I'm Slacking

Hey guys! I hope you haven't abandoned me. I have put off blogging for a couple days and it felt good and bad. I loved coming home from school, relaxing with my sweet husband, and catching up on my TV shows BUT I also missed reading and commenting on my favorite blogs and writing my own.

Things have slowed down around here in regards to decorating and school starting but I'm hoping to become inspired soon. Ever get in that funk? Hopefully when our bed arrives I will become rejuvenated.

A couple of fun things that I did the past couple of days...

1) I went to the Taylor Swift concert with my mom! We had great, wonderful, awesome seats and Taylor was so entertaining. She appears so humble and grateful and I think that is so endearing about her. She's right there up near Britney status for me! I never thought another lady would take that spot but Tay Tay is getting close.

I snapped a pretty crappy cell phone pic and it looks pretty bad but at least you can see we were there! Has anyone else got to see her "Speak Now" tour? If you can, I totally recommend it!

2) I started my 8th year of teaching. Say wha???? I can't believe it either; I'm considered a veteran teacher. Weird. I'm as ready as I'll ever be for this school year and I have a feeling it is going to be an exciting one! : ) I get to see those bright eyed kiddos on Thursday and I'm hoping for a great class roster.

3) It may not be a big deal to anyone but I made biscuits and gravy last night for maybe the second time in my life. It's one of my favorite foods and my maw maw is the master biscuits and gravy maker. She taught me well, but I've got a looooong way to go. It did take me two attempts to get it right last night...that gravy is so tricky!

Let me just apologize for the camera phone quality. David dropped my phone in the sink last night and we thought it bit the dust, but magically and thankfully, it's working in its own special way--haha.

So that's it for me. How are you?

When I get a chance I'll crank out some craigslist posts. Promise.

xoxo

It's Time For Some Soup!

With cold temperatures here to stay, I am now officially back into my oatmeal and soup eating kick. It happens every single winter and it's definitely something I look forward to! Oatmeal for lunch and soup for dinner. Yum, yum.

One of my all-time favorite meals is Tomato Soup + Grilled Cheese. I absolutely could eat this every single day during the winter months. Call me a five year old and that's ok. My taste buds never seemed to change. Weird? Maybe. I don't know. I used to be a Campbell's Tomato Soup girl but not anymore. My horizons have been broadened and I am so, so, SO happy about it!

I am now addicted to this Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup and I'm not looking back!

I randomly picked up a can of it to try in World Market the other night and now I am hooked. It is seriously so creamy and delicious and from what I read online it's gluten free. Extra bonus, I guess? Supposedly this stuff is hard to find since it's a UK product. I hope World Market continues to carry it because I'm addicted. The only downfall is the price. It's nearly $3 a can! Good thing this is only a wintertime addiction.

I didn't think I could talk that much about tomato soup, but there ya go! You must try it if you love tomato soup as much as I do. You will LOVE it. Promise.

Oh, and you know what else I love at this time of year? These super fantastically yummy suckers from See's Candies. I just can't get enough of the chocolate ones.

I may or may not have bought 30 for myself this weekend. Hehe.

xoxo

Bananas Foster...I ♥ You

The other day I talked briefly about my love for Bananas Foster dessert. I never knew about this dessert {consider me living under a rock} until one of our good friends made it for us. From that day, I was hooked. At every restaurant I scoured the dessert menu for my new favorite.

I must say that I have yet to find a restaurant version as tasty as the Bananas Foster our friend Allen makes.

Culver's has a Bananas Foster sundae--score!, and now, I found a wonderful substitute for the actual dessert...Häagen-Dazs Bananas Foster icecream! Woooo hooooo!

I squealed when I saw it in the grocery store last night. I brought it home, tried it out, and I am in l-o-v-e. It's heavenly and I'm tempted to go back to Dierberg's and buy some more. After all, it is a limited edition so that makes it ok, right? Thought so.

So tell me friends, what's your favorite dessert? Do I need to be introduced to something new?

xoxo

Here We Go "Loop"y Loo

Here we go Loopy Light. Here we go Loopy Loo, all on a Saturday night! Ha! Some friends along with David and I, met at St. Louis' University City Loop today for some good food and good company! For those out-of-towners, it's a 6 city block food and entertainment section of St. Louis that is super trendy and perfect for people watching. : )

We had previously decided on lunch at a fabulous little Pizza joint, Pi. Melissa and Jeannie have been raving about this place for awhile now, so I'm excited we finally got to try it out!

