We had family in town this week!!!
It was just a couple days.....but we loved every second of it!
Miss Kelly turned 13!! So we had a little party......

We played a little frisbee golf in our backyard....

We went to the jewelry store....

Had some good ol' southern BBQ..........

Went to FroYo for some ice cream, to try and cool off a little!

We love them all soooo much! It was so nice to have them here. Our door is open for the next visitors......anyone?!?!?

Last week I was in the mood to try something really different....I found a recipe for Moroccan Chicken stew. Different.... sounded interesting.... it ended up looking a little something like this.......

I guess there is a first time for everything......we ate a few bites.......and it was SO awful we dumped it down the sink.........

And Joel cooked instead.......

Oh how I LOVE the 4th of July......last year at this time we were surrounded by so many friends and family and everything we knew, in a place we were so comfortable....getting ready to make a big step, packing up our little house to move across the country to a place neither of us really knew anything about. It was nerve wracking and scary and fun and exciting! The time has flown by...where has an entire year gone??

We had a good day...we went to 2 BBQs.....both were delish! It was nice having lots and lots of our new friends around all day!

Then we headed over to Dr. Murphy's (one of Joel's preffessors) with the Freeman's to light off LOTS of fireworks! We sprayed on the bug spray and sat by a fan outside....its that hot! I don't know why I never thought of bringing a fan outside.....it was fabulous!

We sat in the hot, humid dark, watched the fireworks and were surrounded by lighting bugs.....

We had a couple close calls with sparklers swinging around wildly and crazy guys lighting off fire works...one shooting one in our direction....We lit off a chinese lantern(like the ones on tangled), we wrote our wishes on post-it notes, stuck them to it and sent them off into the night sky...so we'll see if any of them come true!! I bet no one can guess what I wished for....... ;)

We hadn't had enough so we decided to keep the 4th going and had a red, white and blue dinner the next night...

We made these fun drinks, we found the idea from the sister's cafe. Joel's turned out so perfect! Look at how straight his lines are between the colors.....pretty impressive.....

Another year older!!!! But what a lucky girl I am! I have so many wonderful people in my life......
I had a nice relaxing day off...lots of birthday phone calls and cards in the mail! Had beautiful flowers delivered to my door from Candace, Byron and the kids!!

Friends from work came and sang Happy Birthday on my doorstep and brought me cake!!!

Went to dinner with my honey to this little Irish pub that was originally built and run in Dublin Ireland and later shipped here to Arkansas piece by piece.

We had french onion soup....

Of course I had to try something Irish so I got the Reuben and it was D-licious!

Joel got the most amazing burger on a soft pretzel bun....so good!

And then he made me cupcakes!!!

Love him!!

Thank you to everyone who made me feel so special!!
It was a beautiful day!!!

I love Indian food.......actually lets be honest I just love food. But I made my 1st attempt at home made Indian food. It actually turned out really good! The only thing I would do different is actually grill the chicken like they tell you to in the recipe. We are grilless so I cooked it on the stove, still good but I think grilling it would make it even better!

Chicken Tikka Masala-
(recipe from Favorite Family Recipes)
Marinade:

1 cup yogurt

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp salt

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

4 long skewers

Sauce:

1 Tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

1 cup heavy cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2 and it was really good)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 tsp cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, pepper, ginger, and 1 tsp salt. Stir in chicken, cover, refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat a grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Grill 5 min. on each side.

For the sauce: Melt butter in a large skillet. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Season with 2 tsp cumin, paprika and 1 tsp salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve over rice.

A much needed girls day out!

We went to lunch at the Whole Hog Cafe....they have the most A-mazing potato salad! I could have eaten JUST that....then we laughed and talked and shopped in the horrible heat all day long :) Thanks girls for a fun day!!

As Close as it Can Get in Arkansas......

Ever since our visit to Boise....our Cafe Rio cravings have been out of control. One.....little.....delicious.....sweet pork salad just isn't enough. So we decided to try to make it at home. It was actually pretty close! Not quite! But close. We had Cameron and Hillary over for dinner, who haven't tried Cafe Rio yet....so they didn't even know what they were missing :)
mmmmm....chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

-SWEET PORK-
Recipe from Favorite Family Recipes
2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can diced green chilies
3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE:
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.


*I just used regular pinto beans, store bought tortillas and pico, fried some tortilla strips and made this dressing :

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch Dressing
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
ignore directions on the packet
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce

Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender. Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice. Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa. Blend ‘er up. Sample it and add hot sauce to taste. Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.