Menu Plan Monday - Feb. 1, '10

I've been trying to menu plan for the past few weeks, but we haven't done really well following our plans. Both of us are guilty for veering off course, partly due to work schedules and being sick. Therefore, we've decided (with my prompting, I admit it) to set 2 goals for the month of February.

Goal #1: To menu plan and follow it. We have 3 $50 restaurant gift certificates on hand to use [Chili's, Parks Landing (a seafood restaurant) and J&P Pizza] if we decide we want to go out to eat. I don't want to actually spend any money on dining out this month, just to see if we can actually stick to this. It shouldn't be hard since we don't actually go out to eat a lot, but it's still a challenge I'd like to complete. We've begun a monthly dinner with good friends of ours, but they'll be coming to the house. We also have a wine/our-good-friend-was-promoted party to attend, but dinner will be at their home and I'll bring something along. We also have a bull roast to go to at the end of the month, but that's a ticket purchase and doesn't really count as "eating out" since it's a fundraiser for a fire department.

Goal #2: To spend $200 or less on groceries. I know exactly what we spend on groceries each month since I track it and have been since April '09, and I think we're spending more than necessary, especially since we now have a freezer full of different meats and seafood. This shouldn't be a hard challenge to complete either, so long as we pay attention and become a little more aware of how much we're spending on what, and if it's really a needed purchase. 'Cause some shiot ain't!

So here's the menu plan for this coming week, using mostly stuff we have on hand. Will this be failed attempt #2,394? I hope not.

Monday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Turkey sandwich with lettuce & tomato and some kind of raw veggies & dip

Tuesday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Bloody Mary chicken [crockpot recipe] over rice

Wednesday - Pork noodle casserole [recipe from Taste of Home] & green salad

Thursday - Salisbury steak [I still have to find me a recipe for this bad boy!], mashed potatoes, gravy & steamed carrots

Friday - Bleu cheese stuffed hamburgers with sweet potato fries [we have a sweet potato we need to use up that's been around since the dawn of time, or at least since Thanksgiving, and yes, it still looks good!] & green salad

Saturday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Cajun chicken sandwich with some variety of raw veggies & dip

Sunday - [Bugaboo home alone; Buppy at work] Tuna salad sandwich or melt, chips, raw veggies & dip

So that's the plan as it stands now. Tonight we're roasting pork spareribs with sauerkraut. We just put 'em in, but I'm really looking forward to them; I hope they turn out as tasty as I remember my grandma's.

For more great ideas, head on over to I’m an Organizing Junkie. I'll be linking this post up to her site, and she has plenty more!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Have you ever had buffalo chicken dip? I hadn't until I met Buppy. It's one of the yummy foods he's introduced me to, and I really appreciate that. It's not a complicated dip by any means and is pretty quick to come together. This would be an awesome addition to any Superbowl spread, trust me. If you like chicken wings, you're gonna love this dip. Buppy often eats it with flat bread, but I also discovered that it's crazy-tasty with celery sticks. Makes sense, right? You usually get celery sticks when you order buffalo chicken wings at restaurants, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, this helps me feel just a scoach more healthy. Yeah right.

Since I just recently blogged about how I'm trying to cook bone-in chicken in the crockpot to shred for use at a later time, this would be the type of recipe where I'd use the chicken. Because seriously, canned chicken just isn't quite right.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
No idea where Buppy picked up this recipe, but I'm sure there are a zillion different places it can be found.

8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 lbs. of chopped or shredded chicken
3/4 c. Frank's Red Hot Original Hot Sauce
1 c. light/reduced fat ranch or Bleu cheese dressing

Heat cream cheese, hot sauce and dressing in a saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth, creamy and a somewhat orange-y color (doesn't that just sound healthy --- "an orange-y color"?) Add chicken and continue to heat until heated through. I added chopped pickles on top as garnish and to add a little bit of crunch; I must say they were a nice addition. Serve with Tostitos, flat bread, veggies, crackers or whatever else you can think of to dip.

I'm really surprised by some of the things Buppy has introduced me to that I'd never heard of/tasted previously. Was I living under a rock? Whatever the case, my recipe repertoire just keeps on growin'! Enjoy!This is being linked up to this week's Ultimate Recipe Swap for favorite holiday foods. Buppy & I are excited to introduce this to the rest of my family next week when we head to Wisconsin for Christmas. My brother is pretty psyched for this, and Buppy's excited to be able to devour more of it, too! Check out Life as Mom’s blog for more great holiday dish ideas!

Snowing, Sickness & a Killer Chicken Sammy

I love it when I don't believe the weathermen who predict snow for us, usually because I'm right and they're wrong and we get 5 flakes, max. But today? Different story. Thank goodness I headed out when I did this morning, or I probably wouldn't have made it out at all. I left the house around 10am to hit up 2 grocery stores; after my quick trip into the first one, I noticed on my way out that it was beginning to snow every so slightly. By the time I'd come out of the second, it was coming down pretty hard. Since MD drivers aren't exactly "top ranked" in snowy conditions, it's nice to be home and off the roads. It's also nice to have a fire in the fireplace crackling away, to watch the snow coming down outside, to smell the cinnamon crumb cake that just came out of the oven, and to know that I have chicken simmering away in the crockpot. This is the first day in roughly a week I haven't felt like complete crap-ola.

