Mandy and Jace

My wonderful mother-in-law, Linda, gave me this recipe. It is my go to recipe when I need something really fast that I can throw in the crock pot and leave it for the day. It makes enough to last for a couple of days and it also freezes well to save for later.

Cowboy soup
recipe from Linda Gregg
1/2lb to 1lb cooked hamburger meat (depending on how meaty you want it)
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans ranch style beans
1/2 – 1 can ro-tel tomatoes (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 cup water
salt, pepper and fajita seasoning to taste

Pour all ingredients into the crock pot. Use the salt, pepper and fajita seasoning to make it taste like you want it to. Cook until hot. The longer you let it cook the better the soup tastes! I started my soup at lunch and turned it on low. By dinner time it was done.

This photo has nothing to do with food but I love it so much I had to put it up.

Well, we are almost settled into our new house. All I have left to do are the office, guest room and put up decorations. I have to say, things are pretty good around our house right now. We are loving being in our own place. I don’t think I realized how much different is was going to be from being in the apartment. It actually feels like it is mine, and not something that is being loaned to me.

Since our kitchen is now put together, we can go back to our normal cooking schedule, which makes me a happy girl. Dinner time is my favorite time of the day. Not because of the food but because it is our time to catch up on the day and relax (the food’s not too bad either).

Here’s the plan.
Tonight: Teriyaki white rice with veggies
Tuesday: Beef fajitas with rice and refried beans
Wednesday: Cowboy soup (recipe courtesy of my wonderful mother-in-law)
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: date night!

Happy eating!

So we finally did it. We moved out of our apartment and into our very own house. Jace and I have been looking at houses for sale for a long time and we got very close to getting a couple of houses but nothing felt right. I can’t really explain it, but I just new when we walked into those other houses that they weren’t MY house. So about eight months ago the opportunity came up to get a house built by Mark Payne Homes and we jumped on it. The great thing was we were able to watch our house being built. I loved getting to see where everything was going to be and the process of picking out the colors and designs. The entire process was smooth as silk and it is exactly what we were looking for and more.

We are now in the process of moving in. Thanks to my family and our very good friends, Chad and Jamie we are officially moved in. Now, I’m trying to get all of our stuff unpacked and in a designated spot. I never dreamed we had so much stuff. I was sure that I would have no trouble getting everything into this house and now as I’m putting it up, I’m not sure if it’s all going to fit! Be on the look out for a MAJOR garage sale, because I’m getting rid of lots of stuff we don’t need.

I think my favorite part of the house is the kitchen. I love the counters we chose and they look beautiful with the cabinets. We set it up first because I hated the idea of eating fast food all week when all of our cooking equipment was right there in boxes.

While I was working on the kitchen, Jace put together our TV and all the little boxes that comes with it. All I know is it comes on when I push power so I’d say that was a success.

After I got the kitchen together, I put together the living room, bedroom and our bathroom. I know, my priorities are a little screwed up. The unpacking process is coming along quicker than I thought it would, and all I have to do now is work on the office and guest room. I am planning to have an open house in the next month or so so you all can come and see our new house. We love to show it off!

I took TONS of photos. Too many to fit on here so you can find all the rest of the photos here on Flickr.

Well, for those who don’t know, last Friday Jace and I became homeowners for the first time. We are VERY excited, and we are in the process of moving in right now. I will do a post in the next couple of days with all the photos so everyone can see our beautiful new home.

This week’s meal plan is a little different due to Memorial day and unpacking but I am still going to be cooking almost every night. It saves us so much money and it is also much healthier than fast food. The more I read about the complete unhealthiness of fast food the more I want to cook. That doesn’t mean we don’t do any take out, but we just try to keep it to once or twice a week.

Here’s the plan.
Tonight: date night!
Tuesday: sauteed chicken and rice
Wednesday: grilled cheese sandwiches and sweet potato fries
Thursday: take out after praise and worship practice
Friday: Steak, mashed potatoes and corn on the cobb

I have a confession to make. I pray the cooking gods will forgive us. We cheated when we made this dish…

We started to chop all the veggies and I was exhausted and very lazy. So we threw all the veggies into the food processor and pulverized them.

I know, we’re terrible. However you choose to chop the veggies though, it will be very tasty.

Jambalaya
1 tablespoon oil
1 diced bell pepper
2 stalks diced celery
2 diced shallots
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cup rice
1 carton chicken broth
Tony Chachere’s, salt and pepper to taste

Season the chicken generously with the salt, pepper and Chachere’s.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add in the shallots, bell pepper and celery and salt them well. Cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Add in the rice and cook for about 2 minutes to toast the rice. Add in half the carton of chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the rice absorbs the liquid and is soft. Add more chicken broth during cooking if needed.

While the rice is cooking, heat the butter in a saute pan over medium high heat. When butter is brown add the cubed chicken and cook until done.

Pour the cooked chicken into the rice mixture and season to taste with salt, pepper and Chachere’s.