Ten-ish Things: The Olympics

Like the rest of the world, we loved watching the Olympics.  Just about every evening whether we were at home, in Branson, at a friend's house, or out to eat, we watched...at least a little bit.

About the time the Opening Ceremonies happened, I was CRAVING some family time.  Our summer had been CRA-ZAY, and I needed ALL of my chickens back in the nest AT THE SAME TIME.  When I'm feeling that way, my method of operation is to create an event at home and invite only the five people that live in my house.

So we had an opening ceremonies viewing party.  The girls made decorations:

Can you tell which team we loved?

About 2 days before I decided to make something British for supper in honor of the host country.  The food they eat is pretty similar to the food we eat, so I thought it would be easy to find a recipe with common ingredients and familiar techniques. 

I tossed the idea around Facebook of making a chicken pot pie and calling it "Shepherds Pie" but was quickly corrected.  (I was enlightened, though, about a simple way to make Shepherds Pie...I think I might try it soon.)

I really wanted to use the rotisserie chicken I had in the fridge and I didn't want to buy too many special ingredients.  I asked the Google and I found a recipe for a Shooter Sandwich.  I ended up not following the recipe very much at all, but I liked the idea behind it, and it was something different, so...

Shooter-ish Sandwich

1 french loaf (whole, not sliced)
1/2 rotisserie chicken
1 pkg. frozen onions and peppers
4 slices any type cheese (we have used colby jack or swiss)

Warm chicken in oven.  Cut bread loaf through the middle and open sub sandwich style so that you have one huge sandwich.  Pick out the soft middle parts of the bread leaving just the crust (sort of like two long, shallow bread bowls).  Cook the onions and peppers in a skillet until desired tenderness.  When chicken is warm, de-bone and fill the bottom part of the sandwich with meat.  Next layer onions and peppers on top of chicken, and finally layer slices of cheese.  Replace the top half of the bread and wrap tightly in foil.  Heat at 250° for 20-ish minutes.  Remove from oven and slice for individual servings.  Serve warm with your favorite summer vegetable, or chips, or even a light soup in the winter. 

One loaf feeds our family of 5, with a couple of slices left over.

I've made it a couple of times since the Olympics and the last time I made it, I bought a whole chicken at the store and cooked it in the crock pot instead of buying a rotisserie chicken.  I think this would be a great way to use any kind of leftover meat...brisket, ham, roast, etc.

It wasn't very British, but it was fun to try something new. 

We spent 3 weeks staying up way too late cheering for Team USA.  Mary Tutu was really impressed with gymnastics.  When we are at the pool, all of the kids do the Phelps arm stretch before they jump in.  And now that Bubba has participated in a track meet, he was pretty interested in the Track and Field events.  I'm trying to convince the girls that they should go for synchronized swimming or diving since they are so similar in looks, size, shape, and mannerisms, but they aren't interested.

At least the kids got to sleep in after staying up past bed time.  The closing ceremonies were just in time for us to start the go to bed early/wake up early practice schedule.  We'll see how that went Monday morning when we do it for real.

Family time watching the Olympics...love!

New recipes that EVERYONE in the family will eat...love!

Share your kitchen successes!  What new recipes have you tried lately?

Ten-ish Things: Bunko

How do you spell "bunko"?  Bunko...bunco...bunceaux?

I play in a bunko group once a month.  It's so fun and a much needed break from motherhood with my girlfriends.  Last September I hosted the group at our house and I kicked Honey and the kids out for a couple of hours while we ate, played, and visited.

When they came back home, there were still a few women hanging out and visiting and the girls thought it looked like so much fun to have a bunko party.  They begged and asked and nagged for 10 months until finally they wore me down.  While Bubba spent 2 weeks at camp, we invited TWELVE 8 year olds to the house for a night of pizza and bunko.

We had decorations and prizes, but we had a hard time coming up with players.


We started by inviting girls from church.  Admittedly, the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend was probably the worst time all summer to host a party, but only four of the original 10 people we invited could make it.

Another mom that was helping me with the party started brainstorming who else to invite.  We needed at least 2 more to make 2 tables.  Remember the parable in Matthew 22 about the man who was trying to throw a wedding banquet for his son but he couldn't find anyone to come?  So he just kept sending his servants out to keep inviting different people until the banquet hall was full?  That's how we felt...like that man.

In the eleventh hour, the other mom found 6 more girls to fill our banquet hall and the Bunko party was ON!  It was a little awkward at first because only a few girls knew any of the other girls.  We took a few "photo booth" pictures to loosen everyone up.

Then we ate pizza and cookies.

That was the easy part.

Then we taught 12 girls how to play Bunko.  It took 4 grown-ups, one at each table and one to provide non-stop refills of Crystal Lite lemonade.

By the time the game was over, the prizes were handed out, and the heavy drinkers were cut off, there was no awkwardness.  At all.  They were all comfortable enough to climb on my couch and grin big for a group picture.

