This is going to be a serious post. I'm writing about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. Something that is no laughing matter. That's right. It's a post about food.
It's no secret that I like food. Sometimes, I live the life of a nomad. I like to find food in various places: my parent's pantry, my parent's refrigerator, my parent's deep freeze, cookouts, drive-thrus, Sam's Club's free food samples...you know...just wherever. Very nomad-like except I offer nothing for trade. I just take the food and give nothing in return.
During the summer my schedule is way blown. I really don't live by a schedule in June and July, which is not good for me, but I find a way to cope. I don't eat breakfast and I rarely eat lunch during the summers. I snack and eat dinner. And drink lots of Cokes in between. I don't eat breakfast because, let's face it...I'm usually still asleep. Plus breakfast foods just suck. People always say, "Breakfast is the way to start your day". Pfft. My Aunt Fanny. I say, "Coke is the way to start your day". And while I love lunch so much, it just kind of slips my mind sometimes in the summer. I'm too busy getting my tan on. If I do eat lunch it's usually something simple like a PBJ or a hot dog. My parents have this hot dog roller that makes hot dogs taste so good.
Anyway. Enough about that. Let's focus on snack foods. Snack time is a joyous time and I would like to share some of my favorite snack foods with you. I figure you're probably curious about what snacks I eat. Actually you're probably not curious at all. You could probably care less about it, but you're going to find out anyway.

Sarah's Favorite Snack Foods. 4 Life.

1.) Reddi Wip Chocolate Whipped Cream

Maybe you think it's weird to have whipped cream as a snack, but listen up. This is such a great treat. Especially if you're just craving a little bit of sweet. If I need a quick sweet fix, I just open the fridge, grab a can of this whip, and spray some onto a tablespoon (or you can fill up a whole ladle--it's a judge-free zone here). Wha-lah! Instant spoonful of sweetnin'. And if you're calorie conscious--which I am...not, you will be pleased as punch (mmm...punch) to know that there are only 15 measly calories in two tablespoons. Whatever that means. So there. You're welcome. If you haven't tried chocolate whipped cream, you've just got to. The regular ol' white doesn't hold a candle to the chocolate.
I picked up this snack habit from my Mom. She has taught me so much through the years.

2.) Edy's Creamy Coconut Fruit Bars

One bite of these things and you swear you're sitting pool-side being served delicious coconut delicacies by a cabana boy named Raul. Creamy Coconut bars are like a beach fantasy dessert. They are so good with their little coconut flakes in each bite. But I guess you have to be a fan of coconut to like these. If you hate coconut, you'll hate these, and if you hate coconut, well, then I guess I hate you.

3.) Rold Gold Tiny Twists Cheddar Pretzels

I'm not big on regular pretzels, but if you douse them in powdered cheese, I'm pretty much the world's biggest pretzel fan.

4.) Herr's Buffalo Blue Cheese flavored Cheese Curls

I just discovered these this summer. They've changed my life and my waistline one bag at a time.

5.) Jalapeno Poppers

At first I typed jalapeno poopers. That was a pretty awesome mistake. I love some jalapeno poppers. The FarmRich brand makes some pretty good ones. I just pop them in my toaster oven and then rama-lama-ding-dong, I've got a delicious snack on my hands.

6.) Item number six is going to be a catch-all for all of my other favorite snackies. I love to eat apple slices. Instead of buying a bag of whole apples, I buy the bag that has pre-cut apple slices that costs like three times as much as buying a bag of whole apples. The pre-cut apples are just more convenient and they're so tasty. I love eating apple slices and peanut butter. It's a champion among snacks.
I also love snacks of the spicy variety: pepper jack cheese, pepperoni, banana peppers, and pepperocini peppers. If I have a plate of all of these items, you know I'm having a good time.
I'm probably a gallbladder attack waiting to happen.

Yes, I'm ending my list with 6 things. Odd number, I know. Actually it's an even number, but just an odd number to end a list with, you know what I'm sayin'? I hate when people say "you know what I'm sayin'". Basically I ended the list with 6 items because now I'm hungry and jalapeno poppers await me.

As you can tell, I'm a pretty health-conscious person. My body is a temple...where junk food goes to worship. Because I'm a food lover and always love being introduced to new high calorie, processed foods, I would love it if you would share your favorite snacks with me.