The restaurant is situated right across the street from The Pageant Theater, where David and I got to see Lewis Black and Mitch Hedberg many years ago {hilarious!}.

David and I split a thick, cornmeal crust pizza that is similar in flavor and shape to the famed Chicago style kind. It was delish! And not a bite was spared.

Next we headed down to a place that serves Chinese bubble tea! Um, I was totally unaware such a thing existed. {Am I living under a rock, please tell me you all haven't heard of this???}

There are like a billion flavors that you can get and you are also able to have these little edible boba beads in the bottom that are gummy and black. I know it sounds gross, but it was actually rather unique! Thanks to Jeannie, Lauren, and Ben for introducing me to this new type of drink.

I didn't get too adventurous and stayed with a regular black boba tea, but Melissa's student teacher Ben, had a pretty intense green apple snow boba drink {say that three times fast!}. Too much flavor for this girl!

My safe boba black tea drink!

Ben's drink

And you can bet that David was none too adventurous for this sort of thing! But he was still cute enough for a photo op.

On our way back I snapped some fun pictures of random things, like this sweet pink bike!

Also, the old Tivoli theatre:

And a place that mimics the super trendy Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop that I must try asap!

We had a spectacular day spent with great people and super nice weather! Ahhh, how I love weekends. Hope you guys are having a nice one, too! : )

Berry Good

I've been pretty much obsessed with blackberries and raspberries as of late. Can you believe that I just recently had my first taste of fresh raspberries? Where have these sweet little things been all of my 26 years???

This image has been like heaven to me for the last couple of weeks! So tasty and good even with their not-so-cheap price tag! : )

Have any fruits that you adore? Share them here!

Mmm, Mmm Taco Soup!

I made a fabulous pot of Taco Soup on Sunday night and I looooved it! I owe the recipe to my sweet former co-worker from Edwardsville who would always cook this for our department on the night of Parent/Teacher conferences!

I've had the recipe for a couple years and finally decided to give it a whirl. It is fantastic and tastes amazing! Would you believe that this was the first time I had ever choppped an onion and jalapeño pepper *and* minced garlic?!?

Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

{1 1/2} lbs. lean ground beef
{1} large onion-chopped
{2} large cloves of garlic-minced
{1} pkg. taco seasoning mix
{1} 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes
{2} 16 0z. can of red kidney beans {drained}
{1} 15 oz. can tomato sauce
{1} 10.5 oz. can of beef broth
{2} 4 oz cans of chopped green chiles
{3} Tbsp. of chopped jalapeño peppers
{1/2} cup of water
{1} Tsp. of ground cumin
{1} Tsp. of chili powder

Directions:
-Brown and drain first three ingredients {meat, onion, garlic}
-Add the taco seasoning mix to meat mixture and add the rest of the ingredients to a large pot
-Bring to a boil
-Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes on a low temperature

Top with whatever garnish you choose! I did fritos and sour cream--so good!

Taco Bake Thursday

I found this recipe via this blog awhile back. I've made it a couple of times and David thinks it's heaven on earth! He's such a simpleton and that's part of his charm.

The dish includes meat, cream and shredded cheese, tomato sauce, sour cream, and noodles...a no fail mixture of ingredients in this household. : )

Try it for yourself, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Fresh Outta The Crock Pot!

Now I know some of you near-professional cooks might think this is no big thing, but I am very proud of myself. I've never been a cook, but I am slowly learning.

Just understanding and looking for some ingredients gives me a run for money. I've really been itching to try this pulled chicken recipe and we finally got all the ingredients to do it today.

It turned out pretty good; Dave gave it a 4 out of 5! The only thing that could be improved was making it a tad sweeter. Guess I'll try more molasses or brown sugar next time.

Here's the masterpiece alongside Kraft Mac n' Cheese {not all things can be prepared from scratch!}.

It's That Time Of The Year

It's getting cool outside and thus my taste buds somehow begin to change. As I was in 6th hour today I immediately, out of the blue, decided that tonight would be chili night!

