What's for dinner this week? :)

Hi Everyone! It's Monday again!! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Adam and I had an eventful one so I'll have to post about that later today!

On my last meal plan, we were supposed to make Lean Ground Turkey tacos! Well, we changed it up a bit and went with a Salmon taco recipe instead! YUM!!! I was inspired by a post at House of Smith's. Click that link and it will take you right to the Fish Tacos entry!! (PS - If you haven't checked out Shelley's blog yet, you're missing out! She is so full of inspiration and great ideas! And she has the cutest family EVER!) :)

We ended up getting a fresh salmon filet at Publix and baked it in the toaster oven (we were too lazy to heat up the big oven, it takes too long!!) with plain ol' teryaki sauce and some fresh lime juice. It turned out YUM!! Super quick and easy to make too! Adam then shredded it up in chunks for the tacos.

While the salmon was cooking, Adam started on the Cilantro Lime Rice. OMG! It turned out so good! We will absolutely make it again! :) Ours turned out a little bit stickier than I like, but the taste was perfect!!

After Adam started on the salmon and rice, I got busy chopping up a storm!! hehe I made the Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing! I ended up using the buttermilk ranch dressing for it, and it turned out AMAZING! I've never used Tomatillos before, but after this experience, I'll be using them a lot more! They are super easy to work with, and my little $5 food processor did a great job making this dressing with them!

The last thing I made was some fresh salsa! We used tomatoes, onion, fresh cilantro, jalepeno, minced garlic, salt, garlic salt, onion powder, and chili powder! I blended this up in the food processor too and it was so good!! I'll use a little less jalepeno next time, since Adam thought it was kind of hot. The next day though, it tasted perfect! I think the key to great salsa is to let it sit! :) YUM!

The one thing we didn't have time to do that night was make our own flour tortillas. Our Best Bites has a fantastic recipe and very easy directions! I can't wait to try these out soon!

So there's our little twist on taco night! I hope y'all try out some of these recipes!

Anyways onto the food for this week!! :)

Monday: Cheesy Chicken SimmerPhoto from Kraft Foods site

Tuesday: Mini Ham and Egg Cups (Breakfast for Dinner!!)
Photo from Our Best Bites

Wednesday: Quick Taco SaladPhoto from Kraft Foods site

Thursday: Pork and Veggie Skewers (Our own recipe, I'll post the ingredients later today)

Friday: Lasagna (A healthy version of my Grandma's recipe with low-fat and skim-milk ingredients!)

Hope everyone has a great week!! :)

Wee Bit Wednesdays -

I actually have some extra time today to post my answers to these! YAY!! :)

{one} what profession have you always admired?
Teachers, well the really good ones that is. My Mom was a teacher's aid, and I have several friends who are teachers. They all did/do such a great job with the kids they interact with each day. I don't know how they do it though! I'd be stressed out! :)

{two} what would the title of your memoir/biography be if it was written today?
Probably something awful like "The Crazy Cat Lady: Living with 5 cats" hehe :)

{three} how far do you commute to work?
It's about 20 miles roundtrip 5 days a week! BLAH! I hate driving to work! I'd love to work from home!

{four} are your earlobes attached or detached?
Detached.

{five} do you eat the unpopped kernels of popcorn at the bottom of the bag?
Yep, I eat all of it! I'll probably break my teeth on one at some point! :/

{six} what is the strangest gift you’ve ever received?
It's not really all that strange, but I asked for a Chicken Caesar Salad from Applebee's one Christmas from my Mom. So she got me a giftcard and wrote on it here is your salad. :) haha The funny part is she told the people at Applebee's that's what I had asked for, and they believed her. The girl said OMG it's 2 weeks until Christmas, it will be bad by then. LOL Dummy. haha :)

{seven} what is one tv show that you wish hadn’t been cancelled?
Charmed!!! :) I LOVE that show!!

{eight} what is something that you are saving money for right now?
Nothing in particular, but I would like to park my mustang in the garage and get an SUV!!! :)

{nine} what hobby would you like to take up?
If I had the time, I'd like to learn to knit and crochet. I'm too impatient right now though! ha :)

{ten} how many times a year do you get really dressed up?
Not very often. Usually only for weddings! :) ha

What's for dinner this week? :)

Adam and I have been cooking at home more often lately for a few reasons. One, it's healthier since we make the meals ourselves and know exactly what we ingredients wer are using, and two, it's much more budget friendly!! :) So I thought I'd post some of the recipes we try and what our meal plans for the week are every Sunday or Monday! :)

Monday: Mini Meatball & Orzo Soup (from Rachael Ray's Yum-O! cookbook; posting recipe below)

Tuesday: Pan-fried (no oil!!!) Tilapia and Baked Asparagus

Wednesday: Baked Pork Chops, brown rice and Corn/Asparagus Medley

Thursday: Lean Ground Turkey Tacos and homemade salsa

Friday: Steaks, baked sweet potatoes and salad

The weekends are usually up in the air as to what we do for dinner! If Adam is off we might go out with his parents! Or we might eat dinner at my parent's house. If he's working, then we'll usually just eat leftovers from the week or order pizza if we're both tired!

