Just another American Saturday night.....

Yep.....Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton concert!!!  

Our Little Tramp..........

Tramp, will be two on August 23rd.  This little guy is a King Charles Cavelier Spaniel.  If anyone wants to become a dog person.....adopt one.  He is lovable.  He is cute and loves to give random kisses when he walks past.  He loves to cuddle.  If fact, that is his second favorite hobby.   His number one hobby  is "catching bubbles".

He runs.  He jumps.  He will do a triple spin in the air to catch them.  They are his drug of choice.  It is cheap.  It is hysterical to watch.  He just doesn't stop.  

I think this one got away.   

Pure contentment here.  He is ready to cuddle with the lovely M.G.

I am still drinking those skinny latte's!!!!

I figure it is about time I shared my concoction.   This is nothing short of amazing.  I will give full credit to "Pioneer Woman".  She is my go-to gal for inspiration and a daily dose of a good distraction.  It isn't like I need another distraction in my life........but at least I can blame someone other than my children.

"Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte"

1 gallon of water

1 cup of ground coffee

mix those two together and let sit covered for at least 8 hours.

Strain with a sieve that has been covered with cheesecloth.

Chill.  Literally...you are done.

When you are ready to mix your drink.....add whatever amount of coffee you like.  Top off the glass with cold milk, half & half and a small amount of vanilla coffee flavoring.  You could also add some splenda or a small teaspoon of sugar if you need some extra sweet.   

Don't forget to add ice-cubes to the glass first.  It totally makes the difference. (Just trust me here!!)

Pioneer Woman said that you could also add sweetened condensed milk......I haven't been that brave yet.

Keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator.  This is supposed to keep for about a month.  I have been drinking this for 4 days and it still tastes fresh.  I have about enough for tomorrow.  I'm thinking that I will never know about how long it will really stay fresh.

You would think....

Yep, another night.  I have done it again.  You guessed it.  I have again had too much caffeine.   In my defense, it was mixed with skim milk....so I am officially good with my daily calcium intake.   (I need to hear a round of applause now, please???)   Unfortunately, I also had a diet dr. pepper.   I think I might have saved about 15.00 today by drinking from my icy cold tap of concentrated coffee which  I am  now hoarding in the refrigerator.   Unbeknownst to my girls...........  I haven't told them how amazing it is.   They don't know that I have developed a love of cold coffee and iced down milk.    My son.....figured it out.

Tonight........

I really want to play.  I want to create.  (anything).   I want to be alive. I am very much glad to be alive. Unfortunately, that extra glass of iced coffee has triggered both my ADD and OCD into hypo-overdrive.   I am unable to finish the task of anything.  I sit here wondering if I might be able to read or just watch a simple sitcom on television.  

Just playing with the camera and thought this was an interesting view of the latte.  I drank way too many.  At least I only used skim milk.    It would have been a 20 dollar day at Starbucks.   Maybe I will post the recipe next week???   Leave me a comment if you are interested.............  :)

Corn Dip................... Amazing.

I give you CORN DIP............stay tuned for further information.   Get up off of the couch and burn some extra calories.  You will want to stuff yourself silly with it............  :)

What is in this stuff?  

well....

2 cans of mexi-corn, drained

about 3 cups of sharp chedder

green onions, chopped

a large container of sour cream

a spoonful of mayo

mix it together and eat with a spoon or a fritos scoop.  I will not judge you on how you do it.  My neighbor eats it on toasted bread....kinda like a sandwich.    However, you do it.  Just do it.  Then grab those Nike's and get up off the couch.  Get movin'!

Chocolate Chip Cookies.......oh my!

Today, I begin the last minute preparations for my middle child's 15th birthday.  Tonight, my quiet home will be invaded by teen girls of all sizes.  They will feast.  They will giggle.  They will stay up all night.  Me, I might be at the local Embassy Suites.   (Are you reading this one G.G.????)   I had an open bag of chocolate chips.  The choice was eat them or use them....... It was a good decision.  The cookies I made were the best I have made yet.  Perfection.  A little crispy on the outside..........Mooshy on the inside.

