Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole

What is more delicious than mashed potatoes? Well that's easy....mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon! You could probably put bacon in almost anything and it would be amazing. Yeah, I'm going to stick to that last comment and say it's a fact, NOT an opinion. I don't even have to mention what cheese does to any dish....if you need convincing, you just aren't right.

Ingredients

5-6 cups of mashed potatoes (about 12 potatoes)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup butter

8 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup milk (approximately)

Salt & pepper

Garlic powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil potatoes until tender. Mash potatoes, then add cream cheese, sour cream, butter and enough milk to get the creamy consistency you would like. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Add 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the bacon to mashed potatoes. Place into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. *You could also broil for a minute or two at the end to brown the cheese more.

These were delicious! What would make them even better you ask? The almighty cholula, green onions and French's fried onions!!! Do not judge, it is so good! 

Enjoy!

Craving Summer

As I walked outside today to do errands, I was greeted by something that left a huge smile across my face.

More flowers in my favorite color purple!!!! I would have taken a picture, but by the time I recharged my battery, the flowers had closed up for bed, so sad. Maybe tomorrow?

Seeing my beautiful flowers is making me crave warmer, brighter, and happier weather. May sunny days be coming our way!

Until they do, I will remain hopeful and start to make meals that remind me that soon I will be sitting outside eating dinner by my pool. Tonight's meal: Bun-less burgers with salad. It may not be summer yet, but it's bright and cheerful in my belly!

I absolutely love making burgers. I love how you can add so many different ingredients to make various combinations. Today, I sauteed 1/2 red onion, red bell pepper, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 tbsp minced jalapenos, 2 pieces of chopped bacon, and added it to one pound of lean ground beef. I added salt, pepper, chili powder, ground mustard, garlic powder, parsley, cholula and worcestershire sauce. I got my hands dirty and mixed it all up, to make four patties.

When it's starts to get warmer out, I crave lighter, healthier options like so many people, so I tend to top my proteins on salads. This one was a winner!

While allowing my food to digest, I vacuumed and dusted my living room. I just love when my furniture shines! Then it was time for my workout of the day.

Source

I did this DVD and then did intervals on my treadmill for 20 minutes. 

I bought this DVD the last time the man and I went to Costco. This is another store that we enjoy WAY too much. The last time we went we told each other we would only buy the staples. Somehow this ended up underneath our loot, oops! But I'm glad that it did, because I really like it! 

After showering, it was time for a snack.

Granny smith apple + peanut butter + two huge strawberries. So good! Refreshing and filling, the perfect snack!

Now, its time to get some wedding stuff done and read a book, my favorite part of the evening! G'nite all.

Weekend Love

I have an every other weekend type of job. So when it was time to clock out Friday night at 1230 am, I was a happy lil' nurse. For the weekend, my job is done. I don't have make anyone feel better this weekend, but myself. There are no patients, doctors, call bells, IVs, medications, or chaos.... and it feels wonderful.

Today started off a little later than I wanted, didn't feel like getting out of bed until 10 am! All things considered, based on the time I go to bed it's only 7 hours of sleep so it's okay.

The first thing that popped into this girl's head....breakfast. Made his and hers breakfast sandwiches with wheat toast, two eggs, low fat provolone and a piece of bacon. Again drizzled with cholula goodness. I was so hungry I failed to take a picture before devouring it. So it kind of looked exactly like this.

I have a to do list that I WILL accomplish today. It involves some good stuff and some tedious things, but like I said before, no work. The main event of the day: baking something that involves my one true love, chocolate.

100 days

- 2 lbs (Decided I'm going to post my daily weight gain/loss in the beginning of the post. That way it's a slap in my face every time I log on :-) We shall see!)

In 100 days I'll be getting my hair done, having my make up be all pretty and wearing the white dress. I can't explain in words how excited I am, but I can explain how nervous I am to be the "spotlight" of the day. I am not good with attention, pictures, or compliments. So for the next 100 days, I'm going to have to psych myself into accepting those three things that terrify me the most about our special day. I'm sure that I'll be so happy that day that it won't phase me, I hope.

