Winston Weekly

Happy Middle of the Week- you know what that means :)

Pup picture!

This is a photo from 2009 when Winston was small as a bug! My mom would be nervous to let him outside without supervision for fear that a hawk would carry him away! Also, he would get lost in the bushes.

TOO CUTE.

Food Creations

Now that I'm in grad school and have a little more time on my hands (but not really...) I am super enjoying learning to cook and/or experimenting in the kitchen.

As far as cooking is concerned, Pinterest has been my best friend and worst enemy. Whyyyy recipe, do you look so good but in reality you suck?!

You might remember a few weeks back when I wrote about my super exciting crock pot recipies that I found via Pinterest. Not so good. Super bummer- I was really excited about them!

*Sidenote- the Italian chicken was GREAT because I realized that these work much better when baked in the oven instead of in a crock pot with added water. In the crock pot all the flavor seems to cook out! Weird- maybe this would be different if you add broth instead of just water. Food for thought.

Today I thought I would introduce my own recipe. Well.....Can you call it a recipe when you made it up as you went? Anywho- this is what rescued my not-so-great chicken fajita crock pot recipe:

I didn't think of taking those fancy step-by-step photos until I tasted this soup and thought "Oh my goodness this is so easy/I'm a genius/I should blog about this!" So, a final product photo is all you get!

I call it: Tortilla Soup. (Original, right?)

But really, thats all it is! I had the leftover chicken that had some onions/tomatoes/peppers and I needed some way to not waste them.

Steps:
1) Chicken broth- I used the (sodium rich, not so good for you) Knorr bouillon cube boiled in two cups of water.
2) Dump in leftover chicken- So eloquent, I'm aware.
3) Dump in leftover rice- Mine just so happened to be of the "spanish" variety.
4) Added several large spoonfuls of rinsed (canned) blackbeans- My measurements are SO spot on, like I said, made this up as I went!
5) Added several drained spoonfuls of corn.
6) Done!

Product- Deliciousness!

I served it up with a light sprinkle of mozzarella, crunched up tortilla chips, and cubed avocado!

Now- get to screwing up some homemade chicken fajitas so you can make this delicious soup!

-PB

 *Sidenote again: My Pinterest YUM board (other than having way to many pins) contains my comments on the recipies I have actually tried, generally with the date, and what I would do to modify the recipe. 

This Weekend, No. 5

To start off my weekend right, rooms and I drove up to Woody's in Centerville (holla!) to meet my mom to pick up Winston!! I was thrilled to accept the pup-sitting position while my parents cruise it up with Carnival. (it eases the jealousy...)

So basically, thats my weekend ;) Puppy snuggles, puppy walks, puppy games, puppy infused friend times. Woohoooo!

Just kidding. (Kind of...)

*hint- If you just want MORE puppy pictures, follow me on twitter and instagram!

This weekend, rooms invented a delicious drink at Sonic. Seriously y'all, I don't even like tea- don't judge me- and I've had two this weekend. Half lemonade + half tea....Well thats a perfectly normal drink, you say, its even been named!...but get this:  + raspberry. Oh yeah. Ok, maybe everyone else in the world knows about this already but I'm pretty darn excited.

This weekend, Drew left for another audition. I say that like I'm annoyed, but really its a pretty cool deal. He's basically an awesome trumpet player, already won one job, and has advanced in handful of other auditions....but this audition is home for him. So until Tuesday, Drew is in Milwaukee, kickin butt (again). Get it, babe! :)

This weekend, I wore these:

Shoes: Bandolino (at Ross!!)

Bought these cuties over the break and forgot to blog about them- how dare I...and yes, I have itty bitty feets.

I hope you all had a restful weekend!
*Sidenote- I think its funny that the aim of weekends used to be fun and now its relax. I'm rambling...

Link up with Sarah or Syndal to share your weekend re-caps! 

-PB

The Facts of ME!

Today I'm linking up with Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants to Work for this fun me me me me post! Thanks Whitney!

I feel like this post should be a lot easier than it has been. I mean, I know myself pretty well...right? 
...until I try to make a list, that is. Then I am reduced to ".....I have the cutest dog ever!"
So let us start with that :)

• I have the cutest dog EVER. Oh wait...I guess that isn't so much a fact about me as it is a fact about my adorable pup. Ok ok ok, but seriously, just one pic.

*melts*

• My favorite food group is meat. That or we could probably just narrow it down to bacon.

