Simply You and Me

Menu Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:35:00 +0000

I cannot get over the weather we are having. Yesterday, the temperature did not reach 60 degrees. Today, in the 70's. Tomorrow? Back in the 40's. And the wind...absolutely wild! Bad hair days everyday. I have become quite accustomed to wearing a pony tail.

This week, we are pulling out all the tried and true recipes. I will be using the crock pot a lot to save time.

Menu Monday

Monday

Crock Pot Ribs

Baked beans

Salad

Tuesday

Crock Pot Cheeseburgers

Chips

Wednesday

Pork Chop Dinner

Salad

Thursday

Crock Pot Enchiladas

Spanish Rice

Beans

Friday

TBD, bet it will be spent out. It's shopping day.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mexican Bean Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:51:00 +0000

It's been a wild two weeks. Work is booming. Too many patients and not enough nurses. I hate to admit it, but we have been having a lot of frozen pizzas, hot dogs and eating out.

I was in the check-out line at the grocery store and saw a Taste of Home hamburger meat cook book. I had to buy it. There are many great recipes in it. The weather has been a bit cool the past couple of days, so I thought I would try some soup.

This was a super-easy meal! I had all the ingredients in my cupboard.

Mexican Bean Soup

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients

2 pounds ground meat

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups water

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can Rotel tomatoes

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained

1 can Ranch-Style beans

1 can pinto beans, drained

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2-4 teaspoons taco seasoning

1 envelope original dry ranch dressing mix

Directions

Brown meat in a large stock pot until no longer pink, rinse and drain. Return to pot, add next 9 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Serve with garnishes of choice.

It is very close to my goulash recipe; without the noodles.

Oh yeah, and, it makes a lot of soup. I'm going to freeze some for later and take some for work this week.

Sharing: Mealtime Monday, Marvelous Monday, Make the Scene Monday, Scrumptious Sunday, It's Party Time, Wonderful Food Wednesday, All My Bloggy Friends

Italian Baked Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 01:27:00 +0000

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew I would have to make it one day. I only wish I would have remembered to re-Pin it so I could give proper credit, but I didn't. So, if you know where this one originated, shoot me an email.

This is a one dish dinner. How awesome is that? Easy. Simple. Tasty. Couldn't ask for any more.

Like I said, I didn't re-Pin the original recipe, so I just winged it:

Italian Baked Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes

Ingredient:

6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

5 Red potatoes, quartered

1 can green beans

1 package dry Italian dressing

Salt and pepper

Butter

Directions:

Spray a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and line the center of the pan with them. Add the quartered potatoes to one side and the green beans to the other. Cover everything with pats of butter, and sprinkle with the dry dressing. Bake at 350˚ for 1 hour.

Wonderful.

Now, on a side-note; I cannot be the only one who is getting bombarded with Spam comments. They are driving me crazy! I love comments, don't get me wrong, but I don't want my site littered up with 'bad loans', 'casino' and 'legit ways to make money'. So, I have recently made all comments moderated. I'll check my email several times throughout the day, so if you're a real person you will be published quickly. If you are not a person truly interested in my blog, you will be reported as spam.

Thank you to all who have stuck by during my 'radio silence' days.

Hope your week is going great!

Chicken with Honey Beer Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:16:00 +0000

I'm on the constant lookout for good recipes that aren't loaded with fat and calories. Started my weight-loss journey. Again.

There are many great sites with wonderful, low-cal, recipes. And they taste great, so please don't tell Maintenance Man that he, too, is on a diet. Shh!! Mum's the Word.

First, of hopefully many, post is Chicken with honey beer sauce that I found on Cooking Light. It had good flavor, and it will be wonderful in a salad. I plugged the nutritional facts into the Weight Watcher calculator, and it is worth 6 Points+!

Chicken with Honey Beer Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tsp Canola oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/8 tsp salt

pepper

1/2 cup beer

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan and saute for around 6 minutes, or until done. Remove chicken from pan but keep warm. Combine beer and next three ingredients and whisk together. Add to pan and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes or until it has reduced down to half. Return chicken to pan, turn to coat with sauce. Serve.

Yum.

Hope you try it!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:14:00 +0000

I just wasn't expecting to have to drive in it. :)

We spent the weekend in Branson, Missouri. The boys had a blast at Silver Dollar City. In fact, they had so much fun, we blew off our reservations for dinner and a show on Sunday evening. I think it was worth it, though.