Today is a good day. I get to spend it with my man, who I've missed terribly. His schedule has always been an issue being that he works in a restaurant, but I've only recently started to be upset about it. I think it's because I see how hard he works and how little they respect him at his job. Also, we will be starting a family sooner than later and I don't want him to miss seeing our children grow up. So, we are yet again on the job search, we'll get it right one day!

Breakfast: I was craving a breakfast sandwich today. So I took 1 egg + 2 egg whites, added a few tablespoons of shredded mozzarella, a piece of bacon and put it on two pieces of wheat toast. Of course I drizzled cholula all over it.

It was scrumptious!

Lunch: We were out and about getting errands done today so we stopped at Panera Bread. I got the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad. It was fantabulous.

Of course on our adventures I got an iced coffee. I have an addiction. Although, I do not need one every day. So, I'm good. *smile*

Dinner: Tonight I made a version of chicken marsala but with pork instead. I got the recipe idea out of my Eat what you Love cookbook. I had been eyeing it multiple times at Costco but didn't want to splurge. Being that Borders is going out of business in EVERY place I can go to, I decided to do some shopping. Maybe I'll show you what I got at the end of this post. Now back to dinner. The recipe calls for pork tenderloin, but I had some pork chops in the freezer that I needed to use up.


20 Minute Pork Marsala
Ingredients
1 lb pork tenderloin, well trimmed (like I said, I used the chops)
2 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste (I omitted this since I didn't have it on hand)
1 tsp flour
1/2 cup dry marsala 
1/2 cup red wine or reduced sodium beef broth (I used beef broth)
8 oz or 2 cups mushrooms
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley


~Cut the tenderloin into 3/4 inch thick slices and pound to 1/8 inch thickness. This is a great way to get your frustrations out. 
~Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add the cutlets, and brown for about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
~Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, flour, marsala, and red wine or beef broth, add mushrooms and pour into pan. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Add butter and stir.
~Return cutlets to the pan, turn in the sauce, and heat until warm. Garnish with parsley.

The End. We changed it up a little bit by using the pork chops. We browned them in the pan and then put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. The mushrooms were sauteed in the pan with minced garlic and olive oil before adding the wine & beef broth. We also omitted the tomato paste and then added some caramelized onions on top. I had a craving so I gave in! On the side, some green beans that are always delicious.

When you cook from a recipe, do you always follow it or change it to your liking? When I cook, I take what I like and then what I know to form a recipe that hopefully tastes good!

Now it's time to get some wedding stuff done in the last hours of the evening. My mantra for today:

It's not a new diet, it's a new way of life.

Things you can't live without

There are certain things in life that you just can't live without. You can't make substitutions. These are things that are THAT important to you, that no matter what financial situation you are in, you WILL have them.

Such as.....

Febreeze. Makes everything smell better. 

Cholula. I would bathe in this stuff, it is that good.

Bare Essentuals Make up. It makes you feel beautiful even on your worst day.

Macbook. I will never own another PC, sorry Dell- you lost a long time ago.

Samsung Fascinate. My favorite phone by far.

Notebooks. I probably own 10 notebooks at this point, and every time I see a new one with a pretty cover, I buy it. It's ridiculous.

Woman's World. My mother got me hooked when I was young. Every week, it's the first stop I make in the grocery store as if they would sell out by the time I get to the register.

Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Iced Coffee. I started early this year, and bought my first iced coffee two weeks ago. I'm willing spring to come early.

Sausage. Any kind, any time. No I'm not being a pervert. It makes all foods better.

Ipod. Music makes you want to move. Moving is good. I'm on my second because this beast ate my first.

Yankee Candles. Brings me back to my childhood. Nothing beats having a yummy candle burning in your house.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. It's just friggin' good.

Crystal Light Pink Lemonade. It's a treat, and maybe better than soda? I'll keep telling myself that.

I'm sure there are other things that I can't live without that might be more important. Like air, but I don't have to go to a store to purchase that, yet. With the way this economy is going, we might get taxed to breathe sooner than later.

What are your favorite items that you can't live without?