• Chicken - Recipes

    Cheesy Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch Orzo

    February 24, 2016 - By 

    The other night I was craving cheesy homemade macaroni, so I was anxious to not just have it as a side. Instead wanted to make it a meal. I looked in the fridge for some inspiration. I found some bacon that needed to be used soon. After some thought, I decided to do Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch mac & cheese. However, when I looked in the pantry there was NO macaroni! The orzo that I bought months ago and haven’t figured out how to use it was staring back at me. So there ya go. I decided to give it…

  • Travel

    Day in San Juan

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    On our full day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we got up and went out on the balcony to see it in the daylight. Soon after that we hit the streets looking for somewhere open for breakfast. It was probably about 8:30 and not a lot was open yet. We ended up at a cafe inside the Restaurant Barrachina. They had a small menu with a wide variety. Rob had the French Toast Casserole and I had a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese sandwich. We left there full and walked around some more. Here’s a google map of many of the…

  • Beef - Recipes

    Italian Meatball Burger

    February 18, 2016 - By 

    This is one of the best burgers I’ve ever had/made! This meatball burger is to die for. The basil, cheese, and sauce gives this burger so much flavor. Servings: 4-5 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 2 tbs. garlic powder 2 tbs. EVOO 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 cup of finely chopped bell pepper 2 heaping tbs. dried basil 2/3 cup of shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese 1/3 cup of powdered parmesan cheese 1 bottle of spaghetti sauce (I use Classico or homemade) 4 hamburger or ciabatta rolls Directions: 1. Preheat oven to…

  • Travel

    Atlanta to San Juan

    February 16, 2016 - By 

    The day we left for San Juan, we got up with the kids and saw them off to school before finishing up with our packing and running a few errands. We left around 11 and headed up to Rob’s Mom’s house where we would pick up Rob’s brother, Nick, who was driving us to the airport. Before going to the airport, we stopped at one of our favorite places to have Chinese, Fire Dragon. From there it was off the airport, where we were dropped off at Delta curbside check with no line! We got through a long line of…

  • Travel

    Pirilo Pizza Rustica – San Juan, Puerto Rico

    February 12, 2016 - By 

    The night we got into San Juan, it was just passed 11 pm after we got checked in to our hotel and everything. Pretty much all the restaurants near us in Old San Juan were closed. We were pretty hungry, so we were happy that Pirilo Pizza Rustica was still open. We weren’t super excited about having pizza in San Juan, but at that point we weren’t going to turn it down. Pirilo is a quaint little spot with a bar and a few tables. I think there was an upstairs to the restaurant, but we didn’t go up there.…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {1.2016}

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: –Drew turning 18! Read what we did on his birthday here.–Getting new carpet. (post coming soon) –Leaving on a cruise with Rob for 10 days. Here’s all the posts about our cruise. This month I was sad about: being so far behind on blogging. grrr This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies…

  • Birthday Hockey Game Fun
    Life

    Birthday Hockey Game

    January 28, 2016 - By 

    Rob got an email that the Columbus Cottonmouths were having a deal that included tickets for 4, 4 ball caps, and 4 All-Star breakfasts from Waffle House on Drew’s birthday. All for under $40! So we got up that day and took him shopping. He really wanted and needed new clothes so we told him he could have a certain amount of money to spend on clothes. We spent several hours at the mall and he got a couple pair of jeans, a Columbia jacket, several shirts, and a couple other things, I think. By the time he was done,…

  • Life

    An unexpected event

    January 23, 2016 - By 

    Last Monday, I was about to leave work and head home. I got a voicemail and some texts from Drew saying that his stomach was hurting. He had talked to several friends at school and googled it. He was sure he had appendicitis. I called his pediatrician. He called me back on my drive home, but based on the symptoms I told him, he didn’t think it was that. However, I left out some important details, because I had just forgotten about Saturday night and the fact that Drew was feeling feverish, nauseous, and hungry. I got home and told…

  • Dinner

    Taco Party for Game Day #GameDayFavorites #giveaway #ad

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Winner of the $10 Paypal is… Michelle H!! Growing up when I would go visit my Dad one of our favorite Mexican places had something on the menu called a Taco Party. They would bring out a tray full of yummy topping for tacos along with taco shells and meat. I’ve been thinking about the super bowl game day and was trying to decide what party food to make. I decided I’m going to do the Taco Party because I can make several pounds of taco meat ahead of time and just heat it up that afternoon. Pull out all…

