Happy Birthday, James!

Happy 32nd Birthday to my hubby! Looking forward to spending our day off together and enjoying a nice dinner tonight, just the two of us.

Taco Soup

You know I only do easy and this one takes the cake in that department. And it's so yummy and quite healthy. So needless to say people, this one is a MUST try. You won't regret it! I got this recipe from my friend Leslie. She made it for Bunko a year or two ago and I've been meaning to get her recipe since. It must be good if I was still thinking about it a year or two later, right?

• 1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (I went with turkey since I'm trying to be healthier and it was delish)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can dark red kidney beans (didn't drain - added in juices and all)
  
• 1 can black beans (I did drain and rinse these before adding into soup mixture)
  
• 1 can garbanzo beans (didn't drain - added in juices and all)
  
• 1 can white corn (I did drain before adding)
  
• 1 can Rotel (didn't drain)
  
• 1 pkg. dry taco seasoning mix
• 1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
• 8-16 oz. of water
  
• 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• cheese, chips and sour cream for serving

Brown ground beef or turkey and onion until cooked. Drain well. Add tomato sauce in large soup pot with corn, Rotel, dry seasonings, meat mixture, and beans (see above for what I drained and what I dumped in juice and all). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot with chips, grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Christmas Festivities 2010

What a wonderful Christmas we've had. We spent time with family, opened tons of gifts, stuffed ourselves with food until miserable (in a good way) and have now had a day or two to recover from it all! We feel extra blessed this holiday season!

Going back before Christmas to get caught up...we kicked off the holiday season by walking through Starry Nights at Shelby Farms in Memphis. You usually drive through to look at the lights from the comfort of your warm car, but this year, one night a week they opened it for walking, running, biking and strolling traffic only, so we took advantage and got some exercise. It was a bit chilly, but definitely worth it.

Case saying hey to Santa at the Shelby Farms Lodge.

Then we headed for the hills and Christmas with my family. Christmas Eve lunch with my Dad's family at my brother's house...

The cousins sitting down to eat before presents.

Gearing up to open some presents.

My nephew Will with my cousin Trey.

Every year someone opens undergarments...and this year, James got five new pairs of boxers!

I squeezed in my 24 week baby bump pic.

Christmas Eve night, after the candlelight service at my parent's church, we have Christmas with my Mom's family at my Mimi's house.

Case opening his gifts with his Nana.

Giving Mimi a big "Thank You" hug.

Trying to get a good pic of all the cousins in their PJ's. It was 10:30 by this point...well past bedtime.
On Christmas we just rested up from the busy day before and then my brother and his family came over for dinner at my Parent's and the last round of present opening.

Will and Tyler deep into a game of chess.

And then here are a couple of videos I took on my phone. I never remember to turn my phone sideways when taking video, so I apologize for the orientation...I'll try and do better next time. Anyway, it was after 10:00 at night and Case was wound up and in the mood for entertaining. Enjoy...

Why We Celebrate the Season

This video is too good not to share. Just a reminder of what Christmas is all about. Santa and gifts are fun and being with family and friends is priceless, but this is the real reason for the season and what an amazing way to display it. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

From our home to yours....

Some Recent Favorites

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately and I get a lot of my recipes from my friend Kendall's blog and I just must share some of my recent favorites...

Tomato-Basil Soup. This is of course, super easy and so delicious! And there's nothing better when it's 30 degrees outside than a warm bowl of soup!


Easy Creole Shrimp. It must be "easy" if "easy" is in the title, right? And this one takes no time at all! I usually serve mine with couscous instead of rice and it's delicious! We've had this one multiple times over the past few months.


Maple Chipotle Pork Chops. I've saved the best for last on this post. This is one of my all time favorites that I've tried. It will become a regular in the Nowlin house for sure. We only have a charcoal grill and it's too cold outside for that kind of grilling, so I just used my skillet to cook my pork and it was fantastic and super easy. And I've never been able to make grits that tasted good, and these were perfect! We had green beans instead of asparagus, but Kendall's pic with the asparagus is lovely!

Thank you Kendall for the great recipes and for inspiring me to get in the kitchen and cook!