We started our drive back to Texas on Christmas Day. At 7AM. We pulled in to our drive at 6:45PM. Almost 12 hours to drive back home.

This is why:

Snow. It did not start snowing on us until we crossed the Red River. Yes, that means we had smooth driving through the mountains of Arkansas, and the funky flat lands of Oklahoma. Not until we arrived back in our beloved home state, did we run through the white stuff.

I had to snap all of our shots from the car since the wind was blowing. HARD. We would have gone through white-out conditions had the snow been any harder.

That picture was taken when it all started.

For the first time in my life, I saw a snow-plow in Texas. I didn't even know TxDot was equipped with such things. :)

And just a random shot. I think I was trying for the horses in the background but wasn't quick enough. I guess if you're in the market for some land in Texas, this is the shot for you.

And, of course, we saw our share of drivers in the ditch. Luckily, it didn't look like any of them had any damage to their cars or to themselves.

Just wanted to share some of our travel pics with you. I hope you had a great Christmas and have a Happy, safe New Years!

Homemade Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:47:00 +0000

It was a cold weekend here in Texas. I spent the most of it in bed...sick.

Oh, btw, maybe I should introduce myself. I'm Dana, the owner/author of this little blog. We may have already met, but I have been missing for awhile. I've been ~~failing~~ trying to get back in the hang of being a working Mom and a great wife, and a great cook. It's hard work, folks!

As I was saying, it was cold here last weekend. Freeze warning for Sunday night. We are not used to being this cold this early, but we managed.

I had my crock-pot brewing up this little recipe; waiting for us for when we got home Monday afternoon. {which, btw, warmed up to the middle 60's} You know what they say about Texas: If you don't like the weather, just wait a couple of minutes, it'll change.

Homemade Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground meat

1 large onion, chopped

2 tsp garlic powder

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chili

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Brown meat in a skillet over medium heat and drain. Mix beef and remaining ingredients, except beans, in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in beans and cook for an additional 15-30 minutes.

I served with grated cheese, crackers and ketchup. Yes, I said ketchup. Maintenance Man is sure I have lost my mind when I squeeze the ketchup all over my chili, but I love it!

What do you eat on your chili?

Prayer and positive thought to all those effected by Sandy.

Classic Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Wow. I really didn't know how hard it was going to be to work AND keep up a blog.

Well, I guess the actual keeping up the blog would be easier if I weren't so darn tired all the time. We have been having a lot of hot dogs, sandwiches...and.......fast food.

I did manage to make another recipe from my Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I don't know if they still have Souther Living parties, but that is where I got mine....oh and my wonderful stone bundt cake pan. :)

But, I have made this recipe twice now, and it is so good, but we didn't think it had enough of the meat sauce in it. So, this time, I doubled the meat sauce. YUM!

Classic Lasagna

Ingredients

2 medium onions, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (14.5-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano diced tomatoes
2 (6-oz.) cans tomato paste
1 (8-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked; I used ready-to-bake
1 (16-oz.) container low-curd cottage cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 (6-oz.) packages part-skim mozzarella cheese slices
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Sauté onion in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain beef mixture, and return to skillet. Stir in diced tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf; set meat sauce aside.Stir together ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper until blended.Spoon half of the meat sauce mixture in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Shake excess water from noodles, and arrange 6 noodles over meat sauce; top with half of ricotta mixture and 1 package mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat layers once.Bake, covered, at 350° for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until bubbly. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.Note: The sauce is time-consuming but worth the extra effort. Make it on a weekend, and freeze it to enjoy later with lasagna or your favorite pasta.

Oven Roasted Ranch Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:57:00 +0000

I promised to share this with you yesterday, didn't I?

I woke up yesterday in a great mood. I had the day off! I drove my kiddos to school, we listened to praise and worship music and sang as we drove. I stopped off at Sonic and blew any chance of a diet by getting breakfast. I drove back home, again, listening to praise and worship music, making my day even better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was cool; almost brisk. I was happy!

Then.........

I sat down on my couch with my breakfast burrito and large Dr Pepper (yup I said large) to chart from Monday. WHAT!?!?! My schedule had patients for that day. I wasn't ready! I hadn't even had a shower! Deep breath..in...out.

I was still happy..just rushed. All chances of a clean house, clean laundry, another great meal, would have to be held off for another day.

