High Five for Friday

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I am pretty sure fall has the most gorgeous sunrises.  Perhaps it's because the days are getting shorter and so I get to see them in their full glory on my way to work in the morning.  This week they have been absolutely spectacular and I can get enough of them!

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We broke away from our usual after work routine yesterday and headed back downtown for a baseball game.  We watched the Montgomery Biscuits (yes it's the actual name of the team) play the Jackson Generals.  The game was a special one because one of the kids Eric used to coach now plays for the Jackson Generals, so we got to see him, plus we had awesome suite tickets so we got to watch the game in style!  Eric won the tickets a couple of months at a golf tournament he played in and we waited all summer so we could share the tickets with the kid's family and friends while Jackson was in town.  We had a blast, although my tail is dragging today since we didn't get home until almost midnight.  #missedmy9pmbedtime

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You can't go to a ball park without partaking in the food situation, and partake we did.  One of my friends told me about a stand that sold Philly Cheese Steak Nachos, so naturally we had to give them a try.  They were good, but they don't hold a candle to the BBQ Nachos that you can get at any sporting event you go to in Memphis.  At least we can say we tried them.  I indulged in a massive bacon cheeseburger.  It was fantastic and super messy, and I woofed it down so fast that I didn't get a picture of it.  I am going to say it's because I ran right before we went to the game and I was hungry.  =)  I did get to try something that I hope I will be able to find in stores soon....Daily's Spiked Sodas.  I tried the Raspberry Ginger Ale and it was fantastic. Delicious and crisp!  Perfect for a summer evening!

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Tonight is Game 2 of the 2015 football season.  Our team has their work cut out for them as the team we are playing this week is much much better than the one we played last week.  From what I understand THS has never beat this team.  They aren't in our region so we've only played them in the playoffs and a couple of random years we've scheduled games with them, so it would be absolutely fantastic if we could pull out a win tonight!

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Last but certainly not least, we are celebrating 8 years of this crazy monster today! He always keeps us laughing with his crazy antics and is the sweetest, kindest, silliest "lapdog" I know.  Happy Birthday Hawkey Dog!  We love you!

Weekend Recap

Clockwise from top left: 1) Coaching 'em up during a timeout. 2) The boys with their bribe reward for behaving themselves when we went to get their rabies shots Saturday afternoon. 3) Antelope tacos...it's what's for dinner! 4) The only thing I checked off my to-do list Sunday, made Eric some pickled okra.  I hope it tastes good in a couple of months!

Our first official game week is in the books.  One down at least 9 more to go (hopefully more!). We started off the weekend with a win, and ugly win, but a win.  Eric said they have a lot of work to do this week to prepare for Friday because we're playing a very good team.  I don't plan on him getting home early any this week for sure, so dinner will most likely be make-your-own all week.  #coacheswifeprobs  He actually prepared for this by making a big bowl of tuna salad and a big bowl of chicken salad for him  to eat on all week....and my kitchen smells just lovely as a result.  I realized this AM that he didn't put lids on the bowls, just press-and-seal wrap, I remedied this problem as soon as I realized so hopefully it won't smell like a meat locker when I get home today.

Saturday he was out the door early to go work at the hunting land because hunting season is just 2 months away. I passed up a breakfast offer to go to 1220 Cafe in favor of brunch with my PEO Chapter at Shashy's in Montgomery.  It is very close to where I went to college but I'd never been there.  Brunch was fantastic, and a couple of the girls and I decided that when the boys go to do boys-only football activities at Homecoming this year, we're going to head over to there to have some girls time.

We ended our Saturday with our first antelope dish....Antelope Tacos. We marinated the meat in Frontera's Carne Asada Marinade and grilled it.  These sauces are quickly becoming some of our favorites.  They're super easy and everyone we've tried is delicious.   Some of our favorites are the Texas Original Taco Skillet Sauce, the Green Chili Enchilada Sauce.The tacos were delicious!  Eric said the meat was the best game he's had.  To be honest it tasted just like a flank steak or a sirloin.  Certainly not a filet, but is there anything as good as a filet? He said we've got some burger meat coming soon so perhaps we'll be dining on antelope burgers this fall.

Sunday Eric headed off to football meetings and I got some much deserved R&R time. I made out a giant to-do list with all of the things that I could/should be doing with my free Sunday afternoons from now until the end of football season. Now if I could just find the motivation to do these things instead of take a nap.  =)

Here's to another great week!

High Five for Friday

Here we go.......

1.

