Graduated!

I just found this picture on my phone from Tyson's graduation. Hizzah! I'm so proud of Tyson. He doesn't want to be called Dr. Ty Ty though, for some weird reason.

Random Photo Wednesday

Vegas!

We took a graduation/birthday/just because vacation to Las Vegas and had a blast...we did not win any big money, but still 

loved the trip. Tyson's been a few times, so he made sure to show me the sights. We saw Mystère and Blue Man Group. We walked up and down the strip (and up and down some more.). We ate some delicious food (craft steak; Wolfgang Puck's grill; a lamb burger from an Irish pub in New York, New York just to name a few).

I didn’t want to lug around my big camera, so I stuck to the camera on my iPhone and instagrammed them up. Here’s a glimpse into our trip…

I found my camera cord! Hizzah! Unfortunately, none of the pictures on my camera were that great. Sad day.

I cannot believe it is already December! Tyson's birthday is this Friday, the end of the semester is next week, our trip to Vegas is right after that, and then it will be Christmas and New Year's! I am so looking forward to some time off (to craft and hopefully bake!). I've found quite a few recipes on Pinterest lately (chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars, cheddar bay biscuits, sausage balls...have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest?!), and am looking forward to making some new items!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

monday :: baked potato soup

tuesday :: sweet and sour chicken 

wednesday :: spaghetti with meat sauce before small group!

thursday :: roasted garlic chicken pesto pizza

friday :: out for Tyson's birthday!

I can't believe my first semester of school is almost over! I am taking the last day off for Tyson's graduation, so I only have nine days left. Insane in the membrane! Well Tyson and I have finally reinstated James Bond movies on Sunday nights, and I am missing For Your Eyes Only! :o)

The best verde enchiladas.

Still looking for my camera cord. :o( In the mean time, I thought I'd share my absolute favorite verde enchilada recipe (from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Cookbook).

 To make this dish of amazingness, you will need:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed & pounded if necessary
• Salt & pepper
• 2 1/2 cups of enchilada sauce (I buy 2 cans of Hatch verde sauce from HEB--the BEST)
• 1 cup finely crumbled queso fresco (or feta if you can't find queso fresco)
• 1 (4 oz.) can of green chiles
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro (optional)
• 12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas (Do not buy the cheapest kind! They will break apart, and you will have to make an enchilada casserole instead. I speak from experience.)
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• a slow cooker, microwave, 9"x13" pan, and a clean kitchen towel

Cook chicken breasts with ~1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in slow cooker on high for three hours. Transfer to a bowl and shred with forks. Combine with another 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, crumbled queso fresco, green chiles, and cilantro if you're using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.

Take six of the tortillas and wrap in a damp kitchen towel. Microwave 25 seconds or until pliable and slightly warm. While you are waiting, drizzle a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture and roll up; place in pan seam-side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas until no more filling remains.

Pour one cup enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle with the Monterrey Jack cheese. Cover with foil and bake ~10 minutes. Remove foil and bake another five minutes to melt cheese.

Serve with remaining enchilada sauce, sour cream, or your favorite fixings! You can also make these ahead of time (stop before topping with enchilada sauce and cheese) and refrigerate up to two days or freeze. When you are ready to consume, top with sauce and cheese and bake 10-20 minutes (or until warm) without the foil.

So, I have been looking for my camera's USB cord for many moons. Blog posts without pictures are kind of lame, so I have been uninspired to blog lately. I hope to find it soon!

Overheard.

"So now we are going to brainstorm three ways that we can make our school No Place for Hate. Go ahead and write down your ideas in your composition book."
"Mrs. Hann, how do you spell tazer?"

Menu Planning Monday

So I didn't end up cooking very much last week. One night we went out and another night I wasn't hungry (due to sitting on the couch all afternoon eating chips and green sauce because I had a stressful day). That will not happen again this week!

Menu Planning Monday
monday :: cashew chicken
tuesday :: roasted pork tenderloin, green beans, salad
wednesday :: "World's Best" Mac and Cheese (we will be adding bacon)
thursday :: link sausage (Tyson got some flavored variety from Buc-ee's...) and zucchini cakes
friday :: dog sitting! (so probably baked potatoes all weekend)

Black Bean & Bacon Soup

So, I wish I had a photo to share with this recipe...but let's face it, black-ish soup isn't that appealing anyways. We also gobbled it up pretty quickly!

Soup
5 strips bacon , sliced (use a delicious thick cut!)
1 medium onion, diced
2 T. diced green chiles
2 cans black beans, undrained
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup taco sauce (can buy in a jar...or you can make it homemade for less money and more flavor!)

