BBQ Cheesey Hamburger Casserole Smasserole

It's been awhile!  We just got back from vacation, and even tho we ate like crazy on our vacation and I could probably starve for a week and survive, I decided to try out a pinterest recipe!  I had the fam over because they were having Zoe withdrawals and made a yummy casserole.  

My daughter loves going to CiCi's pizza, you know mass produced pizza, but they have a big game area for the kiddos that she just loves.  Well they have this hamburger pizza there, that my mom absolutly loves.  They squirt yellow mustard and ketchup on there, and yes, it does taste like a hamburger.  So when I found this recipe on pinterest I had to try it!

Originally found on cinnamon spice and every thing nice

Of course I had to change mine up, my sister can be a pain when food is involved, so I omited the pickles.  Enter sad face, I was excited to taste what it would be like baked in, but I was not in the mood for complaints.  So I cut about four of them up and my mom and I put them on top of our mounds of casserole on our plates.  (They were delish with them)  Now I am not a fan on yellow mustard on my hamburgers, but because its a staple on hamburgers I added about a tablespoon of it to mine.  I could taste it and I thought it was a good addition. 

Of course we were all starving by the time this hit the table and I forgot to take a picture. So, these were taken after we practically devoured the entire thing!  I had like a quarter of the casserole left over.  Its defiantly a winner in our house!  I paired it with cornbread and a greek salad.  The greek salad doesn't really match, but I have been dying for a greek salad so I threw one together real quick.

 Anyone try some new recipes lately?

~Allie 

BOOK BASH in Orlando

Last weekend, I attended book bash with two of my book buddy friends!  It was so much fun!  Being in my element with a bunch of people (mostly women) who love to read was fantastic!  We got to meet our favorite author Kristen Ashley, she was awesome!  She was the first line we got in, we stood there for an hour because that is how popular she is and when we finally got up to meet her we all went shy! haha.  She posed for pics with us and signed our books then we went off and met other awesome authors.  Can you tell I had a really good time?  I cant stop using the word awesome! haha.

My friend came to town, we ate out a lot, we bought a ton of books, both ebooks and regular books.  Its a good thing she doesn't live near me, or I would go broke!   

Here are some pictures of our AWESOME weekend! 

Getting some dinner the night before book bash event

 Hour long line for KA!

 We are almost there!!! 

 My friend Dan, uber excited. 

 Woo-hoo!  

 Alice Clayton, that is one funny lady, loved her book called Wallbanger

 Marianne with R.K. Lilley

 We just had to pose with the sign and point out KAs book! 

 Nighttime drinks at the Wicked GNO after party

 Sadly, we didnt get to hang with KA :(

Two lovely ladies we met in line that are now my book gurus, jello shots anyone?!

Did anyone do anything fun this past weekend?  Or did you go fangirl crazy at book bash too??

~Allie 

Eclair Cake

This weekend I went to a friends house for a BBQ, what a perfect time to make this Eclair cake I found on Pinterest!

Its super easy.  Original recipe here. 

It is a no bake, yummy cake.  Seriously, go and make it. 

My pictures are not good.  They certainly didnt come out as nice as the original post about them from the lady that made this cake.  Mine came out mushy, but its ok.  It didnt hinder the taste at all.  

I did make an adjustment to mine.  

The original recipe called for cocoa powder, sugar and butter.  I did that, and it came out like this.

Too thin, sticky and got all in the cake.  So I made a ganache for it the day of the party.

Eclair Cake

Big box of instant vanilla pudding

3 c. milk

1 tub of cool whip

1 box of honey graham crackers (I used honey, Im sure cinnamon would taste good as well)

1 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

1 c. heavy cream

Mix milk and puddin, when that is set, fold in the cool whip.  

Layer crackers first and then add some of the puddin. (have you ever seen Corina, Corina?  Where he is creating the jingle for puddin???  and leaves out the g?) 

Layer more crackers on top of that.

Make another layer of puddin.

Top with crackers and then top with ganache. 

Put in fridge for 24 hours to "set".

Ganache:  over boiling water in a heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream until nice and shiny (stirring constantly).  I didn't use all of my ganache on the cake.  I had a little tiny bit left over that I scooped up and ate.  Don't judge :) 

Not the best pic, sorry had the hubs do it.  He doesn't understand close ups.  

Make it for your next BBQ, it wont disappoint!

Anyone have any no bake desserts??

