3 Years Ago....

Three years ago today I put on a gorgeous white dress that made me feel like a princess, walked down the aisle of a church, and made a promise to a man who still makes my heart go pitter patter when I hear him come home everyday.   I will never forget how blessed I felt to have so many family members and friends there to celebrate with us.  I am so thankful to have found a man who loves me for me, knows how to make me laugh, has taught me to stop sweating the small stuff, works hard to take care of us, and always keeps me on my toes.

Happy 3 Years Babe!  Here's to many many more!

Homemade Peach Cobbler

When I was growing up I loved dessert....let's face it I still do.  The difference was that when I was a kid, if it was not chocolate or whipped cream I would not give it the time of day.  Pecan pie? Nope.  Fruit Cobblers? Nope. Buttermilk Pie?  Nope.  It had to be chocolate or I would not touch it with a 10 foot pole.  My grandma used to give me a bowl of cool whip when we were having non-chocolate desserts....that's how bad it was. I now realize what a mistake this was on my part because I missed out on some really delicious desserts.  Don't worry though...I have made up for it in my older, wiser years.

There is a county just north of us that is known for their peaches.  They actually crown a peach queen and peach princesses every year.....they love them some peaches. Rightfully so because they grow some of the most delicious peaches ever!  I had to go past there one day last week so I stopped in and purchased a few peaches since they are one of the few fruits that Eric will actually eat. When he saw them that night he immediately asked me to make peach cobbler. The only problem with that is that I have never made a peach cobbler. Lucky for me I have a recipe savvy Mom and Pinterest.  We were literally on the phone with each other, while both of us were looking through pinterest for recipes. We'd pin one and the other would refresh the page so it would show up on our feed.....this my friends is the beauty of technology.  We settled on one that sounded simple and delicious.  I think I even inspired her to make one, too.

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What you need: 

Peach Layer

4-5 cups peeled and sliced or chopped peaches (I made mine bite-sized)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg (I grated mine fresh!)

dash of salt

Cobbler Layer

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup half -and-half

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and slice peaches (if using fresh peaches).  A serrated-edged peeler works the best on peaches.
Place sliced/chopped peaches, 1/4 c sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dash of salt in a large bowl.  Toss gently to combine.  Spread in a greased 11"x 7" baking dish and set aside.

Combine flour, 1 c sugar, baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and ginger in a large bowl. Stir well. (I used my Kitchen Aid Mixer.) In another bowl, whisk together half-and-half, melted butter, and egg. Stir well.  Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until blended.  Pour batter over peach mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, or until lightly browned.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

There she is in all of her golden brown goodness!

This stuff was seriously amazing.  I am not quite sure how I made it 28 years without ever liking it (or even trying it for that matter).  As I said yesterday the first batch didn't last an entire evening, so we got more peaches and I ended up making another batch the next day.   As easy as it is to make I am sure there will be more peach cobblers in our future.

...and if you turned your nose up at the sound of buttermilk pie earlier....don't knock it til you try it.  It's the sweetest, most delicious pie you will every eat....EVER.

Weekend Recap

After a weekend like this past one, I am really wishing I was still sitting next to the pool next to my hubby with the dogs playing around us, soaking up some sun. We had one of those weekends where relaxation was our #1 priority and good food and friends were plentiful!

This is what weekend perfection looks like in my book, in case you're wondering.

We started out our weekend with a cookout...what else?  We're cookout people, what can I say.  When I got home on Friday after work, Eric had chicken marinating in the fridge and had the house 85% clean.  I don't know about anyone else, but that right there is a foreshadowing of a GREAT weekend to me!  We finished up the floors in record time and I set to work on my peach cobbler.  I completely surprised myself and we ended up with an absolutely delicious dessert....so good in fact that it was GONE by the end of the night, which is why Eric picked up more peaches on Saturday morning and we had peach cobbler round #2 for lunch on Saturday.  Don't worry....the recipe will be shared very soon.  Part of the reason we ran out of cobbler was that we had a few people over...you didn't think we were that piggish, did you?!.  We ate, we laughed, and we finished off the night with a game of Celebrity....of course.  =)

Cobble Cobble!

