Monday, January 31, 2011

the next great food photographer...or something like that

I had every intention of taking pictures of my meals last week and posting this week with a mini review. I only remembered to take pictures of two out of the five...oopsies. This week will be better.

Turkey burgers, homemade fries, and broccoli

The turkey burger recipe I use is from a Weight Watchers cookbook and ironically it's the hubs favorite. I tried another turkey burger recipe and he requested I go back to WW. The fries consisted of cut up russet potatoes drizzled with EVOO and a hearty helping of Stax Seasoning and the broccoli was steamed with garlic salt, dried onions, and black pepper.

Ground beef, rice, and cheese stuffed peppers


I love stuffed peppers. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to boil the pepper a little before roasting in the oven. They were still a little crunchy. 

Garlic and herb pork tenderloin, broccoli and cheese rice, and broccoli

The garlic and herb pork tenderloin was pre-marinated from Kroger and unfortunately it was a bit too salty. Anyone know how to fix something that's too salty? We just dealt with it.

Chicken Pizzaioli with spaghetti and green bean casserole

Replaced with pizza cause I was not feeling cooking that night.

Crock pot beef stew


This is definitely one of my most favorite comfort foods and sooooo easy to put together. It's just a package of stew meat, baby carrots, red potatoes, yellow onions, green beans, onion soup mix seasoning, and two cups of water. Dump it all in the pot and turn on low all day. Ta da! 


This week's line up:

margarita chicken over black beans with spanish rice

spaghetti turkey pie

beef chalupas

chicken-white bean chili

mexican pork chops with white rice

Saturday, January 29, 2011

want a cup of tea?

Once my family moved to the south, we quickly learned that phrase meant something completely different. In the south tea means sweet tea, cold over ice sweet tea. What we were used to was hot tea. The kind you flavor with a cinnamon stick and honey.

My grandmother, mother, and I have always been hot tea drinkers. I can remember going to my grandmother's house and always finding a tea bag sitting on the counter. She was a thrifty woman who insisted tea bags could be used more than once, more than twice even.

My mom always kept a honey bear in the cupboard ready to squeeze into a steaming hot cup of tea whenever needed and sometimes if it was a special cup of tea she'd even plop in a cinnamon stick.

Did you know a hot cup of tea can cure practically anything? Sore throat - cup of tea. Headache - cup of tea. Tired - cup of tea. Can't wake up - cup of tea. Bad day - cup of tea. Honestly though, it didn't matter the ailment that the cup of tea was needed for, it was the togetherness that really mattered. Whatever it was, sitting down with those women chatting over a cup a tea made it all better.

I even had my own special tea cup and saucer at my grandmother's house which now sits in my china cabinet, waiting on a future daughter to have tea with me. I have my grandmother's collection of tea cups and saucers {and trust me there are a tons of them} waiting to be used. I'd love to host a party where everyone dresses in their Sunday best and we sit and eat cucumber sandwiches and drink tea. The only thing missing would be some fun teapots.

I started searching around the internet and came across a whole slew of fun whimsical teapots.








Below are the two teapots that match our china. Surprisingly, I do not own either of them. I believe I need to remedy this situation.

unfortunately I don't believe there is a teapot in the Spode Woodland Hunting Dogs pattern


To this day my mother still offers me tea when I go to her house. There's a pretty good chance I will be greeted with those comforting words, "hey honey, want a cup of tea?"

Friday, January 28, 2011

latest obsession: card catalog

I can't remember where I initially saw this idea {so sorry I can't give proper credit}, but after a little searching it's popping up all over the place. Old library card catalogs used as craft supply storage. Brilliant!


I remember back in elementary school we would take trips to the public library {located right across the street from the school} and were taught how to look up a book in the card catalog. We were always warned not to pull the drawers out too far for fear of it falling and dumping all the cards on the ground.


Now because of computers there is no need for card catalogs. I can only imagine how many are out there sitting in storage or old basements unused. Such a wasted treasure!


Since I've moved my craft room I've been pondering exactly how I would like to store all my craft supplies. Of course my top priority is for it to look cute haha. I contemplated getting all the white storage at Michael's. My friend Allison even mentioned how everything was on sale 40% off plus another 25% off coupon was in the Sunday paper. I was almost sold on it until I remembered the card catalog. The vintage look, individual drawers, built in spots for labels...swoon!


Now I just need to find one {that doesn't cost an arm and a leg}. The hubs is going to check the state surplus. Keep your fingers crossed!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

what I've been wearing

I realized that even though I had been randomly taking outfit of the day pictures I was never posting any of them. Here's my stockpile!

coral long sleeve tee - Gap
white fleece Columbia vest - Bass Pro
jeans - Gap
square coral earrings

black short sleeve turtle neck - Belk
charcoal dress - Gap
heart charm bracelet - Tiffany & Co.
monogrammed earrings - Hand Picked

black tights - Walmart
black flats - Zappos

chocolate long sleeve tee - Old Navy
white cable knit - Tommy Hilfiger outlet
pink floral skirt - American Eagle
chocolate leggings - Old Navy
chocolate boots

charcoal short sleeve turtle neck - Belk
navy wrap sweater - Old Navy
charcoal trouser dress pants - Gap

"sherlock homes" jacket - Belk
black short sleeve turtle neck - Belk
skinny jeans - Gap
Clemson class ring

white long sleeve tee - Lands end
pink fleece - Old Navy
chocolate boot cut khakis - Old Navy
pink pearls
white headband

purple sweater - Old Navy
charcoal turtle neck - Lands End
black dress pants - NY&Co.

