Best Tacos Ever

Guess where we got to eat this weekend?!!? Hint (besides the title of the post): I told you about this place back in this post.

Tyler had to go to Dallas for work, so we made a little family mini-vacation weekend out of it. On Friday night we headed down to Fuel City to get some tacos for dinner. I was really excited to take Tyler there (or rather him take us there) because he has never been. He said there was no way that the tacos could live up to the dramatic way we had described them for years (myself, Tyler's mom, and his brother have all been before) so I was eager to prove him wrong. He said they were really good, and worth the drive down there any time he was back in Dallas. If you know my husband, you know that translates as "they are out-of-this-world unbelievable."

The Blue Tumblers

If you are a family member or close friend of my parents, you know exactly what this title refers to. Yes, I am writing a blog post about the blue tumblers.


About 6 or 7 years ago, my mom bought a few plastic tumblers at Wal-Mart. It was about this time of year (early Spring), when they stock the shelves with all the colorful, summery plastic dinnerware. Let me give you a little background information first... My parents have everyday dinner glasses (for when there is company), fancy iced tea crystal goblets (for when there is really fancy company), but what they use the most are plastic tumblers. Anyone who knows my parents also knows that they always have freshly brewed iced tea ready-to-pour at all times of the day.


Back to the tumblers...Now, my mom is picky about her cups. She won't use just any tumbler, and she won't even touch one if it's not insulated (and not every plastic tumbler that says "double-walled" is really insulated...thanks Mom), but the ones she picked up at Wal-mart that Spring several years ago were pretty close to perfect if there ever was a perfect plastic insulated tumbler. She stocked up on a couple every trip she made throughout that summer, and she got her next-door neighbor hooked on them too. But much to their dismay, when they went to Wal-mart the following Spring to stock up on more tumblers (to replace ones that had disappeared, been lost, cracked, etc.), they had quit carrying them. Mom searched high and low for probably the next year and never found anything adequate (I realize Tervis Tumblers are the best of the best but at fifteen bucks-a-pop, who can afford to have a cabinet full of them, especially when the Wal-Mart ones were 96 cents?). After months, possibly years, of no luck finding the tumblers, and watching with dismay as the last few were lost, cracked from wear, or eaten alive because they mistakenly were put on the bottom rack in the dishwasher, my mom was about to give up. She put my dad in charge of finding a suitable option online to order, and he ended up finding a closeout on THE cups from the manufacturer who actually sold them to Wal-Mart. He found out that he could buy them at cost if he bought enough, so what did he do?


He bought 24,000.


That is a semi truck load if you're wondering. And they were all cerulean blue - not navy, royal, or sky blue - but like a neon cerulean blue, like the color in the box of 64 crayons. THE WORST color imaginable (strictly my opinion). You can now find these bright blue cups in the cabinets of every family member we have (and we have an insanely huge family). My dad started selling cases of the tumblers on eBay shortly after acquiring the mother load, and he's made pretty good money on the hideous little things. As it turns out, my mom wasn't the only person in America who hungered after those tumblers. They have quite the following. It's no question that I hate them, especially after seeing so many of them every day, in every house I visit, for all eternity (it seems), but it's really not the cup I hate, it is just the color.


All of that to say this: the unbelievable has happened. Mom told me a few weeks ago that Wal-Mart has the cups again, and in very pleasant bright Spring colors. They are exactly the same, except a dollar more in price, which is to be expected. In my opinion, they are worth the extra dollar. The outer wall is clear, and the inside is the bright color instead of white - so the tea stains don't show as well (we are all big tea drinkers). The only thing better would be if Tervis Tumblers were $1.96 each. I mentioned that I might buy us a few red ones (Tyler has mentioned before that he likes those cups too, but he knows I would never have those blue things in my cabinet), and my mom informed me that between she and her friend, they had already bought out our local store (wow). I did snag a few later.


And now, your life is richer for knowing that very long story :)

Easter

We had a very busy, family, and fun-filled Easter weekend.

Friday night, Levi and I attended his little friend's backyard birthday party, while Tyler did the weekly mowing/yard work. Then we went out for a nice (but late) little family dinner and grabbed some Mexican food.

Saturday morning started bright and early with a 7am 5k race to benefit Special Olympics. My dad and I ran in that, while the rest of my family cheered from the sidelines a few blocks away snoozing in their beds. We then sent Levi to his grandparents' (where we were going later) and headed to the church for a rehearsal for the Easter service. After the rehearsal, we packed up and headed to Tyler's family's house to celebrate Easter with some charcoaled burgers (yum). Levi had his first Easter egg hunt (indoors due to rain).