So about that chicken. I'm not sure how or why I never thought of this idea before, but I hadn't. I recently read about it on someone else's blog, and while I'd love to give credit to the person who got me thinkin' about this, I got nothin'. I completely spaced out where I read about this idea. I suck. But I'll be the sucky girl with lots of chicken soon!

Here's the idea that I'm lovin' right now: since bone-in chicken is pretty cheap, why not cook up a bunch of it in the crockpot all day, then pull it all off the bone, shred/chop it up and vacuum sealed bags for later use. Buppy and I use chicken in a lot of dishes, and a lot of the time we end up poaching boneless, skinless chicken breasts for something that requires shredded or chopped chicken, like the chicken enchilada dip wraps I made recently. Instead of using the more costly meat for dishes where it doesn't really matter what piece of the chicken it came from, why not make up a whole bunch of pre-cooked stuff? Brilliant. And pretty darn simple. I can usually find boneless, skinless chicken breasts anywhere from $1.69-$1.99/lb. on sale, but today I picked up leg quarters on sale for .49 cents/lb. I realize I don't as much meat since I have to bone and skin them once they're cooked, but that's ok. Plus, I get some really great chicken broth to use in soups. Yeah, I'm so all over this one. I see it going pretty well in my head, and hopefully later tonight it'll all play out like I'm imagining. I'll let ya know. I'm cooking 5+ lbs. right now.

As for my sickness? It's finally releasing it's death grip on me, slowly but surely. I missed Monday, worked only a few hours on Thursday and called out on Friday. It's gone from stomach to head cold to stomach to head cold several times within the past week. If this is indeed karma, you'd think I killed someone. I'm still a lil' stuffy and my stomach is still not quite right, but that's the usual for moi. Come Monday, I'm gonna have to jump back into work full force after missing so much last week. Thank goodness it was a relatively slow week.

Lastly, I'd like to share a simple but wow-was-it-tasty sandwich idea with you. I'm sure anyone could have looked around my kitchen and come up with this, so it's by no means mind blowing. But should you find yourself with all of these ingredients (or something similar) on hand, throw 'em together and prepare to be dazzled. Well, your taste buds at least.I split open a hamburger bun we happened to have leftover, then threw some sliced tomato on top. I left it open faced and made each half the same since I knew from the get-go it wasn't going to fit in my mouth if I tried to make it a regular sammy. I topped each half with bacon slices, avocado, lettuce and part of a chicken breast we'd made in the rotisserie the night before that had marinated in a garlic-peppercorn mix. I meant to put a little mayo on the bun to moisten things up, but since I forgot, I added a little to my plate and dip my bites in. Not healthy, but seriously, it was crying out for mayo and I couldn't say no. So the sammy wasn't easy to eat, even with a knife and fork, but I loved every minute of it. The buttery texture of the avocado really added the extra ooomph I was looking for and really, who doesn't love bacon and chicken? So that's it. Simple. Tasty. Messy. And mmmm-mmmm good.

Chicken Broccoli Braid, Thanks to Buppy

This recipe is thanks to Buppy. I'm not actually sure where he got it from, so I have no other credit to give. It's really tasty, not too complicated and yet fancy enough for company. I'm sure you could mix up the filling to suite your tastes. Hmmm, I bet it'd be really good as a pizza type braid. We might have to try that next time. I love how I have all sorts of great recipe variations as I'm blogging. And then I forget them. Write it down Bugaboo, write it down!Chicken Broccoli Braid

2 c. cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped (we usually use frozen, but fresh would work great too!)
½ c. mushrooms, chopped (we've used fresh and canned, both turned out well)
1 garlic clove, minced (we use the jarred pre-minced kind)
1 c. (4 oz.) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup reduced-fat mayo
2 tsp. dried dill weed
¼ tsp. salt
2 pkgs. refrigerated crescent rolls (this is not the place to use generic; use Pillsbury, trust me!)
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375F. Chop chicken, broccoli and mushrooms and place in a bowl; add garlic and shredded cheese and mix gently. Add mayonnaise, dill weed and salt; mix well.

Unroll package of crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of rectangular stone or baking sheet. Repeat with remaining package of dough. Roll dough to seal perforations. On longest sides of stone/baking sheet, cut dough into strips 1½" apart, 3" deep. (There will be 6" in the center for the filling.) Spread filling evenly over middle of dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid. Brush egg white over dough. Bake 25-28 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Cut and serve. Yield: 10 servings. Enjoy!
To be honest, the recipe as I've copied it here from Buppy's file says this should make 2 braids. We jam pretty much all the filling into one package of crescent roll dough, which is why it looks so full in the pictures. Do what you'd like --- make 1 big or 2 smaller braids; smaller in the sense that they'd have less filling. I really like filling though.

Chicken Enchilada Dip Rollups

Update: Thanks to Gooseberry Patch for letting me know that the recipe originally came from Jeannine English of Wylie, TX.

I polled my friends on FB prior to committing to an hors d'oeuvre for the chili cookoff, and chicken enchilada dip rollups won by a landslide! Ok, maybe a few votes, but I had to make it sound big, didn't I? If I'd said "a few votes" to begin with, would you have been as impressed and ready to jump all over this? No. Didn't think so.

