Friday, December 31, 2010

Easy New Year's Menu

I didn't really have a complete plan in place for tonight. Well, not until this evening anyway. Obviously there was the pre-requisite:

Cheese and crackers +hummus because I love it
Tortilla Chips and salsa
Chips and Dip
Li'l smokies in BBQ sauce - I stick them in a small crock pot earlier in the day with
1/2 bottle BBQ sauce, 2 Tablespoons grape jelly, and a
generous sprinkle of my favorite spice, chili powder.

Then today I decided on:

Open face tacos - deep fry won ton wrappers then put your choice of toppings. I am
using ground chicken, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and pepper jack
Chicken parm snackers - Ritz cracker with a piece of chicken, dab of sauce and
cheese on top. You can use anything but I am using parmesan.
Heat in the oven 'til the cheese is melted.
Snicker doodle cheese cake dip - thanks TSG for the mix. I just added it to cream
but I am going to figure out a recipe for next time.
Bacon Dijon dip - 1 cup mayo, 1/4 cup dijon, 1-3 teaspoons horseradish, and 1/4 cup
bacon bits (I fried my own up. So much better. Mix and chill.
**I have sourdough pretzel pieces to go with those.
Chocolate pudding cups - put wonton wrappers in a mini muffin pan, spray with PAM
and bake on 375 for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned.
When cool spoon chocolate pudding in and shave chocolate
over top.
Triple+ chocolate cupcakes - Betty Crocker cake mix made up into cupcakes. When cool
cut the middle top out, put some pudding in, a dash of
Hot fudge or Hershey's syrup. Put the top back on and
frost with chocolate frosting, and grate a little
chocolate on top.

Approximately 2 hours of my time and not that bad on the budget.

Happy New Year!!!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Evolution takes Faith!

We went to the Smithsonian yesterday for Rohanna's birthday trip. BTW, in my opinion, $112 for a trip for 6 to the Smithsonian, which is 2.5 hours away is pretty good if you ask me. We even came in UNDER budget by $9, with an over priced Starbucks stop, and a $5 Veggie Tales DVD for the trip home.

It was rainy, it was gross, the damp wetness made my whole body hurt, and my feet were soaked. It is all cool though. The kids loved it and the boys can never ever say to me again..."It's no fair. Rohanna got to ride the train and we didn't."

The first stop was the Natural Museum of History. EVERYTHING is evolution. Ok, I get it, so many umpteen million years ago.....Oh, yeah, it's HISTORY!!! Not a theory started by one very "enlightened" man who was bitter at the God who would take his daughter away from him. It's fact now.

It stuck me as they kept explaining away things that didn't quite "add up in their little box" how evolution takes faith too. You need to rely on a human being's say so that it really IS so. You have to believe that there truly WAS a speck of dust that just set this chain of fortunate events into play.

Either way, I am not trying to belittle anyone. Please don't take it that way. For me though, I would much prefer to believe that there is a divine being who was and always is, who just IS eternally, who cared enough to make me and everything around me, then to believe that there was a speck of dust that just always was, that started what is today.