So, this morning, I have checked my schedule time and time again. It's blank for today! YAY! I'm going to get this house clean. I'm going to get that laundry done! And, I'm going to share that great potato recipe with you.

I got this recipe directly off the Hidden Valley box. I think you will be shockingly surprised at the simplicity of this recipe and how great they taste.

Oven Roasted Ranch Potatoes

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds of red potatoes, quartered

olive oil

sea salt

1 pkg Hidden Valley dry Ranch seasoning

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large bowl and add sea salt. Toss to coat. Place in an un-greased baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle about half of the ranch seasoning, toss to coat, then sprinkle with the other half and toss again. Bake at 400˚ for around 35 minutes; or until crisp.

Italian Herb Pork Tenderloin

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Um, hello? Remember me? I hope y'all are still with me.

Whew! I worked this past week. I mean, worked! 10 straight days. My poor house is suffering. Tired Mama= no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry and no fun! Lucky for me, Maintenance Man does what he can to help. But, it's not the same.

I knew I'd have tomorrow off, so I wanted to surprise the family with a good meal.

Italian Herb Pork Tenderloin

adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Ingredients

1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) Pork Tenderloin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 Tablespoons dried Italian Seasonings

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Place fat-side up in crock pot and poke holes in it with fork or skewer. Brush evenly with olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Rub over entire surface of loin. Cook on low for 7-9 hours; or high for 3-5 hours. Internal temperature needs to be 160˚ in the thickest part of loin.

Such an easy recipe, but the flavors of the herbs really come through. I served this with green beans and oven roasted Ranch potatoes (more on that tomorrow).

Menu Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 18:10:00 +0000

Oops, it's not Monday, is it? You'll have to forgive me for posting early.

My days of being bored have quickly gone to working all week! I work part-time for a Home Health agency. Now, when I say "part-time", I mean weekends and Holidays only. So, this, technically would have been a three-day work weekend anyway. The scheduler called me Friday to see if I could pick up some extra patients on Tuesday...Tuesday. When I opened my schedule on the computer, I have patients scheduled Saturday-Friday! So, keeping in mind that I usually work weekend anyway, my next day off is NEXT Monday.

I'm already tired. But, it will keep me busy and out of the grips of daytime TV. I did manage to get my menus made out for the next two weeks. Yep, you read that right! Two weeks! I'm ahead of the game and I am so proud of myself. So, here is what is on our menu for this week:

Monday

Grilled Ranch Burgers*

chips

Tuesday

Tator Tot Casserole*

salad

Wednesday

Pork Tenderloin*

Parsley Potatoes

Thursday

Grilled Chicken Quesadillas**

lettuce, cheese, refried beans, etc

Friday

Meatloaf

mashed potatoes

green beans

I do not plan for the weekends, usually. We use the grill a lot during those days.

I hope you all have a great weekend and a safe Labor Day!

*new to blog, but not to family

**new recipe

Crock Pot Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:43:00 +0000

I have been pretty lonely this week. It's amazing how quiet {and clean} a house can become when all the other people are gone. Oh, and when you're not forced to watch Nick, Nick Jr or Disney all day...there is absolutely nothing on TV either.

le sigh

The boys are adjusting well to school. They even rode the bus home yesterday! {a milestone quickly overturned, then stepped on} They decided this morning, they did not want to ride the bus anymore.

So, not only am I trekking to 2 different schools in the morning for drop-off, I'm adventuring to both schools for pick-up as well. Drop off goes without a hitch, for the most part. Pick-up in another story. The middle school line is so confusing. Okay, maybe it's only confusing to me. I'm hoping to make it through this afternoon without a hitch. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Wow! I almost forgot the most important milestone of the week! Riley walked into the school alone. WAH! He let the 'helper' open the door, he got out and Mama drove off. Alone. Without him. He walked in to the school. Alone. Without Mama. I will not cry. I will not cry.

Okay, enough of that! On to the recipe of the day. I had some ribs in the freezer and I wanted to have them in the crock pot. I have made ribs in the crock pot before and we loved them, so why not try again.

Crock Pot Ribs

Ingredients:

5# Country Style Pork Ribs

1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon season-all
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
brown sugar
1 bottle barbecue sauce (I used Kraft Original)
onion, diced

Directions:

Mix the seasonings together and place in gallon baggie. Place ribs in bag, one at a time, and shake.

