Me, myself and my Pioneer Woman

About six weeks ago I discovered The Pioneer Woman/Ree Drummond on the Food Network.  I really have no idea how I stumbled across her show but it has literally changed my life.  It's only taken me 16 years (the time I've been married to Mike) but dang it, I can now cook!  I honestly think even God could see how distressed my family was with my cooking so he might have had something to do with my new found love affair with Ree!  Through the years I have ordered cooking magazines, surfed pinterest for recipes and I have loads and loads of cookbooks but I could never get the cooking thing right.  The thing is I have desperately wanted to learn how to cook for years.  I have longed to have my family smile after a meal and say, "Wow, that was really good!"  Well........drum roll please, thanks to Ree that has finally happened.  I am cooking and cooking well and with variety!  It's all visual to me and I finally found a woman who is cooking for a meat and potatoes husband and the rest of her 4 children, who include two boys.  Plus she lives on a ranch in Oklahoma (and on a side note, Nick loves watching the show with me because he's intrigued with the ranch and what it takes to run a ranch).  I've even gone shopping with Ree (ha) and learned her tips for picking things up at the store.   My family is experiencing red bell peppers, stir fry, meatball sandwiches, etc.....What I'm most proud of is I'm able to plan things out and everyone in my family gets a hot meal and trust me, that's an accomplishment in my house when we have some kind of practice each week night.  The other night I made hot meatball sandwiches & french fries for Mike and Nick.  Mike was taking Nick to football where he met up with Jay.  I packed up some meatball sandwiches for Jay and french fries and he ate them on the field & devoured every last bite.  It does take planning and I've noticed our grocery bill is higher but I'm really enjoying it and plus we are eating healthier with more variety.  What's on the menu this weekend?  Sloppy Joe's, french silk pie, and the best green beans ever - YUMMY!

Our October challenge

The creative juices are flowing in our house!  Mike came up with a brilliant idea and for once I'm not being sarcastic (hee, hee).  His idea was to challenge Jay to a run, not just any run but Mike told Jay he can and will beat his best XC time.  Mike hung a dry erase board by our treadmill and we're off - all four of us, although Nick and I are doing it just for fun.  Yes, it does scare me a bit because Jay is 11 and Mike is 40.  I'm worried he'll stroke out on the treadmill.  So far Jay's best time is 15.09 (the distance is 2 miles).  Mike did this as a way to motivate Jay and also show him what hard works gets ya......a great sense of achievement and pride.  I would write If Mike achieves the 15.09 time but I know my husband and the proper wording is really when he achieves the 15.09 time.  He has until Oct. 30 to do it.  A certain something of Mike's is on the line.  If Mike loses then he hands this certain gift over to Jay, if Mike wins (which I'm pretty sure he will) then Jay has promised Mike he'll pay more attention to what Mike is telling him in terms of how to be your very best (notice how I didn't say the very best).  There was no way I was going to let Mike get in shape without me.  I'm sure he'll drop weight like nobody's business and I didn't want to still be feeling blah by the end of October so I'm just taking on my own challenge because plain and simple I don't run - period.  But if you look very closely in the top left hand corner you'll see my first time was 25.24 and today my 2 mile run ended in a time of 23.28!  Granted I was literally screaming "I AM DYING" by the end but I did it and I'll keep doing it.  My goal is to run 2 miles in 20 minutes.  I'll post the results at the end of October.  Oh and for giggles, Mike's running chart is in the top right hand.  Only the Sieborg would draw such neat lines with his goal clearly written at the bottom of his chart.