It was really fun, and I would totally do it again...in 10 months.

Ten-ish Things: Branson

We drove 24 hours round trip in a 15 passenger van with Honey's parents to Branson, MO.  We learned some lessons along the way...

1.  Driving from our West Texas town to Branson is like taking a tour of natural disasters.  We saw damage left from flood, tornado, drought, and wildfires.

2. I need a car charger for my phone.  Between using it as the map for our road trip and checking off car bingo items and license plates, there was no battery left for Facebook checking.

3. The license plate game is a great distraction from the TWELVE HOUR DRIVE for children as well as moms and grandmas.  We found 40 states while riding in the car and while stretching our legs in the parking lots of rest stops, eating places, gas stations, and motels.

4. When searching for The Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, MO.  Do not enter "Bass Pro Shops" in the phone/GPS device you are using.  You will end up at the main office and employee training center...which was really pretty, but did not house the restaurant we were anticipating.  Search for "Outdoor World" if you want the retail establishment.

5. A 15 passenger van is the perfect size to drive 7 people and their luggage for 24 hours...unless those people are grumpy and stressed because lunch is an hour late.  Then even a 15 passenger van isn't enough space.

6.  There are some toll roads in Oklahoma...and by some, I mean many.

7.  There's a ton of stuff to do in Branson.  It's not just shows.  We rode zip lines, took a Ride the Ducks tour, and visited the Titanic Museum.

8. The shows we did see were very family friendly...no inappropriate language, jokes, or clothes.  It was a breath of fresh air.

9.  Bubba insisted on posing for every picture we took while on this trip.  I thought Branson would kick us out of their family friendly town.  We really belong in a red neck joke...or performing in the Three Redneck Tenors act.

10.  I'm a sucker for the overpriced pictures they sell at the end of every single tour.  Probably because my rule was that Bubba had to pose in a respectable way for the pictures we paid for.

11.  I did get a couple of "normal" pictures though.

Ten-ish Things: Spin

Back in the early spring I started walking again.  A few years ago, walking and Weight Watchers helped me loose 50 lbs.  Since then I had been a pretty sporadic exerciser.  This time around, walking was just a'ight for me.  I was bored out of my mind...prayer, music, hypnosis...none of it was helping.  (Just kidding I didn't try hypnosis.) And it was KILLING my calves.  I never did figure it out, but my calves were begging me to STOP WITH THE WALKING ALREADY! in all caps and exclamation marks.

So, for my birthday, Honey gave me a gift certificate to a local fitness center.  Risky choice?  Yes.  But he had been listening to me complain about walking for so long, he thought I might enjoy a change.  The gift certificate paid for me to take 10 classes, and Honey even went to tour the place and ask questions and find out everything I needed to know about when the classes were scheduled and who the best instructors were for beginners.

It took me about 3 weeks to work up the courage to actually go to a class.  In 37 years of life, I had never been to an exercise class at a gym with other people.

Unless you count Curves.

Anyway, I chose spin...partly because I'd never done it before and I knew the challenge would keep me motivated...partly because I don't have a spin bike at home, so if I was going to pay to exercise, it was going to be something that I couldn't do for free.  But mostly because the class was "intro to spinning" and I was the only one there.

That was the last week of May.  And I've been going to the gym, to spin and lift weights and sweat, 4 times a week ever since.  Crazy, huh?  I actually enjoy it.

I always snap a pic of the bike computer while we're cooling down.  That says that I rode 20.2 miles in 56 mins 58 seconds and I burned 425 calories.  If you're keeping Weight Watchers points at home, that's 12 activity points!

It had me at 12 activity points.  The most I'd ever earned at one time was 4.

We traveled a lot this summer and when we were gone, I missed working out.  

Now we know I'm crazy.

About 3 weeks in to the spin classes, the fitness center was hosting a cycling group to raise money for MS.  They moved all the spin bikes outside and you could pay $5 to ride with the Carney Men. I convinced Honey to go with me.  

When we got there we realized that the bikes were set up at the entrance of the building, on the busiest street in town, mid-morning on a Saturday.  And the local news cameras were there.  

Filming.

We put 30 minutes in on the bikes and walked with purpose to the car when the 2nd and 3rd news station arrived.

By the time we got home, Bubba had found the fitness center on Facebook and was showing us pictures of ourselves riding.

Three weeks of spin and I'm riding in front of our entire town and the surrounding area here for the weekly mall/Sam's Club run.  That's progress, y'all. 

We're home for a while and in control of our schedules and diets.  I've given myself a 90 day challenge...I want to ride 500 miles and loose some weight.  We'll see...

What craziness have you gotten in to this summer? 

Ten-ish Things: New Recipe

It's been a wonderful, busy, full summer!  But it's winding down and school will arrive in Texas in a little less than 2 weeks.

