I'm Going Nuts!!!

    Ha!  Those who know me well are probably not surprised by this (right Cat? :-) )  Not the insane kind, it is pecan season here in Texas and since there are pecan trees on the property where I live I can pick as many as I can find for FREE!!!  There may be lots of shocked people at the fact that I am posting, but now that I'm finished with graduate school I will have more time for playing around with the blog.  If anyone has any great pecan recipes I would love it if you would share them.  There will be a few pecan pies in my future, but other than that I'm open to suggestions for the 50 + pounds that I will end up with. 

Gourmet Friday's

In the interest of keeping life a little more interesting, I wanted to bring back something that I used to do (ok, translation; before I got lazy). Gourmet Friday. No, that doesn't mean stove top and hotdogs. Tonight I will have the following menu: Phyllo wrapped salmon, saffron baked rice, heirloom tomato and basil salad and poached pears. The phyllo will be the interesting part as I have only worked with it a few times. I'm not too worried though, it's a pretty easy menu and I have the scariest thing covered already (I know, don't keep you all in suspence, right?). I already have the saffron! I'll let everyone know how it turned out. Tomorrow I pick up my angel food boxes so I'm looking forward to creating stuff out of all the good things in there. If you've never tried angel food the meat is SO good! This time I ordered 3 boxes: The regular box, the grilling box and the fruit and vegetable. I'll try to add a pic (probably all loaded in the car because I have to be at work shortly after it gets picked up. Happy Friday everyone!

Oh, and I chose the pic because I just happened to find a copper pan (very similar to this one) at the thrift store yesterday for $2!!!!!

Crockpot Cooking

Like most of the rest of you, my budget has been drastically slashed. This is one of those times where having the ability to stretch a dollar or make something from nothing is essential. Many people would be feeling sorry for themselves or wondering what in the world they will do, but for me it is more of a challenge. I signed up recently for angel food ministries meal boxes. It provides you with meat, veggies, fruit, dairy and usually a starch of some sort, and you can also get extra packages depending on what your needs are. Since I am in San Antonio and it's always grilling weather, I added the grilling box (consists of different meats for cooking on the grill). Now, what to do with it all! Some of you may be familiar with a site called Hillbilly Housewife. If not you should check it out on the enclosed link. This site even has specific recipes just based on the angel food ministries meal boxes and an emergency menu if you are in a really tough spot. Tonight I will be making the pinto beans with ground beef. Sounds almost like a chili, without all the seasoning of a chili. There are tons of recipes so if you are stuck for an idea head on over. Even though this isn't under "crockpot" recipes I'm going to stick it all in my crockpot for a few hours and just enjoy at dinner time. I think I'm going to get most of my meals off this site for awhile! Enjoy.

Christmas has past

I have been promising my friend Laura (hi Laura!) that I would post a picture of some of my Christmas cards this year. I participated in a card exchange and got so many beautiful cards and it was lots of fun. This isn't all of them, but there are probably about 70 in this picture.

Bug Sculptures and a day at the botanical garden

The San Antonio Botanical Garden is a great place to spend the day. I kept telling myself that I wanted to go and see the bug sculpture exhibit that was there through the 3rd of this month and I finally went on the last day. I'm really glad I did because you can tell how much work went into each of these sculptures and the thought that went into putting each one in the right setting. I'm told they are all made from natural materials (wood, etc.). Enjoy the photos, it was a lot of fun.