Day trip to Boulder

Since moving here, we have talked about taking a day trip to Boulder. Today, we finally did it. This morning after getting things done around the house and going to work out, we made the drive to Boulder, CO. As we started our road trip, we were prepared to drive for at least an hour or more. We were pleasantly surprised that it only took 40 minutes to get there from our place. Once there, we were both amazed by the beauty of the city. Boulder has such an amazing and gorgeous Mountain Backdrop. For now you'll just have to take my word on how pretty it is there since the measly two pictures I took didn't turn out and are not worthy of sharing. Anyway, we spent about six hours in Boulder today. While there we enjoyed walking around Pearl Street Mall, other streets lined with shops. Spent time exploring the random shops and nonchalantly watching the various street performers (they were everywhere along Pearl Street...comedians, singers, clowns, etc.). We grabbed lunch and watched the World Cup Game at this great, authentic Mexican Food restaurant (muy bueno). After further exploring by foot, decided to tour the rest of the city by car, so we could venture out further and give our feet a some rest. We drove around the University of Colorado campus (CU). What a stunning campus! The buildings, stadium and grounds of the campus are so amazing and totally different from so many other campuses either of us have ever visited.

Boulder is gorgeous, the mountains surrounding the city are quite the site to see, everywhere you turn there are green trees, grass and beautiful flowers and the weather couldn't have been better....a cool 70 degrees today. Was a great day and something out of the ordinary for us. Exhausting to do so much exploring, but had a lot of fun. Thankfully I enjoyed a much needed nap while Jeff drove us home.

Glad we finally made it to Boulder. And equally happy to realize it is such a close drive. Due to the semi-close proximity, looking forward to going to Boulder from time to time to enjoy some cool weather, gorgeous scenery and different restaurants.

Candy

Probably around October 2009, we were looking through a magazine at home and saw an advertisement for Coconut M&Ms. Yes I typed that correctly, "Coconut M&M's". Since then we set out on a search. Asked around, looked for them wherever we went. Not because we're huge M&M fans by any means (although I do love Peanut M&M's as a rare treat), but because they are rare, we both love coconut, and wanted to try them. Don't you? Even after checking everywhere in AZ, we never found Coconut M&M's. Even asked our friends. No luck with them as they hadn't heard of them either. I started to think that particular magazine ad was a false advertisement. Then it all changed while driving to Colorado for the move. We stopped for a bathroom break and to fill up the car with gas. While inside decide to buy some beef jerky as a little protein treat. Turn the corner on way to register to buy the beef jerky and what do I stumble upon? Coconut M&M's. Yay!!

The Coconut M&Ms...finally

Have you had Coconut M&M's? If so, what did you think of them? Jeff liked them but didn't love them. I thought they were mediocre at best and don't think I ever need to have them again. I maybe had 5 out of the whole bag and was not really impressed. Granted I am not a big chocolate fan. I am very picky about what chocolate I like and will eat. That's just not the type of sweet tooth I have unless I'm feeling chocolate. Anyway, the disappointment came from the "coconut". We both were somewhat disappointed, because there was no flakes or small pieces of coconut, yet fully mixed in, almost like it was a flavoring instead of actual coconut. And they were overly chocolate. They remind me of a plain M&M with slight coconut flavoring. Excited we finally found them and excited I am not missing out on anything. Funny thing is since we found them since moving here, we have seen them at a quite a few stores here as well as our local Costco.

Now like I said above, I'm not a big chocolate fan. However I am a huge sugar, fruity candy person. I love sweet treats such as...Starbursts, Skittles (my favorite), Sour Patch Kids, Gummy Bears, and then Licorice (I know not really a fruity candy). Well the other day we're standing in line at Target or somewhere and Jeff is just looking at the Candy while waiting to check out. He picks up a tube of regular Starbursts. I said something like, "I love Starbursts, wow, it's been a long time." He puts them back but then picks up something that looks like Starbursts again but is in a pink package. Are those Starbursts? What flavor are those? Only the best flavors ever...."FaveReds". I don't know about you, but the Reds/Pinks are my favorite anyway when it comes to Starbursts. Needless to say we bought the FaveReds Starbursts and they were sooooo good!!

