monday's memory: u2 in nashville

last year we took a walk from anthony's parents house

and entered the spaceship...er, vanderbilt's stadium

 u2 was absolutely amazing.  which doesn't surprise anyone i'm sure :-)  but since they ARE my favorite band, there were several especially special moments for me...the one where bono began singing "amazing grace" and a stadium full of people joined in (in harmony, as nashville is prone to do :-).  

 the one where a blind guy requested a song during the encore and bono brought him up on stage, handed him his guitar to play it on ...and after he was finished bono told him to keep the guitar (!).

there were some of my favorite songs played and many just plain amazing moment. 

and there was anthony's and my favorite moment, where bono ended a song by singing the word "blessings" over and over and waved them over the crowd. 

they say that u2 concerts are spiritual experiences.  that night i found out why.

we can't wait for our next one!

*all photos in this post were taken either with my camera or by anthony's aunt sherrie who also had kick-awesome seats on the other side of the stadium and therefore had different angles :-)

recipe of the week: taco seasoning and a couple of easy ways to use it (mexican pizza and taco mac)

that's right, folks. i have 3 recipes today, but they are all super simple and related :-)


i mentioned that i pretty much stopped using pre-packaged seasoning mix when i gave you my ranch seasoning/dressing recipe.  there are multiple reasons for this, but the added and very beneficial "side effect" is that i was able to tailor a seasoning mix exactly to our tastes. since i am on the "the spicier the better" side and anthony is on the "i'll drink milk with this medium salsa" side, that's trickier than you might think ;-) but i've found a blend that doesn't set his taste buds on fire and mine are happy with.

lora's taco seasoning

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

and here are two very simple ways to enjoy it!


taco mac 
(basically a healthier & homemade version of hamburger helper)
1 pound ground beef 
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
elbox macaroni
salsa verde (i prefer herdez)
ranch dressing


brown meat with taco seasoning while cooking macaroni noodles according to package directions.  after draining both noodles and beef, build your bowls.  ladle in noodles, top with beef, and add salsa verde and ranch to taste. it's a very simple weeknight meal that takes all of 15 minutes to prepare.  

i wouldn't entertain with it, but hey. some days you need a 15 minute meal.


mexican pizza


1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning
salsa (we used a fire roasted chipotle from whole foods)
pizza dough
cheese (i used the fiesta blend also from whole foods and fresh mozzarella)
cherry tomatoes, green onions, black olives, etc to top with
(this recipe would also be great with fresh corn, black beans, etc!)

 spread salsa onto pizza dough

 top with cheese

 brown meat with taco seasoning

 top the salsa and cheese with the ground beef

 add other toppings (apparently the night i took pictures i stopped here)

 bake at 350゜for 15-20 minutes. enjoy!

thursday's ten or so: to make me laugh

i have a quirky sense of humor.
meaning you may not find any of this funny.
but i'm laughing a lot these days thanks to several sources. so the least i can do is share :-)
here's a very few of the things making me laugh.


i can't help but laugh when i see this. until i'm at work, and then it seems like every child in the building is lining up behind this one!

this one cracks.me.up. anthony also laugh-approved it. 

i don't use pinterest just for recipes and home organization tips (but i'm always trying something off my boards!)


it has other uses too. one of my bff's natasha and i constantly send each other gems we find that we would never post publicly...but there are a few exceptions that i'll share here.

 (the next one pretty much sums us up)

(oh and this one too)

the amazing amanda shared this with me when she was at our house for dinner the other night. we laughed our butts off, so i HAVE to share it with you.



all those "hey girl" memes make me giggle a lot. but THIS one is just extra-special.

replace "men" with "everyone"...

natasha sent this one to me too. if you work with children (your own or someone else's) you'll relate to this at least a few times!

this one makes me laugh and cry simultaneously

and finally...

which leads right into this. you HAVE to watch this. and just know that i WILL instagram it.





***photo/video credits...all of these have been found on facebook, twitter, youtube or pinterest. :-)

hey, it's ok (tuesday...er, wednesday)

hey, it's ok


...to be absolutely LOVING my new job and at the same time be absolutely EXHAUSTED at the end of some days.
...to be just now completing my list of 31 things to do while i'm 31 for the blog. yeah, i've been 31 for over 3 months now. one of the things should be completing the list i suppose.
...to have begun this list a week plus ago. did i mention i was exhausted?
...to be both thankful that i like the 4.99 whole bean coffee i found at whole foods and annoyed that i didn't try it a year ago. several pounds of 11.99 coffee from starbucks later, i would have saved a lot!
...to be grateful that it's finally raining again.  we went over a month in drought. our yard is finally not crunching as much when you walk in it
...to be swagbucks-earning like CRAZY these days.  so far i have $150 earned for the year in amazon credit, just by spending a couple of hours a day earning SB.  by the end of the year i'll have at minimm $300 to spend on christmas shopping for our family. that combined with black friday shopping means our spending out of pocket should be VERY small.  plus, i have enough extra to get a large starbucks or maggianos gift card for us! (you should join swagbucks if you haven't! please use my referral name of msmsctchr if you do, or click on this link!)
...to be seriously needing an eyebrow wax. there's a beauty school about 1/4 mile from work...i'm considering seeing if they'll do a decent job. because i hate tweezing. a lot.


