Monday, November 28, 2011

Christmas Time is Here!!!

We got our house pretty much decorated for Christmas over this weekend. I am so happy to have our tree up, and my Christmas village on top of of our entertainment center makes me smile. :) The Christmas season is my favorite time of year. Is it just me, or is everyone actually nicer during the holiday season? It also makes me smile to go to stores and malls or even turn on the radio and hear the true message of Christmas through Christmas music!

This is also the start of peak season for the Fort Lauderdale airport, which means I become an airplane widow. I will not see Rich too much until he emerges from under water sometime in early May. That's ok, I will have more free time to spend killing myself at the gym!

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This year was by far the easiest Thanksgiving that has ever happened in the Layson household!! With only three people to feed (the hubby, me, and my Nana), I asked Rich to decide what he would like to have on the holiday menu.

The only non-negotiable item in this house is green bean casserole. We both love it. So, on our Thanksgiving menu was: glazed ham, green bean casserole, baked mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, cranberry sauce, and vanilla-frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles. Yes, I know. This meal was truly a departure from traditional Thanksgiving fare. But that's how we do it in this house! We're fairly untraditional. :)

I already have the ham bone simmering to make a nice stock for ham and potato soup that I plan to make from the leftover ham and mashed potatoes. My leftovers are all packed up and put away and I have just one more load of dishes left. The best part is I only spent a couple of hours in the kitchen!

I just took a week's vacation from work so I will be going back to work tomorrow. Rich will be leaving this weekend to head out to Houston for a few days. So, I've already prepared the Christmas playlist, and we'll kick off the Christmas season by decorating our home tonight while we have funfetti cookies and hot cocoa.

Slightly untraditional? Absolutely. But that's just how we do 'round here!

Happy Thanksgiving!


Green Bean Casserole
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
2 cans cut green beans, drained
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
1-1/3 cup French fried onions, plus 2/3 cup for garnish.
3 slices well done bacon, cooled and finely chopped

Mix the soup, milk, salt, and pepper. Gently stir in the beans and bacon, then stir in 1-1/3 cups of the French fried onions. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Add 2/3 cup French fried onions to the top and baked for 5 minutes more. Serves 4. Yum.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Chicken Burritos

I have been using up all the chicken in my freezer this past week. Friday night was burrito night in the Layson household! I took 2 boneless, skinless frozen chicken thighs and put them in the crock pot. In no particular order I added 1/2 cup water, 1.5 tsp of chicken bouillon granules, salt, paprika, cumin, & cayenne and let the chicken cook on low for about 4 hours. When I got home I shredded the chicken with 2 forks and then dumped out the cooking liquid. Next I added 1 can of drained black beans, 1 pouch of Spanish-style ready rice, a snack cup of Chi-Chi's nacho cheese sauce, and 2 tbsp of Taco Bell Chipotle Sauce. (Those of you who have left California...this sauce is probably the closest thing you will get to La Vic orange sauce.) I then stirred up the burrito mix and added 1/4 cup of water. I let it heat on high for about 15 minutes and then served it in burrito shells. After putting the filling into the tortillas I drizzle 1-2 tbsp of the Chipotle sauce over it before wrapping it up.This amount made 4 burritos so we had them for dinner in Friday and lunch on Saturday. I also heated tortilla chips in the oven on 350 for 5 minutes for chips and salsa! Super easy Mexican-ish food, done. Careful with this if you are counting calories, though! One burrito equals about 545 calories.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I'de love to write a blog post...

But somehow, my days lately have been work, gym, eat sleep, repeat....

So, I think I will take a hiatus from blogging for a few days. :)