  • Louisiana Visit (2016)
    Travel

    Louisiana Visit (2016)

    January 16, 2016 - By 

    After our Texas visits and driving from Huntsville, TX to Baton Rouge, LA, we enjoyed spending time with Rob’s family (his cousin and her husband and their 8 kids). The kids enjoyed playing basketball. Reading together Sitting around the fire since it was a little chili out. Riding scooters We all piled around the table for a New Years Day meal at one of our favorite cajun restaurants, Chimes! That always makes the folks that don’t get cajun food that often very, very happy. And of course before heading home we got all the 2nd cousins together for a group…

  • Travel

    Texas Visit

    January 15, 2016 - By 

    After our eventful Christmas Eve and our fairly relaxing Christmas Day, it was full steam ahead headed west! First stop was to see Rob’s sister and family in Longview, TX. We got there late on Saturday, spent all day Sunday, and left after grabbing breakfast on Monday. Sunday the kids played outside for a good while and we had lunch at Jucy’s Burgers. Really great burgers and I love that they have all you can eat beans. Monday Maria and I went to Butcher Shop Bakery for some quiche and cinnamon rolls. Really yummy. While we were gone Rob and…

  • Appetizers & Snacks - Recipes

    Hot Tiger Dip

    January 9, 2016 - By 

    Here’s a dip recipe that is great hot or cold. This is one of my favorites to make during football season when you’re making NFL picks/parlays. With football commencing for both college football and NFL in the next few weeks, I decided to share this recipe in case you’re looking for a new recipe to make. Today I’m serving up a bit of a spicy dip that I called “Hot Tiger Dip.” Servings: 6-8 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 1 package creme cheese 4 oz. sour cream 1 tbs. Tabasco 1 tsp. garlic powder 2 cups…

  • Beef - Dinner

    Mini Cheese Stuffed Meatloaves

    January 8, 2016 - By 

    I love this recipe. I’ve actually been making mini meatloaves for awhile, so when I saw this recipe to add cheese. I knew it would be great for the mini ones as well. What I also love about this is that you can make it ahead and even freeze them if need be. You can Servings: 4 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30-45 minutes Ingredients: 1.5 lb. ground beef/turkey 3/4 cup chopped onion 1 minced clove garlic 14 oz. can tomato sauce 14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes 8 oz. can of green chilies 1 cup of italian…

  • Life

    Christmas Day 2015 Rundown

    January 6, 2016 - By 

    Despite our Christmas Eve day, Christmas was a nice, relaxing day for the most part. We woke up and enjoyed our typical sausage balls and apple dumplins. Dumped out our stockings Took our typical pictures before opening gifts Let Daisy open her gift. Here’s a little video of her tearing into her package A little downward dog action Alex is ready to open gifts! Of course, after opening her gift Daisy thought all the gifts were for her. Or least that’s what she was hoping anyway. Daisy is bored with us opening gifts… We even got a family shot After…

  • Life

    A Soggy Christmas Eve

    January 5, 2016 - By 

    Christmas Eve day started off uneventful. Rob and Drew were out eating breakfast with Mr. Baird. I got up and ran to the mall for one last gift. It was absolutely monsooning outside. When I got home, I started wrapping presents and cleaning up for company that was coming over the next day. While wrapping presents with door shut in my bedroom, I heard Alex screaming for me to come here. He was down in the playroom. I figured it was a problem with an electronic device or some 1st world problem. However, when I got down there, I saw…

  • Lunch - Recipes

    Chicken Strip Sliders

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    This is more of an idea than a recipe; Chicken Strip Sliders. Sandwiches is an easy throw together recipe often needed for a last minute tummy filler. They can be as simple as a grabbing some slider buns, chicken nuggets, or strips and your favorite sauce (honey mustard, BBQ, etc.) This week, I took it up a notch and made homemade rolls with one of my favorite sauces of all time. A copycat recipe from Chick-fil-a, their Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce. I didn’t have time to bread up chicken strips, so I just used some frozen Tyson crispy chicken strips…

  • Life

    Weekly Menu {Jan. 3-9, 2016}

    January 3, 2016 - By 

    Happy New Year everyone! I hate to admit, but as gung-ho as I was last year to have plans and goals, this year I’ve barely even thought about the new year that’s now underway. With that being said, one of the things I need and want to be doing is to start planning my weekly menus again. It makes life so much easier. Takes the guess work out every night when its time to cook dinner. Makes it easier to know what to buy at the store. Saves money, because every night you know what you’re cooking and you don’t…