Another Monday Goes Down In History

We survived...barely :) No, seriously, the day got much better. I went to Jenny Craig and weighed in. I lost 3 pounds last week for a total of 10 pounds and 4 inches over the past month. Hell Yeah!!!! Paige was also feeling better...she took a long baby nap, got to see her Gammy, got a mani/pedi and is on the road to recovery. I love my child; but that was craziness this morning. She was screaming when there wasn't anything going on. She was squirming and freaking out when her dentist was just looking in her mouth. I'm just glad we've gotten this part out of the way. I am so not looking forward to braces :(

I'd like to share a few recipes. I perfected my chili gravy for enchiladas last night. It was delicious and came out perfectly. I also put a pork loin in the slow cooker for dinner tomorrow. Easy to assemble and tastes pretty damn good, too!

Cadillac Cowgirl Enchilada Gravy

1/2 lb Ground Chuck
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Large Onion, minced
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Beef Broth
2 1/2 Cups Water, divided
2 Tbsp San Antonio Red Chili Powder
1 Tbsp San Antonio Original Chili Powder
1/8 tsp Terlingua Dust
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Telicherry Pepper

In a saucepan or stockpot, combine the ground chuck, minced garlic and onion and 1/2 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Once meat mixture is cooked through, add the 1/2 cup vegetable oil to a hot skillet; when heated through, add the flour, lower the heat and whisk together until it is a golden color and smooth. Add this mixture to the beef and onion/garlic pot along with the beef broth, 2 remaining cups of water and all of the spices. Whisk together until combined and cook over medium low heat until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of gravy. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste. Serve over enchiladas, burritos or even eggs as a breakfast dish!

Cadillac Cowgirl Pork Loin

1 Boneless Pork Loin
1 Family Size Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Regular Size Can Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Package Sliced Mushrooms
1 Large Onion, Sliced
Salt and Pepper to taste

You got it - combine all in a slow cooker, turn on low for 8-9 hours or high 4-5 and let that baby do the work for you. Come home, add a few sides and dinner is served. Hey - it's not anything groundbreaking, and I'm not going to win any James Beard awards, but it's quick, easy, cooks while I'm not home and it will feed plenty. Sounds like a winner to me! Try it!!

I had a WONDERFUL time in West this past weekend. Never mind that I forgot my extension cords, or that I grabbed the wrong A/C unit and it fell out of my window; or, that the aforementioned A/C unit drained on my bed. None of that bullshit matters. What matters is that after I sweated my ass off (along with the help of 4 other sisters) rigging my A/C unit with bungee cords, I relaxed, I laughed, I read, I slept (in the peace and quiet of my trailer, sans earplugs), I learned how to decorate a traincase, I floated in the pool, and I ate yummy food! I also saw some AWESOME trailers and met some new Sisters. The weekend was a success!! Thank you Sue, Sherree, Cathy and Joyce for being fabulous hostesses. I love my SOTF weekends - I get to chill out and sleep in and just be a bum. It's very nice. I'm already looking forward to doing it again!

Maybe I should have titled this post, "Mirror, Mirror On THe Wall, I Am My Mother After All"...........

As I mentioned in the above paragraph, I made a traincase while in West. I decorated it, deco-whatevered-it, Modge-Podged it (got more on me than the case) and created the gaudiest, girliest thing I ever saw. I have long suppressed my "Viki Bowden" creativity. Nothing against my mom, it just scares me. I grew up in a themed, decorated, Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman reproduced by the sextuplets at Christmas time kind of house. My mom is very artsy - I'm really not. I have no imagination. But, apparently with the right tools and a cocktail, I can create just about anything. Funny thing, I don't remember my mom tossing them back when she was painting our Christmas ornaments. Oh well, maybe Paige will look back on that fondly when she's older. She'll see a Christmas ornament and remember the time I drug out the box of ornaments and told her and Zoe to decorate the tree while I had a glass of wine and watched. My kids are lucky we even have a tree. (See the above confession about the Santa/Frosty overkill). It's not that I hate Christmas - I love it. In December, when it occurs. But I can do without the decorations. There's just something seared into my subconscious that makes me reject a house full of decorations. I just sounded like Annie Savoy in Bull Durham, "Despite my rejection of most Judeo-Christian ethics, I am, within the framework of the baseball season, monogamous." Sorry, sorry...I'm digressing...really, really bad. I'll try and get back on track...just don't quite know where that is at this point.

End result: Paige has an awesome girly-girl traincase, I learned how to decorate one and I might just start doing more of them! She stuffed her owls in it and took them to the dentist with her today. She took one of them in with her, but he didn't seem to make things better. Poor owl. Poor Juicy.

We've got Cowtown coming up this weekend. There are beans and salsa cook offs Friday night and CASI and Junior chili Saturday. I have no idea what time turn in is for any of these categories. I do know that it's going to be hotter than hell and I'm going to be sweating like a French whore in Church. That I can guarantee.

Speaking of CASI....any candidates for the Board? Anyone, anyone? Buehler, Buehler? Does anyone care at this point? Is my rambling about what I think CASI should explore in order to improve just a waste of typing? I wish it wasn't, but I think that's a reasonable expectation. I think a lot of people think that way. Oh well.......what do you do? I hate shutting up and giving up, but I really don't see the point anymore. Does anyone else? I could go on and on...we all could...but what's it going to do?

My son turned off the DVR and the Bachelorette is not being recorded. I may just run out into traffic in the thriving metropolis of Crisp, Texas. I'd probably get hit by a tractor before a vehicle.....

I gotta go. I can feel myself going off and rambling and babbling and that's no fun. I'm going to check on The Juicy, give her some Motrin and hunker down for the evening. I hope everyone has had a nice day. I'm getting my hair done tomorrow...I'm very excited!

Spreading my own special brand of whatever......

Kelly