• Dinner

    Taco Party for Game Day #GameDayFavorites #giveaway #ad

    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…

  • Travel

    Louisiana Visit (2016)

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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}

    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…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {1.2015}

    I was happy about: going to Gatlinburg with the Boy Scouts. I was sad about: hurting my back in Gatlinburg. Books I read were: Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist. I didn’t watch any movies this month. TV Shows I watched were: CSI NCIS NCIS LA NCIS NO The Mentalist Hawaii 50 random old game shows The Bachelor The Pioneer Woman Revenge (Season 4 on Hulu) Hart of Dixie (Netflix) Parenthood (Season 1 Neftlix) The Good Wife (Season 1 Neftlix) My favorite song this month was: Something in the Water…

  • Life

    Newest Member of the Family

    Family Friday {New Pet Edition} For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know about the newest addition to the family. Yes, I think hell has frozen over, because our newest family member is a cat. Rob has never been a huge fan of cats. When this cat started hanging out around the house, he actually entertained the idea of keeping it. We got her spayed the week before Christmas, which ended up becoming a nightmare. To sum it up, she ripped the sutures out. We had to take her back to the vet and they put staples…

  • Life

    Do You Drink Enough Water?

    Today I’m back to thinking about my New Year’s Resolutions. I have to keep in on the forefront of my mind or all those lofty goals will be long forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind, but I really want to succeed at accomplishing these goals. So today I’m thinking about making sure I drink enough water. Remember that our bodies are about 60% water, but in order for our bodies to remain healthy we have to drink water. In fact, our bodies require quite a bit of water everyday. Now we do get water from foods we eat, but…

  • Cookies - Recipes

    Chocolate-Chip Strawberry Cookies

    Lately I have had an obsession with the combination of chocolate and strawberries. I came across a myriad of wonderful recipes with this sweet pair on pinterest. I decided to give these a try last week. They turned out beautifully. So easy! My son said these were the best cookies he’s ever had! I almost left them in there too long as you can see there is just a bit of brownness on a few of them. So look carefully at step 7! Servings: 24 cookies Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 1 regular sized strawberry cake…

  • Photography

    iSpy Photo Challenge #3

    How was your week? Were you able to catch some amazing moments? iSpy Photo Challenge would love to see them! I hope people will start sharing this and linking up. I would love to start having featured pics each week. Anyway here are the 3 of my favorite pics from this week. Last Sunday we were in Gatlinburg. I’ll be working up a post for that trip, but here’s a picture I got of the skis. Monday as we headed out of town we stopped so the the guys could get some go-cart riding in. Here’s Alex! I noticed this…

  • Beef - Dinner - Recipes

    Tater Tot Hamburger Pie

    The other night I found a package of tater tots that I had forgotten about. Since I had forgotten they were in there means, they had been in there too long. I decided I needed to use them. I was able to whip up this Tatortot Hamburger Pie, which my family enjoyed. Servings: 4 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef or turkey 1/3 cup of chili powder 1 can petite dice tomatoes with green chilies 1 cup Mexican shredded cheese 2 cups frozen tatortots 1/3 cup ketchup 1 finely chopped onions

  • Beef - Dinner - Recipes

    Steakhouse Burger

    Ever since last summer when I had the Steakhouse Burger at McDonald’s, I’ve wanted to make it at home. I decided to try and recreate it and come up with an easy recipe. I was able to recreate it, so I would definitely call this a “copycat recipe.” Servings: 4-6 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Ingredients: Burger: 1 1/2 lbs. of hamburger meat 1 packet of onion mix 1/3 cup of Worsteshire 1/2 tsp. pepper 8-12 pieces of “Giant” bread (thicker cut white sandwich bread) Spray butter garlic powder lettuce tomato French fried onions Provolone cheese

  • Life

    Drew’s 17th Birthday

    Family Friday {Drew’s 17th Birthday Edition} Today my oldest turns 17! How can it be? It’s amazing how things change, but also how they stay the same. It’s really crazy to think that I’m old enough to have a 17 year old! Heck, I feel like just a couple years ago I was 17! I’ve typed and backspaced so many times on this post trying to convey so many feelings. So for now I’m going to quit the madness and maybe at some point my brain can come up with words to really express what my heart is feeling today.…

  • Life

    Checklist Planner for Busy Moms

    One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to be more organized and my word for the year is FINISH. Part of that is just having a plan of action each day to ensure that what needs to get done, actually does. I came up with this Checklist Planner to help me out each day. It has a place for what I need to accomplish in the mornings and in the evenings, as well as what I plan to blog about, what I plan to have for lunch and dinner, among other important reminders.

  • Chicken - Dinner

    Pizza Smothered Chicken

    Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 12 oz. box of pasta (I used Penne) 1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce Parmesan cheese Italian seasoning Garlic Pepperoni (your favorite pizza toppings)

  • Travel

    Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park

    This week for Travel Tuesday, I’m sharing our stop in Jackson, MS. When we travel to Fort Worth, TX we often use Jackson, MS as a mid-way stopping point. Back in 2005, we stopped there and planned to spend the night and go to a Mississippi Braves Game. The Mississippi Braves play in Pearl, MS which is just a few miles outside of Jackson at Trustmark Park. I love going to minor league baseball parks, because they are so easy to get in and out of; more like a college ball park than a major league park with 1,000s upon…