A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

It's hot and we're on this "money saving" program with our air. Which means while the Mr. is at work, practically freezing everyone out of the office, I'm at home, conserving energy and agreeing to his "money saving plan" like a Proverbs 31 kind of wife. He comes home, and says, "Oh my word!  It's hot in here!!" Oh really?  "I thought the sweat beads on my forehead were from my fervent cleaning I was doing before you got home!" No? Hum . . . not sure! So back to it being hot in the house. The energy is cheaper after 7:00. Well, if I start cooking dinner at 7:00, my cherubs would think they weren't going to get fed. They'd be ravenous if I didn't do something speedy. Taco pizza fit the bill this week for something quick! Using your favorite pizza dough, whether pre-made or a mix, prepare the crust. Then get ready for this easy-peasy taco pizza! Taco Pizza 1 pizza crust (I used a glute

Love New Mexican foods. Really! Red chili. Green chili. "Christmas on the side." Posole. Stuffed sopapillas. All of it! For years, we have enjoyed roasted hatch chilies during "roasting season." Sometimes, we've been in New Mexico and have brought them back with us. Other times, we've over-paid for them and purchased the roasted chilies from a local Texas grocery store. Then there are times when we buy the chilies and roast them ourselves. It's not hard. It's a little time consuming. But the end result is satisfying and tasty! This season, the Mr. purchased five pounds of hatch chilies and we did the work ourselves. Five pounds sounds like a lot. But it isn't. Sadly. We were able to fill one quart jar of roasted chopped chilies. Now, when you buy hatch chilies, you need to know if you are getting mild or hot chilies. There is a difference. Hot . . .is, well, HOT! I honestly think we have a mix. Whic

When we lived in Texas, there was a grocery store that I loved! It kind of sounds weird, but the Mr. and I like to go to grocery stores and look around. You can find some of the most interesting things to try! This particular grocery store has a great "ready to eat" market area. One of the visits, I found this salad and just had to try it. Several times after that, every time we would go, I'd get a small amount of the salad to enjoy. One day, I thought, "why am I buying this -- it is so easy to make." So I stopped buying it and started making it. Of course, they don't list the recipe for all to see, but I merely went on what I tasted and saw. Easy Grape Salad Grapes, cleaned and stems removed (I prefer red seedless grapes for this salad) Blue cheese, crumbled chopped walnuts* Wash grapes and remove stems and toss into a bowl.  If you have time, cut some of the grapes in half and leave some whole.  This is my preference when making

I can't tell you how many times my girl cherub has asked for cookie ice cream sandwiches. Oh, yes I can . . . what I really mean is I don't want to tell you how many times I've failed at the attempt! The first time she asked, I thought, "Sure!  This can't be hard!" It was for her birthday party and we were having a lot of friends and family to celebrate. After I made the beautiful cookie ice cream sandwiches, I stuck them in the freezer. Only to go back hours later and the ice cream had melted into a puddle on the cookie sheet and re-froze. Yes -- that's what happens when your freezer defrosts itself! For that one, I had to use a spatula and cut the ice-cream into squares and scoop the re-frozen melted ice cream and the frozen cookie onto a plate. Real fun. That failure just made me try again. And again I did! Several times! Until I finally thought, "I will win at this!" Here's what I did: made the coo

I'm seriously on a tuna kick. Like I have been craving it. I mean, I like tuna and all. I certainly don't have an aversion to tuna. But to crave it?  Kinda weird, if you ask me. But, I'm rolling with it. I like tuna in a variety of ways, tuna salad being one. But this week, I decided to make tuna burgers for dinner. Thankfully, I have a recipe on the blog for that! So I did what was easy and just looked up that recipe! You can see it here:  http://karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/01/tuna-burgers-receive-85-star-rating.html But when I read the ingredients, I knew that having been gone on vacation and then moving my oldest cherub back to college  -- I didn't have everything I needed. So I did what anyone would do. I did a google search. I found this recipe that I used as my starting point. I didn't tell the Mr. and my girl cherub what it was. I just fixed it and we ate. They both agreed that they liked it! I like the ease

By the looks of the blog, we haven't been eating, but by the looks of my waist-line, that's not the case! While we have certainly had meals between the last post and today, there hasn't been just a lot of time to experiment with new recipes. However, we have made a few new dishes and enjoyed laughter, friends, and family around the table. Now that school is just around the corner for our youngest cherub and we just moved our oldest cherub back to college for dorm living, I hope to resume to blog posting. What that translates for my family is "food!" This summer, we made this easy-to-fix, easy-to-serve salad several times. While the corn growing season may have already passed it's peak, you can still find fresh corn at farmer's markets and your local grocery store. And with just a few simple ingredients, that you probably already have on hand, you can toss this up in no time. What I like about this salad is the flexibility; whether