Place ribs in crock pot

Cover with barbecue sauce and onion

Sprinkle brown sugar over the top until coated

Cook low and slow for about 7 hours

I know, I know, I will get slammed by all the barbecue aficionados out there for shaking my ribs and not rubbing them. But, y'all should know by now, I'm a bit of a rebel.

It turned my hungry bunch into a very happy family. Even hubby, and I quote: "You have outdone yourself this time".

My head has just now returned to original size.

Sharing with these wonderful parties: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Full Plate Thursday,Marvelous Mondays,This Week's Cravings,

Isn't That Pintersting

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:46:00 +0000

Well, we've had a couple of days of school. The boys did excellent the first day. Riley's teacher gave all the parents a little care package full of tissues, a mini chocolate bar and a poem. Her poem, of course, induced the crying.

All of his classmates backpacks were hanging on pegs outside of the room. He was so excited to see his Spongebob backpack. Then, she gave him a sticker with his name on it; and told him what every 5 year old wants to hear; "If you keep your name tag on all day, you'll get a sticker for your sticker book."

His little face lit up!

Kolby was a super-trooper! Until last night. He melted down at bed time. He started crying and cried himself to sleep.

We talked about it and he loves his school, no one was mean to him and his teachers were all nice. So, what could it be? He worries about Riley and me! He has always been such a softy.

I think it was more of an adjustment than he ever realized. Not being home schooled means not being at home all day with Mom and brother. But, by the end of the week, I imagine he will be good as gold.

Now, on to my Pinterest picks for the week. With the boys back in school and maintenance man continuing work, I am going to focus on the house.

source

Source

And, it wouldn't be my Pinterest picks without some funny:

source

I know, I have gotten a little bit of flack for asking all of you to pin from the original source. But, I stand by my plea. Again, this week alone.. 3 spam pins and 4 dead links. None of those things make for a happy Pinner.

Easy Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:36:00 +0000

You know I love {lurve} my crock pot, right. This meal was, by far, the easiest and the quickest.

Let me go back to the beginning of my day, Thursday. I went to the Elementary School yesterday for meet the teacher. It's inevitable...my Riri is going to Kindergarten. I was reading through the ABC's of Kindergarten when we got home, and started crying. I'm going to be the mess Monday morning.

Q was quick goodbyes leave drier eyes. WAAAHHH!!! For child or Mom?

But, I was sitting on the couch reminiscing about Riley's 5 years and {just occasionally} staring lovingly at him and realized that I had NOTHING planned for dinner. It was 3:15.

I found a great, easy chicken recipe on Six Sister's Stuff and I went for it.

Easy Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

Ingredients

4-6 chicken breasts

1 medium onion, quartered

1 lemon, quartered

1 bottle of barbecue sauce (I used Great Value honey flavored)

1 can cola

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Salt and pepper chicken breasts and place in bottom of crock pot. Top with onion and lemon quarters. Pour entire bottle of sauce and entire can of cola over the chicken. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. {or low 6-7 hours if you're not like me and do things in the morning}

Don't be like me.

I also threw my breasts in partially frozen.

Again, don't be like me.

Plan. Be prepared.

I honestly cannot believe that Maintenance Man hasn't started thinking we're on a health kick again with all this chicken and pork we've been having. He's more of a steak and potatoes kind of guy.

Sharing with: Weekend Potluck,Marvelous Mondays, This Week's Cravings,

Mexican Pork Chops

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:51:00 +0000

I know, I said the old blog would be down today. I got so excited about my new layout, I just had to go ahead and apply it! I hope you like it.

Oh, it has been so nice in Texas the past week! We are actually feeling up to eating again. Last night, we had a recipe I've had for so long. I think I originally found it on Food.com, could have been AllRecipes. I'm really not sure!

Mexican Pork Chops

Ingredients

8 boneless pork chops

2 cups brown rice, uncooked

2 cans pinto beans, drained

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 can stewed tomatoes, in juice

1-2 tbs oil

salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350˚. In a big skillet, heat oil. Salt and pepper pork chops to taste, then brown them on both sides, set aside. Stir in undrained tomatoes, Rotel, beans, corn and rice, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Transfer rice mixture in to a baking dish. Arrange pork chops on top and bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake for 10 minutes more.

I had honestly forgotten how great this recipe is! If you ask my kids, the rice should be made without the tomatoes. I hope you'll try them one night.

