Baked Southwest Egg Rolls

I promised to post some delicious recipes last week.........and then I fell off the face of the earth.  My bad.  I 'm back to share them this week, because they are way too good not to share!

The one I want to talk about today is Baked Southwest Egg Rolls.  My mom found the recipe and sent it my way from this pin on pinterest.  We were supposed to have them when we were up in MI (another post I have to get on--I have not forgotten!), but ran out of time to make while everyone was there.  My brother's gf and I made them for ourselves, my dad and my brother the day before we all left.  Unfortunately we were all so stuffed from everything else we'd eaten all week that we didn't eat too many of them.  They were still in the back of my mind so I decided I would make them for dinner the other night.

They are vegetarian which I normally don't go for, but all of the delicious ingredients make up for it!

original recipe

1-12oz bag frozen corn, thawed

1-15oz can black beans

1-10oz bag frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 cups shredded Mexi-blend cheese 

1-4oz can diced green chilis, drained

2 Tbsp green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 package egg roll papers

*You can adjust the ingredient based on what you like or have on hand....I love love love cilantro and green onions so I doubled up on them and ended up leaving out the green chilies because they don't exist in small town Alabama.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all ingredients, except for egg roll papers in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

Fill egg roll papers with about 1/4 cup of mixture and roll up. Don't know how to roll egg rolls?  Try this tutorial.

Place seam-side down on a lightly greased pan, and spray a little cooking spray on the tops of the egg rolls.

Bake for 12-17 minutes, turning halfway through baking.

Serve with dipping sauce...guacamole and sour cream were our favorites!

Enjoy!  

P.S. My family gained another member yesterday morning when my cousin and her husband welcome sweet baby Andrew William into the world!  So happy for them!

Weekend Recap

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is officially July. JULY. Let's let that sink in for a minute.  This means that 2013 is already halfway over.  I feel like I just finally got used to writing 2013 when I write the date, and now I only have 6 more months to use it.  It's craziness!  While I try to fathom this new development, let's talk about the weekend, shall we?

Ours was wonderful as usual.  It started with me coming to to something amazing.....Eric cleaning the floors.  Seriously.  It happens once in a blue moon, but it does happens, and it makes me so happy when it does. =) He had plans to go fishing, but we had some really strong storms come through this weekend and one put a damper on his Friday afternoon fishing plans.  This is one of those times that having a busy body husband works out to my benefit.  He said he went for a run, and decided to vacuum and mop when he got back. From there he went immediately out to the pool to clean it out and THEN he blew off the pool deck and the carport.  And then he grilled steaks for dinner.  YUM!

Luckily most of the storms came through in the evenings so we spent Saturday afternoon at the lake and then  had BBQ nachos with the neighbors where I may have played with Playdough with the kids for a couple of hours...what can I say I LOVE Playdough! On Sunday Eric got up to fish and I went to church, we ate at his grandma's for lunch and then enjoyed some sunshine at the pool.  We finished off the weekend with some BLTs by the pool with some friends. See?!  Wonderful weekend!

1. A Friday afternoon thunderstorm rolling in.  This is the view from my office window.  I can literally see fronts move in like this all the time.

2. Friday night dinner.  We grilled steaks and corn and I sauteed some mushrooms and made zucchini bites.v I paired it with a glass of wine and it was perfection!

3. Our neighbors came with us to the lake on Saturday.  This is their 3 year old with her Spiderman umbrella on the boat when it started sprinkling.  She is seriously one of the cutest kids ever.  We totally bonded this weekend.  I am not gonna lie, I pretty much melt when I hear her say Mrs. Betsy Bop.  That's been her name for me since forever.  We don't know where it came from, but it has stuck.  She has Eric wrapped around her finger, too.

4. Chimney Rock or "The Rock"  where crazy people jump off of ridiculously high places.  I have jumped off Chicken Rock (the shortest plateau in the center of the picture) ONE time and that was plenty.  

5. My Playdough creation.  They now have Playdough sets where you can make teeth and put braces on them.  I was completely intrigued.  My teeth were gray and red with white braces because the 3 year old was using the white....gotta make do! 

6. In addition to Playdough we blew bubbles...We found this particular bubble about 30 minutes AFTER we put them up.  I am not sure how it stayed on the grass for that long, but it did and we were all amazed.

7. Lil' Peanut cooling off in the pool on Sunday afternoon.  The dogs played HARD on Sunday.  I am pretty sure all three of them will be passed out for the majority of the day today.

I guess it's time to get this week started....Here's to the LAST 6 months of 2013.  I am looking forward to it!

Has it Really Been 10 Years?

Whew what a week!  I am not quite sure when our how I made it to Friday, but the good news is that I did. The even better news is that I have 2 completely unplanned days laying just ahead of me.  I am thinking we will fill those days with some lake time, river time, or pool time....aka sunshine and water...aka my happy place.  

Hawk says the pool will do just fine this weekend.

I took the plunge and purchased our tickets for, get ready for this.....my 10 year high school reunion.  YIKES!  I still can't believe I am old enough to go to a 10 year high school reunion.  I guess I thought I would feel like I was a little more mature that I do.  I mean yeah I'm married, we have our own home, and I work a great job, but lots of some days I feel like I am a kid playing pretend.  I keep wondering when the day will come that I think it's completely inappropriate to drive with my feet up on the dash, or feel like I have to sit with both feet on the floor in my work chair (I can't do it), or think prancing down the hallway is off the table (guilty...am I the only one who fights a daily urge to do a cartwheel down the empty hallway at my office?).  I think that I have a real future helping the prancercise lady market her videos.

via GIFSoup

I am looking forward to going to my reunion.  I feel like I have changed a lot, but at the same time I haven't changed THAT much.  I would like to think that I am a little less annoying than I was then (maybe?), but I am still the same genuine person I have always been.  I would hope that I have grown into my looks.  I was a string beanish tomboy who played basketball and ran track (but was only out there to stay in shape for basketball- I have the hurdle scars to prove it).  I have been 5'10" since I was 14 and was always played sports so I never put any weight on.  Looking back, I was crazy skinny but never thought I was. I have learned how to apply makeup (for the most part) and no longer look like a ghost when I put it on.  As far as my hair goes, I could only improve from how it was back then.  I wore my hair in a ponytail EVERY DAY-except for picture day- from the time I was in 6th grade until about halfway through my junior year when I discovered the straightening iron.  It has been my best hair friend every single day since.  I am pretty sure I wore tearaway warmup pants with basketball shorts under them and a t-shirt at least once a week, and stuck to jeans the rest of the time....no wonder I didn't have a boyfriend. I guess what I am trying to say is THANK GOODNESS facebook didn't exist from 2000-2003. =)

I hate to admit it but if it weren't for facebook I am pretty sure I would not know a single thing about any of my classmates.  I have pretty much lost touch with everyone.  Will this be a time to rekindle some old friendships?  Maybe.  Would we be going if my parents had not just moved back there?  Not sure.  I think it will be fun to take Eric to my old stomping grounds to see where I went to school.  We live where he grew up so we're always around where he came from and the people he went to school with.  Plus I will get to show him off....who doesn't want to show off their studly husband at the reunion. =) =) =)

Have a great weekend!

Georgia Wedding Weekend Recap

I am happy to report we made through the weekend in one piece. I think I can honestly say the wedding we attended this past weekend was one of the most eventful ones we've been to, scratch that--probably the most eventful ever.

Love these 2!  Isn't the bride gorgeous!?  They are such a precious couple!