Saturday Eric went fishing so I lounged around all morning until I realized it was cool enough to take the pups on a walk, which they loved, of course.  I made up my mind on my walk that I was going to run when I got back....that is until I saw the fresh peaches Eric brought home and making peach cobbler became MUCH more important, naturally.  By the time I 'd finished that our friends had made it over to hang out by the pool, so running kinda just never happened. #weekendproblems  Saturday night we headed out for a surprise birthday party/dinner at a place called Niffer's.  There are several of them around where we live.  I had never been to the one we went to, and was entranced by the awesome decor!  After stuffing ourselves silly we attempted to continue the night at a bar down the street from the restaurant.  UNfortunately we were all so full from dinner...they had amazing hamburgers and corn nuggets....that we only stayed for a beer and ended up going home and crashing.

Sunday morning Eric went fishing again (what else would he do?) and I went to church.  I got back from church and decided to take on the weeds in my flower beds.  I have been slacking on them lately because it's been so hot, so I just bit the bullet and did it. It didn't end up taking me nearly as long as I thought it would.  My beds are almost completely full of flowers...FINALLY, so the weeding work is minimal. I had all of the beds weeded and had all of the weeds bagged in under 2 hours. I rewarded myself with a plunge in the pool in my shorts and sports bra....this is reason #342 why I love having a pool in the backyard.  We spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and finished up the weekend with some grilled deer burgers. I'm not gonna lie, burgers 2 nights in a row made me happy happy happy!

1. The servers's station at NIffer's.  It's just like the tables Mom has been making!  I loved it!

2. Dinner was seriously amazing....a big fat hamburger, cajun fries, corn nuggets, fried pickles (the best fried pickle spears I have ever had), and onion rings!

3. The lights in the room we ate in at Niffer's....someone had a blast decorating this place!

4. "Here mom, take my ball."

5. Fabulous dinner company!

6. Peanut is an expert at finding shade...and he loves the height of our new pool loungers. 

7. Sunshine in the summertime. 

8.  Hollow prefers the less confined areas of shade.  

9.  A boy and his dog playing fetch in the pool.

I am glad we were able to have such a relaxing weekend because this week is going to be a doozie!  We've got our 3 Year Anniversary on Wednesday, a late graduation/going away party at our house on Thursday, and a little Memphis time planned for the weekend, so we'll be going non-stop.....and I am so excited about it!

5 Things on Friday

1. I got some fresh Chilton County (Alabama) peaches the other day so I decided that we're having peach cobbler this weekend.  I CANNOT WAIT!  The peaches are so sweet and juicy!  I have never actually made a peach cobbler, but after a 2 state pinterest search with Mom via phone/the internet (got to love technology) I settled on a recipe that looks simple and delicious.  I think she even sold me on the idea of making individual cobblers in a muffin tin so I can freeze what we don't eat.  The woman is a genius I tell ya!

2. I am officially under a month in my countdown to my 10 year high school reunion, and it kinda freaks me out a little bit.  I am wondering if it will be an advantage or a disadvantage to me that I have sort of lost touch with high school people (except for what I see on facebook which kinda makes it even weirder I guess).  Is it even that big of a deal?  I think I am over analyzing this waaaaay too much.

Yes I still remember our class chant....I'm sure you remember yours, too.

3. I told myself that I would not go out any buy a new dress for the reunion because let's face it, I don't ever see any of the people I will see so why couldn't I wear an old dress.  But when I realized I only had a month to go before the reunion I went on autopilot and started searching online for dresses...and then I went out to one of these stores just to see what I could find.  Long story short I now have a new dress hanging in my closet that I may or may not wear to the reunion. Plus I have a 15% off sale items coupon to Belk sitting in my wallet that makes me feel like I HAVE to run by the mall on my way home just to see what they have. I can't help it that when I see sale prices on sale prices that make things 75%+ off that I can't resist!  Hi my name is Betsy and I have a serious addiction to sales on cute dresses.