They were well received at the party, I can tell you that much. I tried a few of the ends as I whacked them off, but didn't actually eat any of the pretty pinwheels once they were displayed on my lovely plate. I did try the filling as I was rolling them up and I have to say, I think it'd be phenomenal wrapped up in a rollup as it was here, but instead of cutting into pinwheels, I want to place the rolls in a baking pan, cover with salsa and a little shredded cheese and bake until heated through. I'm positive they'll be super tasty this way too!
Chicken Enchilada Dip Rollups
Adapted from a recipe in the Gooseberry Patch "Come on Over" cookbook, submitted by Jeannine English of Wylie, TX

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 c. shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 heaping tsp. minced garlic (I use the pre-minced stuff in the jar)
1 1/2 Tbps. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
Cayenne pepper to taste
Salt to taste
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled with a salt-free 17-seasoning blend, shredded 1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 (10 oz.) can Ro*tel tomatoes with chiles (the original kind)
1 pkg. (6 tortillas) sun-dried tomato & basil tortillas

I blended the spices and cream cheese first (with a hand mixer) and made sure they were well combined. Then I added in the remainder of the ingredients, except the tortillas, and mixed well (with a wooden spoon). Evenly spread the mixture onto each of the 6 tortillas, then roll each one up and place in a large, resealable plastic bag. I could only fit 3 in each of my plastic bags. Chill the rolls for at least 1 hour so they firm up. Remove and slice into pinwheels however large you'd like. Enjoy!

Update: I'm linking up to Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap for this week, 4/8/10. I realize that I'm a day late, but better late than never. The topic this week is herbs & spices, so stop on over if you wanna check out more great ideas!

Update #2: I'm also linking this up to Ultimate Recipe Swap today, 9/2/10, because it's an appropriate crowd-feeder.

Secret Ingredient You Say?

This past Saturday was the annual chili cook off held down at Buppy's brother's house in VA. Yes, I know, I already blogged about how much fun it was going to be, right? Well, lemme tell ya what really went down.

Buppy and I arrived around 5pm; the first guests to show as the actual 'arrive time' was 6pm. Shortly after our arrival, more guests started to filter through the door. Woo-hoo, let the party begin! Two of our good friends were in attendance, B & C, and there was drinking, chili tasting and great conversation to be had. All of sudden though, one of the neighbors reportedly got very ill after eating chili #2. "Oh well, perhaps it was the 'secret ingredient'", were the whispers. I assumed, for some unknown reason, that this secret ingredient was venison. That, or she was allergic to some of the peppers in it. It happened to be the hottest chili brought to the party.

As the night progressed, some of us moved out into the garage for some beer pong; undoubtedly the best part of the night. This is when people really begin to let loose and have fun. And this happened to be about the time I started to feel ill. I played a few rounds of beer pong with the gang, then headed off to bed. I was ill. Buppy's brother blamed the alcohol, calling me a light weight and other fun names. And at first, I thought it might be the case. But then I thought about what I drank. And how sick I became. And I realized the acohol couldn't be to blame.

I woke up Sunday morning to all sorts of sarcastic comments from friends about how I can't drink with the big kids. I ate some sausage and a little orange juice for breakfast, then proceeded to throw it up. I drank some Sprite before we hit the road for our journey home, only to make Buppy pull over about 20 minutes later so I could throw that up as well. I thought, after awhile, that maybe eating something would help as I hadn't eaten much the night before, other than the small tastes of the 14 chilis. McDonald's didn't agree with me and about 45 min. after eating, I made Buppy pull over so I could throw it up again. In a Taco Bell/KFC parking lot. Is that bad? At least it wasn't their food I was throwing up, right?

As soon as we got home, I went to bed. I woke up about 3 hours later and went down and watched a movie with Buppy, still sick to my stomach and with a sore throat coming on. I woke up Monday morning, still sick to my stomach with an even worse sore throat. The kind where you can't even talk because it's hurts so much. Speaking of which, Buppy sucks at charades. Sorry hun, I still love you though. DayQuill helped, luckily, but I'm still feeling under the weather today, at work. But at least I made it in.

That secret ingredient from chili #2 who, by the way, was the winner of the cook off? Wild boar. Didn't find that out until the next morning as I was eating my sausage and sippin' on my OJ. I can't say for sure that this is what made me sick. I'm not sure what did, but I can say for *almost* certain that we can't blame the booze for this one folks. I don't see myself eating chili again for a long, long time.

Disappointment

Can we talk about dinner? Or maybe, I'd rather not.

We made scallops for dinner. We purchased them this past weekend (Sunday, I think), and although Buppy sealed them with our vacuum sealer, he didn't seal them all the way as they were very juicy and we weren't sure when we'd be eating them. Mistake #1, but not Buppy's fault. My bright idea when I came home from work was to dip the scallops in an egg wash, then into bread crumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese. We placed them on a broiler pan, sprayed them with cooking spray to brown, baked at 400F for 10 minutes, rotated the pan (our darn oven bakes unevenly), then baked for another 8 minutes. To finish them off, I broiled them for another 2 minutes or so to *hopefully* brown and crisp up the outsides. We decided to eat some of our leftover Asian noodles with them; while not a great flavor combo, the noodles needed to be eaten and there were lots left. I hate wasting food and try to avoid it if at all possible. Most of the time we're really good about this as Buppy is really great about taking in leftovers for meals at work (since he works 48 hours at a time).