~Allie 

WITL Days 4,5,6 and 7

I work Thursday- Sunday, so there were no pictures to be had.  I do nothing fun on those days.  I work long hours and am exhausted by the time I get home.  So this post will be boring :( 

Thursday: I work at night, so during the day we just stayed home and cleaned and did some laundry.  It seems all I do is clean, then Richie is off on Thursday and Friday and the place gets to be a disaster again and I have to start all over again on Monday.  Its a vicious cycle! 

Friday: I worked a short shift, came home.  My mom and sister were out and about so they took Zoe out for lunch and then met up with me when I got home.  Bugged me for an hour or so and put me behind in making my goodies for a friends bbq that night.  Its ok tho, I don't see my sister anymore because Sundays (our family dinner night) she skips out on b/c she has a puppy that annoys my moms old dog.  

I made an eclair cake that was easy and super yummy.  I also made a veggie option for my Mexican dip b/c my friend is a vegetarian.  Then I made this corn, zucchini salad which is delish. 

We headed to the bbq and hung out with all my friends, three came from out of town, one I hadn't seen in forever came as well.  Zoe has a crush on my friends little brother and his friend.  She was grilling her mom about him.  They start young! lol

  

This is Cathie and Dan (Marianne, Dan will be going to Book Bash with us), all of us have been friends since high school.  Still going strong!  Zoe calls them all Aunts. 

Eclair Cake, seriously make this.  Cept I put a layer of ganache on top because the original recipe for the chocolate on top was a flop.  So good with the ganache.

We roasted marshmallows in 100 degree weather :) 

Mmmmmmmm....smores

Thats Mel, with her nephew Miles, they were "playing" pool. 

After the party we went to Shannon's and played ping pong.  That's Mitch and Mel playing.  No pics of me.  I'm always behind the camera, taking bad shots of people and then getting yelled at when I post them on FB :) 

Saturday and Sunday went like this......I went to work, I came home and watched tv or read. That is all!  Exciting life I lead! 

WITL Days 2 and 3

Hello All!  I'm back in the world on technology!  Tuesday we had a bad storm and it fried our modem for cable.  So they sent us a new and I just got it hooked up.  Hence the late post.  

Is it bad that i cant remember what we did on tuesday!  Ahh, getting old is crap! 

noonish:  Dollar movies, we got there at 1150 and stood in line for 15 minutes to get our tickets and popcorn and drinks.  As soon as I order our tickets the noon showing sold out, so we had to go to the 1225 showing.  I will never do that again.  Every freaking daycare decided to go.  So there were long lines and then they had to buy drinks for all 30 (it seemed like everyday care there had 30  kids each!)  kids so we had to wait until they got all their drinks. The 1225 theater was packed, we were lucky to find seats.  Saw The Croods.  Very cute, but Zoe was over it after an hour.  I was not however, I wanted to stay and watch the end.  So I guess now I have to wait until it comes out on video.  

1:30ish:  Christmas Tree shop is right next door, so we headed over to find something for Dad's day.  He says he wants nothing, well money to contribute to his Boise State game in Seattle, he is going to in August.  Don't get me started on that.  He gets a mini vacation.  Kid and wifeless......Didn't find him anything, but I did find something for me!  After that we headed to ROSS to find something for my sister for her bday next week.  No such luck :(  Then we raced home before the rain hit.  

It matches the hanging things I have for my living room.  Cant wait until the living room is painted so I can hang them up.  

3ish:  We did not make it home before the rain hit. Took forever to get home and I swear 434 turned into a river at one point.  Gotta love summers in Florida.  Those afternoon thunderstorms.  That is what fried my cable box.  So now we have to unplug everything when it storms out.

6ish:  I was in a pissy mood and decided I wasnt making dinner. So we went to our favorite sports bar/grill.  Its not corporate.  Gotta support those small businesses!  We absolutely love it there.  Tuesday is BOGO burgers.  So we got burgers.  (shhhhhhhh....its not ww friendly.....:-/)

Hehe, I always snap pics of him when he is mid chew.

Their homemade fries are the bomb.  They put BBQ sauce on their nachos and I'm kinda obsessed with those as well.

7ish:  Off to walmart we went, starting a new project had to get supplies.

That is it for Tuesday.  

Wednesday:

So Richie got home at like 8 and decided to mow the lawn, after it took him forever to figure out how to get the gas in it.......He only did the back yard.  Our yard was bad, like white trash bad.  It was embarrassing.  I cant wait until he does the front! I wont be embarrassed anymore! 