Eat up, friends. Keep that belly happy.

Easter, Peep Pies, and Such.

Hey friends. What's up? NMH. Remember that cleverness that used to be written in notes? NMH. Not much here. And we wouldn't write 'what's up'. It was 'wuz' with an arrow pointing up. How things have changed. To think that we used to have to hand write notes to our friends. Now we facebook or tweet or text or blog or do all four.

7888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888855555555 (That little message was from the kitty). She just decided to jump up on the keyboard. I thought instead of deleting it, I'd just roll with it. She's a cat that obviously has something to share with all of you. Thought provoking.
I hope that everyone had a fabulous Easter filled with bunnies and chicks and chocolate and family time. I know I sure did. Easter is one of my favoritest of favorites. It's a glorious day. I get to celebrate my man JC and reflect on his goodness and I get a basket full of candy. Easter candy is the best. It beats out Halloween and Christmas and Valentine's candy. It blows their candy selections to smithereens. Here are my top 5 favorites. Deliciousness. If you all haven't already figured this out about me, I'm a gluttonous girl. Plain and simple. That's the deadly sin I'm most guilty of.

I also like Peeps. They are a staple in our Easter baskets each year. I don't like them so much for eating. I like them for Peep Pie making, of course. Peep Pies have been made around my homestead for many a year now. You might find yourself asking, "Self? What is this Peep Pie that Sarah is speaking of?" Don't worry your pretty head. I will share the art of Peep Pie making with you.

One Easter, we thought, hey, it would be a pretty genius idea to put these Peeps in the microwave. So, we did. I don't really remember why we decided to microwave them. I think that's back when we were going through a phase. A 'let's put this in the microwave and see what happens' phase. Yes. It was a dangerous period in our lives. However, the result of microwaving Peeps wasn't dangerous at all. It was pure glory. We watched these little marshmallow chicks expand and grow 3+ times their size. Amazement.

There they blow!

Making a Peep Pie is simple. I'll provide you with the recipe. Simply remove Peeps from the packaging. Arrange them on a plate. You get to choose the plate size and number of Peep chicklets. That's part of the fun. You can make a mini pie for a party of one or a jumbo pie for a family feast. Put those little suckers in the microwave. Rev it up and blast 'em for about 30 seconds.

Enjoy.

 We all love Peep Pies. Even Daisy.

Tasty.

Here are some lovely Easter pictures of the family.

In other Easter day news, we found a baby turtle in our pool today. Of course I've kept him as my pet of the day. I've already given him a couple of names. Tuck, as in Tuck the turtle from the WonderPets, but my favorite name is Turdally. Turd + totally. It just sounds like a turtle kinda name. I considered keeping the little guy to take to my classroom because my kids would completely love this little green shelled reptile. I did some research about keeping turtles as pets and I think I've changed my mind. 40 gallon tank? I thought my little bowl would be just fine. Guess not. Here's some pictures of Tuck/Turdally.

The little kid was so scared and hiding in his shell home.

My, what a lovely shell you have, Turdally.

Here he is in his new bowl home. It's no 40 gallon tank, but it worked in a pinch and he seems quite fond of his rock.

"I like turtles."-Zombie kid.

Everyone had a great Easter. Even Daisy enjoyed some lovely Easter treats. She looks so majestic starring off in the distance while a dog bone is perched upon her paws.

One more thing and then I'm going to let you kids go. Don't be sad though, because I'm working on another post about a weekend event and I'm hoping to publish tomorrow. It just depends on whose computer I can borrow.
So, I've been watching some AFV (America's Funniest Home Videos for those that are lame and don't know). You know what drives me crazy about that show? After a video clip plays and they show the audience members and they zoom in on that doofus that is really cracking up. I mean really cracking up. Harder than they've probably ever laughed before. I mean, sure I chuckled at that video. Maybe I even laughed a little hardish if it was someone falling and busting it. But maybe we weren't just watching the same video. It was not that funny. It didn't cause me to double over like you and hold my sides and then wipe tears from my eyes. I wonder if the production crew bribes audience members. "I'll give you ten bucks if you promise to double over with extreme laughter after we play this video. We're going to zoom in on you and you better laugh. Hard." I bet that's what they do. Let's hope there's at least some bribery with cash bonuses going on because if not then these people need to get a life. A life where they are exposed to more humor.

