Maybe the Creator's of Zombieland were right...

There have been two articles recently that have stuck out like a sore thumb to me. 

An individual from Texas has started an online petition to secede from the union.  While this really is not new news, I mean pretty much every time an election finishes, someone starts one of these petitions because they are unhappy with the outcome of it, but this time they actually got enough 'signatures' to get a response from the White House.  I believe that the actual limit is somewhere around 25,000 signatures within 30 days is needed to get their official response.  Even then, I believe they can opt out of responding if they wanted, I mean, they are the government.  This whole situation completely reminds me of the Family Guy episode where Peter starts his own country and calls it Petoria.

I wonder what they would call Texas if they started their own nation? 

 

At this point, It looks like Texas has over 100,000 signatures.  While this sounds like a lot it's only approximately .4% of their population.  In fact, their petition is starting to look a little silly as Austin and El Paso have both put in petitions that they would like to stay part of the US.  I seriously am doubting the validity of any single state seceding from the Union.  It didn't end well for Petoria, so I have my doubts of it ending well for any other single state. 

 

This other issue, in my mind, is of utmost importance.  It appears as if the creators of Zombieland had it right when they showed Tallahassee not finding that little succulent creme filled yellow sponge cake we know as a Twinkie. 

 

 

According to the headlines recently, Hostess will be filing for bankruptcy.

 

 

What exactly does this mean?  Well besides the fact that over 18,500 employees will be losing their jobs, the people who make not only twinkies, but also Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs, Snowballs and Cupcakes will no longer be doing just that.

 

If they were right about the Twinkies, what else were the creator's of Zombieland right about? 

 

 

Sources: 

1.  http://www.inquisitr.com/401979/texas-secession-petition-surpasses-100000-signatures/

2.  http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=6d7b095e-e558-4dc4-83e9-1859d177e676&ocid=ansmony11



Menu Plan Monday 11/12 to 11/18

 

Hello, and Happy Monday!  This past week has felt like it has been incredibly busy.  Looking back, it really doesn't sound like I had a lot going on, but it sure felt like it. 

Work has been super busy lately, just with the normal shuffle of the new month as well as people being on vacation, things have gotten just crazy.  Home has been busy too, just with trying to keep up with everything with the kids, the hubby, and just trying to keep it together.

Last week Ashton had his first grade nursery rhymes musical.  It was so adorable.  He sure makes me proud of him.  I also got some exciting news about my brother's wedding, you can read about that here.  And last but not least, I actual tried another craft that I pinned on pinterest (I know, amazing, since normally I just pin stuff and never follow through on it).  I didn't get any pictures of it, but if I get a chance, I'll do another of this particular pinterest craft to post here later this week hopefully. *crossing my fingers*

Anyways, here's what's happening for our evening meals this week:

Monday

Chicken Fried Steak

Mashed Potatoes

Veggies

 

Tuesday

Leftovers

 

Wednesday

Spaghetti w/ Meatballs

Salad

Garlic Bread

 

Thursday

Mac N' Cheese with Hamburger

Veggies

 

Friday

Meatloaf

Rice

Veggies

 

Saturday

Tuna Helper

Veggies

Biscuits

(Unless I find a recipe I want to test before Saturday)

 

Sunday

Chicken Bacon Roll ups

Noodles

Veggies

 

So what's your family having for dinner?  Have you found any new recipes that are keepers lately?

 

As always, linking this up over at Lara's Menu Plan Monday. 

 

Happy Menu Planning!



Chocolate Chip Donuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

I recently came across this recipe both on Pinterest and Strut Your Stuff Saturday for Chocolate Chip Donuts with Peanut Butter Glaze.  Since I saw this recipe, I have been thinking about making them pretty much constantly.  It has been a constant buzzing in the back of my mind for probably a good solid two weeks.

So this weekend, I broke down, went out and bought a donut pan, and actually made them.  I have to say that normally I am completely happy with the Pinterest recipes I've tried, I was a little disappointed in this one.