Happy Thursday!

Sharing with these fabulous parties: All My Bloggy Friends, Making You Crave Monday, Mix it up Monday, Made Monday, Marvelous Monday, Weekend Potluck, Marvelous Mondays,This Week's Cravings,

Well, Isn't That Pinteresting

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:32:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday, y'all! We are getting rain here in Texas! I am loving this weather. Yesterday it struggled to get out of the 70's. You read that right, 70's!

Nothing beats a great, rainy day for perusing Pinterest. Here are my picks for the week:

Source: yourlittlebirdie.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: keepingitsimplecrafts.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: halesyeah.tumblr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Dana on Pinterest

I'm in the process of revamping my blog. So, I am going to make it private starting tomorrow. Don't worry! I already have the template made and saved (I was just waiting for some great, fall-like weather) so, if all goes well, I should be back up by Friday.

Me, Myself and I

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:36:00 +0000

I admit it..I'm experiencing blogger's block. Part of it may be the realization that next week, I will be all alone in the house. My boys are going back to school. Bittersweet, to say the least. :'(

I'm also not feeling up to par. I've been battling allergies and congestion for about 3 weeks now. Once I finished my antibiotics, I was sure I would feel better. But, all that did was loosen everything up causing a wonderful cough. Eww!

So, I was very happy to see a great linky party not associated with food or crafts. (absolutely no offense to any of those parties meant, because I love them, too.) I'm not feeling very crafty and nothing remotely sounds good in the food department.

Questions this month:

1. What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

I would open a restaurant. We would serve down-home cooking and barbecue. Maybe even include a casserole-to-go section. So, when Moms are just too busy to cook a home-cooked meal, they could stop by and pick up a frozen one. Much healthier than the frozen ones you get in the store.

2. If you only had 6 months to live, what would you do with your time?

Spend as much time with my kids as I possibly could. I would also like to travel. If permitted, I would love to see Europe. If not permitted, just a tour of the good 'ol USA would be fine.

3. If a front page news article was written about you, what would the headline be?

Woman Wins Million Dollar Lottery

I know...a bit selfish, but that was a hard question!

4. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Smacking.....food, gum whatever. Keep your mouth closed when you chew!

5. What is your favorite chick flick movie?

Sweet Home Alabama. Hands down, by far, my favorite movie..ever. Favorite line from that movie? (there are so many but this one always stands out) 'You have a baby...in a bar'

I hope to occupy my/your time with wonderful linky parties like this for the remainder of the week. I hope you don't mind.

Well, Isn't That Pinteresting

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Oh my, another round of Pinterest picks! It is one of my favorite sites.

My biggest board on the block is funny stuff, so I'll start there: again...fair warning...may contain explicit lauguage and would be considered NC-17 or maybe even R, but I'll keep this post PG :)

Source: someecards.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Dana on Pinterest

And of course, there is my ~~second~~ oops 3rd largest board...FOOD! Wonderful, glorious food:

Source: southernplate.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: mrshappyhomemaker.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Another, maybe not so PG, post from my Funny board. A video that had me (and my 9 year old) in tears:

Source: birthdayjams.com via Dana on Pinterest

Lastly, in honor of Julia Child's 100th birthday month:

Source: lisacongdon.com via Dana on Pinterest

There you have it. Of course, I will be linking up to :

Thanks for looking! Have a great Thursday!!

Crock Pot Cheeseburgers

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:22:00 +0000

It was late in the afternoon when I decided to throw this together. I didn't feel like cooking, even though the afternoons have been comparatively ~~cool, warm.~~ herm. Not so hot. That's the term because 98 technically isn't cool or warm.

I found the recipe weeks ago, but it got stuffed alongside the other mountains of paperwork on my desk. Looked like my kind of meal...quick and easy.

Crock Pot Cheeseburgers

adapted from: Food.com

Ingredients

1 pound ground meat

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 garlic gloves, pressed

1 tablespoon milk

2 ounces Velveeta cheese

1-1 1/2 tablespoons pickle relish

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 1/2 tablespoon ketchup

Directions

In large skillet, brown ground meat with onion, garlic and black pepper. Drain off excess fat and transfer to crock pot. Add all other ingredients, cover and cook on low 5-7 hours. Serve with your favorite hamburger sides on toasted buns.

