Wonton Tacos

2 recipes in one week!! This must mean I have LOTS of spare time on my hands haha.  


Last night I made this recipe from Hungry Girl.  It's one of her "re-makes" from an Applebees appetizer.  These weren't too bad, the only thing I would suggest is leaving the coleslaw mixture cold and not heating it up.  I'm just not a big fan of warm chewy lettuce haha.  


Nutritional Info:
Servings: 2   Serving Size: 4 tacos   WW Points: 5 points plus  
Calories: 191  Fat 2 g  Fiber: 1g  Carbs  25 g  Protein: 17 g

What you need:

• 8 small square wonton wrappers
• 4 oz. cooked skinless lean chicken breast, shredded
• 2 Tbsp. BBQ sauce w/about 45 calories per 2 Tbsp serving
• 3/4 cup dry coleslaw mix
• 2 Tbsp. Newman's Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing (or similar)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  To make wonton shells, spray the inside and outside walls of a deep square or rectangular baking pan with nonstick spray.  Evenly drape wonton wrappers oer the pan's walls on a diagonal, making triangle-shaped "shells".  (Use two pans, if needed, to keep wontons from overlapping).

3.  Bake for 3-4 minutes, until just crispy enough to hold their shape.  Remove pan from oven and set aside to cool..

4.  Combine chicken with BBQ sauce in a bowl and mix well.  Set aside

5.  In a microwave-safe bowl, combine coleslaw mix, dressing, and cilantro.  Mix well.  Microwave for 45 seconds, until slightly softened.  Set aside (This is where my personal preference would be to not microwave it)

Chicken and coleslaw mixtures

6.  Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.  One at a time, carefully remove wonton shells from the pan and fill each with a heaping tablespoon of BBQ chicken and about a teaspoon of cilantro slaw.  Lay filled wontons gently on their sides on the baking sheet. 

Before baking

7.  Spray the upward-facing sides of the wonton shells lightly with nonstick spray (for added crispiness) and bake for about 7-10 minutes, until warm and crunchy.  Let cools slightly and serve.  

After baking

Again these were pretty good, if you like Chinese style tacos ha.  Give them a try!!

Hardships

 "Busy-ness can mask heartache. But it does not make it go away." I have definitely learned this in the last week.  I do really good until I crawl into bed at night, the busy-ness ends, and all I have to do is lay there and my mind churns.  

Just so every knows, I am not writing this saying my life is so much harder than other peoples.  I am just simply here, telling my life, and putting into words this hard time in my life at the present time.  

Most of these are true for me.

This week has been the hardest on me by far.  I haven't talked to Ricky since Sunday and I  have no way of contacting him. So I sit and wait, (well I try to stay busy) but I have totally taken up the philosophy of "your phone is attached to you".  I take it everywhere, and I mean everywhere!  Especially after I didn't take it on my run Monday morning and missed a call :(  So yes, I take it on my runs, I lay it on the toilet next to the shower, I even take it to the bathroom with me (sorry TMI).  But I WILL NOT miss a call if I can help it.  I feel so helpless, not being able to call.  And those of you that know me well enough know I want to be in control. So this is so new and difficult for me.  Everytime it goes off my heart skips a beat, and if I see it's him, my stomach gets butterflies all over again.  It's true when they say absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I have realized this is God's way of helping me with my patience, God won't just give you patience, but He will put you in a situation where patience is needed.  So here's my situation ha.  

Having a significant other be deployed is the oddest feeling in the world.  It's honestly really hard to explain. So I'm not even going to try.  But having half of your heart on the other side of the world for nine month, in a war zone, is extremely difficult and lonely.  

Sorry for the depressing post, I just had to put how I feel in words so I can look back and realize I finally made it to the end, through this hard time.  I hope this post doesn't come off as selfish, because that is not my intention.  I promise for more uplifting posts.  Hopefully things get better and more routine once he gets to his final destination.  


Love you all!

Pan-Fried Tilapia with Creamy Lemon Sauce

It's been so long since I tried a new recipe!  So tonight I wanted something fairly simple but of course tasty!  So I tried this fish recipe I got off of Kraft Foods.

Nutritional Info:
Servings: 2   Serving Size: 1 filet   WW Points: 4 points plus  
Calories: 170  Fat 4 g  Fiber: 0g  Carbs  6 g  Protein: 27 g


What you need:

• 2 tilapia fillets (1/2 lb)
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing
• 1/4 c. fat free reduced-sodium chicken broth 
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 oz. PHILADELPHIA Fat Free Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1.  Coat fish with flour.

2.  Heat dressing in medium skillet on medium heat. 

3.  Add fish; cook 4-5 min on each side or until fish flakes easily with fork.  Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.

