SUYL: Appetizers

Linking up with Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life: Appetizers today!

Confession: we eat appetizers A LOT. Like, sometimes (and by sometimes I mean weekly) we have entire meals of nothing but appetizers! I don't know what it is.... But it makes me happy, happy, happy.

One of our recent favorites could not be MORE simple!  

Chipolte Raspberry Cream Cheese Appetizer

This D.L. Jardine's Buckin' Berry sauce is UH-MAZING. It's a raspberry chipolte sauce and I could seriously drink it. All we do is take a block of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat because it seems to soften & spread better), let it sit out to soften up, then pour some of this sauce over the top and serve with crackers. We may or may not eat the ENTIRE block of cream cheese in one sitting.....


I also make little cocktail weenies in the crockpot all the time. I will add two packages of cocktail weenies, a jar of chilli sauce, and about half a jar of apricot preserves and let it cook on low for a few hours. Yummy!

We also make a pretty delicious Cream Cheese Crab Dip that is super easy! (Um, we obviously have a love of cream cheese in these parts...)

You need:

• 1 block cream cheese
• 2 cans lump crab meat
• 1 jar chilli sauce

We take a large oval serving platter and spread the cream cheese out over it in a uniform fashion. I drain the crab meat, and also make sure to squeeze out all excess water with a paper towel. On top of the cream cheese, spread a think layer of chilli sauce. Sprinkle crab meat on top. Serve with crackers. Sounds so weird, but my oh my - it is GOOD!

Hope ya'll enjoy these as much as I do!

Healthy Living Update

I am starting my 5th week of Weight Watchers. So far, so good. I have notice the weight is not coming off as fast anymore, but that is to be expected. I have hit a pretty steady weight loss. That is a much healthier approach, and I believe what will make the difference in this being a lifestyle change.

As far as meals go, I have been cooking a LOT of fresh, seasonal vegetables. My Dad has a garden, and right now zucchini, squash, cucumbers and okra are in full season, so we eat a combination of those almost every day! I roast, grill, saute. Whatever sounds good for the night. We have been using a lot of the Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning blends to change up the flavors. Amazingly, I think our grocery bill has actually decreased. Because we are not buying hardly anything that is processed or frozen, and trying to eat fresh, seasonal produce. Also, I have been putting more thought into meals so that we aren't as wasteful. I eat a lot of leftovers for lunches, too. For examples, when I make turkey burgers, I will put the extras in a container in the fridge. Then at lunch I can pop one in the toaster oven with a slice of reduced-fat cheese, and serve it over a bed of greens, topped with tomatoes and onion. YUM!

I have also been trying to increase my weekly workouts. My goal has been to "work-out" at least four times a week. Whether this is in the gym or by riding our bikes, I want to get some type of physical activity where I am out of breath and sweating. I also have some videos that I can do at home. I recently bought a new yoga mat, block and strap so I can start working on my stretching. Yoga was a great way for me to change my body, in that it helped elongate my muscles and give me that "lean" look I am striving for. So my goal is to get back into that, although there are not any classes offered around here. I guess I am on my own!

It helps greatly that I have a wonderful support system at home. Jay has made a drastic change in his lifestyle. I am so unbelievably proud of him! He has made some serious changes, and the difference in his body is already amazing. We both decided this was something we wanted to do for not only ourselves, but our future children. I don't want to be so tired and sluggish that when I do get pregnant I am miserable. We also both want to be able to run around and play with our kids, not just come home and plop down on the couch because we are tired.

So here is to the next few weeks, I guess. I still would like to lose about 15 more pounds, give or take. Once I get to that point, I would like to go into maintenance and see where my body "naturally" falls within a few pound range.

Easter

Easter was a very fun weekend! Thursday evening, my niece and nephew were in town. So Justin and I went over to my parents' house and dyed Easter eggs with them before our evening Church service. They ended up coming home with us and spending the night. About 1:30am I found Ella still awake drinking Coke straight from the 2-liter bottle. What can I say? They know the motto - "What happens at Baba's, stays at Baba's!!"