Linking to: Full Plate Thursday, Weekend Potluck #31,

South of the Border Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:15:00 +0000

I told you I would get back to our regularly scheduled blog posts. Y'all this day has been, again, one thing after another. MM gets home to ask me if I had gone out to look where the 'roof' landed. No, I hadn't made it out there. He said it landed end down and left big divots in the field. Yikes! If the wind had been any stronger, it could have made it to the highway! Scary stuff, folks. I don't really even want to think about all the 'could haves'.

I decided to dig through my actual cookbooks for a chicken recipe (as opposed to just hanging out on Google or Pinterest) Now, don't get me wrong, I did hang out on Pinterest today; just not for recipes.

My small home-town has a sorority of sorts for the ladies of the town. This sorority has been responsible for the _________ County Cookbook since the 1970's. (I'm assuming it's been longer, because I just Googled said cookbook and the new one is called ....Celebrating 60 years) Now, I don't know if that means the oldest member has been cooking for 60 years, or the club itself is 60 years. Hahaha! That's funny. I'm sure the club is 60 years old.

Well, talk about going around the block to walk across the street......This particular recipe came from that cook book. In fact, I just may be featuring several recipes from that little cookbook.

South of the Border Chicken

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds chicken breasts (I actually used tenderloins)

1 1/2 cup bread crumbs

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 plus 1 tsp picante sauce

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup butter, melted and divided

salt and pepper

Directions

Melt butter and pour half into a baking dish and set aside.

In one small bowl, combine the eggs and picante sauce; and in another, combine the bread crumbs, chili powder and garlic powder. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste. Dip chicken into the egg mixture, then dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Place in baking dish. Once all the chicken is in the dish, pour remaining butter over it. Bake on 375˚ for 30 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

A definite keeper! Kolby said "I've died and gone to Heaven" LOL! The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of chili powder, but I have to keep it pretty mild for my family.

Linking to these great parties: All My Bloggy Friends #8, Full Plate Thursday,Weekend Potluck #31

Wild Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Being from Texas, I am used to some wild weather. Last night was a prime example of that.

It was hot yesterday. 104 at 7:30...yikes! And humid. I should have know something was going to happen because all the kitties were hunkered down in the house...all day. Very unusual for our kitties. I have the Weather-bug app on any and all electronic we have in the house. Well, about 8:30, they all started going crazy. With all their different alert tones, it even sounded crazy. Sure enough, severe thunderstorm warning for us.

I love to watch weather as it comes in. This one was intense. I ran inside to grab my camera...only to find the battery was dead. Great! No pictures. Boo! We sat outside for about 30 minutes. It was hot. It was still.

I managed to snap this particular picture with my phone.

Yikes!! Frightening Lightening. And it was...turned out the lightening and the wind were the worst of this storm. We lost the roof off the front porch. Luckily, it is was detached from the rest of the house..but the wind picked it up, cleared the rest of the house with it and tossed it into the field behind the house! THAT is when my Maintenance Man got skittish. (he NEVER gets skittish-I'M the one who is ready to run during a storm). So, we got the boys re-dressed just in case we needed to leave the house. (not 100% sure of where we were going, but I'm sure he had a plan).

Just an insight of how bright the lightening was...we live in the country, so we have a security light by our house. It turned off several times because it thought it was daylight!

We were still in the house when ZIP, ZAM...dark. Lightening struck the transformer outside our house. Great! One disadvantage of loving Scentsy? Yup! No candles! MM managed to find a couple and lit them, and of course, we had the flashlight and the phones for light.

The storm passed without much more excitement and the Oncor guy finally showed up at about 10:30 to get the electricity back up and running. With all that craziness, we got to bed about 11. So, I'm tired this morning. It seems I'm always tired. lol.

Oh..we received about .90 of an inch of wonderful rain.

I'm hoping to get back to some regular blogging tomorrow. :)

Back to School~Pins

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:25:00 +0000

I really cannot believe that it is back to school time!

It seems that we just ended the school year. Well, I've dedicated this Pinterest Post to BTS:

Source: scissorsandspatulas.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: go.tipjunkie.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: sassysites.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: ourbestbites.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: acupcakefortheteacher.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Garlic Bread Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:29:00 +0000

Have you ever been watching TV and see a commercial for a food and think "why didn't I think of that?" or "I could totally do that."

When I saw the Pizza Hut commercial for the Garlic Bread Pizza, I was actually half mad at myself for not thinking of it. lol. Whodathunkit? Pizza toppings on top of simple garlic bread.