A parent of mine gave me this recipe a few years ago.  I modified it today.  Sorry about that T.G.!   But these are the bomb!    That picture isn't doing them justice.   I should have taken the time to photoshop it.

Super-Amazing Chocolate Chip Madness

3/4 cup butter flavor crisco

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 bag of Heath Chocolate Toffee Chips

Combine the first 5 ingredients.  Add the rest of it.  

Bake at 375* for 10 minutes.

FYI..... I used room temp baking stones and let them cool on the stones before taking them off the stones.  It made about 3 dozen.  They won't last long...........

AND MOST OF ALL HAPPY BIRTHDAY, M.G.!!!!!!!  WE LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!!!!!!!!!

Today I get sauced............

Now seriously, I know what you might be thinking.  But, I am not that kind of gal. 

Tonight, we are eating homemade Calzones for dinner.  Now, with that kind of madness about to occur.  Wouldn't it be even better if we had some amazing pizza/pasta sauce on hand to drizzle into those little babies??   Yeah, it is a must.

The recipe starts like this...

4 tablespoons of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, pressed

4 (28 ounce) cans of tomatoes, either crushed or diced

1 cup of red wine...(get a glass for yourself...I won't judge you here!)

1 Tablespoon dried italian seasoning

1 Teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Saute the garlic with the olive oil.  Stir in everything else.  Cook on low for about 2 hours.  It will thicken up.  Stir occasionally.  Find yourself some freezable containers.  This makes a ton.  Enjoy!

Last week.............

Last week was all about the girls.  I loaded my darling daughters in the van and we headed to the beach.  My friend J.G. met us there.  We enjoyed 3 glorious days beachside.  Three days filled with girl talk.  Three days of bliss.  Would you like to meet J.G.???  Here is a recent pic.  She is on the right.  That is me on the left......

J.G. has a beautiful 15 year old daughter.  One of her many talents is pedicures.  She has a fondness for giving french manicures.  I was the first to line up when we arrived.  You just gotta love that child.!!!!!    (***smooches to M.G.***)

This brings me back to J.G........  She has a fondness to cook.  She inspires me to try harder in the kitchen.  Let me tell you what she did last week.  She caught a ton of crabs!  She wrestled them down and steamed them to perfection.   I was in charge of finding the shrimp.........she drove me to the market.  "Cause that is how I roll.  Here is the final result..................

Yep, we did a shrimp & crab boil!!!!!   It was pretty simple......aside from crab-wrangling.  Go buy a steamer at your local Wally-World.  They are about 21.00.   FInd some smaller red potatoes, some corn and a box of Old Bay.  Steam it all up.........and BAM!

P.S.......don't forget to add that classy black plastic garbage bag table cloth.

Happy 4th of July!!

In my efforts to keep it simple tomorrow....I streamlined dessert for our family celebration!!!    I found it this morning in an email from the Queen of Southern cooking........Yep, Paula Deen, herself.  That woman sure can dream up some good stuff.  It looks good.  It was easy.  It definitely has a freaking ton of calories.   My husband should love it.  I shall love the simple fact that it is done.

Here it is folks.......                               "Frozen Banana Splits"

This was super simple to do.  The hardest part was slicing the bananas!

You will need:

a box of regular size ice cream sandwiches

6 sliced bananas

a jar of hot fudge

a jar of maraschino cherries, drained

a bag of Toffee bits, halved

a jar of butterscotch topping

a tub of coolwhip

line a glass 13 x 9 baking dish with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Layer the stuff in the given order.  Top it off with the remaining 1/2 of toffee bits.  Keep in the freezer and make sure it has been refrozen for at least 4 hours. Pull it out of the freezer and slice.  

Paula originally added another layer of sandwiches between the butterscotch and the coolwhip....I didn't simply because my pan wasn't thick enough.   :(

I will tell you tomorrow about how yummy it was!!!