5 thing Friday: muffins, tote, nails, flowers, letter board

I had no less than seven brown bananas in the fruit bowl. So, following a recipe from The Frugal Girl, I made muffins on Tuesday night for us to enjoy for breakfasts.  Mine have Ghirardelli mini chocolate chips!

They came out nicely - much like a recipe I used to follow when my peeps were small that called for mayo.  I have no idea what happened to that recipe card, though, so this was a good substitute.

The Girl bought me a cute tote bag for Mother's Day!  I think I will use it as a shopping tote for non-grocery items.  Or as a book bag.  Or for overnight trips to Highlands. Or...

Somewhat blurry pic of my nails in their on-going recovery from winter dehydration.  I bought some Barielle nail cream I rub into them daily, and I have a Barielle oil I paint on and rub into them in the evenings.  Every now and then I paint them.  But I feel like the nail polish remover does them no favors. 

The wildflowers at Highlands this year were insane.  ARE insane - its still going on.  We even still have some bluebonnets up there which is unheard of in late May.

All along the road on the way to the property there are flowers.  I want to use my plant app to identify them before they wane. 

I'm having fun with the letter board in the guest room.  I took down Scout's framed photography in black and white, then re-hung the color canvases in here.

It makes for a fun collage and I wonder if anyone will notice that the sign keeps changing its message?  Ha! Happy last day of May!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #247

 Itty bitty Austin up ahead!

Monday - Italian Spiced Chicken Bites, Mediterranean Pilaf, kale
Tuesday - Reubens, veggie chips, apple slices
Wednesday - Pacific Cod with lemon and tarragon, zucchini
Thursday - Turkey Patties with onions and peppers, smashed reds
Friday - Pot Sticker Stir Fry with pork and broccoli
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - One Pot Spaghetti, salad, garlic rolls

Gina

Weekend re-cap: beer, food, fun

We found ourselves in an Empty Nest situation for dinner on Friday night - Bubbie was at a friend's house - so we put dinner in the oven then left the house for Austin Beerworks.

In addition to some tasty Harry Potter-looking beer we enjoyed chicken tacos and a brat on a bun, with some chips and queso on the side.  When we got home, I set the dinner out to cool and stashed it for the next night!  The next day we endured a soggy pick-up brunch at a winery, so we picked up our wine and split, intending to enjoy a bottle at Highlands.

 

 We were there about 5 minutes when I heard Hubby yelling from the front of the barn.

We had left a mouse trap set up inside and I noticed the bait was gone but the trap was unsprung.  Looks like the snake found the mouse...  Unfortunately, we can't have rattlenakes hanging out around the barn looking for mice.  So he was dispatched same as the one before.  But I tell you, its nerve-wracking.

 

We bopped over to Georgetown soon after to enjoy some lunch at 600 Degrees Pizza.  Sadly, I did not get a pic of the pizza - it was gone in a flash.  It featured sliced meatballs, pepperoni, marinated tomatoes, red onions, and garlic and was fantastic.  Even if we were very hungry - snake slaying is hard work - it was a ridiculously good pizza.

They had a friendly bartender and some nice beer.  

The Girl arrived home Saturday night and we enjoyed Chicken Mole, Spanish rice, and steamed carrots.  She will be in Atlanta for a week so we are Ted-sitting.  Since were going to be close to home the next day, we explored a new-to-us draught house that is not new to Austin.  There was a friendly guy out front grilling "for tips only" so we split a fresh grilled brat with sauerkraut.  He says he is out there most Sundays and you can bring something from home for him to throw on the grill.  

We hit the hay early - jury duty for me the next day and work for Hubby.  Hopefully, this coming weekend will be more productive.

Gina 

Mealplan Monday #246

Monday - Lemon Garlic chicken breast cubes, roasted red pepper quinoa, shredded and sauteed brussels sprouts

Tuesday - White beans with ham and no complaints*, corn muffins
Wednesday - Salmon with scampi splash seasoning, red bell peppers and corn
Thursday - Tacos al Pastor with all of the fixins', maybe some leftover beans
Friday - Heat and Eat Green Chile Chicken Rice Bowls (using up leftover veggies, too)
*Hubby wasn't on board with having beans as a main dish once a week, so we are compromising.  Every other week we will have sammies of some sort - tuna, chicken salad, grilled cheese and turkey - just something I don't have to slave over.