Dinner was . . . . a fail. Perhaps not what I'd call an epic fail, but a fail nonetheless. To be honest, my stomach is rather upset as I type this. Buppy only had one scallop that was a little fishy, so while I don't think they'd gone bad, my idea as far as how to prepare them was flawed. How? I haven't figured it out yet. It sounded so good in theory. But there obviously was a big difference between my 'in theory' and 'in practice'. I thought breaded and baked would be good, but somehow it just went wrong. Something was very, very salty in the breading. I know Parmesan cheese is known to be salty, but this was just overwhelming. Ick. And the bread crumbs had a strange taste to me, like they were old, but I don't think they were. They weren't brand new, but we've used that canister fairly recently. I guess it was a combination of things, but whatever the case, it wasn't good.

I don't often fail at cooking. Not to say that things always turn out as I plan, just that I'm not often disappointed with what we make, even if it's not quite as I'd imagined. This is one of those times where I can definitely say that I'm disappointed in how our meal turned out. But oh well, that's part of the learning curve of cooking, isn't it? You cook, you learn, then you cook some more. I just hope I feel better for the chili cook-off tomorrow!

The Eve of the Chili Cookoff

I'm psyched for tomorrow's chili cook-off at Buppy's brother's house in VA. It's an annual event, but this will only be the 2nd one I've gone to. I think it might only be Buppy's 2nd too, but that's a horse of a different color. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how long they've been doing this. But I digress.

The kids will go to their mom's tomorrow morning, at which point Buppy and I will go shopping for a bit; Buppy is in need of some new pants and I, of course, can't let him go shopping alone. What kind of girlfriend would I be for that?

I think he's making his chili today, but I don't think I'll make what I'm taking until tomorrow during the day. This is mostly because I'm still undecided on what I want to bring. Appetizer? Dessert? Something other than chili is all I've decided on at this point. Cornbread? Decisions, decisions. Something yummy.

Buppy has no recipe for his chili. While I appreciate his carefree attitude, for gosh sakes man, it's a chili cook off! He knows he wants to use meat and beer. Possibly beans. Sorry honey, I'm not giving away all your secrets, am I? I'm sure it'll be good; Buppy does really well in the kitchen. I just love giving him crap. Last year he did a white chicken chili, and while it had really good flavor, it was thinner than most chilis, like a soup. He told me this morning he wants to use bacon in his. He asked if I thought that would go well. Hello, it's bacon!?!!? What doesn't it go with? Puh-leeze. It's like he forgot who he was talking to for a minute.

I'm leaning towards a chili con queso dip I found over at The Pioneer Woman’s blog. It's like a jazzed up version of the normal Velveeta-Ro*tel chili con queso that's found on most people's spreads. It's looks yummy and has hot pork sausage, green chiles and jalapeno, among other traditional ingredients. If you want to check out the recipe and pics, stop here. The top picture on her site makes me wanna bust out a Tostitos Scoop and dig in. Besides, I figure it'll fit in relatively well with the whole chili theme, right? Good.

As for dinner tonight? Jumbo sea scallops were on sale last weekend, so we picked up a pound or so. They need to be eaten or frozen, and I'm all about eating them tonight. But how? Bacon wrapped and broiled? Buppy suggested we use the marinade we used for the Asian pork last weekend, but I'm a little skeptical that the marinade will overpower the delicate flavor of the seafood. Garlic and butter are always a possibility; easy yet delish. We have leftover rice noodles to round out the meal (and yes, we'll add in some fresh chopped veggies too), so dinner tonight is going to be a winner.

Sunday, after we get home (and hopefully I'm not super hungover), we plan to relax. Play some Firefighter Monopoly maybe, light a fire in the fireplace, watch a movie or two. Plan out next week's meals (ok, that's more of a 'me' thing than an 'us' thing). I love lazy days like that, especially when they follow a par-tay!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

Buppy doesn't like these. Maybe I'm on a role thinking about foods I make that he doesn't really care for. Odd.

These little tidbits of goodness are something I've been snacking on since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. My grandma always made them around the holidays; not sure that they're really a time-specific appetizer/snack, but for some unknown reason, that's the only time I remember her making them. I think they're fantastic for snacking year round, but perhaps that's the modern woman in me. I don't like to conform; I color outside the lines and gosh darn it, if I wanna eat these in July, I will! Ok, enough of that.

The recipe is relatively simple as far as the spices go, nothing too complicated or that most of us don't have in our spice cabinet already. Minimal effort required here folks, which is always a plus. And guess what? This is another recipe that would be great to have on hand for snacking on Superbowl Sunday! Bring on the par-tay!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

1 (1 oz.) pkg. ranch-style dressing mix
½ tsp. dried dill weed
¼ c. vegetable oil
¼ tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
¼ tsp. garlic powder
5 c. oyster crackers

Preheat oven to 250F. In a large bowl, combine ranch seasoning, dill weed, oil, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Add crackers and toss to coat. Spread evenly onto baking sheet. Bake 15-20 min., stirring gently after 10 min. Remove and allow to cool. Makes 5 cups.

Enjoy!

Update: This is another recipe I'm linking to Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap for today, 2/4/10. These little cracker bites would be great for the Superbowl! Stop on over to her site for more fantastic ideas!

Don't be a raspberry hater!

This used to be what I'd call my go-to dessert for date night, which I'd use when trying to woo whoever was making my skirt flutter at that particular moment. I'm pretty sure (although not positive) it came from Keebler in some newpaper or coupon insert I happened upon one day when I was 18 or 19. It looked good, I love raspberries, end of discussion.

I haven't made it for a few years now, but decided to give it a try again this past weekend when we had friends over for dinner. Even though I was late leaving work on Thursday night and still had to stop at the grocery store for a few last-minute items, I still made this in relatively little time and with minimal effort. Don'tcha love desserts like that?

This past weekend was the first time Buppy tried this, and come to find out, he doesn't think he likes frozen raspberries.

Well I don't think we can be friends then anymore Mr. Raspberry-Hatey-McHaterson.

They're my favorite berry, hands down. He said he likes fresh but that frozen are too tart for him, like cranberrys (which I like, too). Hmmmmm. He thinks I should make it again with strawberries and my mom, after I told her about the recipe, thought it'd be great with blueberries. I'm sure it would be, so change up the berries to your heart's content! Hell, spread some peanut butter in there instead and I'm sure that would rock, too. But seriously, how can you not love these beauties??

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

1 Ready Crust (6 oz.) (Original recipe calls for a chocolate crust, but I like it better with a regular one)
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
*Chocolate Glaze

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat cream cheese with mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Arrange raspberries on bottom of crust. Slowly pour cheese mixture over fruit. Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Top cheesecake with chocolate glaze; chill. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

*Chocolate Glaze: In small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 (1 oz. each) squares semi-sweet baking chocolate with ¼ c. whipping cream. Cook and stir until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat. (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips this time around and just measured out 2 oz. on my kitchen scale. Still worked great!)

Enjoy!

Update: I'm linking this recipe up to lifeasmom.com this week for her "be cool" ultimate recipe swap. Check her blog for more great recipes!

A Look Back at 2000

I found this fun trip-down-memory-lane type of blog post on a friend's blog and decided to reflect back on my own life 10 years ago. I still can't believe we're in 2010! While said friend did this all in one blog post (each year, 2000-present), I think I'll spread it out and just see what I can remember whenever I feel like it. It's a bit harder for me than I'd think it will be for most people, mainly due to all the times I've moved, but here goes:

2000

I was entering my 2nd semester of college at CMN (getting my gen-ed credits out of the way) in Jan. and working at K-Mart in Shawano, WI. I was living at my parents house while they were in TX; I celebrated my 18th birthday in March and bought my first legal pack of smokes.

I finished the semester in May and decided to move to Green Bay with a good friend I'd met while working at K-Mart. I worked as a sales associate at DEB as well as a supervisor at Spencer Gifts, both in the Bay Park Mall in GB. We lived there for a few months, me paying all our bills while my friend attempted to find employment and get on her feet. This never happened and I moved out in September after finding out that she had stolen my checkbook and debit card and depleted my checking account to the point of being several hundred dollars overdrawn. Kudos to me for being the sucker friend.

I moved all of my things to my parent's house in Shawano and, without almost any consideration, moved to Missoula, MT to live with the girl I'd lived with in Heart Butte, MT while finishing high school the year before. I struggled to find work while there and soon found out that my friend was pregnant and not planning on staying in Missoula. Insert tongue piercing here. Missoula is a rather expensive town to live in alone, especially since I hadn't found stable employment (that I wanted anyway), so I packed up and headed back to Wisco.

I moved in with Dad-o in Shawano, WI for a few weeks, then decided to try my luck in Stevens Point, WI with my sister, who was attending UWSP. I moved there in Nov. and found a job as a sales associate at JCPenney. Happened to meet two of my bestest friends ever shortly after as they were employed with JCP as well. We raved. We went to concerts. Times were good.

I love my girls!

We were inseparable.

Superbowl Party-Perfect Dip

It always amazes me when I come across a recipe that's simple, easy and so yummy, that I've made several times in the past, but have yet to blog about. Ah, so is the life of the girl who loves to cook and eat! I guess I just can't keep track sometimes.

I checked in at Life as Mom’s blog today to see what upcoming URS (ultimate recipe swap) topic is scheduled for this Thursday. It happens to be pantry inspiration. I happen to have a recipe for a cold spinach dip that just happens to fit that title. It was meant to be. Be warned, fellow dip lovers, this stuff is addicting. Seriously. Even for people like Buppy, who whine about spinach in every other recipe; he still devours this stuff. There's no going back after you've sampled this stuff. This is definitely made with items I keep on hand in the pantry/fridge/freezer. And guess what? This would be perfect to serve at a Superbowl par-tay!

Cold Spinach Dip
Sorry, no idea where I picked this one up!

1 c. reduced fat or fat free mayo
1 (16 oz.) container reduced fat or fat free sour cream
1 (1.8 oz.) pkg. dry veggie soup mix (I use Knorr brand)
1 (4 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

This is just me being anal, but I always chop the spinach before mixing it with other ingredients, even if the package already says 'chopped'. It's better to have bite-sized spinach than to have it hanging off every dipper your working with here. Anyway, in a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients. Chill for 6 hours or overnight. Serve with veggies, crackers or bread dippers. 24 servings.

I know it's not the healthiest of all things to eat, but that's ok. I'm thinking that, especially since I just picked up some Chobani plain Greek yogurt for free with coupon at Giant, I'll use it next time to replace the sour cream. As for the mayo? Hmmmm. I could probably decrease that to 1/2 c. and add more of the Greek yogurt if I wanted to be all healthified. Since that might help me squeak in another year of life, I just might give it a shot. Yes, decreasing the mayo by 1/2 c. will grant me an additional year of life. You heard it here first folks.