You know what else on tv drives me nuts? When Oprah has a musical guest on her show doing a live performance and Oprah tries to sing along with their song. How does she not EVER know the words? That camera zooms right up in her mug every time someone is on her show singing. You'd think she'd get with it and study up on the lyrics. I mean, sure, we all do an Oprah sing-along from time to time. You know how it is. You're riding in the car with your friends and a song comes on that you like and you're trying to sing along but then you screw it all up and say the wrong words or do a little premature lyrical action and start singing before the singer does. At least I'm not being filmed for millions to watch me do my screw-ups though. I just shake my head every time Oprah has a singer on her show because I know she's going to bomb it.

Alright, later kids. I've missed you all so much. It's been way too long since I've posted. Almost a whole week! I don't like that, but like I said, another post is in the warming tray, so don't fret, dear ones. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite...Ew. Gross.

Three Cheers for Spring Break.

Today was a beautiful day in the Bluegrass State. A very lovely 85 degrees--way warmer than I thought it was going to be today. One thing you should know about my family is that we're all food lovers. No distance is too far to travel to get your gut filled with something good. My family will drive the distance for good food and today was the perfect day to do just that. My Dad voted on heading over to the Land Between the Lakes area to go to Patti's, which is a good two hour drive. We hadn't been there since October, so we were long overdue for that good eatin' experience. We conquered our flowerpot bread (4 pots o' bread to be exact) and our giant pork chops like the food eating champions that we are. It was delectable as always.

Cold dranks are always better in a jar. "Ahh! What's it to ya?"

And since I'd rather have a birthday pie than a birthday cake, we bought a whole one to go. A whole pie is $10.99. One slice is $6. Um. I'll take the whole pie. Duh. 

These pies are a magical fantasy. They whip that meringue 7 inches high! Bonzai.

After we ate we visited the animal friends scattered across the grounds. This little Peter Cottontail is ready for Easter. So am I, my little fluffy tailed friend.

Me on the pink tractor.

Inside the pink tractor shop, I bought a beautiful little pink lace scarf that was 75% off. I love a good sale about as much as I love food. I was already wearing a pink scarf today (as seen above on the tractor), but switched to my new pink scarf because, well, it was new.

I almost bought myself some flip flops because my feet were hot. I hate wearing socks on hot days. Gross. It's just been so chilly here lately that this summer heat wave kinda caught me off guard, but I'll take the sweaty and swollen feet if it means we have some hot fireball star in the sky time.

We shopped a little bit more and even spent a little bit of time playing on a seesaw. Yes, our day was beyond random, but that's how I love it. It was so much fun--until my sister fell off her end of the seesaw when she was high up in the air. She hit the ground with a thud and I thought for sure she broke her arm. She has a pretty righteous bruise. End of see-saw fun times. It turns out her end of the board had a bit of a gangsta lean to the right. That paired with my roughness...well, maybe I'm not the best seesaw partner.

After that fun we drove down to hang out by the lake for a bit. Who knew I'd find more shells down by the lake than I ever do when I go to Florida. I also found a bone. It's probably from a dinosaur. I should be a paleontologist.

We also saw pelicans. They're very interesting and scary looking birds with their pterodactyl-like appearance.

It was just a teensy bit windy today.

I really look like I'm pondering life, don't I? This picture is so deep. It also looks like I just have one leg.

Good day. Full belly. Perfect springy weather and it's the kickoff to my Spring Break and Birthday week. Yeah. I do the week long birthday celebration. I'm that girl, but you probably expected as much from me.

The reason why I'm feeling awesome...

...I paid off this B today:

Booyah! My income tax money hit my bank account so I used the moolah to pay the remaining balance on my car off today. I called to make the final payment and I was so excited that I seriously teared up. I've been making payments on this thing for five loooooooong years. It's such a relief to know that I'm finished with it! Yay! This car is mine all mine and I don't owe anybody anything for it. GREAT feeling. You can't tell me nothin' right now.

Now I'm snuggled up on my big comfy couch with my heated blanket ready to watch The Bachelor. Brad better not pick Emily. I love that chick so much, and that's exactly why I don't want her to be chosen. She's too good for him. She can do better. I want her to come back as the next Bachelorette instead of becoming his fiancee. We'll see how it plays out. 

