New Blogger

I want to introduce yall to a new blog. My friend Mike is a HILARIOUS writer! He used to post blogs on myspace all the time but we all know myspace is practically extinct. So....we finally encouraged him to start a blog.

 His blog is "Think outside the box & read between the Lines."

If you take offense to profanity then don't follow! But if you want a good laugh, I HIGHLY recommend his blog.

And since a blog isn't fun without a picture, here's a pic I caught of Bebe waiting on her daddy to get home the other day! 

LC Crocker?

I can't lie, I absolutely hate to cook. But ever since I joined the blog world & reading about all yalls recipes I've started cooking a lot more. This week I tried 2 new recipes...

First I tired  Pizza Pull Apart Bread that I found on Dworianyn Love Nest's blog.

Ingredients

1 unsliced round loaf Italian bread

12-16 ounces Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 (3.5 ounce) package pepperoni, halved
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
pizza/marinara sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust.

 Place bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and insert cheese slices and pepperoni between cuts.

Combine butter, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings & brush on top with pastry brush.

 

Sprinkle bread with Parmesan cheese.

Wrap bread completely in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni is a little crispy.

  

Serve with warmed pizza sauce!

This was SO good & easy to make! It was too much for just 2 people though!

So we had to eat it over 2 days!

The next recipe I tried was Cuban Picadillo by De Su Mama!

This had ingredients I had never used before! lol!

Ingredients
~ 1lb of ground turkey (or ground beef)
~ Onion, chopped
~ Garlic, and lots of it! Minced and pressed.
~ premade GOYA sofrito 
~ 8oz can of tomato paste
~ 16oz can of tomato sauce
~ 1 package of Sazon con Azafran seasoning mix, oregano, 1 bay leaf and salt/pepper
~ 1-2 pack of Raisins

~Olives
~ Oil

~ A bit of water to thin it out {dry white wine is used traditionally, however}

~Rice (we used brown rice)

~Sliced Fried Banana

 Saute sofrito, tomato and onion, add garlic when onion is softened

 Add ground turkey, breaking it up with a spatula

 Add 1 package of Sazon con Azafran seasoning mix, oregano, 1whole bay leaf and salt/pepper

(take out bay leaf before serving)

 Once browned, add tomato sauce and water {adding more to thin as you desire} 

(I didn't add any water)

 Add raisins (SOOO good when cooked) & pimentos {stuffed olives}

Let go on low/medium flame until tomato sauce is cooked through and it reduces just a bit!

I look a hot mess, but here's a pic the hubby snapped of me cooking!

(excuse the mess in the background!)

 Serve over rice with slices of bananas!! 

(Plantains would work great too)

This dish was SOOO flavorful & easy to make!

Vegas {part 4}

Day 3...

I was determined to go to In & Out Burger to see what all the craze was about.

We took a bus from Planet Hollywood all the way to the Stratosphere & then a cab from there to In&Out. A lot of work for a burger huh? 

Quick pic I took of the Stratosphere!

I LOVE how it came out!

So my thoughts on In&Out...

I could definitely tell the burger & fries were fresher than other fast food burger places.

It was definitely good, but no big deal. 

I would of course go there if there was one in my city but there's not so until they decide to come down south, that may be my first & last In&Out Burger.

Afterwards we all decided to go to Fremont St. We had to take 2 cabs bc of the size of our group.

So we each called the cab guys that took us to In&Out. My brother's cab driver came immediately and they were at Fremont St 15 minutes later. Us on the other hand...we waited over an hour! I was so irate! I kept calling the cab company over & over and they kept saying "he'll be right there." We finally had get the same cab driver that picked my brother up to come back and get us, an hour & a half later. I wish I remembered the name of the company bc I would definitely NOT recommend them at all. We were all thoroughly annoyed. 

Anyways...we finally made it to Fremont St & loved it. There were people & music & casinos everywhere. There was a long zip line right above us going down the whole street. Loved it!

After walking around & gambling on Fremont St, we hopped back on the bus & decided to go to NY NY. It took 45 minutes on the bus to get back to that end of the strip! But we had great front row seats on top of the bus so it was a good scenic tour.

