photo courtesy of : redstandard.orgHy-dee Ho, no offense to the "Ho" part if you are one.
Well, it's been awhile but I can't seem to jump into a settled routine. Between school stuff, making jewelry with my friend and keeping up everything and getting stuff ready for taxes, every day seems to just fly by. This weekend went in the blink of an eye. So exactly what have I been up to since January 6th?? Well, I had a birthday on January 10th and it was really great. Brent was totally trying to surprise me so he succeeded for the most part. I knew we were going to my sister's in Lafayette but I just thought it was the same ole stuff. So he takes off on Friday and we spend the day together. He comes home with a rental car so we can take our trip which just happened to look like a pimpmobile. It's a beautiful car, really pretty but every time I see one (and I want one) it looks like someone should be chauffeuring around the local pimp. It was a Chrysler 300 and it made for a very nice trip. Great car with lots of room. The boys loved traveling in something other than the Expedition for a change. So, we get into town and instead of heading toward my sister's house we ended up at the Hilton where he had reserved a room for us for all weekend. I was really happy then when we walked in, there was only one king size bed. So, what made it even that much better is that the boys were staying with my sister. Yeah. oh I have to say it again. Yeah. So he made reservations at this restaurant he had went to when he was in North Carolina for a production seminar and it was really good. It's called BoneFish and it is as good as everyone says, well actually better since we have nothing in our area to compare it too. It is way better than Tokyo which would be the only thing remotely close to it. I made Christene, Bailee, Liam & Ian come into the bar part with us and have appetizers and we had a few drinks. I fell in love with their winter cosmos and the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer was exceptional. I would have taken pictures of all this but I forgot my camera at home with a dead battery not knowing all this fun stuff was planned for my birthday. They left to go to another restaurant and to the movies and we stayed for a couple more hours and ate and had a few drinks. It was really nice. We had great conversation and forgot how much we love going out and trying new things (umm, without kids). I love 'em but sometimes, you know, just sometimes it is really a good thing to get away from them. You know?? Do you know or am I the only parent who thinks that way? OK, so here is the official review of BoneFish in Lafayette - A+. And I am not exaggerating. Service was great, drinks were to a tee and the food was titillating and satisfying. That's funny .... titillating and satisfying in the same sentence. Sounds like a porn story or something. hahaha So we had a cake my other sister had made by a friend. it was gorgeous to say the least. My sister and niece took pictures but I can't seem to get them to email them to me, hint hint! It was hot pink with black ribbon and a big black bow tied like a gift and then it had pink and black curly ribbon hanging from it. It was all edible fondant and the cake weighed about 10 pounds I swear. It was so heavy and delish! It was white with raspberry filling. I am going to be using this lady for all my cakes from now on. I don't know what others she does but the wrapped gift look is great for just about any occasion. I really hope to post a pic of it on here soon if I can get them emailed to me. hint hint. It was one of the most special birthdays I can remember and Brent did a great job making it really special for me and I love him more each day for all that he brings to our relationship. OK, enough of the sappy emotional stuff.
So then it was time for CCD, basketball practices and we just signed up for baseball this weekend and picked up our two cases of candy to sell. Yuck. I hate that because they end up eating it, along with me and Brent, so I just end up writing a check for the lot of it to cover everything they ate along with anyone else who comes into the house! Ever since we came back from Lafayette that weekend, Liam's friends have been here all weekend long and we've had basketball games for Ian and then on Saturday we took Ian to Beaumont for a birthday party at the movie theater and got to spend three hours all by ourselves again. I'm getting used to having all this time with my husband. We did some errands, ate lunch and then hit up Super H-E-B to stock up on stuff that you can only get there. I love that store and I recently started going to Kroger Signature store in Beaumont and it is sooo nice. I actually had people who work there come up and ask me if I needed help finding something. Huh? Wha?? That never happens at Walmart or HEB here. In fact when they see you coming they turn around and head the other way or give you that "I can't believe you are going to interrupt my conversation while I'm at work to ask me some dumb ass question about where something is when it is clearly labeled on the sign ten foot above your head at the beginning of each aisle" you know that look right? Well, I just found a bunch of sights about Krogering and using coupons and their mega sales and stuff like that so I will be going back. I would rather drive 20 minutes and enjoy my grocery shopping experience in a CLEAN store that doesn't smell like dead, rotted meat than the crap Walmart has to offer. Our Walmart always seems to be super dirty and most of the time (if I have time) I will make time to drive to the other Walmart which is about 10 minutes farther. So if you have a Kroger Signature store nearby, give it a try. The blogs are raving about the sales and good deals so give it a go if you get a chance.
One new thing I've started is a menu plan. Yup, yesterday I sat down and did my menu planning based on things we already have. I have an obsession with grocery stores and going like everyday almost so I'm going to try and weed out so we can have some room. All three freezers are full and the two refrigerators are in need of stuff being weeded out and used up. So I did my menu based on things I don't have to go out for unless we run out of an essential item or I did a hair up my butt and want to try a new recipe. The cupboards have so much crap that I have nowhere, absolutely no where to put any new things. I am in the process of looking for an armoire with all shelves inside to use as a makeshift pantry for more canned goods and things of that sort. I recently put all the extra pumpkin, peanut butter and other canned goods of that sort on the shelving unit in the garage but food being outside with critters and bugs well that just doesn't sit well with me. Nope. Not at all. So we are going to see about using up some of the "crap" I have in the pantry and then stockpiling new things to do my weekly menu planning. If this goes well I want to do once a month cooking and shopping. I grocery shopped at the beginning of January with the understanding that it was for the month but within 2-3 days tops I was back at our local grocery store getting things for a new recipe I wanted to try. My friends just laugh at me. Even Liam said "Mom, we don't need anything else." But.... we always need milk, bread, eggs, etc. So I am going to try hard to stay out of Sam's too. That is the worse place for me to be - Sam's - hungry -- and bored. It makes for some very expensive shopping, although all the chicken, pork, and bacon I happened to pick up doesn't have anyone griping about it now. Last week I made the Cajun Meatloaf from The Pioneer Woman and it was soo good. Ian and Liam really liked it. Ian even commented that on all the cartoons they make noises and faces when they hear they are having meatloaf for supper, but he didn't understand why because he thought it was so good. My poor boys. I have never made a meatloaf in my life and I'd like to thank the meat manager at Kroger for pointing out the difference between ground pork and ground pork sausage. I won't go into details but will say that (1) there is a difference and (2) I'm glad I followed the recipe. So here goes my first ever Menu Planning Monday:
Monday:
Roast, rice & gravy, pinto beans (not from a can), cornbread
Tuesday: (CCD for Ian) Chicken-fried Steak w/gravy(courtesy of Sam's), butter beans, mashed potatoes which happen to be Liam's favorite food
Wednesday: (CCD for Liam) Salisbury steak, broccoli w/ cheese sauce, potatoes au gratin
Thursday: (Basketball Practice Ian) BBQ ribs (for ian - he loves them), citrus chicken (YUMMO), asparagus, dirty rice
Friday: Kids over so probably taquitoes, chili con queso, chips/dip; banana splits for dessert
Saturday: Basketball Games - probably out for late lunch or supper
Sunday: Hey, I just started this so if it lasts this long it will suprise me and you! Thinking Gumbo or Sausage and Lentil Soup courtesy of a copycat recipe from Carrabba's - truly DELISH.
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