Taco Salad
One of my favorite places in Dallas is the Arboretum. This week, they had one of my favorite Austin bands, The Spazmatics playing at their Thursday concert. I was so excited when I saw they were playing that I bought tickets immediately. The Arboretum concerts are so much fun because you can bring a blanket, food and drinks and enjoy the music while overlooking White Rock Lake. Unfortunately, they announced that the Spazmatics weren’t going to be there because their plane had gotten delayed in Atlanta. Luckily, they found another band to play, the Metal Shop. This band was a hair band and they were so much fun. They had choreography and didn’t take themselves too serious. It was funny watching all the ladies rush the stage and dance to the 80’s hair band music. It ended up being a lot of fun, and the Arboretum said they would refund the money, so it was a fun-filled free evening for me!
This week, I decided to make a taco salad for dinner. It turned out pretty good and I think it’s pretty healthy.
Ingredients:
Lettuce
Hamburger Meat
Taco Seasoning
Cheese
Sour Cream
Salsa
Tomatoes
Onions
Italian Dressing
Brown the ground beef and add taco seasoning and water. Make sure to follow the directions on the back of the packet. 
Put Lettuce on a plate.
Chop the onions and tomatoes
Put meat on the lettuce.
Add sour cream, cheese, tomatoes and onions to the salad. Put Italian dressing on it for extra flavor.
BIG
The Tour Dallas was a fun bike rally, but I was really excited when I saw the B_G letters out there with reunion tower in the background! When I saw it I left the rally, jumped off my bike and stood there like a crazy person. I don’t think the other riders knew what it was all about or I’m sure there would have been a line to take the picture!!! I’ve been wanting to be the “I” in Big since I saw them go up! I want to go take my picture by all of them in Dallas. There are 22 around town! Next stop, North Park!!!
Broccoli Chicken Casserole
Last weekend I ran in the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I guess “ran” may be a bit of an exaggeration. I ran part of it. I ran for the first 2 miles and then I hit a real steep hill and had to walk to the top of it. I ran for another 2 miles and then had to take a bathroom break, (which is kind of gross when all you have is a port-o-let). After that I had to alternate walking and running in much shorter increments for the remaining 9 miles. I got a little added motivation to keep going at miles 5, 9, and 13 when I saw a very good friend cheering me on with a poster made especially for me with my favorite colors on it. Every time I thought I couldn’t go another step, I thought about how I would be seeing her standing there in just a little bit. I appreciated her being there more than she will ever know!! I kept all my miles, (except the bathroom break mile), at under 13 minute miles. I finished at 2:43:02. The last time I attempted a half marathon, I finished in 3:07, so I was pretty proud of myself. I love my medal. I want to start doing more races that give medals so I can start a medal collection. I’ve found lots of cool display frames for them, but it would look pretty silly with just one medal hanging there. This weekend I will be riding in the Tour Dallas, but no medals for that!! 
This week’s recipe turned out really good. It is low carb, so I’m hoping by eating it for dinner this week, I will start to lose some weight. I’ve put on a few pounds and I don’t want to let my weight get out of control!! I’m getting back on track with my food and my exercise!
Ingredients:
Rotisserie chicken (I guess you could cook you’re own chicken, but why?)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
8 oz of cheddar cheese
1 bag of frozen broccoli
Sliced mushrooms (I bought them pre-sliced)
2 tsp of lemon pepper
Get a Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store.
Put Pam in a 9 X 9 casserole dish and tear up the chicken for the bottom layer.
Put broccoli over the chicken.
Put mushrooms on top of the broccoli and sprinkle lemon pepper over the mixture.
In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup, half a can of water and about 6 ounces of cheese.
Layer the cheese/soup mixture over the chicken, broccoli and mushrooms. Put in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.
Pull out of the oven and cover the casserole with more cheese and put back in the oven for another 10 – 15 minutes.
