So this weekend was a monumental couple of days! We went up to Fort Worth, TX to help my sister-in-law (how fun is it to call her that?!) move in to her freshman dorm room. I sound like an older person (in order to avoid offending some of my readers "old" in this case refers to anyone 70 and older) but seriously...where has the time gone??? She was in eighth grade when my husband and I met and started dating, now she's a college girl!! With the cutest dorm room, of course. But moving her in brought up all those college memories that are not very far away considering I graduated only 3 months ago but I shall embrace the nostalgia nonetheless. I thought about two definite things that college taught me, other than the academics of course:)
1. God puts people in our lives at certain times for certain reasons.
When I went off to college I left not only my close group of friends and family, but also my boyfriend and the state I was born and raised in! But God had different plans for me and knew exactly what He was doing. I went potluck for my freshman roommate and.....ended up living with her for all four years of college! It is slightly creepy how much we got along from the very beginning and it is hard to put our relationship into words (haha!) but it is one that will literally last forever. Potluck? There was no luck about it. More like Godplan!
2. You truly can survive on peanut butter.
Lord knows I let the groceries run too low at the end of the month when money got tight and you're scraping the last bit of Jif onto a piece of almost-moldy bread, the butt of the loaf of course, not a nice soft-ish piece. But you slather that peanut butter on and you live to see another day! And that day involves PB&B (peanut butter and bread) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
As a little congratulations/good luck thing, I put together little goodie-gift bags for my sis-in-law and her new roommate. I found almost everything in the $1 section at Target (yet another reason to solidify my love relationship with Target, other than their adorable patterns on everything! Why'd you buy a plastic waffle fork? Well...it has a pattern you see...) I also made some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with the recipe found on the back of Nestle Tollhouse pb&choc chips. It is such a good, simple recipe and makes the best homemade cookies! Here it is in case you don't want to read the back of a package...that font can be somewhat small at times :)
Nestle Toll House Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) Nestle Toll House Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
(I omitted the nuts)
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.
3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Gradually, beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Another huge, momentous event occurred this weekend....we finished the first four seasons of Mad Men last night! After doing some calculations we discovered we watched the equivalent of a work week of television in a very short amount of time. Unfortunately, we now have to wait until the season airs on TV this spring before continuing our addiction. I foresee some withdrawals in our near future.
To celebrate (or mourn) our completion of Mad Men, and therefore completing a very noble goal, we had a tasty Mexican night complete with chips, salsa, margaritas, and quesadillas. I thought I'd share the quesadilla recipe with you because the chicken truly made all the difference. I got this recipe from my mom who got it from my aunt. I first made the chicken in the crockpot before compiling my quesadillas.
Crockpot Shredded Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Small jar of Pace picante sauce
(I didn't have any Pace so I scraped out the last of our salsa jars - about 1/2 cup total - and then supplemented it with some Rotel, with most of the juice)
1. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take out and shred, put back in the crockpot.
2. Add one packet of Old El Paso taco seasoning and 8 ounces of light sour cream.
3. Cook for another 30 minutes.
*If there is alot of liquid, spoon out before adding the shredded chicken back to the pot.
This chicken alone was to die for, so creamy and delish! I took it and turned it into....
Chicken-Bean-Veggie Quesadillas
I took the shredded chicken just described and layered it with refried beans (I would have used black beans but we already had some leftover from tacos the other night so I thought I'd be resourceful), shredded cheese, and sauteed veggies (I sliced zucchini and squash and sauteed them in some olive oil and pepper).
I piled all these yummy ingredients on one side of the tortilla, folded it over, and heated it in a skillet until nice and golden brown on each side. Slice with a pizza cutter into thirds to make cute and tasty mini quesadillas!
I had my first morning of Week 2 with Clarisse. As she so delicately put it, "I know this is difficult, but hopefully you built on the stamina you developed last week" or along those lines. Yeah, except that after my weekend full of bbq, bagels, burgers, and pizza, I'm pretty sure that stamina flew out the window with the aroma of my giant burger on a homemade bun dripping with bbq sauce and sitting next to a side of fries. But, the first of week 2 is done and crossed off the to-do list, and that is all that matters!!
Finally, yet ANOTHER monumental occasion...I had my first day of preschool today! It went fabulously. Children truly are a gift from God, even those ones whose behaviors are a little more "challenging". My kiddos are absolutely adorable!!! I just want to hug and squeeze 'em all day! This one precious little boy was looking at an I Spy book during nap time (this is the cutie with jeans, boots, a huge belt buckle, and a button down that had to be tucked in at all times) and came up to me, pointing to the picture on the cover. Here was our convo: "Miss Sarah (Sawah), is that a dinosaur?" "I think it might be a caterpillar. Do you think it is a caterpillar?" -it was most definitely a slimy-looking caterpillar crawling on a log- "I think it is a beta. They yook just yike that!" What kid knows the word "beta"? Major vocabulary points to you!
After my wonderful first day, I walked out to my car and realized....I locked my keys in my car. I locked my purse in on purpose but completely forgot that most people need keys to unlock the doors and operate a vehicle. So after attempting and failing to call James from the office (which was deserted all except for yours truly) I found a random pregnant lady in the hallway and bombarded her with my desperate plea to use her phone. Not exactly the way you wanted to end your day but everything worked out in the end! My husband picked me up, surprised me with an appetizer and wine cooler as soon as I walked in the door, and is now working hard in the kitchen to make a surprise dinner he planned for my first day! What a sweet man I married :) I'll let you know how his first independent kitchen adventure ends up! All I know is I'm not moving from this couch until dinner is on the table! I'll get my car later....for now, I hear some bubbly wine calling my name (yes...I make wine coolers out of cheap white and diet Sprite...deal with it).
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