I should clarify that my disappointment was not in the donut.  The donut was delicious.  I was letdown by the peanut butter glaze.  I'm not sure if I missed a step in the whole process of making it, or if it turned out how it was suppose to and just wasn't as tasty as I thought it should be?  Who really knows.  I think I may be trying the glaze again to see if it comes out differently, especially since my glaze looked nothing like the one in the picture at A Kitchen Addiction's blog, where I got the recipe.

While I was a little dissatisfied with my results, the kids were very pleased.  They both thought they were very tasty, and Sydney loved decorating them.  She thought it was pretty fun to dump the sprinkles on them.

 

Ashton's exact words were that they were good, good enough to have again, but that he likes the store ones better. 

That being said, I think that there is room for improvement, although I'm thinking I may just need to practice up and try getting my glaze on again.

Any who, here is the recipe for these little guys, just in case you want to give it a go. 

Peanut Butter Glazed Chocolate Chip Donuts
From A Kitchen Addiction's Blog
Makes 6 donuts (per A Kitchen Addiction, the recipe doubles well)

For the donuts

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips in mine)

Glaze
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs. creamy peanut butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in milk, vanilla, and egg until well-combined. (I ended up using slightly more milk than was called for, the batter was too dry at first)  Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag or gallon-sized bag with the tip snipped off. Fill donut cavities about 2/3 full.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until donuts just start to turn light golden brown. Do not over bake.  Remove donuts to wire rack to cool.

To prepare glaze, melt together butter and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Add milk and boil for another 2 minutes. Be sure to continue stirring.

Turn heat to low and stir in confectioner’s sugar and peanut butter until smooth. Keep over low heat while glazing donuts to prevent glaze from hardening.

Allow glaze to cool before serving.   Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Enjoy.

A Star is Born, the Musical Debut

I feel like my children are growing up too fast.  It was only four short years ago my daughter was just born.  My son was still in diapers.  I still had bottles in the cupboard and binkies in every room of the house.  Those days are long gone now.

My daughter is in preschool.  My son is in first grade.  While I miss the good ole' days of them being completely dependent on my for pretty much everything, ranging from me feeding their faces to wiping their tushes, I am so proud of the bright little people they are becoming.  They both have such amazing futures ahead of them.

This last Thursday, my son's first grade class put on a musical for the parents.  They've been studying nursery rhymes, so the music teacher put the nursery rhymes to music and added some dance motions to it. 

It was pretty spectacular.

Afterwards to celebrate Ashton's musical debut, we hit Dairy Queen.  They both celebrated Ashton's performace with a healthy dose of ice cream.

 

Watch out world, the Diaz kids are coming.

Walking on Sunshine

Have you ever had one of those day where everything has just fallen into place?  Things have just gone so well that you check to see if you are really still awake?  I have felt like I was walking on sunshine today.  That is how today has gone for me. 

 

I started off the day by walking into my office to a Quad Venti Nonfat No Whip Caramel Brulee latte.  This drink is absolutely magical.  I think it may be the unicorn horn sprinkled on top, or something, otherwise I don't know how it could possible taste so delicious.  Who knows.  All I know is that I love starting my day off to some great coffee, especially when it's brought by a co-worker who just wanted to brighten my day!  It worked.

 

After I had woken up a bit and gotten some work done, I began thinking about the fact that Thanksgiving is just around the corner... Not too much longer until the bird will be cooking!  We always end up cooking at our house and inviting family over.  It seems to work better since then the kids aren't thrashing a house that is not their own while they are waiting for the food to be done.  I decided I better get to it and check to see what my brother and his fiance's plans were, since we hadn't talked about Thanksgiving yet with them.

After getting the Thanksgiving talk out of the way with my future sister Tricia, she started to talk about how the wedding stuff was coming along.  They are having their nuptials next October, so there is still a bit of time for planning, but I enjoy hearing about their wedding.  It is going to be truly amazing.

