Thank you PW!

I ordered The Pioneer Woman's cookbook :-) I couldn't wait a minute longer, I placed an order at Amazon on Thursday night. It should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday. I was browsing her cooking site the other day and she posted the most delicious looking salsa, you can see her recipe HERE. Can I just say again how much I love ALL the step by step photos she shares :-)

I love fresh salsa but whenever I've made it fresh it's always been a fruity one, like mango salsa or peach salsa, where everything is just 'diced'. I've never really made a tomato one! Her recipe for 'Restaurant Style Salsa' isn't totally fresh because you use canned tomatoes, but the other ingredients like the onion, garlic, lime juice and cilantro give it that fresh taste - it tastes amazing!

I seriously want to try and 'cook my way through' her cookbook when I get it, but I've honestly never tried one of her recipes until now. I thought I would start with this because it looked so easy and I always have canned tomatoes in the pantry.

I won't post the recipe here because you can get it from the link above, but here's all my ingredients ready to be 'pulsed'.

The one thing I will add, is that PW must have a very large food processor, because as soon as I emptied the tomatoes and one can of Rotel in to mine it became obvious that there wouldn't be enough room for the other can. So I scooped some of the tomatoes out, left them to one side with the other can (you can see them in the bowl behind with the ladel), pulsed everything together then emptied it in to a bowl, then I put the remaining tomatoes in the blender and pulsed them then added them to the first bowl and mixed them all together.

The texture of this is just perfect.... not chunky but not totally smooth. I couldn't stop 'tasting' this as I was cleaning everything up even though it is supposed to chill in the fridge at least an hour... I tell you, this stuff is addictive! I finally ladled it in to jars just so it was easier to keep in the fridge (I didn't seal the jars in a hot bath, but I'm sure you could if you wanted to make a ton of this for gifts etc)

I took a jar to my neighbor Cheryl last night and she loved it too. She said her hubby would love it, he uses salsa all the time to put on top of his eggs for breakfast or on top of grilled chicken - yum! I seriously don't think I will ever buy a jar of salsa again. Try this for the big game (or even sooner than that) you won't be disappointed.

Where's my camera?

I really need to get my camera out more. When I browse back through my posts I realize I hardly post any pictures of us, or me! For some of you that might be just fine, but I know my sister (who reads this blog just about every day) would probably love to see more photos of us (wouldn't you Nenna?), so I shall try to use my camera more and post about what we're up to as well as post about the things I like doing ;-)

We had a huge storm last night. Kristen came in to my room around midnight, Jason hadn't even come to bed by then. The thunder was so loud - and the lightening, wow! Boo came running in after Kristen but I took him back downstairs and told Jason to keep him with him. When Kristen comes in to our room (which isn't that often) Jason will opt to sleep in the guest room so we aren't all squashed up together. Thankfully we all got a good night sleep, I think I fell asleep even before the thunder stopped.

It's pouring with rain still this morning. I'd love to just stay home all day but I have to take Boo to the vet for his yearly shots. I was just there yesterday with our hamster! I posted a status about it on my Facebook page. Our little hamster is losing all her fur :-( I kept putting off calling the vet because I was hoping she was just getting old, and I read up online about it and that is a common thing to happen. But the truth is her skin was starting to look very dry and she was now starting to scratch a lot, so I couldn't deny it any longer... poor little thing obviously has something wrong with her. I just dreaded the vet bill for such a tiny little animal (one that you know won't live much past 3 years either!). I don't mean to sound cruel but honestly, paying hundreds of dollars to keep a little rodent alive, does not make sense to me, not when people are starving and suffering around the world!)

I took her anyway, and the vet, although she didn't quite know what could be causing it, gave me some antibiotic drops for her and another drop to hopefully help with her skin condition. ...$75 later - We'll give it a try but if it doesn't work there's not much else we can do. She seems fine in every other way, eats well, runs on her wheel etc. So anyway, it's Boos' turn today... I just want to get there and back so I can stay home until it's time to pick Kristen up. I'll leave you with some cute pics of our baby boy playing with his frisbee on the front lawn last year. On days like this it's hard to imagine the grass will ever be green again!

Waiting for his frisbee to be thrown....

Happy Friday, hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I have to have this!