Oh, and I've also got one of these guys as a little Bachelor watching treat:

An Oreo Cheesecake Bar. Mmm-hmm.

Happy Monday, all!

"In Lunch Lady Land, your dreams come true."

School pizza days are my favorite. Today was school pizza day and I was counting down the minutes until lunch time. Chicken ring days are pretty spectacular too, although they're not as good as they used to be. The deep fryer was jerked out of the kitchen last year and now everything is baked to be more "healthy". Boo. Bring back the deep fryer! I miss fatty goodness.
School pizza has always been a delicious treat for me. The day that's it's on the menu is a day that makes you say, "My belly is going to shout with jubilee after I fill my lunch tray up and begin eating this delicious cafeteria miracle". It's a day that my students don't pack a lunch and actually want to eat the school food.
Did you all love school pizza? I always go for the cheese. I'm a plain cheese pizza kinda lover. What's the best thing about school pizza, you ask? Why, that's easy. School pizza is served up with a spoonful of corn. Pizza and corn is probably the strangest yet most delicious lunch combination of all time. It's the perfect little duo. A match made in Lunch Lady Land heaven.

Just look at these guys. True. Love.

Who would have thought that pizza and corn would be such a perfect match? Whoever made this combo is a food genius. It's probably the same person that first paired peanut butter with jelly. Now, I can't say that when I'm at home and order a pizza that I suddenly have a hankerin' to whip up some whole kernel corn to go along with my Papa John's. That would seem a little odd. But somehow, within the walls of a school cafeteria, it's perfectly normal. You just can't have one without the other.
Our school doesn't serve these anymore, but I used to love the Octagon Mexican pizza when I was in school. It's a tasty treat and exposure to geometry all in one. What's not to love? Does anybody still have these at their school? Ship one to me if so.

And for your Friday night enjoyment, I'll leave you with the always enjoyable Lunch Lady ditty. May you dream of hoagies and grinders, navy beans, meatloaf sandwiches, and slop, sloppy joes. Eat well, friends.

Here We Go Again.

Y'all are probably about sick of me having posts about snow days. Well, guess what friends? I'm in store for another one tomorow. This will make day 12. I think. I've kinda lost count. They all run together. We had an early dismissal today. Early dismissals are nice because we get to leave early from school but it still counts as a full day. Everyone wins. I was afraid I was going to win the prize of buying a new bumper because I was convinced I was going to slide my car into another car on my drive home from school. Praise the good Lord I don't have far to drive. The roads were slick as snot.
I've been home since a little before 3:00. I took a nap, which was glorious. I turned the heated blanket on high and I needed that nap in a bad kinda way since I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night. In the other hours that I've been home, I have done nothing but eat. Seriously. I've watched LMN and stuffed my face. I don't understand why when I see snow on the ground, I feel the need to have some type of food constantly in my mouth. Squirrel syndrome. That's what I call it. I fill my cheeks and belly up just in case. I don't really know what "just in case" is though. I've got a pantry and fridge full of food...for once. I'm not having to ration and share my food supply with anyone else. I'm not going to be snowed in for weeks. Who knows.
It's semi-disgusting how much food I've eaten already. When I got home I made a plate of nachos. I've had a couple of brownies. Spinach and artichoke dip. Chocolate covered cream puffs. And that's just the stuff I can remember. I still haven't had official 'dinner' yet. That's to come. This girl is still hungry. Every food commercial I see is an evil taunt. Dang you, Zaxby's and your delicious  commercials featuring fried cheese bites.
On a sad note, I'm in a state of emergency. I'm out of Cokes. This isn't good. I'm snowed in without Cokes. This could get real ugly. I have Sprite and Coke Zero. Barf bags. That's just not going to cut it. Guess I'll be downing a whole lotta my equally comparable to Coke liquid survival: my southern wine...sweet tea.
I'm fully ready for my day tomorrow. Just me, my heated blanket, and my bottomless stomach.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Y'all.  These are so good they're stupid.  Eating this is like having cheesecake and Cinnamon Toast Crunch all in one bite.  This is my second cheesecake recipe that I've posted in a three week period (in case you've forgotten the other stupid good recipe: Thank you for being a friend).  If you can't tell by now, I like cheesecake just a little bit.  Cream cheese is the stuff love is made of.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls

2 pkgs. cream cheese

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Line a 9x13 baking dish with 1 can of crescent rolls.  Pinch seams together.  Mix together cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until creamy.  Spread on top of crescents.  Take the other can of crescents and cover the top of the cream cheese mix.  Press seams together to cover.  Pour melted butter on top of crescents.  Mix together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top of butter.  Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

When I made these I kinda misread the recipe (shocking) and mixed the butter, sugar and cinnamon all together, then poured on top of crescents.  Sometimes I don't pay attention, but I don't guess it really matters-- it all works out the same in the end.  They were still delish.