Homemade Taco Sauce (makes ~3 cups)
3 cups water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
3 tablespoons white vinegar
4 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper


Make the taco sauce first. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir well (in a medium saucepan). Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil on medium-ish heat. Turn to medium-low and simmer five minutes. Let cool. Can be kept in refrigerator.


Cook bacon at medium heat in a dutch oven or large pot until crisp and delicious. Add onion and chiles and cook five minutes or until onion begins to brown. Stir in beans, broth, and taco sauce; bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes. Puree soup with an immersion blender (or transfer to a food processor) until the consistency is to your liking.

A few of my favorite photos of late...

Super delish breakfast my dad made last weekend (bacon omelet)!

So much Airborne and cheap mechanical pencils are required to work in a school.

New favorite flats...not so comfy though.

Brody Bear!

 New owls in my classroom! Courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids and a craft fair. They still need names...I am thinking Winston for my friend on the right.

Scrapbook layout I did while Tyson was out of town! I think this was before I actually finished it.

Poor California all by itself...

Check out that awesome Texas! We decorated our doors at school to promote going to college. Please note the paper at the bottom of the door...a student added that today, intending it to be Montana. Also please ignore the fact that Indiana is bigger than California. I should have added a sign that said, "WARNING: Not to scale!"

Menu Planning Monday-ish

So I'm actually writing this Sunday evening...but I am excited because tomorrow is a day off for the kiddoes and a staff development day for us! I have been enjoying a weekend at my parents' full of great food, plenty of RAIN, quite a bit of reading (for school, not for fun), and shopping (craft show and outlet mall)! Consequently, I am in a pretty excellent mood.

Menu Planning Monday
monday :: baked potato night with the most amazing steak that my dad grilled from central market!
tuesday :: black bean & bacon soup (recipe from the soup bible)
wednesday :: link sausage and zucchini cakes and salad
thursday :: leftovers or maybe the cashew chicken I never made from last week
friday :: out to eat or maybe out of town

Well, I still have to be at school tomorrow morning so I am out! If I can find the battery charger for my phone, I will blog tomorrow! No idea where it is right now though...

When I'm not sure if I should laugh or roll my eyes...

source

"So we have our thesauri that you can use..."

"I think that's a type of dinosaur."

"...actually, it's the plural of thesaurus."

"Are you sure? It sounds more like a dinosaur."

Menu Planning Monday

Well, I officially survived my first six weeks of school! I celebrated by not doing very much work this weekend and eating some delicious food.

Menu Planning Monday
monday :: baked potato (Tyson's out of town, so no protein needed!)
tuesday :: turkey burger
wednesday :: leftovers before small group (I'm making sourdough pretzels for the snack! Pretty excited.)
thursday :: cashew chicken and brown rice
friday :: hopefully celebrating (Tyson is meeting with his committee in College Station on Thursday)!
saturday :: undecided, but I'm making cream cheese sausage balls to enjoy whilst watching the game

I semi-scrapbooked yesterday, but didn't get anything glued down...so hopefully I'll finish while Tyson is out of town (he'll be back Tuesday night).

Hawaii!

Happy weekend! I was able to sleep for almost 12 hours last night, so am not really sleepy yet...thus the blog post. :o) I was feeling nostalgic and reading old posts, and realized I did not post two of my spring break scrapbook pages. So here they are! Simple of course, but that's just how I am.

Tomorrow I'm looking to grade, organize my teacher bag, clean, and get things ready for the next grading period. I would really like to scrapbook, but we'll see!

I am officially obsessed with Mad Men...

Brody says hi. He had a pretty good weekend, even though the Aggies lost.

Meal Planning Monday
monday :: baked potatoes and spicy garlic salmon
tuesday :: garlic chicken in lemon-butter sauce with noodles and salad
wednesday :: cheesy enchilada casserole from last week (didn't get around to it...)
thursday :: coconut chicken
friday :: leftovers or take-out (Tyson's out of town)

On my camera...

 My new toms!

 I added a few more pictures!

My newest owl, Gertrude! A present from my sister-in-law :o)

Finally got my ID...I'm official!

Attempting to catch up on Project Life...

 

A peek in our living room...so untidy.

My classroom now has an Aggie flag!

Can I Pause this Moment?

Today, one of my classes applauded me. It was about half the class, but still. Made me smile.

Thankful.

