Tater Tot Casserole, For the Win (FTW)

I did it.  I embraced the Minnesotan and made a Tater Tot Casserole (Hot Dish).

A co-worker said to me today, after I proudly announced my weekend accomplishments, "What's with you Minnesotans and your Tater Tots?"  I mean, I knew Tater Tot Casserole (or Hot Dish) was a thing, but I didn't know Tater Tots, as an entity by itself, were a thing for Minnesotans.  Anyway, I asked Kevin what he wanted for dinner on Sunday and he named it into existence.

In true wifey form, I kind of took a recipe and tweaked it to be my own, so here it is:

2 lb lean ground beef (or turkey)
1 can of Progresso Recipe Starters Mushroom version (or you can use Cream of Mushroom soup)
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 medium onion
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
Shredded cheddar cheese
1 package of frozen tater tots

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Chop up the onion and brown it with the beef.  Season to taste with pepper.  Some people like to add extra salt here, but I chose not to.  
3. Meanwhile, combine about 2/3 can of the Recipe Starters, sour cream, and most of the corn in a bowl.
4. When onion/beef is done, distribute in the bottom of a casserole/hot dish sized pyrex.
5. Pour the soup mixture evenly over the beef/onions.
6. Cover with a thin layer of the cheese.
7. Top with frozen tater tots - for best results and taste, make sure the tots fully cover the top ;)
8. Keep it in the oven for about 30 minutes, give or take.
9. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Note: the original recipe I riffed off of said to put MORE cheese on top of the tots.  I thought the one smaller layer was quite enough!

Next time I make this, I'm going to make it with real shredded beef from the slow cooker and attempt to make the yummy cauliflower tots that are all over Pinterest these days.  I was thinking it would be good with some green peppers and/or some green beans added too.  That's how I'd healthify it, anyway!  

Enjoy, my friends. Enjoy.

ELP

Hair-do's and (dental) Hygiene

I want to introduce you to my friend Kate over at The Small Things Blog: http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/

Ok, she's not technically my "friend" BUT I often spend at least an hour per weekend on her blog - which is more than I spend with some of my friends per week, so there.  Plus, if we knew each other in real life, I think we actually would be friends.  She's super down-to-earth, relatable, trusts God, and is a savvy business-woman. I admire how she's taken her skills to the next level and built her own little empire.   Oh yeah, and she kind of has a southern accent, to boot.

Some people like to read blogs about crafting, decorating or remodeling.  I LOVE to watch hair DIYs, and now that my hair is longer, I can actually do some of this stuff.  If I'm trying something new w/ my hair, chances are I got the idea from one of her videos.

On to (dental) hygiene -
So this week, I got my first REAL filling.  I call it a REAL filling because the first filling I got was on my top teeth, so I only experienced a short acting, very local, numbness.  But, when you get one on your bottom teeth, it's a whole new ball game.  And, I'm kind of dramatic.

What the heck?  No one warned me!  Clearly, I should have worked from home for the remainder of the day.  I felt like I had a baseball in my lower lip, my right side of my tongue felt 3x the size of the left, and I talked with a lisp for a solid 3 hours post filling.  Oh yeah - and I am also highly dependent on coffee, so I proceeded to drool all over my chin just a few times that day in front of a few different people.

Joy - So NOW, I floss EVERY NIGHT.  I would encourage you to do the same.  And I know exactly where this cavity came from: noshing on Dots while watching all those Oscar nominated films this fall. I'm ashamed of myself.

2 Trader Joe's Discoveries and 1 Yummy Chicken Dinner

I don't do "cooking" posts too often. Mostly because I forget to take pics of the food AND to me, cooking is a little bit more "assembly" than anything else.  But, I've had some recent successes that I want to share with you all because they are super easy AND Kevin loves.

To start, two recent Trader Joe's Discoveries:

First, I got some of this greek yogurt feta dip to make the broccoli go down more smoothly after I was getting a little tired of my other greek yogurt option:

One night, when staring at a pound of chicken breast of which I had no plans for, and a hungry husband asking "what's for dinner?" - I came up with the idea to split the chicken breasts and STUFF them with this dip. It was the BOMB.  Def making again. So easy (sorry, forgot to take a pic of the final product.  Surprised?).

Nothing gets me like the samples they do at Trader Joe's.  The same day I picked up the above dip, I also tried this soup they made with their "Superfoods" Frozen Veggies + Turkey Kielbasa + chicken broth = super yummy Kale + quinoa + sweet potato + carrot soup!  Only thing I would do next time is to not add the full turkey kielbasa, maybe just half.  

And I got to use my new dutch oven for the first time, to boot!

Ok, in hindsight - not the greatest pic - but it's good, trust me, and there's more kale in there than appears to the eye.  Maybe next time I'll make it with fresh veggies instead of frozen.

AND for the grand finale!  It's super easy Lemony Chicken.  I think I got this from Pinterest, but as per usual, I modified.

Step 1: Take 2 lemons, slice 1 up and juice the other (in a bowl).

Step 2: Spread a little olive oil in a roasting dish and arrange sliced lemons at the bottom of the dish.

Step 3: In the bowl with the lemon juice, add 4 TBS of olive oil, 4 minced cloves of garlic, salt & pepper.

Step 4: Toss green beans and red potatoes (that are quartered).  Arrange in roasting pan.