Yesterday I took Kristen to the Little Gym for the first time in a long time! Long story short about that, we 'make' Kristen take piano lessons every week, something she keeps telling me she hates because I also 'make' her practice for 20 minutes a day! To which I reply "you'd hate anything that I 'made' you do - that's just the way kids are!" So the other day I asked her what she would like to do IF she could pick any 'after school activity', (because she has really never asked to do anything like sports or dance ) to which she replied "I liked it when I went to Little Gym" (we stopped going about 2 years ago). So, (as I said, long story short) I agreed to enroll her in Little Gym again because I think it only fair that she should have at least one thing that she looks forward to each week ;-) (I know, I'm such a nice mommy, ha ha) :-) We went for her first 'lesson' yesterday and she just loved it.

Which brings me to the title of this post.....

right next to the Little Gym is Barnes and Noble ;-) And yes, you bet I'm gonna wander around there for an hour while Kristen is having fun. Yesterday I got my first 'real' look (as in, I could actually see the inside pages) of Ree Drummond's most talked about cookbook! I know many of you know of Ree from her wonderful website The Pioneer Woman. If you don't know about it you really should check it out, especially if you like to cook, or if you love photography, or if you're a homeschooling Mom - she has all that and more at her site. Some of you have even been lucky enough to meet Ree as she traveled to book signings, bought your book and had it autographed - you lucky gals you ;-)

Well I haven't even bought the book yet.... but I'm gonna! After seeing the inside of this book, with all of it's beautiful photos, not only of the food she cooks (and step by step photos at that) but of her beautiful family, pets and animals too, oh my, I just HAVE to have it. THIS is the way ALL cookbooks should be (in my humble opinion). If it's one thing that I love to see in cookbooks it's photos, and lots of them, preferably one for every recipe there is, otherwise I just don't even want to try the recipe. But to have a cookbook that not only shows you the 'finished dish' but shoes you step by step photos of how to cook it.... that my friend is 'heaven' :-)

I don't know when I'll order it but it must be soon. I wonder if anyone is 'cooking their way through The PWC (Pioneer Woman Cooks) book? Now that would make for a fun blog too, don't ya think?

Still on the subject of books (cos you know how much I love 'em) I was thrilled to pick up this bargain yesterday....

Not long after I read Paula Deen's story "It Ain't All About The Cookin" I found out that Sandra Lee also had a book out about her story and how she found 'fame and fortune'. That was probably 2 years ago. My local library doesn't have the book in. I've always wanted to read it, just never wanted to buy it, until yesterday that is. I found this hardback in the clearance section of B&N for just $2!!! Whoo hoooo, so glad I didn't order that from Amazon for $17.96!

So much to read..... so little time. What are you up to today?

Easy Enchiladas

I love enchiladas :-) and I love that there are hundreds of recipes out there to try. But once in a while I like to just 'not follow a recipe' and whip up something quick. That's what I did for dinner on Saturday. I've mentioned before that I often have a lot of canned goods in my pantry because of our Costco runs (which we haven't done in a long time because our membership ended) and canned chicken is one of those things.

So, I took a can of chicken and a can of enchilada sauce and some cilantro and green onions and cheese..... and, seriously that's about all there is in these babies! You could add other things, like corn or salsa, but I kept these ones simple.

So for the record all I did was chop a few green (spring) onions and put them in the pan with cooking spray. Then I added the canned chicken and shredded it a little (it comes in big chunks), added a little enchilada sauce and some fresh cilantro. The cilantro is what makes it for me, I love the smell and taste of fresh cilantro... oh and guess what, I actually 'snipped' these few leaves from my herb garden! Cilantro is the only thing that has survived out there during the winter, and I now know why it's so hard to grow in the summer. Cilantro is a cold weather herb. I always think of growing herbs in the summer so I never really thought of them being either a warm or cold weather plant.

Anway, once your mixture is heated through just spoon a bit in to each corn tortilla. I filled six tortillas with mine, adding a little cheese inside before I rolled them up. Then I poured the rest of the can of enchilada sauce on top and topped with more cheese.

Bake these at 375 for about 20-25 minutes . I love that these are so quick to do and other than the fresh herbs and green onion I usually have everything else on hand. The go great with a nice crisp green salad and a 'dollop' of sour cream on top - Yum!

And the winner is. . . .

Traci at Beneath My Heart

Congratulations Traci, you won the Old El Paso Giveaway. Send me your home address and I will pass it on to MyBlogSpark who will have the gift pack mailed out to you :-)

Thank you to everyone that left a comment. I really do appreciate you all stopping by. I hope to return the visits to you all over the next few days.

Accessorizing

We've lived in this house just over 3 years now (I still can't believe we moved just two days before Christmas on December 23rd, 2006!) and although I've painted most rooms by now (some even twice) I still feel like each room isn't quite finished. Accessories are the key to making a room complete I think.I made a trip to Hobby Lobby this week ;-) Wanna see what I bought?

