Conundrum

So on Friday night Smalls and I went out to dinner to celebrate another trip around the sun.  We have not been out to dinner on a date night in a while so it was nice to get out and enjoy each other’s company.  We started off at the bar with a nice glass of Malbec.

I secretly wanted the bartender to make this for me ; )

VIA

When we go out to eat we normally split our meals and share...a little surf and turf if you may.  I haven’t been craving big chunks of cow lately but for some reason on Friday I wanted a steak.  One of my favorite dishes is scallops so we ended up getting one of each.  I also love myself a baked potato and some asparagus.  Yes I am a bad Jew and eat shellfish and dairy with my meat.  So what is cool about this place is that they serve your food on a hot salted stone that comes out of the oven at 675 degrees (guesstimation).  

We enjoyed everything we ordered and know we will be coming back for more good food.  BUT...we have a small problem on our hands.  See, Smalls is a wonderful cook and he can figure out what seasons he needs to bring out great flavor.  He has this phenomenal talent, its like playing piano by ear.  I have to give credit to all of the restaurants we have been to.  We have tried their food, found something we loved and then copied it to make our own. So we are now in a conundrum if we should go out to eat.  I am thinking yes.  We need to keep trying new places and seeing new faces.  Then maybe I can start sharing some of the yummy recipes Smalls makes we when try something truly amazing!!! Oh and If you would ever like an invitation to enjoy a home cooked meal, let me know.  We love to share ; )

Small’s version

Andi

April in the D

So it is the end of April and we still have winter weather!!! Blah!!! Yep that’s how I am feeling lately.  Yesterday we had the honor of snow visiting us.  The kids thought we were heading into Christmas not Memorial Day.  Smalls and I also got the chance to visit Comerica Park and pay a visit to the Tigers.  We stayed till the 6^th inning but then our butts could not handle the cold anymore.

 At least the sun came out...

Oh wait that’s the moon...sorry.  Today was not any better for warmth and we saw some interesting winds outside the windows.  I do not think I have ever seen trees bend the way they did today.  I am hoping with the new moon we can get some warmer weather.  

I know I could use some growth of the plants around my house to bring the feeling of spring. From checking the 15-day forecast we have this optimistic outlook to these beautiful days ahead.  Here is me keeping my fingers crossed!!!

And just for a good laugh...here you go!!!

VIA

Andi

Tutu Withdrawal...

 HELP!!!  I am falling into a dark hole and don’t know if I will be able to find my way out!!!  I have found a new love...and that would be tulle.  Yep, you read that correctly I LOVE TULLE. I have been a tutu-making machine lately and now it has now come to a complete STOP.  What am I to do?

 I got to make some awesome tutus for my nieces and I am so excited about them that I could not wait a month to show them off.  Yes I promise to not break my arm by patting myself on the back ; ) So here they are in all of their puffiness!!!

These babies took some time and a butt load of tulle, but they were so worth it, mostly because whom they were made for.  I then got an offer to make one for the daughter of one of the ladies I work with.  So this one had to be totally girly with pink, purple, pink and purple.  What 5 year old would not love to twirl in this?  I kind of wished I did it the way I did my niece’s tutus but I am still loving it.

So now what you might ask what am I doing?

Yep I am in a total withdrawal!!!  If you would like to help a girl out just let me know what color and size you want : D Hope you are having a wonderful week.

Andi

P.s. In all seriousness if you would like a tutu I am thinking of starting a little side biz of making them.  What is the best thing about my tutus?  Not only are they made with fun at heart but also with the wallet in mind!!! Let me know.

A Little Rock For Your Rye...

Oh a fun yummy kid-hearted drink for a nice sun shiny day.  Smalls and I love a good ole’ fashion root beer float, especially if it was made with A&W Root Beer. Yum. So we wanted to keep to the “float” but be true to our Detroit love...so I present you with a Faygo Rock & Rye float. Yum, yum.  

I know we are not the first geniuses to think of this but I can tell you it wasn’t until Smalls and I put our heads of randomness together to make one of these. We love to talk food and the “what-ifs” of recipes that we decided to make one. So cheers to good times, fun, and just being a kid every now and then.

Andi

Ramblings...

TGIF!!!  Oh man has it been a long week...I can say that I am so happy that tonight is pizza night with Smalls and I can just relax!!!  It has been a very stressful and long week.  Thankfully my kiddos have been good mostly and have earned themselves a yummy treat next week!!!  So I kind of have writer’s block and have not really been crafting, that I don’t have much to share.  I do however have a few fun things to tell you about.

1.  Smalls started his new job on Monday!!! Yippie!!!

2.  We are getting a puppy.  We miss our baby girls so much and just can’t handle not each having a pup to walk.  So we will be picking up this handsome boy when school gets out June 7^th.  We will take a little mini-vaca up to the U.P. to get him.  

He is only about 10 days old here

3.  I found a new way to make tutus and tried it for my niece’s 1^st birthday next month.  We wanted it to go POOF.  What do you think?  Did I do it justice?

4.  And I have 33 wake-ups left until enjoying my lazy summer (might not be so lazy now chasing a new puppy around the house)

 

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Maybe something fun will happen or we will make something yummy that I can share before Monday.

Andi

Soup Done Right!!!

All right my hungry friends...here is a very yummylicious soup that definitely brings the flavor.  It is our Chicken Chorizo Tortilla Soup.  Yes I know it has a long name but it is worth it.  Everyone will want some of this!!!  My favorite is the topping!!! It is just a like a yummy bowl of French Onion soup but its got a Mexican flair.  Okay here is what you will need...

