Wednesday, June 13, 2012

project 365 vol. 22

Last week I was in Houston.  It was my first week of summer, so I thought I should go home and do a little visiting.  Here's some highlights from the week:

Sunday June 3, 2012

I started out my Houston trip with a little par-tay.  My cousin-in-law, Jessy, was hosting a thirty-one party, so I went with my two aunts and grandma.  I had never heard of thirty-one before (I thought we were going to someone's birthday celebration), but it turned out to be a pretty cool company.  As you can see from the picture, thirty-one makes bags in all shapes and sizes.  It was fun flipping through the catalogs and looking at all the possible pattern choices and combinations.  Thanks for playing hostess Jessy!

Monday June 4, 2012

On Monday night we went out for some frozen yogurt.  Out of all of the frozen yogurt spots "Yogurtland" is definitely my favorite.  I got cookies and cream with oreos on one side of my bowl and oatmeal cookie dough with M&Ms on the other side.  Yuuuummmmyyy! 

Tuesday June 5, 2012

I spent the day with my Mimi on Tuesday.  We went grocery shopping, baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies (mostly for my Uncle Scott), caught up on her soaps, and cooked chicken spaghetti for dinner.  Those are Mimi's feet up there.  Notice her Toms?  I think a little old lady wearing Toms is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  

Wednesday June 6, 2012

I went shopping with my dad on Wednesday, and when we came out of the store, this was our view!  How pretty! 


Thursday June 7, 2012

This was my dinner on Thursday.  I hung out with my mom for the day, and this is what we ate at the end of it...baked tilapia and zucchini with saffron rice.  This dinner inspired me to give saffron rice a whirl back at home to see if Austin likes it.  I thought it was delish!

Friday June 9, 2012

 I haven't had Chinese take-out in forever.  That all changed on Friday night.  I was back in Dallas but home alone because Austin and a bunch of our friends went to the lake for the weekend (I stayed behind because the dance studio I work at was having our recital).  So, it was a Chinese food/Gilmore Girls kind of night.  Perfecto!

Saturday June 10, 2012
Saturday was dress rehearsal for the big dance recital.  I was put to work at "Station 1" or the "Dancer Drop-off".  Here, parents would bring us their tiny dancers a few numbers before they were supposed to go onstage.  Then, we would walk them backstage.  That's my friend escorting two of the dancers from "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" backstage.  Cute :)

Friday, June 8, 2012

project 365 vol. 21

End of May, beginning of June!  Here are my pit-chas from last week!

Sunday May 27, 2012
Last Sunday I was in H-town for a good ol' Chan Clan Memorial Day celebration.  There was BBQ, American pride, family bonding, card games, and (my personal favorite) brownie sundaes!  Look how purdyyy.

Monday May 28, 2012
I made some soup last week, remember?  These were all my glorious vegetables that I used in said soup.  It was so much fun to chop everything up.  Everything except for that corn.  When I tried to cut the little yellow kernels off of the cob, corn went e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.  I actually had to sweep my kitchen floor when I was done.  Sheesh.

Tuesday May 29, 2012
I made some muffins last Monday for Austin to take to work on Tuesday morning.  However, I stashed these two in the back of the fridge for me to eat :)  Austin got to be the muffin man at work, and I got a delicious breakfast.  Everybody wins!

Wednesday May 30, 2012
Our dryer has been broken since about 3 weeks after we got it.  Boo.  It will work for awhile, and then it breaks.  Work, break, work, break, work, break.  Blahhh.  So, it's been laundromat central for a little while.  However, the working/breaking "cycle" (no pun intended) finally came to an end last week!  We got a new washer and dryer, and things are looking up.  Hallelujah!  

Thursday May 31, 2012
On Thursday of last week I was at the dance studio for a looong time.  Luckily, there is a Starbucks right next door!  I got one of these bistro boxes and a sweetened passion tea lemonade for dinner.  It wasn't amazing, but it got the job done.  Yay Starbuckeroos! 

Friday June 1, 2012
Friday night was fun.  After Austin got off of work, we went to happy hour/dinner with another one of our couple friends.  Once dinner was over, we did the logical thing and got some dessert.  My friend Taylor and I split these carrot cake and Boston cream pie cupcakes from Central Market.  Yummmmm.    

Saturday June 2, 2012
Saturday was picture day at the dance studio!  How cute are these little penguins that I teach?!  It was a crazy day with all of the little munchkins in tutus running around, but I love it :) 

Friday, June 1, 2012

recipe round-up

It's been awhile since I've done a recipe post, huh?  Honestly, between moving, doing my long-term sub job, the holiday weekend, and wrapping up the school year, I've been cooking a lot of the old stand-bys, we've been eating out more than usual, and sometimes we just live off the land (that one is kind of scary).  However, I have been cooking up some dinners that are somewhat exciting, so here they are!

Chicken Tex Mex
Here's the recipe
This dish is VERY easy to make, and it is also healthy healthy healthy!  The chicken stays nice and moist, and the sauce goes great with rice.  I like to serve it up with corn because corn is my go to side dish for Mexican food.

