Buster Bars

Ah - the beloved Buster Bar. Two layers of fudge, peanuts and DQ vanilla soft serve dipped in a delicious chocolate flavored coating - basically a frozen mini-peanut buster parfait on a stick.

I LOVE these things and lately, they have become my "crack-cocaine"! But this crazy addiction ends today.

As I was getting ice out of the freezer, out of the corner of my eye I spot the crinkly white wrapping around a stick and got overly excited to find a "hidden" Buster Bar. I hide stuff like this all the time because my husband will eat anything & everything sweet in the freezer (and out) and leave me NONE! So I grabbed it out of the freezer and went to hide upstairs in the office and secretly enjoyed the last Buster Bar as my husband works in the garage on his Harley. Is it sneaky and devilish of me? Yes. Do I care....NO and I enjoyed every bite right down to the last peanut :)

But it is with great sadness that I have to admit that there will be no more Buster Bars entering the Taylor house :( I have gained some weight over the summer and attribute it all to the "evil-on-a-stick"! After doing a little research on the nutritional content of these dee-lish treats, I was horrified to find out that one Buster Bar has 480 calories, 31g of fat and 45g of Carbs. WOW! Enough said - no more of these DQ treats - my waistline and my butt will thank me!

Personal Trainer

A couple of months ago I downloaded the program "8 weeks to a 5K" off of iTunes and uploaded it to my iPod. I initially wanted to start this program in hopes that it would make me a better runner.

Unfortunately, I have started this program twice and have failed at keeping it going for reasons too many to count. Well, today I started it for the 3rd time. My hope is to be able to stick with it and lose the 10+ lbs that I so desperately need to lose. (summer has been cruel to me - could possibly be the one too many trips to DQ or the Buster Bars I have hidden in the freezer?!) I have also added another weight loss ticker at the top of the blog to keep reminding me of my goal.

So, let the training begin...

Beer Butt Chicken

First of all, it goes by many names. Beer Butt Chicken. Beer In The Butt Chicken. Beer Can Chicken. Chicken On A Throne. Basically, they are all the same thing. You place a chicken on an opened can of beer so that the legs are down and the wings are up. The can should contain at least 2/3 beer in it and you can add flavorings like rub, onion, garlic, herbs, etc. The chicken then sits upright in the grill with the can and the two legs providing the support to hold the bird in the upright position. Grill 45 minutes for every 1 lb of bird and viola - you have a perfectly baked bird!

This is the first I have heard of such a thing. This evening we were invited over to our friend's Michelle & Rob's place for dinner and this is what was on the grill when we arrived. To my surprise, it came out moist, tender and had a wonderful taste. Definitely something to try and cook in your own grill.

National Cheesecake Day

Today is National Cheesecake Day!

I have no idea why or who even declared this date to be Cheesecake Day but hey, we don't really need an excuse to eat cheesecake do we?

With that said, I just HAD to abide by the "holiday" and indulged in a piece of White Choc Raspberry cheesecake myself made by none other than my dear friend Stetson. He surprised everyone at work with this dee-lish cheesecake and everybody celebrated the un-official holiday. Needless to say, this is one "Day" I won't forget in the future! YUM!

Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

Does this not look refreshing?

If you like sweet tea you will LOVE this beverage! It has become my #1 drink for the summer of 2009 with the Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade coming in 2nd!

It is called Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and is brewed in a small town 30 miles south of Charleston, SC. There are other brands similiar called Jeremiah Weed & Sweet Carolina but I think Firefly is the best out of the three.

This drink can be simply poured over ice and enjoyed or you can mix one part Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and one part fresh lemonade served in a highball glass with lots of ice and a mint leaf or lemon wedge (just like the picture). You can even add a splash of peach schnaaps for a totally different flavor! I enjoy both and they are dee-lish!

Firefly makes several flavored tea vodkas which include raspberry, peach, mint, and lemon tea varieties so the options are endless. You must be careful however as this vodka is 70 proof (35% alcohol) so after a couple of these the alcohol sneaks up on you and quick!

I don’t know about you, but sweet tea vodka served over ice on a warm summer evening sounds real nice...

Weekends

This is what has been occupying our time these past few weekends....riding the Harley around Kansas! It is SO much fun to just hop on and go eat lunch somewhere, or head out to a movie, or to Dairy Queen for ice cream on this new "toy"! I especially love riding on the back roads in the country looking at the new subdivisions going up or all the million $ homes that are around the area, while taking in the sweet smells of grass & hay in the fields. It reminds me of being back home in South Dakota where I grew up!

It is quickly becoming a new hobby....together! And those are the best kind :)

FYI: all helmets have been omitted for picture-purposes only :)

Introducing Mrs. Jackson

This evening the Woodland Ridge neighborhood girls gathered at Houlihans for dinner to honor our dear friend Keri who was married in Jamaica last month. Since she didn't bother to take any of us with her :) we all gathered together to see her wedding pictures and "shower" her with gifts. It ended up being a wonderful evening with good food, good friends and many laughs!

Introducing Mrs. Keri Jackson - we found it funny that the gift bag matched her dress :)

The WR crew:
front row: Jill, Heather, Jilly & Susan
back row: Erinn, Michelle, Keri, Jamie & Melissa

On Hiatus

YES - I am alive.

