New Things Monday

For today I picked up a 6 pack of Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream cupcakes. My brother told me about them so I figured they would be perfect for new things Monday. :)

They are a bit costly at $10 for a pack of 6. They are pre-packaged so you can't change them up. You get 2 of each of the Sweet Cream, Cake Batter Delux and Double Chocolate devotion.

We both chose to try the Double Chocolate devotion. It was good!! You can even eat everything, including the liner shell. It's chocolate!! :)

Here it is cut open so you can see what it looks like. :)

Lunch is served...

My brother picked up some little potato rolls from the grocery store yesterday. And then today he picked up some chick-fil-a nuggets and he made us little chick-fil-a, chick-n-minis. What a great lunch! :) Thanks bruder! :)

Bacon & Cheese Muffins

I was kinda bored sitting around and felt like baking something. I was reading thru random blogs and came across Mommy's Kitchen. I saw a recipe for Bacon & Cheese Muffins and looked at the ingredients. I was happy that I had everything on hand so I scratched the recipe down on a piece of paper and then headed to the kitchen and starting making it. :) My brother came in to see what I was doing and helped me. :)

2 - cups all purpose flour
2 - teaspoons baking powder
1/4 - teaspoon salt
1/4 - teaspoon black pepper
1 1/4 - cup.milk
1/4 - cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 - egg
1/2 lb - bacon, diced, cooked and degreased
3/4 - cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together the milk, melted butter or margarine and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in the bacon and cheese just until combined. Scoop into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

They are good but they lack some flavor. I would add more black pepper next time. You could put your own spin on them. Maybe sprinkle some cheese on the top once you take them out of the oven. Or cook an egg sunny side up and eat with it. I would think maybe even a ranch dressing would be good to dip it in. Nate ate his with some sour cream. They are a quick little snack that you can eat on the go. :)

Nate suggested even adding some syrup to it. So, Billy did and we all tried it. It tasted just like a pancake. It was good!! haha :) You can do so many things with it.

Billy Philly Cheese steaks

Today is pretty much a lazy Sunday. I cleaned the house and did a bunch of other chores that needed to be done. I also went to the grocery store for a few items. My brother, came to the store with me. We were thinking about what to do for dinner and he suggested making Philly Cheese steaks. I was up for that. :)

My brother, Kirk (Billy) making the meat.

The meat cooking. Billy added season all to the meat. Season all is a blend with salt, savory spices, paprika, pepper, onion, garlic, and chili pepper. It's pretty good to flavor up your meats.

My 'Billy Philly' Cheese Steak! :) YUMMO! :)

Nate dressed his 'Billy Philly' with lettuce and mayo.

And I made us 'purple drink'. :)

My Kitty...

Harley being cute while dinner was being cooked. :)

LOVE!

I saw these little jars in the new issue of the Sur La Table Catalog. I fell in love with this cute little spice jar. Kristen also fell in love and was gonna go to the store and pick us both up one. I requested the eggplant purple. :) I'm thinking of keeping an Italian blend in mine to use in any homemade Italian dishes. :)

New Things Monday

I love ice cream!! Who doesn't? :) Sometimes you want to try new ice cream because you're bored of your favorite kind. So, I decided to try Breyers Waffle Cone Overload.

I love Smith's Waffle Cone ice cream but you can only get that in Ohio. :( Grandma Miller always stocks up when Smith's is on sale tho. They have really good ice cream!! :)

The good thing about Breyers, it was on sale at the store so that's a good thing. If I didn't like it then I only spent $2.50 on it. :) This Waffle cone overload was good!! If you like Carmel, waffle cone pieces and ice cream, well then you will like this. I found a new favorite! And so did Nate! YEY! :)

Family dinner...

My dad has been bugging me about eating at Rodango's. So, my brother came home on leave and my dad wanted to take the family out to dinner. So, he chose Rodango's. Everyone came.....my little sister, her husband, my older sister and her boys, my brother and then my parents. It was a nice dinner. I glanced down at my dad a few times and saw that he was happy that we were all together. :)

The food was pretty good and the place wasn't packed which was good b/c my family can be loud. But who's family isn't loud at times? :) The good thing is you can get a good steak dinner, with 2 sides for $8. How awesome is that?

