For My Sanity...

sometimes, I just need to slow down.  Stop, take a look around, and enjoy the beautiful view that is my life.

I've got lots of catching up to do. Around the house. With school. With work. And here.  Lots to share from the last few weeks.  Don't worry, we'll get there... but for now, let's just relax.

*stop living life for what's around the corner and start enjoying the walk down the street* - grant l. miller

Foodie Friday: Salsa Turkey Burgers

So, I don't cook.  It's just not in my genes.  But, since I tend to pack on the pounds when B is in charge of shopping and cooking, I have been attempting to make dinner regularly for a while now.  I've developed a pretty solid menu, and most of it is so easy I don't even need to read the recipe anymore.  And to top it off, it's (mostly) always usually fairly healthy.

Take for instance my current favorite: Salsa Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I use whole wheat bread crumbs)
4 tablespoons chunky salsa (I use medium, but hot could work too)
1lb ground turkey (Beef would work too if you prefer)

Mix it all up in a bowl.  I use my hands. I'm sure there's other, more pleasant, ways to do this.  It's also one of the only times I take of my wedding band and engagement ring (they're soldered together).  I really don't need raw meat stuck in that thing.  Just my preference.

I know, it doesn't look appetizing - YET

After you've mixed it up pretty good, form your patties.  Make sure you spray some Pam, or have good non-stick pans.  Ground turkey doesn't stick together quite as good a ground beef, so if it falls apart a little just try and mush it back together.  Also, they burn pretty quick on the outside, but don't let that deceive you! It takes a bit to get cooked all the way through.  Remember to flip them!

*We haven't tried these on the grill yet, due to selling our grill on Craigslist, and B STILL not assembling the grill we got as a wedding present... but I'm sure they'd be awesome on the grill!*

We usually top them with some shredded cheese - or slices if that's all we have - and let it melt for a minute.  Slap it into some buns - whole wheat in this house - and top with your choice of condiments.

Finish it off with some tasty sides such as onion rings, sweet potato fries, or regular fries.  Or, the slightly healthier option we went with was some rice, (Uncle Ben's rice pouches - 90 seconds in the microwave, tons of flavors, wicked cheap.  A staple in the B&S household), and chopped up some summer squash and zucchini - which I'm pretty sure B just drizzles some olive oil on in a frying pan, and then tops with some Lawry's seasoning salt.  It's amazing.

My sister tried the burgers and thought they were a little soft (although her husband and sons had no complaints), so that's something to keep in mind.  She's going to give it a shot as a meatloaf - so we'll have to see how that turns out!

Let me know if you try - or have tried it - or have other wicked easy recipes for me to try!

Don't Ask Me How I Know: Roadtrips

If you are planning a road trip, consider at least figuring out where some hotels are at reasonable stopping points. And maybe jot down the phone numbers, if you don't plan to make reservations ahead of time, so you can call ahead a few hours when you know where a good stopping point will be.  Especially if it's a Saturday night.

If you don't, you may end up driving to four different hotels outside Buffalo, NY, all of which - including the crappy looking motels, are full.  And you might even look up some more using your GPS and finding their phone number on the Internet on your phone.  But when you call them, trust me, they'll be full too.

In your sleep deprived brain, you and your husband will decide the best idea is to just drive straight through, even though the morning started in Illinois and you're going to New Hampshire, and the fact you slept in a tent (aka on the ground) the night before, and by the time you arrive home you'll have been up over 24 hours.

You will then have to drink copious amounts of rest area coffee that, even when you find one with a McDonald's, it's still awful.  And maybe you'll even be the ONLY car on the highway at times.  And you might have to play dodge 'ems with deer.

You may even discover that if your current career doesn't work out, you have truck drivers endurance behind the wheel, so at least you can always fall back on that.

Don't ask me how I know.

I'm Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July! Ours was great - but DAYUM is it hot here in the northeast!

My car said 116 yesterday.  Of course, it had been sitting in the sun all day and was down to 100 by the time I got home.  But, that's seriously hot around here.  In case you haven't watched the news - because I think its all over national news - we're having a major heatwave. I believe I told a friend I wanted to lay in a bathtub of freeze pops.  Its that hot.  And hot, makes me cranky. Really cranky.

As do some other obnoxious things that have happened between work and school and life and blah blah blah the last few days.  So I'm cranky. So let's keep it short and sweet - because the thought of being next to my little heater I call my laptop much longer is frightening.  Here is my favorite new series of commercials - for ACE Hardware.  They're even home improvement related!  I love them because I can relate to these people, and I bet a bunch of you can too.  So I hope you get a giggle, or at least smile, out of these.

Happy 4th of July!!

4th of July! One of my favorite holidays! I hope every out there has a great (hopefully yours is long like ours!) weekend and that's its filled with good friends, good family, and good times.  And amazing weather like we're expecting here in New England!

Stay safe and have a blast! (Literally)

I'm sure you can tell what we'll be doing...

Good Stuff: June

It's that time again!  June is over, so its time to talk about some of the good stuff that happened.

• Running: I made it to week 6 of the Couch to 5k training program (so far!), and ran my first race ever (unless you count the 6th grade track meet, in which I won the half mile).  It's not like I won this race or anything - not even close, in fact I was in the back - but it was still a win for me.  And I can't wait to keep going and see where all this running takes me.

• A baby: Our good friends had their first baby the day before Father's Day.  She's itty bitty - was 4lbs 14oz when she was born - but that just makes her even more precious.  B refused to hold her at the hospital, but he did a few days later, and even though "it was creepy" that he could "feel her shoulder blade" I think he likes her.

• Our First Yard Sale: So maybe it wasn't all good, as it was a lot of work, and we didn't get rid of as much as we expected, but we learned what to do - and not to do - next time, whenever that might be.  And we did make some cash off Craigslist, so can't complain too much!

• Kitchen Success: Its still not totally done (still need cabinets straightened and pendent lights installed), but really, those are such minor things, I feel like its done.  I've been loving cooking and cleaning (well maybe not *loving*) and just enjoying having a modern kitchen that makes sense and works.

• Summer: It's summer!  Sun, warmth, time on the water, BBQs. Couldn't ask for much more, right?