Recipe-less Turkey Tortilla Soup

It’s true, I love to cook, but I can’t say soup has ever been my forte. It’s never really been huge in my family either. I mean, my Memaw makes a mean chicken and dumplings and my mom will occasionally make something like tortilla soup (well, twice I think), but soup in general is not something that filled my childhood (except for Ramen). But it’s funny I say that considering this will be my second soup post since I’ve started writing.

Sunday night I did attempt to make soup – recipe-less. As much as I love trying new recipes, following a recipe step-by-step irritates me and sometimes makes dinner (or dessert) not quite as delicious. So I winged it.

I started with all the vegetables in my fridge that were nearing their death, some additional canned and fresh veggies, chicken stock, and a bag of frozen Cajun fried turkey from Thanksgiving that desperately needed to be used. Actually old food really freaks me out, but I made Jeff smell and taste the turkey and he said it was still delicious. So we used it.

Pinterest Yummy Recipes Challenge #2: Creamy Avocado Risotto

Last week I loaded up on 50 cent avocados from Sunflower Market and since they really needed to be used, I decided to tackle the Creamy Avocado Barley Risotto recipe from my Pinterest Yummy Recipes board. The recipe actually called for pearled barley, but since I didn't feel like going to the store, I winged a rendition with short grain brown rice.

To be honest, I wasn't too excited to make the recipe. 1 - For the fact that the blogger who wrote it added a disclaimer that it might not actually taste great since she made it when she was sick. 2 - For the fact that it didn't really sound amazing. BUT I promised myself I would attempt all my Pinterest recipes (I mean I did pin it for a reason in the first place), so attempt I did.

Luckily the recipe was pretty easy to make. Basically I blended together avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings and then mixed the mixture in with the cooked rice.

A Willingham Wedding Road Trip: Part 2 - Buck Wild at Buc-ee's

 Photo from: https://jeremymcnair.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/day-two-hundred-and-thirty-two/

Photo from: http://louminatti.blogspot.com/2009/07/road-trip.html

Like many of you, I've passed these billboards on IH 45 dozens of times. I've even passed the physical store many of times, and even though I find the advertising hundreds of miles away quite clever, I've never actually stopped in the store(s). If someone asked me if I knew what Buc-ee's was though, you better believe the answer would be "yes."

A Willingham Wedding Road Trip: Part 1 - The Actual Wedding

On Saturday Jeff and I teamed up with the wonderful Kelly Long and embarked on a mini road trip to Lake Jackson, Texas to see one of my best high school friends, Chase Willingham, get married. I had much anticipation for the trip for several reasons: because Chase is one of my favorites and I love his new wife, because I was excited for the mini reunion with great friends, and because it was such a relief to be a wedding attendee and not the bride. It sounds bad, but enjoying a wedding that you did not have to plan for months really is nice. I'm sure Robyn will agree moving forward.

Speaking of, Robyn Caldwell Willingham is one of the sweetest, most beautiful girls I have ever met. Not to mention that she looked stunning on her big day. Chase could not have met a more perfect match. Oh, and did I mention that I was there for some of the initial kindling of their relationship?

Color Makes the World Go Round

It's been a busy week at the Germenis household trying to squeeze in renovation work every night after  work. Since Monday we have successfully:

Patched holes and textured,

Removed the massive mirror that was glued to our wall without breaking it
(thanks to knowledge from the DIY Network and Google),

And painted baseboards.