Partial Paleo Beef Stew

Hey y'all! Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is bingeing on candy like we are today! Eating candy is something I do almost everyday and today is no exception!

Along with all the yummy candy we have been devouring; a beef stew that we made on Monday has also managed to be a prime staple for us this week. I love soups and even though it was around 74 degrees on Monday afternoon I felt that a nice warm soup was perfect for dinner. I found a recipe for Pasta Fagioli online and altered it to fit Jess' diet.

The soup included:
1 32oz box of Vegetable Broth
1 8oz can of Tomato Sauce + 1 can of water after you add the tomato sauce
1 can Cannellini Beans
2 pds of ground meat
2 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 of an onion chopped
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp oregano
1 bay leaf
-I also chopped up a couple red, yellow and orange peppers to add to the ground beef while I cooked it. I put in the onions as well to sautee and get soft because Jess hates crunchy onions. While you cook the meat add everything into a big pot and start getting it hot. Once the meat is done add it and set it at a low boil for 20 mins. Just get it hot enough that it isnt luke warm. Soup is never good luke warm or scolding hot :)

This stew is easy and tasty!

Last night Jess had the honor of preparing dinner since I had a been working on my research project for school and wasn't at a stopping point. He is a beast at cooking pork chops so he grilled those along with some dove stuffed with a little jalepeno and wrapped in bacon. It was superb! He was so proud of it he even offered for me to take a picture of his plate!

Now that I have made y'all hungry I will now leave y'all with a sneak peek of our pictures we took! Enjoy!

That's all I can show y'all for now ;)

Love,

E

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hello There!

How was y'all's weekend?

Mine? It was pretty eventful! Friday we headed out to East Texas for Jess' family reunion. We stopped in Ennis on our way to check on the status of our spec house. It is coming along nicely and we couldn't be more proud of the progress on it. My parents have been so helpful in guiding and teaching us about this business. Growing up with my parents contracting gave me the impression that I knew a lot about the business but there is so much more that I had no clue about. It's been fun so far and I look forward to what we will learn from here on out.

Before heading on to East Texas we stopped at one of mine and Jess' favorite spots! Bill's Fried Chicken! Bill's is a restaurant in the town that we went to jr. college and its in between our home towns. Since it was lunch time we figured we would get our "fix" in before getting back on the road.

Jess ate there a whole lot more than I did while we went to school there but I think I love it more. I usually opt for the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and cabbage. They didn't have cabbage that day and the special was beef stew so I decided to change it up a little and go for the beef stew, green beans and mashed potatoes. SUPERB choice by me if I do say so myself. Jess had the chicken fried steak with creamed corn and mashed potatoes. He doesn't really like when I take pictures of him or things in public so I didn't get a picture of his food. Maybe next time :)

After our 5 star lunch we hit the road and finally made it to Kilgore. Fall had finally arrived on Friday so Kilgore was nice and chilly. The change in weather definitely put me in the holiday spirit!

Saturday morning we rose early! Jess went out and helped set up tables for the Blackmon Family Reunion and I stayed at his parents house had coffee and conversated with Jess' mom and aunt. Our niece came over after a while and I played with her a little bit before getting ready to head out to the family reunion.

The Blackmon Family Reunion had about 80 attendees. The weather was pretty chilly with a pretty strong wind from time to time so the activity outside was short lived. We had great catfish, french fries and hush puppies along with many pies, cakes and other desserts! After we ate Jess and I walked around and looked at the changing leaves on the trees. Here are a few pictures I snapped with my phone.

Jess caught me getting a picture of him so he insisted he take one of me. He's too funny, he acts like he doesn't like his picture taken. So. Not. True.

The reunion was over around 4 and then we headed back to Jess' parents house. We were all pooped! Something about reunions is just absolutely tiring. I mean tiring in the nicest way possible too ;)

Last night we went to dinner with Jess' sister, cousin and her husband. I sometimes don't understand why I don't have a six pack after being around them for a weekend. I laugh so hard I know my abs get a better workout than p90x has to offer. A good time was had by all that's for sure!

This morning we left around 6:30am so we could get back and meet up with our friend Joel and his wife. They just had twins and we haven't met them yet so we were dying to see those sweet babies! Joel and Stephanie were glowing and the girls are absolutely precious! I held one of them the entire time they were here. Listening to them talk about being parents was part surreal and part unreal. If that makes any sense? Being parents fit them perfectly and we couldn't be more happy for them!

Now we are home and I'm getting ready for the week. November is going to be a busy month and even though the holiday season is my FAVORITE-ST I need it to sloooooowwww dowwwnnn! There is so much I want to do and I feel like I have no time to do them.

I hope y'all all had a nice weekend and enjoyed the nice weather! I hope Monday morning comes slow and treats y'all well!

Love,
E

Dear....

Dear Cold Front,
I LOVE YOU. Please stay longer than a couple of days. I thoroughly enjoy wearing boots and cuddling up in some sweats when its cold outside.