Pampered Chef

Last night, I had my first Pampered Chef party. I loved it!! So fun and a great way to get some new kitchen items.

We made Grilled Chicken Penne Al Fresco. It was terrific!!! :)

If you're reading my blog and you want to order something you can. Just follow the link....www.pamperedchef.biz/rachel

I just made my order. I had $500 in sales so I got $140 worth of FREE items!! :)

Here's what I got......

-Deep Covered Baker (couldn't find on website b/c it's a host item only)

-Mix N Chop (loved using it during the show)

-Coating trays & tool (Been wanting for a while)

-Colander & Bowl set (I got these for 60% off as a host special)

-Cool & serve Square tray (I'd been wanting this since Mollie's party)

-Measuring cup set (my steel ones are getting rusty)

-Nylon pan scrapers (figured I would need them for my baker)

Baked Ziti

For dinner tonight, I made Baked Ziti. I used Turkey Sausage, Ziti noodles, and onion, shredded cheese, and spaghetti sauce. :) MMMMM!!!

White Chicken Chili

While I was at the grocery store on Sunday, I picked up some stuff to make White Chicken Chili. Nope I have never made it before and never had it before but I wanted it. :) Later that afternoon, a friend of mine named Sarah had posted on facebook that she was making White Chicken Chili that night. I thought it was funny that I was thinking about making it and here she was making it. She gave me her recipe.

Sarah's recipe:

3 boneless chicken breast halves cooked (shredded or cubed)

1 1/2 to 3 teaspoon ground cumin (to taste)

8 oz's. Pepper-Jack Cheese cubed

8 oz's. salsa mild or medium (to taste)

1 large jar great northern beans , undrained

Don't over cook the chicken. About 35-45 mins at 350 Don't brown. Combine in a crock pot at low for 2-3 hours. Stir frequently.

Now not knowing Sarah's recipe while at the grocery store, I kinda just picked up things that I thought was in white chicken chili. You know....white beans, and chicken. haha I also cheated a little by getting a McCormick- White Chicken Chili packet.

My plan was to make this yesterday. Everything was going great. I had just taken the chicken out of the oven and was letting it cool for a bit. I brought out the crock pot and had it ready to go. I added 2 cans of white kidney beans to the crock pot. I had an onion, I just finished peeling. I had just put the peels in the empty kidney bean can that I had sitting in the sink. Well, I wasn't careful enough and ended up cutting my right thumb on the can. (I will spare you the pictures of my thumb) Blood was everywhere and I couldn't get the blood to stop and ended up at the ER. Luckily, I didn't need stitches but I did have to have them 'glue' the cut so that it heals.

So, today I figured I would try again. I was determined to satisfy my craving for White Chicken Chili. This morning, before work I put everything in the crock pot and let it cook while we were at work.

Here's what I put in the crock pot:

3 chicken breasts (cut up)

2 pkgs of McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning

2 tbs of oil

2 1/2 cups of water

2 cans of white kidney beans (undrained)

1 onion

As I walked into the house, the smell of the white chicken chili was wonderful! This is def a dish to make this fall!!!

I think this tastes A LOT like my favorite Chicken Tortilla soup at Cracker Barrel. It was sooooo good. Nate and I ate it with tostito chips. Next time, I might add even add some corn. You can even add sour cream, sliced avocados and cheese to it if you'd like. Nate said "This is VERY good" and I asked him if it was something he would want to eat again and he said "YES". And he went back for more. I know it's good when he can't stop eating it. haha So, I will def be making this again. :)

New Things Monday

Each Monday, I'm deciding to try something new. If you missed last Monday, you can read it here. :)

Today, I had a new product. Ready to eat, bite size brownies from Pillsbury. I found them at the grocery store yesterday next to the eggs and cookie dough. There was Chocolate fudge, which I had and also Chocolate with Carmel. They were just the sweet I needed. Nate liked them too. They really are sweet moments. :)

