1st Family Dinner @ My House!

It is so hard for our family to get together and it was looking like October was going to be a busy month, so we celebrated the October birthdays a little early. Everyone got together at our house to celebrate Lesha (sister), Aunt Nancy, and Me-Me's birthdays! This was a day of firsts for me....first family gathering at our house, first time to cook a brisket & first time to feed so many people. We ended up having 13 family members there!! The brisket turned out great....thank goodness, and the other new recipes I tried were great too!

On the menu for the night: brisket (recipe from PW), baked beans (another PW recipe), hash brown caserole (my mom made), cole slaw (mom also made this), apple dumplings (PW again) and ice cream! Everything turned out so yummy!! I will post all the recipes soon!

Allen, Ellis, Dad, & Ethan

Mom, Billy, Lesha & Me-Me

Pa Pa & Glenda

Look close....he's licking his lips...



Boys being boys....arm wrestling?


Birthday Girl: Lesha!

Birthday Girl: Nancy!


Birthday Girl: Me-Me!
Now this woman can cook! Don't even get me started on the meals I've devoured at her house!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

If you love spaghetti and meatballs, you will love this take on meatballs! I made these a couple of weeks ago and they were delish!

Just look at the ooey gooey cheese in the middle of that fabulous ball of meat! This makes my heart happy!

You should definitely try this recipe ASAP! No really, go to your kitchen right now and try this....I promise, you will thank me!

Here's What You'll Need:

1 1/2 lb. ground beef (80/20)
3/4 cup italian bread crumbs
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped (I used dried parlsley)
salt
pepper
3 sticks mozzarella string cheese (you can use fresh mozzarella if you have it...I'm just not that fancy)



Here's What You'll Do:

Mix first 8 ingredients together. Cut string cheese into 1/2 inch pieces. Scoop out enough meat mixture for one meatball (depending on how big you want them). Form meatball around a piece of cheese. Make sure cheese is completely covered.

You now have 3 cooking options:
1.) Cook meatballs and sauce in crock pot on low for 6-7 hours.
2.) Brown meatballs slightly, leaving pink/red center. Then place in crock pot with sauce on low for 5-6 hours.
3.) Brown meatballs until almost done, place on foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.

I used option #3 and it worked out wonderfully! I also made a ton of the meatballs and froze some of them in a zip lock bag. I also froze a container of spaghetti sauce, so next time we're in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs, we will be set!

Product Review - Purex 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets

I found a new product that I just love! If you have not used the Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets, you must check them out! The laundry sheet basically combines one load's worth of detergent with one load's worth of fabric softener & anti-static into one fabulous little sheet! You just put the laundry sheet into the washer and the detergent dissolves out of the sheet during the wash cycle. Then, transfer the sheet along with the clothes to the dryer. The fabric softener "strip" is heat activated by the dryer. There are two main reasons I love these sheets, 1.) No more lugging huge bottles of laundry detergent & fabric softener home from the store, and 2.) No more running out of detergent before running out of softener or vice verse...you will no longer have to buy an unequal amount of detergent/softener! I never understood why they sell the detergents & softeners in different load amounts anyways.....why do you get a 56 load bottle of detergent but only a 52 load bottle of softener??? I think it is the same conspiracy that the hot dog weenie and hot dog bun producers have going!

Random Tuesday

I was supposed to go to watch a friend's softball team this Tuesday. She just started teaching/coaching this year, so I was really excited to go show my support.....but mother nature decided there would be no game....it got canceled due to all the rain we've gotten the last several days. It did turn out to be a great Tuesday night though! I heard that Red Lobster was having their all-you-can-eat shrimp deal and I have not been able to get shrimp off my mind ever since! So as soon as I got home, I suggested to Josh that we go to Red Lobster for dinner. It turns out that Bob Stoops does a radio broadcast from Red Lobster in Norman every Tuesday! We were super excited at the chance to meet the man behind the Sooners! We had a lovely evening stuffing our faces with shrimp and even got to get an autograph and picture with coach Stoops!

Bob Barry Sr., Bob Stoops, Me & Josh

Good Times with Good People!

A couple of weeks ago, Josh & I decided it was time for a good 'ole fashion date night! We decided we wanted to do something fun, something we hadn't done before. Neither one of us had played laser tag but we've always wanted to try it out, so we hit up Joe & Angie to see if they wanted to join us. We ended up having a blast! We played with a group of 8-10 year old boys and they were hilarious! One of the boys kept telling Angie & I to stay behind him so he could protect us, it was sooo cute!

Here we are with our score cards! I look excited, but the truth is...those little boys whoooped our butts!



















Joe & Angie! I think Joe had the highest score for our team!





















Nothing like laser tag to bring out the kid in you!

Fool Proof Cake Mix Cookies

I have been inspired by the Pioneer Woman's blog to write more about what I love - FOOD! The Pioneer Woman has a great sense of humor, and I find her blog to be very entertaining and inspiring. She also writes about photography, homeschooling, gardening, and her life's journey living on a ranch in TX. If you love food (especially southern food) as much as I do - you should check out her blog! I will definitely be trying some of the Pioneer Woman's recipes out soon, but for now I'll just post about some of my favorites!

So, I'll start with my favorite cookie recipe. It is just as easy as buying pre-made cookie mix or pre-made cookie dough, but they have a wonderful 'homemade' taste! This recipe is one that my mom has passed along in her Melanie's Favorite Recipe's cookbook that she made for my sister and I as a Christmas gift last year.


Here's what you'll need:

1 box yellow cake mix (use the yellow butter cake mix for a yummy, buttery flavor!)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips


Here's what you'll do:

Mix ingredients together. Spoon cookies onto cookie sheet and bake @ 350 for 7-9 minutes.

(You can add chopped pecans or any kind of nut that you'd like. You can also try different variations with different chocolate chips - I made them last night with half a bag of chocolate chips and half a bag of peanut butter chips, they were mmm mmm good!)