Year in Review

I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by - and I think I have said this at the end of every December. This year has been a blessing for us, and not sure how we will top it! We had many firsts, and we hope 2010 is just as good to us.

We kicked off the year by getting married

Did a zip line...something I have always wanted to do

                                      

Three short (well they seemed very looong) months later we bought our first home

My nephew Evan celebrated his First Birthday...hard to believe!

Hosted our first Thanksgiving...and cooked my first Turkey

                                     

This year has been amazing and I hope that 2010 is an adventure. I am looking forward to new and exciting things headed our way (no it is not a baby!). I hope you all have had a wonderful 2009, with an even better 2010!

Happy (early) Birthday

To me! Last night B decided he wanted to give me my birthday present early, so who was I to argue? Since my birthday falls of Christmas Eve I never really have a "day to celebrate" so it's nice to get the surprise early! B decided he did not want to wrap my gift so instead we played the age old game of "Hot and Cold" around the house and here is what I found:

Nikon D5000 with 18-55m lens

and this little gem is on it's way...

This was a great way to kick off the holidays and my birthday, B did a great job and I cannot wait to start shooting away! I minored in photgraphy in college and have been itching to get back into it. As my friend Haley said "let the madness begin!"

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays!

So at the last minute I decided to make a christmas card of the hubby and I to send out to some family and friends. After perusing through a couple websites, I decided I was not going to be patient enough to order a template one online and then wait for it to come in, so I created ours in photoshop and got 50 printed for something like $5 at Walgreens... using one of the millions of e-mailed coupons I receive on a daily basis. I feel bad that our cat got excluded, maybe I should have photoshopped him in? Anyway here it is and Happy Holidays everyone!

Not sure why it cut some of the right side off...oh well = )

They Are Not Called Oriental Balls

This past weekend I decided to make a yummy treat to bring into the office. What is this treat? Nothing other than Oreo Balls. Now you are probably wondering where the blog title came from? Well I got to work and told my coworker that I brought in oreo balls and I proceeded to get a weird look from said coworker. Yes he thought I said "oriental balls." ...and I need MY ears checked?

A friend of mine shared this ridiculously easy recipe a couple years ago and I always forget about it. Not this year! Here is the link to the recipe, and please disregard that nutritional value on the left side of the screen.

Here's how mine turned out:

Here they are before I coated them with chocolate...

Almost all done...

 Don't they look amazing?

Now go make them...Enjoy!

The Turkey is Done, The Tree Is Up

I have to say that I am quite impressed with how our first Thanksgiving turned out - as were my parents, sister and brother in law, and my in-laws....ok and Evan. It was my first time hosting, and even bigger it was my first time making a turkey. I have to say I researched and researched about how to cook a turkey, do I season, fry, roast, stuff, bbq, brine, or just order one and claim it as my own?

After getting advice from others, and the research I decided to brine our turkey. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it turned out fabulous! I followed the recipe exactly, and then added in almost a gallon of apple juice and almost 2 gallons of water instead of theone.We had a18 pound bird and the brine needs to cover it completely so I added a little extra. I found on the site that some people put their brine in a trash bag - yes it was clean, this was a running joke on Turkey Day - tie it off, then put in a cooler and surround with ice. So we brought out the igloo and packed it tightly, using beer cans and ice! We brined it from around 9:30PM to about 8AM and cooked for about 3 hours. The turkey came out perfectly...if I do say so myself.

Here are a few pictures from my momentous occasion

The yummy turkey all ready to go

 

Our pretty table, had to have a pretty setting to go with my awesome turkey

Our fancy china from our wedding...awww

My hard work getting sliced up

Evan is getting big! He loved the pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll

Now that Thanksgiving is done,Christmas is officially on it's way. We got our tree up, and will post pics soon. Thanksgiving should have its own post = )

T-minus 8 Days until Turkey Day...

