Reflections

There it is. That's the first meal I cooked for Jeremy when he got his first apartment. We were 22 years old, engaged, and completely clueless. I still lived on campus, but I very frequently went over to cook supper. I figured that with him not getting off work until 7, I had plenty of time to burn supper and start over. And I did, a lot.

That meal up there? That's tacos, canned corn, and a .79 7 minute rice pack. In the glasses? That's the most epic mixture of both orange and cherry kool-aid that you will ever experience. When I see this picture, I see extremely humble beginnings, two clueless kids hopelessly in love and tackling the world together, and yet I can pinpoint this exact moment as the start of my love of being in the kitchen. I think that's why I took the picture.

I've come a long way in the kitchen. First of all, I will never buy that rice again. It's terrible. We've graduated from kool-aid to water and milk (for health, not choice) and I very rarely make tacos like this anymore. I don't use as much processed food in our meals because I want to keep my family healthy.

I don't know why I feel like sharing this with you. I guess because I keep getting emails and comments about "I am impressed with your cooking!" and "I need to learn to cook!" Here's where I started! With a 15 minute taco recipe.

I do this blog for this reason. You can get there. Not just as a spouse or a homemaker, but in anything! In one year's time I've got from dorm-room microwave disaster to a wife, homemaker, and executive chef in the Ingle household. Small beginnings my friends, small beginnings.

Love, as always,
Courtney

Here's My Breakfast Pie!! (sang to the tune of Cherry Pie)

Hubbers loves this recipe, I love this recipe, friends love this recipe... and it's easy as pie!

I introduce you to Breakfast Pie! Breakfast Pie is a product of playing "cookbook roulette." (Cookbook Roulette is what happens when you throw all the cookbooks in the floor and randomly pick recipes because you don't really know what you want for supper.)

Here is this heavenly concoction. People, friends... fasten your seatbelts.

You'll need:

1 can of evaporated milk (NOT CONDENSED MILK)
5 eggs
3 cups of shredded hashbrowns (thawed if they were frozen)
1lb of sausage (I used Country Sage)
2 cups of cheddar cheese shredded
2 pie crusts, the rolled kind from the refrigerated section

*optional ingredients
1 half bell pepper, diced
1 half onioin, diced

Lay you out a pie crust in that awesome round pan. 

Brown up that sausage

If using the optional ingredients, dice up that onion and bell pepper

Get them hashbrowns. 

Now, for whatever reason, I don't have pictures. Oh, technology. But you'll want to beat those 5 eggs with the evaporated milk. Then, when the sausage is brown, layer that in the pie crust, then dice the onions, then layer the hash browns on that. Next, put on the cheese, pour the egg and milk concoction, and put that other pie crust on. Bake for 25 minutes at 400. 

Boom! Slice that girl open. 

Can. You. See. The. Goodness?

Hubbers gave this one a Thumbs Up. This is one of those great ratings that you don't just win at the Oscar's. Just saying. You may want to write this one down in the history books. 

Serve this up with some salsa for an extra kick. 

Guys, seriously, try this one. It's awesome!

Love as always, 

Courtney 

Stay Calm and Go Find A Hobby On Pinterest

My dearest friends...

I'm flippin' exhausted! I had a test tonight that I studied for, I got sick yesterday from that burger I told you about, and to make it all better, the Hubs and I ended up on a road trip for his job last night and we didn't get in until almost midnight.

Did I mention that Mardi massacred Winry's toys, ate the statement from my insurance and possibly peed in my shoe? For shame, Mardi!

I cannot punish her as she will be spayed tomorrow. Of course she has no idea what's about to happen to her, but I don't like the thought of my baby's insides not being, well... inside. 

Figured I'd add this too. Winry, as always, does not want to be left out of the limelight, so she casts her loving little shadow. This was the first picture we attempted to shame Mardi with. 

 On days like this, you need a hobby. Hobbies are therapy, they are a friend, they are a way for you to get alone, blow off steam, de-stress and just unwind. For me, I have two hobbies. Blogging and cooking. Tonight, you will see the best of both of those, because I'm going to hit you hard with some blogs as I need to unwind. 

But first, back to hobbies. Pinterest has a ton of hobby ideas, and I have found one particular board that I often use to see how other people make use of their hobbies. Go to that board for a little information and inspiration regarding hobbies. Do yourself a favor. Prevent gray hair and get a hobby! 

 A super student, a super spouse, a super homemaker will not be productive without some quality personal time. When you find a hobby, do it for you. This is the time for you to be blissfully selfish! And now, back to my hobby...

Love always, 

Courtney 

Chicken Fried Rice... Minus the Chinese Take Out.

Hubbers LOVES this recipe. Adores it. I try to make plenty for leftovers and that usually doesn't happen because he and my "brother in law" (Jeremy's best friend/brother, best man at our wedding) destroy it before the plates even hit the table.

You'll need:
1 can of carrots
1 can of peas
1 cup of rice
3 chicken breast
1 bottle of soy sauce
*eggs, scrambled
*green onion, diced
*zest of two oranges
*juice of two oranges

(**Means optional ingredients)

First things first, boil your rice. That's one cup rice, two cups water. Pour the rice and water in together, and bring it to a hard boil. Once it's boiling, cut the heat off, stir it, then put a lid on it. Let the steam work from there. This takes about 20 minutes. 

In the meantime, cook that chicken in the skillet. (I only used a few strips of chicken for a smaller amount. I like less chicken, you may add more.)

Next, combine all of your ingredients together. The peas should be drained as should the carrots. The chicken, once done, should be diced. Stir it all together so it looks like it does in the picture above. *If using optional ingredients, now is when you'd add the green onion, scrambled egg, and orange zest.*

Go ahead and heat up that skillet, wok, pan, what have you. I have an electric skillet that works wonders for this. 