Step 5: Roast the veggies in the oven for about 15 min at 450.

Step 6: While veggies are in the oven, tenderize the chicken (this is important or they won't cook right) and toss in the lemon/olive oil mixture.

Step 6: Chop up some onions the way you like them.

Step 7: Add chicken + onions to the veggie mixture that's already been in the oven for 15 min.  Roast at 450 for another 30 min or so. 

Step 8: Eat!

If it weren't for Monday being around the corner, Sunday nights would be my FAVORITE!! 

The Older I Get

...a warning before you read this: it could get quite depressing - or uplifting.  We'll see what happens.

Last night, we celebrated Kevin's 30th Birthday.  It was a perfect night - surrounded by great food, good beer, and the people that we love!  It was really a nice illustration of the richness of our lives.  But, along with the planning came a lot of reflection (on my part, can't speak for Kevin) on what it means to be getting 'older.'  I'm 28 at the time, but they say girls are 2 years more mature than boys.  So, I don't know if that means I'm mentally 30 or if Kevin is mentally 28 - but the truth is that there's a lot more you realize with "age" - for better or for worse, so here goes.

The older I get, the more I realize how important relationships are: not quantity, but quality...and how listening (and asking questions) is the key to a great relationship.  So, whether it's family or friends, I constantly trying to make it less about me and more about them.  And frankly, I have a lot of work to do here.  All in all, I'm loving how much closer we are to our family and friends now that we've moved back to Mpls. THIS is what helps brush off the crappy weather we have here.  But seriously, we should ALL think about moving together to a warmer place.

The older I get, the more I realize there's waaaaaaay more to making a good career for yourself than just doing a good job.  Which sucks, because really, I just want to go do a good job and move-on-up.  It's really more like a game of chess - which I can't even really tell you how to play chess.  I guess it's just trial & error and taking chances.

The older I get, the more I realize how hard it is to get rich - and I also realize how I don't really care if I'm rich, I just care that I can have a comfortable life.  I mean, once upon a time, I thought I was going to have a big house and a red Corvette by the time I turned 26.  Bahahaha.

The older I get, the more I realize how women can let society's pressures get to them.  I used to have this vision that motherhood + careerdom + being hot + homemaking + friendships + more could all add up to pure awesomeness.  But more and more, I know that one cannot be awesome at all of these things - and I'm not even a Mom yet.  And I also realize how grown women can constantly feel inadequate.  It's because we compare ourselves too often - and we have to stop that, but we won't stop, so we just have to live with it.

The older I get, the more I realize that the more comfortable I am with who I am on the inside, the more UNcomfortable I will get with who I am on the outside.

The older I get, the more I realize that this might actually be MID-life.  Zoiks.

And finally, the older I get, the more I realize how I struck gold when I found Kevin.  Seriously though - when it comes to husbands, it doesn't get that much better than this :)  This Feb marks 8 years since our first date. Crazy.  Looking forward to the next 8 years, Babe - It's going to be a wild ride!!







 

The Zipper Merge: Learn it, Love it, DO IT!

This morning while I was merging on to 100 north, a car stopped at the beginning of the entry lane to merge into traffic, causing all of the cars behind it (including me) to have to SLAM on their brakes.  After taking a deep breath, I drove around the car to use the remainder of the lane to merge into traffic.

When suddenly, this crazed lady started trying to BLOCK me by straddling the lines between the two lanes so that I COULDN'T PASS HER.  She nearly hit me into the guard rail while she was laying on her horn!

Well, I am clearly a superior driver to her because I know that the rule of the road is to use the full merge lane and proceeded to do so.

Minnesotans are SO BAD at driving, especially in rush hour (presumably because of "MN NICE"), that the state had to create an entire campaign to inform MN drivers about this.

So, I'll continue letting people in who "come to the front of the line" because they're driving correctly: they're NOT jerks.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/zippermerge/

Best Wifey Ever: Packers Game Day Edition

Whenever Kevin thinks the dinner I made is awesome, he says, "Best wifey ever."  So, I'm going to name my recipe posts "Best Wifey Ever" because I wouldn't share them with you unless he give them this seal of approval.

It's Sunday, and we're getting ready to watch the Packer (vs. Giants) game.  I LOVE to make chili + some kind of corn bread or biscuit for Packer games, so in true traditional fashion, I did.

But, I've been wanting to try...

Wait - Jordy Nelson just scored a TD!!! Wahoo! He's seriously a stud.  Now, Crosby, don't miss the extra point, K?

Anyway, I've been wanting to try a white chicken chili for a while now. I was prepping to make some frozen dinners for a friend who had her second little baby boy (I visited on Friday and could NOT get enough of him).  I made her this same recipe but all I got was one spoonful to approve the taste.

It's a great recipe - just enough spice, and next time, I'll prob use milk instead of whipping cream, but it's Thanksgiving weekend so might as well LIVE IT UP!

http://www.annies-eats.com/2008/09/25/white-bean-chicken-chili/

In other news, Roger's stache is epic.

GO PACK GO!

Super Seckzy Sox

As many of you know, I fall down the stairs a lot.
A LOT.

So, I've been keeping an eye out for a *cheap* pair of slippers/socks with grippies on the bottom.

Kevin was SO excited to see this sexiness when he got home from class tonight...

He said, "They're probably necessary."