Pull out of the oven and eat. This casserole was even better the next day!!
Jalapeño Spinach Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken
Not only was this a long weekend and Easter Weekend, it was also the first Monday of the month, which means Canton Trade Days was going on this weekend. I was looking on Facebook and saw a notice reminding me about the events in Canton and decided to take an impromptu trip out there to see what they had. I was so excited when I found some fun flip flop sandals for myself. They had a really good deal in one of the booths to buy two and get the third pair for a reduced rate. Since I really only liked two of the pairs they had, I bought the third pair for my sister. I think my favorites were the ones that I got her, but they didn’t have that style in my size. I’ve already worn both pairs I bought two times, and my sister wore hers for Easter brunch, so I’d say the trip to Canton was a success!!
The zebra ones next tot he pink flip flops are the ones I got my sister.
These aren’t the ones I bought my sister, but they are very similar.
I saw a stuffed chicken on pinterest and even though it looked a little fancy for my cooking skills, I decided to give it a try. It really was an easy recipe and I have to say one of the best things I’ve made. I’m pretty sure it’s all the cheese that is in the stuffing that made it taste so good. The only advice I have is to remember to take the toothpick out when it’s done cooking. I learned that one the hard way!!
Ingredients:
Chicken breasts
Block of Cream Cheese
Cheddar Jack Cheese
Spinach
2 Jalapeños
Garlic
Lemon Pepper
Paprika
I didn’t put any amounts because I just put in the amounts I liked. I only used 2 Jalapeños and I just put a spoonful of minced garlic that was already preminced from the grocery store.
Cut the jalapeños in to small pieces. I cut out all the seeds first. You can leave a few in if you like it kind of spicy.
Sautee the jalapeños and garlic in olive oil. This was way too much olive oil and I had to drain it. 
Add Spinach to the sauteed jalapeños and garlic.
Put cream cheese, cheese and sautéed spinach jalapeno mix in a bowl and mix it up.
It will look something like this. This is what you stuff inside the chicken.
Cut the chicken in half like a pocket. Do not cut all the way through.
Stuff the chicken and poke a toothpick through it to cook it through.
Top off the chicken with lemon pepper and paprika
Cook in the oven on 375 for about 45 minutes or until cooked through.
Again, DON’T FORGET to take out the toothpicks!!!!!
Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole
I love getting to cook Sunday breakfasts for my family, but I want to find a way to mix it up a little. I ordered a waffle maker from Amazon.com, but it didn’t show up in time for me to make waffles. I looked online for another breakfast casserole and I found one that was very similar to the last one I made, but just different enough to make it something new. Luckily, I have 3 weeks until the next time I have to cook for everyone. I’m pretty sure my waffle maker will be here by then!!
Ingredients
12 eggs
1 cup of cheese (or more if you like a lot of cheese like I do)
1 tube of sausage
1 tube of crescent rolls
Salt
Pepper
Brown the Sausage
Put Pam on a casserole dish and then roll out the crescent roll on to the dish. 
Mix eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Put cooked sausage on the crescent roll.
Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole
Pour the egg/cheese mix over the sausage
Bake on 350 for 45 minutes or until cooked through.
Dash Down Greenville
One of the best things Dallas does is the St. Patrick’s Day parade and run. I wasn’t too sure I was going to go this year, but I’m glad I did. This was probably the first time I ever ran a whole 5K. I almost always get tired and have to walk. My friend ran with me and kept me going, so I didn’t want to embarrass myself. At about 2.5 miles, she took off and I could have quit, but I kept going. I got a text telling me I could do it right at about the same time I was about to start walking and that kept me going until I crossed the finish line! Since I ran the whole way, I think it was my fastest 5k, too. I did it in 32.39 minutes. I came in 41/142 in my age division, 2146/4253 overall, 853/2349 in gender. I’m so proud!! Thank you to those of you that helped push me to run the whole thing!!!