...and T-minus 8 days until I am making the Turkey. So since B and I bought a house we got elected to host Thanksgiving this year. I thank my sister for this. Thank goodness I only have to make the Turkey, everyone else is bringing the sides, although I don't know who got the better end of the deal there. I am excited to host Thanksgiving though, well maybe a little more excited that we get to use our fancy china we got from our wedding, which I just absolutely love. I of course had to get the silver chargers to go with them, I tested out what a place setting will look like last night, I will take some photos and post after T-day - if I survive.

Oh and I feel the need to make one of these:

I know you remember making these as a kid right?

By the way what are some things that you are thankful for?

Family - I am blessed with the most awesome supportive parents, well in my opinion anyway, great in-laws, the best sister and brother-in-law, and the most adorable nephew
My husband - although he could probably fall into that family category, but we will give him his own. I don't think anyone else can put up with what my friends refer to as my "Cuban-Cajun" moments
Friends - I can count on them on any day at any hour, they truely are the best

Also thankful to have a job, my health, ok and chocolate...that last one was superficial I know, but what can I say?

Mo' Chicken

If you like chicken, and you like tacos the you should probably just go ahead and make these. My cousin and his girlfriend, Monica had us over a couple months ago for a little dinner and UFC and she made these awesome chicken tacos. After trying them, I had to have the recipe. She called them Mo's Chicken Tacos, I tried finding this recipe online but had no luck, so I have no clue where she found it, but it's fabulous. Here is the recipe:

 

1 sweet Onion

1 Green bell pepper

some minced garlic

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can Black beans (we used 2 cans)

1 packet of spicy taco seasoning

Flour tortillas

*shredded cheese (monterey jack, chedder blend)

*sour cream

*sliced jalapenos

*shredded lettuce

*diced tomatoes

 

*These were all used on the tortillas, my husband actually just mixed all this and ate it as a "taco salad" minus the tortilla*

 

Dice your onion and bell pepper. Saute the veggies with about 2 tablespoons minced garlic in a tbs of butter.  While your veggies are cooking, take your 4 boneless chicken breast and cube them up.

 

Remove your veggies and put to the side. Get your skillet real hot and toss in your chicken, searing both sides and then reduce the heat to medium and cook for a few minutes (I guess four or five minutes based upon how big your cubes are). Once your chicken is done, add your veggies back to the skillet and then mix in your taco seasoning as directed on the packet.  I blend all of this together and get it to boil for a minute and then I fold in my DRAINED black beans.  Blend the mixture and let simmer for another minute or so.  I use this time to dice up my jalapenos...when I am done I toss them in and it is ready!

 

Next time we will probably just use 2 boneless chicken breasts, because here is how much it made...for the TWO of us...

Style Me Please

A few weeks ago a friend invited me to the "Girl on Top" book tour that was being held at The Limited on October 30. I had heard of the book, that is written by Nicole Williams, so I thought it would be fun plus she also informed me that the WHOLE store would be 40% off, and there would be wine. Now who am I to pass up a good sale - AND wine at one of my favorite stores? Count me in.

Nicole's book is basically a how to guide to turning all those dating rules into career success. She spoke about how the book came about, and what her purpose to wrting the book was. I have not read the book, but it has gotten rave reviews, I plan on picking one up ASAP. I will definitely write a review.

After she spoke, we hit the dressing room to try on all our finds. I have always had a hard time finding clothes that fit my athletic build - broad shoulders, and soccer legs! Needless to day my first batch of clothes, all I ended up with was a pair of pants, which I was not completely sold on...

At the event they had a couple of The Limited's stylists that are traveling with the tour on hand. One of the girls (which for the life of me I cannot remember her name, but she did get married 3 weeks ago and her birthday was on Halloween, funny the things you remember!) came to see how we were doing, so we started to ask a couple questions and I voiced my concern, which then turned into a 1.5 hour dressing room session. It was probably one of the most fun things I have done. She gave me and my friend advice on what we should wear, what cuts, and styles were good for us, and she started pulling all kinds of clothes for us to try on. I felt like I was on an episode of "What Not to Wear." We ended up being the last ones in the store and 45 minutes after it closed I ended up with some really great pieces.

