My Homage to Pioneer Woman...Let's cook!

I am in love with the blog Confessions of a Pioneer Woman I describe what she is doing there in the cooking section as food porn. It is absolutely enough to make you drool and informative enough to make you think you too can do it in your kitchen. So...today I had planned what I would make for dinner and decided to try it out for all of you. Once you visit Ree's site and see the fancy pants way she has everything set up and how magnificent her photos are I doubt you will be back here, but try not to forget us all together. Ree, try to ignore the elementary set up of my page, the very amateur photos and design...it was all done with love. Thanks for the inspiration.

Today I am making Cornbread Taco Casserole.
Anyway, shall we get started???

Here is the cast of characters...

Not pictured: Water, Milk and 1 lb ground beef (be patient I am learning, and besides I had to call and borrow the milk from my neighbor...!)

Preheat your oven to 375degrees and add your raw meat to your pan.

Cook until brown, drain fat and return to heat.
Add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. For some of you these first three steps may be considered advanced cooking (Joel). If you want to stop here and have tacos I won't judge.

Once your taco meat is done turn off the heat, add 1 cup cheese, I used cheddar here, monterey jack is also a good choice. Next add I can of Chilli Magic...this stuff is not the easiest to find in the grocery store...check by the chilli, or by the beans. Combine and set aside.

In another bowl add 2 boxes of Jiffy or similar cornbread mix to 2/3 cup of milk. In this case I had 1/3 cup and my neighbor Lynn brought me the other 1/3...sometimes it takes a village.

Next Add 2 eggs.

Stir Stir Stir...Ava is doing this for me in this picture.

Add one 15.5 oz can of Fiesta Corn or as I lovingly call it "mexicorn".

Add 1 cup of cheese...In my opinion cheese like butter makes everything better.

Mix and Set aside.

Layer your beef mixture in the bottom of a jelly roll pan/stoneware pan. If the need for the pan I just listed is the deal breaker on whether you will make this or not you could always use a 9x13 pan, the finished product will just be deeper and may require a bit longer in the oven. If you don't know what a 9x13 is...call me I will recommend a good take out place.



Who wouldn't like this recipe you ask??? Here's one little punk who is not digging it.





Throw some M&M's or other blackmail item to the distraction and press on... Spread your corn bread mixture on top of the beef mixture until it is completely covered.

Stick it in the oven for 15-20 minutes...longer if you go the 9x13 route...until golden brown. Once it's ready pull it out of the oven and cut into squares. You can garnish with sour cream as I did, and/or black olives, tomatos...whatever you like.


Yummo!

Mom Always Said "Don't Play Ball in the House"!

Four days after my last blog posting I broke my Ulna in my lower arm. I was having a blast playing kick ball with Gia. Running full speed in your socks on hardwood floors when you already have a history of clumsiness is not a good idea! The good news is that so far my bone that had to be re-set is sticking and I won't have to have surgery. The bad news is I will have to wear this cast for 6 weeks. This is a challenge when taking care of 2 little girls all day everyday, but I am adapting pretty well. Did I mention I am left handed??? Nice added bonus.

Here's a picture of me and our Dear friend Joel taken today. He too broke his left arm, under much more adventurous circumstances, while hang gliding in Mexico.

Peek A Boo!

Here are some candid adorable shots of Giada peeking from behind the dining room curtains. This child has an adorable personality. She is talking up a storm and since she has been ear infection free for a month now, she is a happy camper!

Filling My Shoes

I never imagined when I picked out my wedding shoes almost 10 years ago that I would be blessed with a daughter who loved to wear them around the house while playing dress up.

I am also sure my parents probably never envisioned a beautiful grandaughter one day prancing in this dress when taking me to pick it out for my 1st communion.

These are the moments where we come full circle...I wore this dress as a child, and these shoes as a young woman and felt like a princess on both of those momentous days and now I can watch with awe as my daughter does the same.

Formal Pictures

I have been slacking on getting the girls 1 yr and 4 yr pictures done. Between the holidays and illnesses it just hasn't fit in to our schedule. Last week I took them to JC Penney's and here's a few of proofs. I am surprised any of Gia turned out, she was very afraid the entire time. Ava as always was her supermodel self!

Cinderella's Ball

Ava and Tony attended the Annual Cinderella's Ball, Daddy/Daughter dance at our local park district. So sweet and so cute to see how beautiful she is and how excited she is to go on her big date with dad.

Click here to see all the pictures: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaMm7Rs3asmLow

Good Stuff

In an entry sure to rival that of Oprah's Favorite Things, I thought I would give kudos to a few products that I have tried for the first time recently and loved!

I tried this Secret Deodorant, KuKu Coco Butter, this smells delicious, reminds me of vacations in Florida, that said it may be more of a summer scent. It works and works, I will be going back for more. I hope they keep this one in the line-up!







Next thing I tried and love is the Clorox Anywhere spray. I have been spraying and wiping this up all over the place. Clearly it is a mix of less than 1% bleach and "other ingredients" otherwise known as water, but I fell for it and it makes me feel that there are less germs around here!



Then in another category, laundry, I found 2 stain removers I am crazy about!
I am a laundry snob, I am particular about how my clothes look and how they are washed...

The first is Dreft Laundry Stain Remover spray, you can find this at babies r us in a large bottle or a small travel size, I have both. I spray this on the stain, scrub and then wash as directed. I have found this will even get out the paint from Ava's preschool, nothing else has worked. A mom at the school recommended it to me.





The next I received as a sample with something I had ordered in the mail. Its called BIZ and it saved me when I realized an item I had sold on EBAY had a stain!!! Stress!
It took it out completely! I will be buying this next chance I get.
You can find it anywhere but it was new to me.





That's all I have for you today, I will share when I find something else that really surprises me! To my blogging friends, let's see some of your "good stuff" on your blogs.