YES, everything here in Spring Hill, KS is just fine.

NO, Shane hasn't locked me up and thrown away the key.

and

NO, I didn't break my fingers, hands or arms.

With those questions answered, I must apologize to those of you who keep up weekly with this "past-time" of mine. I have been on a bit of a "hiatus" from blogging due to late nights at work, taking extra call, having too much fun with the hubby on the weekends, living life, fatigue and well, because I just haven't felt like it.

So please be patient...an update will be coming soon! I promise :)

Game-Night

Tonight I headed over to Erinn's house for the monthly game-night festivities. The "regulars" were of course there minus Melissa (whom we missed) and we welcomed Erinn's friend Janel to our group. I hope we didn't scare her off with our usual conversations of neighborhood gossip, husband-talk and craziness that progresses after a few alcoholic beverages :)

Erinn had an awesome new beverage for us to try called Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade. It is pre-mixed with vodka so you just add ice, a splash of Sprite and a lemon wedge. I was on call so I could only have one, but that turned out not to be a bad thing as these were way yummy and the girls had no problem finishing off the entire bottle!

After we indulged on everyone's "snacks" that were brought we played a game which consisted of asking all the girls "racy, adult" questions and then we had to guess which answer belonged to which person. It provided lots of laughs and interesting conversation to say the least!

Later in the evening, the boys joined us for Rockband and the battle was on. We had a fun time rocking out to all different kinds of music and taking turns on the guitar, drums and microphone. As always, it was another enjoyable and fun game-night with the girls...and boys!


Ken observing Rockband festivities with Michelle on the mic and Keri playing guitar!

The game-night ladies: Janel, Erinn, Jill, Michelle, HT and Keri

What is Chislic?

This is the question I get from most people when I mention the word "chislic". If you grew up in SD you will know exactly what it is. For those of you who don't, here is a little education:

Chislic is a preparation of cubed red meat, usually deep-fried or grilled. It is virtually unknown outside the state of South Dakota in the USA. The term generally describes deer, beef, or lamb, deep-fried or grilled and served hot on a skewer or toothpick w/ plenty of garlic salt along with a side of Saltines.

A typical chislic preparation can be rather simple:

1) Cut meat into small cubes, generally no bigger than a half-inch. The meat may include any of the following: lamb, beef, or venison.

2) Into a deep-fryer, drop the cubed chunks of meat and cook to desired degree of doneness. OR place cubed meat onto skewers & put on the grill to cook. Generally, chislic is not overcooked, and is served medium-rare to medium.

3) After cooking, place the meat on a paper towel and allow to cool slightly. Immediately sprinkle with Lawry's Seasoned Salt or garlic salt.

4) Insert toothpicks into the cubes of meat OR eat right off the skewer while hot. Enjoy...

Who knew it was that easy? And now you know what chislic is :)

July 4th celebration

This evening we celebrated the 4th with my brother Steve, his fiance Meghan & our neighbors here in the cul-du-sac. This is becoming a yearly tradition as this is the 3rd year we have spent this holiday with our neighbors.

Dave pulled out his grill into the driveway & did a great job cooking the hamburgers & the brats for everyone. We all brought a side-dish to share and ate until we couldn't possibly have another bite. I had brought a little taste of South Dakota to the party by grilling some chislic for all the neighbors to try since they hear Shane & I talk about this yummy dish quite often. Everyone that tried it agreed it was excellent and couldn't believe it was lamb that they were eating.

(will explain chislic in another post)

We all hung out in our lawn chairs talking the night away, enjoying our beverages and watching the kids shoot off their fireworks. Once it got dark, the men of the group let off the "adult" fireworks and we all enjoyed watching them act like little kids as they put on quite the show. It was a gorgeous evening with temps in the low 70's & we couldn't have asked for a nicer holiday night!

Independence Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Independence Day: a federal holiday that commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britian.

What does that mean to you? To most of us it means a much-needed day off of work. To others it means a day spent with family eating good food and letting off some fireworks or maybe it marks the date of someones birthday or anniversary? But to most of us US citizens it means freedom.

When I sat and actually thought about what freedom meant to me, here is what I came up with:

To me, freedom is being able to step outside of my home and know radical groups are not going to blow me up or gun me down. It means I don't have to hide my face as a woman, worry about getting my privates mutilated, sell myself for a bowl of food or money, or dig in a dumpster for a scrap of clothing. I have the right to own a business, run it with the full benefits as a man. I can vote or not vote and not fear getting shot at for it either. I can have an abortion or not, depending on what is right for ME. I can speak about anything I wish to speak about and have no fear of retribution with anything but words. No one tells me how many children I can have. No one tells me if my child is a boy he can live, but if it is a girl she must die. I am allowed to own my own home and/or business, work where I wish, get an education, worship the God of my choice in the way that I choose, and in the church to my liking, or not at all, if I so desire. I am free to travel, or to stay at home. No one puts up walls to keep me contained within any boundaries. I am free to live in the location of my choice, but I am also free to move from state to state with no restrictions, if that is what I choose.

Freedom is just that - being free of restraints imposed by others. Free to speak, free to choose religion and free to act. Let us be thankful today and everyday of these "freedoms" that we all have been blessed with!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone :)