Twizzler straws make it all better

Now this is the way to end a nice long weekend: Mandarin Vodka, Tonic and a Twizzler!

I hope everyone accomplished all they set out to do this weekend.  For us that included a little fall prep cleaning/organizing, a little weiner roast fun with new friends, and some exploring in Boone, NC.  Four day work week here I come!

Scrabble Slam, Brett Michaels, pink mojitos and Barbie

Rick and I spent last weekend in Pensacola, FL for a very good friend's wedding and to see my family of course.  We were very excited about staying at my parent's house for the first time as married, getting to sleep in the same room (woooooo!).  We also decided to blow some money on a night at the new Margaritaville hotel, www.margaritavillehotel.com, and enjoy some much needed beach time. This would be hubby's very first white sand gulf coast beach experience so I was REALLY excited to show him why this is the only beach in the world worth living on.  Unfortunately it rained the ENTIRE time we were there but we still made the most of it. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

We played Scrabble Slam in the Greensboro airport waiting for our flight late Thursday evening.  The whole place was full of his coworkers from BB&T flying back home after a large meeting.

Friday afternoon I went to my sister's house to see brand new kindergartener, Haley, get off the bus and play with nephew, Caleb. Here he is riding his "mowocycle, vrooom" and pretending to be a shark all at the same time with his sound effects "Rwwwaaaar"

All grown up, sniff sniff!

Playing race car with Caleb

Then we left for Margaritaville on Saturday despite the CONSTANT downpour.  We started at the hotel bar since no swimming would be happening.  We ordered a mojito first which was pink with berries in the bottom.  Feeling a little silly drinking his pink drink, Rick suggested we order margaritas next since that is the drink of choice here. We chose the "Lola loves Frank" version without realizing it was 4 different kinds of liquor, a splash of lime juice and ice---that's it! Wowweeee! We would need to take a nap after this concoction. We also had a nice surprise of seeing Brett Michaels in the hotel lobby, for real!  Rick thinks it was just some guy dressed up delivering a singing birthday gram (how cheesy can you get), but I like to think it was really him in my old home town. 

The real treat was having dinner with sisters Evangeline and Lauren with their hubby's Justin and Casey later that night.  I can't remember any time I've been out to eat as adults with just my sisters and husbands, felt so grown up and special to have them all as family.  To make me feel really all grown up and OLD, my sister brought me a belated 30th birthday present.  Despite the rain, I enjoyed EVERY minute of our trip-LOVE being married and back in my home town.  Can't wait for December to see everyone again. 

We both got this Barbie for Christmas when I was 5.

Turkey Stroganoff from the freezer

No, I'm not endorsing buying a Stouffer's frozen pasta meal as those are packed with amazing amounts of sodium. However, you can make this meal way ahead of time, or double the recipe and freeze it for later. In our case, I made this last week the same night I made the Chicken pasta so that I would have dinner ready the night we returned from Pensacola, FL (Monday).  Rick and I had a blast visiting family, but more on that later.

Having a dinner prepared for this week ahead of time was CRUCIAL as this would be our busiest week in Winston Salem yet.  I was flying back to Winston Salem on Monday afternoon and as a result would miss the first half of my very first day as a Loaned Executive for United Way.  I also had to teach Dance Trance right after work making for a very long first day back.  Rick was able to pull this out of the freezer, defrost, add sour cream and dinner was ready!

Sorry for picture quality, hubby took this.

Ground Turkey Stroganoff

• 1 pound ground turkey stroganoff
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic minced (if using garlic salt which then use less salt)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 6 oz jar/can mushrooms
• 1 can low sodium condensed cream of chicken
• 1 cup light/low fat sour cream
• 1 package of egg noodles (12-16 oz)

1. In large skillet cook ground turkey and onion in butter until meat is done. (drain)
2. Stir in flour, salt, garlic, pepper and mushroom and cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in soup and simmer uncovered 10 minutes.
5. Stir in sour cream and heat through, serve over noodles
6. If freezing for later, stop at step 4 and add the sour cream when you defrost to eat. 
7. Add a Steamer's veggie to finish the meal.

This is one of my feel good comfort food favorites, perfect for this week! We ate this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday--mmmmgood!