Next week is the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I can assure you I won’t be running all of that!!! 🙂
Easy Mexican Casserole
I always say that Mexican food is my favorite food, but in reality it probably isn’t. I only really like nachos and fajitas. It doesn’t really matter though, most Mexican food places have both of them on the menu. Even knowing this, for some reason, when I’m looking for recipes, I always seem to look for something that falls under the Mexican food umbrella. To be honest, I’m not really sure what actually makes something Mexican food versus just regular food…I just knew I wanted to make a casserole that could last me for about a week. Of course, I looked on Pinterest for the easiest “Mexican” casseroles I could find. This one was adapted from a pin from Trickchef’s blog. I don’t know that this could be defined as a true casserole or if it is more of a cooked seven layer dip. Either way, it was really yummy and I highly recommend it for people on the go, like I seem to be!
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
2 cups salsa
3 cups tortilla chips, crushed
2 cups sour cream
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Brown the ground beef until there is no more pink in the middle. Add salsa to the meat after it’s cooked and let it simmer until there is no liquid.
Spray pam on the bottom of the casserole dish, then crush up some chips to cover the bottom of the dish.
Put the meat sauce over the chips
Cover the meat with sour cream
Cover the sour cream with olives, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro
Cover with cheese and put in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes
Take out of the oven and get ready to chow down!
This was a delicious meal. It lasted about a week for me. I doubt it will last longer than that for a party of dos.
Nutribullet Salsa
I love my Nutribullet. I have been making a smoothie every morning for breakfast since I got it. I have been wanting to try something different with it and decided salsa made the most sense for someone that craves chips all the time. This was really an easy recipe and a lot of fun to make. The salsa should last for at least 7 days, but I finished it in 2.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup red onion
2 jalapeños, seeds removed (or you can keep them in for more heat)
1 tsp of minced garlic
1, 14.5 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cumin
1 tsp lime juice
small handful of cilantro
Put the ingredients in the nutribullet and blend until you get your desired consistency.
Pour in a bowl and enjoy with some chips!
I lost my keys
I’m always losing my keys at the bottom of my purse. Every morning I am digging and digging, but now I have a better system. I bought this key holder from Amazon, so now when I come in the house I will just put my keys on my new key rack. I looked at hundreds of them online, and decided this one was the cutest one they had.
Hummus Crusted Chicken and Vegetables
I love to ride my bike, but I don’t feel safe riding on the streets, so I didn’t ride much when I was in Austin. Since I’ve been back in Dallas, I have been trying to take advantage of being so close to White Rock Lake. I rode around the lake this weekend, and saw a link to another trail. I tried the new route called the Santa Fe Trail. I went as far as Beacon St. and decided to turn around. I still have no idea how far that trail goes. Once I got back to where I started, I made my way around the lake fighting the wind, but that silly old wind had nothing on me. I beat the wind! It was a lot of fun and great exercise. I think I’ll try to ride at least one time a week to get a little variations to my workouts.
This is by far the best main dish recipe that I’ve made from Pinterest. I adapted this recipe from the Gimmesomeoven pin. I never thought of cooking with hummus, but now I think it will become a standard on my grocery shopping list. Not only was it good on the chicken, it made the vegetables taste AMAZING!!
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
Hummus (I used the garlic flavored one)
Squash
Okra
2 Lemons
1 tsp. of Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
Put a layer of squash and okra in a casserole dish.
Put chicken breast on top of the vegetables
Cover chicken in Hummus
Sprinkle paprika over the chicken, add salt and pepper and squeeze lemons all over the dish. Make sure to get some of the spices on the vegetables
Bake in the oven at 450 for about 30 – 45 minutes
Dinner is served!! YUM!!
I wish I would have added more vegetables to my dish. Next time I’m going to add zucchini and tomatoes. I will also put a larger quantity of vegetables in the pan. The vegetables were SOOO good.
Fabulous after FIFTY 