Anyways, the subject came around specifically to the catering portion of the wedding.  This part of weddings is always a bit spendy, so it's been one they have been thinking about for a bit.  I don't want to ruin any secret plans for anyone who may be going to the wedding so I'm not going to go into detail, but of course since food was mentioned, so was the desserts.

I am so excited about the dessert portion of their wedding!  Tricia and Dan have asked me to do their cake!  I cannot even express how excited and honored I am for this.  My baby brother and his fiance want ME to do their dessert for their WEDDING DAY, which is only one of the most memorable days of their lives.  I am completely on cloud nine!

 

I absolutely love baking.  It is so satisfying to make something that not only tastes delicious, but that is also visually appealing.  So when they asked me to do their desserts, of course I agreed!

 

(see below for some of my previous creations)

 

 

 

The whole dessert news had me floating through the rest of the day.

 

The final cherry on top of this great day was the raffle we had at work.  The administration department at my work has been doing a fundraising drive for the United Way.  Today was sort of the last Hoo Hah for it.  They were having a cookie social, a 50/50 raffle drawing, and a raffle drawing for a designated parking spot. 

 

The raffle for the designated parking spot was for any spot in the parking lot that the winner wants, excluding of course the handicap spots.  I purchased exactly one ticket for both raffles.

 

And guess what!?!? I won the designated parking spot.

 

I was completely surprised!  I only bought one measly ticket, and out of all the many tickets I sold, I won!!! 

 

It has been amazing day! 

The Ham on the Vending Machine

One day, quite some time ago, while I was still in high school in fact, I was standing in front of the vending machines with two friends, Laura and Stefanie.  We were perusing the wide selection of chocolate covered corn syrup confections when a boy suddenly burst from the cafeteria, slapped an oval shaped piece of sandwich ham (not to be confused with spiral ham or ham steak ham) on the vending machine and ran off.

The ham stuck.

I laughed uncontrollably.  I laughed so hard that I thought I may pee myself.  And then the ham slowly peeled off the machine, as if in slow motion, and fell onto the ground.

This naturally caused me to continue to laugh hysterically.  I had to sit down because I was laughing so hard.

I'm not sure why I found the ham being slapped onto a vending machine quite so funny.  Laura and Stefanie really didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did.

Olan Rogers tells stories that are pretty amusing.  He is the Master Commander.  And unlike the ham on the vending machine, his story is actually pretty hilarious. 

Check it out.

Cheesy Chicken Tacos

I first was introduced to these delicious little rolls of flour, chicken, and cheese goodness over 12 years ago at my best friends house.  It was late evening and we both had some seriously voracious appetites.  We looked through the cupboards and settled on these cheesy chicken tacos. 

To this day, I still make this delicious meal for my family.  My kids and my husband all love it.  A good friend, April, even said she almost always cooks her diced chicken this way now since it is so scrumptious. 

The first step to preparing the tacos is to dice up some chicken.  I like to use chunks, but if you prefer to julienne your chicken, so be it.

Once this chicken is all sliced and ready to be cooked, toss it into a skillet with a generous squirt of Italian dressing.

 

 

Cook the chicken until it is cooked all the way through and the Italian dressing has cooked down.

 

 

Meanwhile, while the chicken is cooking, in a small saucepan combine a can of cheddar cheese soup and half a jar of salsa.

 

Mix until the cheese soup and salsa are combined and then keep on the burner until hot all the way through.

Once the cheesy salsa is hot and the chicken is cooked, serve up the tacos.  I like to put just the chicken, cheese, and cheesy salsa... no veggies on this taco.

The kids on the other hand eat the tacos with just the chicken and cheese... They can't handle the salsa; but they love the chicken and cheese by itself on the tortilla.

 

However you make your taco, we sure hope your family enjoys these delicious morsels as much as we do!  ☺

 

(Linking this up over at Mandatory Mooch's Tasty Thursday!  Check it out, I'm featured this week!)