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Option #1 perhaps with some fun jewelry and nude or brown pumps?

4. As of this week I am declaring myself officially back on the running bandwagon....and I am telling myself it has nothing to do with the impending reunion. Since Monday I have already put in 3 runs, so I will say I ran 3 of 5 weekdays (I am just going to go ahead and say running will NOT make it on my Friday evening agenda).  If I can just get back in the habit I will stick with it for a while.  I have no excuses to not run between now and October when basketball and dance start up and will consume my post-workday free time, so I am hoping I can just keep going.

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5. I don't really have a #5 so we'll just do the Friday happy dance =)  Enjoy your weekend!

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Tex Mex Dinner Goodness...Chicken Roll-ups, Corn Salsa, and Guacamole

Ooooooh!  Do I have some recipe goodness to share today! Yes I am THAT excited about the dinner that I cooked last night.  I am actually disappointed that I won't be in the office for lunch today because I REALLY wanted to bring leftovers today.  You know how every once in a while you happen to come across a recipe that includes nothing but ingredients that you LOVE and when you take your first bite you hear angels singing in your head?  Yeah that we me for dinner last night.  I actually ate more for dinner that Eric did, if that puts things into perspective for you. So what was this delectable dish?  Well it was actually one dish that ended up having 3 parts.

The first part was my weekly staple of homemade guacamole.  We love this stuff.  Honestly I have made a batch of this once a week this summer since avocados are in season.  Guac + Pita Chips = the best snack EVER!  I have adjusted this recipe over the years, but I think I have finally settled on my favorite version.

What you need:

3 avocados

1/2 sweet onion, cut into several large wedges (the food processor will chop them into tiny pieces)

2 cloves garlic

1/4-1/3 cup fresh cilantro

1 tsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste 

How to make it:

Peel avocado and remove pits.  Place avocados, onion wedges, garlic cloves, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a food processor and pulse until it reaches the desired consistency.

Some people like their guac chunky and others like it smooth.  I like mine somewhere in the middle.  It find it's easier to control the consistency when you use the pulse function on the food processor instead of turning it on and letting it go. Voila.....you're done. Now get a pita chip and dip it in!


The second part was a new recipe for me, but I have had several variations of it at different places.  I love me some corn salsa....especially when you can get your hands on some delicious sweet corn.  I ran across a Chipotle Corn Salsa Copy Cat recipe and knew I had to try it.

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What you need:

1 bag Steamfresh frozen sweet corn--I use this corn for just about everything...I don't cook it, just run it under some water to thaw it

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 fresh jalapeno, chopped into small pieces

2 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped

juice from 1 lime

salt to taste

How to make it:

Now this one is a hard one to put together...you put everything in a bowl and stir it up.  If you think you need more lime juice or salt, add it.  I hope you can manage it.  =)


Now onto the main course.  I found it on Pinterest....surprise, surprise, right?  I will seriously cry one day if my pinterest boards disappear. Ok back the main course....I made Crispy Chicken Tortilla Roll-ups.  They were amazing and if you like tex mex you should make them.  Now.

adapted from this recipe

What you need:

For the chicken marinade-

one batch of homemade taco seasoning (1 tsp of each ingredient)

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 tsp lime juice

For the Roll-ups-

2 large chicken breasts, marinated in mixture above, cooked and chopped into small pieces or shredded

1/2 cup Chipotle Corn Salsa (recipe above)

1 cup shredded Mexican Cheese mixture (colby jack or whatever you want to use)

2 sliced green onions

4 minced garlic cloves, divided

1/3 cup regular salsa

1/2 fresh jalapeno, chopped into small pieces

1 tsp cumin

juice from 1/2 lime

salt to taste

6 oz light sour cream

6 multi-grain soft tortilla shells

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

How to make it:

Marinade-  Place chicken breasts in a ziploc bag. Mix taco seasoning with olive oil and lime juice and pour over chicken breasts.  Refrigerate for at least an hour...the longer the better. If you don't have time to marinate the chicken before hand you can toss chicken with the marinade as it's cooking.

