November Meal: Shredded Chicken Taco Chili

Yay for using my crockpot again!! Woo Hoo! I had pinned this recipe a long time ago and re discovered it this weeknd. I decided to give a go since it was perfect for my new no grain low grain (let's be honest I love me some cupcakes) diet.

The original pin included 1 can of corn, 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 packet of taco seaoning instead of homemade taco seasoning. The pin also did not specify whether to drain the beans or not. I did not drain the black beans, but did drain the kindney beans.

This was pretty good. I'm not used to such a bean-y flavor (fun fact: traditional Texas chili does not have beans), but it wasn't bad. I would, however, like it to be spicier next time. Maybe with some extra cayanne pepper?!?! Yum!

Weekend Recap: The Tortoise and The Hare

I've been holding on to this picture for what seems like forever and I finally...finally...have a reason to post it! Saturday, I decided to go on a run outside and actually convinced Barrett to tag along. I told him I needed to run a 5k and he was ok with that.

I've known for a long time that I am a sloooooow runner. Just ask Erica...she saw just how slow I was back in February.

Anyways...we start out on our run and within a few seconds Barrett realizes that he can walk as fast as I run! ha ha. Then he asks me if I remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Um of course I do. And I'm happy to report that the story still holds true! I was able to complete my entire 3.1 mile run in 33 minutes without stopping! And guess who was left in my dust?!?! The speedster that is my bf...ha ha. That's right...the tortoise won yet again!!

Sunday, we went and saw Last Vegas. Ever since I saw the first preview for this movie, I wanted to see it even though it was about a group of old men...ha ha. We thought the movie was really funny and definitely worth the watch.

Biloxi, Mississippi Road Trip

A few weeks ago B and I took a 6 hour road trip to Biloxi, Mississippi for a little weekend getaway. I finally uploaded my pictures and can finally share some of my trip!

The Beard and I started our road trip on a Friday afternoon.

Welcome to Biloxi!

We stayed at the Palace Casino and Resort...the only non-smoking casino on the Gulf.

After we settled into our room, we decided to go hit up the slots. This would be my "I'm sad because I'm losing money" stance and B was actually winning for a while, but in the end neither of us won...boo.

Saturday afternoon, after losing some more at the slots, we decided to explore Biloxi a bit. It had been raining all morning so everything was gloomy and wet.

There were actually some people with their feet in the water even though it was kind of chilly at the time.

After walking out on the pier we headed over to the Biloxi visitor center, I wanted to sit in these chairs so bad, but they were all wet as well.

This is Biloxi's famous lighthouse. It is right across from the visitor's center. When researching things to do, this was number one on the list. They actually offer tours where you get to go inside the lighthouse, but there are only 3 tours and all in the morning. So needless to say, us sleepy heads did not wake up early enough for a tour.

After exploring Biloxi, we went back and got ready for our night out at the Hard Rock Casino to see Clay Walker perform!

We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe before the concert and I ordered a delicious strawberry and basil lemonade. The drink came with a souvenir cup...woo hoo.

Clay Walker!!!!

The concert was awesome! It was a smaller venue, so even though we were in the back we still felt close.

Sunday morning we woke up to sunny skies! Yay!

Since the sun was out I wanted to take a picture of the bridge right outside of our hotel and surprisingly there wasn't anyone fishing at that moment. Off in the distance you can see Margaretiaville.

On the drive home Sunday, we stopped at Bass Pro Shop right outside of Baton Rouge (I don't think we can ever pass a BPS without going in) for lunch. B got fried shrimp and alligator. The alligator came with its very own lime green alligator sauce. Turns out it was cream cheese and jalapeno jelly and actually tasted pretty good. 

For once I actually remembered to take pics of all my outfits. My driving outfits consisted of my black skinnies and leopard flats. And my saturday outfits were boots and my two new pairs of skinnies, army green and floral.

Happy Halloween 2013

Every year my office has a Halloween Costume and Pumpkin Contest. This is the third year that I've participated (the other years I was out of town). But first let's take a trip down memory lane of costumes past...

