It's Ok Thursdays 2/28

Oh Thursday, it's ok...

...to be SO. OVER. WINTER.  I just want it to get nice again.  On top of that, yesterday, we just extended our school year by one day thanks to a snow day.  I NEED THIS SCHOOL YEAR TO BE OVER.  I don't particularly like wishing my life away, but it's been a rough year.  And I'm done.

...if every room in your house gets messed up while remodeling ONE.  I don't know if this happens to other people, but that's how we roll here.

...to make something without a recipe.  I got some inspiration, and then I decided to just throw something together in my Bean Pot.  I will share my creation soon.  :)

...to really, really, really want a maid.  I just SO hate cleaning the house.  I think this is because I'm particular, and I would like to clean it very thoroughly every time.  This is not possible, and it is exhausting.  Therefore, I just don't clean often at all.  lol

...that I love the History Channel.  They have such cool shows!  Modern Marvels, American Pickers, Pawn Stars

...to hate orange juice.  I don't even like oranges.  Why would I drink their juice?  Vitamin C supplement, anyone?

Random list, I know.   :)

What's ok with you this week?

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 20

Just a reminder of the link-up rules:

Grab the button, follow your hosts & co-hosts: Kim, Tarole, Erinn, & Me, link back to us somehow, and most importantly....post about Harry Potter!

This week's questions are about least favorites.  (NEXT WEEK: Harry Potter GIFs)

1. Least favorite student?  This is probably going to be a popular answer, but Draco Malfoy is my least favorite student.  He is arrogant and obnoxious, and totally deserved a punch in the face from Hermione. 

2. Least favorite Muggle? Petunia Dursley.  One could probably argue that the whole Dursley family is awful.  True.  BUT she is my least favorite because she knows that this magical world exists.  She turns her back on her sister, and she treats Harry like pond scum.  At least Vernon is just an ignorant jerk.  And Dudley is sorta ok in the end.

3. Least favorite Deatheater?  Again, I'm going to have to pick a Malfoy here.  Lucius Malfoy is an arrogant jerk who thinks that he can do anything he wants by throwing his money around.  Worse than that, he's actually a COWARD.  Even after he realizes that he means nothing to Voldemort, he doesn't come to his senses and join the Order of the Phoenix or fight back.  He just sits there cowering. 

4. Least favorite teacher?  The obvious answer for me here is Umbridge.  But since I've already ranted about her plenty of times on this link-up, how about I pick someone new?  Though I've come to appreciate the character of Professor Snape, he is, in terms of teaching, my least favorite teacher.  He shows obvious favoritism toward his own house.  He gets angry with a student who knows and wants to answer questions in class.  He demonstrates obvious hatred toward Harry, and he isn't much better to Ron.  I know that he was putting on an act so noone would ever know that he loved Lily, but I think he overcompensated. 

As always, feel free to share your question ideas with this form. 

Now, link up below!

Dinner Time Tuesday 2/26

Welcome to Dinner Time Tuesday!  Thanks to those of you who linked up last week!  The link-up is growing slowly, but surely! :)  If you're a new reader, come link up and share what you had for dinner today!  Just follow your host (me!), grab the button, link back to my post, and share a picture or a pic and a recipe of what you had for dinner!  The link-up is open until Sunday night.

Today for dinner, I had half of a Marianna's Italian Sub with a side of tortilla chips and salsa.

 

Marianna's is a local food company.  They do fundraisers with their hoagies and pizzas.  We always order their Italian Hoagies because they're SO good!  (And yes, "hoagie" is the Pennsylvania word for sub.)

 

Normally, I would've had some kind of potato chips with this, but we didn't have any.  I'm not sure why we didn't get any the last time we went grocery shopping.  Anyway, I'm not good at eating just one thing.  For most things, I really need to have some sort of side.  Is anyone else like this?  Just sitting down to eat this hoagie without anything else wasn't as appealing to me as having it with a side.

 

I'm just glad my appetite is better today.  :)

 

What did you have for dinner today?

 

My Review of "The Taste"

I love food!  So when Influenster asked me to unlock The Taste badge and get involved with the show The Taste, I thought it would be a fun idea!  The Taste is a cooking competition show that airs on ABC at 8/7c on Tuesdays. 

The show is similar to The Voice in its setup.  There are four judges: Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre, Brian Malarkey, and Anthony Bourdain.  Each judge has chosen a team of cooks who are asked to make different food creations each week.  The first task is a team competition.  Each team works to create a specified food.  The team decides on the best dish, which they serve on a spoon to the guest judges.  These judges pick a winner out of the four, and the winner earns immunity from the elimination and the team gets the advice of the guest experts throughout the next challenge.  After the team competition, the cooks work to make their best food to fit the theme for the show.  Again, these are served up on a spoon, and their coaches do a blind taste test.  The coaches taste ALL of the foods and pick their best and worst.  The contestants who made the best and worst meals are revealed.  Sometimes the coaches are thrilled that one of their cooks made a best meal, and other times, they are sorely surprised that their cooks made a worst meal.  The "bests" share their creations, recieve feedback, and are sent to safety.  The "worsts" discuss their dishes and the judges choose whom to send home.