PS - Hubby has lost 7 pounds!

Gina

5 thing Friday - firepit, Mother's Day, Perisso's, green smoothie, necklace

A 3 day Mother's Day weekend was fun, but as usual, I was worn out on Monday.

We left our volunteer gig at the winery and headed to Burnet, intending to stop at the same place we had the Highlands sign made to purchase one of their firepits.  But after mulling the price for about 30 minutes, we decided to check the local hardware store.  Found an almost identical pit for over $300 less.  SOLD.

The bowl is a little less deep, and the foot rail and swing out top were reinforced.  And the lady at the hardware store said she thought it was made by the same people at the welding shop.  We got it offloaded and fired it right up!  Friday evening was misting and 50 degrees - perfect firepit weather.

 We used it all weekend and even woke up to it on Sunday.  Delightful.

On Sunday we had a wine club pick-up at Perissos.

   We enjoyed pulled pork sammies, live music, and  Dolcetto.

 You could not have asked for a more lovely day.  

Texas weather - cold one day, warm the next.

The place was packed with all sorts of mamas enjoying the beautiful day.  We stayed a couple of hours, picked up our wine, then headed home to grill burgers.

Scout and Dutch came!  They are back from a week on the coast enjoying a much-needed vacay.  Both of them looked relaxed and happy.  We ate our burgers al fresco and enjoyed them with some baked beans and sangria.  Firstborn and Bubbie even played a game with me while Hubby grilled!  It was a relaxing evening.

On Wednesday I got my teeth cleaned and is usually the case, I hadn't had time for breakfast.  Since I schedule early appointments,  I've been running through this nearby shop and grabbing a protein smoothie afterwards.  It makes my mouth and my tummy feel much better.  I should get one of those Ninja blenders - we would use it often.

I cannot get a decent pic of the Mother's Day necklace Hubby got me, but I love it.  the main pendant is a charm holder that you can switch out charms on whenever you like.  It came with a bluebonnet charm and calcedony bead.  The bluebonnet charm is detailed and the bead is an amazing shade of blue.  I know I will wear it and love it for years to come.

Gina

Bottling helpers

On Friday, Hubby and I both took a day off to work at a local winery that we enjoy.  They were bottling reds - Barbera, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot, and Mourvedre, to name a few.  Over 12,000 bottles of wine.

 

 Its safe to say we have zero experience doing anything at a winery besides drinking wine.  But we enjoy getting to know the winemakers and learning new things so we figured "why not?"  Plus, it was fun to meet other wine club members.

 

 This particular winery doesn't own their own bottling line, so a big rig pulls right up to the winery.  It was our job to label the boxes of empty bottles, stack them close to the line, flip the bottle over on the conveyor belt, re-load the full and corked bottles, tape the boxes up, stack them on pallets, and store them in the warehouse.  WHEW!  

Very hard work! 

Once the line got going, we were working at record speed - the production line was cranked up to high.  Thank  goodness for cooler weather and no rain!

 The winemaker, John.

Hubby and I worked several job rotations - here he is helping to make sure all of the bottles are fully filled at the end of that particular varietal run. We helped them bottle almost 1100 cases of wine - everything you see below, shrink-wrapped in green.

 If you ever get a chance to work at a winery - bottling, picking grapes - do it!  Its fun to see how the winery works from the inside even though it is super hard work.  The owners paid us in wine, tee shirts, and pizza, and we met some fun folks and got to know the winery employees a little more.  We even recognized some people we had met here at another winery on Mother's Day - small world - and found that we were members of some of the same wineries.

Fun for sure - but I think I will keep my Monday through Friday job!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #245

Monday - Indian Spiced Chicken Breast, Superfood Salad, smashed red potatoes
Tuesday - Pintos with brisket onion and cilantro, corn muffins
Wednesday - Crock Pot Ribs, corn on the cob, leftover beans
Thursday - Tuna Salad on Toast, red pepper strips, fresh fruit
Friday - Mole Chicken Tacos, sauteed zucchini
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - Take-out night

Gina