Text from Mom:

I don’t know why, but I thought this was funny.  I got a text from my mom, and it states:

“At Walmart I just saw a nun looking at US mag.”

Dining with Fine Wine

My friend found an article about the best wine pairings with McDonald’s cuisine.  Next time you are out at 2 a.m. searching for some fast food, why don’t you pair it with some fine wine.  Then, it’s classy and you don’t have to feel so bad… Right??   :)

Read it here:

Wine Pairings with McDonald's

Creepy Celeb Gossip

I love to hear celeb gossip, but this is just creepy and gross!

Actor Doug Hutchison, 51, Weds “Singer” Courtney Stodden, 16

Riley’s 2nd Birthday!

My youngest nephew’s birthday was this month.  I made the drive out to my brother’s house for the party.  He was a whooping two years old!

My mom and my niece, Mauryn.  She was a little pouty.  She wanted to go to the pool, but it wasn’t time to go yet.  She’s a bit bossy and isn’t happy when she doesn’t get what she wants.

Riley’s big present was a new tri-cycle.  They have another one, but it was pink and purple.  They got him a new one so he didn’t have to be embarrassed riding the pink bike around the neighborhood… haha! 

My other sweet “niece”, Hannah!  (She is my sister-in-law’s sister’s daughter.  Did you follow that?)Doesn’t she look cute in her sun hat!

Riley had a little help opening up all his presents.  I think he would have been happy with one present.  I’m not sure he understands the present concept yet.  He just wants to play!

 

His little face was all red and sweaty from playing with all the kids!

 

Riley’s “Choo Choo Thomas” Cake!

 

YUMMY!

 

These sweet girls were getting ready for the pool!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, MY SWEET NEPHEW!

Love, Aunt Carrie

Vegetarian Lasagna

Although we still eat meat, we are trying to reduce it because of the animal cruelty in factory farms.  I bought some Morning Star crumbles to try.  I was a little skeptical about how they would taste. 

I decided to use them in a lasagna.  It was just a standard lasagna, but instead of ground beef I used the crumbles.

Taaa Daaa!  It looks like any other lasagna and it tasted like ground beef.  My taste buds were scared, but it surprisingly tasted good.  My boyfriend said he couldn’t really tell that it was meatless.  That’s a big deal because he seems to have picky tastes. 

I think I will use them more often and try some of the other Morning Star products.  I want to try making tacos with the crumbles. 

Dan and Bri’s Wedding

In May, my boyfriend and I went to his friend’s wedding.  He was actually a groomsman and had to rent a tux.  We went to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. 

My dad gave him a Jerry Garcia tie.  My boyfriend took a intersession class in May about the Grateful Dead…. That’s right… the Grateful Dead… and he got 3 hours credit for it.  He wore the tie to the rehearsal dinner.

The rehearsal was at Benvenuti’s in Norman.  It was really good pasta.  We had never been there before that night.  I had a mushroom rigatoni, and it was quite delicious.  My boyfriend had the lasagna, which he liked.

My boyfriend had to rent a tux.  He rarely dresses up because he hates it.   It’s hard to get him to wear anything besides T-shirts, cargo shorts and jeans.  The looks on his face describes exactly how he feels wearing this tux, but he looks nice.

 

My boyfriend and I at the wedding.  His eyes look really blue in this picture.

The groom’s cake had Stewie from Family Guy on it.  It was red velvet.  Yum!

I don’t know what’s going on here, but we did take a small flask on rum, which could explain the expression

 

Isn’t he sexy in those suspenders? HAHAHA!

Baked Dijon Salmon

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, for garnish
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture.
4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

I turned this:

    Into something that looked a little like this:

I used almonds instead of pecans and only made about half of the honey mustard and bread crumb mixture. 

It was really good.  My boyfriend ate his piece and half of mine! 

I made some green beans with onions and rice to go with…

I could totally be the Next Food Network Star!  :)

Encouragement to Being a Vegan and Eating Less Meat

As Tom Regan said:

“I think everybody has the capacity to stop and think and say, ‘If I knew you, I wouldn’t eat you.’ And in some ways, it really is that simple.”

Or, from the New York Times:

“There’s a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig – an animal easily as intelligent as a dog – that becomes the Christmas ham.”

Tornados and Thunder

The two big things in Oklahoma news right now are tornados and the OKC Thunder.

On Tuesday, we had several tornados hitting the ground.  One was pretty close to our house.  Luckily, it dissipated before it got to our area, but we saw debris falling from the sky after it had passed us.  It was pretty crazy!  If you were raised in Oklahoma and you hear tornado sirens, you run outside to see if you can spot it.  Kind of messed up but true!

Most everyone was sent home early from school and work to take shelter.  We don’t have a storm shelter in our duplex.  We would either have to try to make a run for it or take cover in my closet, the room in the centermost part of the building.  The puppies and I were freaking out a little (or a lot), but my boyfriend kept saying, “it’s going to miss us.” and “we’ll be fine.” and “you wanna go see if we can track one?”  ummmmm…… no……

Here’s some footage of the tornados:

It’s kind of like the movie Twister.

In other news, the OKC Thunder lost to Dallas.  Boooo… We didn’t make it to the finals. 

