#3, Check for July

Yesterday for lunch Erica and I went to Mighty Cone on South Congress to eat. It's one of the trailers in the trailer parking lot of food. We had never eaten there so it fit my criteria on trying a new place and since July is running out I had to get somewhere!!

I am so glad we went! Fun, different and wow, the food really was great! I had the chicken avocado cone and the chili-dusted fries with Sweet Leaf sweet tea. The chicken and avocado were fried put in a flour tortilla, topped with slaw and some sauce and served in a cone. AWESOME!



Erica had the same chicken avocado cone as I got but she ordered fried pickles so we could share our sides. They are fried pickle spears which I am hesitatant about since I am a fan of fried pickle slices but man these were awesome. The breading was great and the dipping sauce was amazing!

I think this is a good testimony to the awesomeness that is Mighty Cone!
And it was such a pretty day to eat outside... this was our view from under the umbrellas!
If you get a chance definitely check out Mighty Cone! I am going to take Jimmy soon!

China in July

I broke out the china last night! Jimmy sat down to the table and said "Wow you got out the good plates, are you working on your list? You can cross it off now." I told him I had a while before I could cross it off because it was a once a month thing for the duration of the list but I am closer to my goal! He even commented on how pretty the plates are and that made me smile!

I also made a new dinner recipe last night and it was so good! Jimmy said it was Fantastic, haha. So I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Cajun-Style Beef and Beans (From Simple Recipes)
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14oz) stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
3/4 chredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef and onion in large skillet over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes, stirring to break up meat; drain fat.

2. Combine beef mixture, cooked rice, beans, tomatoes, and Cajun seasoning in 2-to 2 1/2-quart casserole. Bake, covered, 25 to 30 minutes, stirrig once during baking. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes before serving.

So simple to make but here's what I will do next time. 2tbsp of the Cajun seasoning was a bit much so I will try 1 1/2 next time to see how that works. I had everything ready and was waiting on the rice to cook so next time I will start that as soon as I get home that way we can eat faster! Or I will cook extra rice one night and have this dish the next night.

Here is the recipe for Hot Chocolate cupcakes I made...(From Betty Crocker)

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups Betty Crocker SuperMoist devil's food cake mix (fron 18.25oz box)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetabel oil
1 egg
1 cup Bett Crocker Whipped vanilla frosting 9from 12oz container)
1/2 marshmallow creme
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened baking Cocoa

1. Heat oven to 350 for shiny metal pan (or 325 for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular size muffin cups.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and egg with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionlly. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

3. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cook in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. In small bowl, mix frosting and marshmallow creme. Spoon into small resealable food storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut 3/8 inch tip off 1 corner of bag. (Or spoon mixture onto cupcakes instead of piping.) Sprinkle with cocoa.

AND I went to Mt. Pleasant for my monthly visit home... click here to read about it! So all that is left for the month is to try a new restaurant!

New Dessert Recipe July

Last night, with 3 days to spare, I made a new cupcake recipe for my List. I made Hot Chocolate Cupcakes! They are pretty tasty too, even with the mistake I made!! I didn't think about picking up the camera until I had frosted the last one but I did take a picture of the final product.


Had I read the directions I would have seen that you only use 1 3/4 cup of the Devil's Food Cake mix, not the whole box! I wondered why the batter was so thick! I wanted to make these to see if I liked them because I might have them at Mac's birthday party. I will definitely test them out again, using correct measurements, but as of now I like them and they do taste like hot chocolate!

I will post the recipe later, I forgot the book at home today.

2 Down 99 To Go!

Well I have officially crossed two items off my list! #16 and #30 have been completed!

#16 was get life insurance for Jimmy. We did that last night. He didn't have any at all and after having Mac it just seems like the right thing to do. I already have two policies but I now have another one! We went with Farm Bureau and Ken our agent is very, very helpful. He made sure that what we got was going to work for us now and in the future. I think we are going to be really happy with the way we set everything up!