Look at those weeds!  Taller then Zoe! 

 
Richie hard at work. I stayed inside in the air condition :) 

I decided I didn't want to go to weight watchers since I had that burger the night before, so we headed out and had a coffee date with a friend.  then decided to do some shopping.  So I could avoid cleaning the house. I bought a frame that matches the candle holder I bought yesterday for shelves by the tv.  Things are coming along nicely!  Cant wait until I'm finished decorating and unpacking!

1ish:  As we were headed home I stopped to get us Chinese food.  Next door was a dollar and up store going out of business, everything must go, and boy did they have a lot of xmas stuff!  I was in heaven, but I did not buy any! 

I did pretty good with my food, it was the diet special.
 

After lunch we hit up the thirst stores, I should have taken pics at the pet one.  She has a dog named Roxy, a fat cat named Rocky and a cockatoo named Kalepso. He is a friendly bird, he danced for us and then decided to hop on my foot.  I hate birds.  We had a parrot growing up and he would nip my heels and chase me, so no birds for me!  I was silently freaking out until the owner took him off my foot! lol. 

So after thrifting, we decided to check out this desserts bakery.  All they had was original cheesecake that you had to pre order, cupcakes and homemade gelato that tasted of freezer burn.  The cupcakes were delish.  Mine was an almond joy one.  

6ish: I actually made some dinner.  Ham and pea fried rice, I'm on a Chinese kick.  I don't know why.  lol.  After that we just hung out and played, when Zoe went to bed I put in season two of True blood, in preparation for Sunday when he new season starts! 

That's all for those days ladies!  I hope I didn't bore you all! lol 

~Allie 

Maple Glazed Pork Chops with sugar snap peas and smashed potatoes

So, I am half doing this weight watchers.  Bad, I know.  I was down in the dump because my first month I did not put my all into it.  I haven't been to the gym in two weeks because they don't have child care and by the time Richie wakes up I'm exhausted.  I have not been over eating, or eating crap, but I haven't been journaling.  That is not good.  So I decided to look up some tasty recipes in my weight watcher cook books.  This one I tried was a complete success!

Maple Glazed Pork Chops with Sugar Snap Peas and Smashed Potatoes =  Delicious! 

Maple Glazed Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops

1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

2 t. vegetable oil

2 T. red wine vinegar

2 T. maple or maple flavored syrup

Season your pork chops and add to a hot skillet.  Cook 3 minutes on each side. ( I'll be honest, I don't measure my seasonings.  I just sprinkle.)  Remove from pan.  Add vinegar to pan, scrape up all the goodness, add syrup and bring to a boil.  Cook 1 minute and then return pork chops to the pan and cook 2 more minutes. 

See, easy peasy and yummy!  For 1 pork chop and 1 T. of sauce it is 5 points.  

Sugar Snap Peas with Basil

1/2 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed

1 T. finely chopped basil, I chiffon-ad mine

2 T. orange juice

2 t. light butter, melted

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and cover.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  

Another easy peasy dish!  If you don't want to microwave, just throw it all in a sauce pan.

1 cup of peas = 2 points.

For the smashed potatoes, I used small potatoes and boiled them, then smashed them and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and herbs de provence then sprayed them with olive oil spray and baked them at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  I'm gonna go with 3 points for these, I had two small potatoes. smashed it maybe equaled 1/2 cup. (not even)

Any yummy recipes done lately? 

~Allie 

Week in the Life

Its that time of year again!  Week in the life blog posts!  Where I can see how the other girls live in different parts of the U.S! 

My day wasn't that eventful, I just painted my dining room, had some friends over to eat some ice cream and chat and then off to work I went.  Came home, watched mistresses, got a free book and went to bed.........boring Monday.  But, my dining room looks awesome and my three hours at work were very profitable!

7 ish: Every morning has to start with a cup of cold coffee and pinterest.

 10ish: getting the dining room ready to paint

Noonish: My friend Cathie helping me and Zoe hiding under the table, not helping us.

 Noonish: Last wall being painted!!!!  Yay!

6ish: This happened while I was at work, I was taking an order on the phone while reading this, so it was all jumbled. haha.  I was super excited! 

That's about it.  I had a profitable night at work, which was nice, considering I never work Mondays and then I came home and vegged.  

Cant wait to see what you ladies are up too! 

~Allie