Open-Faced Steak Sandwiches

Looking through a book last weekend that my friend Dave has I saw a recipe for Open-faced Steak Sandwiches. I told Dave when he decides to make that dish I better be there to enjoy the food. haha Anyways, I went to the grocery store today (yes, on a Sunday) and got lots of groceries. I decided for dinner tonight that I would do my own easy approach to the sandwich. I baked some cubed steaks. Seasoned with just W sauce, pepper and water. I then made some garlic toast. Once the toast was done I put a slice of provolone cheese on top of the bread, then the steak and some A1 sauce. And there you have it...an easy open-faced steak sandwich. It was pretty good and tasty. :)

Grill Marks

If you're looking for a great grilling blog my good friend Dave (Kristen's hubby) has started a blog all about grilling. I thought I'd give him a plug! :) Your mouth will water reading these grilled dishes. :)

Carl's Ice Cream

A Fredericksburg experience....Carl's Ice cream. I decided the other day to treat myself to a Chocolate Milkshake. I hadn't been there yet this year so I was excited. It was a rainy day and there was no one there. Normally, there is a line wrapped around the building. But I got lucky! I paid $4.09 (yes...how crazy!!!) for a regular size chocolate milkshake. But it was worth it! Oh soooo good! :)

31st Birthday

My 31st birthday was yesterday. My Mother took me to lunch @ Firebirds. They have delicious chicken tortilla soup and BLT salad. Now you know what I ordered! :) Last night, Nate's parents and his brother took us to Mimi's Cafe. It was a great day! :) The above picture is of flowers from Nate's parents, Roses from my mom and cards from friends/family. :)

Roses from my mother. :)

Cute card from Linda & Gene. Ahhh....to be at the beach.

Thursday, my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill came down and took me to Mimi's for lunch. We had a lovely time!! :) They got me an awesome pomegranate candle with a candle holder from Pottery Barn. I love the smell of it. :)

Friday, my sister Natalie took me to Bravo for lunch. It was great! :)

Sugarland's- "Stuck like glue"

I love the new Sugarland song "Stuck like glue". The video is rather strange, and stalker-ish. But if you listen to the words, the song is really cute. :)

My Harley

My little Harley has been sick. He's had a bladder infection. Poor little baby. :( I took him to the vet on Friday and got him checked out and got him some meds. It seems he's been stressed and has had a lot of anxiety. I think a big part of it was from me, his mama being sick. He's always very clingy to me. And I really do think pets know when something is wrong with someone they love. I have songs I sing to him sometimes and he comes over to me. Today, I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle little star". I know that sounds weird but he honestly stopped whatever he was doing and came right over to me and got in my face and started head bunting me. LOL I think he's feeling a lot better today. Here's a picture of him sitting on my lap with his front paws on my belly. :) I love him a lot. :)

New Things Monday

I want to start a feature each Monday where I talk about new things or firsts that I'm trying. Whether, it be a new product I'm trying out or a type of food I'm eating for the first time. I think it will be fun. We'll see how it goes. :)

Like most of us we try to find ways to save money. I used to be a name brand snob but that's not the case anymore. Years ago when I found out that grocery (bloom) store brand canned corn tasted the same as del monte canned corn and over $1 cheaper I thought who needs del monte. :)

I felt the same way with other products at Target. Why pay $8 for cascade dishwashing detergent when you can pay much cheaper for Target up & up brand. I have tried many up & up items that I will continue to buy. Like, ziploc bags, toliet paper, pads, sunscreen, trash bags, tylenol. The only item so far that I've gotten that I don't like is the up & up brand clorox wipes. They leave a weird residue behind. So, I think I'll stick to green works or clorox brand for that. :)

Birthday Weekend.....

Kristen planned a birthday lunch for me this past Saturday at PF Changs! It was awesome!! Kristen, Dave, Nate, Melissa, Crystal and Eddie all came to celebrate. We had a lot of fun. There were tons of laughs, great company and awesome food. :) After we ate lunch we had rainbow birthday cupcakes that Kristen made. They are my favorite cupcake now!!!!! So good and moist. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! Thanks Kristen for everything!! You're a wonderful good friend. :)

To make Kristen's cupcakes read her blog. :)