First, some new candle holders. Now that we probably won't be using the fireplace again for a while I wanted to pretty it up a bit with a new look. These candle holders were on sale (do I ever buy anything full price? of course not!) The little yellow tulip like holders on top are separate. I bought them in the garden section for just $1.99. Actually come to think of it, they were the only things NOT marked down that I bought. They are for little tea lights and I had them lit last night and they make such a lovely golden glow. (ignore the ash in the fireplace... I obviously still need to clean it all out). I still need something for the other side so I haven't taken a full picture of the fireplace yet.

I couldn't resist these cute bookends. I'm always on the lookout for some, of course they have to be on sale... and these little guys were just over $7 for the pair.

They will probably go upstairs on my book cases in the game room but for now they are sitting on the coffee table just for a day or so.

Below, is a picture I bought last week from Kirklands. I finally put it up this weekend on a blank wall just next to the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. I then hung the pretty 'scroll' above it that I got at Hobby Lobby this week too.

Also this weekend I made a start on painting my 'Goodwill frames' You can see my post about them HERE. Here is the blank wall going up the stairs....

Very boring isn't it? And here's the start of my 'Family' wall.....

Not finished yet as you can see. I need to decide on which pictures to frame. The one you see there is of Kristen when she was 3 years old, taken at the Picture People. It's just temporary, I printed it out on my computer on just normal paper to get an idea of how it would look. I will put another frame to the right of 'Family' and I have an idea to add some small frames but not with pictures in! I'll share again when I have it all finished.

The picture below looks a different color because I turned the stair light off and didn't use the flash.

This looks more true to the actual wall color which is a very soft creamy buttery color... it's the same color that is downstairs too. I would like to eventually change the hand rail to a nice wooden one.

So that's my attempt at more accessorizing this week..... still so many rooms to do ;-)

I'll be back later tonight to announce the winner of my give-away. If you haven't already left a comment HERE there is still time to do so. Just scroll down and leave your comment at the end of the post.

Give-Away

Don't forget to leave a comment HERE to enter my give-away this week :-)
Just scroll down past the 'soup' to read about it.

All about books...

A few months ago I joined in the challenge for 'Fall Into Reading'. You can read my post about it HERE. The challenge finished sometime in December, but to be honest I was so busy with Christmas by then that I didn't go back to Katrina's blog or even bother to do any kind of 'wrap-up-post' That's ok though, it was really all just for fun and for me to list a few of the books I wanted to read over the coming months.

It's book club tonight, I'm a member of a neighborhood book club (this is the neighborhood I used to live in) and have been for about 4 years now, so I thought I'd write a post about the books I read last year and mention a few that we plan on reading this year. Katrina will also be starting up a Spring Reading Challenge again soon (she does two a year, Fall and Spring) so I will watch out for that and it will probably inspire me to write more about my books - because if you haven't gathered by now "I love to read" :-)

So, back to my list from last year. When I wrote a post on the challenge I listed these books:

The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society
Julie and Julia
Home to Holly Springs
Shopaholic and Baby
Comfort Food
A Dog Named Christmas
Skipping Christmas

And here's how I did..... I read The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society, Home to Holly Springs and Shopaholic and Baby. I tried to start Comfort Food (by the author of The Friday Night Knitting Club) but I just couldn't get in to it at the time! I might try to read that one at a later date. I started reading Julie and Julia and same thing, totally couldn't get in to it, so I just rented the movie instead ;-) Never got around to reading A Dog Named Christmas, and although I've read Skipping Christmas before, never got around to reading that one again like I had wanted to.

One book I added to my list was Neta Jackson's 'Where Do I Go' a new book from the Yada Yada series. I really liked this one and have ordered her next one in the series from Amazon (I should get it this week) called 'Who Do I Talk To'.

I read quite a few others over the course of the year mainly for our book club but I didn't make a list of them. I want to start keeping better track of what I read and when. I joined Shelfari.com sometime last year which helps me a little, but it can't help if I don't go in there and update it! I am also planning on keeping a list here on my blog of what I've read... you can see it over on my right side menu.

The book we've been reading this month for book club is Same Kind Of Diffenent as Me. I actually read this book a couple of years ago, so I got it out of the library again just to refresh my memory but didn't read it all the way through.

I'm not very good at writing reviews on books, so I'll just say I really enjoyed this one ;-) Next month's choice is My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. This one might be a 'hard' read for me, I usually stick with easy fiction! But that's what's great about a book club, it makes you read books you never thought you would.... and sometimes you actually enjoy them.