Starburst: FaveReds.....yummmy in my tummy

Flavors included: Strawberry (my all time favorite Starburst flavor), Cherry, Fruit Punch & Watermelon. Wow, they were so good. I think it's a great idea to put all the reds together because they are ALL delicious and all my Faves!!

Blog Readers....here are some questions for you. Please feel free to get involved and leave a comment. What is you favorite kind of candy? Do you like chocolate? Have you tried the Coconut M&M's? If so, what did you think? Do you like Starbursts? If so, what is your favorite flavor?

Different Laws

There are things you don't really think about or rather take for granted. One of these things is the ease of shopping for everything at one location. Then you move somewhere new & the laws are different. In Colorado, you cannot simply go to the grocery store, buy everything for a nights meal and if need be pick up a bottle of wine if having company, rather you need to go to the Liquor Store. Granted they have a liquor store in every shopping center which is necessary here. Reason being, in Colorado they have laws about selling Alcohol different from Arizona. Not that this is a big deal but it is different so thought I would share. Here, you have to go to a retail store/liquor store to buy spirits, wine & beer. Their Costco locations are smaller because they can't sell alcohol like Arizona. Therefore people here probably have no idea about Kirkland Vodka (Costco's knock off on Grey Goose Vodka). Same with grocery stores. Grocery & convenience stores sell 3.2 percent beer only. So if you wanted 3.2% beer, you can get that at the grocery store. Yet, if you are planning a party, you'll need to go to your local liquor retail location.

I decided to look up laws by state, weird how much they can vary by state. Here is a little lesson thanks to this link of the alcohol laws by state:

List of Alcohol Laws of the United Stated by State

Hope you enjoyed the little lesson.

Favorite dishes from favorite cookbook

Back on 5/11/10, I posted about my Favorite Cookbook. Well from that cookbook I have discovered some of our favorite recipes.

One night I decided to pair of these two dishes:

Main Course: Chicken with Tarragon Mustard & Pretzels

Side Dish: Wild Rice with Dried Cranberries, Green Onions & Pecans

Picture of how dinner started off in kitchen

Chicken after had been pounded, both sides seasoned, tarragon mustard added to top and crushed pretzels to finish it off...now ready for the oven..

I didn't take any pictures of the Wild Rice cooking. It took 50 minutes alone to cook the rice...boring pictures.

Here is the finished meal on the plate and ready to be devoured (and it was). Sorry for the piece of chicken being cut in half...I have a thing with chicken and ALWAYS have to double check it is properly cooked all the way through.
Now a huge part of me wants to give you the recipes. However is that right? They are from my previous post in my favorite cookbook. I think you should just all go out & buy it instead of me possibly breaking some law by sharing the recipe from that book. Agreed? What do you all think? IDK!!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I am fairly picky on the seasonings I use when cooking. If I am going to use a prepackaged seasoning, I like to see what the ingredients include. Should it include any Partially Hydrogenated Oils...it's out. If there is too much sodium...it's not the one either. Back in Arizona I had a favorite, Low Sodium (extremely low compared to all others), Organic taco seasoning I would buy, try & keep a couple extra on hand & use when we made tacos or other Mexican dishes. Ever since we moved to Colorado, I have been on a quest to find the same seasoning. I have come up empty handed and I've been to almost a dozen grocery stores. Last week when I was planning our menu, I decided to make Ground Turkey Tacos for one night. We were at the store and the one thing I left off the list and forgot to buy was Taco Seasoning. Not a loss in my opinion since I haven't found one I like here. Of course it's not like I planned it this way, I truly forgot the seasoning. Forgot it all the way to that night when I started making the tacos, literally I was browning the meat when I realized missing the seasoning. Thankfully I went online and started searching for homemade taco seasoning recipes. I found one. Not only was it spicy (we love spicy foods) but I had all the ingredients necessary in my cabinet of spices. This was starting to become a win-win.

The recipe was a hit that night. I actually need to adjust next time to make it not so spicy. Jeff even thought of it to be possibly a bit too spicy...so I'll work on that next. I am going to share the recipe. My idea is to decrease the spiciness is to slightly decrease the Chili powder and Cumin, which may help.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (I sauteed and used real garlic instead)
1/4 tsp Onion Powder (substituted with fresh sauteed yellow onion)
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
**Now the original recipe called for 1/4 tsp salt, I omitted this as I very rarely use salt**

I doubled the above and we had 1.25 lbs of ground turkey breast.