To celebrate Summer 2012 (and to catch up the poor, neglected blog) I'm going to attempt to blog my top 10-ish favorite things about this summer.  (The ones I haven't blogged yet.)  (In no particular order.)

Tomato, Corn, & Black Bean Salad

Summer always brings out the health nut in me.  It probably has a lot to do with all the shorts and bathing suits and sun dresses.  I liked a page on Facebook, 100 Days of Real Food, hoping to find some healthy, quick, easy recipes to spice up our summer menu.  That page is also linked to a blog by the same name, and if you can get past all the organic, additives are bad, anti-hormone, red dye #67 is the devil, it does deliver some good recipes.

(I'm just a busy, West Texas mom, chasing/entertaining 3 kids, and I'm tired of Sonic chicken strips. I don't want to change the world, I just want to make it to softball practice on time.)

So this weekend Honey wanted to grill some steaks and I tried a new side dish.  I started with 100 Days recipe for Tomato, Corn, & Black Bean Salad .  I followed it almost exactly like it was printed.

For the first time ever(!) I bought fresh corn on the cob.  It was so sweet and yummy!  I'm definitely gonna get my hands on some more soon!

Also for the first time ever (!) I bought fresh basil leaves.  Oh yes I did.

And black beans.  Because we eat pinto beans all the time, but black beans, not so much.

I omitted the red onion because none of us are fans.  I used garlic powder instead of garlic cloves. 

I added about 6 oz. of whole grain rotini.  Because I added pasta, I used a bit more oil than the recipe called for.

It was yummo!

I saved the leftovers and added some chicken to it the next day for lunch.  I like it best as a cold salad.

So to wrap up:
3 ears corn, boiled for 3 mins if purchased at the grocery store
2 cups black beans, cooked & drained (and rinsed if canned)
8 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Cut the corn off of the cob and gently mix with beans, tomatoes, and pasta in a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk together the basil, vinegar, oil, and seasonings.  Pour over salad mixture and gently blend together.

I think next time I'll use a bit more corn and a bit less black beans to make my family (Mary TuTu) a bit happier to eat it.

What new recipes have you tried this summer?

Insta Friday

It's Insta Friday and this is my first time to participate!  I'm linking up with Jeannett and her friends.

(Yes, it's more pictures of our vacation, but with MORE COMMENTARY!, and LINKS!)

(Feel free to navigate away now.)

This week we were on vacation.  Honey earned a reward trip with his job and we decided to take the kids with us this year.  We got to spend a few days in West Palm Beach. 

I thought the days of talking Bubba into sharing a plate with me were over, but I was wrong.  Now we're in the "he eats his plate and helps me with mine too" stage.

Once we made it to West Palm Beach, we were introduced to Tropical Storm Debby.  She didn't cause too much severe weather where we were, but it did rain 2 out of the 3 days we were there.  The one day it didn't rain we toured the area in the Diva Duck...

 

...the girls got into the ocean for the first time...

...and the kids fed the fish at the Old Key Lime House.  Did you know that catfish like to eat cat food?  I didn't either, but that's what we threw in the water and they LOVED it.

The day we planned to spend at the beach the red flag was out, so we spent about two hours at the pool and then it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  I wished that Tropical Storm Debby had gone through Texas because we NEED that rain!

The rain didn't stop the awards banquet.  Here's Honey and his manager.

The rain did stop the morning we left.  (of course it did) We were able to get out of Florida with only a few bumps and a limited amount of drugs.  I also used the map on the back of the airplane napkin to explain to the kids 2 or 40 times where we were going and what cities we had to stop in to get there.

We flew back to Dallas (where it was NOT raining) and got to tour Cowboys Stadium, affectionately known around these parts as Jerry World.  The place is enormous! The Statue of Liberty, including the base, could stand inside if the ginormous TV was not there.  Crazy, huh?

Then we started hydrating (Have you had the passion fruit tea?  It's yummy!) because it was 108° and we were headed to...

...the Rangers game.  When the game started at 7:00pm it was 104° and at 10:30pm when the game was over it was 94°.  Glad we hydrated.

It was Nolan Ryan's 45th wedding anniversary.  They put him and his wife on the Kiss Cam.  It was really cute!

And, BONUS!, the Rangers won!

Then we drove home.

And I was so glad that I made the fam put a little bit of extra effort in before we left to make the beds and straighten the house.

Because it was so much nicer to come home to a picked up house instead of a house that looked like the aftermath of Tropical Storm Debby.

The day after Vacay 2012...one makes me feel like we're still in Florida.  The other...not so much.

I assume because of the HUMIDITY in Florida, everywhere we went there were jars of ice water with sliced fruit.  It was refreshing and yummy!  The girls and I fell in love.  So I decided to try it here, at home, to help sustain that vacay buzz.

Yesterday was watermelon and strawberry.  Today is watermelon and lime.

Happy Friday!

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You can find my InstaSpringBreak posts here.