join in the fun of being OK at amber's blog. or just visit her because she rocks.

recipe of the week: ny quesadilla

i cannot lie. this recipe, i'm pretty pleased with.


a few months ago (or weeks...pinterest time gets away from me) i found a recipe for reuben quesadillas that i thought sounded amazing.  i even put it on our menu. 


and then, less than a week before i was to make it...i realized.  my husband does not like cabbage, does not like pickles, and especially does not like german pickled cabbage. and while i had taken that into account when i planned the menu and figured i'd leave the kraut off his...i realized that it would be really boring to eat corned beef and a smattering of cheese on a tortilla.


even though he loves corned beef
and cheese
and tortillas


so i got out about half the following sentence before he interrupted me with a resounding "YES!"


"hey, how about i try making a new yorker quesadilla instead of the reuben one?"


what he didn't realize until after the fact was that i didn't actually have a RECIPE, i just had the model of his favorite sub at firehouse subs, and the fact that meat and cheese always get a resounding reception in this house. not just from him...from me, from the cat...


so between his approval of my suggested ingredients and my imagination, here's what i came up with.  it really is QUITE simple. but it's also simply amazing if you are a fan of the new yorker deli sandwiches.

ny quesadillas


(makes 4 large quesadillas)
4 ounces each pastrami, peppered salami, and corned beef*
6 slices provolone cheese
italian seasoning
8 flour tortillas
german mustard
mayonaise


*way easier to get deli slices of each of these, and that's what would be served on a new yorker sandwich anyway! i got my corned beef from the deli and pastrami and salami from trader joes.





begin by putting all the meat and the italian seasoning into a food processor and pulse until it's roughly chopped

 add cheese, and pulse again

for each quesadilla, spread one entire tortilla with german mustard and the other with mayo

 top with generous portions of meat and cheese

 and cover with the second tortilla

pan cooking this didn't seem like an option. i decided to pop them in the oven at 275゜

keep an eye on them. when the cheese is melted to your liking (and the tortillas are browned to your degree of satisfaction. in my case satisfaction on both arrived in about 12 minutes)

 this is my husband's plate, which he filled with chips

 mmmm

this is my messily cut quesadilla hanging out with a fresh tomato and a couple of pickles

the verdict? as intrigued as i was by the idea of reuben quesadillas, i think this one is more for us.  definitely staying in the meal rotation!

let's be real and mention that this is not the most figure friendly meal.  here's the info for each serving if you care :-)

oh, and click on the button for a link to more yummy recipes!

thursday's ten or so: a week off

we're out for "summer break" this week.
and here's what's been done so far


on the completed or in progress list
re-organized the closet in our room (it.was.insane. and it's not done yet.)
painted my nails in the spirit of the fourth of july

played a super competitive game of spoons with anthony, his two sisters and his sister's boyfriend (blood was drawn. more than once.)

cleaned the kitchen. and again.
finalized the menu for the month of july
baked cookies. was thankful that they tasted good.

attempted to catch up to the laundry monster that has taken over our entire upstairs (see first item and add 1000% to the insanity)
bought a new pair of toms that i LOVE (finally used my birthday money...yeah, from march.)

(they say "let love rule", which is pretty much me to a t) 

taught 3 piano lessons on a holiday
prayed for thunder rumbles to turn into rain. repeatedly.
thought about exercising
reached my first weight loss goal of the summer...and not stopped. (operation get healthier is in full swing around here!)
snuggled with emi

 watched (lots of) tv with the hubster
changed my facebook profile pic to this one 

still to do?
set up the hammock
hang out with one of my bff's tonight (yay!)
host our first night of movie lead-ins to dark knight rises...we're showing batman begins at our house friday night
more time with emi
and a whole lot more cleaning
and hopefully another blog or 5.


i've got to admit that being on an academic calendar (even though it's REALLY modified) is quite nice.  a free week off over the fourth of july? anthony and i are talking about trying to go somewhere for the fourth next year (like dc or boston, maybe san diego, even nyc) since it'll be "free" vacation for me and he gets more vacation days than i do!  and then we can still take an anniversary getaway later in the year.  just speculation for the moment...but how about it? anybody have a recommendation for the PERFECT place to spend the fourth?