Monogram Monday: Magic Bands

We got more Disney mail on Saturday........

bye bye plastic credit card key cards.....

these bracelets are wayyy cooler....and mine's pink.....and monogrammed!!

This is our first trip using the new Disney bands.

These bands will get us into our room, the parks, get fast passes, and I'm assuming, pay for dinner.

I'm so excited to try them out......and it won't be long now.....only 25 days!!!!!

Pioneer Woman: A Year of Holidays {January Recipe}

Nathan gave me Pioneer Woman's new cookbook for Christmas and I {love} it!

I also got Julia Child's cookbook. After looking through both cookbooks, I decided to do a challenge: make one recipe from each of the cookbooks every month over the next year.
For January, I'm starting with PW's Buffalo Chicken Bites.


First, I made the blue cheese dressing:

1cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz. blue cheese
3 or 4 dashes worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
Whisk together in a bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve. I also cut a few stalks of celery into sticks to serve with the sauce and chicken. (This makes ALOT....I could have halved the recipe).

For the chicken:
Cut 2 lb. chicken breast into cubes. Set aside. Next, make a batter.

1 cup flour
1 T. cornstarch
salt & pepper to taste
1 bottle beer

Stir together flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Slowly add beer, adding enough to make a thin batter (but thick enough to stick to the chicken). Put chicken in batter a few pieces at a time.

*Make sure your oil is hot, then add chicken to oil, a few pieces at a time.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Remove chicken from oil when lightly browned and drain on paper towels. Continue cooking batches of chicken.

In the meantime, make sauce. I halved the recipe and it was more than enough. Melt 1 stick butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add 1/2 to 2/3 bottle Louisiana (or Frank's) Hot Sauce, and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce.



After all chicken has been cooked, put chicken in a large bowl and pour sauce over it. Toss to coat and pour back onto baking sheet (remove paper towel) and bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks (you'll need the celery.....this chicken is SPICY!)


My review: This recipe gets an A. It is delicious!! Peter loves hot & spicy foods so he really loved it. I like a milder sauce, so it was a bit hot for me, but it was very good. Neither of us had really tried blue cheese dressing. We thought it was okay, but not worth the trouble of making it from scratch (we'll just buy a jar of pre-made next time). I'm sure if you are a blue cheese dressing fan, you'll love this recipe. We will definitely make this chicken again, but maybe try a bbq or sweet & sour sauce version next time.
I really love this cookbook and how it's layed out. The pictures and stories for each month are really nice. PW did a great job on this cookbook. The January section of the cookbook had some great-looking recipes, and this one is a great football watching treat...perfect Super Bowl food!

Can't wait for February to try my next choice for Valentine's Day!!

*Peter has had a deep-fryer on his wish list for awhile now, and finally bought one after Christmas. Of course, we've tried it out already, today with the chicken, and on Friday he did single fried oysters.

Texas Pete brand cocktail sauce comes very close to homemade -yummy!

5 on friday: this & that

[one]
So, I started cutting back this week. I'm doing a combo of WW, eating smaller portions, eating in moderation, and making wiser choices. I'm not a big sweets eater, but the first thing I usually add to my "diet", are these......:o) those are diet foods...right?

[two]
I really love our Kindle and I really love Pandora!

I'll always be a Fleetwood Mac fan!

[three]
More freezer cooking.......

We had the sausage and peppers again yesterday. This time I put it on a toasted bun with melted mozzarella cheese. It was d-e-l-i-s-h! (w/shrimp dip and pita chips on the side).

[four]
my January chalkboard {a repeat of last year}.....

[five]
Another New Year's Resolution was to get together more with my best friend Wanda. We meet at least once a month for mani/pedi appointments, and we really enjoy that, but we never get together or go anywhere or do anything together and we live minutes from each other! Every year, we say we'll try to get togther more, but we don't follow though. Last year, the only time we got together was when I visited Wanda after she had back surgery. We've pretty much resorted to email to keep in touch. I know, sad, but true....
Our plans for this year are to get together once a month and do something FUN!! We started last night and had a blast! I got there at 7:00 and didn't leave until 10:30! Along with much catching up {I talked wayyyyyy too much I know}, we worked on our first project: putting together a binder for Wanda. I love using mine to help keep me organized. She seemed pretty excited to get started with hers. She is our school's secretary so she stays very busy and works year round. Maybe this will get her back on track and help keep her more organized too. :O)

She set hers up similar to mine, but divided it into the categories that she would probably use most: To-Do, Menu planning/Grocery List, Birthday Reminders, Budget.....

Having a binder has really helped keep me more organized, I can't say enough about using one. In the front of mine, I keep track of my 52 Week Savings Challenge.

I am doing much better at keeping up with this weekly challenge this time around, and my savings is already up to $165.00. :0)

Before I left last night, we talked about our February get together. We are both going on vacations the first part of February, but plan to get together soon after we return. I'm already looking forward to it!:O)

#tbt disney

For Throw Back Thursday: These pictures are from 2008, Nathan's first trip to WDW. We had searched the entire trip for Stitch and finally found him on the last day. The interaction between them was priceless. A great Disney memory.

52 week photo challenge {2014}

I've enjoyed doing photo challenges in the past, so I decided to try one again this year. They not only get me to use my camera more, but they also give me something fun to blog about.
For this year, I decided to go with a challenge I saw on Pinterest. It's a weekly challenge with 52 topics, but I like that it's in random order instead of a set theme each week. I really think it will be easier to keep up. I chose {details} for week #1.

My nephew Derek is the most creative person I know. He can make pretty much anything out of clay.
Last year, he made a Thanksgiving scene, and this year, some of the characters showed up again, all decked out for the holidays!! Here are a few pictures from last year. The detail is amazing. He is so talented!






And here is a peak at this year's creation.....



[week 1/52- details]

Wordless Wednesday: Disney Mail

Always happy to get Disney Mail.......30 days and counting!

Wedding Wednesday: Bridal Shower Ideas

The shower planning has begun, and surprisingly, it is coming together nicely {and relatively stress-free}. :O) While Logan and Lindsey were here for Christmas, I got the calendar out and we found a date that would work for both of them {and me!}. Then, after making sure it wouldn't conflict with any school, town, or church events, the shower is set for Saturday, March 1st. :O) :O) I've been busy planning, pinning, and shopping online {amazon.com has EVERYTHING!!}

The wedding colors are bright pink and grey, and I couldn't be happier! Lindsey is very girly and loves anything sparkly.  I'll be using shades of pink, grey, and white {and maybe a little silver} to decorate with. I know I can't use all the ideas I have pinned, but here are a few of my favorites......

Paper lanterns come in pretty much every color.....

If only I could afford these lights........

I'll have to settle for my cheap white lights {maybe I'll glam them up a bit}.....

I had thought about doing a candy table {I just LOVE them}......



I really wanted to buy these scoops!

Instead, I'm doing a sundae bar......I am very excited about that! {of course, there will still be cake!}


and who doesn't love a tissue pom-pom????







I almost bought this to serve pink lemonade in, but decided on pink party punch instead.....



a big painted frame with wire to hang photos of the couple on.....



really love this chalkboard idea.....


Never met a cupcake I didn't love......


Now to narrow down the ideas, and get this shower planned! :O)