Mini Meatball & Orzo Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated or finely chopped
1 quart chicken broth
1/2 pound ground chicken or turkey breast
3 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 clove garlic, grated
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup orzo pasta

Preparation:
Heat the EVOO over medium heat in a medium pot. Sauté the onion and carrot for five minutes, then add the broth and bring up to a boil. Mix the meat with cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix, and if the mixture is too moist, add a few more breadcrumbs.
When the soup comes to a boil, roll and drop 1-inch meatballs into the broth. Stir in the orzo and cook for five minutes. The pasta will not be done but it will continue to cook. Ladle into thermoses. (We let this cook until it's done instead of putting it into a thermos.)

Hope y'all enjoy and maybe find a new recipe or two to try out at your house!!

Sewing Machines, Sewing Machines, & More Sewing Machines??!!??

Last weekend Mom and I headed to another estate sale at the very last minute, and I'm so glad we did!! :) There is a local company called Cardon Appraisals & Estate Sales that has really good sales!! On Saturdays they usually discount everything at the sale by at least 50%, and the kitchen items and other decor is usually 75% off. We've been to 2 of their sales so far and I've scored some great finds!! :)

The house this past Saturday was in downtown Pensacola in the beautiful East Hill area. There are tons of older homes down there and I LOVE them! It's always exciting to get a chance to see inside these homes! This particular house sold in only 2 days after it was listed, so that tells you right there how desirable this location is in Pensacola. Some of the streets are even original cobblestone down there. It's SO CUTE! :)

Anyways, Mom and I found a few items in the kitchen at this home including 2 glass pie plates (originally $6 for both, but we only paid $1.50 since it was 75% off) and a large glass jar (it wasn't priced but they let me have it for 25 cents!!). I was excited about this jar because it matches 2 I brought home from Adam's Grandma's house. I wished I had taken a few more of them (we recycled all of the rest of the glass at her house :( ), because I'm going to use them in my craft/sewing room/office eventually, so I was excited to find one that matched! :)

As we walked into the last room in the front of the house, we noticed a sewing machine cabinet on the far wall. I assumed that it, like most of the other furniture in the house, was sold already and just waiting to be picked up. But I got really excited when we got closer to it and there wasn't a sold tag on it. :) The cabinet needs some work, but it is exactly what I wanted to house the sewing machine I got from Adam's Grandma.

The price tag said $36, which I thought was a great deal, but when they told me it too was 50% off and would only be $18 I was so THRILLED!!

PLUS, it had a Singer sewing machine in it, and the 3 drawers on the side were FULL of all kinds of cool sewing notions! I was SOLD! So for $18 I got yet another sewing machine in a cute cabinet that I can't wait to refinish, and 3 drawers of sewing notions. This has probably been my most exciting find yet!

Here is a closeup of the cabinet. I love how it fits together!! :)

And one more from further away!

And here is a closeup of the drawer hardware! I LOVE these pulls!! :)

Now I have to admit that I now have 3 sewing machines. I have a Kenmore Model 85 (aka, The Beast) ;). It was Adam's Grandma's, and even though it's completely heavy and needs to be cleaned and serviced in a bad way, I still love it and I'm hoping I can get it working well enough to sew on eventually.

Then I have my brand new Janome Magnolia 7330 that my parents got me for my birthday this year! :) I haven't used it yet, but I CAN'T WAIT!!! :) It's such a cute machine, and if you've ever used a Janome, they are a dream to sew on.

And now I have this Singer 301 from the estate sale. :) Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

My mom and I were laughing yesterday that we always used to talk about how my grandma had 3 sewings machines and a serger at her house and we thought she was crazy for having all those machines. And now I have 3 sewing machines, my mom has 3 sewing machines and a serger. So we're at 7 machines now people. I think we've got Grandma beat by a long shot. ;) hehe But I think she'd be happy that we are sewing and crafting and doing something that she loved to do and was AMAZING at! I swear that lady could tear something apart, make a pattern from it, put the original back together and make a new one quicker than I could blink. :) hehe Now it's my turn to learn!!