Rollups-  Cook chicken.  I like to saute mine on the stove top and chop them with my spatula as they're cooking.  Shred or chop chicken as necessary.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, corn salsa, cheese, green onions, 2 minced garlic cloves, regular salsa, jalapeno, cumin, lime juice, salt, and sour cream and stir until mixed.

In a small frying pan, combine olive oil and remaining minced garlic and heat on medium heat for 5 minutes until garlic is fragrant.  Turn burner off so garlic does not burn.

While garlic and oil is heating up.  Place 2 large spoonfuls of the roll-up mixture in each tortilla shell.  Roll them up and place them seam-side down in a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.

Brush roll-ups with garlic and olive oil mixture and sprinkle cilantro on tops.  Bake for 8-10 minutes and serve with guacamole and Chipotle Corn Salsa.

Enjoy!

Weekend Recap

Oh whatta weekend. It wasn't a typical summer weekend at the Cagle household.  Eric's been gone on a hunting trip since last week (and is coming home today!!!), so it was just me and the pups left to our own devices this weekend.  My goal?  Do as little as possible which I have decided that I successfully accomplished that feat.  Aside from some major house cleaning on Saturday, planning meals for this week on Sunday,and dog walks, I did a good bit of couch sitting and that was it.  I did manage to make it down to the neighbors' house on Saturday night for a little pool time and a cookout.

The rest of my weekend looked like this:

1. Friday night dinner.  When Eric is out of town my go-to dinner is ALWAYS pizza (and a little vino, of course).  I will get a big one and eat on it for days.  Seriously, there are still 2 slices of this bad boy (from Costco) in the fridge right now.
2. We have had some of the most amazing sunsets in our part of the world lately.  The sun actually sets behind where I am taking the picture from, but it lights up the sky against the clouds like this every night.....it's so pretty!
3. I did a little retail therapy on my way home Friday. Why is it that when you are looking for something you can never find anything, but when you just go to browse you hit the jackpot?  Friday was the latter.  I have not set foot in a GAP in probably 5 years.  Their stuff usually doesn't fit right and I never catch their sales, until Friday.  They had a huge sale going on....40% off their sale merchendise so I decided to go look.  I scored 2 lightweight summer t-shirts and a pair of bright pink shorts for $30.....can't beat that! Another plus of living in the south...you can buy stuff on summer clearance in July and wear it for 4 more months!
4. Sweet little Hollow spent the weekend napping, usually curled up on my side....isn't he precious?!
5. Peanut doing his balancing act.  He loves to sleep on the top of the couch.  It scares me when he actually falls asleep because I am afraid he will jerk awake and fall off the back, but he's been doing it for years and is pretty much a pro at this.
6. Yes MORE Gelato.  I think this one is my favorite, and not just because I had Dove Chocolates to do with it. =)
7. Hawk doing his best Chesire Cat impression. He's even upsidedown!

One of the highlights from my weekend was not something I did, but something I got to watch (and will watch over and over and over again since I DVRed it).  On Friday night Jessie and the Rippers (Uncle Jesse's fictional band from Full House) reunited on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for one show only to perform a medly of their best known songs including Forever (that was #1 in 1992 in Japan...lol).  It's actually a really good song, and I have loved it along with everything else Full House.....FOREVER!  (no pun intended)  I'm a child of the 90's what can I say....


John Stamos even sported the mullet and the leather vest....and he is just as gorgeous as he was back then--well more so now since he ditched the mullet.  =)

Last but not least the Catching Fire trailor debuted at Comic Con this past weekend and I CANNOT WAIT for November!  I am so ready to go see the seond installment of the Hunger Games series!

It's gonna be sooooo good!  And the Girl on Fire Dress is amazing!