The Taste is fun to watch!  Although I like to cook, I know nothing about creating my own dishes or how to combine these flavors for this effect....basically, I can follow a recipe and make relatively decent food.  So sometimes, I get a little lost as to what they're actually doing.  haha  Last week's episode, "The Art of the Sandwich" took the simple idea of a sandwich and made it advanced!  You would think that making sandwiches would be easy, but it didn't really turn out that way. The two eliminated contestants, Mia & Huda, made some pretty big mistakes.  Mia chose to make her own bread for the sandwich, but it was burned.  Huda used chicken for her sandwich, but it wasn't fully cooked.  This elimination sent Anthony Bourdain's first contestant packing (Mia), and Huda's departure leaves Nigella with only one cook in the kitchen. 

Nigella is my favorite judge, probably because she's the underdog at this point.  With only one cook left, she could easily be out of competitors this coming week.  There's just something about rooting for the underdog!

All in all, if you haven't seen The Taste, it's definitely worth checking out!  :)  Tune in on Tuesday at 8/7c on ABC for Episode 6: Nose to Tail.  THAT should be interesting....

Super Saturday

I've decided there are some very important things you need to know this Saturday. 

1.  WELCOME to my SUPER new followers!  I am so thrilled to have you all, and I hope that you will continue to come back.  As a gift for you, you can visit my ad shop and use the code 25PLUS to get 25% of your ad!  Isn't that a SUPER deal?? 

2. I have two SUPER link-ups running each week.  First, you can share your dinner on Dinner Time Tuesdays from Tuesday-Sunday each week.  (Which means, you still have a few days to link up this week!).  Second, if you love Harry Potter, join Hosts Kim, Tarole, and Co-Hosts Erinn and me Wednesday-Sunday for My Harry Potter Fix!

3. My friend and one of the lovely ladies I sponsor, Tarole, is doing a SUPER giveaway!  You could win a $100 gift card of your choice and a $25 Etsy gift card!  Go enter!

4.  Now, the extra SUPER part of SUPER Saturday!  Please meet my first-ever sponsor, Ashley!  She's SUPER!

I’m Ashley. 23. Hoosier born & grown- living in the sunshine state. My knot is tied to Jake. Momma to Addie the 3 year old tyrant & expecting a new baby later this year! There’s also Neville- our cat. I like my life simple & clean & it’s anything BUT. I must have coffee, a to-do list, music & social media.

Speaking of social media, here's all of her info!

Twitter    Pinterest    Facebook    Bloglovin'    Instagram    Tumblr

Stay tuned for a guest-post from Ashley next week!  :)

Have a SUPER Saturday, everyone!

Corn & Crab Quesadillas

I was looking through the recipes that I posted on my WordPress blog, and when I saw this one, I thought I'd share them today!  I need your input!

Corn & Crab Quesadillas

• 1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 bag (11-12 oz) whole-kernel corn, thawed*
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. sliced green onions (about 5 medium)
• 1 jar (2 oz.) diced pimientos, drained
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 lb (approx) crab meat
• 2 T butter or margarine, melted
• 6 tortillas

*For the record, I did not think far enough in advance to thaw the corn. I threw it in a mesh strainer and sprayed it with hot water. In the words of Pioneer Woman, "Don't be like me."\

1. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, corn, cilantro, onions, pimientos, pepper, and red pepper.

2. Fold in crabmeat. (I used two 6 oz cans of crabmeat. Not quite 1 lb, but it was sufficient.)

3. Spread 2/3 c. of the mixture on each tortilla.

 Yes, I actually measured the 2/3 cup...and assembled these on top of the tortilla packaging. Don't judge.

4. Fold tortilla in half and press together lightly.

5. Brush butter on both sides of the tortillas.

 

6. Cook over medium-high heat until light brown. Turn over and repeat on the other side.

7. Serve with a garnish of sour cream and cilantro, if desired. (I didn't.)

The verdict?
Mixed reviews.  Scott didn't like it. I was unsure. There was a flavor that I was unsure of. I think it might have been the cilantro. I've never had cilantro or used it in my cooking before, so I think that may have been the taste I was unsure of. HOWEVER, I liked it enough to keep trying. I ate one and a half of the ones I made for dinner. I took the remaining half to work the next day. It was pretty good reheated (and I had a side of tortilla chips and salsa). I actually took another one to work yesterday, too. The more I eat, the more I like it. (This made 6 quesadillas, by the way.)
You may be wondering why I chose to share a recipe that I or we didn't necessarily love. To me, that makes this blog more "real." I'm not perfect, and I don't claim to be the best cook. My point is to share my experience with making things, make it known when I make changes, and let you know how it went. If it didn't work, I want you to know that just as much as if I loved something. I also welcome comments for suggestions to make things better or if it seems like there was something I did that might have caused my lack of success. It's about honesty, folks!
Again, the more I ate, the more I liked, so feel free to try and share your thoughts!
I think I'll try them again without the cilantro.  What do you think?