Lots of Ruffle Halter - in white

 Bloom Halter Top

- A pair of their Exact Stretch Pant, these were the ones I was skeptical about, but after our marathon dressing room session I fell in love with them, they were cost friendly and super comfortable, I almost bought 2 pairs...

- I also bought a this jacket and paired it with a pair of Cassidy pants to make a suit, I actually wore the pants today and they fit great!

- I was also able to try on one of their jackets - the Feminine Ruffle Jacket that was coming out today, which I totally fell in love with and will be in my closet in the near future

I was really happy with everything I came away with, and even more ecstatic that I was able to turn my what started as dreadful shopping experience into a rather successful one. I feel the need to send the stylist a bouquet of flowers or something, she had so much patience with us, and was more than helpful! I wonder if I can get her to come with me every time I go shopping...a girl can dream

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mom! She is a young 66 years old today! I am telling you, I hope to move half as good at that age as my parents do. They really are the best parents anyone could ask for, of course I am a little bias = ) I wish I was there to help her celebrate, but my singing card could make up for it - she loves those things, and I would have to say they are pretty entertaining. I actually tried to beat my sister to the phone call this morning, but she decided to go to the school and play sub, she told me she was cleaning and doing laundry this afternoon. I told her she didn't need to do anything. She responded with "well there are plenty of other days that I do not do anything, so I will trade." Hope you have a great day mom, and didn't clean too much love your favorite daughter #2

Their "opening number" love it!

 

Calm Before the Storm

The next few weeks I would have to say are going to be the busiest few weeks we have had since probably May. Our schedule is as follows, and by our I mean 90% of it is mine, B is just along for the ride - and to continue playing on his Friday night softball league.

- Oct 10-11: Soccer tournament in Houston
- Oct 16-17: In my great friend Kristie's wedding
- Oct 23-25: In Dallas for a soccer tournament
- Oct 31: Halloween....What are you dressing up as???
- Nov 6: Round Rock

We are heading back to Round Rock after Turkey day as well for B's best friends wedding, so we have a lot coming up in the next few weeks, crossing my fingers I do not get sick or die of exhaustion.

Big news for my oh so adorable now 1 year old nephew Evan...he is walking! Check out his latest video:

Evan's Shoes are Made for Walkin'

My sister and brother in law have this nifty Flip video, it has been great to show quick video and pictures of Evan. Even better it is really easy to share, just plug in the USB and send, and for those that don't want to carry around a bulky video camera this little device is perfect - and the price is pretty friendly too!

In other news, House of Brad and Emily has been nominated to host Thanksgiving. OK more like bribed, my parents offered to buy our other 2 dining room chairs and I could not turn that offer down, so does anyone know how to cook a Turkey?

Aguacates Rellenos de Camarones

Avocado stuffed Shrimp.

A fellow knottie passed along this recipe to me the other day and I could not wait to try it. Convincing my husband was another story. He loves avocado, and he loves shrimp, but he was not quite sure how the two were going to go together. If you have read my other blogs then you know cooking for him is not the easiest thing in the world, he has to see every recipe and determine how bad it is for him, he's crazy but we love each other - and all of our crazy quirks. So I got the go ahead to try this recipe:

Aguacates Rellenos de Camarones
3 ripe avocados
24 shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ cup finely chopped onion
Juice of 2 limes
3/4 cup salsa rosada**
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a small pot. Add the shrimp, cover and turn the heat off. Leave the shrimp in the water for 5 minutes and drain.

2. In a medium bowl, place the shrimp, onion, salsa rosada** cilantro, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well.

3. Cut the avocados lengthwise and remove the pit, drizzle with the lime juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Place the lettuce in a serving plate and place the avocados on top. Fill each avocado with the shrimp mixture.

5. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.

