Thursday, February 16, 2012

Dollar Days

Mitchell had his dollar ride yesterday (aka his very first flight in the T-6) and it went wonderfully! He had a total blast and his IP (instructor pilot) said he did a fantastic job! I could not be more proud of him :) Although the 12 hour days are exhausting, he's having a really great time flying and getting up the plane finally.


Before/After Mitchell's Dollar Ride




*Shout out to Harrison for the pictures ;)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lazy Days

This past weekend was one of those weekends where we simply and honestly did absolutely nothing productive. And to be honest, it was wonderful! The weather here has been down right nasty so it was nice to stay home and enjoy each others company and hang out with our little furball. I did however try a new desert concoction I've been meaning to attempt for ages. This particular recipe has been floating around Pintrest for ages now and I had actually tried some at a Christmas party for my work. Here it is....



Ingredients:
-1 lb large strawberries
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.
*I added about 4.5 tablespoons of powdered sugar to taste. 
I have a huge sweet tooth though ;)

I also ended up just using a knife to place the filling
in the strawberries. As you can see, the bag
idea didn't turn out perfectly!

As I mentioned earlier the weather here has been rather chilly and very Colorado-like if you ask me! I thought I moved to Texas to get as far away from cold weather as possible?! Apparently not. This morning we woke up to a dense frost on the ground and we even had snow flurries down here in good ole Del Rio.

The truck with the "frost" from last night.
On another note, Mitchell is about to finish up Phase I this week (woot woot) and begin Phase II where he will actually start flying. He is scheduled to hit the flight line on Wednesday and start flying the T-6. He and I are both very excited about him actually getting in the plane and starting this portion of UPT. Although I'm sure we won't LOVE the 12 hour days starting this week, I know it will be well worth the extra time apart.

In other news, Georgia (our cat) is still missing. We have finally come to the conclusion that she has found a nice little home filled with lots of children and other kitties to play with and keep her company :) Or at least that's just what we like to tell ourselves....Winston is not all that upset to be honest.

I am still plugging away at school with thankfully only 1.5 more weeks until my spring break, wooo hooo! I'm also still working at the store down town and taking that one day at a time. 


Winston decided to climb up to get his ball, got
"stuck" 3 feet off the ground , and then
preceded to take a nap....what a goober.
I hope everyone had just as a relaxing weekend as we did!

Love, 
The Etheridges

Friday, February 3, 2012

Yummy Goodness

I know it's been a LONG while since I posted any recipes that Mitchell and I have tried...truth me told we have just been so busy we've just stuck to the same old ones since Christmas! However, I finally had a little time to peruse Pintrest the other day and I found this very simple chicken taco recipe. It is literally the easiest thing you will ever make, besides a bowl of cereal. It was delicious and simple, what more can you ask of a dinner recipe?

We ended up halfing the recipe (except for the taco seasoning part) and it turned out perfectly! We also served it with black beans which was a nice touch. The leftovers even made a few quesadillas for lunch ;)



Ingredients:

1 envelope Taco Seasoning
6 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 jar Salsa (16 oz)

Instructions:
Dump everything into a crock pot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream. This is very versatile and can be used for enchiladas, nachos, tostadas, etc.