Add all ingredients in a bowl & mix
Add taco seasoning to cooked meat
Add 1/2 c. water (add additional water as needed to help mix)
Mix all together and cook on low 5-10 minutes to let flavors set in

Serve & enjoy!!

Ugghhh, replacement pillow search

We have been on the hunt for new pillows since I can remember. At least the past 8 weeks. Of course, what have we been trying to find? Decorative pillows, throw pillows or pillows to sleep on. I wish it was one of the first two, those are easier but nope it's the latter. We're trying to find the same pillows we already have and sleep with. Our current pillows are the best ever (in our opinion). Extremely comfortable. Perfect amount of fluffiness and support. Perfect height. They let your head sink in at just the right and acceptable amount. Without sinking too much and the outer edges of the pillow coming up and surrounding your face to make you feel claustrophobic. They are also perfect no matter what position you choose to sleep; side, back or stomach. The most conducive pillows for a cozy, relaxing and peaceful sleep. Of course, if they are so great, why are we trying to replace them? Because they are over 5 years old and they are not as perfect and comfortable as they once were (tear, tear). I didn't think it would be such a Herculean sized task when I started us on this new search. I thought it would be as easy as going to The Great Indoors and buying the replacements. Oh boy was I wrong. They don't carry the same brands they did 5 years ago and the ones they carry now, do not even begin to compare to what we currently have. We have tried pretty much every variety at Great Indoors with no luck. Then even started searching EVERY other retailer known to carry pillows. I feel bad because we have been to so many home stores over the past 8 weeks, with no luck. We buy a couple pillows, take them home, use them for a couple days or more and then take them back and start using our old pillows again as we continue the search. I am about to give up. Now with all these times having no luck, I am starting to have no faith in any pillows being the right ones. To be quite honest, I am sick of the back & forth that usually goes along with us finding new pillows we think might be "the ones", only to be bamboozled that they are going to be returned. Uggh! It's not efficient and it is so very frustrating. I even searched the Internet high & low. Seems as though I'm not the only one trying to find this exact model number pillow we currently use. Others are on the same quest out there (thanks to their posts on pillow websites). Maybe it's wrong, but it makes me feel a little better we're not the only ones. Last place I decided to check, the manufacturers site. Of course they have new updated pillows. What? Why fix something that's not broke? Can they please make the same pillow they did years ago? Is that to much to ask? Unfortunately, I think so. I'm sure their new ones are new & improved but how do I know which one is the right one to order? I don't. Then the hesitation to go through this again sets in. Especially since now it would be ordering online, dealing with shipping and in the instance they don't work, shipping them back. Not the biggest fan of that idea. For now we'll keep using our old pillows until we can find one's we're perfectly satisfied with and make them the final replacements. Hopefully we'll find the new perfect replacement pillows one day (preferably sooner than later). Maybe I'll even call a couple hotels we have stayed at in the past and remember their pillows being oh so amazing. Hopefully they sell the pillows they use in their rooms. That was Jeff's idea. He's the smart & creative one. I'll keep you posted (even though you probably don't care) on what happens in the end with this painful pillow search. xoxo

My top 2 reasons I like working remotely from home....

I was fortunate to keep my job and get to work remotely from home when we moved to Colorado. The number one reason I love working from home is I no longer have to spend time driving from Scottsdale to Tempe five days a week. And then back home at the end of the day. I hated dealing with traffic and sitting in my car during the commute. Maybe it is because I was spoiled for the 6 1/2 years before when I litterarly lived 8 minutes from work and could drive home on my lunch break, eat healthy & have pretty much no commute even on the worst day. Anyway, that is my number one reason I love working remotely.

My second reason I love working from home is this:

and this.....

I now can eat whatever I want for lunch and it doesn't require me to make the night before or the morning of, package up, reheat, etcetera while at work. Nope, I simply get up from the computer, look in the kitchen and figure out what fresh & tasty treat I'll eat for lunch today. I also like it because I get to decide what I eat, when I eat and I am not eating my meals at restaurants and places like I was back in AZ. Let's be honest, if you don't plan ahead and bring lunch with you, your only other option is to go out & get something. Now of course not all days are like the two pictures above but 95% of them are and I LOVE it!!