Buppy and I really like this with roasted garlic Triscut crackers, even though overall I'm usually not a big Triscut fan. It's really good with celery and carrots as well, and when we had Buppy's family in for Thanksgiving, we found out (by his dad just deciding to try it) that it makes an exceptional sandwich spread. Next thing ya know we'll be toppin' ice cream with this stuff!

Enjoy!

Check out Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap for more great 'pantry inspiration' meals!

Weekend Happenings

Friday was a pretty good start to the weekend. I had a 10:15am appointment with the dentist for a 6 month cleaning, where they said that I had less plaque and almost no bleeding of the gums. Score one for team Bugaboo! Since my last visit 6 months ago, I started using ACT mouthwash as my dentist suggested. Little did I know that most mouthwashes are for your gums, whereas ACT is actually for your teeth. Hmmm, learn something new every day. While I normally start work at 10am, I arrived at 12pm on Friday. It’s nice that they’re so lax and allow me time for appointments.

Friday was the day I found out I’m getting a raise, and I also left work earlier than normal since we had friends coming for dinner. This plan didn’t exactly work out as I’d hoped however, since there was an accident on the beltway and traffic was mucho backed up. Even the back road way I take to avoid traffic was backed up. Fail. What normally takes me 40+/- minutes to travel took double that on Friday night. But between NPR and 104.3, I jammed out and caught up on the situation in Haiti, as well as other news.

Speaking of Haiti, our GM and managers/directors have decided we want to do something to aid the relief effort. I think we’re deciding tomorrow how to go about raising funds; we’ve been advised not to collect non-perishable foods, so monetary donations will most likely be the course we take. Anything to help at this point.Buppy was asked by his contact at World Care Centers if he could deploy to Haiti for 1-2 weeks, but he doesn’t think he’s going to be able to. The scariest part about that whole situation seems to be thoughts about looters and rioters and how to stay safe upon arrival. Couple that with worries about food and clean drinking water and, well, it’s a bit much. For me anyway. Between already made plans, work and the kids, leaving for 1-2 weeks and not knowing for sure when he’d come home isn’t something that really works for him. Regardless, I’m so proud of him for being involved with causes like this in the past, even if he can’t help in Haiti at this time.

Back to Friday night dinner though; well, while dinner was lacking a little due to us getting caught up gossiping with company, it was still a fabulous night of drinks, conversation and fun. And a great head rub. Note to self though: next time, don’t drink so damn much Tuaca. I paid dearly for that mistake all day Saturday.

Saturday was a day of relaxation, followed by more relaxation and some errands on Sunday. Weekends are so amazing. And this coming weekend? Chili cook-off at S & B's house . . . without the kids! I'm confident good times will be had by all!

Apparently hard work does pay off!

My director of sales (DOS) came to me Friday to let me know that my 90 day evaluation is due. She won’t be in the office Monday or Tuesday as she’s down in the National Harbor at an ABA conference representing multiple properties for our management company, but she wanted to be the first to let me know that my hard work these past 3 months hasn’t gone unappreciated. She talked with our regional manager as well as our GM, and I was informed that I’ll be getting a raise. This came as somewhat of a shock since I’m well aware that we’re currently in a wage freeze until at least March 1st.

It’s one thing to love your job, another to be good at it, and yet another to have both. This job has been such a blessing and an opportunity. The experience I’m gaining is invaluable, especially since I can now list catering sales manager in the northern Baltimore market on my resume. From here, I only see thing getting better and better. What more could a girl ask for in a career?

A standard raise within our company is 5% of one’s gross income. Because I’ve worked hard to pull my weight since joining this amazing team, I was awarded a 7% raise that will begin with the upcoming pay period. Plus I’ll still receive my commission each month as well. While there have definitely been obstacles in my path thus far, I have no complaints about where things are headed. I’ve never before been so happy with a career choice.

Wednesday already?

Sometimes I’m simply amazed at how fast time flies. Take this week, for example; where have Monday & Tuesday gone?

I’m somewhat excited for this weekend to get here. That last 2 weekends have been consumed with family, friends, outings and good times, but I feel like I need some time at home to lounge, cook, read, play outside (it’s supposed to warm up --- yay!) and catch up on things. New Year’s weekend consisted of traveling to VA, hosting family and the Nutcracker. Then following weekend, last weekend, consisted of working (gotta love big events!) and our employee party. While everything I've done each weekend has been great, I need some R&R. This weekend we have nothing on the books at home, and not much for me to worry about at work, which will be a nice break.

This past Monday night happened to be one of the nights we get alone, minus kiddos. It happened to be a somewhat stressful day in the office, so Buppy and I headed out to one of our favorite hibachi restaurants. We split 2 new and absolutely delicious sushi choices then split a chicken hibachi dinner. This restaurant is fabulous as it often sends out a coupon for a free meal, no purchase necessary. Split the entrée, share some sushi and what have we got? A great “date night” adventure at a fraction of the normal cost! I’m totally down with that.

Last night I left work early but ate a late dinner in the hotel, so our menu plans were kind of throw out the window. Speaking of which, I forgot to post my menu plan for the week. Oh well, I got a lot of other stuff accomplished on Monday, so I can’t complain.

