What's cooking Wednesday

What's cooking at your house today? For us, it's taco salad. Easy, pretty healthy, and YUMMY!

If I were a food photographer, this is what my salad would look like:

Instead, it looks like this slop:

Here's how I do my taco salad. There are so many variations, and so many things you can throw in salads. That's the beauty of them!

3/4 head lettuce, roughly chopped
4-6 tomatoes, roughly chopped (no canned tomatoes! Fresh! And the bigger the chop, the better in this salad, IMO)
1-2 onions, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
About 1/3 cup salsa. You can put more or less in, depending on how "wet" you like your salad.
Shredded Mexican-style cheese (I use probably more than a cup)
1 1/2 pound taco meat (yes, we use the package mixes. I'll have to find a recipe to a homemade taco seasoning)

We mix all of this and put it on top of tortilla chips. Top with avocados, sour cream, more salsa, more onions...whatever your fancy is! Then shovel it in thy face.

Enjoy!

Time to read Tuesday

OK, this is the scenario I'm in right now. I started listening to this book at work months ago (you all know how I like to listen to audio books while I'm at work). Now I'm far enough into it that I HAVE to finish, but the main character is really started to get on my freaking nerves!! Do you ever do that? I would probably stop reading it if I didn't have so much time invested in it already. And speaking of time, you all know it never takes me this long to read/listen to a book, so that kinda tells you that I've been reluctant to listen to it.

Anyway, even with that being said, I like the book alright. I mean, I'm reading it, aren't I? Plus, what I didn't mention is that it's the 2nd book in a 2-book series, so I can't NOT finish it. I have to know how the stories wrap up.

Just tell us what the book is already!!! (That's what I can hear you all yelling at me). Well, here 'tis.

Eona by Alison Goodman

I DO like IT because it has interesting Chinese folklore and I get to learn about a different culture, even if it is a fantasy-type story. Plus, it has a kick-ass female main character, which I always appreciate, even if I want to bean her over the head with her own swords quite often.

Also, just as an aside, on my Kindle right now I'm reading the classic novel Great Expectations by Dickens. I'm reading this because they made a mini-series that's going to be on Masterpiece Theater in April and I LOVE anything Masterpiece, so I wanna know the story. It's starting slow, but I hear it really is a good one. It's not a classic for nothing, you know.

Oh, and another aside, did you all notice how I just jumped back into blogging like nothing happened and I didn't just lose like a whole month? Yeah...we'll pretend that didn't happen.

Love to all,

What's cookin' Wednesday

I've missed blogging! I won't bore you with excuses, but we all know how crazy life can get, and mine definitely gets that way sometimes. Oh, and there's that little thing of me being pretty lazy, too. That kinda puts a hiccup in things occasionally.

So it's Wednesday, and that means FOOD around here! Well, today, it's going to be more about food/kitchen organization than actual food, but you gotta get your kitchen in order to have an easy breezy prep and cooking time, right?

First thing's first...meal planning. I've been doing it for about a year now. I did it for two main reasons: so I wouldn't feel so CrAzY when I went to the grocery store, and to save money. Yep, if you have a very set list and know exactly what you need when you set foot in the store, you WILL save money. I guarantee it*

So this is what I do. It's simple. First, I make a list of all the dinners I will make for the next week (I only meal plan one week in advance. Some people do much more...more on that in a bit). Then I think about who will be home and what they will need for breakfast and lunch. Then, I think about the ingredients I will need for these meals, and make my list accordingly. Brandon is my "checker." I sit regally in my chair and call out ingredients to him and he dutifully checks cabinet/fridge/freezer to see if we have said ingredient. If not, it goes on the list. Ta da! Meal plan made; grocery list made.

A friend of mine, Lena, made this INCREDIBLE meal plan calendar. Someday I want to be like her. (I want to be like her in more ways that just this meal plan. Let's just suffice it to say she's kinda awesome.)

How cool is that?! Yep, pretty cool. (I must ask her about lentil tacos. Sounds so interesting!)

Onward to kitchen organization.

Disclaimer: I have none of this awesomeness in my kitchen. This is simply a dream of mine. This all comes from my "Smart Organization" pinboard on Pinterest.

**Sigh** Don't you just wish?! And if you have any of this cool organization stuff in YOUR kitchen, don't tell me. It will just make me hate you.

So, it's off to the races for me on this Wednesday. Have a wonderful day!

*No guarantees are actually made. I will NOT refund money you don't save or anything crazy like that.

Excuses

I know. Lame. I'm coming here to give you excuses for not blogging. We've been living in a plague-ridden house for a few days now. Coming onto a week. Suffice it to say that every person is puked, snotted, and just plain worn out.

I should have known we'd all get sick. Anytime we go somewhere there is kid-based, we end up sick. Last year, after we went to Chuck E Cheese, we were in the same predicament. This past Sunday, we went to BounceU for a birthday party and all mysteriously got sick the next day. Damn kids and their little mini germs. Kids germs are like, concentrated or something. "Buy now! Smaller, but more potent! More bang for your buck!" Now, in all fairness, we only usually get sick this time of year, when the cold/flu germs are everywhere.
Oh well, we're all on the tail-end of it. Except me, of course. Mine is slowly but surely turning into a sinus infection. I will be going to the doc sometimes in the next few days, I'm sure, to get some antibiotics to kick this thang.