Usually, I know nothing about sports and could care less, but it was actually pretty cool having a national team make it so close to the championship from my city.  My boyfriend and I went to a few games last season.  It’s a lot of fun to be there.  It’s much more fun than watching it on the TV.  Anyways… maybe next year!

Day 30: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

Lately, I have been missing my Grandpa Howard.  My grandpa handmade instruments.  He made a few guitars and two mandolins, but he made several fiddles.  My boyfriend loves music and playing string instruments.  My parents gave my boyfriend a mandolin and guitar that my grandpa made.  Before my boyfriend started playing them, they were just sitting in a closet at my parents’ house. 

My boyfriend loves music including bluegrass, blues and everything else.  My grandpa would have really enjoyed talking to my boyfriend and vice versa.  I really wish they could have met.  I know they would have loved each other.  Sometime I joke that my boyfriend would probably have liked my grandpa more than me. 

It makes me miss him. 

I always remember that he was kind to me and made me laugh.  He used to tell me if I didn’t eat my vegetables I would grow hair on my chest.  He liked to tell tall tales like that.  (That was a little bit of a tongue twister.) 

I love you, Grandpa Howard!  I know you are watching over me from somewhere!

A Little Trip to Palm Springs

I haven’t been able to blog very much lately.  My boyfriend’s computer cord broke.  We haven’t ordered a new one, and my boyfriend usually needs it for school.  So, school comes before blogging… i guess. 

I took a trip over the weekend for work to Palm Springs, CA.  We stayed at the Hyatt Suites.  It was really nice.  My boyfriend would have loved it.  It had TWO big screen TVs.  It had a nice little living area:

It leads to the bedroom:

The best part of the hotel was the pool area.  It was so nice and had amazing pool chairs with pillows.  There’s nothing like a cold drink by the pool. 

 

We had a little balcony in the suite.  It looked out at the swimming pool.

Palm Springs is desert with some mountains and lots of palm trees.

  

They close off the street on Thursday nights and have a street festival.  They sell food, jewelry, art and lots of little things.  There are also a lot of street performers and music.  It was really neat!  I wish I wouldn’t have been so tired from the flight!  I would have walked around more!

Palm Springs has their own stars on the sidewalk.  Here’s a shortened path:

        

I think this may have been a hospital, but I am probably wrong.  I thought it was really pretty with the palm trees and the blue sky. 

The scenery was really beautiful!  I love the palm trees and the mountains. 

 

I was there for work, and I wasn’t able to do a lot of sightseeing, shopping, etc., but it seemed like a really nice little town.  I think a lot of people from LA go to Palm Springs for a weekend side trip.

Day 29: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

There are a lot of picture that make me smile.  Here are just a few…

What dog sits like this?

 

Day 28: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.

I do NOT like these little guys at ALL!!  Just looking at this picture makes me squeamish!

Unfortunately at our last rent house, we had a mouse problem.  It was really gross!  We had to set traps and poison.  We caught too many to count.  Thankfully, we are out of that house and in a much nicer place!

This Sunday was another rainy day!  Makes me sooo tired!  It’s crazy how much the weather can affect your mood!

Day 27: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.

A picture of my brother, grandma Howard and baby me!

Day 26: 30 Day Picture Challenge

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.

My boyfriend gave me this necklace last Christmas.  It was the first piece of jewelry he bought for me.  I thought it was thoughtful, and I love it because he gave it to me. 

Busy… Busy… Busy…

When I get really busy, the first thing to go is blogging.  It’s been a little while since my last post.  It’s been rainy and gloomy in Oklahoma.  It’s so hard to wake up in the morning when it is so gloomy!  April Showers…

Our family pet, Ginger, also past this last weekend. 

Although it was sad, we were glad she didn’t suffer, and she lived a really long life.  We had her since I was about 14.  She was a good dog. 

I was walking home from junior high on Valentine’s Day, and she was in our backyard.  I thought my parent’s had gotten me a puppy for the holiday.  Turned out she was abandoned and had gotten into our backyard.  Long story short, I really got a puppy for Valentine’s Day, but my parent’s just didn’t know about it yet.  :)

Also in news… My parents went on a Mediterranean Cruise plus first class airfare!  I am so jealous!!  This is them:

LUCKY!!

Turkey Sloppy Joes

I know how hypocritical this is since I just talked about eating less poultry and less meat.  BUT, I was looking through the Cook This, Not That book the other night and found a recipe for turkey sloppy joes. 

I check out cookbooks from the library to get new recipe ideas, but these books are extremely popular.  You see them everywhere!

Here’s the recipe that I revised just a little:

1     tsp olive oil
1     lb lean ground turkey
1     medium onion, diced
1     medium green bell pepper, diced
2     cloves garlic, minced
1/2  c ketchup
1     Tbsp chili powder
2     tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
4     whole wheat hamburger buns, warmed

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, pepper, and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, the onions are translucent.

Add the turkey sauté until cooked completely. 

Add the ketchup, chili powder, and Worcestershire. I also added several shakes of hot sauce.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 15 minutes. 

Serve with the buns. Makes 4 servings

It was pretty enjoyable!  Give it a try!