4.  Add broth and lemon juice to skillet; cook for 3 min or until reduced by half, stirring frequently with whisk.

5.  Add cream cheese, cook 1 min. or until melted, stirring constantly.  

6.  Pour over fish, sprinkle with parsley.

Final product

This was a delicious dinner!  The sauce totally made the dinner.  How could you go wrong with cream cheese in any part of the meal.  haha.  I paired my fish with baby red potatoes and a salad.  

Weekend with old and new friends

I had such a wonderful weekend!  It all started off Friday night when Meredith and I traveled to Edmond to see some of our great friends from Kingfisher.  There is a small group of us that typically try to get together every few months just to catch up and have a movie night.  But we have all discovered that the older we get the harder it is to find time to all get together.  So this was our first movie night in about 2 years!  Totally not acceptable! But we had such an amazing time!

Kaylie with her homemade strawberry cupcake! Delicious!

Their cute dog Bernard

Cupcakes!

We also met up with Jon and Allison for lunch Saturday.  I haven't seen Jon since his wedding 3 years ago!  It was so good to catch up with everyone.  Jon and his wife are going to Turkey this fall for a 3 year mission trip.  So please keep them in your prayers.  So I came back to Tulsa and met up with the other Army spouses at Discoveryland!  Such a good show!

Oklahoma!!

Awesome ladies!

My future mother-in-law

Sunday I topped off the weekend with some time in the sun and a night of Praise at our church.  Such a fun weekend.

For a Ricky update, he has been in a certain country for about 4 days now, just waiting for the sandstorms to go away so they can go to their final destination.  It has definitely been a struggle.  Since he left the country he has called about every other day and we talk for about 15 minutes.  But this morning I missed his call :( The one morning I get up before work to go for a run and he calls and I didn't have my phone.  I now know to keep my phone attached to me at all times!  The worst part about missing a call like that is that I can't just call him back.  But I'm ready for him to get to his final place and get a routine down so maybe we can get a schedule together (the organizer in me).  Thank you again for all your prayers and support!

He sent me this pic while they were in Maine for a layover :) 

Biloxi, Mississippi

I can now say I have been to Biloxi, Mississippi.  First of all, let me just say how amazing this small town had to have been 6 years ago, before Hurricane Katrina hit.  Even though time has passed, you can still see plenty of devastation in the area.  Many of the major casino's down there have been re-opened, but several had to be demolished.  Regardless, it was an amazing 4 days.

For those that don't know, Ricky got a "4-day pass" before they officially leave the country for deployment.  So I flew down on Friday night and picked him up in Hattiesburg.  It was just like a scene out of the movies, running toward each other :)  We loaded up his stuff and drove down to the coast.  Once we got to the hotel we crashed because we were both just so exhausted 

Saturday morning we got up and decided to do some exploring.  So we drove down the beach and ended up inside one of the big, newly remolded casinos.  They were having a champagne brunch at the buffet that day so we decided to go for it.  After brunch we headed down to the mall to get started on our registry.  We decided to register at Dillards and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  So we headed to Dillards first and picked out our dishes and some appliances.  That alone took quite awhile and we were both worn out after so we decided to wait on the other store until the next day.  We ended the day with some seafood.  How could we not? We were right on the coast.

He's ready to Register!

Sunday, I really wanted to go to the outlet mall (mainly just the Coach store).  So we headed there first and just went there so I could purchase me a new summer bag :)  Then we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and let me tell you, that was the longest 3 hours of my life haha.  We got a TON accomplished, it just took us awhile.  By the end we were down to bathroom stuff and I just simply didn't care haha.  Once we finished up, we went to our new hotel.  Ricky wanted to stay in one of the casinos for a couple nights so we rented a really nice room at the IP Casino.  After chilling out in the room for a bit, we headed down to the casino and then dinner at one of the sports bars.

Ricky toward the end at BBB

Monday we went back over to the Beau Rivage casino because they were having Military Appreciation day and Ricky got his lunch for free.  After lunch we drove around Ocean Spring, which is a small quaint town just over the bridge.  We pretty much just lounged around the rest of the day.  I didn't get much sleep that night due to my anxiety that the next day would be our last together.

Last picture in person :(

Tuesday morning we got up early and had to pack up.  We scheduled massages at 11, which were heavenly. Then we ate some lunch and headed back up to Hattiesburg, where I was dropping him off.  We said our goodbye's and then I had to drive back up to Jackson to catch my plane.  That was the longest hour and a half drive I've ever had to make in my life.

So now I'm home, I'm struggling, but just trying to take days one at a time.  I can't allow myself to think about the overall picture because I get so completely overwhelmed and then I get anxious.  (I have some bad anxiety issues that I have to watch)  So for now he's still in the states, not really sure when he's heading overseas.  That will be a whole ordeal in itself.

So what can you do to help if you would like?  Just pray for me please, and be there for me.  The next few months will be grueling.  Thank you to everyone that has been there for us and given us lots of encouragement. I love you all!

The Time has finally arrived!