We’re having friends over for dinner on Friday night; we don’t do this often enough in my opinion, but I’ll take what I can get. We’ve decided on an Asian inspired marinade for the pork loin chops, and then they’ll be cooked in the rotisserie. I’m so glad Buppy has a rotisserie. Such great flavor and a healthy way to cook as opposed to frying or drenching in a fattening sauce. We’ll also have rice noodles with veggies that will be infused with the flavor of the boiled down marinade. We’ve done this meal once before and I’m amazed at how fantastic the flavors are. My only thing left to figure out is what to do as our other side dish. I was thinking a fruit salad; hmmm, to come up with an Asian-style or Asian-inspired fruit salad. I’m sure I’ll find something.

Buppy is at work today and tomorrow, and since I still don’t feel completely over my sickness from 2 weeks ago, I think I might head home and go to bed. It’s only mid-afternoon now and I’m very tired. Nice to have that option sometimes.

Creamy Fruit Salad, My Way

For Sunday's brunch with Buppy's family, fruit salad had to be part of the spread. Can you really host a brunch and not offer some type of fruity goodness? No, I thought not.

My inspiration came from Hannah’s Hangout; to be honest, I'm not even sure how I found her recipe. Bloghopping obviously, but from where? Oh well. I changed it up a bit using what I had on hand as well as what she suggested, and it was divine. I can't wait to play with other fruits and flavors of Jello. So simple, yet very satisfying. As I said in a previous post, Buppy's dad had 3rds! His brother wouldn't eat it because it had pineapple, but other than that, it was a success.

Creamy Fruit Salad
Adapted from Hannah’s Hangout

1 (14.4 oz.) fruit cocktail (a little smaller or larger would be fine; this was the only normal size I could find)
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks
1 small pkg. peach Jello (peach passion fruit? it was peach-something anyway)
1 (8 oz.) carton reduced fat sour cream
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping (thawed)
1 medium-sized apple
1/2 c. mini marshmallow

I first mixed together the sour cream and whipped topping, then added the Jello and let it sit overnight. I felt that this would help cut prep time in the morning and would allow the Jello to fully dissolve. In the morning, I drained the 2 cans of fruit and added them, along with the chopped apple (mine was red delicious because it's what I had on hand) and mini marshmallows. I mixed it all together, transferred to a nice serving dish and viola --- instant hit! Enjoy!

*Linked to Life as Mom’s  Ultimate Recipe Swap for 4/28/11 --- salads.

Spoiling Yourself (a.k.a. Artichokes au Gratin)

Artichokes are one of my favorite veggies. I love to use them in dips, on salads and pizzas, and sometimes I just eat them right out of the jar. So yummy! I've steamed the full artichoke before but find that a less than rewarding experience. I'll stick with hearts, thank you very much.

For Thanksgiving this year, Buppy and I wanted to do something different. No vegetable medley. No steamed broccoli. No canned corn. We needed something unique. And we found it in my Winning Recipes from Taste of Home cookbook my mother gave me for Christmas '07. That woman always gets me some type of cookbook, whether it be a well known publication like this one or a small, church cookbook from Texas where they live most of the time. She knows me so well. Nothing excites me quite like a new cookbook. But I digress.

This dish was beyond amazing in my humble opinion. I'd make myself some right now if a.) I didn't feel like absolute crap, and b.) I had milk. Oh well, a girl can dream.

Artichokes au Gratin
Winning Recipes from Taste of Home
Marjorie Bowen, Colorado Springs, Colorado

2 cans (14 oz. each) water packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and quartered
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 c. butter, divided
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1 Tbsp. dry bread crumbs
1/8 tsp. paprika

In a skillet, saute the artichokes and garlic in 2 Tbsp. butter until tender. Transfer to a greased 1 qt. baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining butter. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Add 1/4 c. cheese, stirring until melted.

Pour over artichokes; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Combine crumbs and paprika; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 400F for 20-25 min. or until heated through. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Enjoy!

Update: I'm linking this up to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap. This week's topic is veggies. Head on over for more yummy recipes!

In with the new!

I know I'm a bit late at posting about resolutions. Oh well, it's my blog.

I've given them some thought, although not too much since we all know how well we actually stick with resolutions, right? But my thoughts don't really lead to drastic, life-altering changes; they deal more with my outlook on life and how I can change myself for the better. Here are a few I've come up with:

1.) Cook more at home. I'll admit that Buppy & I cook a lot at home, but I'll also admit that one of my coworkers at my new job has led me astray on more than one occasion. First it's sushi here, then a salad there, and before I know it, I could be up to $40+ per week, easily, on eating out for lunch. In my area, it's not hard to do. Plus, we have a ton of food in our freezer (thank goodness for a stand alone freezer!), so there's really no excuse. Buppy & I don't go out to eat a lot, and said coworker of mine was recently let go. Plus, I figure I've got full access to a full-service restaurant kitchen to reheat leftovers. 'Nuff said.

2.) Eat healthier. I'm doing better with this so far. I love fruits and veggies, it's just a matter of actually packing them and eating them for lunch. And remembering to throw them in at dinner time as well is a step in the right direction. I love having a super produce market on my route to-and-from work. This will take a little tweaking, but we're headed in a good direction.

3.) Exercise more. Doesn't everyone make that resolution? My list didn't look quite right without it.

4.) Do more little things in life. Things that people remember, that make them feel good about themselves. Send a birthday card. Mail some cookies. Facebook a message. I'm pretty good at this right now, I must admit. I just want to continue to be thoughtful. Speaking of which, our friend's birthday is coming up on Friday --- what to make her?