lime green cable knit - Tommy Hilfiger Outlet
green long sleeve tee - Old Navy
dark purple cords - Gap
monogrammed earrings - Hand Picked

white ponch - vintage, my mom's
chocolate long sleeve tee - Old Navy
blue straight leg jeans - Gap

red long sleeve tee - Gap
grey fleece - Old Navy
jeans - Gap
red pearls
Clemson class ring

orange tee - Target
navy wrap sweater - Old navy
trouser khakis - Gap
diamond earrings - Palmetto Gems
diamond necklace - gift from hubs
butterfly ring - vintage, my grandmother's

argyle cardigan - Old Navy
yellow tee - Ann Taylor Loft
jeans - Gap
heart charm bracelet - Tiffany & Co.
diamond earrings - Palmetto Gems
Clemson class ring

purple tunic - Old Navy
skinny jeans - Victoria's Secret
brown leather boots

chocolate long sleeve tee - Old Navy
orange sweater - Old Navy
chocolate boot cut khakis - Old Navy
orange earrings - The Beaded Tiger

purple fleece Columbia vest - Bass Pro
black turtle neck - Lands End
charcoal trouser dress pants - Gap
Clemson class ring
purple glass bead earrings - craft fair

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

happy birthday hubs!

Happy birthday to my number one hunky hubs. Another year has passed and I'm very glad we spent it together.

what a face

The hubs loves chocolate. The more chocolate the better, so when I made his chocolate cake with chocolate frosting I added chocolate morsels too. 


I got him jack stands to work on the mustang in the garage...after we build the gargage {details}.


menu planning is still going strong

Even though I may not be posting my menu in a timely manner, I'm still keeping up with it. Here's what's up for this week:

turkey burgers
homemade fries
broccoli

beef, rice, and cheese stuffed peppers
garlic toast

garlic and herb pork tenderloin
broccoli
broccoli and cheese rice

chicken pizzaioli
spaghetti
green bean casserole

crow pot stew
(stew beef, green beans, carrots, onions, & red potatoes)

I've decided to start taking pictures of each meal so when I post the next week I'll add a review and a picture of the previous week. Be excited haha!

Monday, January 24, 2011

weekend happenings

This weekend went all too quickly as it normally does. It was a mixture of house keeping and fun.

Saturday I woke up with an urge to clean clean clean. It happens every so often where I just need to organize, purge, scrub, etc. Since the hubs was asking for certain files for our taxes I decided to revamp our files all together. Does anyone else have a hard time keeping important documents straight? I never know how to categorize them and exactly what I should keep. Suggestions? I think that's a topic they should be teaching in high school. File keeping 101.

Another chore that always leaves me baffled - laundry. I do laundry every weekend. Most weeks I have three loads: mine, his, and bleachable whites. This week I had seven loads: mine, his, bleachable whites, towels, bedding, comforter, and thrown blankets. I'm still working on the laundry and won't finish till tomorrow. I can't imagine how many loads I'll have to do when little ones come along.

Saturday night we met up with two of our favorite couples, the Antleys and the Cegelis, for dinner. We went to Pawley's Front Porch to celebrate the hubs birthday. I sure do love hanging out with these people. I always get a good belly laugh listening to the stories. I'm sure the waiter wasn't happy that we took up one of his tables for two hours, but it was such fun!

Sunday started out with more house work: laundry, grocery shopping, cutting coupons, but I just couldn't make myself vacuum. I don't know what it is, but I absolutely hate vacuuming. I even have a fancypants Rainbow vacuum cleaner and I still have no desire to vacuum. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow...

Sunday evening we met up with the hubs parents for dinner as they were headed back to Greenville from Myrtle Beach.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

friends


Friends, they come in and out of your life constantly. Friendships grow, maintain, or completely fizzle out. They’re our saviors and our enemies. I’m no stranger to the ever changing “best friend” although my current has been in my life for seven years and I’m pretty sure she’s here to stay. Before her there were four other best friends and countless close friends who jumped ship on me.

With New Year’s resolutions still fresh {since we haven’t hit February yet} I’ve seen some other bloggers post about how they want to cherish their true friends and let go of the ones that hurt them. You know the ones that never return your calls or make plans to have dinner, the ones that only want you when they need something. Those friends need to be let go.

I’m working on that goal myself, but I have to say I have a really hard time with that concept. When a friendship ends sometimes it’s really apparent why it ended. There was a huge fight or betrayal. The end. Other times though, it’s not so clear. She just stopped returning my calls. She turned down every invite I extended. It’s these friends I still think about.

What did I do wrong? Did I say something? Not say something? Forget something? What the hell happened to make you not want to be around me anymore? And the bigger question, why didn’t you ever give me a chance to fix it? Why didn’t we discuss whatever it was and try to resolve it?

I’ve read theories where people can only maintain so many relationships in their life. Maybe it’s true. Maybe I’m at my max. Maybe they’re at their max. This “fact” still doesn’t make it any easier. All I can do at this point is to do my very best at nurturing the current friendships I have. I believe I’ll still wonder though. 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

snow day

It snowed in the south!!!! As much fun as snow is, when the white fluffy stuff visits the south the majority tend to hit the panic button {repeatedly}. 

Schools close before the first flake has made its way to the ground. 

The bread, milk, and eggs are so quickly cleared off the shelves that all I can think is, "a lot of people sure like making french toast on snow days." 

You can't find firewood anywhere.

Everyone's facebook status changes to "it's the snowpocalypse!"




the pups *love* the snow

gearing up to go outside





they get so excited over snowballs



not just a light dusting

pooped pups

Ella cut her paw :(

We had fun playing around but a week later there's still snow patches here and there. I'm ready for it to go away - ha!