About 20 minutes into the baking time my mouth was watering.  My whole house smelled like cinnamon sugar love. Once they came out of the oven, I let them cool for just a bit so I wouldn't get a roof-of-my-mouth severe burn, but I tore into one as soon as I could.  Oh.my.stinkin'.goodness.  So great fresh and hot out of the oven.  I refrigerated the little delicious cheesecake babies overnight and then cut into bars and took some to a little ugly Christmas sweater party the next night.  

These things are great right out of the fridge and even better when they’re warmed up just a bit, like, in the microwave for 10 seconds.  These make a great dessert and also a great breakfast.  Not that I had one or four of these bars for breakfast...I'm just thinking they'd be a pretty fabulous breakfast treat all warmed up. 

Make these.  I'm passing on this recipe to better your life.  

Fresh out the oven.

Here's a square all warmed up.  Mmm.

Sketti.

I'm not the hugest spaghetti lover.  I have to be in the mood for it.  Spaghetti is such a fun name, but it's actually kind of a boring dish.  Noodles and sauce.  Big deal.  I found a recipe for Baked Spaghetti and it sounded quite delicious, so I thought I'd give it a try.

BAKED SPAGHETTI

16 oz spaghetti

26 oz spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu Robusto Roasted Garlic)

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 egg

8 oz. sour cream

1 stick butter or margarine (I always go for butter!)

2-3 cups shredded cheese

While the spaghetti is cooking, brown the beef.  Drain and return to pan and add the sauce.  I also added a little onion.  Love me some onion. Drain pasta and return to pasta pan.  Add the sour cream and butter to pasta.  I sliced up the butter so it melted evenly over the pasta.  When the pasta has cooled a bit (about 10-15 minutes), add the egg.  Stir well.  Place pasta mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top pasta with the ground beef/sauce mixture.  Then cover with cheese--that's the best part!  Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

I think I kinda let my cheese get a little past bubbly.  I'd recommend going closer to the 30 minute bake time instead of the 40. 

Pretty tasty and super easy dish.  That's what I like.

Hi. My name is Sarah and I'm a Thanksgivingaholic.

Thanksgiving is my favorite. I love the food. I love the dressing and the sweet potato crunch and the pumpkin pie. I can't forget about pie. I love getting together with my whole family without the worry of presents.  Thanksgiving is the best because it's all about food and family and food and laughing and food and being thankful and food.  Our great nation uses Thanksgiving as an excuse to gorge and over-indulge in food and then analyze sales circulars to strategize Black Friday shopping schedules.  Sounds like a winner to me.

I'm really hoping that this is a Thanksgiving that I can enjoy.  The two years prior things kind of got in the way of me being able to enjoy Thanksgiving to the fullest.  I wasn't able to fully throw down.  The Pilgrims and Natives would have been disappointed in me.  I just felt I wasn't able to do this glorious holiday justice.  It's time to take it back!  Two years ago, my doctor had me take a medicine that worked to suppress my appetite.  He picked the worst time of the year ever for that.  I couldn't eat hardly anything, which was totally the doctor's point, but I disliked it.  Don't mess with my food intake.  Last year I got H1N1 on Thanksgiving day.  It was fun.  This year I don't want any pills or any sickness.  I just want to eat.  And be able to enjoy it.  To the fullest.  Here's to what I'm hoping will be the best Thanksgiving of all time.

Thanksgiving is always a great time to reflect on my life and everything that I have.  I'm incredibly blessed and don't give thanks often enough for all that I do have.

I'm thankful for...