After a week of just the pups and I, Eric is finally back from his hunting trip out West.  He and his brother traveled to the booming metropolis of Springfield, CO (population 1,400 on a good day according to Eric) to go on an antelope hunt. Thankfully they both came back with a trophy and a TON of antelope meat, making the 18 hour drive completely worth it (I hope).  There is a very good chance I will get my first taste of antelope meat this weekend so wish me luck and please send any antelope meat recipes you have lying around my way...because who doesn't have antelope meat recipes lying around?!

My hunter and his big kill!

2. 

This week marks my 8th year of working at my job.  8 years!  That's nuts! In that amount of time I could have gone back and redone high school and college!  I could have repeated my entire competitive basketball career!  I could have started and completed medical school in that same time!  It's so crazy to me thinking I have been here that long. I am so thankful for my job and I hope I will be able to continue doing what I do to help Alabamians live healthier lives for many years to come.

I celebrated in my office wrapped up in a hoodie sweatshirt and my snuggie...why oh why does it have to be so stinking cold all of the time in the office?!?  

3. 

I celebrated another tiny milestone this week...my half birthday!  As of yesterday I am officially 30 and a half!  I celebrated with a long workday, a trip to Costco, a workout, dinner at home, a puppy walk, a little reading, and an early bedtime.  Pretty much everything one would expect a 30.5 birthday to contain.  So far 30 has been quite nice for me.  I certainly don't feel any older than I did before so we'll just go with it for now and I'll let you know when this getting older thing starts to rear it's ugly head.  For now I am just going to pretend it's not happening, continue to eat Oatmeal Cream Pies for dessert like I'm 7, and wonder why they don't make super cute shirts like this in my size.  =)

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4.

Since Eric was out of town for a week, I have made exactly 0 dinners since early last week. I would say that I have not cooked at all but I made some pretzel shortbread cookies (will be sharing soon) and a batch of banana bread last weekend to take to my friend who just had a baby.  I can usually deal with sandwiches every night, but after night 6, I was ready for something else. Unfortunately due to football scheduling Eric was not home  for dinner the night he got back from his trip, so I cleaned out the fridge instead of cooking. So last night, despite him having another football engagement (gotta love the first game week of the season), I whipped up the most delicious, easy homemade Chinese dish, Honey Lemon Chicken.  It was fantastic and I've already thought about doing Orange Honey Chicken or perhaps just Honey Chicken.  The best part was I had almost everything I needed already, so this recipe can be one of those I keep in my back pocket for a last minute 3rd or 4th meal of the week that I don't have to make a special grocery store trip for.

5. 

Tonight is the night.  We kick off the 2015 football season this evening and I am excited about it! It's kind of hard to believe that it's already here.  I feel like they just started summer practice a few weeks ago.  It's time to start color-coordinating my Friday outfits, so I've got my purple and gold on! I even ordered a couple of new school spirit-themed Fitbit Bands on jane.com that I can wear on game days.  I just wish I'd thought about ordering them before this week.  Oh well I'll have them soon enough!

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Bring on the boots and scarves and crockpot recipes and everything else I adore that comes with the football season territory!  I'm ready for it!

Weekend Recap

Another weekend of 2015 down....where has this year gone?!  It is really flying by at an alarming rate, I mean football season is starting this week!  Which I am completely pumped about. If you need me on a Friday night for the next 12 weeks, try the field supporting Eric and our team.  Since I actually pulled my phone out once or twice this weekend I can do this recap in pictures.  How convenient, right?  I should try this more often.

1. My Friday lunch.  I love love love (did I mention love?) Jimmy John's. We recently got one downtown so there has been a buzz around the office about it, mainly since they deliver with it being so hot outside and people getting tired of Chik-fil-a  (the only other option in the building). We had a minor break in the oppressive heat that's been hanging around since June so a co-worker and I walked over to grab lunch. Perhaps this can be my new Friday Football Food Tradition for this season...we shall see. 

2. Tiger Night was on Friday night so I ventured up to the football field to watch the game.  It's just an intra-squad scrimmage, but it's still fun.  Plus this amazing breeze started blowing Friday evening that actually made feel like dare I say fall?  OK it wasn't exactly a cool fall breeze, but it made possible to sit outside and enjoy the game without sweating to death. My only complaint was I had no idea who the kids were playing. With players graduating, jv moving up to varsity, and others switching numbers in the off season, the other coaches wives and myself spent half of the game trying to figure out who was who.  I will be glad next Friday when I have a program with a roster in my hands. 

