently for any leftovers

Peace, Love and Yummies folks!!!