2008 - Gangster/Thug... Won 2nd overall 

2010 - Couple Costume: Deer and Hunter... Won 6th overall (this was before they split up group and individual costumes)

2013 - Panda

I don't have pictures of my departments previous pumpkins, but they were a piggy bank and a crawfish boil (the pumpkin was the pot). However, I do have a picture of our pumpkin this year! Can you guess what it is?!?!

I'm pretty proud of our helmet pumpkin and I just have to say that the logo is pretty legit! I will not reveal my secret on how I did that...I'm taking it to the grave...he he. Oh and we won 2nd in the carving contest!!!!! Woo Hoo!

 

Happy Halloween!!!

Weekend Recap: 10/25 - 10/27

I still need to share my weekend road trip from 2 weekends ago, but since those pictures are on 2 different devices I thought I'd go ahead and share pictures from this past weekend.

Thursday I woke up and couldn't look left or straighten my head fully, but after visiting the chiropractor (thanks Amber for the recommendation) I was feeling a little bit better. So both Thursday and Friday nights were spent nursing my injury...still don't know what caused it...like I've said before I'm a crazy sleeper so there is really no telling what I did.

Saturday, I was feeling much more mobile which was perfect timing because I had a ZTA Casino Night to attend that evening. I was offered two tickets to the event and luckily my Aunt, who is a ZTA alum, was able to go with me!

Remember the fall burlap wreath I shared a few weeks ago? That was actually for this event. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of it sitting on the silent auction table.

OOTN: Since the event was western themed I decided to go all out for it...Dress, Jacket and Belt: Target, Necklace: Charming Charlie, Boots: Cavendars. Oh and I even straightened my hair! That's a big deal people!!

 

I'm not a gambler and have only just recently gambled for the first time. So needless to say I've never played Blackjack before, but the dealer was really cool and helped us out a lot...ha ha.

21 Baby!! Winner winner, chicken dinner! I should also say I ended up losing everything...ha ha...told you I'm not very good at this, plus it wasn't real money and the only chips that were actually mine were the black ones...ha ha...the dealer said I needed more chips in my picture, but I really did get Blackjack...that part is for real.   

 

Sunday was spent running errands and working on my costume for this Thursday's costume contest at work. This costume better turn out cute, because right now it's just making me mad...ha ha.

October Meal: Zesty Ranch Pot Roast

You may or may not have noticed that I did not make a September meal. This roast was actually supposed to be my September meal, but time got away from me and I'm still not comfortable with leaving my crock pot on all day when I'm not home. One day hopefully I'll get over that.

All you need for this roast is...

2 to 3 pound roast
1 pkg Zesty Italian Seasoning
1 pkg Brown Gravy
1 pkg Ranch Seasoning
1 cup of water
1/2 package of baby carrots

Place the roast in your crock pot.
Mix all seasoning packets into a cup of water and pour over your pot roast.
Set your crock pot to low and cook 6 - 8 hours. (It is done in 6 hours, but I like my roast to just fall apart so I cooked it a little longer.)
2 hours before your roast is done place your carrots in the crock pot.

I enjoyed mine with a side of mashed potatoes. Talk about yummy! Next time I might sear the roast first to create a nice crust, but honestly this didn't need anything else.

Weekend Recap: 2 weeks worth

Since I didn't post a weekend recap anything last week, I thought I would share a pic from my friend's wedding 2 weekends ago. Luckily, it wasn't super hot outside for the ceremony. The reception that followed was inside where there was a really fun photo booth.

Both cakes were really pretty. The bride's cake had a really pretty crystal beaded letter on top but the collage cut it off...boo.

This past weekend I actually cooked twice and baked! Saturday night I made turkey chili. I've never had turkey chili before, but after making turkey tacos a few times and not really noticing a difference I decided to give it a try. Again I couldn't really taste a diffence. Oh and all that cheese you see in the pic is soy cheese and tastes much much better than the last "fake" cheese I bought.

Sunday morning I busted out my mixer and whipped up a batch of banana bread. It made my apartment smell soooooo good.

I actually over cooked this loaf to my liking...I like the center to still be nice and gooey...but it still tasted fantastic! The rest of the day was spent lounging around, going to the gym and patiently waiting for my first ever roast to be done! More about the roast later.