Ode to the 4-Runner

During my junior year of high school I was taking a left at a light (I had a green light) and another driver was driving at 50 mph and playing with her radio at the same time. Her light was red but when she looked up and noticed it, she was already in the intersection...and in my car. She hit me broadside and totaled my sweet '97 Black Mitsubishi Eclipse. I had a few bumps, bruises and minor swelling, but overall was very lucky to come out as I did.
My parents had planned on getting me a new car for graduation the following year, but since I was vehicle-less they decided I could get my graduation present early. I got a 2002 Toyota 4-Runner. It was millenium silver and I was in love!
I drove my 4-Runner for 10 years! Let me put this into perspective:
*I had the car for a year before Cody and I started dating
*The 4-runner took me to PTHS everyday of my senior year
*The 4-runner moved me on to college and was with me everyday of BU
*The 4-runner moved me on to Houston and was with me everyday for the first 4 1/2 years of teaching.
All in all it was a wonderful car, but it was time to move on, so....

I got a new car! Say hello to my Ford Edge!

Picture Catch-up

Grad school + teaching school + life in general is wearing me out! I have been neglecting you, but here's a quick & random catch up:

Chloe turned six (and I made these pumpkin/peanut butter dog treats...yes I am that crazy dog person)

I get to park my car in the garage

Rodeo Season started and we went to cook off Friday night with Cody and Lauren

Cody smoked some ribs and a chicken the other night for dinner and they were AMAZING

We had a cupcake contest at school. We made sheep and they were awesome. I think we should have won

I have the best big coffee cup for a latte

Cody replaced the shower door (and now its awesome)

We got a new rug for the living room


I told you it was random, but don't you feel like you know so much more about me now.
BTW Its pizza night at the Sage house! Be jealous!

Hot Chocolate

This weekend Lauren, Carolina and I headed up to Dallas to see Beth and Kelly.
We arrived Friday night to a very pinteresty scene of energy bites and fruit. Yum!
Saturday morning we got up super early and stepped outside to be shocked by the lower than freezing temps. OMG it was SO cold!! We drove over to the fairgrounds (aka Cotton Bowl) for the Hot chocolate 5k/15k.

Kelly and Beth ran the 5k

and Lauren, Carolina and I ran the 15k I have never run that many miles that bundled up before!

It was a beautiful run with a few less than beautiful hills, but the best part was after the finish.
1. because we got to go inside and warm up

2. because we were given fruit, melted Ghiradelli chocolate, Ghiradelli hot chocolate and Ghiradelli squares. YUM!

3. because we got to dance to the band! They were so fun!

Afterwards, we headed for brunch (oh yes we did eat more..) at La Duni

I had the most amazing caramel cappuccino and breakfast tacos

We went out for a little shopping later in the afternoon and met up with Traci. We found a lot of great deals...

And the Starbucks love cups!

That night we headed to The Porch for a very fun dinner!


Today we headed to the Katy Trail for a morning walk

and then onto Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse for a latte and an amazing blueberry scone before heading back to Houston (I promise we did more than just eat all weekend...)

We had such a great weekend! I love getting to see my college friends and love that my friends now get along so well with them!

Happy Valentine's week to you all!

Soft Shell Chicken Tacos

One of my mom's sweet friends saw these on their local news and tried them out. The prep work is SO easy and its a crockpot meal, so it saves you the time of being there for the cooking part.

Grant's soft shell chicken tacos

5 to 6 chicken breasts

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

16 oz of salsa

Cumin

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Pico de Gallo

Shredded pepper jack cheese

Flour tortillas

In a crock pot, put your chicken breasts in and sprinkle generously with cumin. Then place your salsa and cream of chick soup over the chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours or until the chicken is fork tender. Once the chicken is cooked, take a fork and shred the chicken on the crock pot and blend well with the sauces.

We still had some of the salsa and guac left over from the Roasted Chicken Wraps and I also served it with some chopped onions, shredded cheese and sour cream. YUM!

Another Burlap Wreath

So I may have an obsession with burlap....I mean its inexpensive and it seems like you can make anything out of it. I found yet another burlap wreath that I loved on Pinterest.

Unfortunately, the link did not take me to step by step directions but instead an etsy page, but I really wanted to make one...so I did my best to figure it out on my own. Mine does not look exactly like this one, but I'm happy with the final product.
You will need:
*A wire wreath frame
*Burlap
*Hot glue
*Thread and a needle

Cut your burlap at least 2x the circumference of the wreath frame and about 8 inches wide. (You will need two pieces this size).

