25 Days of Christmas

Whew its been a while since I updated. Summertime always seems to go by so fast! And now it is Christmas...one of my favorite times! T is on call this Christmas so my family is coming to spend Christmas with us! I realized that our Charlie Brown tree wasn't going to cut it. We decided to go all out for Christmas this year, which prompted me to want to do a 25 Days of Christmas. When I googled what other people had done, most people had kids and so their stuff included a lot of kid things. I wanted 25 Days that was adult friendly. So here's my list:

1. Chop down a Christmas tree 
2. Put up other Christmas decorations 
3. Get Christmas candle for the house 
4. Tacky Christmas sweater party 
5. Drive through Madison, GA and look at the lights 
6. Get Starbucks and walk downtown Athens to look at lights 
7. Go Christmas shopping 
8. Holiday Christmas party #1 
9. Buy wrapping paper and bows 
10. Make Christmas cookies for a Christmas cookie swap 
11. Build a fire and listen to Christmas music 
12. Wrap Christmas presents 
13. Holiday parade 
14. Ornament Exchange party 
15. Christmas party #2 
16. Put finishing touches on decorations 
17. Drive down Milledge Avenue and look at the lights 
18. Volunteer at a food kitchen 
19. Make homemade ornament with the dog's footprints 
20. Go ice skating 
21. McNair Christmas party/Christmas party #3 
22. Finish wrapping Christmas presents 
23. Make goodies to give to neighbors 
24. Build a fire, turn on Christmas music and open a present 
25. Christmas Day--our tradition on Christmas is to open presents, go to Waffle House for brunch and go to a movie before coming home for Christmas dinner!

You can check my Instagram, kalajmac to see how our 25 Days of Christmas turns out and check back on my blog on December 26th to see the overview!

Happy December 1st!

Love,
K

we have a DOCTOR in the family!

After 4 long years and lots of hard work, Thomas has finally graduated from UGA. It was such an awesome feeling to watch someone work so hard and accomplish a goal they have set out for!

Thomas's graduation was at the Performing Arts Center at 10:30. Here are a couple pictures from the ceremony.

 The graduates walking in

 Dean Allen's introduction

after the graduation ceremony

We headed to Loco's for a quick lunch and then headed home to get ready for the big party! Here is the some pictures of the set up for the party...

The table laid out for the food

The table with all of the food

right side of the table

left side of the table

Middle of the table

top of the cake

Banner on cake that said congrats Dr. Thomas McNair

Chips and dip ( I just bought Ruffles and French Onion dip)

Sixlets in red and black (bought at Party City)

fruit with dip ( I cut up apples, strawberries and peaches and made fruit dip using 1 package cream cheese, 1 cup confectioner's sugar and 1 small jar of marshmallow cream

Picture of Thomas from his white coat ceremony

chicken salad with crackers, grapes and cheese and pasta salad (I bought the pasta salad from Kroger! My mom made chicken salad and purchased the cannolis)

strawberries with cannoli cream, cheese balls and cannolis

Beer in one tub

Water in the other

Other drinks: coke and wine. For the wine, I mixed 8oz moscato wine with 2 oz ginger ale and added fruit

The Georgia overlay was actually a twin bed sheet

I bought a balloon to go on the mailbox but since it was pouring down rain, we hung it by the door

Obsessed with the cake! So much detail

Cake again

Thomas with his cake. Thanks to Deb from Deb's Specialty Cake for doing such an amazing job!

With my handsome husband

It was such a great day! We appreciate and love all of our family and friends for coming out to celebrate with us, especially on a miserable rainy day! I can't wait to start this next chapter in our life and to be a 2 income household!

Love,

K

Foodie Post-April

Sorry my foodie post is a little late! Yesterday was a crazy day! And I couldn't get it to rotate, so just turn your head!

My foodie was from North Caroline so I got a lot of "Caroliner" treats! I didn't get a picture of everything individually because everything was used so quickly!

I made BBQ pork chops with the Carolina Treet! It was delicious!

Thomas stole the chow chow and pork strips from me and immediately stuck them in his snack drawer!

I haven't had a chance to eat the pickles yet, but I love that they are individually packaged!