What was that? You want proof of our adventure that we are lying all the blame on? I happen to have photographic evidence that we were, in fact, at said BounceU, and that, in fact, fun was had by all.

Click here for full-size image and credits

OK, I think that's all for now. Hold onto your britches though, cause I'll be back in full force next week. I keep warning you guys, you know?

Love to all,

Make Something Monday

Well, I did well there for a few days, huh? I think if I can just get ahead of myself and maybe even start some posts before the day of, I could actually keep on top of this thing. I really do enjoy blogging, so I wanna...well, blog.

So onward, my friends. It is make something Monday!! Let's seeeeee. What have I made lately? Oh! That's right. This little thing I do called digital scrapbooking layouts! So here's the LOs that I've done from January 1st - today. Minus two that I'm going to share on Thursday. Plus, I have a few done that don't go out until Thursday or Friday ;)

 Click here for full-size image and credits

 This is my good friend Val's adorable daughter, Kayleigh

Click here for full-size image and credits

Click here for full-size image and credits

This is my gorgeous best friend, know in internet land as Star.

Click here for full-size image and credits

This is my Facebook Timeline cover. Cool huh?

Click here for full-size image and credits

Alright folks. That's what I've made. I see flaws in every single one of them, yet I'm proud of them all.

Love to all,

What's cookin' good lookin'

Well, here it is...Wednesday. Yes, it's late Wednesday, but it's still Wednesday. Boy, I just typed the word Wednesday A LOT.

So according to my schedule, Wednesday is:

ALRIGHT!! Food! One of my mostest favoritest things in the whole wide world! Well, since it's late, and my posts have been practically novel-size, I'm going to keep this short and sweet and share with you some of my favorite recipes from one of my favorite home cooks, Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman. If you want to eat something good, eat any one of her recipes. The woman knows what she's doing! Without further ado, here's the goods.

Seriously the best mashed potatoes EVAR.

Can you say Mac 'n Cheese?!

It may not sound good. It may not even look good. But eat her dump cake right now.

Amazingly delicious (and actually really healthy) Chicken Tortilla soup.

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole. Isn't that a lovely descriptive dish title?

Go. Eat and be merry. 

Time to read Tuesday!

Yo yo Random readers! Today is Tuesday and that means:

Reading! Books! Words! Libraries! Illustrations! Love, love, love!!! You's alls know me and my books. If you're on my actual blog, and not just reading on an RSS feed, you'll see my Library thing widget there on the right. I keep track of every book I read. I started doing this almost 10 years ago. I like to look lovingly at this list and remember what I was doing, what was going on in my life, and even who I was when I was reading a certain book. You know how some people are transformed back to a memory when they hear a certain song? That's what happens to me when I see the title of a book I've read. 

So recently, like say the last 6 months, I haven't read as much as I "normally" would. I tell ya, having a 3 year-old, plus a hobby that I adore, really putting my reading time in a crunch. But when I get my hands on a book that I really love, it's still an all-consuming experience for me. Plus, I still listen to audio books while at work, so I get books read that way, as well. Anyway, guess what I got for Christmas?? If you guessed a Kindle, you would be RIGHT!! I know I blogged before about how I wasn't sure I wanted one, but I decided I DID want one, and Santa (read: my wonderful hubby) got me one! I've already read one book on it (a really long one), and I really like it. I love how light it is, and I can hold it any way and still be really comfy.

So, onward to what I've been reading. If you've read my blog at all, you know my reading style is all over the place. I love novels, fantasy, and young adult (and even some bigger children's) books. I just got done reading the final installment in the Inheritence series by Christopher Paolini, aptly titled Inheritence. Now, I started reading these books long before they got super popular. I picked Eragon up because the author is from the town my Mom and sisters lived in at the time, Bozeman, Montana. I thought it was a pretty cool link, so I picked it up and read it. Paolini was like 12 or some ridiculous age when he started writing these, and I was very impressed with the caliber of writing for such a young author. Some people would argue with that, but for someone of that age (hell, any age) to set up a whole fantastical world in such detail is talented. And that's that. Anyway, I was really looking forward to this last book to finish out the series. I wasn't disappointed. I won't write a review or anything, but just suffice it to say I was pleased with the way the series ended. I always hate the end of a long series, but I also can't wait to get to the final word.

I'm also *trying* to get through the most popular series of the year from last year, the Song of Ice and Fire (more popularly known as The Game of Thrones series). I got through books 1 and 2 with no problems. Book 3 I had to be really pushed by some online friends to finish. I was glad I finished it. Now I've been reading the 4th book for like 3 months. I just can't seem to get through it. I know I'll like it if I just buckle down and read it, but I just need to do it. Not sure why I'm dragging my feet so much. Hmmmm.

So this post has ended up being a book (ba-da-bah! I'll be here all week, folks!). I'll just say go read a book and be done with it. 

Go read a book. I'm done.