I've found a lot of goodies in the past few months at estate sales, thrift stores, flea markets, antique shops, etc. so I can't wait to share my finds each week. I might post a few times a week to get started because I have a lot to post about. :) Stuff likes to find me I think much to Adam's dismay! ;)

I'm linking up at:

Show Us Your Life - Favorite Vacation Spots

It's SUYL Friday's at Kelly's Korner, and this week it's all about your Favorite Vacation Spots! Adam and I actually have several, but I'll just post about a couple since I can't choose just one! ;)

Home - Pensacola Beach, FL

We LOVE the beach! It's amazing that we live just 30 short minutes from the beach! (20 if the traffic is good!) And we're so lucky to have that sugar white sand still!! I remember a year ago on Mother's Day, Adam and I went out to the beach to walk around one last time before the oil hit. I scooped up some sand to keep in case it got really messed up, but thankfully we didn't get hit very hard by the oil. It's so peaceful out there, and when we went last Saturday the water and the breeze were PERFECT! I couldn't have asked for a better beach day! It was so much FUN! :)

Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL

Adam and I took our first trip to Orlando last Fall! It was the first time either of us had been there since we graduated from High School in 2001 and we went down for Grad Night. And of course I couldn't wait to get down there and see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! It was FANTASTIC!! :) So great in fact that when we went down to Largo, FL in January of this year, we made a stop for a couple days in Orlando on our way home and went to the parks again! :) I LOVE Harry Potter! haha I ended up with a Gryffindor robe, 3 wands, and Harry Potter sleep pants of course. And we were able to eat at The Three Broomsticks which is YUMMY! I highly recommend you eat there if you go. They have roasted chicken, salads, and all kinds of other yummy good and the prices are around $10-$12 per plate. So CHEAP!!! The rest of Islands of Adventure is a blast too! Suess Landing is adorable; the roller coasters are fast and fun; and walking through Jurassic Park and the Comics areas are a lot of fun too! :) You can read more about our trip here!

Us at Hagrid's Hut!

Us at Sneech Beach!

We do love Universal Studios too! :) Men In Black, Rip Ride Rocket, Terminator and the Costume Makeup show are a few of our favs!

We have stayed on site both times we went, and it's so easy to take a river taxi or walk from the hotel to both parks and City Walk for dinner. It's really relaxing being there and we always enjoy being there! I can't wait to go back!!

We also LOVED our trip to Europe at the end of 2008! We were lucky enough to travel with Adam's parents for 10 days through London, Paris and Belgium! It was a whirlwind trip, but we had SO MUCH FUN!!! I'll have to post about that one day soon! :)

Happy Easter Y'all! :)

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter today! Adam and I got to spend the weekend together (he was OFF!! YAY!!) :) and then we spent today with his parents and then mine! We ate WAY TOO MUCH food, but all of it was oh so YUMMY! :) hehe We've got a busy week ahead of us preparing for a HUGE neighborhood garage sale at my mom's! LOTS of stuff to get rid of!! :)

Easter cookies we decorated!! :) hehe

Adam's on the left and his mom's on the right :)

Mine (I know, a little scary right?) :) and Adam's Dad's on the right :)

The girls added a little more bling to ours. hehe

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday to my Grandma!! She would have been 84 years old today! She was such a special person, and I miss her every single day. She taught me soooo many things, and I'm so thankful for having her in my life for over 26 years. My love for cooking (and now sewing) came directly from her. I have always loved to cook, but sewing, eh well, not so much. ;) Grandma always said to me, "Bethy, I wish you would learn to sew." :) Even after she had her stroke, she would still basically tell me she wished I could sew so I could make her some clothes she'd actually like. haha :) (I think I got my pickiness about clothing in general from her and my Mom as well hehe) But I think Grandma would be proud now since Mom got me a brand new sewing machine for my birthday, and I'm starting to learn. :) (More about my own birthday later!) :)

Even though Grandma and Grandpa both are gone, my memories of them are still very present, and not a day goes by that I don't think of them. Whether it's cooking one of Grandma's recipes or exercising like Grandpa always used to, they are always with me no matter what. :) I am so blessed to have had them as grandparents.

Me & Grandma Christmas of 1999 I think (I'm dating myself a little here, but I think this was my Junior year in high school going by the necklace I'm wearing and which boyfriend it belonged to, LOL) :)

Please excuse the photo quality. My laptop is not connected to my poky scanner, so I just took a picture of the picture in a frame with my iphone. :)

Me, Grandma and Mom Christmas of 2008

LOVE you LOTS Grandma! Happy Birthday! :)