Enchilada Nachos

We went all crazy the other day and wanted to try something a little different.  With the availability of Macayo's enchilada sauce in the local grocery store I was bubbling over with excitement to try new experiments.  So we made us some enchilada nachos!

Teacher Appreciation gift

Last week was teacher appreciation week and I wanted to give all the teacher's at my kids' school a thank you (and of course a Tupperware gift).  Not wanting to break the bank though for 25 teachers I came up with this easy, probably cheesy, but cute gift.

Children's books on Amazon

It's official!! All of my current children's books (11 for now) have be published on Amazon.com!  As a special promotion you can get one of them free each day for 11 days.  These books were written when my oldest (now 11 year old) was a baby.  I wanted a simple book to help teach her important things while giving her a passion for reading.  Well it worked! She is now my kid that will read the thick books like the Harry Potter series books are in just a few days.  While uploading these books I read them to my 15 month old and she loved them, and even giggled at them.

Castle

If you love a good murder mystery/comedy/romance show Castle is the show for you!  Lets just forget for a brief moment that Nathan Fillion is the main actor and will have you swooning from the start.  This show is about a murder mystery writer (Fillion) who wants to research his new book series by shadowing New York City's finest homicide detective Kate Becket (played by Stana Katic).  What first begins as playful annoyance in the first season eventually turns into sexual tension then a romance for every fan to envy.

Chili's copycat queso recipe

I love finding copycat recipes of things at my favorite restaurants! Since our move in April we are no longer close to a Chili's when I saw this copycat recipe for their queso I was thrilled!  I made a few adjustments from the original recipe and my family all loved it.

Planting Season

After starting our seeds and letting them grow for a bit it's now time to put them into the ground.  Now that we live in AZ the planting, growing, harvest season is a lot longer than it was in Utah.  We excited to have a garden this year!  These seeds include: pumpkin, squash, zucchini, cucumber, peas, beans, and watermelon.  We also planted from seed into the garden: carrots & lettuce.  We used planting boxes to try out square foot gardening- here's the process we did:

Wummelbox Review

We were excited to get one of these Wummelbox's to review.  This awesome idea is a box full of crafts and games sent to your house each month focusing on a different theme for each month.  Years ago I used to get the Brighter Vision Learning Adventures for my kids that was similar in that each month you automatically got a shipment of learning crafts, books, and activities of different themes.  I LOVED it! The products were such great quality and my kids loved it.  Plus it was great educational material.  Sadly Brighter Vision Learning Adventures are no longer around. So when I first heard about these Wummelboxes that are similar I was very excited.

Candy Bars unwrapped!

It's become a new trend to have mini versions of candy bars unwrapped in a bag.  Seriously, whoever thought of this deserves a raise!  Such a great idea!  Depending on the candy bar brand they are marketed as bites, mini, or pieces.  The bites and mini's are pretty much miniature versions of the candy bar where the pieces are hard candy coated candies made in with the inspiration of a specific candy bar.  What do I think?

Arrested Development is coming back!

After years of absence the show Arrested Development is coming back!!  The show ran for 3 seasons and was canceled after the 3rd season abruptly leaving viewers hanging since 2006.  After rumors of another season until 2011 the hype seemed to die down.

Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

There's not much better in the morning than a nice hot blueberry muffin with streusel topping!  When I buy the blueberry muffin mixes I will only buy the ones with the can of fresh blueberries. (the others don't even have real blueberries in them but rather "blueberry bits"- see my post on processed foods) Today I wanted to try out my own creation of a streusel topping.

Adventures of rural living

This is what happens when you combine missing clips, a squirrel in the engine and a Labrador.  Since moving to AZ we've had a few adventures of rural living! We woke up one morning to our dog barking like crazy and when I looked out the window this is what I saw!!  She had pulled the front end off my husband's car!  It actually looks worse than it was.

Winger's Chicken Strips Copycat Recipe

Wingers is awesome.  But I have to say, it's a little less awesome since they made some changes a few months back.  They changed their breaded chicken strips to a hand breaded recipe which is supposed to be more fresh and better, but sadly the new breading is mushy and comes off the chicken too easily.  Sad because before the changes my friend and I used to go there for lunch often.  But now we just miss what it used to be.  So- being who I am, I searched out and found a Winger's Chicken Strips copycat recipe!  It's easy, and tastes just the way it used to be!

Disney's Shake it Up soundtrack review

Check out this fun, hip new music cd with lots of fun dance music.  We got a copy of this cd to review and my kids really liked it.  It has a variety of types of music (all with a good dance beat) from rap to hiphop to rock.  It's a fun soundtrack to have on while we did our chores and cleaned.

Do you Roku?

Today's post isn't about a specific tv show or movie, but rather a new gadget that provides them.  The Roku.  With our new move and our quest to cut down expenses we came across this alternative to Dish Network or Direct TV or other cable/satellite companies.  Do you Roku? One time cost, no monthly fee- I'm thinking we will soon!

Chili Taco Dip

Like Chili? Like Taco's? Why not combine them!?!  This weeks recipe experiment is just that.  I'm not a fan of Mexican food, but my husband loves it.  So the few times we do have it he's pretty happy.  This recipe is my way of killing 2 meals in one hahaha  It actually turned out really good and is something that is easy to make with ingredients you have on hand.

80's dress up day at school

My kids had a 80's dress up day at school the other day.  Boy did that bring back memories! Since I found out only the night before we had to improvise with what I could come up with.  One of the first things I thought though was how so many of the styles available to buy now were already 80's styles!

Strawberry Cheesecake Dip

This was seriously the BEST thing I've made in a long time! And that's saying something since I like to think I make pretty good food most of the time.  I had the idea to create a strawberry cheesecake dip a few weeks ago and finally did. My family ate this while playing games today and spending a little family time together.  It's refreshing, and not too sweet.  So this is my Pinterest experiment today!

Hell's Kitchen is back!

One of our favorite reality TV shows is back for another season! Hell's Kitchen, where if you can't stand the heat- stay out of the kitchen!  This show separates the cooks from the chefs in an intense atmosphere where they are pitted against each other and challenged with physical, mental and emotional stability.

Cafe Rio Chicken Burrito Copycat Recipe

Since moving one thing I have craved and missed is Cafe Rio!  Their Chicken burrito's enchilada style are my favorite.  When shopping we saw that the local grocery store carries Macayo's taco sauce, and enchilada sauce!!  (If you've never been to Macayo's put it on your bucket list.  They're the best and I don't even really care for Mexican food)  So it was time for a new recipe experiment.  The goal: to make a burrito as close to Cafe Rio as possible.

Mirabrands Review & Giveaway

This week I had the opportunity to review a set of stainless steel snack bowls from Mirabrands.  Each bowl holds approximately 1 cup (8 oz).  My first thought when these were sent to me was "why metal?"  what is the benefit of having a metal bowl over a plastic one?  That to me is the #1 feature that makes these bowls stand out and be different than other snack bowls for kids.  So I've spent the last week thinking up ideas for ways that make these bowls unique from run of the mill snack bowls.