White Bean Turkey Chili
I found the recipe here
I've made this chili a time or seven, and it always turns out great!  The original recipe calls for chicken, but I like to use turkey because it gives us a break from chicken and it's a lot easier to brown some turk turk than to mess with raw chickies.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Roasted Asparagus


I found the recipe here
I made this casserole the week that we moved, so please excuse the paper plate (all of my pretty plates were in Boxville, USA).  This casserole was yummm.  I think the original recipe calls for celery, but I decided to use zucchini instead because that's what I always do when celery is involved.  It is definitely rich, but I can see it being great for a big family dinner or something.  It took Austin and me awhile to eat it all! 

Tilapia in Lemon-Butter Garlic Sauce

Click here for the recipe
I love cooking fish because it always seems to come together so fast!  This recipe wasn't too difficult, and I ended up really liking the sauce.  It's rich and creamy, but that works really well with the light fish.  The original recipe calls for grouper, but I used tilapia.  When I went to buy the fish, I asked the butcher which one he preferred and if they tasted similar, and he said that they tasted a lot alike but that he liked tilapia better.  Tilapia is it!  Oh, and that rice on the plate is just a box thang...it was good!  Way to go Uncle Benny!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sliders
Get the recipe here
When I went to the store to get my groceries the week that I made this pulled pork, they were out of regular sized wheat buns.  Booooo.  However, the lack of normal buns meant that I got to buy these cute little baby buns!  I think the baby buns made this pulled pork taste even better than the first time I made it, if that's even possible.  3 cheers for baby buns!  I love this recipe...it takes about 5 minutes to throw in the crockpot, and then 8 hours later you have mountains of pulled pork!  I served these little cuties with some corn and roasted zucchini.  

Chicken Parmesan Rollatini
Try the recipe by clicking this
I've made this dish before, and it was "the best thing I've ever made" according to Austin.  Naturally, I whipped it up for us again.  However, I was in a little bit of a time crunch this time around, so I didn't mess with the whole "rollatini" thing.  It tasted pretty much the same sans rolling, but I think the rolls looked a lot prettier.  Oh well.  Next time I will roll again.

Taco Soup


Here's the recipe for this delicious soup!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean beef, browned and drained
1 can of corn
1 small can chopped green chilies
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can of black beans
2 cans of pinto beans
1 packet of taco seasoning 
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
3 tbsp chili powder
12 oz of water

Instructions:
-Begin by browning the meat until completely brown; drain and empty into a large pot.
-Add the vegetables/beans into the pot with the meat one at a time
-Once adding in all of the veggies, mix in the taco seasoning, chili powder and ranch dressing mix.
-Depending on the amount being made, it is optional to add a vegetable can sized amount of water. 
-Once adding all of the ingredients together let the soup simmer on the stove until it is time to serve. 

This soup is the bomb.  It is SO easy, and it tastes delicious.  I loved adding the avocado to it and dunking in crispy tortilla chips.  It was almost like eating a dip for dinner, and that is definitely something I can get on board with.

Linguine with Pesto Chicken and Spring Vegetables

Click here for the recipe
I cheated on this recipe.  I did not make my own pesto.  Instead, I just used some from a jar.  This still tasted ridiculous though, and I could not stop eating!  I really liked the thick linguine, and the asparagus was so crispy and tender.  Definitely something I will make again.

Stuffed Peppers
Here's the recipe
These turned out delicious (so I'm told).  I'm not a big fan of peppers, but Austin said they were great!  I did love the filling though!

How Austin eats his peppers
How I eat my peppers (subtract peppers, add tortillas and cheese)

Pasta with Marinara and Parmesan Chicken

I kind of created this recipe as I cooked.  Basically, I had some leftover chicken from when I made the Parmesan Chicken Rollatini, so I cooked that up and then sprinkled it over some pasta with marinara from a jar.  This recipe is being featured in next month's Gourmet Magazine (not) haha.

Central Market Chipotle Lime Chicken with Roasted Corn and Rice

I love living right across the street from Central Market.  The other night we were hungry and short on time, so we stopped by and found this yummy chicken.  All I did was stick it in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, and bam!  For the corn I just rubbed on some olive oil, salt, and pepper and stuck it in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.  The rice is from a box.  Easy, healthy dinner!

Minestrone Soup
Recipe!

 I made this soup earlier this week when is was raining and gloomy outside.  I loved it!  It was so nice to make something that didn't contain butter or cream or anything that's super unhealthy.  There's a little bit of olive oil, and the rest is all veggies!  I added in some ground lean beef so that Austin wouldn't feel like a girly man, and it turned out great.  I'll be making this again for sure!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

project 365 vol. 20

Sunday May 20, 2012 
Last Sunday was the big golf tourney, and I know I already shared this gem with y'all, but here he is again.  QUIET! please.