It's Friday...Let's Dance!

It's Friday!  Whoop Whoop!  Let's all celebrate by dancing like Azerbaijani wrestlers winning a gold medal!

I wonder when they teach thost moves to them.....

OK first things first. My mind was blown this morning when I looked down at the necklace I was wearing and realized it had a bunch of little rhinestone thingys on it.  I have seriously worn this necklace for several years and have never once noticed that there were little rhinestones around the ginormous rhinestone thingy in the middle....

Mind = Blown

Second, if you like to amuse yourself and you have dogs it's very simple.  All you have to do is make a crazy weird sound.  I promise they will stop doing what ever they are doing-chewing, licking, sleeping, eating (well maybe not eating)- cock their little heads to the side and give you the funniest "what the hey was that?!" look you've ever seen.

Peanut's look is more of a seriously you weirdo? look, but the other 2 are hitting it perfectly!  Yse I give my dogs empty toilet paper rolls to chew on.  They're free (after you use the toilet paper) and keep Hollow them from tearing more important things up.

Third, there's no need to worry about me...I managed to pick up another pint of gelato yesterday....chocolate peanut butter cup this time.  I may have eaten nearly half of the pint in one sitting last night.

Weekend plans are still up in the air.  There might be some kickball tournament action going on at some point, but if those plans fall through I am sure I will be able to find a spot next to the pool in the backyard to attach myself to for the duration of the weekend and watch people.com for Royal Baby updates.

Happy Weekending!

Hot Dogs and Corn Dogs and Puppy Dogs....Oh My!

Well hello Thursday!  It's nice to see you.  I am quite pleased with how quickly you got here this week....preciatecha ;)

I have gone non stop this week , which I like because let's face it the busier I am this quicker the weekend comes!  I have a few random things to talk about today so let's get to it, shall we?!

1. Adventure Dining is Back!

My old boss and I used to adventure dine at all kinds of random restaurants...part of the beauty of going to every random corner of your state for work. Since he's retited and I travel by myself for the most part, I usually just grab something and go....who wants to be the weirdo sitting all by themselves at a restaurant in a small town.  That's the kinda stuff that gets you talked about by the locals!  I had to go to Mobile yesterday and met up with some people from there for lunch at a little hole in the wall called the Dew Drop Inn.  We got there at 11 and I am glad we did because the place was packed out by noon.  They are known for their hotdogs, so I had to get one to eat, naturally.  You can't tell from the picture, but they use the BRIGHT red hot dogs, which kind freaked me out a bit. Don't worry, it was delicious! They put chili and homemade saurkraut on their dogs, too.  And those onion rings?  Absolutely scrumptious!  They were HUGE and crispy and actually had some seasoning in the batter!  Plus it had a really neat diner-ey atmosphere!

2. How to follow up lunch at the Dew Drop....

 My dinner last night?  You're lookin at it!  I followed by hot dog for lunch with a corn dog for dinner.  When I am left to my own devices for dinner 90% of the time I will eat a corn dog.  I love love love them.  I can't help it.  I buy them in bulk at Costco.....  And that empty cannister on the right?  You need some.  Seriously.  Go to your grocery store and buy one--they carry it in my teeny tiny town so chances are your grocery store carries it.  There's plenty of flavors so I am sure you can find one you like.  It's gelato. Don't think about the 220 calories per 1/2 cup while you are eating it.  You won't care.  I promise.  The good news is that it's only a pint so you can't eat more than 1000 calories if you happen to eat the entire thing.  =)

3. Mother Nature can Paint a Beautiful Canvas

 I took these outside last night when I got back from walking the dogs.  The sunset and cloud cover made fir a crazy pretty colored sky last night.  I am sure my neighbors were wondernig what the weirdo with the IPad was doing running all over the yard and looking at the sky, but I couldn't help it!  It was soooooo pretty!

4. Where's Hollow?

Can you find the Hollow Puppy in the pile of clothes? I promise I didn't put him there.  He did it all by himself.  I love my little burrowing puppies. =)  

And that, my friends is my day yesterday in a nutshell.  Happy Thursday!  

