Mandy and Jace

We had a great weekend! Friday evening we went to the Quarterlife BBQ and it was a blast. My cheeks still hurt from laughing so much. Thank you Chad and Amanda for opening up your home to all of us.

We also put together several book shelves that we got at IKEA. I think we only have one more to go. The process seems never ending, but the ones we have up look great.

This weeks meal plan is a good one!

Tonight: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cobb (yes, fried food)
Tuesday: pork chops and mashed sweet potatoes
Wednesday: burritos on the go (leftover meat from previous days with peppers and onions)
Thursday: Not sure yet…I’m going to try to throw something together after praise and worship practice
Friday: date night
Saturday: my birthday dinner at Shoguns!!!!

Happy eating!

I have been on this never-ending quest to make the perfect blueberry muffin. I am in love with the blueberry muffins at Starbucks. Like, holy cow I will take them all now, love. They are super sweet and lick the plate good. Lady like goes out the window when I eat these. Now, I can’t afford to eat these every day so I need to find one that I can make and like as much. I have to say I’m on my way. These are not as cakey as Starbucks but they are just as tasty, and actually much healthier.

I got this recipe from my friend Sommer, who got the recipe from her sweet mother-in-law Ann. I knew they had to be good if the recipe came from Ann and Sommer’s prego taste buds loved them. By the way, Sommer has the most adorable blog that everyone should check out and add to their google reader. It is called My Precious Family and it’s a great read.

Bledsoe’s blueberry muffins
1 1/2 cups Flour (I’ve used whole wheat and white flour and both work beautifully)
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup orange Juice
1/2 cup vegetable Oil
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 C Blueberries (If you use frozen your muffins will be a blue color)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl combine the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add orange juice, oil and egg and stir just until combined. Overmixing=tough muffins! Fold in the blueberries and fill lined or greased muffin tins with the batter until 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

We are finally back home and settled. I am actually sorry that vacation is over. I really could have gotten used to not having anything to do.

This week we are going to be making a trip to Andrews to make dinner for Jace’s grandparent’s anniversary. We have a big meal planned and I’m sure it will be excellent. I will be attempting to banana pudding for dessert (it can’t be that difficult) and Jace will be grilling chicken.

On Friday our church’s 18-30 group Quarterlife is having a cookout at the McNeely’s house. Great food and great friends, sounds like a great night to me. If you want information just let me know, and I can get you the address. Everyone’s welcome!

Here’s the plan.
Tonight: anniversary dinner. Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cobb and banana pudding.
Tuesday: some kind of beef stir fry with lots of veggies
Wednesday: grilled sandwiches and chips
Thursday: take out after praise and worship practice
Friday: Quarterlife cookout

We are still enjoying our vacation, so I will not be doing a meal plan for this week. Hope everyone had a great 4th and has a great rest of the week.

Happy eating!

I absolutely love a good hamburger. Hamburger, cheeseburger, sliders they all make me a very happy girl. They are also a summertime staple around here. There is nothing I like more than eating a juicy burger right off the grill. Oops, I just drooled on my keyboard a bit.

I was a little worried when I made these. I had seen some hamburger patties with cheese cubes mixed in the meat. I had initially mistaken them for butter and asked about them and they quickly corrected me. Then I got to thinking, butter makes everything better, why not burgers? So I cut the butter into cubes and mixed them into the meat. People, that was the best thing I ever did. They were delicious! Not healthy by any means, so be smart and eat in moderation.

The juiciest burgers ever
makes 5 large patties
1 lb ground beef
2 tbs butter, cold and cubed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Throw all ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon is you don’t want to get your hands dirty. If you have time, let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. In the words of AB “your patience will be rewarded”. Form the patties and grill to your desired doneness.