Love,
K

Supper Club Week 2

Well, there wasn't a good turn out for week 1. I only received one recipe (thanks P!) so we're gonna try it one more time. 

Here is the menu for this week:

Sunday- Chicken Parmesan- recipe can be found here 

Monday- Shrimp and Grits- recipe can be found here

Tuesday- cube steak and gravy- recipe can be found here

Wednesday- eating out 

Thursday- Chicken tortillas


2 lb chicken breast thawed
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 tablespoons olive olive
Salt to taste
Whole wheat tortillas
Or
Taco shells
optional:
Lettuce
Tomato
Salsa
Sour cream (for a healthy option choose Greek yogurt)
Cheese
Guacamole
 Chop chicken into small pieces. Add chicken, olive oil and 1/2 package taco seasoning and 1/2 cup water to saucepan.  Heat to boiling and then reduce heat. Continue to chop chicken into smaller pieces as the chicken simmers over low heat until done. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and add remaining packet of taco seasoning. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Layer chicken on tortilla or taco shell. Add optional toppings according to what you like. Also makes a great salad. Just mix ingredients without the tortilla or taco shell. 


Friday- grilled pork chops and salad

Saturday- T is frying turkey and making macaroni and cheese

Send your recipes for next week to kala_jones@att.net and post in the comment section about your favorite recipe from this week!

Enjoy!

K

Supper Club

Last weekend, my mom and I were on our way to Alabama. Whenever we make the 5 hour trip together, we always catch up/vent, etc. This time, venting happened to be about cooking. I like to cook, she does not. But the one thing we agreed on is the planning of the menu. Each week, we both plan a menu, and then go to the grocery store to buy what we need for that week's meals. As per my previous post, T and I always get in a menu rut so I'm always looking for new ideas. As we were talking about it, I had an idea. We would start a Supper Club. Get as many people as we can to submit a recipe, and then everyone else will have some ideas they can pull from.

So here's how it'll work. Each week, you can submit a recipe to kala_jones@att.net. I will compile the recipes and post it towards the end of the week (I always grocery shop on Sunday) and then you will have a full week's worth of recipes to use.

So I am posting our menu for this week to get everyone started.

 

April 7, 2013- April 13, 2013

 

Sunday- Chicken Casserole

       1 pound boneless chicken, boiled and chopped

       1 can cream of mushroom

       1 bunch of broccoli

       1 can mushrooms (I use a large can because I like lots of mushrooms!)

       1/4 cup cheese

       3/4 cup mayonnaise

       1 beaten egg

       1 sleeve ritz crackers

       Combine chicken, cream of mushroom, broccoli, mushrooms, cheese, mayonnaise, and beaten egg. Pour into 8x8 pyrex dish. Top with crushed Ritz Crackers and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Monday- Calzones- the recipe for Calzones can be found here

Tuesday- Curly Noodle Supreme- can be found here 

       I use a couple different ingredients from this recipe though. I do not use canned veggies. I cut up fresh tomatoes and use frozen corn (I use the steamer and then dump it straight into the pan with ground beef. It has a little sauce with it that flavors the ground beef. With that being said, I DO NOT use the flavor package with the ramen noodle. It is full of sodium and not good stuff. I just crunch up the noodles and add them.

Wednesday- Chicken Stuffing-

        1 pound chicken, put in bottom of crockpot

        1 cup chicken broth, pour over top of chicken

        1 can cream of chicken

        1 box stuffing (I use Stovetop Whole Wheat Chicken)

        1 cup sour cream (I use 1 cup plain Greek yogurt)

        Mix cream of chicken, stuffing, and sour cream  and pour on top of chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours, or until stuffing is fluffy and chicken is done.

Thursday-Dinner out (sorry but cooking 4 nights in a row is too much for me! I need a break!)

Friday- grilled pork chops, mac and cheese, salad- We will marinade our pork chops with dale's sauce and salt and pepper and then grill

Saturday- fajitas, rice, refried beans (with guacamole and sour cream)- this is a new recipe I am trying this week and I hope its good. It can be found here

Feel free to mix these recipes any way you like. If you are busy tomorrow night and want to have a crockpot meal, then go for it. Also, feel free to add anything or change things. Post in the comment box what your favorite recipe was!