Sunday morning, Justin and I were at Church bright and early to organize a continential breakfast and Easter egg hunt. It turned out to be a great time. The kids had a blast hunting eggs! I think this is a tradition we will carry on, hopefully.

We then headed straight to Justin's Grandma Jo's for a wonderful and delicious Easter lunch. I was STUFFED to the gills. But it was so worth it. After lunch, the little kids had an Easter egg hunt, followed by the adults. It was competitive. I lost. I stink at hunting eggs apparently.

We headed over to my parents for Easter dinner. My baby brother was home from college, and we spent some time with him and watching Duck Dynasty. That show is awesome. I can't even lie about it.

At the end of the day, though, I stopped to thank my God for sacrificing his ONLY son for my freedom. I cannot even imagine. But I am eternally grateful and a SAVED sinner because He did.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

This is a break from our regularly scheduled programming for a little rant.

What happened to RESPECT? I swear, it has gone down the drain. And that makes me sound like some old fart in a rocking chair pointing their finger and snarling "Kids these days have no respect! They just don't know what it was like...." Apparently I will make a good old fart.

Work has been beyond crazy these past few days. I am exhausted and feel like I am burning the candle at both ends. And hitting my head against a wall, because there are just some issues that I cannot resolve no matter how hard I try.

Plus, I get so frustrated when people USE people. Justin and I both work SO hard to make a living. We both spend a lot of our time doing and giving that isn't paid or compensated. We pay all our bills ourselves, get no outside help, and are working to be debt free as soon as possible. It is just a struggle sometimes when I see others who don't do any (or a lot) of the above and still take, take, take from everyone else. Seriously? If you made the decisions, then you need to be ready for the consequences.

Last night in bed, I was laying there and couldn't sleep. I kept telling Justin I felt so anxious, but I couldn't even pinpoint WHY. That is never a good sign, especially not for me.

Wah, wah, wah. Woe is me.

Highlight of the day: ordered some new clothes for me and the hubs (discount + free shipping, woot) AND bought some jalapeno cheddar cheetos. Bad for the diet and the new clothes. But worth every bite.

Yikes! It's been a long time.

So for the one to two people who actually MAY look at this, I apologize for being a lazy blogger. Life has been seemingly crazy here lately.

I started my first "big girl" job with an actual paycheck and benefits on October 3rd. Jumped in head first and have never looked back. Most of the time, when I have a client, I just have this overwhelming urge to say "Who in the heck thought it was smart to let ME be in charge here?!" But then I reign myself in and realize I do have SOME brains and a stack of letters behind my name. So surely I can manage.

Then, October 4th was my 26th birthday. My first birthday WORKING in a "big girl" job. It was actually a pretty great day. Although I had court all day, my second momma made me delicious champagne cupcakes and brought them to the courthouse (where she also works). J and my mom both sent me flowers. My momma and daddy cooked a wonderful southern meal for me that night. And gave me/us a new set of luggage! Woot! Along with a new Vera Bradley briefcase. And my in-laws got me a new Vera Bradley purse. All in Suzanni.

So all in all, it was a pretty great birthday, I must say.

This past weekend, J and I worked in our yard. I LOVE Fall and decorating, so of course, this being our first fall as a married couple, I just had to spruce things up a bit. We had such a good time working outside together. That is how I know I have married my best friend - even doing something as seemingly mundane as yard work, we have a ball together. Saturday evening, we invited Dust & Case over, and Adam and Danielle, for a little cook-out and firepit time. It was so fun just to sit outside and laugh over our ridiculous medical stories. Pretty sure we all learned WAY too much about everyone!!

I will say - I hated to see Monday come. On a bright note, I put some beans in the "crackpot" this morning, so dinner will be mostly done when I get home. Nothing like some good 'ole ham 'n beans and cornbread!

XOXO- C