• 1.5 lbs. - Chicken cut-up
• 8 oz. - Chorizo
• 6 - Red Skins
• 4 tablespoons - Olive Oil (depends on your stock pot could use less/more)
• 4 tablespoons - Chicken Base
• 24 oz. - Water
• 1 - 15.5 oz. can of Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 large - White Onion
• 1 - Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 – 1 - bunch of Cilantro (we like cilantro)
• 1 teaspoon - Cumin
• 1 teaspoon - Chipotle
• Salt & Pepper
• Tortilla Chips
• Mexican Cheese (shredded)
• Sour Cream
• Green Onion

So first cut up your potatoes and boil them.  

Then in a stockpot heat your oil to a high heat and add your chicken.  Let that cook while you cut up your onion, pepper and cilantro.  We like to add our onions, salt & pepper first to really give them a good sauté.  Next, add cumin and chipotle to help season the chicken and onions.  Let those everything simmer.  

Then add cilantro and then the red pepper.  You want your soup to build while it sautés.  Let everything sit for a minute to give it some cook time and flavor. Next add the fire-roasted tomatoes.  Time to now add your chorizo, literally squeeze that baby out of the tube. 

Finally dump in the potatoes and top with the chicken base.  Your water comes in when you dump the potatoes in. 

Now it is time for the soup to stew...let it sit for at least an hour covered on a low heat (or you can transfer into a crock-pot).  The longer it stews the yummier it gets.

Once your soup is ready it is time for the fun stuff!!!  Put the soup in an oven safe bowl and top with a layer of crushed tortilla chips and cheese (your preference of thickness).  Broil the soup for 2 minutes to melt the cheese and chips together. 

 

Then safely pull out of oven and top with a dollop of sour cream and green onion.  Lastly, ENJOY!!!  This soup is even better the next day...

 I hope you enjoy this yummy soup, I know we sure do!!!

Andi

What a sad day...

VIA

Patriot’s Day...a day to remember, a day to celebrate, a day to run.  Today marks a sad day in running and American history.  I ask the question why to get no knowledge of the true reason.  Why would someone set bombs off in a town full of celebration?  Why bring tragedy to happiness?  We seem as Americans to be asking this question a lot lately with all of the nasty things that have been going on in our country.  I am sad and hurt, as an American, a teacher, and as a runner.  T o much has hit to close to home for me and I am not sure which way to look.

I am a runner I am a marathoner. I have spent my life around the sport starting at a young age and have been doing it all along.  I ran in high school, college and now after.  I have coached high school and now teach elementary kids about running.  I run in races, I run marathons.  I could never imagine running 26.2 miles, training months on end, dealing with injuries, to have such a joyous event end the way it did today.  What will now happen to this sport?  What can I come to expect in my next race?  I hope we, as runners will be able to grow from today’s events and learn whatever lesson we can.  May today only make us stronger, faster, smarter.  My heart and prayers are in Boston today.

Andi

I Am Going Comercial!!!

So I am a just a few days shy of being a blogger for a whole month and I am truly loving it.  I have never been a fan of writing and it was always hard for me to put my thoughts down.  I never kept a diary or a journal; but I had many attempts though.  Even teaching writing to my students I struggle to come up with Small Moment Stories to model for them.  Then to see my students struggle with writing as well is also difficult.  However, for some reason words just flow when writing about some random topic.  My favorite thing about the blog is the comments I receive both on the blog and in person.  When the ladies at work tell me in the staff lounge about just waiting to take showers when I have babies.  Or text messages about the silly pictures I post of ballerinas mooning you.  Or the comments I get from complete strangers that can relate to me.  Those things give me the warm and fuzzies.

Now for the dark side of this post...

My intentions of becoming a blogger never were to have a million followers, but I did want to host giveaways, and give my friends an opportunity to get some cool stuff.  So with giveaways I need to build my numbers of followers, readers, page hits, likes, pinners, etc.  Well I do not know how fast blogs grow but I am thinking mine is at a snails pace.  Again I do not care about my numbers I just want to write what is light hearted (most of the time) and have fun.  I want my readers to enjoy and not think about the drains of their day when reading my posts.  I believe I should have pictures because who doesn’t like to look at a visual when reading (it’s the kid in me). So I see every blogger out there has sponsors and advertisements...well I want my blog to have those too!  I feel every blog should be treated equally, right?  So I look up how to get advertisers and I see you can do it through your “earnings” link.  Well I kept seeing the “earnings” link on the side of my dashboard.

Well what’s this? Lets check it out...so I do and I fill out all of the information and start to get excited. And I wait and wait (they told me it could be up to a week before I get a response).  Then boom my email alerts me I have a something new in my inbox!!! Could it be? Could it be the wonderful news that Google Ad Sense loves my blog like I do and they want to start bombarding it with advertisements!?!  Well I open it up and this is what I read...

Well totally deflated.  A little sad, a little hurt.  Not accepted into their program.  What? Why? Is there something wrong?  Have I put something up that is inappropriate?  Was my shower post a little to forward thinking?  I mean I swear sometimes but I am no sailor.  Am I just not cool enough?  Do I not have the right numbers?  What could it be?  So when Smalls gets home from work I tell him my bad news and he tells me to not worry about it.  I have only been blogging for a month and I am doing fine.  I shake my head and trust in his words and push on.  I am not going to let that silly email get me or my blog down.  I am not going to let those numbers get to me...and I am just going to write from my heart and my head, sometimes. 

So please keep the comments coming and I don’t care if they are posted on the blog, sent by text, or said in person.  Hell, send them by snail mail.  Thanks for reading my first downer of Blogland; hopefully it’s the last.  Hope you are having a great weekend.

Andi