It's Ok Thursday 2/21

 

It's time for another rendition of "It's Ok Thursdays!"  Before I tell you what's ok with me this week, I would like to let you know that all ads in my shop are now 25% percent off!  On Tuesday, I tweeted that if I reached 25 followers that I would give the discount.  I had 24 followers at the time, and thanks to this giveaway from Tarole and sponsors, I more than doubled!  Use promocode 25PLUS.

 

So welcome new followers!  I hope to get to know you, and that you will want to stay as readers and not just followers! :)

 

This week it's ok...

 

...that we had a snow day.  While it sucks that my Easter break has been drastically reduced, I got A LOT done at home.

 

...to enjoy an in-service.  We had the best in-service that I have ever attended on Monday.  We had been copies of the book Most Unlikely to Succeed by Nelson Lauver.  He is from a nearby county in Pennsylvania, and the book was so good.  He came to our school to speak on Monday.  First, he retold some of the parts of the book, and it was followed by a Q & A session.  He even autographed our books!  I wish we could do things like that for every in-service!!  (NOTE: I'll be writing a review of his book in an upcoming post.)

 

...to try.  Even if you don't succeed.  I'll tell you guys now because I love you all.  I went to NYC this weekend to audition for The Voice again.  I didn't make it through, which is really hard to share.  I just find it embarrassing because people assume that you must be bad.  lol.  I promise I'm not.  It just wasn't my time yet.

 

...to be a nerd.  The best part of being in NYC this weekend was that the Discovery Center had a Harry Potter exhibition.  James & Oliver Phelps (Fred & George Weasley) were there.  We didn't get to see them, BUT we did see actual props from the movies.  They were set up in awesome displays on sets representing the movies.  It. Was. So. Cool!  I wish I had pictures to share, but photography was not allowed.  BOO!

 

...that we are counting down the days left in school.  Once we hit day 100, it's downhill from there!  (P.S.  We have 77 left.)

 

...to love Pajama Days!  Sorry Kristin.  My class collected about 900 Box Tops for Education.  Not only did we contribute to our school earning over $1000, but we were in 2nd place on the downstairs floor (K-3)!  We won a pajama day, and we will be served hot chocolate!  Not getting dressed up for work?  Ok in my book!!

 

What's ok with you this week?

 

P.S.  You should enter this giveaway!

P.S.S. If you haven't linked up for Dinner Time Tuesdays yet, there's still time!

Amazing Giveaway!!

So have you met Tarole?  I have been sponsoring her since January.  She is awesome.  She is one of my fellow "My Harry Potter Fix" hosts, and she lives in Hawaii....which makes my freezing Pennsylvania self jealous at LEAST once a week.  ANYWAY, Tarole and her awesome sponsors (uh, yeah, I'm awesome, too! ;) ) are doing an amazing giveaway.  You should enter for a chance to win a $100 giftcard to a place of your choice AND a $25 Etsy gift card!

February Group Giveaway Sponsors

 

Open to US and Canada only. 

This giveaway is to say thank you to all of our lovely readers - if you don't want to follow like a participant's blog, don't enter.

Please refer to Terms and Conditions on Rafflecopter for full rules.

Enter away!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Harry Potter Fix: Week 19

 

It's time for My Harry Potter Fix!  This week, we're sharing our favorite Harry Potter pins from Pinterest.  Before I show you mine, don't forget the rules.

 

Grab the button, follow your hosts & co-hosts: Kim, Tarole, Erinn, & Me, link back to us somehow, and most importantly....post about Harry Potter!

 

 I'm sharing my favorite funny Harry Potter pins!
 



 

Source: twitpic.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

 

Source: facebook.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

I do have the new book.  Someday, I hope to find time to read it!

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Totally.

 

 

Source: static.fjcdn.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: themetapicture.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

This moment on "The Voice" was priceless. 

 

 

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Rebecca on Pinterest

You totally can't go wrong by mixing a little Harry Potter/Hunger Games/Mean Girls humor.

 

 

Source: darkztar.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Making fun of Twilight is always good, too!

 

 

Source: harrypotterhumor.tumblr.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: themetapicture.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

I leave you with this because I think it's brilliant parenting!  :)

 

Next week's questions:

1. Least favorite student?

2. Least favorite Muggle?

3. Least favorite Deatheater?

4. Least favorite teacher?

 

Don't forget to submit your question ideas!