The Last Day of February

It is the big day. 365 days of married life for us! It is fun thinking back to a year ago and all of the little details that made the day so special. It really was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Happy (almost, sort of) Anniversary Sweetie!

Super Easy Stew

Emily requested our Mom's simple stew recipe to cook this weekend. Apparently she created this when, as children, we refused to eat vegetables in the stew. I now do happily eat vegetables in my stew, but I still enjoy this recipe too!

2 lbs. stew meat
1 envelope onion soup mix
14.5 oz. cream of mushroom soup
1 cup beef bouillon

Add all ingredients to a crockpot and cook on low for 8-12 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Serve over white rice. Enjoy!

Good Breakfasts

Today my co-workers and I were discussing quick, healthy breakfasts and sharing good recipes. Here are some of mine. I love that they can be made ahead and reheated in the microwave. Both are from The South Beach Diet Cookbook.

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Cups

4 oz. turkey sausage
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
5 large eggs or egg substitute
12 oz. sliced mushrooms, drained
2 oz. shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 6-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray.
Cook the sausage, pepper, and onion for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and mix in egg and mushrooms. Evenly divide mixture among the muffin cups. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Vegetable Quiche Cups

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheese
1/4 cup diced green bell peppers
1/4 cup diced onions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray.
Microwave the spinach for 2.5 minutes on high and remove excess liquid. Mix the egg substitute, cheese, peppers, onions, and spinach. Evenly divide mixture among the muffin cups.
Bake for 20 minutes.

In Preparation

I loved the fun fabric and the fact that it was on sale, so I made this purchase tonight from the Etsy store Field of Roses. Of course in true style, I waited to the last minute and hope it can make it to me before I leave.





I just have to say, if I had a dachshund, I would have totally picked this one. I love it!

For the Sweet Tooth

I found this recipe recently and planned to make these chocolate chip cookies for Valentine's Day, but I ran out of time. Since we had all of the ingredients, Ben and I decided to make them after dinner on Tuesday night. And they are good! Two thumbs up from us!


Next up...Snickerdoodles!

A Good Vegetarian Dish

Technically this recipe is for Margo, but I'm sure others will enjoy it too.

Baked Portobello Caps with Melted Goat Cheese
from The South Beach Diet Cookbook

1 cup tomato sauce
4 large portobello mushroom caps
4 oz reduced-fat goat cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped nuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 375 F.
Spread the sauce in the bottom of a 9" x 9" baking dish. Arrange the mushroom caps, grill side up, on top. Place a piece of goat cheese on each mushroom. Sprinkle evenly with the nuts.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Top with the chopped basil. Serve.
Makes 4 servings.

The Amazing Race?

The 14th season of The Amazing Race premiered last night and I'm currently watching it on DVR while I iron. I'm giving the show one last chance, although Ben is over it. We loved the first season we saw (season 9) but the seasons have just been getting worse. Last season was just pathetic. We were both highly disappointed with the heavy use of taxis as the mean of transportation (too easy!). Make the contestants figure out public transportation when available, we do when we travel!

One Million Scientists

Today was a holiday for me (unfortunately not for Ben), so I have been home working on chores (I am way behind on the ironing). I was surprised at how different commercials are during the day versus evening (there are some really crazy ones), but I got to see one that made me smile.Technically they only need 999,999 :). Read more here.

Be Mine

Originally, Ben and I thought about going to Tahoe for Valentine's Day, but with the nasty storm coming in we decided to postpone it for another weekend. So, we decided to have a nice dinner with Emily and Scott on Saturday night. Knowing the restaurants were going to be very busy, I figured we could have a nice meal at home. Ben and I quickly cleaned the house and made a yummy old-fashioned beef stew complete with salad and bread.After dinner, we finished the nice Valentine's Day with catching the last showing of the chick flick He's Just Not That Into You.

A nice, quiet Valentine's Day!

To Do or To Have

Interesting article on experiences versus possessions and happiness.

Snow Day

More wacky weather for the third year in a row!

Driving into work today, I noticed the unusual sight of a large amount of snow on the hills of Atascadero and Santa Margarita. I couldn't believe my eyes, I felt like I was in Tahoe! Here is the photo Ben took outside of his window at work of the (much lighter) dusting on the hills in Paso Robles.KSBY has some fun pictures and a video of snow falling at Atascadero City Hall!

Google Latitude

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Ben?*

I picked Ben for the tag line since he travels much more than I do, but we both use Google Latitude (GPS meets Twitter). You do have to "friend" us to see our current location (definitely need to keep the privacy), but it is really easy to do if you are interested!

*Do you remember that totally awesome game?! Oh to be 10 again...

Saving on Dinner

Since I am a saver, I like to try to find areas in the budget to cut back. So Ben and I started a little experiment at the beginning of November - no eating out unless it was with friends or family. Basically this equated to ending the "I am tired after a long day of work and don't feel like cooking. Let's go get Mexican!" that was quickly getting out-of-control and eating up our budget.

Three months in, I am happy to report great success! We still wanted to eat healthy (one should not live off of frozen pizza), so we learned how to make easy, large size dishes that cover many evening meals. To keep dinner interesting, I am always searching for new recipes. Here are two I am planning for next week:

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup

Martha Stewart's Slow-Cooker Greek Stuffed Peppers

Both look really good, I'm excited. I'll let you know if the critics give them a thumbs up!

More for the Kitty

Urban Outfitters has this fun pouf (it really is a word, French for round ottoman) that I think would make a great cheaper version of the chiapod for the kitty.

I will be patiently waiting for it to go on clearance!

Cool Tees

So I saw this cute memory game on SwissMiss and thought..."It's so cute! I should get one for Tegan."I figured it was expensive, but I gasped at the price of $320! Umm...sorry little T but that's a bit much, especially when you are just going to chew on it.

Then I saw all of the cute t-shirts at the somewhat decent price of $26.I need to remember this as a good possibility for future gifts!

Addicted to Saving

Hello. My name is Andrea and I have an addiction.

Super Bowl Sunday for Me

So I do have this on the big TV...because I am waiting for the hour special of this...So exciting!