First of all, I'm throwing a mini-blog party for having 50 posts!  It was really the last post, but I missed it so I thought I would celebrate in this one.  When I started this blog, it was originally to put my weight loss journey in writing with the intentions that no one would read it.  But then I was like, "What's the fun in having a blog and having no one read it".  So I changed it up a bit.  Just decided to share things going on in my life.  That was 50 posts ago and I believe about 10 months ago.

Anyways, on to what this post is about........I am about headed out to see Ricky today!!!  My flight is this afternoon and I'll get into Jackson, Mississippi about 7:00 (prayers all flights are on time).  From there I am renting a car and driving two hours to his military base to pick him up.  Then we are headed down to Biloxi/Ocean Spring for the next 4 days!  We don't have many concrete plans during our stay there.  The two things on the agenda are to register for the wedding and to get massages (per Ricky's request).  After his three weeks of sleeping on a cot he said we were for sure getting massages on his pass.

Almost packed!

So please pray for a safe and timely flight.  (I really might have a breakdown in the airport if my flight is delayed or cancelled for any reason).  Also pray that our time moves s-l-o-w-l-y......

1st Overseas Care package

No, Ricky isn't over seas yet.  But he will be in about two weeks and that's about how long it will take a package to get to him.  So I made his first care package (for overseas, 2nd overall) and wanted to show you all what I created tonight.  :) Since there isn't really a holiday for when he'll get the package (except for Father's Day, which he is NOT a father ha) I decided to just go with a cute army theme.  Like a girly army welcome package haha.

So after work today I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplied.  Man I really love that store.  It's so hard for me to just buy a few things.  Maybe we should register there haha.

All the supplies I needed

Before

So after doing some decorating, and me being all crafty, I filled up my box with all kinds of yummy food.  Most of this food is the second half of food I bought from the last care package that wouldn't fit.  So I'm really hoping he will have a microwave to cook his ramen or mac n' cheese in.

My little decorations

Decorated!

The things I included are:

• Pringles
• Noodles in a cup
• Easy Mac
• Peanut Butter Crackers
• Bumblebee Tuna
• Ritz Crackers
• Fiber One Bars
• Kool-Aid Singles
• Cheeze-Its

Packed and ready to go!

I think that ought to tie him over for a little while :) Hopefully he'll feel a little more at ease once he gets this package.  

Now it feels like summer

I can officially say it now feels like summer after the awesome weekend I had.  I did all kinds of summer-y things!  Friday night a group of us went out to the Drillers game.  I hadn't been to one yet this season.  Now, I'm not a HUGE baseball fan.  Don't get me wrong I enjoy it, but I don't know if it's so much for the actual game or the environment.  I LOVE the baseball environment ha.

"You can't go to a game and not get a hot dog and Cracker Jacks" -  Megan Stewart

Dippin Dots!!!! So good!

Saturday we spent the afternoon laying out by the pool, which is always glorious.  Except we felt bad because  these church youth kids were doing some yard work at the pool we were at and it was really hot outside and I'm sure all they really wanted to do was jump into the pool.  And there we were just lounging around.  We rounded out the night with dinner at Cheddars (always good), a humorous movie, and a snowcone of course!

 

Sunday I spend the afternoon going over some wedding items with my future mother-in-law.  Ellie Kate kept us company while enjoying some cheetos :) And sporting her red, white, and blue.  

4 more days till I leave to go see Ricky!  I'll have a huge post about it after and all the new and exciting things coming up in my life :)

Memorial Day 2011

This past weekend I decided to make a trip to the big 'ole town of Hobart, Oklahoma.  For those of you that don't already know, my parents moved to this tiny town about 2 years ago when my dad got a new job.  It's a quaint little town.  All the people are really friendly, and everybody knows everybody.  Much more so than in Kingfisher (where I grew up).

Well Memorial Day is a huge deal in Hobart.  They have a big celebration called "Celebration of Freedom".  For an extended list of activities you can click RIGHT HERE.  But a few highlights are the craft vendors, food booths, parade, fundraisers, concert, and dances.  Since my parents are those super active people, they were helping with several aspects of the weekend and since I was in town, guess who got to help....this girl right here. But it was fun, I helped my mom sell t-shirts two different times, relaxed while my dad sold dippin-dots, bought some new jewelry at the craft fair, and got a little sun.

Overall, it was a nice and relaxing weekend.  Sometimes you just need to get away.  Here are some amazing pictures from the weekend.

Back to the future car!

What's a parade without a mini horse attached to a buggy!

Got a little emotional seeing this.  Love a man in uniform :)

Aaron Tippin concert

Also, If you are reading this blog post on June 2, you will notice at the top of my page it says 1 YEAR UNTIL THE WEDDING!  Yep, we have hit the one year mark, I suppose that means I'm on the downhill slope.  Can't wait!!

Also 8 days till I get to go see Ricky!