#30 was pay off WellsFargo Visa. I actually did that last Thursday but forgot it was on the list until I just looked at it! So happy to get that out of the way and no we don't have extra money now, that money is just being rolled over to pay for all the dental work that I have to have done... which we started today, with a root canal, it's currently throbbing, yay.

I also ordered First Bday Party supplies for Mac's party. That gets me a tally mark towards #20.

For this month, that is quickly coming to an end, I still have to go to MtP (headed that way this weekend), bake a new dessert, use my china, and try a new restaurant!!

New Recipe for July

"Take It Easy Posole" was my new recipe for the month (#14 on the list). It was so easy to make and it had a great flavor to it. These are the only ingrediants plus a cup of water that I needed.I did add some hamburger but it really didn't need it. I just added it for Jimmy. It does call for hominy and I found out half way through dinner that Jimmy doesn't really care for it. I will probably make it again and leave out the hominy and just see how that works. I also left out the cilantro because I always buy cilantro and it ruins before I use it or before I can use all of it so I just saved my .33 cents haha. This is the finished product.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out!

1 6 3/4-oz package Spanich rice pilaf mix
1 14-oz can vegetable broth or reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 14 1/2-oz can golden hominy, rinsed and drained
1 4 1/2 oz can diced green chile peppers
1 16-oz can low sodium tomatoes, cut up
1/2 cup snipped fresh cilantro
Fat free dairy sour cream (optional)
Snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. In a large saucepan combine rice mix, seasoning packet, broth, water, oregano, and cumin. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add hominy and undrained chile peppers. Continue cooking about 5 minutes more or until rice is tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes and the 1/2 cup cilantro. Cook and stir until heated through. If desired, garnish with sour cream and additional snipped cilantro. Makes 3 main dish servings. The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Everyday Mexican Cooking magazine.

I put sour cream and cheese on ours. Sour cream is never optional at my house... we put it on everything!

Date Night

This weekend was awesome and Saturday evening turned into Date Night! We had a great time couch shopping and ended up eating at Ramos! We ended the evening with a little Braveheart action/kill'em dead/romance movie...I had never seen it and Jimmy thought that was awful so while we were at Target buying diapers (yes date nights have changed a bit for us) he went and bought Braveheart so we could watch it. And I am now, too, a Braveheart fan!

Working on #81

Here is the link to my Weekly Weigh-In post on my other blog to show my efforts in completing #81 on my list!

A List With In A List

Ok, just to keep myself straight on the things I need to be working on this month to stay on track with my 101 List I have made a List To Do List...

*Do one thing for Mac's First Bday Party.
*Date Night.
*Cook a new dinner recipe.
*Bake a new dessert recipe.
*Use my china.
*Go to Mt. Pleasant.
*Try a new restaurant.

Did I mention I love LISTS?! I really am not kidding around when it comes to list making...

"Weekly Weigh-In" Week 5

I have officially started working on #81!! Click here to read my post but to prove that I am not kidding around here's my scale picture in all its glory...

July Flowers

I am happy to report that I have started working on item #2 from my list! I bought flowers today when I went to the grocery store! They were cheap and I decided why not. 1 month down, 11 to go!

And Away We Go!

I have created a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I was inspired by my friend, Monica, who has a 101 list and thought "I could do that". So I started writing out a list of things I might want to do and before I knew it I was seriously examining my life. Over the two weeks that it took me to complete my 101 list I had come to a profound understanding of how I spend my time and the things that seem to have become priority. This list is going to be more than a project for me. It's going to serve as a base for a change of ways and a shift of priorities.

So with this list in hand and 31 months to complete it I expect to cross the finish line a changed person. I hope I can complete my list but if I fail in the attempt I know I will still win with the experience. So here's to my list, my journey and my new found awareness and respect for my life and those who fill it.

The rules are simple. Click here to read more about the project.
1. Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
2. Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

My start date is today, July 1, 2010! My end date is March 28, 2013. I will be blogging about my completed tasks here so check in on me and see how I am doing. Pictures will be posted, I just hope that I can remember to take step by step pictures of some of the recipes and different projects that I tackle. It's going to be fun and it's going to be a learning experience too! Wish me luck!