WEEKEND RECAP

My weekend was extremely relaxing. Kenny was out of town for market so I was all by my lonesome. On Friday night I can barely remember what I even did. Must have been really interesting. I think I caught up on some Tivo and went to bed early. It was glorious.

On Saturday morning I woke up and went to a Weight Watchers meeting. I needed to get my monthly weigh in done and I decided to stay for the class. I was very happy to hear that I somehow was down a couple of pounds despite my very gluttonous weekend in New Orleans last week and being fully clothed. Now I really need to be more strict on counting my points. I do very well on the weekdays but on the weekends is where it gets tough.

After the meeting I stopped into our Pottery Barn outlet for inspiration. I have finally gotten around to decorating our front room of our house and am planning to redo our den in the near future so I was just looking to get ideas. I love that we have a Pottery Barn outlet. If you scope it out enough you can find some good deals. I found a rug that I really liked for our den that I will keep in mind when I start picking out furniture for that room.

After Pottery Barn I went and purchased this lovely for our front room. I made some changes so it won't look exactly like this picture but its the main idea.I am so relieved to finally be making some headway in getting this room decorated. I have already purchased the rug and two chairs to go in the room also. I have also bought a botanical book to frame some prints. I will be sure to include some before and after pics when I feel like it is complete. Then on to the den.

Saturday night I met up with my girlfriend Susan for cheese dip and margaritas. We planned on going to see The Lovely Bones but the movie theatre did not have power so we went to my house and drank wine and watched the Pregnancy Pact on Lifetime. Did you guys watch this??? It was crazy. I truly cannot believe it was based on a true story. Got to love some Lifetime movies

On Sunday I slept late, watched my back episode of Big Love which was such a good episode and then watched Julie & Julia. I loved this movie. I loved Meryl as Julia and getting to learn more about Julia Childs. I adored all the french cooking and I loved that it was about a blogger. It definitely made me realize that I seriously NEED a Le Creuset stew pot so I can make Beef Bourguignon in a Red Wine Sauce. And that I NEED to Master the Art of French Cooking. Maybe I should enroll in some cooking classes?? I give this movie a A.

About the time I finished watching my movie Kenny came home!!! I was so happy to see him because he had been gone for a long time. He tried to relax a little bit while I got some dips and things ready to have Susan and Andrew over to watch the Saints game. Oh my goodness that game was soooo intense. Susan grew up in New Orleans and we all of course wanted the Saints to win so bad. When it was tied with a minute left and the Vikings were about to score we thought it was over. So sick to our stomachs. But we got so lucky and that turnover and that field goal sealed the deal. SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!

So looking back over this post. I basically watched and ate my way through the weekend and it was wonderful. A little boring and monotonous but wonderful. Here is what we are eating this week. Only a couple of recipes because we are busy the rest of the week.

MENU MONDAY
Sunday- Crack Dip( best and easiest dip ever recipe Below) and Susan brought over taco soup served with Frito's,sour cream and Mexican cheese. Yum!!

Monday - Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Tuesday - Make Mine a Mojito's Mexican Stuffed Shells. Recipe Below (She mentioned that this was her favorite recipe that her mom made up and I thought it sounded so good.) I am going to use ground turkey, reduced fat cheese, light sour cream, you get the idea. But I give her all the credit for this recipe. Excited to try it!

CRACK DIP- Named because you can't stop eating it. Like crack. Ha! I usually double this recipe because people love it so much.

2 Blocks of Cream Cheese

2lbs of Mild Sausage

2 cans of rotel tomatoes

Brown sausage and drain. Put into microwave safe bowl. Cube both blocks of cream cheese and add to the sausauge. Pour both cans of rotel tomatoes into bowl and heat in microwave until the dip is melted and combined. Stir every few minutes. So easy!!

Mexican Stuffed Shells (from Make Mine a Mojito)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium-sized yellow onion finely chopped
1 packet taco seasoning
1 package of cream cheese
1 box of jumbo pasta shells
1 10 oz. or 16 oz. can enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot) depending on how much sauce you like
1 bunch scallions diced
1 package Mexican cheese blend
Diced tomato for garnish

Directions:

Cook the jumbo shell pasta in boiling water. Drain when al dente. Set aside to cool.

Sautee onions and beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through, add the packet of taco seasoning. Stir well. Add the entire package of cream cheese and allow it to melt into the beef mixture. Allow the mixture to cool.

Then stuff a heaping spoonful of the beef mixture into one of the cooked jumbo shells. Place the filled shell in a baking dish. Repeat this process until all of the beef mixture is gone.

On top of the shells in the baking dish pour the enchilada sauce. Sprinkle the diced tomato and scallion on top of the shells. Cover the shells with Mexican cheese.

Bake on 350 degree for 30-40 minutes until the shells are warm in the center and the cheese is melted.