3. Saturday AM I was up early (thanks Hawk and Peanut) so I took them on a walk and got a run in before going to visit a friend and her sweet 3 week old baby boy.  We had a great visit and it was great to see her!  We work together so I've been missing our daily chats! After I got home, I treated myself (and the boys) to a little pool time.  This time of year if my favorite for pool time because the water is just cool enough to be refreshing, but not cold like it is early in the year. 

4. & 5. These two....I did my best to keep the two of them outside as much as possible when it was not too hot which meant lots of fetch time and walks (despite Peanut's protests - pictured above). 

6. Saturday night I had a really fun Girls Night with a couple of girlfriends.  We started the night at Blackfinn for appetizers and ended up downtown for a little while.  I can't remember the last time I got out for a little while and we had a blast! Although, I can say with no regrets that I am  over the bar scene.  I will take background music and a glass of wine over loud bands and huge crowds every. single.time. 

7. Saturday night was my first time at Blackfinn and I was impressed.  They had some absolutely delicious appetizers. I had the Blackened Brie and it was fantastic!  

Sunday was spent churching and relaxing.  I did get my happy butt on the treadmill because I was afraid I was not going to make my 10,000 steps for the day...don't worry I made it. =) It was a nice afternoon, so I once again tried to keep the pups outside for a while and ended up weeding my veggie garden.  It needed it desperately.  My garden season is definitely winding down, and I was tempted to till it up because half of it is dead or covered with weeds.  I had a bad case of squash borers that completely wiped out my squash and zucchini plants.  I didn't know what they were until it was too late and my plants were dying. I put off tilling it up because I still have 2 watermelons growing, but I got a nice surprise Sunday when I found 4 new baby cantaloupes as I was pulling the weeds up!

I was quite shocked to find them.  I figured that with the awful heat and lack of rain we've had there would not be much else coming from the garden this year. It just goes to show that new and wonderful things can come in even the harshest conditions.

I am crossing my fingers that my statement above holds true for Mondays as well. =)

Weekend Leftovers for Dinner: BBQ Tacos

After a big cookout weekend like this past weekend we always have a TON of leftovers.  Being the pack rat that I am I always save them at least until Thursday night when the trash gets taken out to the road. My goal in saving them is that they will get eaten by the end of the week so we don't throw a bunch of food away and perhaps making dinners a little simpler to prepare.  However, that is not always the case either because of the volume of food we have leftover or us getting tired of eating the same thing for 5 days straight.

This week's leftovers consisted of potato salad, baked beans, mac and cheese, ribs, and 2 containers of Boston butt. The mac and cheese didn't last past Monday (obviously), but the rest of the items have lingered. Rest assured I am trying my hardest to use up the Boston butt.  We usually make a BBQ pizza or BBQ nachos but I wanted to try something different this week.  After hitting up Pinterest I found the inspiration I needed and we have feasted the last couple of evenings on delicious BBQ Tacos with a spicy southwest slaw. We both love it.  I usually tire of pork after a couple of meals but I am thinking that I am ready for round 3 for dinner this evening (if there's any slaw leftover).

original recipe from here

What you Need:

4 cups broccoli slaw (I used a 12oz bag)

1/2 onion, thinly diced

1.5 Tbsp yellow mustard

1.5 Tbsp white vinegar

3 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp chili powder

How to Make It:

Put dry broccoli slaw in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and chili powder. Pour mixture over slaw and stir until the slaw is evenly coated.  Mix in onions and stir until completely combined.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

How to Serve It:

I took some leftover Boston Butt and warmed it up in a skillet, mixing in a little BBQ sauce while it heated up to give the meat some flavor. I put equal amounts of meat and slaw in tortilla shells I warmed in another skillet, and topped them with a little shredded cheddar cheese.  Eric added salsa and hot sauce to his because he believes you have to put hot sauce on everything.  These tacos were soooo tasty!  The slaw has a slight hint of heat to it, but the sweetness of the BBQ sauce in the meat balances out the heat. If you want to, you can adjust the heat by decreasing the red pepper flakes and chili powder.

Talk about a winner winner, but I guess we'd call this pork dinner?! Who cares....just go make it. =)

Weekend Recap: Kicking Off Another Football Season

In all of the craziness lately I forgot to mention that we're in the beginning stages of embarking on another football season around here.  I think this is season 6? Maybe 7?  I really can't remember; they're all starting to run together for me. Every year Eric says he isn't going to coach and every year I tell him I'll believe it when he isn't at practice in August.  Do I know him or what?  Truth be told, he absolutely loves it and it makes him happy (and gives me peace and quiet in the afternoons), and I kind of can't imagine him NOT coaching. He is fortunate to be a part of a wonderful staff who all are part of wonderful families.

