You know when you haven't had a second to think about dinner.... it's 4:30.... you thought it was 2.... people are about to get really hungry and the infamous question of .... What's for dinner? is coming!!!

Well this is one of my life savor!!!

It's the Members Mark Mesquite Grilled Chicken  Fillets from Sam's Club!

I use it on everything.. takes 17 minutes to warm up in the oven at 350 F

I serve it with veggies and mashed potatoes or add to salads or pasta!!!

Love it!!!!!

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Boys room cupboard

When we first got married we got an old cupboard that my father in-law built. He built it as a temporary thing... They needed storage space so he just whipped that out... well... 20 years later we were using it this time for my boys room... except the color didn't match what I wanted for their room....

I figured that after 20 years a good paint job wouldn't hurt it anyway!!

Here is the cupboard

 The inside was never painted so I used the left over paint we had for the finish trim in the house

Then Shopping trip to Hobby Lobby for knobs

I was super happy to find these, on clearance!!!

Final product :)

The blue paint is the same as the wall (above bead board) 

Each boy has their red Pottery Barn chair and Piggy bank. Picture of the 2 in the middle. 

The canvas above I painted a while back, they match their bed quilt.

Now that I look at it I kind of wish the top of the desk was red or I could get new red banks....

Oh well.... what's done is done and My father in law approves ;P

Anyways.... I'm just getting started and hopefully I accomplish everything

I want too before they grow out of their room!

Nancy

How to Organize CD's

I don't know about you guys but I have an issue with photography..... Not the profession it self but the " what to do with the photo's after I take them" part.

First I had an old school camera.. so I printed all the pictures and kept the negatives...and had some of them burned on cd. 

Second, I switched to a digital camera so I still burned some cd's once in a while when I printed pictures until I got a digital frame.

Third, I got an I-Phone and that was it! I hardly used my camera and synced my phone once in a while...

All in all I have been looking for a way to preserve my pictures and be able to find them easily when I need them!!!

So this was my mess..... Some weren't even picture cd's.....

this was my solution

I've wanted to do this for a long time, over the years and after moving twice,

I kept forgetting that I had already purchase the case....

 (one was still in a bag with the receipt!!! LOL)

So I used:

a cd case (the one on the right in the previous picture)

Avery Labels (just what I had on hand)

Then I went through all the cd's (most of them were unmarked.. some even blank).

That was the long part (baby was napping luckily), I even burned 3 years worth of pictures that I didn't have backed up from my computer!

Anyways, here's the final product !!

Now, if I can find the time to actually print albums of these pictures.... I'll let you know!!

Nancy

Spinach Protein Shake

Breakfast..... The most important meal of the day.... Blah Blah Blah!!! But it's TRUE!!!! Huh.... Okay so I LOVE to sleep and if I get to skip breakfast for sleep... I WILL!!!!

Now that you know how lazy I truly am.... or sleep deprived you decide ;)

Here is one way of eating my breakfast that I can handle...... drinking it !

I got this recipe from a friend and I have loved it and had it most morning ever since, even my husband drinks it... his doesn't have the spinach though!!!!

So first of the ingredients:

1 Cup of Almond Milk (it's lower in calorie and creamier then milk)

1 scoop of Whey Protein ( I prefer the AES brand FYI)

1/4 cup of greek yogurt (plain fat free)

1/2 a medium banana

1 hand full of spinach

1 hand full of strawberries

(Luke's version omit the spinach and add 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter and 2 Tbsp Nesquick Chocolate flavoring)

Combine all in a Good blender.... seriously you need a decent blender for this!

I use the Liquefy setting on my blender.

And Voilà!!

I know it's green but trust me you can't taste the Spinach!!! It keeps me full for up to 5 hours and I love that I can have vegetables for breakfast without tasting it :)

Bonne Appétit

Nancy

Mango Chicken Salad

I had a lot of romaine lettuce so a salad sounded like the best thing for dinner tonight!
Here is what I did....
First Take a Flour Tortilla (warmed up in Microwave) put it at the bottom of a dinner plate.
Add Cilantro Rice (Rice cooked in Chicken broth with Cilantro and once cooked add a little green enchilada sauce).
Cover Rice with Black or Pinto beans
Add Sliced Grilled Chicken (I marinated 3 chicken breast in water and South Western Chipotle Seasoning (Mrs. Dash)before I grilled it)
Cover with a lot of Romaine Lettuce , then add 2 spoon full of Mango Salsa and the Sorta-Salsa(previous post).
For the Dressing I used a packet of Fiesta Ranch and mixed it with a cup of Real Mayo and a cup of fat free milk (put in refrigerator at least 30 min before serving).

Verdict.... DELICIOUS!!!!!
The Kids ate it as a Burritos, the adult as a Salad...

For Lower calories I ate it like this
No tortillas, start with the rice (without the enchilada sauce), no beans, add 1 portion of chicken (size of your palm) and the rest... 2 tbsp of dressing should be enough...

Oh and this can be way time consuming!!! So if you can make both salsa the day before you'll serve it.
ENJOY!!!!!



With and without the dressing

Mango Salsa

Well it's been over a year since any of us has updated this blog!!!
Ok I'm not promising anything here but I will make an effort to at least take pictures when I cook!!!
I now get most of my fruit and vegetables from Bountifulbaskets.org
It is SO great to have fresh healthy food for Cheap!!!
The thing is that I never know what I'm going to get!!!
This last week I had 7 mangoes so I found a video of a chef making this salsa... I had no idea how much of what he put in so I winged it...
I think it is like the Costa Vida Mango Salsa.... but I've never actually tried it there so Who knows... Make it and you'll find out!!!



SO here we go
Ingredients:
4 Mangoes
1/4 C of Fresh Cilantro
1 Tbsp of Lime juice (or 1 fresh squeezed lime)
2 minced clove of garlic
Fresh green Jalapeno to taste... (I used a 4oz can)
1/4 C finely chopped red onion
1/4 C honey

Cut the peeled mango in small pieces, add everything else together.
Serve over salad :)

Sorta-Salsa!

Since the goal of this website is to create at home what you would normally go out to dinner to get, I thought I'd start with a favorite that I typically go out to get. Since Nancy started with a dessert that she gets at Chili's, I thought I would do this appetizer that I usually get at Chili's. You need plenty of time for chopping the fresh vegetables, but it's TOTALLY worth it. This stuff is delicious. Once you start eating you won't be able to stop.

14-18 Roma or Calamati tomatoes chopped

a small (8-10)bundel of greeen onions chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

combine chopped vegetables in a large bowl

Add a can of corn (drained)

and a can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

Prepare Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix as directed.

Pour over the top of the salsa mix

Mix well and chill before serving