Mealplan Monday #104 and Sic 'em!

On Spring Break we visited The Girl at Baylor.  We had about 30 minutes to kill so we visited the bears.

 Real bears.

Real Baylor bears.

Apparently it was their nap time and they wouldn't budge, even though I called "Here kitty,kitty,kitty".

What?  Bears don't respond to that?  A sign I saw (after I called them) said don't be loud and keep your limbs to yourself...Oh.  Moving right along...

 Even in very early Spring, the campus is lovely.  And so empty of people.  So unlike UT.  Baylor virtually dries up when classes are not in session.

******

Monday - (freezer) Mongolian Crock Pot Beef, mashed potatoes, peas
Tuesday - Chili Mac, corn
Wednesday - Calamity Chicken, brussels sprouts
Thursday - Crock pot of beans, cornbread
Friday - Pot Roast, scalloped potatoes
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - (freezer) Sausage Pasta Bake, garlic toast
Dessert is a pie of some sort...haven't decided yet.

******

 Pat Neff Hall

 Bubbie contemplating college?

 No.  He was figuring out if he should hop on over to the other side of this huge, dry drainage ditch.  At least that's what I think it is...and he did.

 Pretty campus.  I'm glad we were able to help her get to the university of her choice.  I know she will treasure her time here.

So glad April is just about here!

It puts us closer to Summer when she will be home for the last time...

5 thing Friday - growing, feeding, chewing, haircutting, planning

Bubbie must be going through another growth spurt.  Pretty soon we'll have to change his nickname to Bubba, The Kid who ate Texas...I'm actually happy to see this sight!

Some blog I follow had a post about building pets a tray out of scrap wood to hold three feeding dishes. Instead of braving the far reaches of the garage searching for scrap wood, then wasting all kinds of time trying to build a tray, I bought a melamine dish at Tarjay.  Boom. The cat might not be able to stand the luxury of it all...

 Now if I could just get her to vomit up whatever hairball is causing her to ruin my carpets, it'd be swell.

 My theory on why my hair and nails look sooo bad this Winter is that I had stopped taking my vitamins and supplements. I did that in part, because it felt like the giant pills were getting stuck in my throat.  Chewables to the rescue.

I finally got my haircut moved up on my to-do list.  The lady didn't cut off as much as I asked her to, but I can live with it.  When I blow it dry, it looks halfway decent.  It's still thin, but feels like it's in Ok shape.  I'm very tired of worrying about my hair.

A friend has a sister who makes these cute cookies - I want to order some for Scout's graduation, but the ceremony is at an awkward time on a Friday.  So maybe I will plan a BBQ at our house the next day, and plan on having a cute cookie tray for that.  June seems so far away, but I know it will be here in a blink!

Green Chile Chicken Bowls with Perfect Rice

On Monday I fixed the bag of frozen Green Chile Chicken - just plopped it into the crock with a scant amount of water and left the house for the day....

...fully intending to make tacos with it, but deciding on Alamo Bowls instead.  Well, actually, Alamo Bowls call for fajita meat.  So we'll call these Green Chile Chicken Bowls.  Yum.  Super tasty!

And I thought I would share how I make (in my opinion) 

Perfect Rice.

 I heat up a tablespoon or a little less of olive oil in a small pot.  (I have also made this with butter, but olive oil is what I use most often.)  I turn the heat to medium low and add one cup of dry rice - Jasmine is nice.  Smells really fragrant and has a great taste.

 I swirl the rice around in the pan every few seconds, getting the rice coated with the oil. 

When it looks a little opaque...(about 3-4 minutes)

 ...I pour in 2 cups of stock.  Tonight I am using chicken, but I have also used other flavors.  I buy those little Knorr cups or bouillon cubes.  No need to add extra salt.

 Then I quickly put the lid on, lower the heat a bit, and set a timer for 20 minutes.

The Green Chile Chicken smells great!  I had turned it to warm when I got home and shredded it a bit in the crock.

While the rice cooks I get my toppings ready.  Tonight it's grated cheddar, green onion, and sour cream.  I use whatever we have on hand - avocado, onion, salsa, jalapenos...

 The rice is just about done when you see these pocket holes on the surface.  When the timer goes off, set if off the heat for a few minutes.   

Then lift the lid and stir it a bit, so it won't clump up too much.  PERFECT!  Slightly creamy, fully cooked and smells soooo good.

For four people this amount of rice is exactly right and we never have leftovers.

