Cars, Cards and Cooking

I'm in my usual "Friday Free Fall" in terms of my productivity level.  I got up. Got dressed.  Got two of the kids up (actually hubby did the herding this morning)  and out - my High Schoolers are off today.  Drove the rental car truck to school, with the 5 y.o. commenting how fun it was and that we should keep it.  I think the 13 y.o. agreed with him, but being 13 he just sat there trying to be unimpressed.  

The 5 y.o. informed me how cool it was to look "at the back" - meaning he twisted around in his seat (from his club-cab viewpoint) to watch the bed of the truck as we drove.  He wanted his older brother to share this thrill and invited him back to see for himself.  The older brother declined. Something about watching part of your car outside while you're inside, I guess.  I think paint drying may be more interesting, but, then, I'm not a 5 y.o. boy.

Anyway, I came home, swept the floor, emptied the dishwasher, made myself some breakfast, opened my card and my gift aaannndd that's about it.  I've chatted with my two kids and hubby.  Watched some of the Olympics.  Browsed my phone.  Moved to my computer and started browsing for cars.  I hate car shopping and am loathing having to find a new one.  We haven't heard the final word about our current car, but the shop did update us that the frame is bent.  How badly remains to be seen, as does what that will mean.

Last week I was also sloth-like but had my daughter's birthday party to eventually get me going.  I asked my daughter what she wanted for dessert and an idea for the main dish that was crowd friendly.  What we ended up with was:

• Dripped Beef (by Pioneer Woman) - Shredded anything usually goes a long way and this take was really good.  The peppers added just enough spice, without the heat.  We served this and the turkey on small rolls with shredded Monterey Jack and I sliced pepperoncini peppers that cooked with the meat.  Even better the next day.
• Shredded Turkey (for my non-red-meat-eating sister) - this was from our Thanksgiving turkey that we keg-roasted; it had been chopped and frozen the day after.  I mixed it with some fresh thyme and made a very light gravy and let it simmer away.

•  Oreo-stuffed Mint Chocolate Brownies - these were crazy and good and crazy-good.  I love me some Oreos.  I love me brownies of any kind.  Add the two and dang!  I didn't use mint chips to make the frosting - I didn't want a crunchy top and I knew I wouldn't find any in the stores this time of year.  So, I made a mint butter cream instead.

• Strawberry Cheesecake Chimichangas - these were good too.  The lemon really lightened up the filling.  I will chop the strawberries next time to get more bites of strawberry.  I also made them much smaller than the recipe calls for - I think I got 12.  We buy raw tortillas and cook them as we need them (we go through a lot of tortillas.)  They are so much better than national ready-to-eat brands and so much thinner.  When I make these again (and I will be making them again) I'll roll them raw and just fry, instead of pre-cooking the tortillas.

So put on a pot of beef (or turkey), mix up some brownies and set it out for the family while you go craft this weekend.

I am looking at this super cute card, by Wendi Robinson (one of her eight), and thinking it might be the inspiration I need to get off my butt and make use of the free time I have at the moment.  The multiple banners on the side are so fun and easy.  Plus, I can just change the papers to say Christmas themed, or a single design in multiple colors, like polka dots, and boom another versatile design for all kinds of cards.   Fun stuff.  If you need some inspiration, go grab the kit for yourself HERE.

My sister and I had hoped to take a card class at a new scrapbook store, but it's full.  Boo.  So it looks like the whole cleaning my office/studio will be what I attempt to focus on today.  And then some type of crafty thing.  Maybe I'll dabble a bit in this and that.  Follow me on Pinterest/Twitter to see what, if anything, I manage to do.  Let's just hope it's not car shopping.

Happy Friday,