Dear DIY Chevron,
Thank you for appearing to be easy even though you are not. We will give you another try this coming week before we hire someone to come in and paint you for us!

Dear Neighbors,
We are really loving y'all's company! Having partners in crime who are so much like us make living in Austin so much more fun!

Dear new lipstick,
You are awesome and I put you on even before workouts sometimes because I like you so much!

Dear Holiday season,
Please, please, please slow down. I know I can't wait for you to get here all year long but you are coming at such a rapid pace I feel like I am not even getting to enjoy you.

Dear readers,
Have a great weekend!

Love,
E

Go Big Blue!

Hey y'all!

I know that I just went "viral" yesterday but is it too early for me to ask my fellow readers for a favor?

Our cousin is a coach here in Austin at Reagan High School. If you don't really know much about Reagan the one thing I personally can tell you is that the Varsity Football team's record has been less than par for the past 10 years. Anyone that lives in Texas knows that those "Friday Night Lights" are important to everyone come Fall so a High School that doesn't have at least one good sports team doesn't really rally many fans let alone athletes.

I also know that Reagan is for lack of a better word a "less than desirable" school to attend and unfortunately the athletics there haven't been payed much attention to. This year that all changed! With a fresh new Football Coaching Staff including our cousin (Pat Bailey) things have changed and only for the better!

Reagan was chosen to be in a contest Sports Illustrated was doing called "Underdogs". The "Underdogs" contest is a chance for Reagan and 9 other schools to get their story out. Sports Illustrated traveled to each of these 10 schools and did a short video over them. The videos show the trials and adversity these schools had to overcome and what makes them each individually special. Starting tomorrow you can log on and vote for which school you think should win the "Underdogs" title. The voting will go through 11:59 pm on November 15, 2012 and you can vote once a day from an email address or IP address. If Reagan wins this contest they will get a 25,000 grant for the athletic program and a trip for 10 to the Sportsman of the Year Celebration that is held in New York in December. How absolutely amazing would it be for those kids to get to experience something like that? The grant would help out the department in so many ways and would show the kids that people do care about their school and their athletics.

I am going to attach the email Pat sent out today so that just in case my persuading skills above didn't convince you to vote you will for sure vote after reading his email and watching the short 10 minute video. When I watched it I was so touched by what Pat and the coaching staff at Reagan is doing.

Dear Friends,

This year at Reagan has been a huge blessing to me personally. I never thought that I could feel this rewarded and make this much of a difference . If you haven't been keeping up with us this year we won Reagan's first varsity football game in 17 games on homecoming. This past week we won our first district game. This is more wins than Reagan has had in the past 3 years combined. We still have a great chance to win two more and get into the playoffs. This is something that hasn't happened in 10 years. All of this has only been possible because of God's guiding hand and people (many of you) who have proven to these kids that they care about what is going on at Reagan. Sports Illustrated came out of the blue (no pun intended) with this chance to get our story out. Additionally, Nike for the first time ever, sponsored 3 high schools in the United States, one in Hawaii, one in Pennsylvania, and Reagan High School in Austin. If you haven't seen the video watch it and I'm sure the kids will win you over. God is doing great things at Reagan and this will be just another example. The willingness of these to work hard and respond coaching in very difficult situations is something I have never seen in my 5 years of coaching. If you feel inclined spread this around to anyone and everyone. Be an example and show our kids what is possible when a group of people come together with a common goal that is selfless. This vote of confidence could do more for these kids than any of you could imagine. The link is below.

Patrick Bailey

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/underdogs/episode-3.html

If any of you know Pat and Mandy personally you know he is a joker who is always giving Mandy a hard time. When Jess and I witnessed Pat in action on the field coaching we had never seen him in that light before. He is truly passionate about his students and really wants to make a difference for them. Please find it in your heart to head over and vote for not only him but for these kids. The video will bring you to tears (I know this personally) and will show you just how much your vote matters. Heck pass on the link to this blog and spread the word about Reagan to everyone you know! Every vote counts! Plus you don't even have to go to a booth and vote, you can do this from right where you are sitting!

Thanks for visiting my blog today! I hope y'all have a happy Wednesday!

Oh and GO BIG BLUE! :)

Love,
E

Re-LAUNCH!

Hey y'all!

Today is the day I am officially going viral! This blog has been pretty exclusive and the only way you could read it is if you were given the link for it, but today that has all changed! Along with a new look and layout other changes will continue to happen in the days to come so don't be alarmed. It's just me making the blog more attractive and fun to read. With that said pass this on to your friends, family and anyone else who you think would get a kick out of following this blog. Be sure to check out tab at the top "Blogs I follow" to see some of the fun ladies I follow. After all they are the reason I decided to go "Viral" and re-launch my blog.

I hope Tuesday treats y'all well!

Love,
E

Brooke visits ATX!

Happy Sunday Y'all!

I hope the weekend treated y'all well and much needed rest was gotten! Here in Austin we are still waiting on Fall to arrive. Seems as though she is late but the truth is she will be here....right around Christmas, I'm sure :)

This past weekend Jess' sister came to visit! We were super excited for her to come because a) she hasn't seen our new digs, b) she has never been on 6th Street and c) revert to letters a) and b)! What other reasons do you need to come to Austin??