Weekend Recap: Wanna Play a Game?

You know how to tell you had a great weekend?  When you're laying in bed Sunday night and your hubby says out of the blue, "I feel like we just had a long 3 day weekend, " and you totally agree because you had such a productive fun-filled weekend.  Since we were out of town for almost all of 4th of July week, we decided to stick close to home and just hang out at the pool.

Friday I had to work in Birmingham and run some errands before I headed out of Montgomery, so I didn't get home until nearly 6 to a wonderful surprise.  My sweetie had mowed the yard AND cleaned the floors inside the house!  Talk about a great start to the weekend!  I am learning after nearly 3 years of marriage that it's the little things like doing my chores that make my heart go pitter patter....=)  We had some friends over for a cookout...steaks and taters and mushrooms and grilled corn....oh my!  Dinner was amazing to say the least.  We wanted to eat out by the pool, but Mother Nature had other plans, and decided that she wanted to continue with the daily monsoons we've had for the past 2 weeks which forced us inside for a game night instead which was no problemo!  After several rounds of Celebrity (many of which are still under protest) we decided that was enough.  We had no idea until everyone left, but it was already midnight! Guess time flies when you'r having fun!

Saturday we had a bunch of our softball friends over to celebrate our championship win with a cookout by the pool.  It was such a fun day of great fiends, delicious food, and a beautiful afternoon.  Of course we had to finish up the night with Celebrity (have I mentioned we LOVE this game!?!) and a few rounds of the Game of Things.

Sunday we worked....we spent the day cleaning out Eric's brother's old house they moved out of so we can rent it out.  It was a bit of an undertaking and I have a mountain of boxes of stuff to donate to a church yard sale, but we had it done in about 3 hours. We toyed with going to Montgomery to eat but decided we were both too tired to mess with that, so we grabbed Louie's and spent the evening vegging...it was perfect!

1. 1/2 of our new pool furniture....thank you Target and Academy summertime clearance sales! 

2. Eric's brisket that he cooked on Saturday.  It was his first attempt and it was a delicious success!

3. Summertime in Alabama means fresh tomatoes.  We've been given waaaaay more tomatoes that we know what to do with, so I used about 5 of them to make some fresh pico de gallo on Saturday.  It took me an hour to chop all of the tomatoes, onions, and peppers, but it was soooooo worth it!  I will take fresh pico over salsa from the store any day!  And it was amazing on my pulled pork sandwich!

4. One of my cards from The Game of Things.....what you you put?

5. Celebrity remnants.....\

6. A celebrity round in action.  I may have to share how to play sometime soon.  It's seriously one of the most fun games ever.  It combines catch phrase and charades in several rounds and will bring out the worst best in people.

7. Seriously...have you played this yet?  It's so much fun!

I am hoping that this week is a little less crazy that last week, but it's just Monday and only time will tell!

We are the Champions.....again!

Our end of the year softball tournament was short and sweet this year.  We had a bye and did not have to play on Monday, so we started and finished our tournament last night.  I am not going to lie, I was a little concerned because it's been a couple of weeks since we played last, but it ended up being no biggie.  We run-ruled the first team and won 10-0 after 4.5 innings.  We waiting around for an hour for the other semifinal game to be played and then run ruled the other team--who was by far the stiffest competition we played all year the first time we played them--and ended up run ruling them 14-0 after 4.5 innings again.  Done and Done.

I am sad for another season to come to an end.  We always have such a great time playing ball with this group!  Hopefully we'll get to play another tournament this summer before it's all said and done.  