I guess we should start from the beginning. We headed over to Albany, Georgia on Friday afternoon and found ourselves at the cutest little motel/inn I have seen in a long time.  It had a ton of charm and beautiful old magnolia trees out front.  The crazy part is that it was in the middle of town! It was on the "main drag" through town, across the street from the Dollar General.  I would say it was the best of both worlds: country charm close to the city...just like I like it!  After we arrived we headed up to the Manor House for a few drinks and to wait for every one to come back from the rehearsal dinner.  We ended up staying up waaaay too late, but had the best time.  Since the groom-to-be was basically Eric's little brother growing up, Eric decided to make sure he shared lots of marital wisdom.  There's just something about hearing your husband talk about how amazing your wedding day was for him that always gives a girl butterflies.  =)

1. Patio Sitting = Summer evening perfection!

2. The patio on the porch. I NEED this at our house.

3. This weekend's featured drink: Redemption Liquid Valium: Redemption Whiskey, Peach Schnapps, cranberry juice, and orange juice.  It was delicious!

4. My studly husband.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to breakfast and the guys took off for the gold course.  I decided I needed another hour of sleep, so I curled back up in our enormous comfy bed for another hour. =)  I had forgotten my face lotion so I headed out to find a Target and ended up spending a little time there (ok a while there).  On the way back to the hotel I spotted the mall and couldn't resist, so I stopped in there, too.  By the time I made it back to the hotel a lovely summer thunderstorm had decided to grace us with it's presence and I made it into the room only mildly soaked.  Eric came back shortly afterward and we started getting ready and headed off to the wedding.

The wedding itself was absolutely beautiful!....once it actually got going.  Mother Nature decided she wanted to delay the wedding a bit.  They had a beautiful spot set up on a golf course.  15 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start the sky got dark and the bottom fell out (again) right as the ceremony was supposed to start.  They ended up putting everyone in the reception hall to wait it out, and 30 minutes later we were seated.  While we waiting to start it started sprinkling again, and a huge thunderhead started heading toward us.  But then something amazing happened....after the beautiful bride walked down the aisle the rain started to subside, and as they started saying their vows a little ray of sunshine popped out.  It was like the movies!  The ceremony ended up being absolutely beautiful and very sweet.  Although I must mention there was a near mishap with a bridesmaid who had a little too much to drink pre-wedding. She stumbled down the aisle and ended up hanging onto one of the other bridesmaids during the ceremony because she could not stand on her own.  Somehow she held it together and the bride never knew what happened (until after).  It did provide some comic relief for the guests.  I think someone videoed her the whole time and I am just waiting for it to go viral.  Eric and I ended up being the ones to get her back up to the clubhouse (even though we had only met her the night before).  He got her some water and I sat her down in the bride's room and helped her call for a ride.  We then had to help get her from the clubhouse to the car with as little commotion as possible. It went relatively smoothly and didn't cause a scene. I heard later that she ended up back at her apartment in the pool.....in her bridesmaid dress.  A little advice to anyone who is going to be in a wedding....keep your drinking in check.  You will embarrass yourself.

1. Saying their vows.  This was about the time the sun came out. =) 

2. The cake table!  I didn't eat any of the actual cake, but I had more cupcakes than I am willing to admit.  

3. Our table markers. 

4.  How priceless is this face?!  All of the groomsmen gave the groom a baseball with a date of one of their homeruns on it....the groom did not hit any this season (they all play college baseball).  Someone had stashed a basket for them behind the alter.  It was hilarious seeing him holding all of the balls!

5. Pretty table flowers.

6. The country club had an absolutely beautiful set up for the wedding.  

7. PSA: Don't be the bridesmaid who has to hold on to someone to make it through the wedding.  The girl beside her was such a trooper. 

After the wedding we went back to the hotel again and sat by the pool with the couples' friends and family.  I am convinced that hanging out with your friends and family after your wedding reception is the best way to end your wedding.

1. We may have stopped for some fried pickles from Captain D's on the way home.  #weakness

2. We were so glad to get home to see these little monsters!  They missed us, too!

Sunday morning we slept in and barely made it to breakfast before we hit the road. We were back home by lunchtime and were able to get a few things done Sunday afternoon.  Eric cut down a tree and did yard work while I got the inside of the house together and planned dinners for this week. I have several delicious dinners and recipes to share this week!