Super Bowl Sunday

Well I'm obviously paying a lot of attention to the game! More importantly what did we eat!

-homemade mini corn dogs

-corn dip 

-pigs in a blanket

-warm bean dip

-chips

Yes it was the healthiest thing we've ever made for dinner! Haha not because we're going to enjoy cookies soon 😉. 

The corn dogs were soo easy and delicious. Link is here but we did cut ours to baby ones so we could feel better about eating more of them! 

http://step-by-step-recipes.com/recipe/homemade-corn-dogs

Here is a picture of my plate minus the chips...don't judge! 

We 1/2 the recipe because it makes a lot. At the end we broiled the top so it would crisp up some. In case you want the delicious bean dip you can find if here: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/1200x/db/56/f3/db56f3482482354953bb2d23130a2d1f.jpg

I think that's all of our super yummy weekend! Oh wait the groundhog saw his shadow so it's 6 more weeks of winter and look at my back yard! 

Welcome February

Wow! I can't believe it's February!! 

This years going to fly by I can already tell! This week has been full of exciting things..ok some good and bad. My car battery decided to die on me on Wednesday evening when I was leaving work. Luckily Charles was on his way home so I wasn't going to have to wait that long but he called Kraig and Anna, our good friends and they rescued me! Thank goodness it was still under the 3-year free replacement period. 

The Weekend

This weekend has been good! We've been productive and lazy! It's been cold and rainy/sleeting so we've stayed indoors. Yesterday I went to the school and tried to work ahead and for this week. One day I'll be able to stay at home all weekend and not work on anything...said no teacher ever! However, before I went we had a yummy breakfast! Charles' sister got me a waffle stick maker for Christmas a few years ago and it's so precious. 

It works wonderful store create these tasty breakfast treats. 

February Door Decor

I worked on my door decor for the month and I'm very pleased with the outcome. I took my Christmas wreath and added a cheap little heart wreath to the top!

Lunch/Snack Preps

I've been doing good in keeping up with prepping all of my lunch items at the beginning of the week. Here's last weeks and this weeks. 

Last week consisted of:

-cherry tomatoes 

-whole grain crackers

-cucumbers

-pizzadilla (tortilla with cheese and pepperoni) 

I mixed the tomatoes and cucumbers some days with Italian dressing and it was so good! The pizzadilla or quesapizza as Charles put it where to use up leftover pizza ingredients. 

This week consists of:

-yogurt with grape nuts

-cut up cubes of cheese

-tomatoes

-turkey on whole wheat tortilla

This makes lunch packing so easy, I love it! 

Cooking up a few good things!

Lately we've been trying a lot of new recipes and they've turned out super successful!

Bell peppers from the recipe below. We adjusted if to fit our taste buds but take a look at how yummy they were! 

http://recipesweet.net/recipe-for-stuffed-green-peppers-with-brown-rice-italian-sausage-and-parmesan/ 

Spaghetti squash in the crockpot with meatballs. 

Let me tell you, this was the best method to cook such a yummy veggie! We prepped everything the night before but left the squash halves wrapped in Saran Wrap. The next morning we put it in and turned it on and it was absolutely perfect! The link to the recipe is here: http://pinterest.com/pin/45739752439523647/

Another crockpot recipe we've enjoyed several times is chicken crockpot tacos. So simple and delicious. Now one day I'll make my own taco seasoning but I've not made it there yet. I've seen this recipe posted all over when you search for "ranch chicken crockpot tacos". You need:

-3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 1 package ranch dressing mix (we used the Kroger brand and it was fine)

- 1 package taco seasoning 

- 1 can chicken broth

Put your crockpot liner in. If you haven't used these your missing out! Add the chicken, sprinkle the taco seasoning and ranch mix on top of the chicken. Last pour the chicken broth on top. Cook on low for around 6 hours or more is fine. Shred the chicken and put back in the crockpot. We ate ours in tortillas with salsa and it was delicious!

The 2nd day we used the shredded chicken to make chicken enchilada soup and it was perfect! 

Here's a link to a coupon for the crockpot liners from Reynolds http://www.reynoldskitchens.com/coupons/ 

Broadway on Ice

A few weeks ago we used our last of my faculty tickets at UCA to see Broadway on Ice. I have to admit...I thought it was going to be a different broadway than what it was. I have only been to one show in NYC and it was 42nd Street and it was fabulous. This show included live singing that was not our style but I was still amazed at what the skaters could do in such a small space! It ended well and was neat to go to! 

Cleaning up the Fridge

Time to revamp the old fridge

We have a fridge that we are thankful for because it was given to us! One day I'd love to have a side by side or something fancy but for now, it keeps my food cold and that's all that matters. It has the metal shelves in it that allow anything and everything to leak and drip to the bottom shelf. I wanted to find a solution to this and Google provided several. There are actually "place mats" for the fridge but at a nice price. I found a blog that used board and contact paper and that sparked my thought of place mats. Of course someone had done this so I just used theirs for inspiration. Here is the outcome!

I also corralled all of the lose condiments and placed them in a basket to give it a cleaner appearance. I love the outcome and it feels so much better!

Snack Box

While I was on the cleaning up the fridge rage, I made a snack box of pre- prepared lunch options for me. I need quick and easy snacking and this was the way to go! I've placed enough for the entire week of fresh veggies + cheddar cheese and it's worked great! I plan on doing this every week of some sort to help portion and make lunch a little easier to prep every day.

Oaklawn Horse Races

Oaklawn

This weekend we got to go to the horse races at Oaklawn in Hot Springs with a fun group of friends! It was so exciting, Charles and I have never been. We did bet on one race and he won (only because I let Morning Lily, my horse beat his 3rd pick) just because we'd win more money that way. We made a day of it and had a blast. After the races, we went to eat at Fisherman's Wharf on Lake Hamilton and it was so delicious! I forgot to take pictures there but here are a few of our day!

We definitely plan on going back in the future!

Using Betty the Mixer

Betty is hard at work around here

Betty, my pink Kitchen Aid mixer has been hard at work around this house!

Garlic Knots

Let me tell you these were melt in your mouth amazing! Recipe is found here:Mine aren't as pretty but don't judge-they were good!

Just for 2 cupcakes

I've been making these for about a year now and I have to be honest, they're so good I normally double the recipe to make not 2 but 4 cupcakes! I forgot to add that I make my frosting according to the taste..I don't follow her recipe exactly because some days I think it needs more milk, other days more sugar so adjust accordingly.
Recipe for 2 (or 4 if you double) cupcakes

I added the m&m's because I only had a few minis and thought they were cute and tasty!

Chocolate Brownies

It seems though I have an obsession with chocolate! I wanted to use what I had in the kitchen so I came up with brownies using white and regular chocolate chips.  It's a simple Hershey's recipe you can find here: Hershey's Brownies
I changed the recipe a little by instead of adding 2 cups of white chocolate chips, I did 1 cup + 1 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate. We of course ate this with Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream . It was so delicious!!