Amy's Crazy "Snow Day" Dip

Enjoying the snow at Amy's house this past weekend (she keeps our horses at her place and we practically live out there) she whipped up this dip and just had to post about it! We ate so much we made ourselves sick....

1 lb pork sausage and 1/2 spicy pork sausage

1 pkg. cream cheese

1 can rotel, drained

Brown sausage and drain. Cut cream cheese in cubes and add to sausage with can of rotel. Cook on medium heat until cheese is melted. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

I can just imagine fresh tortillas and this dip....

Horse Power

Here's Brooke and her friend, Gracie, taking a ride in the snow! Dee took all the kids for a fun ride behind his horse, Camanche Jane.

Casserole Queen

You know I love to be a "pretend" chef in the kitchen and have failed miserably with a few recipes over the years but, my CHAMP for a husband eats everything without complaint. I think being gone from home - he's just excited to get a home cooked meal! When we first married....I made more Casseroles then most do in a lifetime!

This one is my favorite because I love tamales and the taste you get....every last drop...is just delicious. It's even better topped with Sour Cream!

Items Needed:

1 cup cheese (4-cheese mexican blend) DIVIDED

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup Egg Beaters

1 t. ground cumin (love this in mexican dishes)

1/8 t. ground red pepper

1 can cream-style corn

1 (8.5 ou) box corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)

1 (4 ou.) can chopped green chiles, drained

Cooking spray

1 (10 ou.) can red enchilada sauce

2 c. shredded chicken breast (about 3 chicken breast - boil for 1 hour and shred w/ fork once cooled)

1/2 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 400. Combine first 8 items using only part of the cheese and stir until moist. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour mixture in pan. Bake 15 minutes. Using a fork, carefully punch holes in cornbread. Pour enchilada sauce on top and then cover with chicken then cheese. Bake another 15 minutes and you are ready to enjoy!

Welcome Home - Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

We welcomed Brooke home from her trip to Dallas. Blaine and I picked her up at the airport and she got a little air-sick on the plane but as soon as I told her about the surprise dessert waiting for her....she felt much better! Here's Brooke getting off the plane and Blaine was really excited to see his big sister!
Here's our WELCOME HOME - NUTTER BUTTER BANANA PUDDING TRIFLE
What You'll Need:















3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
2 (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz.) sour cream
5 medium bananas
1 pkg. Nutter Butter Cookies
2 c. whipped cream
Place milk, vanilla and pudding mix in bowl. Beat w/ mixer for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes until thickened.

Add Sour Cream and place in fridge for 30 minutes.















Meanwhile, slice bananas and break cookies into thirds.














In Trifle Dish, spoon 1/2 the pudding mixture, top with bananas and cookies. Add remaining pudding and top with whipped cream. ENJOY!

St. Patrick's Day Memory

OK this one is just about my only St. Patrick's Day memory that didn't include green beer from Benagins one year Jeff & I started dating...or my 1st trip to Las Vegas on St. Patrick's Day weekend...but a more amazing mouthwatering experience at a local eatery in Fort Worth, Texas. It used to be across from TCU. They have a location in Dallas I heard and many around Austin.

After a client appointment we stopped in for a quick bite. I was overwhelmed by the "build your own" sandwich ordering - I didn't know where to begin so I let my boss order for me, he loves food about as much as I do. My life changed as I ate the Texican. Chicken cheesesteak sandwich with grilled carmalized onion, tons of mozzarella and sliced jalapenos. Be sure to order extra Mustard Blend Sauce and Queso on the side to pour on top! It's like a celebration to your taste buds and every time I think of this sandwich my mouth waters....

I may have to plan a trip to Austin for dinner or my next trip to Mom's may have to be a pit stop to TexaDelphia after a long day shopping at Sam Moon!

View From the Other Side

Ever wonder what you look like all pressed up against the glass, drooling over the warm & delicious donuts or even at the cookie counter or local ice cream parlor? Check out this unique picture by Chriselda "The Great" - she always comes up with the greatest pictures....no wonder she is always booked! This picture was taken at my nephew's 1st birthday a few weeks ago at Donut Stop!

Blaine, Caden, Brooke, Courtney & Cash

Brooke - High in the Sky!

Today, Brooke left for her first airplane trip to Nanny's. Watching the airplane lift off the ground was one of the hardest things I've had to do but knowing my Mom was there to pick her up made it possible. Mom and WD got a late start and he had to drive like a mad-man to get there but they made it with 15 minutes to spare!!

Here's Brooke watching her plane coming in after landing in Amarillo from Dallas.

Here's the plane after getting Brooke and all the other passengers on board! They had a full flight and there were 7 other children traveling alone. Brooke met a girl that was 12 and they planned on sitting by each other.