Use the thread and needle to run a loose stitch through one side of the burlap strip. Once the thread is through the entire length of the burlap, pull to ruffle the fabric and tie off the thread. (I only did this to one side as it gave it the ruffle I desired. You could probably do both sides or just scrunch it without sewing, this is just what worked for me). **Do not look at my nails...

Begin on the inside ring of the wreath and hot glue the threaded side to the wreath frame.

Then pull around the other side of the ring and hot glue the unthreaded side.
Repeat this process for the outside ring (Pulling the inside part through the inside part on the second ring is a little bit more difficult).

Embellish as desired : )

Heart Crayons

In my classroom when crayons end up on the floor, they are placed in the "Land of the Lost Crayons." The "Land of the lost" is a tub where students can borrow crayons from if they are missing a color that they need. Somehow this tub has started overflowing recently (how are they losing so many crayons!?). I combined this observation with the fact that I needed a cute Valentine's gift for my kiddos and made these heart crayons (that I had seen all over Pinterest).
*The pan that I am using is a silicone heart pan from Walmart. It was only $3.50! Be sure to use a silicone pan as I am sure that any other kind would be a pain to get the crayons out of.

Begin by soaking the crayons in hot water to get the wrappers off. (And do not use a bowl that you love...I had to soak mine in soap and then scrub that bowl last night to get it clean)


Some wrappers will float off, others will need to be pulled off. It works best when the water is hot, so you may have to dump and reheat the water multiple times if you are working with a large number of crayons. I found that the orange crayons were the most modest. While their blue, red, pink and yellow friends just stripped their outer layer with no qualms, the orange crayons held tight to their clothing. I almost thought about leaving out orange entirely, I mean "whoever said that orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed" (name that movie and we can be best friends!), but I did the work and removed them too.

Afterwards, I broke the crayons into smaller pieces (if you have children, I am sure that they would love to do this!) and placed them into the heart molds.

Place into a preheated oven (on a cookie sheet) at 250 degrees and wait for them to melt (it took mine about 15 minutes)

Allow to cool completely and then pop out of silicone molds.

I will probably either place them on a piece of card stock that I have printed a Valentine's message on or place them in baggies for safe keeping.

Roasted Chicken Wraps with Black Bean Salsa and Guac

This is another recipe from pinterest that I just had to try and oh my goodness the salsa and guac made this recipe amazing!! Next time I might make this during a week that I buy a rotisserie chicken just to make it even easier.

Roasted Chicken Wraps with Black Bean Salas and Guac
*No pics again..y'all I am just falling down on the job. Know they were pretty : )

Ingredients

For the guacamole:
2 ripe avocados
¼ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
¾ tsp. kosher salt
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

For the black bean salsa:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup diced red bell pepper
2 tbsp. red onion, finely chopped
½ ripe mango, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 green onion, chopped
1 tbsp. jalapeño, finely minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cob corn, roasted, or ½ cup canned corn
1 tsp. ground cumin

To assemble:
6 large whole wheat tortillas or wraps
2 roasted chicken breasts, diced or shredded*
4-5 cups baby spinach leaves

Directions

• To make the guacamole, split the avocados and remove the pits. Scoop the flesh into a medium bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth. Add in the onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and jalapeño. Continue mashing until it has a fluffy, whipped texture. Adjust seasonings to taste.

• To make the black bean salsa, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to mingle.

• Briefly microwave the tortillas or wraps to warm them and make them malleable. Place a tortilla on a work surface and spread 2 tablespoons of guacamole on top. Add ¼ cup of the cooked chicken to the bottom third of the tortilla. Top with 3 tablespoons of the black bean salsa and a handful of baby spinach leaves. Roll the bottom edge up and over the fillings, fold the sides inward, and roll tightly the rest of the way, burrito-style. Place on a cutting board and slice diagonally. Serve with additional guacamole, sour cream, etc.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Square

I saw these being pinned all over pinterest about a week ago. They included my favorite ingredients: bananas, oats and peanut butter (I almost threw in some chocolate chips just for the fun of it but decided to refrain). They were wonderful! It tasted just like oatmeal when you cook it on the stove, but they're a quick grab and go which is how we do breakfast in this house.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.

Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut into squares and enjoy!