She arrived on Friday night and we headed out to dinner where we caught up and had some tasty bar-b-que. We then returned home and her and Jess played "Call of Duty". I am not a "Call of Duty" fan, it gives me a little bit of anxiety with all the shooting and blood. Yes, I am a wuss and I like it that way. Give me Mario Bros. or a singing/dancing video game and I. WILL. DOMINATE. Especially with singing and dancing. (Ashlie knows what I'm talking about, she too was blessed like me with a voice of an angel) Anywho, they played that all night and it was pretty entertaining watching them get all torn up if they didn't advance or win the level they were playing. I enjoyed just watching them spend time together, it's not often we get to do that with our family.

Saturday we woke up and just hung around the house until lunch. We then headed out the SoCo better known as South Congress to the Food Truck Park. If you want to get the "real Austin" go sit at one of those picnic tables in that park. You will see all walks of life. Literally. Austin is a very eclectic city and culturally diverse I might add. Brooke had a good time people watching. I was glad she was entertained.

Brooke and Jess picked a Cajun food truck where they got fried shrimp and french fries. I chose the "Pitalicious" truck, the pita was filled with grilled chicken, french fries and p-licious sauce. I wanted to be adventurous, but that left much to be desired. I will just get a sub sandwich next time we go and then hit up the cupcake truck :)

Me with my pita

Taking a picture in front of this wall was on my bucketlist. Thank goodness Brooke was with us to take it!

Brother and Sister in front of a cool tree that you can't really see.

Saturday evening we went to dinner at Iron Cactus and then hit up some bars on 6th. Jess ran into a classmate of his that he hasn't seen since graduation in 2004! It was pretty crazy! Brooke and I had to convince Jess to say something to him. He was really happy/surprised to see Jess. I'm glad we ran into him.

Today we had lunch with Jess' cousins and that was a lot of fun. I wish we could do that once a week with our families. It's nice to catch up and laugh over some yummy food!

It's time for me to get off here and plan the week. I hope everyone has a happy Monday!

love,
E

disclaimer: my thoughts and opinions of the food truck are my own. I was not compensated for any of the comments made about the food truck experience ;)

Dear....

Hi everyone! Today's post is going to be geared on little letters to people I have tucked away in my head. Im sure y'all are thinking "huh?, what?, que?" haha! Once you read a little more you will understand!

Dear Mom,
I miss you. Thank you for putting together our family pictures even though me, emily, dad and Jess huffed and puffed about it. You were a good sport and never got on us (or even shook us :)) like you really should have about complaining. I hope one day soon you can take off your busy schedule and come see all we have done to the house. Decorating it for Halloween was hellacious without you.

Dear Dad,
Thank you for being so caring. You always offer good advice and your patience is so admirable. Don't forget to take a break every now and then. You know I worry about you.

Dear Sister,
Keep up the good job at work. I know you hate going some days but you are very helpful to customers and I know it secretly makes you really happy to help them. Try not to drive mom too crazy, leave me some room to do it too ;)

Dear Mother-in-law,
Thank you for the pep talk last week. Lord knows I needed it. Hopefully ya'll can come stay with us soon. We would love to have y'all.

Dear Texas Rangers,
You really messed up the Playoffs for me and my Granny. Now we have to watch some teams we really could care less about. Luckily for y'all we don't have to see y'all again until next season. By then we will be over it.

Dear HOA,
You are a pain in my ass.

Dear husband,
Thank you for being you. I love you very much and enjoy spending time with you. Im proud of your installment of the ceiling fan in the man cave. It almost killed you and me in the process but it was worth it to see how proud of yourself you were once you were done.

Dear readers,
Thank you for reading....

Love,
E

Sorry for the delay....

Yikes! I can't believe it has been 17 days since I have posted! I am a terrible blogger! Sorry about that! Truth is I have a million things I want to blog about daily and I just never do it! Between house projects, school and traveling I get too busy to think "oh, I should probably blog a little something today!" I like to really tell my story when I blog so sitting down just to throw down some words just isn't my style. Plus I haven't been the Peppiest Patty here of late so I didn't really want to drag anybody down.

We are good to go now so no worries!

It's Fall here in the Todd household despite the crazy warm/freezing temps! Here are more decorations from our house!

I made this Happy Fall banner, I think its so cute!

This one is of our master bedroom! I just love it!

Jess installed his first ceiling fan this week! It was a two day project with a couple of road blocks but he figured them all out! I was so proud of him! We are still rookies at this homeowner thing so we are still figuring things out :)

We have been spending a lot of time with our neighbors Rachel and Kyle! Kyle is a pitcher for the Houston Astros so we have a lot in common with them! Us four are the youngest in our subdivision so that is kind of fun. We are looking forward to their company during this offseason!

I hope y'alls week was a good one! I have to pack us for an overnight trip to my parents house!

Happy Friday!

-E