Mealplan Monday #103 and my Handy Man

What's scary about having a house sometimes is that when things go wrong you have to learn to fix them yourself or get someone in...I'm pretty lucky that Hubby was an electrician throughout the latter part of high school and early college, then an apartment handyman.  It means he can figure stuff out.

 Like when he hears a popping noise while heating up the Sunday dinner when I'm at work...

 Oh, that can't be good.  Not sure what would have caused the oven heating element to fail so spectacularly - but there was much sound and white hot burning happening...this will never do.  I have cupcakes to make later in the week...

******

Monday - (Freezer) Green Chile Chicken Tacos
Tuesday - Order a pizza - If I feel anything like last Tuesday, it will be all I can do to go pick it up!
Wednesday - Beef and Bean Enchiladas, salad
Thursday - Stovetop Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake, ranchero beans
Friday - Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti, salad
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Dr. Martin's Mix, corn

******

 A quick trip to the parts place and it was cupcake baking time - green velvet.  With cream cheese frosting.  They were pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

A functioning oven is a thing of beauty, no?

Gina

Shower ready - not that kind of shower...

A group of us are hosting a shower for a co-worker tonight.  I was in charge of a game, the relish tray, the hot crab dip, and paper goods.  I am also bringing some burlap and a sweet framed print to decorate a little table for the baby book.

Just need to cut up some green onion for my relish dishes and grab the cold stuff.  Do you do this?  Lay it all out to see what's what?

 I bought a storage crate to put her gifts in and I'm thinking she can use it for other things baby-related, too.  Storage for kids' stuff = a good thing.  Her hound dog turned out cute, if not a little wonky - he's imperfectly perfect.

The ditty bag was made with leftover denim.  I ironed a little plane on it and stitched a contrail behind it - ha! It has a number of baby things in it for a guessing game.  Should be fun. I slipped a funny note for Mom-To-Be in the front pocket.

It looks like a mess in here, but I promise I am organized and mostly ready to go!  I still have a doc appointment this morning, a crock pot of stew to start, general housework to do, and a late night lock-in to chaperone for Bubbie.  Better get crackin' on the day...

Dr. Pepper Museum

The boys and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon one day last week for Spring Break...remember Spring Break?  It was great!  Sleeping in, eating out, having fun.  I can't believe it's over.  *Sniff*...I'm sure they feel the same way!

 

 We visited The Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco.  The boys had been a couple times before, But I hadn't.  There are a few places like this in Waco - and they are all about $6-7 a head.  Pricey, compared to what my kids and I normally do.  We like free....

 But I love visiting museums!  And we had a couple of hours to kill until The Girl got off work.

This is one of the original wells that supplied the water for the soda.  It was weird to look that far down into the earth.  In fact, the whole museum had some nice things to read and look at - who knew soda could be so interesting?

Dr. Pepper is Scout's fav soda. And I had a good time looking at everything.

 I love wood floors and staircases.  This is the view down on the fountain shoppe.

Hi, Scout!  Thanks for being the kid who I can count on to always pose, no matter if we are in public or not.  Such a sweet guy!  Probably 'cause he's a Pepper...

We sat in the fountain shoppe and drank some Dr. Pepper floats.  Ironically, the computer system was down and we only had plastic (who carries cash anymore?!)  So our treats ended up being gratis.

It's sad to think that the days of me taking my kiddos on these jaunts and field trips are slowing to a stop.  I will miss that so much...until I can kidnap my grandchildren and continue the fun...

Mealplan Monday #102 and March thrifting

 A recent trip to one of my favorite thrift stores and $16 netted me the following:

Some vintage Little Golden Books and a novel by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife (a favorite of mine),

 a pretty and pristine calendar plate from 1962 - a future gift for my sister...

(turns out she was born on a Saturday!)
******

Monday - Skillet Stroganoff, peas

Tuesday - Chipotle Crumb Chicken, black beans, salad

Wednesday - Guinness Chili, cornbread

Thursday - Easy Tomato Baked Chicken, brown rice, brocc/cauli

Friday - Calamity Anne's Meatloaf, masheds, kale

Saturday - Dad grill

Sunday - Turkey Sloppy Joes, Fritos

Dessert this week is Raspberry Cream Cookies

******

...and a couple of shirts for myself.  The denim top is a fun and funky find - the flap and buttons have got to go, but it's very comfy on.  I've been thrift shopping more mindfully - I'm only buying things that I have an immediate or planned use for.  What about you?  Done any thrift shopping lately?