Two New Go-To's

With the exception of 3 months in the spring we are always busy with some kind of practice, which does not leave a lot of time for sit-down family-style dinners.  I attempt to cook at least 3 times per week, but as the week goes on we just get busier and busier so there's no guarantee we'll be home for dinner.   I make no secret that I rely heavily on Pinterest for quick, easy, healthy (for the most part) dinner options. I think I would spiral in to a deep dark depression if my pinterest account suddenly disappeared, seriously.  I made a couple of recipes recently that were delicious and I will certainly make them again, One is a Philly Chicken Wrap and the second is a Bruschetta-Style Pita Pizza, both adapted from some of my favorite pinterest recipes.  

original recipe

This recipe is actually a slow cooker recipe, but I have yet to really get the hang of using my crockpot (terrible I know--I have a fear of leaving it on all day while I am gone, which I understand is the whole point of it, but I am still paranoid), so I marinated my chicken and cooked it on the stove.

What you need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 TBSP steak seasoning (Dale's, Moore's, whatever you like)

2 TBSP butter

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp brown sugar

shredded cheese (I used Gouda and mozzarella)

tortilla shells

How to make it: 

1. Marinate chicken breasts in seasoning sauce for a few hours (the longer they marinate, the more flavor they have!).

2. Melt butter in a pan and saute onions on med-low heat until caramelized.  Once onions start to cook, add brown sugar and stir frequently.

3. While onions are cooking, slice chicken into strips and saute in another pan on med-high heat. As chicken cooks, chop into small bite-sized pieces with a spatula.

4. Warm tortilla shells in microwave for 10 seconds.  Place chicken, onions, and cheese in the center of the shell and roll like a burrito. Microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese is melted.

This is probably one of the first wraps I have ever eaten that didn't need any sauce with it.   They are soooo good!


The second recipe I have to share is Brushetta-Style Pita Pizza.  I have tried a lot of different "healthy" pizza crust options, and I think this by far is my favorite.  It's thick enough to hold the toppings, but still good for you.

original recipe

What you need:

For the sauce:

1 can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic, drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

garlic powder, to taste

For the pizzas:

4 whole wheat or multigrain pita shells

1 small container of fresh mozzarella

pepperoni (I used minis)

sauteed mushrooms

parmesan cheese

fresh chopped basil

any other pizza topping you want to use

How to make it:

1. Combine tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, sugar, and spices in a bowl and set aside.  This can be done ahead of time.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place pita shells directly on oven rack for 2-3 minutes to crisp.

3. Remove from oven and cover with mozzarella cheese. Return shells to the oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

4. Remove shells from oven again and top with tomato mixture (try to get mostly tomato chunks and as little liquid as possible), pepperoni, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, basil, and any other ingredients you want to add.

5. Return pizzas to the oven for another 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes are warmed.  Remove from oven and serve.

These were sooo good!  I have already thought up some more combinations to try out....Buffalo or BBQ Chicken Pita Pizzas anyone?!

4th of July Extended Weekend Recap

We made it back from our extended 4th of July vacation.  We headed down to Orange Beach to spend the holiday with Eric's brother and his wife.  It was an awesome weekend and just what the doctor ordered.....Food, Fun, and Family.  Amazingly our trip wasn't a total washout.  Anyone in the southeast knows what I am talking about.....it rained and rained and rained down here!  We had 2 days of nice weather that included the 4th, followed by 2 days of monsoons.  Can't have it all, can you?

We set off on Tuesday afternoon looking like the Beveraly Hillbillies.  We had to bring a refridgerator and all of their living room tables down with us which led to our vehicle looking like this.

At least we didn't have to bring the trailer, right?  I am sure we gave several people something to talk about on their trips down.  Besides all that stuff we fit our bags and a Hawkey dog in the back seat (we left the little dogs @ home this trip).

Wednesday my SIL and I ran some errands and did a little shopping.  We found a great deal on some small drink tables and each got 2 for our pools.  That left one on the display.  We didn't think anything of it until we realized we were being followed around the store by several people who found the lone table.  One guy actually said something about needing one more table and pointed to our cart.  We said sorry, we're each getting 2 and high-tailed it out of there!  It's crazy what people will do for a great deal.  We spent the rest of our day enjoying the pool and getting things ready for the 4th.  We did some serious cooking on Weds night, which totally paid off because we got to play all day the next day.