5.) Do more big things in life. To me (unlike some people I know), it's never been about material things. Experiences are where it's at, and I want to do more. I live in an area where I have access to so much to do and so many things to see, I want to take advantage of all of it. The East Coast is fantastic! I'm only a few hours from NYC, the same amount of time from 2 dear friends, I work in B-more for Pete's sake, and I'm a quick metro ride from DC. And wherever I travel, I get the most awesome hotel discount ever! What more could a girl want?

6.) Be nicer to Buppy's kids. It's not that I think I'm a bad mother-figure in their lives. It's just that sometimes I'm a bit overwhelmed by their noise level and I tend to yell quickly. I want to have more fun with them while still making sure they develop into well rounded boys. They will, I have no doubt about that, thanks to their wonderful father. I just need to relax sometimes; whether they eat every last bite of broccoli isn't life or death. Deep breath, deep breath.

Hmmm. So I guess those are the main goals for 2010. Nothing huge. My commission side bar is also a goal, but that'll definitely take some time. This year is going to be a great one, I can feel it. I'm in the career I've been waiting for and I love-love-love it. My family is healthy and happy. I have a wonderful boyfriend. The list goes on. I wish everyone only the best for 2010!

Menu Plan Monday - Jan. 4

Hmmm, my menu plan for last week didn't go quite according to plan. I'll chalk that one up to it being a holiday week/weekend and try again for this week. We recently got 1/4 of a cow (yes, that includes 30 lbs. of hamburger for the girl who eats hamburger like, twice a year, along with a ton of steaks) and 10 lbs. of shrimp, plus we already had 10 lbs. of ribs, chicken, pork, sausage, brats, etc. in our freezer. There is no reason not to cook at home! Here we go:

Monday - hotdogs. (I'm alone.) My parents sent me natural casing hotdogs that can't be found out here, and I just had to indulge. I know it's the eat-better-new-year and all, but they were from my family and I caved. So be it.

Tuesday - Buppy's at work, so I'll have a sandwich (probably ham & cheese) and steamed broccoli crowns.

Wednesday - Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes. I didn't get around to this one last week, so I'll throw it into the mix again.

Thursday - Lasagna. I have one in the freezer already cooked, so all I'll have to do is pull it out, thaw it in the fridge the night before and then reheat that night. Ah, how I love simplicity!

Friday - Soup of some sort. It's supposed to snow that day and I'll either make French onion soup on Thursday night for Friday, or I'll pull some out of the freezer. I have 3-4 different kinds individually portioned in the freezer right now, so Buppy & I can each have what we want.

Saturday - I'm alone (Buppy's at work.) I'll probably have leftovers of some kind unless I get really ambitious.

Sunday - No plans, as it's my employee Christmas party at my hotel. Buppy was supposed to be working but he got the time off he requested --- yay! I get to help plan the menu, so that's a huge bonus. And the best part? We can stay there (for free) the night of the party if we don't want to drive home. Ah, perks; I love being management.

I still need to find a good Salisbury steak recipe though. . .

Welcome 2010!

So it's 2010. Wow. How did we get here? My-my-my --- time flies when you're growing up! But it's been real and it's been fun, so I'm not complaining.

Last night was our trip down to the Lyric Opera House for The Great Russian Nutcracker, put on by the Moscow Ballet. It was . . . interesting. I can honestly say that I'm glad we went, but Buppy and I both noticed that the performers weren't as in sync as we'd anticipated. There were often several duos on the floor at a time, and when they were all supposed to make a movement in unison, they weren't exactly in unison. Not that it made it a bad performance by any means, only that we were both shocked to notice this. There were definitely some impressive things to be seen, and we both had a good time. While we had planned on dinner at a restaurant in B-more near the Opera House, they've recently undergone a change in ownership, resulting in a drastic menu change. We stopped in for a drink, then headed back into our hometown to enjoy dinner at one of the best local restaurants. Their cream of crab soup is to die for. I'm not kidding. Their calamari last night was delish as well, and Buppy really enjoyed his chicken dish. Their Marsala sauce is sweeter than normal, which would make me think I wouldn't enjoy it. The dish was simple, yet had complex flavors. Very, very good. And our server was fantastic to boot!

Earlier in the day yesterday, Buppy's parents and his brother's family all came up for "Christmas." Brunch turned out to be wonderful, with mimosas as our beverage of choice. Such a great way to start the day! I modified the bagel & cheese bake a little from last time and it only got better. The fruit salad that I was a little unsure about was awesome; Buppy's dad had 3rds! I modified that recipe a little as well using what I had on hand but man, what an easy way to throw a fruit salad together. The kids got plenty of gifts to keep them busy forever, and Buppy and I got some good stuff as well. My stand-out gift is an electric fondue pot. Hello Melting Pot at home! I plan to experiment. A lot.

Today I received my package from my family in Wisco. Made me lonesome that I didn't get back there to see them, but they sent me some perishables that can only be found in that state. Oh they know me so well, and they knew exactly what would make my day. Thank you guys --- I love you!Today was my first day back after my 2nd 4-day weekend in a row. Since I actually really enjoy my job, it wasn't bad at all. We're going through some changes at work, so things are a little chaotic right now, but most don't involve me too much, so I'm doing alright. I got a lot accomplished today, came home to find my package of goodies from my family and now get to relax for the rest of the evening (with some more champagne from the mimosas!) Wow, I feel very lucky.