If you're reading a book right now, or have any book recommendations I'd love for you to share with me. Is anyone else in a book club? What have you read lately?

Tempt My Tummy - and a Give-Away

I did it myself! I mentioned on my Facebook page last week that I had made some yummy soup that had 0 points in it. Usually for lunch I will open a can of Progresso 'light' soup that has 0 or 1 pt per cup. I thought about making my own and looked on line for some recipes but the amount of ingredients in some of them just overwhelmed me! So, I thought I would try making my own with what I had on hand.

We used to shop at Costco a lot so I have a lot of canned foods on hand. This is what I 'threw' together to make this soup :

2 cans fat free Vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can green beans
1 can garden peas
1 small onion diced
2 stalks celery chopped
2 large carrots diced (I actually used frozen carrots I had in the freezer that were from our garden).

Put all of the above ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Until the fresh veggies are tender.

You can change up the veggies to suit your taste. If you're using canned veg check the label for point value (if you want to follow WW). I'm really the only one that eats this but I've already gone through one pot and made another one over the weekend. It's great for a quick lunch, and a perfect way for me to get extra vegetables :-)

I'm linking this post to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and also Do It Yourself Day at a Soft Place To Land.

And now a give-away....

A recent survey conducted for Old El Paso
Green Chiles found that the majority of
Americans will be gathering around the TV to watch the Big Game at home with friends and family on February 7, 2010.

Whether you´re planning a huge party or you´re just looking forward to kicking back at home with your friends and family, Old El Paso Green Chiles can help you spice up the festivities!

Old El Paso Green Chiles, which come in 4.5 and 7 oz cans, are a simple way to liven up your go-to favorites. Fat-free and with only 10 calories per serving, Green Chiles are not spicy, but will add a unique flavor to your dishes that the whole crowd will love!

Recently I was offered a chance to try out Old El Paso's green chilis and was sent a great 'Tackle The Taste' gift pack from Old El Paso through MyBlogSpark.com

I also have one Tackle The Taste Gift Pack to give away ..... the gift pack includes two free cans of Green Chiles, as well as a football-shaped ceramic serving platter, two sets of football-themed plates, cocktail napkins, and a themed table runner.

You can also CLICK HERE for a coupon to save $0.55 on one can of Old El Paso Green Chiles

I'll make this super easy.... just leave a comment on this post and you will be entered in to the drawing. I will announce the winner on Sunday evening (Jan 24th). For an extra entry post about this give-away on your blog and make sure you leave a second comment to let me know.

Menu Plan Monday... and some White Castles ;-)

After seeing these little 'White Castle' burgers HERE and HERE last week I just had to give them a try this weekend.

Not very 'healthy lifestyle' friendly really but I only had 2 so I think after a week of eating well they were a well deserved treat. Thankfully Jason ate the rest of them over the weekend. I won't make these often, but they are a great little party platter, so next time we have a get together with our neighbors I think I'll make more.

I have made my Menu Plan again for this week. I didn't get it done before my grocery shop on Friday but I know what's in my freezer and pantry, so this is what I've come up with....(bearing in mind I'm still counting points and trying to eat healthy options)

Monday: Enchilada Casserole w/salad (I calculated the points per serving for this and it's only 7pts)

Tuesday: Chicken Tenders w/mashed potatoes and green beans (w/salad for me)

Wednesday: Chicken Taco Chili w/rice (I don't want things left in the freezer for too long so we're having this again this week).

Thursday: This is piano day and we don't get back home til 5.30pm so I'm just gonna do us a quick 'frozen' meal from the freezer (probably a Smart Ones for me)

Friday: Chili Cheese Fries w/salad (I don't want to feel like I'm eating diet food all the time, so these will be another yummy 'low fat' treat).

Saturday: ??? can't think what to have yet!

Sunday: Spaghetti and meatballs (our family favorite)

It's a no school day today for MLK day. I didn't get out of bed til 8.45am this morning! Feeling rather lazy because of it too. It's already 11.30am and all I've done is put the dish washer on and a load of laundry, and if I'm honest I don't plan on doing much more than that either. It feels like another Sunday so I'm going to indulge in it and be lazy ;-) I did make the effort to get out of my pj's though and get dressed

7 things about me

I've been blogging for some years now and love all the friends I've made. I've been lucky to even meet some of them face to face and feel that we are long time friends, sending cards and gifts to each other.

What I love about blogging is that you never know when you might meet a new friend. Someone who you 'connect' with, someone who makes you feel that if you had just moved in next door to them they would be such a great neighbor, and soon become a great friend too. I met someone like that last week when I surfed in to Melanie's blog:-) Melanie has recently moved from Florida to Kentucky and is experiencing her first 'winter' there. I love the snow and miss it sometimes but I know it can be tedious sometimes too, and hard to get used to when you're so used to warm weather.

