A New Recipe

I ventured out to the dollar store in search for plastic cups for the bath time routine. Exciting, I know. But as I pulled up, the eldest said she thought she saw a bulk store. So we HAD to check it out. What a neat place. And I found new inspiration to post another recipe.

While we were going crazy over the stuff we were finding, a few ladies were giggling at our enthusiasm. Of course, we HAD to chat, and we found kindred spirits. :) Ideas were exchanged and "mom" encouraged me to post more recipes. I'm not sure why I don't. I love to cook. I'm passionate about finding the best things for our crew to eat, all within the allergy guidelines. And the budget. So...I thought I would share the taco mix that I use. It can be a little on the spicy side if you use a hotter chili powder. If heat is your thing, look for a habanero chili powder or a roasted chili powder. Frontier Brand has several options but if that is not available, Walmart or Meijer has generic chili powder as well.

Taco Seasoning Mix
2TB chili powder          1/2tsp onion powder          1/2tsp oregano          1TB cumin
2tsp pepper                    1/2tsp garlic powder          1/2tsp red pepper flakes
1tsp paprika                   2 1/2tsp salt

I must give a few other tweaks. I do not use the full amount of salt. We are not used to adding salt so please adjust that to your taste. Also, this is for one batch of meat, give or take. I tend to make this in multiples of 20-50. I am very careful to keep excess moisture out of the mix. Because there isn't preservatives in here, it will need to be spooned out. It will not shake well. Add as much or as little as you need to each batch of meat.

I'm not sure where this mix originated from. Plus, I tend to tweak things so much, it may or may not be the original anyway. :) I love this mix. I hope you do too. Thanks ladies from the bulk store!!! You gave me the nudge needed to post again. It was wonderful to meet you and chat a little. :) :) Have a wonderful night!

Anna Maria Island

As I sit here, ready to write, I'm having a dilemma. Do I account for the beauty or entertain with the mishaps? Do I go into great detail or just give hints and let you find the gems later? So...true to my introverted personality (hahaha) I will give some glimpses into both adventures that we had this last weekend. :) :)

Anna Maria Island is a "local hideaway." The more people that you talk too, the better idea you will get of where to start. There is a public access area but once we explored a little, we found a semi private beach that was absolutely fabulous! In order to enjoy this area we had lunch at the local restaurant on the beach. We had a table where we had our toes in the sand the whole time. The food was great and the views were amazing. The Gulf of Mexico was calling for us to swim.

The water was so warm and calm. We stayed fairly close to the shore. The thought was that if we didn't venture too far out, the animals wouldn't venture too far in...right? Wrong!! Plenty of fish...they didn't concern me. But... the oldest two were checking out the shells and rocks on the floor and as the oldest stepped on a really cool one, it moved! Luckily it didn't sting because we quickly found out it was a small stingray. It was cool to watch from a distance. Then, as the younger ones and I were bobbing in the waves, I had a sharp "poke" that turned into one very intense sting. Wow. A jellyfish thought that I needed to move. His method did get me to move. It was almost comical watching me try to get out of the water and address the sting and not alarm the girls. The locals had a good giggle as we tried asking how to address the injury. They recommended we urinate on the wound. (enter my sarcastic "right") Since I didn't go into the emergency room I can't say if it was good advice or if they were just messing with us.

On the other side of the island, you overlook Tampa Bay. You just can't beat the views. We spotted a pelican, several dolphins, little jellyfish, and tons of tiny fish. We have been told that the wild peacocks are amazing but we never saw them. A long pier allowed us to get closer to the water without getting wet. The closer we got to sunset, the busier the water was. Apparently the heat of the day is way to hot for good dolphin sightings.

The whole island had this feeling of comfort and relaxation. The houses were bright and had huge plants that had wonderful colors as well. I even saw an aloe plant that was as tall as a grown person. We walked through some of it but also drove some. Parking was a challenge but once that hurdle was crossed, you were good to go. If for some reason the island loses it power of seduction, a close town offers a museum that houses the oldest manatee known. Maybe that is worth checking out. For me. I'm hoping for a wild manatee sighting. :)