Monday May 21, 2012
Over the weekend, we had to clean out our old apartment (remember the KABOOM?).  The only thing left in there was our pesky dryer that's been broken for a few weeks.  We needed it out of the apartment, down 2 flights of stairs, and to the dumpster.  This is obviously not a task that I could help complete.  So, Austin and I recruited our friend Alan.  I was at Wal-Mart right before the big move, so I grabbed some treats for my friendly movers.  I'm usually not a big fan of Wal-Mart brand items or Wal-Mart in general, but these little 100 calorie ice cream sammies are awesome!  Way to go Wally.

Tuesday May 22, 2012
I bought some of this cereal at the grocery store last week.  I used to eat this all the time, and I had sort of forgotten about it.  Man, I have been missing out!  I love it!  Long live Life.

Wednesday May 23, 2012
On Wednesday Austin and I were on the road.  He had a bachelor party to go to, and I had family stuff to do.  We got some dinner on the road at Wendy's, and what's Wendy's without a Frosty, right?  Yummmmm!

Thursday May 24, 2012
Last Thursday I went shopping with my mom.  We were at this place called Bering's Hardware, and we came across these.  They're dog beds that look like giant Crocs.  What will they think of next?  

Friday May 25, 2012
On Friday I ate at one of my favorite places to eat in the whole world: Barnaby's!!  If you live in or around the Houston area, you have got to go.  And order some sweet potato fries for goodness sake!

Saturday May 26, 2012
Last Saturday it was time for some family!  We went to my cousin Shane's baseball game to kick things off.  There he is swinging away...let's go Shanerrr!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

project 365 vol. 19

Sunday May 13, 2012
Sunday Sunday!  Mother's Day Mother's Day!  Pink mimosas Pink mimosas!  These were scrumptious!

Monday May 14, 2012
Do you see that big box coming out of the ceiling up there?  That baby, also known as an "air conditioner", was my nemesis last Monday.  Apparently the school I was subbing at on this particular Monday thought it was necessary to pump 50 degree air into the classroom all day long.  I wanted to cry.

Tuesday May 15, 2012
Look at that cute little I heart Jim (from The Office) mug filled with delicious blueberry tea!  Have you ever tried blueberry tea?  It is delicious.  It is especially delicious if you are feeling sick from demon air conditioners and need something to warm you up on a Tuesday morning.

Wednesday May 16, 2012
I have been wearing my glasses for about a month now because I am too lazy to order myself some new contacts.  However, all of this changed last week!  I went to my local Wal-Mart, and the nice lady at the eye place gave me a 3 month supply of contacts...wahoo!  The best part about getting the gift of spectacle-less sight?  Getting to wear sunglasses again!  And taking cheesy pictures of said sunglasses in my rear view mirror.

PS- Doesn't Buc-ee look cute just dangling there?

Thursday May 17, 2012
I know that it is probably the most cliché thing in the world to take a picture of my Starbucks drink and put it on the Internet.  However, this was my first grande sweetened passion tea lemonade of the summer, and so I really don't mind being cliché-y.  I love these drinks during the summer...especially if they are paid for using a gift card that came in my Easter basket :)

Friday May 18, 2012
Austin and I had to clean our old apartment last weekend before we turned in our keys and officially "moved out".  I used this cool KABOOM stuff that I've seen commercials a million times, and guess what?  It is awesome!  I sprayed some on our dirty tub, waited for the blue stuff to turn white, and KABOOM!  Clean tub-a-dub-dub.

Saturday May 19, 2012
On Saturday I took the certification test to teach high school dance!  I ordered this study guide to help me prepare, but honestly...if you just take dance for 18 years of your life, teach classes at a local studio, and minor and/or major in it at Texas A&M, I don't think you really need that study guide.  Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself--I find out if I passed in about a week!  Eeeep!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

the byron nelson championship



Today we went to the Byron Nelson Golf Championship.  

Now, it's no secret that golf is not exactly my favorite sport.  Most sports are not my favorite sport.  However, I love going to any sort of "live" sporting event...especially when there's the possibility of snacks!


My friend Collin got us the tickets to this cool tournament...thanks Collin!  Here is our group in front of the 18th hole:

Taylor, Collin, Austin, Me
After we made it to the course, we started walkin' around.  We stopped to snoop on some golfers about to tee off.


Then, we found a nice spot at the end of one of the holes.  Check out those houses on the left...wowza. The people who lived there were having parties in their backyards with fancy guests and glamorous food and drinks.  One place even had an outdoor pizza oven!  

...not that I was paying a lot of attention or anything.


Apparently it's popular to shout, "Get in the hole!" after a golfer takes his shot nowadays.  Who knew?


Here's Austie Marie and I cheering on our favorite golfers:


We ended the day by plopping down at the end of a couple of holes.  I liked the plopping part of the day.  Plopping plus shade was the perfect combo.


OH!  And plopping plus shade plus this quiet sign guy just plain made my day.  Golf is fun :)


After the tournament was over, the boys were inspired!  So, we went to Top Golf.  Here's some winning swings from Collin and Austin:



Hope everyone had a nice weekend!!