Kolby, also, had the thought..."hey Mom, we could make that!" So, we did.

Garlic Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

1 box of buttered garlic bread (I used Pepperidge Farms)

shredded mozzarella

pizza sauce

toppings

Directions:

Place frozen garlic bread on an un-greased cookie sheet. Cover with pizza sauce, sprinkle with cheese and add your toppings of choice. Bake at 450˚ for around 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Super-easy lunchtime idea. A lunchtime idea that the kids can make on their own! (even better) We just used pepperoni, obviously, but the choices are limitless. Enjoy your Wednesday!

Shared: Tasty Thursdays #3, Moms Test Meals #3, Full Plate Thursday, Weekend Potluck #31

Mocha Cheesecake. Crazy Cooking Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000

When I received the email on this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge I was a bit excited and a lot intimidated. See, I've never baked a cheesecake before. Oh, sure, I've plopped a brick of cream cheese in a bowl with some instant pudding and some Cool Whip, but never actually baked one. In fact, I don't even own a spring-form pan.

So, as you can see, this month's cooking challenge, was just that....a challenge. I searched the internet. Google, Pinterest, Facebook, anywhere I could think to look for a great cheesecake recipe.

I always find some of the best recipes on About.com, and sure enough, that's where I found this gem. The only problem? It's Monday and the challenge goes live on Tuesday! I sure hope this works.

Mocha Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust (2 extra servings)

24 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

6 oz semi-sweet baker's chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup strong-brewed coffee

Directions

Melt chocolate and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the heavy cream.

Pour the chocolate slowly into the cheese, and add the coffee and vanilla. Stir well until blended.

Pour the batter into the crust and bake at 350˚ for 45 minutes or until the sides of the pie are puffed slightly. Cool, with the oven door cracked, then cool to room temperature. Chill before serving. Store in refrigerator.

And, there ya have it. My very first baked cheesecake. Ever. And you were witness to it. I hope you try it out too; it was very good. I thought, after I had the chocolate all mixed, this would be great as a marbled cheesecake as well. I think I just might have to try that too.

If you can't get enough cheesecake, check out some of the other great cheesecake recipes. I know they will be happy to have you. :)

Honey Glazed Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:20:00 +0000

I made a vow to not cook this week. It's just so hot that I can't bear to heat up the kitchen any more than I have to. Well, remember I told you Wednesday, we were going grocery shopping? We went, and spent. {yuk} As I was making room in the freezer for more meat, I took out a bag of chicken and put it on the floor. Yeah...forgot about it. We found it about an hour later half frozen.

Well, I remembered, for whatever reason, you are not supposed to refreeze chicken, so in the fridge it went. But, I didn't remember that it was in there until oh...about an hour ago. (it's 2:45 here).

A quick google search led me here. Wow, what great recipes for dump chicken! Fantastical chicken recipes.

I chose the Honey Glazed Dump Chicken recipe and went to work.

Honey Glazed Dump Chicken

Ingredients

5 lbs chicken

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup honey

Directions

Salt and pepper chicken, and place in it the bottom of your crock pot. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.; turn to coat. Cook on high (in my case) for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Shared with these fabulous parties: All My Bloggy Friends #7, Tasty Thursdays #3,

Oh How Pinteresting

noreply@blogger.com (Dana @ Simply You and Me) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:30:00 +0000

It's late for Wednesday's Oh How Pinteresting post, and early for Thursday's official post. But, Maintenance Man has taken off work tomorrow, so I know it will be filled with fun times grocery shopping.

Ugh! Am I the only wife and Mother who absolutely hates to go grocery shopping? I am a ball of nerves when we leave the store. Nine times out of ten, I forget my list, and even if I do have my list 8 times out of ten, the kids are going to add things to the basket. (And yes, MM is included with the kids)

Now on to my Pinterest picks for the week:

Source: griffithsrated.blogspot.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Dana on Pinterest And this:

Source: bonprix.co.uk via Dana on Pinterest

Should be not be allowed on the same page as these:

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: bakedperfection.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: mybakingaddiction.com via Dana on Pinterest

That's it. My Pinteresting Picks for this week. Again, please Pin responsibly..from the original source. This week alone, I clicked on 3 spam Pins and 2 dead links. Boo! Head on over to The Vintage Apple to see more Pintersting finds.