• the fact that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Tell me who's in the house?  J.C.
• my home.  It's cute and I've loved making it my own.  I'm proud of it.
• having a job that I love and twenty-something little kids that keep me smiling.
• my family that constantly support me, love me, and keep me laughing.
• my friends.  I'm blessed to have some great people who I can count on and who love me, even during my worst times.  I truly value my friendships.
• Daisy Mae.  I love my kid.  More than words.
• my blog readers.  I love seeing you all appear on my Feedjit.  It makes a big goofy smile stretch across my face.  That should make you feel good.
• my laminator.  Changes my life one laminating sheet at a time.
• sweet tea.  The wine of the south.  A good batch of sweet tea has at least two cups of sugar.  That's the rules.
• Netflix.  I'm a bit addicted.  
• food.  If you know me, you know I'm in a pretty hot and heavy relationship with food.  Gluttony? Guilty.
• Pandora radio.  Again, addicted.
• animals.  Animals are the best.  Especially those that are in or have been in my life.  Shout out to Daisy, Abby, my beloved Piper (Best cat ever.  I miss her so much), and Dusty.  I'm also thankful for the animals that are my favorites that I wish I could have like a koala and a river otter and a cria.
• the moon and the stars.  Beautiful little things.  Writing 'the moon and the stars' reminds me of that nice little diddy "I Swear" from All-4-One.  "...And I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky.  I'll be there..."  I'm thankful for that song too.
• writing.  I'm happy I can express myself.  I love writing.  This blog has allowed me to communicate a lot of thoughts and ideas.
• memories.  It sure is fun to reminisce.  
• the hard times.  They've made me stronger and wiser.  They've also made me realize who I can trust and count on.
• the little things in life.
• accomplishing goals.
• kind words that are said at just the right time.  You never know when your words might make someones day.
• being me.

I hope all of you have a Turkey-rific Thanksgiving.  Get your gobble on.  Don't disappoint me, please.  By the way, do you realize I used the word 'food' nine times in this blog?  I'm obviously ready.  Mmm.

Thank you for being a friend.

If you want a very easy, very good dessert, well, this is it.  These little cheesecakes are a symphony of flavor in your mouth.

Mmm.  These are the good kind of cheesecakes.  It's not any of that soft no-bake crappy kind.  This is the hard, firm, good kind.  If you're a cheesecake lover, then you know what I'm talking about.  The Golden Girls would approve of these little babies.

Because I am a girl that loves food, I am passing on this very special recipe to you.  This is a reward for coming to my blog.  Do yourself a favor and make these.  Make them for an upcoming holiday gathering.  You only need four ingredients.  People that taste them will think that you used forty ingredients and spent fifty hours making them.  You can even make them and be selfish and hoard them all for yourself.  Let me know if you make them and be sure to tell me how much you fell in love.

Just click on this little picture to enlarge the best recipe of all cheesecake time.

P to the S: This recipe is from the 'Take Five A Holiday Cookbook" by Debbye Dabbs.  You are stellar, Debbye.

Good stuff never lasts.

Sonic's Spicy Southwest burger was so, so good.  Why did I use the word 'was'?  Well, because like all good things, it was only around for a limited time.  This delicious burger said goodbye and made its exit at the end of October.  

It looks like a big smashed pile of mess in this picture, but it was so good.  Really.  It had pepper jack cheese, spicy chipotle sauce, jalapenos, and fried jalapeno strips.  It was spicy, which I absolutely love.  Too bad I can't order it anymore.  Actually, maybe it's a good thing.  I had consumed a lot of these burgers.  Just a few...

I think I'd like one of these, please...

I sure do like brownies. I have a deep love and appreciation for edges, and more specifically, the corners. When I make a pan of brownies, the fours corners are the first pieces to go. I cut them out and gobble them up. If I'm at a potluck, and someone brought a plate of brownie squares, I'll sure dig through the pile to get a corner piece.
There's just something about an edge piece. It's got a little crunch to it. I like my baked goods like brownies and cookies to be a bit crispy and crunchy. Mmm. None of that gooey stuff.
This pan adds two chewy edges to each brownie. Now, that's a treat. A real treat.

I'm pretty much in love with this guy...

Nope. Not a boy. A burrito. My dear little brother introduced me to this little beauty...Taco Bell's Volcano Burrito. It's a delicious concoction of beef, rice, cheddar cheese, crunchy red tortilla strips, sour cream, and cheesy molton hot lava sauce. The hot lava sauce makes you want to do high kicks. I had my first Volcano Burrito two nights ago and it's all I'm thinking about right now. That probably means I'll be getting in my car in just a minute to drive to my local Taco Bell. I've always heard that it's not good to deny your cravings. It's also not good to consume a burrito that's 800 calories, but...

