Creamy Jalapeño Dip (copy-cat from Chuy's)

**Warning...once trying this recipe you will be addicted!**

My husband found a copy-cat recipe for Chuy's Creamy Jalapeño Dip at the link provided. He made some modifications to it...and we were left with pure addiction.

I love this dip...I really love how versatile it is as well. I have used it over grilled chicken, tuna, plan to use it as an enchilada base, I dip my pizza in it, chips, veggies, used it over rice...the ways to use it are endless. The best part...It.is.so.good.

We find that using fresh jalapeños is better than using the pickled ones in a jar. My one word of caution - use one jalapeño at a time to taste. Sometimes the peppers aren't too hot and sometimes they are really hot and you may not want to use more than two.

Creamy Jalapeño Dip

2 ounces mayonnaise
6 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Herdez salsa verde
1 small bunch of cilantro
A dash or two of salt
1 ranch dressing packet
3-4 fresh jalapeños

Blend all ingredients in a blender and enjoy.
It gets creamier/thicker refrigerated overnight







Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Summer Chicken Medley

One of the great things about summer is the abundance of fresh produce. The following recipe has a medley of vegetables that can be picked straight from the garden or picked up fresh at your local Farmer's Market.

Summer Chicken Medley

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- You will need to mix the following ingredients together and place in desired baking dish.

* Dice 1 pound of chicken tenderloin
* Dice half an onion
* Dice half a tomato
* Dice choice of 2-3 peppers ( I used a variety of colored bell peppers)
* Chop half a bunch of cilantro
* Add 1 clove minced garlic
* Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt
* Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil
* Add 1/4 cup of lime juice (I used the concentrate)


You should have a beautiful mixture that looks like this -




Here is a closer look...just because it is so pretty...




- Cover the dish in foil
- Place in oven for 45-55 minutes

Finished Product -








This is great served with rice (or quinoa), tortillas, and/or with freshly sliced avocado.

Enjoy!

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You Can Take The Teacher Out Of The Classroom...

Today was the day that just about every teacher in Oklahoma looks forward to (or maybe it is just me???). Mardel had their big annual education sale. I think, in my 8 years of teaching, I have missed this sale once.

I really had no intentions of going today. Really, I didn't. I figured, since I wasn't going to be teaching next year, there was no need for me to go. That is where I was wrong.

Being in education was the first thing I fell in love with. I met my husband shortly after beginning my first year of teaching. My life soon changed from "just" teacher, to wife then teacher. Not long after that, I became wife, mom, teacher. I quickly came to realize, this year, that I needed to spend some much needed time with my family. Somehow, along the way, my life had become teacher and then wife/mom got thrown in when convenient.

As I am very excited to be spending this year off from work and having more time as wife and mom...it was definitely noted that part of me was missing my love for teaching.

I had an Ah-ha moment this week. I decided to do my own version of pre-k with Lil' Man this year. This would provide me the opportunity to continue doing what I love while spending much needed time with my family.

I sat down and began to think about what I was going to do. I have never been one to use a "curriculum"...I have always used grade level standards as my guide and pulled resources from wherever I could get them to teach those standards. So, I figured this would be easy.

Well, as it turns out...a little daunting. Starting at the beginning, pre-k, is a little harder to plan out for than I would have expected (without having a given guideline of district expectations). Thankfully, after perusing through several blogs and reviewing common core kindergarten expectations...I finally came up with what I was going to do. I will post details later...just in case anyone is interested.

So, that is how I found myself back again at the "big sale". I shopped for a long time. I get some sort of rush every year at that sale. Weird. Here is a look at what I found.





It is a start, definitely not everything I will need, but a start. I am really looking forward to this year...I think Lil' Man and I will have a lot of fun.

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Cute, Easy, Homemade Skirts

In trying to find a cute baseball outfit for my 3 month old to wear to a Cardinals game we were going to, I stumbled across this blog that promised to show me how to make the "fastest skirt you'll ever make".

After searching and searching for an outfit... I finally gave up. Everything was too big, too expensive and/or too ugly. So I began contemplating making a skirt. Yes, initially, the thought terrified me. However, I reluctantly moved forward with this new idea. This is how, with the aid of Pinterest, I stumbled across the fast-skirt-making blog.

Here is the blog I found that has a tutorial on making these cute elastic skirts - Make It & Love it .

I am definitely still learning. I am having a hard time sewing all the fabric on the elastic waistband. I always seem to have a little over an inch leftover (which I just fold over and sew to make a pleat.)

These are fun and quick skirts to make (even for a novice like me). I definitely recommend checking out her blog and try to make one yourself. Here are the first two skirts I made:

The first skirt...




This one...I added some of my own "flair". I was at Hobby Lobby getting the material for her baseball skirt and ran across the bottom trim and the ribbon and decided to try and make a go of it with the skirt.

The beginning...




Finished product...




After completing these skirts, I was inspired to complete the outfit. So, using some of her plain white onesies, I simply sewed on some ric-rac (and added an iron-on appliqué on one) and was done.









I LOVE these "not-so-perfect" perfect outfits!

I think she agrees







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