She called me once she landed and told me she loved flying so much , she wanted to fly home! We'll see.... I was very happy she had a great trip and the goody bag I packed her was shared amongst her new friends High in the Sky!

Marshmallow Man

This is after getting all cleaned up and he worked himself so hard, it was time for his bottle and bed!

I planned to blog a new recipe tonight but that will follow another day! We had a great family dinner tonight with Kevin, Courtney and the boys. We were cleaning up the kitchen and Cash (just turned 1 year old) decided to go explore my pantry. Courtney heard him sucking on something so she quickly turned to see. All I heard is, "Oh No" followed by laughter. Cash managed to open the jar of Marshmallow Cream my Mom bought at the store last week. Thanks Mom - it ended up being a great TREAT for Cash! We let him play in it for a while, at least until we stopped laughing. I am sure he will sleep great tonight, he had a great little workout being the Marshmallow Man!

First He dips his hand in the jar, then his head!

PEEK - A - BOO!

To Be or Not To Be

I've been home with Blaine for 2 days but luckily I can still work from home some! We started him back on breathing treatments when we got home from our trip and just seemed to get worse Monday night. So, we headed to the Dr. and he has Bronchitis. They also think he is asthmatic so we go back next week so the Dr. can listen to his chest. We saw the Nurse Practitioner who was pregnant. I told Blaine there's a baby in her belly so don't kick or squirm around, that changed his mood right up and he asked to see the baby! He was my perfect little angel (for a few seconds at least). Here he is supposed to be NAPPING...you can see by the time you read this that he was just pretending! That's my boy!

Viva Las Vegas

We returned to the Big A after a 4 day trip to Vegas. One of our friends surprised her husband on his 40th birthday with 2 tickets to Las Vegas. She presented them to him with the kids Thursday morning at his office. She planned this so good that his boss was already aware of his trip and the guys in the office video taped the whole thing! He even cried a little!

We met up with them at the airport with another couple and surprised him once again! He was so excited and we hung up posters of him and his many fun pics throughout his 40 years in the airport and on the plane! The flight attendants were aware of our arrival and teased him all the way to Vegas. It was great. We stayed at the Treasure Island and gambled in every casino on the strip. One of our favorite places was Planet Hollywood - everyone won that night and Jeff stayed at one blackjack table for over 6 hours! This was my first trip to Vegas in 7 years. It was strange for me to sit by a slot machine and not have my Mom, Aunt Connie or Nanny yelling for those "Blazing Seven".

Alfredo Sauce

I absolutely love Pasta and Jeff is a huge fan of Chicken Alfredo. I have one problem, I don't like the Alfredo sauce you can buy in the jar? I've never even made my own Spaghetti Sauce but heard if you ever do, you'll never go back to the store bought! Well, I believe it! I went to a new Italian Restaurant in town and discovered their Alfredo Sauce. It was so thick & creamy and I made a meal out of it and the bread! To die for! My belly is growling now just thinking about it!

I went home and played around with a few recipes and it's a HIT! I will never buy another sauce after this...anyone with a good Spaghetti sauce recipe needs to post it for me!

1 stick of butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 t. garlic powder
2 cups milk
1 pkg. (6 ounce) Grated Parmesan cheese (walmart carried this in their cheese section already grated)
1 t. pepper

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cut cream cheese in squares and add to pan with garlic powder. Stir with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, followed by Parmesan Cheese and Pepper. Continue to simmer over low heat until thickened. You can serve over pasta of your choice or just dip it (like me) with your favorite garlic bread!

Showing you some 1st Grade "Glass"es

Here she is on her 1st day at school in her awesome new GLASSES! She was so excited to go to school this morning and thanks to Cambry, we read Junie B Jones Book about her 1st day with new glasses. I think reading those books helped Brooke not be scared to be different! I crack up at those books...of course I cannot read them in my normal voice either...I have to read them in what I believe to be Junie B Jones SASSY VOICE! Anyone need me to voluntary at their next reading time?????

Awards Ceremony

We had our last rodeo for the Winter Series and Brooke had enough points to participate in the awards ceremony! It was a day we'll always remember and are very proud! She won a purple lead rope, leather cross to hang on her saddle and bible. She had to run barrels on our horse Henry. Poor guy, he really just thought he was a pet but had to work hard these past few weeks learning the poles & barrels. They got a little excited on the pole run and weaved all the way up the poles when they were supposed to just run to the last one, turn back and then weave on the way back down. They did the barrels perfect! Our other horse, J.J. has been out ill for the past 3 weeks and we are finally seeing improvement. Hope for weight gain!!! Here's Blaine on him!