I sure do love mac and cheese

How influenced are you by things you see on TV? I'm apparently a bit too much of a sucker for things I see. At least when it comes to food, anyway. I was watching The Wedding Planner and it got to the scene where Mary and Massimo were sharing a delicious meal of macaroni and cheese. Simply hearing the clink of their forks against their bowls and seeing them devour each cheesy noodle bite inspired me to run to the kitchen and fix me some. Yeah, you know me. I didn't put forth any kitchen effort. I had a cravin' and I wasn't about waiting for water to boil and all that jazz. I peeled back the top off some Easy Mac. Punched in 3 minutes and 30 seconds on the microwave. Bam. Mac and Cheese. And that, my friends, is why it's called Easy Mac.
This might not have been such a bad thing if I hadn't already eaten a large dinner. Or if I hadn't just eaten six sugar cookies. Or if it hadn't have been 11:00 at night, which is way past time to be eating.

I'm in love with Monte

Monte Cristo that is. Cheddars just opened up in BG and it has been slammed all week. My family decided to brave the crowd and went there to eat tonight. I ordered the Monte Cristo sandwich. Let me just tell you--it was heaven in the form of a sandwich. I took the first bite and giggled, yes giggled like a girl in love. I was truly giddy over the deliciousness of this sandwich. Some sandwiches may claim to be Monte Cristo, but unless you've had one that is fried on the outside and sprinkled with powdered sugar, then you have not experienced a real Monte Cristo. It is basically a ham, turkey, and melted cheese sandwich with a funnel cake fried around it. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? That's because it is. It makes you want to slap somebody. Hard. Of course I took a picture of this masterpiece. I am a very happy girl with a very happy tummy right now. Yum. E. :)

Beware: This might make you disgusted or maybe impressed...nah, just disgusted

A list of what I have eaten today:

-2 chocolate chip pancakes
-a WHOLE bag of steamed green beans (usually meant to be shared)
-a WHOLE box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese (again, usually meant to be shared, with, say, a family)
-1 slice of Little Ceasar's Pizza
-2 slices of chocolate pie (my Granny D made it just for me 'cause it's my fave, so I had to eat at least two pieces...)
-a couple handfuls of Kettle chips (love them)
-a freezer pop (love these too)

I washed it all down with a whole lotta sweet tea.

These eating habits explain why I have gained 5 pounds since the start of school 14 days ago. Maybe I have a parasite in my belly...No, scratch that. We all know I'm just a fat, nasty food lover.

The Big Green Egg Cooks Up a Big Bunch of Goodness

My parents have a Big Green Egg. You might find yourself puzzled and asking what a Big Green Egg is. I feel that it is my duty and obligation to spread the joyous news of the Big Green Egg with people across this great land. The Big Green Egg is, in fact, just that… a Big Green Egg. It is a ceramic cooker that is used as a smoker, a grill, and an oven. You can literally cook just about any type of food on it. Meats, pizza, rolls, desserts. The sky is the limit. Whatever your little grilling heart desires.
So tonight Dad grilled burgers on the Egg. Burgers are a definite treat when they are made on the Egg. Having the Egg fired up brings about great feelings of joy around the Marcum homestead. The Egg releases a tantalizing aroma in the air from the smoking charcoal as it sears the juicy beef. The smell alone just makes you want to knock somebody out. The BGE heats up really quickly and doesn’t take long to work its magic on the food. When the burgers come off, I usually have a big, goofy smile plastered across my face because I know that I am but mere seconds away from biting into juicy goodness. Usually I do some type of cheering, whether it be clapping, yelling of “whoops”, etc. I think tonight I actually started jumping up and down. Yeah. I sure did. I guess if you know me well then this doesn’t surprise you at all. I am a food lover. More specifically, a fat nasty food lover. It is not unusual for me to cheer or clap when my food arrives at a restaurant. I’m sure I have boosted the self-esteem of many, many servers in the Bowling Green area restaurants.
Big Green Eggs make me want to shout from the rooftops! You need to have one in your life. Seriously. No other grill will ever live up to what the Big Green Egg has to offer. Go buy one or just become really good friends with someone that has one, and get your grill on!