**Salsa Rosada 

½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup ketchup
¼ teaspoon lime juice
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
¼ teaspoon Tabasco (Optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

I modified the measurements of everything since I was only making this for me and Brad, the serving above serves six.

This meal was super easy and quick to make, and Brad really enjoyed it, as did I. I will definitely be making this again for the both of us, and score one for discovering another meal Brad likes!

Scrappin' Bee

Yes I made another one. I made this book for my dear friend Kristie who is getting married in October. I am so excited for her wedding, after all I was there the night she met her soon to be hubby = ) I opted not to get her a blender, or a place setting, instead something a little more personal that she can have (well hopefully) forever. From river trips, to the Houston Rodeo, to our Ski Trips and more, the book definitely told some great stories and brought back some fun memories from the past 5 years...and of course who could forget the good ole Wildfire days back in High School. I cherish my friendship with her, and can't wait to stand next to her on her wedding day just as she did on mine - and then shake it on the dance floor!

Here are some of the pages from her book:

Crescent Lasagna

If you are craving lasagna but do not want to put the work into it, a friend of mine gave me this recipe. It took about 10-15 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. I highly recommend it, and my husband really enjoyed it as well!

Ingredients:
1 lb of ground beef
1/2 medium onion chopped
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
2 packages of crescent rolls
2-4 slices of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
Brown Beef
Once browned add in salt,garlic salt, oregano, tomato paste, onion, and 1 1/2-2 slices of mozzarella stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes
Meanwhile, in a bowl mix cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan
On a cookie sheet spread out one package of crescent rolls to form a rectangle
Put meat down the middle of the roll
Spread cottage cheese mix on top
Place 2 slices or so of mazzarella cheese
Place other crescent roll on top and pinch the sides so it looks like a ginormous hot pocket or calzone
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until browned
Serves 4-6
If eating as a leftover DO NOT reheat in a microwave, it gets soggy. Reheat in a toaster oven or regular oven

If you are making for 2, you can half the recipe.

 

 

Neglected

This is what my blog has been...neglected. I apologize to you blog for not updating you. Things have been busy, but going well. Quick update:

- Friends bachelorette party on the river
- Soccer
- Sliced my foot because my glass bowl exploded while making home made ice cream - which can only happen to me.
- Williams-Sonoma replaced my bowls, probably because they did not want me to sue them
- P.S. I Love You is a good movie
- The Goods was NOT as good
- Vanilla ice cream with hot fudge is amazing
- My cat is still a badass
- My husband surprised me and cleaned the whole kitchen, and organized the pantry so we will put him in the "badass" category
- Grotto's Sangria is what I dream about at night, ok and during the day
- Our ski trip is booked - Steamboat Springs we are coming back!
- Made a pretty new scrapbook for a friend
- Doing Pilates every Tuesday

That is about it, I will make a more notable blog soon maybe even with pictures, I promise, but this will do for now. = )

Feliz Cumpleanos Papi

Today is my dad's 69th Birthday.

He is 69 years young today, and he can move as if he were still in his twenties. He is the most amazing person, he provided everything for me and my sister, he worked hard for everything he got, and deserves every bit of it. Most people know this, but he migrated from Cuba right after Castro took over, he left everything and everyone he knew to make a better life for himself in the United States. He met my mom in Louisiana and they soon got married. Our friends call them Lucy and Desi - they now have been married for over 40 years! I have always wanted to see where my father grew up, to see his home, and his city, and to meet the rest of my family. He has such an inspiring story and I am proud to have him as my father. Happy Birthday Papi love your favorite Daughter Number 2

A Gift

As a gift to my best friend I decided to start a scrapbook for her new baby little Miss Turner Renee, whom I love to pieces - she is my "pseudo" niece. I am going to continue to add pages for her as Ang sends them to me. I love doing these types of things for others, I did a book for Ang as a wedding gift to her with all of our pictures from college and she loved it, I think it was a great personalized gift to her. I am not sure why but it is so much easier for me to create these things for others than to do my own!

Here is how the book ended up looking:

Before
After