Hope this makes your week easier. Go ahead and submit your recipes to me for next week (April 14th- 20th)!

Enjoy,
K

Foodies

Ever since Blakely A posted about giving away a necklace from Your Jewelry Box (which I won, eek!) I've been following her blog nonstop!

One of her posts was about a program called Foodie PenPals. Its like having a penpal that you write to but the great thing about this is you send them food! How exciting that someone else gets to pick what you should eat! So I signed up immediately.

My Foodie was Megan from Michigan and I was so excited when my box arrived on a cold and windy Thursday, the 2nd day of Spring.

 I was so excited to open my box and see both things I love and things that I've never had. Here's the review on my box!

I was really excited about trying this because I had never heard of it before. I tried it first on ritz crackers and did not really like it. Then I tried it with some celery and still didn't really enjoy it. It had a different taste to it. I've since googled some ideas for it and I'm going to cook with it sometime soon!

I loved this! I actually put it on top of my salad in lieu of bacon bits and LOVED it!

This was actually my favorite. I've eaten a lot of things from Nature Valley but I've never had something that was gluten free. It was amazing! From now on, I will only be buying Nature Valley gluten free!

How can you go wrong with chocolate?

This was actually really convenient! I was running late for work one day and I threw this in my bag. All I had to do is add water and heat! It was really good! The only thing I would do differently is dump it into a bowl to eat so I can mix it up better!

I actually haven't tried the tea yet. Its too hot in Georgia to be drinking tea right now! Maybe we'll have one more cool night that I can brew some up!


If you are interested in signing up to be a Foodie Pen Pal, you can find out more information at Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean!

Love,
K

Shrimp and Grits

I always feel like T and I get caught in the same conundrum month to month. What's for dinner? Chicken? No, I'm tired of chicken. Pork chops? No, I'm tired of pork chops. Pizza? No, I'm tired of pizza. So, needless to say, I am always looking for new recipes. And I finally found a good one! Shrimp and Grits is really easy (please ignore the quality of the pictures, I was using T's phone because mine was dead!)

Only 4 ingredients (6 if you include salt and cheese)

I buy the extra small, cooked and deveined, with tails off. I bought the cheapest grits at Wal-Mart and I have been able to make grits 3 times with them (and still have a good bit left over).  I also put onions in shrimp. T had already cut these up for me and had them in the pan when I got home.

 So, I saute my onions with a little butter

And when they get nice and crisp, I add shrimp.

 

I mix the shrimp and and onions and cook onions until they are nice and pink.

 

In the meantime, I start the grits.  I use instant grits and so its  just 7-8 minutes cooked, following instructions on the package.

 

When everything gets ready, I put the grits in a bowl and put the shrimp on top of the grits.

 

 

Then, I top mine with cheese and serve!

 

Recipe for Shrimp and Grits:

 

1 bag frozen shrimp, detailed, deveined, and cooked

1 box grits

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup onion

salt- to taste

cheese-depending on preference

 

Start grits, according to instructions on package

Saute onions in butter until crisp

Add shrimp to onion/butter mix and cook until warm

 

Put grits in bowl and top with shrimp. Add cheese or any toppings depending on preference

 

Enjoy,

 

Love,

K



Plungefest 2013

If you'll remember, I jumped into Lake Chapman last February and it was cold...I was under a false notion that after being so warm all winter, it would continue to be warm! Boy, was I wrong!

It was a freezing 36 degrees when we jumped into the Lake Chapman this year...36 DEGREES!  I took a selfie because as most people know, I don't function until about 55 degrees so I'm about 20 degrees out of my comfort zone.



This year, all money raised goes to Athens Habitat for Humanity and building on a house here in Athens begins later this month. It feels good to know that we are making a difference in the community. Since the money went to build a house, we decided to dress up like ATC construction workers, hence the plaid shirts and hats!

 I left my camera with Thomas so he could get some pictures of me running in! He managed to not get me in any running in shots, but he did get this cool picture of everyone else running in!

 I didn't go all the way under this year since I didn't meet my goal but I still got about waist deep, which was pretty cold!

 

I did it again! I won the best costume and won for the most money raised! Thank you to all my friends and family for supporting me again...I definitely appreciate it

 

Until next year, stay warm!