• I'm at that baby stage in my cooking experience where I need confirmation of the fact that I did a good job. Poor Drew... "Did you like it?!"  "Is it okay??"  "DID I RUIN IT!?!?"

          Ok maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration, but not really.

• I have a twin brother, Parker. No, we are not identical (think about it). Yes, we are close. Yes, I love sharing birthdays.

*side note on sharing birthdays: 

For as long as I can remember, Parker has been the "wake-up-early on Christmas morning/wakeup-wakeup-wakeup its our birthday" half of our twin-ship. On our birthday, first thing in the morning we would hug each other and say "Happy Birthday" (daw). Not until I moved out of the house did I realize the sentiment of this tradition that we had un-knowingly formed. I'm pretty sure I cried our first birthday apart (don't tell him that) but now we call each other at midnight to be each other's first "Happy Birthday" each year.

          That was a little more sentimental than I had planned. But to answer your last question, Yes, we have          

          twin super-powers.

• I also have super hearing powers. That or I just have a weird brain problem (Drew would probably vote for that option). 

          Ex:  Drew's watch. I could hear the second hand and it drove me nuts! Not only did this   

          freak him out because he couldn't hear it at all, but I actually found the dang thing when he thought he 

          had lost it (it was in his car) because I could hear it ticking in a box in the back seat. 

          Not going to lie, I'm actually pretty proud of that moment.

          Needless to say, Drew's Christmas present was a new watch without a second hand. Sneak sneaky ;) 

          *The watch was not the listed price, because I am a poor grad student and Amazon is great.

• I absolutely cannot (not using the contraction of cannot looks very strange) study/do homework/read in the library. Does anyone else have this problem? I get so overwhelmed by all the pretty books that I just wander around looking at the shelves and reading titles! Its fascinating to me! It also makes me wish I had spent less of my under-grad on facebook and more time reading all the pretty books. Oops. 

          But seriously- I love books.

• I have played the flute so much I have tendinitis and my hand swells up when I play, but I do it anyways. Embarrassing...or Awesome.

• My Baylor Lariat feature includes the worst cheesy newspaper caption to date...

       *Guitar hero- seriously? Thats the best you could do?!

• I got my letterman jacket in high school from spring board diving as a freshman, and not from playing the flute (which is what most people would expect....because you know, high school letter jackets are super important and all....yes I'm 23).

• I threw a flat out temper tantrum and pretty much cried the last time Drew and his friends made me watch a scary movie.

• When I get stressed out, this is my go-to mental state:

       For the best example, see my favorite blog post in the history of ever: RIGHT HUR. I hope you pee    

       your pants laughing. Which is pretty much what I'm doing right now.

Who are YOU? Link up :)

-PB

Happies and Crappies- part 2

I'm not going to lie you guys, my favorite part of this link-up is the shiny gold button. Love it!

Lets mix it up and start with the "crappies" first so we can end on a "happies" note! (TGIF!)

crappies

Not enough practice time. Flute nerd out moment! I've been so busy and a little under the weather that my Feb. 8 audition is sneaking up on me!

Allergy attack! Those darned allergies. Two days ago they just decided to smack me in the face and say "Thought you were doing well? NOPE! SUCKS FOR YOU! HA!" 

FOG. Fog is pretty, but lets face it, makes me feel a little bit lot like this:

happie/crappie

Obsessed with Downton (DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING, I HAVEN'T FINISHED SEASON 3)

Watched a certain episode and CRIED for seriously 10 minutes. Couldn't stop! It was nuts. 

Anyone out there that feels me on this one?

happies

More 6AM work out success! Call me crazy, but just look at these bright shiny faces that worked out and got to the practice rooms by 8AM :)

Today I'm meeting my mom to pick up Winston! I get to pup sit for the entire week while my parents are cruising. Woohoooo! Also, follow me on instagram for mega Winston photos ;)

Ran about 5 miles outside of the gym with the boyfran. Getting better!!

Started juicing. Check out this cup o' celery/cucumber/spinach/cilantro/apple/orange/lemon!

*ignore the soap stained "fancy" glass ;)

Roomies both got jobs- I love them and I'm excited for them so I thought I'd give them a little shout out.

Did I mention that Winston will be here for a whole week?? Yeah, thats about all I can think about right now.

Happy Friday, y'all! Link up with Sarah and Stephanie and share your "happies and crappies" with us!

-PB