I especially loved this post from Mel this week where she shared some things that will help her make it through the winter :-) She makes me feel like I want to just pop in for coffee and sit a while and chat.

Melanie kindly awarded me the Kreative Blogger Award this week. I'm to list -7 things about myself and nominate 7 other bloggers. If you've been reading my blog for a while some of these things may not be too new to you, but I'll list them anyway (they will be new for my 'new' friends) ....

1. I love knitting (my mam taught me when I was 8 yrs old)
2. I have a twin brother (he's older than me by 20 minutes)
3. I wore contacts since my early 20's but had lazik eye surgery 18 mths ag0
4. I still need glasses to read (it's an age thing!)
5. I'm a home-body and would rather stay home than go on vacation
6. I love surfing blogs and meeting new bloggers :-)
7. I am very punctual, and hate when others aren't!

I love all the blogs I visit so if you read this consider yourself a 'Kreative Blogger', I'll leave this open and if you feel like posting 7 things about yourself just let me know when you do so. If this is your first time visiting, or you 'lurk' and don' t usually leave a comment, I just want to say hello and thanks for stopping by. I'd love it if you left a note to say you'd stopped by. If you have a blog I'll be sure to return the visit.

The never-ending saga....

... of trying to keep my kitchen clean! Is it just me, or do you suffer with MKS too?

MKS? that would be 'messy kitchen syndrome'. I clean and declutter, then I clean again and declutter but every time I turn around it looks like this....

and this....

So, I clean - AGAIN, and I declutter - AGAIN, then I breath a sigh of relief, when I see this.....

and this......


ahhhhh, that's better. Now, do you think it will look like that for long?

I 'heart' Kirklands!

I think I've mentioned before that I just love Kirklands. My nearest store is about 15 minutes away (the opposite way to the mall, and Super Target) so even though it's close I don't really go as often as I like. I went on Monday though ;-)

I am trying to be good and stay home most days (I tend to spend less money that way, don't you? ;-) but on Monday I could not get it out of my mind that I just needed a wander around Kirklands. I think it might have been because I'd stayed home all weekend while it was cold. Anyway, I couldn't settle so I hopped in the car at 9.30am and figured I could get back to housework after I got my 'fix'. Of course I bought a few things..... wanna see?

First up, I think this is the cheapest thing I've ever bought there, but don't ask me what it's called .... I'm just calling it my 'tassel holder' - it cost me 77c! I definitely need some thicker ribbon for my tassel, but I'll get that later.

I was mainly looking for some 'nik-naks' for my hallway table. Remember I just got this table at Ikea before Christmas so I could but the buffet that was in the hallway in the dining room. I had my nativity on this table over the holidays but now it held nothing (see why I was itching to get to Kirklands)

The lamps I bought at Kirklands a couple of months ago (with my birthday gift card) but nearly everything else on top is what I got on Monday... here's a close up

the silk plant was on sale for just $10, which was a nice surprise cos the tag said $14.99 and it didn't have a sale sticker on it! The 'friends' picture frame was from my neighbor at Christmas. I bought the other frame (both need pictures putting in them) the little mason jar and .... I couldn't resist getting the 'Dorothy' sign that Melissa also has. I bought a stand for mine cos I didn't have a wall I could put it on.

It's difficult getting good pictures... the lighting in the hallway is, well, non-existent really! I'd eventually like a storm door so I can open the main door and let the glass door shed light in to the hallway.

Here's a view looking toward the front door. I'm thinking of taking the 'thing' above the door (I don't know what you call those either) and putting it above the mirror (which by the way still needs painting black and may be replaced with a nice picture (from Kirklands) at a later date :)

Oh, and see my topiary there... it was meant to be outside the front door but I've had it inside for weeks now, every time there is the slightest wind it would fall over and the leaves kept coming off. My front door is kind of covered but I guess it's like a wind-tunnel out there when it's windy. So for now, I'm leaving it where it is.

I also bought another small picture but I haven't hung it yet so didn't take a picture of it. Finally, one last thing to show you... my 'fall' bargains from Kohl's, also bought earlier this week (hey! I said I was TRYING to not go out, I didn't say I was doing that well at it)....

The tablemats were on sale for $2, previously 6.99 each and the dish towels were $2 something too I think. I'll enjoy getting these out come the fall when all the decorating really starts again. I don't really decorate much the other times of the year - do you?

Until next time...