We kicked off this season with our annual BBQ Rib Cookoff at our house Saturday night.  Eric came in 2nd....again, but only but one vote this time. Maybe next year...lol! We also did a Mac & Cheese contest, which I bowed out of because I have yet to find a simple, successful mac and cheese recipe.  The best ones in my opinion are ones that start with rues and rues and I have never gotten along.  I burn them or they get lumpy and I end up getting frustrated with the whole process.  I opted to make potato salad and Chinese coleslaw instead.  We had 5 mac and cheese entries so it was no biggie. We filled up the evening with food, swimming, Left Right Center, and a round of Celebrity. And now we're just over a week away from the first game!

The coaches and wives (minus 2 coaches and a whole lot of kids). I can't begin to tell you how awesome this group of folks is.  I am really looking forward to spending another season with them!

After such a fun day on Saturday we were beat and spent nearly the entire day on the couch Sunday catching up on Redbox movies we wanted to watch....we went with Insurgent and Get Hard. (They were both pretty good.) I felt kind of bad for not taking the dogs out more than I did but it was just too stinkin hot to do anything outside.  I don't think they really minded too much.

They were clearly game for lounging.  =)

So here's to the end of Football-less Friday nights for a few months....now if we could just get the temps to go down ever so slightly I will really be ready for the season to start!

5th Anniversary Weekend Recap

Another anniversary is in the books for the Cagles. Being the foodies that we are, we celebrated with an amazing dinner at a new favorite (as for Friday night) restaurant in Auburn called Acre.  It's a really neat farm-to-table restaurant with a rotating menu and fresh everything!  The atmosphere was very rustic and the food was outstanding! We started off with raw oysters and pimento cheese with smoked paprika pita chips.  As we were scarfing down our appetizers they brought out the most amazing dinner plates:

My Dinner Edible Work of Art

Come here Pimento Cheese and get in ma belly!

I ordered the Grilled Hereford Beef Tenderloin that came with parsnip-potato puree, caramelized shiitake mushrooms, hollandaise sauce, asher blue cheese, and potato skins.  As you can see the dish was a work of art and it tasted like heaven! I would say it was one of the best fillets I have ever had.  Eric agreed.  He ordered the Smoked and Seared Teres Major, which is a piece of meat from the shoulder of the cow that had been smoked and was served with peaches, purple hull peas, basil, corn vinaigrette, cornbread panzanella (think Ruby Tuesday croutons, but made with cornbread), fried okra, and calabrian chili-beef fat-butter.  It was delicious, and he dove into it so quickly I didn't get a picture.  Since it was our anniversary we splurged and got dessert (even though we were completely stuffed).  We got their Blueberry-White Chocolate Bread Pudding that came with Whiskey Caramel Sauce and homemade vanilla ice cream. And then they had to roll us to our car.  Just kidding...almost.

We are both ready to go back, but this time we want to take a big group and order one of their massive cured meat and cheese boards...aka my happy place.  We just need an occasion....any takers?

One of my favorite parts was the familiar dinnerware.  Eric couldn't believe that we had this exact salt shaker and similar cups growing up. I also spotted a mini-cast iron skillet (think ash try size) they used to serve oysters, that I have in my kitchen, and my favorite were the sectioned metal trays like my grandparents have at their lake house that I grew up eating off of!  It was sooo cool!

Saturday was pretty much the norm...Eric fished and we grilled out the the neighbors. But Sunday brought fun, some surprises, the beginning of another season for us. We headed up to the lake early to pick up my new toy.....

My first rider!

I got a paddle board!  I am stoked about it, too! Ever since I tried it on the 4th I've wanted one and now I do! As much as I wanted to take it in some open water, I figured I should test myself on it to see exactly how much balance it was going to take....so into the pool I went with it! I can't get going fast (or far) but I have been able to see how much weight shiftage it could handle. Just for the record it can take a lot more than I thought initially.  I also made sure I could get on it in deep water by myself with no help because I am sure I will fall off it eventually. I cannot WAIT to take it out on open water soon!

Almost as soon as we got back with my board Eric was off to football meetings.  The 2015 football season officially starts this week, and Eric is excited about it.  Truth be told, I am, too.  I enjoy it because I know he enjoys it, and I really enjoy our little group of coaches wives.  After shockingly short meeting, we headed back up to the lake with the neighbors for a little golf game.  We made it a family affair this time and it was a blast! The perfect end to our weekend.

Happy first day back to school to all of my teacher friends!