with hearts of gratitude

 

Thank you to all the people that have sacrificed for our country.  It is a privilege to live in a place that is free.  Thank you Aaron for giving up a year of your life to serve overseas, away from your beautiful wife and family, as well as your years spent stateside as well.  Love you lots!

 

 

 

On Friday, this past weekend, Mike and I traveled to Murfeesboro, TN to watch Harden Valley Academy High School men’s soccer team play in the State Finals against Science Hill.  It was an incredible game and awesome to see our guys win STATE!! JP even got a yellow card!  Congratulations JP and all the other men of the HVA Soccer Team!  Here are a few additional unedited pictures =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, while fixing a quick shake before cycling with Bryan and Kyra yesterday, our hummingbird feeder was a buzz.  I first saw a mama hummingbird and then the daddy came later.  Mike was able to get a few shots of the female.  Guess it’s time to clean our window and maybe even take out the screen for summer time so we can get better shots! =)

Hope yall enjoyed your weekend as well.

killer white cheese dip

On Wednesday this week, I decided to cook some Chimichangas.  Mike loves them at this little mexican restaurant up in Oak Ridge so I thought I give it a try.  The meat was easy peasy with this recipe.  I cooked the meat the night before because it takes a few hours to get really good and tender.

The little Mexican place serves their chimichangas with a white cheese sauce.  Finding a good White Cheese Queso recipe is difficult but this one is truly KILLER! and worth the effort for sure.

Killer White Cheese Dip

• 1/3 finely chopped white onion
• 2-3 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 2 cups whole milk (worth the purchase, helps prevent the mealy texture)
• 8 oz asadero cheese grated (or queso melting cheese) it should be a soft cheese, but not quite as soft as fresh mozzarella
• salt and pepper to taste
• *if you want more heat, you can add 1- 8oz can of chopped green chiles
• *top with a little cilantro for aesthetics

1. Chop onion and jalapeno in food processor to make sure they are good and minced.
2. Sauté onion/pepper mix along with garlic in a medium sauce pot with a little Olive Oil on Medium heat until soft and sweet. Remove from pot into a small bowl.  Mix in cumin. Set aside.
3. Turn down heat to Low.  Melt butter slowly.
4. Once melted, add flour and stir to combine. Continue stirring for about 1-2 minutes until mixture begins slightly bubbling .
5. Add a little of the milk and whisk to combine.  Allow to simmer for a minute then slowly add the rest of the milk, whisking to combine. 
6. Turn the heat up to Medium-Low. Continue to simmer mixture, whisking often, for about 5-10 minutes until you notice the sauce thickening. **While this happens, you can grate the cheese!**
7. Turn down the heat, back to low, and add the onion/pepper mixture to taste (I probably only used 1/2 of mine).  Whisk to combine.
8. Add salt and pepper.
9. Turn the heat as low as it will go, and add the grated cheese, one handful at a time, stirring after each until they are melted and combines.
10. Taste the sauce =).  Does it need more onion/pepper? more salt/pepper?  Add if necessary.
11. Serve immediately or once completed, you can transfer to a crockpot or fondue pot .
12. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.  And there probably will be none left!

 

I know it sounds bit involved (and maybe it is moderately) but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT and you won’t even look towards the Velveeta isle for your cheese sauces again.  Enjoy.

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how the undecided decide

Disclaimer: I promise we do not do these things on purpose just to have a “blog worthy story.”

Last night was our anniversary celebration, but we HAD TO mow the lawn.  Long story short, a neighbor kid offered to mow our lawn to raise money for his missions trip and we’ve tried to get him for 2-3 weeks to come out and haven’t had any success.  So each week we’ve had to quickly mow the lawn on a “not normal” day of the week.  This week was the same. We tried to get him out and ended up mowing last night.  While weed eating, the weed eater broke on me.. so the handy hubs pulled it apart and realized the belt that converted the power of the engine to the blade slipped off.  He was able to fix it but the belt was too loose to stay on any more.  So, the lawn has a few spots that look “unfinished” to say the least.

 

I cleaned up for our dinner out then ran out grocery shopping to grab a few things for dinner tonight and then Mike got ready and we finally headed to dinner at 8 or so!  It was a lovely evening at Olive Garden (where we actually had our first date).

Here’s where the story begins.

We decided not only to replace our weed eater but also to look at getting some new outside chairs for our deck. We stopped by target because I had seen some chairs advertised for $25.  We really liked them and picked out 2 in the blue to take home.  (To Mike’s credit, we were walking up to the register to pay for them and he said… I don’t think these will fit in the car. and I with full confidence in my engineering husband told him of course they’ll fit!).  We paid for them and then took them out to the car.  Needless to say, they didn’t fit.  So at 10:00 pm, we walk back into Target with the chairs and ask if they can hold them until tomorrow so we can come back and pick them up with our truck.  They so graciously allowed us to!

We then head over to Wal-Mart to pick up a weed eater and started thinking about our chairs.  We realized that we would like to put them away in the winter time and if we had folding chairs, that would be way easier!  So … at 10:15, we head back over to Target and I so bravely walk back in with my receipt and ask if I can just “return the chairs” that I just purchased and haven’t even taken home yet… because we want folding ones.  The lady so kindly allowed us to without any questions and we drove home, chairless.

 

Then on my way to work this morning I had 10 extra minutes so I ran into Wal-Mart and purchased two folding patio chairs in a matter of about 6 minutes, like the one here but in red. =) I’m excited to use them tonight!!

I seem to have a track record with “indecisiveness” like this.  Like with the paint color in our bedroom.

 

 

And that’s how the undecided decide.

picture perfect

Last Thursday, Oma and Papa stopped by for a short visit and dinner out.  I was able to snap this picture while we were chatting in the living room! Love it =)

Then last night, I made a favorite side and thought I would share with you.  I had always thought that sweet potatoes either needed to be mashed and served with lots of sugar, or baked and served with sugar, marshmallows and butter.  But no longer! You can enjoy a more “savory version” and it has received rave reviews at my house! And its very healthy too.

 

Start by peeling your sweet potato and then cutting it into “fries.”  Put all the fries in a bag for easy coating.  Add enough olive oil that the fries are coated but there isn’t any extra in the bottom of the bag.

 

 

 

Then mix the the spice together in a small dish and add to the bag.  Seal it back up and toss to coat.

 

 

 

 

Then put them in the oven on a cookie sheet or pan.  I prefer one that actually “sticks” so the fries crisp up a bit more.  And from my experience, they actually won’t stick to the pan because of the oil.

 

 

Then ENJOY!!  Clearly we did!

 

 

 

 

 

We were sitting at dinner and had cleaned our plates when I realized that I didn’t take any pictures of the final product for you!! We both laughed at that because I guess they are just really that good.  But as luck would have it, I saved a few out for my lunch today… so you get the benefit of the final product after all!!

 

And last but not least… today is our 3 year anniversary! So in honor of our special day, here are a few pictures from our wedding =)

congratulations HVA

Congratulations are in order for the Harden Valley Soccer team after winning 3-0 this past Saturday against Dobyns Bennett High School for the Regional title.  The guys are off to play at the State tournament this week! 

Here are a few pictures I took. It was a pretty dead first 1/2 then after an hour rain delay, the boys came out a different team and scored within 11 seconds! Two more goals followed soon after.  Great job JP and team!

HVA v. Dobyns Bennett VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL