A Sad Day

My heart is broken today.

I haven't mentioned it before because I was trying to keep the blog happy and upbeat but my Grandpa has been in the hospital since April. The doctors found a tumor on the lining of his brain that was 4 inches wide. They had to do surgery to remove it.

Memorial Day Barbecue Pulled Pork

Okay, so I know this is not authentic barbecue since the meat is not smoked, but it is probably the closest thing I can do without a grill or smoker of some kind.

The reason I love this barbecue is because the meat is so succulent. It's cooked low and slow in the oven allowing the fat to render and the connective tissues to break down creating the perfect mouth feel. The meat falls apart when you go to pull it.

Menu for 5/26/14-6/1/14

I'm adding a new blog to my list of favorites this week. Fantastical Sharing of Recipes is full of quick, simple, and budget friendly recipes all posted by Sarah, who is seriously excited about everything she posts. It's infectious, the excitement. I love reading the posts that go along with her recipes. She gets me pumped up to cook and that's never a bad thing.

Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

Apparently I finally caught up on my sleep last night. Thank goodness because after sleeping 10 hours last night if I had to take another nap today I was going to have to make an appointment with the doctor.

Since I managed to stay awake during nap time I had dinner ready when Aaron walked in the door. We've had these lasagna roll-ups before, but the only recipe I've posted was for the Alfredo version. The recipe is so versatile though. I've made them with beef, vegetarian with spinach and cheese, and even with ground turkey.

Is there something in the air?

There definitely is something in the air here in Knoxville. It's called pollen and it is absolutely evil!

I have horrible allergies. It seems like I'm allergic to everything from dust to pollen and lots of things I've never heard of people being allergic to before. I must have super sensitive skin because I break out from deodorants and soaps and lotions and even hypoallergenic sunblock!

Menu for 5/19/14-5/25/14

This should be short because I'm feeling so lazy this week. I've skipped my exercises several nights. I went to bed without cleaning the kitchen more than once. I even let Bailey stay in pajamas all day on Wednesday. I just haven't had any motivation at all for some reason.

Nap time has not been going well for us. The ice cream truck has a tendency to make laps around our block during nap time every day.

Crock Pot Chicken Bacon and Ranch Pasta

I have a few favorite crock pot meals. Ham and white beans for cold winter nights, chicken taco chili, and creamy Italian chicken and pasta are at the top of my list and tonight's dinner was quite similar to the Italian chicken pasta.

There's something about chicken in a creamy sauce over pasta that is so comforting and when you can throw it all in the crock pot and forget about it (or leave the house for an hour or so like I did today) it's even better. This was originally supposed to be the new recipe on my birthday but we wound up eating out that night.

Spicy Chicken Sandwiches

Aaron has an unhealthy obsession with Wendy's. In particular he likes the spicy chicken sandwich. He will eat one almost every day for lunch at work and if I am feeling too lazy to cook dinner he will suggest Wendy's almost every time.

Menu for 5/12/14-5/18/14

I know I'm a day late with this but Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. We don't get enough credit daily for all that we do, but on Mother's Day everyone takes a moment to remember the special caregivers in their lives, the women who make sacrifices to ensure the health and prosperity of their offspring.

I had a very nice Mother's Day. It was more action packed than last year when we relaxed at Yaya's house all day and had a nice Mexican dinner out.

It's My Birthday!

It's my birthday!

I was still up at midnight last night and cracked open a Black Cherry Mike's to celebrate. I rarely drink unless I'm celebrating something, but my bestest friend gave me a few of these delicious black cherry flavored "beers" for my Easter gift and I thought now might be a good time to enjoy them.

Menu for 5/5/14-5/11/14

I was hesitant to post another recipe last week since I've been having such trouble with the computer. I'm still putting together posts and taking pictures so as soon as I can get Aaron to transfer the photos to my flash drive I'll be able to get some new recipes up. Please don't forget about me if I don't manage to get anything up this coming week.

Speaking of this coming week, it's my birthday on Thursday. How lucky am I to get my birthday and Mother's Day in the same week? I couldn't decide what I wanted to cook for my birthday dinner since it falls on new recipe night so I went with something that Aaron has been begging me to try for months now.