Use max heat if using an electric skillet. 

It's not fried if there's no butter ya'll! Use about 2 tablespoons of butter to drop in that skillet. Paula Deen would use more, but we're not trying to lube up our arteries here. 

Throw that beautiful mess into the skillet once the butter has melted and sizzled. At this point we'll add the soy sauce, as much as you like (you won't use the whole bottle, hopefully. Taste it along the way. I like mine a little salty.) **If you're using the optional ingredients, add the orange juice here.

It's done when the excess juice and sauce have cooked into the rice. Enjoy this bit, kids, cause everyone is digging it!

Love as always, 

Courtney 

Catching Up Part 2

As I told you all yesterday, there has been nothing regular about these last few weeks. In fact, complete and total chaos is starting to feel like the new norm! Today alone I have conducted massive research for a paper, finished a paper, started another paper, cleaned house, started supper, fixed lunch, walked the dog, and fought traffic on Hardy Street in Hattiesburg, MS. All of this took place before 2pm this lovely Friday... and Fridays are supposed to be my day off.

But now it's time to catch up on the other thing that has thrown us off lately.

February 10th, 2013.

Jeremy (also known as the hubs, my husband) and I were en route back home to Hattiesburg from his grandparents' house when I got a phone call from my Mama.

"Where are you?"
"About an hour from home, why?"
"Just pull over. There's a tornado where you live and I don't want you guys driving into it."

Now I knew the weather was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad. We had a friend at our place washing his clothes, so I called him.

"What's the weather doing?"
"Sirens are going off. We're (the friend and our cat. Very thoughtful of him to save the cat) in the bathroom, the weather is terrible."

I immediately began to panic. I told the hubs "stop for now, but get us home." We pulled over very briefly, but once the rain subsided we bolted for the Burg, the loving name for Hattiesburg.

As Jeremy is driving, both of our cell phones are being blown up. My mom, my stepdad, my dad, all on my phone. His dad, his grandparents, his sister, his co-workers, all on his phone. I turned by car into a mobile BellSouth station and answered all the calls with "yes, we're fine, what's happening there?"

My parents kept calling me, sending me text messages, and sending me links on Facebook to what we would not be able to imagine until we saw it ourselves. An EF-4 Tornado tore through the neighborhoods surrounding us, our apartment complex, then jumped over the highway and completely devastated Hattiesburg and Petal. News reports of complete devastation on the Southern Miss campus were churning in my stomach since I couldn't see it for myself. As we approached 49 South in Hattiesburg, we were redirected though non-affected residential areas to get to our apartment.

First pulling into our apartment complex, I had no idea what to expect. Entire roofs from neighboring buildings were gone. Pieces of billboard from the highway mixed in with the debris of annihilated houses, roofs, cars, trees, power lines and more. Thankfully, our building was untouched, with the exception of a tree branch on our neighbor's car. We were fine, but we had no power.

Long story short, we camped out to candlelight and an ice chest full of meat from our freezer. We waited for the news reports to roll in, we called family, and I mourned at the devastation bestowed to my beloved Southern Miss Campus.
Here are some videos and pictures of the devastation. Though it has been almost two weeks since this devastating tornado blasted its way through Hattiesburg and Petal, prayers are still welcome.


What happened next was a beautiful thing, but I'll tell you that later.

Elam Arms. USM former residence hall, roof gone, windows blown out, part of the building destroyed.

My apartment complex, this building took the most damage. Not livable, front of roof gone, side of the building gone, on the verge of collapse. All residents were relocated. 

Southern Miss from Elam Arms. Windows blown out, 75 trees along the front of campus, gone. What was once shrouded in beautiful trees is now completely open and can be seen straight over to the 49 south Highway.

An apartment building in my complex. Now condemned and beyond repair. No roof, water damage, massage structural damage, on the verge of collapse. 

Debris from a billboard and the debris from an apartment roof.

Time for Easy Eatin' : Taco Bites!

Taco Bites... these are a flippin' lifesaver. They are easy to make, can be made two different ways, and they're quick. You could use these for a party, for a get together at work, or when you've been working all day and you want something filling with a little indulgence. Besides... it's got the word "taco" in it so it has to be good.

Taco bites are so incredibly easy that you'll be adding this to your weekly or bi-weekly grocery menu. So check it out below, then make them, fry them or bake them, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Grands biscuits (use a pack with 10 biscuits inside. We used a flaky buttery biscuit, but this is your choice.Get them in the cold section of your grocery store.)
2. 1lb of hamburger meat
3. 1 packet of taco seasoning
4. 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese. (just cheat and buy the shredded cheddar at the store. We don't have time to grate our own! 

Procedure:

Gather together your ingredients, then get to work on browning that hamburger meat.

Next, follow the directions for the taco seasoning packet of your choice. Mine called for a half a cup of water, the taco seasoning, then bring that to a boil, stir, and you're done. Set it off to the side and let it cool, because you're about to get your hands dirty!

Pop those biscuits open, butter up a cookie sheet, and plop them down! You want these nice and flat but not too thin.

Add the meat....

...a little cheese... or a ton, as in my household.

Then fold one edge over to meet the other, sealing in the meat in a delicious taco pocket. Now what's next is up to you. 

If you have a fryer, or if you are patient enough to fry these on the stove, go for it! They only need to fry for about five minutes, and turn them so they get a nice golden brown all over!

If you're more health conscious, try baking them for about 15 minutes at 350. 

Let them cool, then serve them up! We added a little salsa and sour cream to the mix since these are so good for dipping. (Yes, in my house we use that much sour cream, so I buy bulk.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is super easy, really fun, and absolutely delicious. Another way to add more bang is to add a little salsa in the browning process. YUM! 

Eat it up, Super Spouses!

Courtney