Sunday morning was our turn to provide breakfast for our class, so I decided there was never a better opportunity to make Resurrection Rolls than on Easter Sunday (we also made fruit kabobs to have a healthier option, but I failed to snap a picture of the rainbow colored treats). The rolls have been all over Pinterest, and the best and most simplified tutorial I found was here. I spent some time looking up the scriptures that corresponded with the Resurrection Rolls recipe and that was a fun way to reflect on the story on the morning of the Resurrection. After church I knew that no one would want to keep their pretty clothes on, so we headed straight to my parents' for a quick photo shoot before ditching the Easter clothes and digging into the turkey and dressing. Here are some snapshots from our weekend:

Secret Weapon Lasagna

My dear friend told me a long time ago that she was perfectly fine making/baking things from a box or package to save time and energy, because that time or energy was better spent on quality time with your kids and family (shoutout to Amy Dale - that was you). Well, I wholeheartedly agree with that. There are a few special things I will always make from scratch (pie crust and gravy to name two) but when it comes to most things, I take the easy way. That's where the title of this post comes in.

I've spent a while (about 4 1/2 years actually) trying to come up with the perfect lasagna recipe to fit our my taste, skill level, and prep/cook time preferences. The first recipe I made a couple of times was from an old friend of my family (her family's cookbook, actually), which is the origin for many of my favorite staple recipes. It was good, but way, way too hard. I appreciate it, but I'm also ok admitting that they are just way better cooks than I am and I don't need to try to live up:) The 2nd recipe I tried was one I found online on a generic cooking website (pre-Pinterest). It was ok, but still, too many steps. The 3rd recipe was my Aunt's recipe (shoutout to Aunt Cindy - who makes awesome vegetarian AND meat lasagna) and it was good and easy, but makes waaay too much for us, and I'm too lazy to put it in two containers and freeze on (if we're being honest). However, she did introduce me to the oven-ready lasagna noodles and I will never go back to the other kind!

That brings us to this recipe - I'll share it before I share the origin :)

Ingredients:
1 package of oven-ready lasagna
1 lb (approx) ground beef
1/2 lb ground sausage
1 26oz jar of spaghetti sauce
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 3/4 C or 15oz fat free ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
2-3 C shredded mozzarella cheese
handful of shredded Parmesan cheese 

Instructions:
In a large skillet, brown meat then drain. Return to skillet and add spaghetti and tomato sauce. In medium bowl,  add egg, ricotta, basil, & oregano.

Assembly:
1.In a 9x13" baking dish, spread about 3/4C meat sauce evenly over dish.
2.Add 3 of the noodles side-by-side but not touching (they expand).
3.Spread 1/3 ricotta mixture on noodles.
4.Spread 3/4C meat sauce over that, then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Repeat steps 2,3,&4 two times. Add remaining noodles, remaining meat sauce, and sprinkle with remaining mozz. cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

That is a lot of words but it is the simplest recipe for lasagna I've ever made. And guess where I found it? On the box of oven-ready noodles - American Beauty brand. I tweaked it a little - and you can adjust the assembly to your preference, but that is the origin.

Lasagna is one of Tyler's favorite meals so I try to make it pretty often. It looks like someone is following in his dad's footsteps... sorry for the blurry pictures. It's pretty evident I don't have a clue how to work my camera.

Mmm...want a kiss?

Boot Camp

This past weekend, our church had a "Boot Camp"-themed women's retreat on Saturday. I was part of the planning committee of the event and was also asked to handle the decorations...on a very small budget. It was a fun and challenging task, but one that I've done in the past and enjoy doing. Most of the small budget went towards white plastic tablecloths to cover 25 tables, so with the rest we had to get creative. Here are a few snapshots from the event (they are mostly of food and the tables, because that's what I helped with, and it's also the only place there were decorations):

Vacation Highlight

While we were at the beach last week, we visited Fort Pickens, which was listed in the top 10 things to do in the Pensacola area (we actually stayed in Alabama, but drove over to Pensacola Beach one day) by Trip Advisor. I'm sort of a history nerd and enjoy things like this, and my husband enjoys looking at really anything that is a man made structure.


I'm a big believer of Trip Advisor's ratings because I've had several good experiences from trying things I've found on there. We took a quick vacation to Denver about about 6 weeks before Levi was born, and we visited Mt. Evans, which is rated the #2 thing to do in the Denver area. It is probably one of our most favorite memories/experiences and I recommend it to everyone I know who visits the area. Here are two pictures from the mountain:

These were taken with my old digital camera that I've had since early high school, which I believe was 2 mega pixels. If the views are this good through that camera, you can just imagine how amazing it was :)

Back to Fort Pickens - most all of the structures were built in the 1820s, so it was really neat to see and walk through. Here are some snapshots from there:

{I'm wondering now why we didn't grab the stroller out of the car...sorry Tyler}

{Looking at a big boat}

Later that evening, we met my family for dinner. They were staying in Destin, FL and drove over to Pensacola Beach to meet us for dinner. 

{Our dads are here too, they coincidentally (OR WAS IT?!) are hiding behind people for the picture}