NY NY wasn't much to see. Of course every casino is themed on the inside. 

This casino was kind of dull & old looking. 

But at least we marked it off our list of casinos.

SN: I was on a mission in Vegas to collect matches from as many casinos as possible. Why? I don't know! 

So I did at least get quite a few matchbooks from various casinos.

And surprisingly the airline didn't confiscate all my matches.

(I put them in my checked bag, not carry-on!)

 

The guys stopped to play a little basketball real quick!

 Random shots while walking the strip that night.

We spent the rest of the night gambling & hanging out.

Wednesday we headed back home...but not til 10:30 that night!

We did some gambling at Bally's & Planet Hollywood all day.

Luckily I didn't lose it all & for the first time ever I actually came home with some money! LOL!

We absolutely LOVE Vegas! It's a guaranteed good time.

We're actually *thinking* about going for New Year's!

Vegas {part 3}

Day 2 started off with breakfast at Planet Dailies in Planet Hollywood.

I had their yummy Belgian waffles with strawberries!

Even though breakfast was great, it was SO expensive! We spent $50 for just the hubby & I! I was so annoyed. They charged me $6 for a side of bacon & $5 for a small glass of oj! I didn't think to ask of the price for the extras bc really, how much can breakfast be!

Remember the last post with the big drink my brother had the night before? Well, as you can see from the pic he didn't make it to breakfast! lol!

After breakfast we went back to the slots. I think this pic is hilarious. We're in Vegas and what are  Lynda & Lili doing? Facebooking!! 

We went to more casinos, the Fashion Mall, & then hubby & I went to Wolfgang Pucks & shared a pizza. It was so good...

After we ate everyone headed back to the hotel to get ready to go out. If you've ever partied in Vegas you know there are club promoters on the street who give you passes to various clubs. Well we came across one earlier in the day who gave us some to a club in Aria. She kept begging for a tip so Lynda gave her $5. The lady was kind of mad because she wanted more money since she gave us so many passes. (back to this in a few....)

Here are some pics of us dressed & ready to go out.

Someone please tell the guys it OK to smile!

So we get to the casino & guess what? The clubs not even opened! I was so irate at that point. At least we had only given the lady $5. But we were hustled! 

So half went to another club and half went to a bar back at the hotel. I was in the half that went back to the hotel. We hung out at the Heart Bar and had a few drinks and then that yummy pizza pictured above started to kick my @ss! I went back to the room...and my loving hubby captured me like this:

Note the pink bottle of pepto on the table. I was miserable! 

I can't believe I went to bed early in Vegas, HA!

Oh well, what can you do right!

More to come soon.

Las Vegas {part 2}

These are the guys that accompanied us to Vegas. 

From l to r is my hubby, friend Qwan, brother, & friend Arod.

These 2 have been friends since they were kids. 

My brother is holding up a little card about the Holly Madison peep show.

I actually heard her show is good but we never got around to seeing any shows this time.

Me & my bff Lynda!

She lives in AZ so we see each other once a year in Vegas!

 Of course we had to start the trip properly with drinks from Cabo Wabo!

I had a pina colada that was SO good!

 Yummy drinks!

He guys, try smiling next time!

 My brother had to be the "1 upper" & get the big drink with a neck strap! lol!

Side Note: This drink had him unable to function until 5pm the next day, haha!

 

Hubby's giving a thumbs down bc he's not happy about the "1 upper" situation!

(on the far right is Arod's wife Lilli)

With drinks in hand we started the infamous walk of the Strip. First stop was Paris where Arod won this lovely shirt just for signing up for a player's card. Hilarious!

 

After Paris we went to Caesar's Palace. We hung at there for a while & then hubby & I stayed for the fireworks show. Everyone else was pooped from the flight so they headed back to the hotel. I got a few good shots of the fireworks...

The show was great!

I should have taken pic of the people though. I couldn't believe how many people were there. The entire walkway, the bridge, & stairs had people everywhere. It was so crowded that we had to to sit in the casino to wait for the crowd to disperse after the show just so we could walk back to the hotel!

Good times! Up next, day 2!