Random update

Today I was Central Market doing a little bit of light grocery shopping and I saw that their corn is on sale 10/$1!

Of course I bought 10 ears. We go through corn very quickly here in this household. We incorporate it one way or another in probably 4 out of 7 meals.

Yum!

Tonight I'm making mahi mahi. I was roped into trying a sample at the demonstration kiosk (in between the seafood and fruit sections) and WHOA. That had to be some of the best fish I have tasted in my life. The lady pointed me towards the rub she used and advised me on how to cook it. The fish had just been flown in fresh from Hawaii that morning so I couldn't resist trying it out on my own. I've got some pretty high standards to live up to but here's to hoping that mine comes out as good as the bit I tasted earlier today!

On a slightly different subject... thank goodness Babystyle is back! There was a bit of a dry spell there for a while but now, now I think we're on the right path.












Newbies from The Gap:










Has anyone else been listening to the new Coldplay album? I'm really loving it. I know it's gotten some negative reviews but I don't care, I think it's great! I have been listening to it non stop for the last 2 weeks!

What I have been doing

Let's see...

I've been playing this:



Planning this course (more on this in a bit):





Working on this in my kitchen:



Working on this w/ Rylee:



(Going pretty well actually, may I suggest a sticker book to aide you in your toilet education? It's working very well for us)

Eating dinner here with the girls:





(Thanks for coming along girls, that was a lot of fun!)

Last night I tried one of those meal kits from Central Market - Rylee and I walked the store yesterday because we stopped in at The Learning Express which just so happens to be next door to my favorite centrally located market.

I really love that place. We practically had lunch in there just walking through. Fresh oranges, bread and olive oil, banana-orange juice, shrimp cocktail, kettle fried tortilla chips w/ some DELICIOUS raspberry salsa, yummy sea salt potato chips, samples of gouda and brie (for me, not her) and a really good cream cheese and fruit dip that was being served with a honey wheat bread. I picked up some of the juice, the bread, the salsa, some fresh corn and butter tortillas (love to get those when they are still warm!) and I also grabbed this:




I'm not usually a big meal kit person - but this one sounded good (it was POURING and gloomy yesterday) so I figured I'd try it seeing as how CM has never really disappointed me.

It took an hour and 45 minutes to cook and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

This was a great soup and the veggies were super fresh. Rodney actually loved it and he really dislikes bell peppers in any form. He kept telling me that it was a great meal - we put some grated cheese over the top and had a few corn tortillas with it. It says on the package that it serves 4 but I'm pretty sure they meant 8. We have a lot leftover but that's okay with us!

YUM!



Now that meal kits and I are friends, I think they're going to be especially useful for those nights that I have been working on cakes all day and don't feel like cooking. Hurray!

Lastly, I am doing a series of basic cake decorating classes in July. I'm pretty excited about it - I've been working on the curriculum, getting handouts together and deciding what is important and what isn't. So if you're in the DFW area and you are interested, drop me a line and let me know! It's going to be a lot of fun and hopefully very educational!

sicksicksick

I'm sick. I could tell on Friday that it was coming on but I told myself that it was only sleep deprivation. I woke up yesterday feeling pretty yuck but forced myself to take a hot bath/shower and complete the errands I'd scheduled for the day. We did get most of what I set out to do before the downpour set in and we decided to come home.

One of the things I needed to do was go back to the cake shop, which is apparently my new home. I got some things I needed for Rodney's birthday cakes this week and some fancy foil. I can spend money in that place so fast. And yes, it was my THIRD time in this week.

The Gruver-Hoovers got here around 4:30. Jess were off to do our shopping for the evening (and a little for ourselves) at Central Market. Central Market on a Saturday is crazy to begin with but Central Market in Southlake on a Saturday is pure insanity. Despite us trying to get through as fast as we could, it took us over 2 hours to do our grocery shopping.

We came back here and had to start on dinner immediately. Jess started on the guac, I made and got the cake in the oven and also made the Sangria. After the guac was made, she started chopping more veggies and I got the lime-cilantro rice started. We bought a few key west pinks (shrimp) and some cocktail sauce to snack on, along with some super fresh salsa from the salsa bar and some organic corn tortilla chips with sea salt.

The guac that Jess made turned it out great, it's Chipotle's recipe and we all gobbled it down!



For the main course, we made shrimp and corn tacos (corn tortillas) with spicy black beans and lime-cilantro rice.

I'm sure you can find the recipes for the tacos and the black beans here as I'm assuming she will post them this week.

The rice is a recipe from Martha that I use all of the time and just love. It's very easy and delicious!

Complete, with Red Wine Sangria to drink!



Everyone loved the food, it was great and I love cooking with Jess. Shopping was fun too, even if it was overly crowded. We used to grocery shop every week together when I lived just down the road.

After dinner, we talked and sat around for a little while. Rylee wanted to wear my headband and the boys did the dishes.




Working hard?


Or hardly working?


Jess will be a good mom...Someday.



We put Rylee to bed shortly after and started to play some games. Amidst the first game, I finished up the cake I was making and served dessert. This cake is from one of The Cake Doctor books, written by Anne Byrn. It's very easy, and very fast!

1 devils food cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 veg oil
1 box of chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except chips. Once mixed, fold in chips. Bake in a greased and floured pan for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

You're supposed to use a bundt cake pan but I typically use two loaf pans and it works just as great. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm. I also thew together a little whipped cream to go on top! It added just the perfect amount of sweetness!

Yum!




After we finished our cake on the back porch, we continued our game. Did I mention we played boys against girls? The first game we played was Shout About Music.

Boys:



Girls:




Yeah. We're kind of awesome.


We played Shout About Movies next. I didn't take any pictures of that one but we won 98 to 37. Or maybe they had 38, not sure. What I am sure of, is that we WON.

Gruver-Hoovers left shortly after that and I retired to bed. I was beat and my body was screaming for me to crawl under the covers. I woke up this morning feeling even worse than yesterday. I can't breathe, my body aches, I'm all sniffles, it's awful. We had some other things to do today as well, and I forced myself out again. I started to feel slightly better this evening but not much.

Coming up tomorrow: the whole wheat pizza I made tonight and hopefully shopping (if I feel better) for hub's birthday. Oh! and if I do feel better, I might be singing at Tango practice tomorrow night!