Much needed RAIN this weekend. My awesome co-workers and team mates. Tyson finishing a draft of his record of study Sunday night. Sweet students that were (for the most part) flexible when I was feeling awful yesterday. Family. Brody Bear. My sister-in-law and her husband. Random acts of kindness. My students who wear and show owls to me on an almost daily basis. Impromptu Hobby Lobby trips because I realized Ashley was behind me in the turn lane. Rudy's breakfast tacos (so looking forward to that this weekend!). Coffee.

 

 source

Overheard.

So today was one of those whirlwind days. Which was kind of nice, because I got a migraine during my second block and felt absolutely horrible for most of the day. But it still went by quickly because so much was going on. We went to the library as a class for the first time, and when my academic class got back we had a little down time while papers got handed back. I overheard one of my girls saying that three of them had all gotten the same book. This initially irked me, because we have a book report due every month and I thought they were just going to work on it together to save time. But then she told another classmate that they were going to have a book club. And my heart melted just a tiny bit. They are also racing to see who can finish first, but it's still pretty cute. Apparently a boy in my class got it also (it's a Gossip Girl-esque type), so that should be interesting.

Also overheard in the library:
"I can't find any books on teen pregnancy!" --one of the guys in my class (seriously.)

I told him I could make sure he got teen pregnancy as his research topic when we do social issues next semester, but he seemed kind of horrified at that idea.

Menu Planning Monday

I have been super blog-lazy lately. I blame my guilt from not completing my new teacher trainings on time...but I am finally caught up and feeling better. So I resolve that I will post every day this week!

Menu Planning Monday
sunday :: which wich for lunch, snacking for dinner
monday :: baked potato night!
tuesday :: chicken bacon pasta
wednesday :: cheesy enchilada casserole
thursday :: work function happy hour/celebrate Tyson being done with his paper
friday :: College Station!

If you could pray for Tyson, we would both sincerely appreciate it. He is finishing up his Doctorate in Engineering, which consists of a paper documenting his last year of work experience. Specific requests are that he is able to use his time wisely and communicate his words effectively.

A little bit nerdy...

Hola! I've spent pretty much all day on the couch being productive for school. Our school loves technology, and encourages finding ways to incorporate it (even in strange different ways, as you will see). So I thought I'd share this little video that will kick off my introduction during Open House this week.



He's supposed to be Albert Einstein, if you couldn't tell...

Random Photo Wednesday

Brody loved watching Pioneer Woman's new show on food network with me this weekend. Mostly because there were cows and I think he misses the ranch.

Menu Planning Monday

Hola! Life is pretty sweet right now. I had an awesome Monday, it's my birthday week, and I'm looking forward to Pappasito's and some Aggie football in just a few days! Whoopity whoop!

Menu Planning Monday
sunday :: mexican pizza (verdict: seriously easy and yum. I exchanged the seasoning packet for spices below.)
monday :: baked potato night and leftover pulled pork
tuesday :: shrimp and salad
wednesday :: leftovers before small group
thursday :: out for my birthday :o)
friday :: slow cooker brisket (I never made it last time I posted!)

Taco Seasoning Substitute
I use the following spices in lieu of a packet for about a pound of meat.
2 T. chili powder
1 t. cumin
1 t. coriander
1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
salt, to taste

I have been totally craving macaroni and cheese lately...maybe I'll look for a "grown-up" version to make soon. Happy almost September!

Friday.

Oh praise Jesus, I made it through my first week! I guess I shouldn't say "made it through," because it actually went pretty well (I think...)! I realized Monday morning at about 7:37am that if I messed up, unlike subbing, if I was too mean or too nice for the day, I wouldn't just go into a new class the next day and start over. So I was really feeling the pressure.

My classes are two periods long, so I have three groups of students total. My first group of kids have a lot of personality, my second group is smaller and super quiet, and my third group loves to get off-task and act rambunctious. And my advisory is awesome--but I don't tell them that, because they actually work on homework and are quiet, and if they knew I liked it, they would probably change their ways.

I forgot my camera this week, but I thought I would document what my classroom looked like at the end of the week. I apologize for the iPhone graininess.

View from my desk.

I make sure the kids pick up after themselves, but my desk is a mess. I was in the middle of grading. Everything was clean again when I left for the weekend. :o)

I finally threw some pictures up on my homemade board. I would like to add some instagram pictures or something; it's a little sparse for my taste.

Super blurry. Still love it though.

I've got a to do list to tackle, full of trainings, grading, and a few more things to craft. Then I've got some cleaning and laundry. Hopefully a nap as well?

Brody's weekend to do list is a little less full.