The 4th was perfect!   Weather.com kept saying the storms were a couple of hours away, but just kept pushing it back and we never got rained on.  We spent the day at the pool with the boys' aunt and uncle, my SIL's dad, and our friends who got married a couple of weeks ago.  That night we got to watch the fireworks show at the Wharf.  Since last 4th of July we were in the middle of a recent forest fire in NM (they had enacted a $1,000 fine for any fireworks out there) it was nice to get to see them this year!

Happy Birthday America!

 Clockwise from top right:

1. The boys (and Hawk) in the pool.

2. Patriotic Puppy Dogs!  Hawk and his cousin Junior had a blast playing outside all day!

3. It did not take Hawk long to find Junior's toy box and help himself to a bone. 

4. Grillmasters

5. Hawk tried out their pool almost immediately after we got there....that boy LOVES some water!

1. 4th of July pool fun with family!

2. At the fireworks with the newlyweds.

There was no shortage of food over the weekend.....

1. Fourth of July Feast! Ribs, layered salad, Caprese Pasta Salad, baked beans, corn on the cob (that I cut off) with chili parmesan butter.....YUM!

2.  Patriotic Sangria!

3. Strawberry Icebox Pie

1. Smores Krispy Treats.....AMAZING!

2. Bravo Tacos = delicious

3. Dessert shmorgous-board...leftover strawberry pie, ice cream, and Oreo Truffle Brownies

Since we had such a big day on the 4th we slept in on Friday....like 9:30am slept in.  I can't remember the last time I slept that late.  It was a good thing, too because the rain finally found us that morning and settled in for a couple of days.  The boys decided to head to Bass Pro so my SIL and decided we needed pedicures.  We stopped at the grocery store on the way and figured since it was raining we should probably rent some movies for the evening.  The Redbox DVD selection was pretty picked over, so we decided to rent some Blu-Rays instead (there were a lot more of those), and trekked to Wally World to get a Blu-Ray player (my SIL said they were planning on purchasing one very soon anyways).  Our 10 minute trek to Wally World ended up taking nearly 40 minutes because of the crazy traffic.  The combination of people arriving for the weekend, leaving after the 4th, and looking for something to do besides the beach because it was raining left the roads terrible congested.   We got our movies and headed back to the nail place (back where we started), got home, took the dogs on a soggy walk in the rain and STILL beat the boys back from Bass Pro....it's amazing how much time they can spend in that store. 

1. Rainy rainy rainy day

2. Eric's choice of activities when they got back from the store.

3. Identity Thief and pretty toes!  Pretty much my view from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

Saturday the rain continued and the boys started getting cabin fever (after ONE day inside).  They decided to head to Biloxi for the afternoon.  My SIL and I were not feeling it so we stayed behind.  I am so glad we did too because it ended up taking them over 3 hours to get there....no thank you. We spent the day watching more movies.  We left the house twice, once to walk the dogs, and again to get dinner and rent more movies.....I think it's safe to say that we were a complete waste of space that day.  I am still in shock that I watched 5 movies in a 24 hour period....I RARELY watch movies, so that many all at once is huge.  We watched The Numbers Station--weird but suspenseful; Safe Haven--sweet story, I liked it; Identity Thief--HILARIOUS; Silver Linings Playbook--GREAT movie, I've wanted to see if for a while and it was totally worth it; and Magic Mike--yep good stuff. =)

We headed back home Sunday morning and got back mid-afternoon.  It was soooo good to see the little dogs.  I missed them so much!  It was still raining when we got home (of course) so we could go out and do much, but I did get everything unpacked and even cleaned out my dresser so at least I was a little productive!  I even made dinner and started a new book called Divergent (kinda like Hunger Games) I started it yesterday and am almost halfway done already.

Reacquainting myself with 5:30am was painful this morning, but I made it.....time to get back to the grind...busy week ahead!

Happy 4th of July!

...from us to you!