I love chili and am still learning how to get it just right! I did a pretty good job this time, but I still have room for improvement.

We like our chili here in the Midwest with cheese, oyster crackers, and peanut butter sandwiches! At least, I think most of us Mid-Westerners do...that peanut butter sandwich thing may just be native to my hometown ; ) .

What do you like your chili with? Have any awesome recipes you're willing to part with? Do share!

Las Tres Amigas

My favorites and I made our trip out to eat at the new 'Los Tres Amigos' restuarant in Eville. It's a super cute little place and it has some tasty food. The latest love of my life has been Mexican food--I can't get enough.

We all met for dinner at 5 and like I said yesterday, we stayed until 8! We talked and vented and talked some more--very typical of Melissa, Jeannie and Joi : )

You say tomato, I say tomahto

Whichever way you say it, I loooooove it! I cannot get enough of home grown tomatoes in the summertime {topped with a little bit of salt}.

Here's a look at my dinner last night! Not pictured are my cream cheese and chive wheat thins--mmm, mmm good!

'Twas a good day.

Oh-summer living, I could get used to you. My day started out beautifully...at 11 a.m. this morning! Yikes--Niko always lets me sleep, yet never lets Dave do the same. I think it's because he knows I'm a hopeless case. I only got 2 things crossed off my 5 item to-do list, but there's always tomorrow, right? We had class tonight, and dare I say, it was quite enjoyable. All I have heard was that this professor was really tough and hard to understand, but so far--I love her. She's a cute little Romanian lady who loves her puppy dog---who can fault her for that?? Our classmates heard the same about her and we're all crossing our fingers that maybe she just likes us best ;-)

You deserve one {the slogan read}.

You're dang right I do. And if it was not so hard to get one, I would of had one a lot earlier than today! This thing that I deserve {and so do all of you} is a sweet little fruity summery drink at none other than Taco Bell. It's called the Frutista Freeze and comes in a strawberry or mango flavor and is topped with real strawberries. I've been seeing the advertisements on TV, but of course my town's Taco Bell decided to sit this one out and not carry them--what?!?! So today, while in the StL getting my hair cut, we saw a Taco Bell with the big signs in the window advertising this baby! Yes--woo hoo--I was so excited and ready to get the strawberry kind, until the lady said it was too frozen {how could this be for a frozen drink???} and that I'd have to settle for the mango. Well, the mango was kickin' and I can't wait to find another TB in the area to try out the strawberry kind! The word on the street is that they are made from all natural fruit flavors and only sweetened with natural sucrose as opposed to the high fructose syrup used to sweeten other fruity drinks. {I read that here for all you people who are curious or that care!} It really was a tasty treat and after I googled it I was able to come across this site that lets you download a coupon to try it for free {link in the bottom right of the page}...so what are you waiting for??? Download it and go try one! I think you'll be pleasantly suprised :) . Goodnight, lovelies!

Mmm, mmmm good!

Just call me Betty Crocker ;-)

Lately I've been trying to cook stuff-and by cook, I mean actually baking and mixing ingredients together and not just microwaving pre-made whatever meals we decide to eat. Tonight's menu consisted of homemade chili and peanut butter sandwiches---mmm, mmm good! I've attached a picture of my finished product--I'm proud of myself! Thanks to maw maw for walking me through the recipe...it might be basic to most people, but I'm a beginner :-).

Did someone say chocolate?

I am in L-O-V-E with these dark chocolate graham crackers. It's a simple idea you may think, but they are oh-sooooo good. I randomly found these in Hallmark, of all places, in December and now stalk all the Hallmarks in the metro area to see if they have some. I've only seen them in St. Claire Square and in Carbondale Mall--I'd love you forever if you find some somewhere else and fill me in ;-). They are quite pricey at .99 cents for one, but I think they are very much worth it. If you like dark chocolate, even just a little, I promise you will love these!

I did it!

Woo hoo! It's been done...I made biscuits and gravy and it was GOOD! My angel maw maw is the most fabulous biscuits and gravy maker and I have never been able to make the dish the same. But today, I finally came super duper close. I think I will have it down in the next couple times I try to make it. I am so proud of myself....as dorky as that sounds. I had to take a picture of my fanciwork!