Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Classic Sugar Cookies

Hooray I am finally posting a recipe!
I feel like I haven't posted a recipe in months! I sincerely apologize once again,
life seems to be getting the best of me and I run out of time to blog. I didn't realize my holidays would be so busy. Plus, my parents are in town so I am trying to spend as much time with them as possible. 

Any way on to these wonderful sugar cookies. I love these sugar cookies, and I don't really care for sugar cookies. They are so GOOD!! They aren't too thick, well at least I don't make them too thick. You know those BIG sugar cookies with pink frosting?? These aren't like those, and I think that is why I like them best!! They are nice and light I think. They aren't overly dry like some sugar cookies can be either.  
You must try this sugar cookie recipe, you will love it!!

Sugar Cookies 

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
   1 tsp. salt 

 
Cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and other ingredients. Chill 1 hour (Jody doesn't). Roll out 1/2 “ thick. Cut out shapes. Bake at 400 for 6-8 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

Recipe From: My Good Friend Jody Noakes

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 
I hope we remember how blessed we are.
I know I am going to be thinking about how blessed and grateful I am.
I have been blessed with much.

Let the feasting begin!!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Cosmo's favorite spot

With the weather get colder, it's even raining today, Cosmo likes to take his claim to what he thinks is his spot.

Right in front of the heater!!

If I try to sit in front of it he weasels his way in between me and the heater. 
How am I suppose to curl up to a good book in front of the heater when he hogs it?!

From his facial expression I don't think he gives a darn.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I normally am not a huge fan of taquitos, but then again I had only tried the  ones from the freezer section. So I mainly made this for the hubby. I was pleasantly surprised to bite into these delicious taquitos! They had some great flavor and they weren't overly creamy with cream cheese. Since I really liked the chicken, I think I will have to find a beef one to try. I am also a big fan of flour tortillas, I liked the crunchy edges they got from the baking process. These were fairly quick and easy to make. I highly suggest making these and serving them with sour cream, salsa and/or guacamole. 

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Yield: about 12 taquitos

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup salsa
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1-2 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, etc. would also be good)
10-12 6-inch flour tortillas
Cooking spray
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, spices, cilantro, green onions, chicken and shredded cheese.  Mix thoroughly until well combined.  
Briefly heat the tortillas in the microwave to make them soft enough to roll easily, about 20-3o seconds.  Place a tortilla on a work surface.  Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the filling mixture down the middle of the tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up tightly around the filling.  Place seam-side down on a baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling, spacing the assembled taquitos evenly on the baking sheet.  Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt.  (You may be tempted to skip the sprinkle of salt, but it really adds a nice touch.)  
(To freeze before baking, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and chill the assembled taquitos 30-60 minutes.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag.  To bake from the freezer, simply add a few additional minutes to the original baking time, until the filling is warmed through.)
Bake 15-20 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.   Serve with sour cream and salsa, if desired.


Recipe From: Annie Eats

Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Weekend In Spokane

This past weekend Dave and I had the pleasure of going up to Spokane, Washington to visit with my Aunt Paula and Uncle Jim.

It was a great relaxing weekend. They live on some beautiful property!!

This is the view from the window!
Isn't it so beautiful?!

It even snowed a little! I was so excited!

Paula harvesting her black walnut trees.

14 walnuts in all!
These walnuts are extremely hard to open. Jim broke the nutcracker trying to crack one open. I think they might need to run a car over it.

We enjoyed a nice four-wheeler ride.

We saw lots and lots of trees!! It's amazing how much you miss those when you don't live by them any more.

We enjoyed some clay pigeon shooting.
I only hit 1! I need to go shooting more.

Paula was such a dead shot, she hit every one as soon as they came flying out.....almost. :)

Dave was in heaven while we did this, he hit I think all but one.

Uncle Jim truly is a dead shot. :)

It snowed again!! I love it when the snow falls.

This is the cutest little girl!! 
And congrats to her parents Andrew and Ashley on being pregnant with their second child!

We had a great time Paula and Jim!! Thank you so much for having us up!!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I love, love, love dips for bread! 
This spinach artichoke dip was so, so good. I like to make sure every inch of bread is covered with dip. I will admit it, I am a double dipper. I can't help it, what's the point in having dip if I can't dip every piece of the bread into it right?? 
I kind of felt bad that I made the full recipe for just me and Dave, but then I got to enjoy it again for a couple of days. I didn't feel bad for too long. 

The hubby isn't a huge fan of artichokes, so he liked that this recipe called to have the artichoke finely chopped. Me on the other hand, I love artichoke hearts , any way shape or form. Ooo, I really like it on veggie style pizza too. My mouth is watering now for this dip and veggie style pizza with artichoke hearts.

