Neighbor Ladies, out for a walk-

Neighbor ladies - out for a walk


I guess it is time to get out and get moving- no more sitting around waiting for the ice to melt!!!

a close up of these cuties-

I'm Back--

I've actually been back for a few days, but this has been a hard re-entry into "life as usual." For a couple reasons, we came back to a disaster of a house. Not because of our wonderful house sitter, he did a great job, but our house is in shambles because of repairs that are way too complicated to get into.

Bourbon St. New Orleans

Soft Shell Crab at Irene's in the French Quarter

Also, we had a great time. We played hard, walked a lot, laughed a lot, ate a lot-----

What we didn't do, is spend a lot of time on the internet or in front of the television ----- not at all!

And it was VERY nice!

Which brings me back to the re-entry into everyday life. I have been even a little hesitant to get back at blogging. The internet takes a BIG chunk out of LIFE.

What I did do is read a GREAT book- and I want to tell you about it, in case you have not read it yet.

It is an amazing story, a memoir. I usually don't read memoirs.... I'm not sure why, they have always sounded kind of boring. I heard Kerri Miller interviewing the author Laura Hillenbrand on MPR.
She told how she interviewed Louis  Zamperini long distance by phone to write the book. It caught my attention  and sounded good- once you get past the first 20-30 pages, you CAN'T PUT  IT DOWN!!!!
It's a true story, Louie is 97 now- it is amazing. It's really a book everyone should read-
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, buy it, borrow it- just read it.

Chicken Enchiladas!

I just made up a recipe and I think it's my favorite meal EVER - chicken enchiladas.  This kind of thing just doesn't happen to me... 
If you want to make a yummy dinner on the fast, here is how I made it!

**I didn't measure things because I wasn't planning on repeating it, so feel free to vary this recipe however you'd like.**

I used the following ingredients:

• 2 cooked chicken breasts  (Chopped into small pieces)
• Salsa  (16 ounces at least)
• Cream Cheese  (I used 1/2 of a block)
• Corn  (I'd estimate about 1 cup)
• 1 small can diced green chiles
• 1 15 ounce can of pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
• 2 cups of shredded cheese  (I used 4 "Cheese Mexican Blend")
• 8 flour tortillas

This is how I prepared them:

• Heated cream cheese, corn and 1/2 of the salsa and 1/2 of the shredded cheese on medium low until the cream cheese and shredded cheese is melted and blended together.
• Added the green chiles, pinto beans and chicken breast to the mixture and stirred together over medium low heat.
• Then I greased a 9x13 pan and spread a small amount of salsa evenly on the pan.
• Next I just filled tortillas, (each with a big scoop of the mixture) rolled them and placed them in the pan with the seam side down.
• Top the enchiladas with the rest of the salsa and the remaining cheese.

Throw it in a 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes and enjoy...mmmmmmmmmm.

Ummm...Ben is going to be home in 15 minutes but I couldn't wait and just had 2.

Hi there!

I was just thinking I'd blog about the weekend and realized I literally don't know what I did all weekend.  Do you ever have that kind of weekend?  One that seemed fun and busy, but you didn't do anything.

Today, for example, I feel like we had a fun Sunday.  Um, our main event was going grocery shopping at Byerly's because of their big "Buy One Get One" sale.  (Seriously, if it was BOGO it is now in our pantry.)  Then we came home and cleaned our fridge, freezer and pantry.

I'm really not boring, but this first trimester is making me a total snooze fest simple.

If Piper could write she'd have a pretty crazy Friday to blog about.  As crazy fun as a 2 year old could have...Ben, Piper and I went to Red Robin for dinner.  She loved her chicken fingers and Shirley Temple, as well as the green balloon from the host stand!  Then, this is where it gets cRaZy!!!  We went to a 9:20PM showing of the movie Hop.  She was so excited about the treats, the bunnies and being out late.

Next weekend I'm either planning a ton of unbelievably exciting things to do just to blog about them or I'll stay under the radar and have LKB take over with some New Orleans dish!

***Working 2 years in Market Research taught me that only 1.5% of women are pregnant at any given time, so I realize I should limit pregnancy talk to get a broader audience. :)

BUT - I've got baby on my brain, so bear with me!  Just 7 more months and I'll appeal to more of you!***

I've known I was pregnant for the past 5.5 weeks and can't stand the thought of waiting 11 more to find out if little bugger is a boy or a girl.  I'll never understand why patience is a virtue! 

Seems like everything I buy has a red clearance tag.

A few weeks ago, I picked up an IntelliGender Gender Prediction Kit at Target.

It's recommended you take the test anywhere after 10 weeks.  I'll be there in 6 days so I took the test today.  Again, I'll never understand why patience is a virtue!

You basically pee in a cup, swirl it for 10 seconds and then WAIT for 10 long minutes.

Then you read the results.................

It's not as easy as pink = girl / blue = boy.

BUT I THINK IT SAYS WE'RE HAVING A MOMMA'S BOY! 

Compare the color strip with each corresponding gender for yourself!!!  Do you think the urine is more yellow (girl) or green (boy)?

Holy smokes.  Now I look at the pictures side-by-side and have no idea what we're having.

I'll have to buy another kit.

Lemon Bars

I have LKB to thank for my darling husband.

Last night Ben found a recipe that he had to try - Ina Garten's Lemon Bars.  After our fantastic Jimmy John's dinner tonight, Ben just upped and started baking them. 

He made the crust, squeezed the lemons, sifted the powered sugar - the whole 9 yards.

They turned out FANTASTIC!  You should try them.  The recipe is here!

Look at that man sift!  He told me, "I add more powdered sugar than the Contessa".

Fetus 134,325 : Mickey 0

Hi friends!

This baby is kicking my rump!  I'm convinced we're either having quadruplets or a dinosaur because this pregnancy has been nothing like carrying little Piper in my womb.

Here LKB is out-of-town and I feel like I'm dropping the ball (I mean blog). 
Tomorrow I'll get my creative juices flowing, or bribe Ben to do a guest post.

Ciao!