 

Love,

K

A Letter

In honor of my 26th birthday, I wrote a letter to my 16 year old self.


Dear 16 year old Kala,
       Wow! 16! What an exciting time! Being in high school and getting your driver's license feels like its the most important thing ever... and to a certain extent, it is! You now have the world at your fingertips (which means you don't have to ask your mom to take you somewhere!) But, while it seems like everything that happens to you is the most important thing that will EVER happen, its not! Life really does go on! 
       So here's my advice to you: Don't worry about what other people think about you and ignore those bullies when they make fun of your teeth and hair. Those things can be fixed but self appreciation and a kind heart are hard to come by. Don't worry about what you wear to school. While you think its important to plan out every outfit, down to the matching jewelry, no one else will notice. With that being said, don't buy stuff just because it's cheap, and don't spend so much money: save! You'll be glad you have it when you get older and you truly learn the value of money! Appreciate yourself and don't put up with people who don't appreciate you. Come up with a dream of your own and follow them. Don't care about what your boyfriend, or your parents or your best friend want for you.
        Laugh more. Laugh at yourself, laugh at others, laugh when things don't go right. Just laugh! Nothing is as bad as it seems--ever. Make time for your friends. They will always be there for you and you will develop relationships that will survive anything! And nothing can compare to knowing that you always have someone on your side. Same for your family; it is important to remember where you came from and only your family can give you a sense of that. They are the only people that have to love you no matter what! Be grateful that you had family that invested their time to you so that you knew how much you really did matter. 
        Don't worry about that ass of a boyfriend, someone will come along who treats you better. He'll make you mad and he'll make you cry but you will know that he is always on your side. Even though he will make you mad, he'll also make you happy and make you smile and those are the things worth remembering.  He will be worth the heartache you had to go through to get to him. Because small heartache doesn't even compare to knowing you found your soulmate, love of your life, and partner.
        Believe me when I say you will have some regrets, and you'll wonder what if, but everything you have done in your life has led you to where you are. As Steve Maraboli says, “The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.” 
        Most importantly, enjoy life and don't sweat the small stuff. Life is too short to let anything get you down. As your mom is always telling you, this too shall pass, and it will.

Love,
Your 26 year old self

ps. your life 10 years later is pretty freaking amazing!

2012: A Year in Review

I know I'm a couple days late (ok like a month late) but 2012 is over and 2013 has started in full swing!

I can't say that I'm sad to see it go...2012 wasn't the best year for us, but we are always very blessed! Here's a look back at 2012:

We rung 2013 celebrating in Athens

I spent a lot of time in 2012 reading

And baking

We traveled to Brantley to celebrate LE's 1st birthday...it was nursery rhyme themed and Thomas and I were the itsy bitsy spider and the water spout

I jumped into Lake Chapman in February

and celebrated birthdays

My niece, Carley, spend the night with us and we had to have our traditional Cracker Barrel meal!

and we went to see the Georgia Gymdogs

We spent the summer on the lake

and the dogs loved it

even in those chillier months

We celebrated both of my grandparents being happy and healthy :)

We celebrated a lot---babies

our first anniversary

and more babies

with a girl's trip to HHI in the middle

I had a minor set back with a wrist injury

but it was overshadowed by the fact that I bought my first car

and welcomed my first niece (as an official member of the family)

I also finally legally changed my name

And we celebrated weddings

and more weddings

I just can't get over how cute Gracie is!

Another minor set back---Thomas had to have an emergency surgery

but I did get to attend my first Falcons game

my bum wrist didn't stop me from throwing elbows on our 2nd annual Black Friday trip

I spent a lot of time enjoying the beautiful weather with the pups (the dog on the left is Harley, our neighbor's dog)

but half a year couldn't heal my wrist injury so I had surgery to repair some torn ligaments

                                         We celebrated Gracie's first Christmas in Sandersville

and had our annual Christmas lunch at Waffle House

and we ended the year by ringing in 2013 in Athens

2013 has started off with a bang! Thomas found out that he passed his boards and I found out that I got a promotion at work (which I interviewed for 3 days after surgery)

Here's looking forward to the next 11 months of 2013...if there are half as good as the first month, its going to be a GREAT year!

Love,
K