I think you all should try this dip some time this holiday season. It would be a great appetizer for a holiday feast.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1½ cups (6 ounces) finely shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
Paprika, to taste (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Press the excess moisture from the spinach.

2. Combine the artichokes, spinach, 1¼ cups of Parmesan cheese, 1¼ cups of Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, and garlic in a bowl and mix well.

3. Spoon the artichoke mixture into a 1½-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheeses on top, and then sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm with tortilla or pita chips, crackers or vegetables.



Recipe From: Brown Eyed Baker

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I'm Back!!!

Forgive me for taking almost a week long hiatus. 
It's has been a hectic couple of weeks, with work, coming down with a head cold, going home to Utah for the weekend, and just everyday life.
 I fear that the holidays are going to speed by and I am not going to know what happened. Hopefully I can stay on top of everything, and I am hoping to be posting some more recipes soon. With this nasty cold I have acquired I haven't felt like cooking much since I can't taste very well. 
I do have a few recipes that I have made that I will hopefully post before the weekend, some tasty Tex Mex Soup, and some yummy spinach dip.

But for now, here are some pictures from our quick trip home to Utah. Dave's nephews got baptized. Same day, 2 different times, 2 different churches. (By the way, Tracy if you read this, may I get your tortellini soup recipe?) We also were able to make it to mine and Blake's yearly birthday dinner at my parents on Sunday. 
Guess what? There was snow in Utah, I loved every minute of it! I am meant for mountain weather. 

 Parker and Billy at Parker's baptism. I can't believe he is 8! He was just a little tyke when I came into the family.

Gabe and Kelly at Gabe's baptism, yet again where has the time gone?! Kids grow up so fast.

My Father-in-law Stan the man, Shelly and cute little Mason.

Hi Shelly!!

Don't they look so dapper? 

Happy 28th Birthday Blake!!

Caden was trying to blow out my birthday candle before I could. 

My friends were able to make it the birthday bash, Lindsey, Me, Ranie, and Meg. Wonderful, wonderful gals! 
That is my cute Grandma in the back. 

She was so excited that we were having broccoli for dinner. 

I was so tempted to tip it back into his face.....

My niece Shaylee, I think she looks like I did when I was her age. 
She is cute! 

Hopefully she doesn't look like this when she hits 26. :)

Remember my cute little furball of a dog, Cosmo?

Well, we took Cosmo home with us since he has an unique personality and I didn't want to have to leave him with any of our friends, for fear that when I returned he would of at least bitten or scared someone half to death. 
Don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful dog. He just is very protective and isn't use to strangers, he needs several meet and greets before he warms up to people. 
Well, I think we are going to have to get him use to some more people. He is done flying for a bit. The main reason is because he destroyed his carry on kennel. The second reason is because he whined the entire time!! He wasn't like that the last time we took him on an airplane. I don't know what made this trip so different. 

Here are pictures of his kennel:

I had sewn this fabric on before we left, since he had chewed through the fabric mesh last time if you remember from our trip home in July.
He ripped the stitching out. So I decided to staple the fabric to it, and just get him in and out from the top opening. 

It worked, but he decided then to chew his way through the back mesh window. Dave packed duck tape just in case this would happen.

Since we blocked his way out the back, he decided to claw his way through the staples. By the time we got to Houston on our way back, it was simple for him to get out.

Dave asked someone who worked for TSA for some tape. We wrapped it all the way around his kennel.

Even after all that, once we landed back in Lubbock he was still able to just push himself under the tape and escape.
I think the kennel is going to meet the dumpster today, I tried my best to salvage it. 
The furball is curled up by me right now, even after all the hassle he gave us on the plane he is just too cute not to love.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

October Fun

Since October has ended, I will do a quick recap of just a couple things that happened in October that I didn't get time to blog about. What is it with time lately? Why is it going by so fast? I wish it would slow down just a little, please, pretty please?
Any way here are some pictures of our fun.

We went to the local Corn Maize. 

It was a HUGE corn maze, at least it seemed bigger then any corn maze I went to back home. 

The Maize is a really cool maze to go to. They have hay rides, tractor train rides, and a corn shooter. Not to mention some concession stands and a mini zoo! Very cool.

As you enter the Corn Maize there are these mailboxes that hold questions on different subjects that you answer when you come upon the corn shaped sign with the number to the question on it. We did the questions on Halloween.

Can you tell we are using our new camera?? 
We still have a lot to learn about it, I am liking it so far though.

Ha ha cracks me up every time I see this picture.


I also got to attend a Texas Tech game last weekend with some girls from my church.

What a great group of girls!! 

The mask rider! Man how I wish that could be, such a beautiful horse.

The team, I am glad they prayed. But sadly they just weren't meant to win. 
They lost, 7-41. Most the people in the stadium left by the 4th quarter.

They may of lost, but it was still great to get out and hang out with some great friends!