The best meal I've made yet!

So last night I made the most delicious dish I think I've ever tasted at my own table!  I wouldn't say I'm good at cooking, or even really enjoy it all that much.  I can follow a recipe, but the super delicious ones are usually too complicated for me to care to give a lick of time to!  This one, however, I found on Pinterest (I'm telling you, best invention ever!)!  I made Cajun Chicken Pasta!!

I think the key ingredients here are the cajun seasoning, and the sundried tomatoes, which by the way aren't cheap, but well worth the money!  The minute this hit my mouth my eyes lit up, and I couldn't stop making MMMM noises! I definitely had seconds.  Yes please...and I took some to school for lunch today!  It's very good reheated, by the way. 

So, here's the website for the recipe:

http://blogchef.net/cajun-chicken-pasta-recipe/

Just thought I'd share! 

Why Texas? All about my new blog title

Ok, so if you're here, you may have noticed the overhaul of my blog.  I HOPE this will be the last time!  I've probably changed my template 10 times!  My biggest struggle with blogging has been picking a catchy name.  Every blog I follow seems to have a catchy name, and try as I might, I could never come up with one that fit my life, and what I was writing about!  Here are a few of my favorite catchy blog names:

• A Tale of Two Cities - Genius.  Of course.  She lives in two cities.
• In Flight with a New Life - My Sis-in-Law - New hubby is an Air Force Pilot.
• The Cellar Door Stories - Something J.R.R. Tolkien said to remind us about the simple things.
• Tea with Mrs. Kee - Clever.  It Rhymes, and Tea is something that is comforting that you would contemplate life over.
• JJ's Journeys - Alliteration, and it's all about her travels.  Love.

So, these made me contemplate my title.  "Heather Michelle Ramirez"??  Really?  Original.  For days and days, I would try to come up with a name that describes my life.  I got Eric thinking for me.  Here were some of the wack-job names I came up with:

• Heather's Haven - Hey, it's alliteration!  Eric did not like.
• You, Me, and the Dog - I loved it - but what happens when we have a kid??
• The Ramblings of a Ramirez - Again, alliteration, no good though.

There were many others.  Then Eric suggested "Texas Forever".  Hmmm.  I liked it.  This is from one of our favorite shows, Friday Night Lights - all about football in Texas.  I loved it, but decided to tweak it to the above: A Taste of the Texas Life.  So now that I have my new name, here are some reasons it fits me, and why I love Texas so much:

• Texas Football - grew up with it.
• Texas has the BEST rodeos.  I went to a few in Arkansas...nothin like Mesquite or Houston.
• In Texas, people are just more courteous and polite.  They know (most all do, and those who don't aren't from here) what the left hand lane is for, and move over for you.  In the grocery store, they let you pass.
• UM, Texas Bar-B-Q.
• TEX-MEX.
• We have the most pride in our state.  I mean, what other state says the pledge to their state flag right after the American pledge in school?? "Honor the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, ONE, and Indivisible.
• Bluebonnets!  Where else do people stop on the side of the highway to take family pictures??
• The Alamo - Just our story.  I love to be able to teach Texas history, and take my Fourth graders to Austin for our field trip - and all day field trip by the way.
• Blue Bell Ice Cream
• Trucks!  I love coming into Texas and seeing a huge increase in the amount of trucks on the road. I love trucks.  They're sexy. :)
• Texas Country - Think about it, do you hear about "Louisiana Country" or "Pennsylvania Country"??  Not unless you're talking about the countryside.  
• Our state flag.  simple, strong.
• There is always a breeze.

Just to name a few.  I seriously cannot imagine living anywhere else.  I love the Texas life...everything about it.  I love that I can get dressed up in boots, and it's not a costume.  I love that I can eat my favorite foods here, and I LOVE that I can tell you where I'm from WITH PRIDE!!

What do YOU love about Texas??

First attempt: Pillow sham

I've been wanting a cute decorative pillow for the bed in my guest bedroom.  Hobby Lobby had some super cute Burlap Paris Themed pillows, but I didn't want to pay $30 for one.  I love the look of burlap, and it's so cheap.  

I still had some of the black and white ticking fabric left over from my headboard, so I decided to use that to keep with the theme, and add a little square of burlap on the front.  I wanted the burlap to have some sort of Paris design on it, but still simple.  So, I googled Paris Text, and found the word "Paris" written in a cute font.  I enlarged it to where I wanted it, and printed it out.  Burlap is pretty transparent, so I just laid it over the paper, and traced with a sharpie.

Here's how it turned out.  I pinned it to the fabric, and then stitched it on.

To make the sham, I took two pieces for the back side, and folded and pressed an edge on each.  

I stitched those edges.

Next, I overlapped the edges so that the front piece would be in the center.  To do this, I measured how long the piece should be.  This pillow was 18 x 18, so I needed the length here to be 19".  I made sure the front seam was at about 9".  I didn't take a picture of the next step, but I just stitched the top and bottom to make sure the pieces stayed together.

Afterwards I sewed it together like any other pillow. 

Here is the finished product:

FRONT:

BACK:

Here's how it looks with my headboard:

My first attempt at sewing pillows with zippers!

Recently, I created an addition to my living room decor.  I made a few decorative pillows for the couches.  I've made several pillows before for my classroom, but I just stitched the hole closed.  I wanted these to be nicer, so I bought invisible zippers at Hobby Lobby.  After watching a quick tutorial online, I was ready to go.  Here's how I made my pillow covers with zippers.

First, Check the measurements of the pillow insert.  Mine was 14 x 28.  You'll want to buy zippers as close to your measurement as possible.  

Measure 1 inch past the pillow insert measurements.  I measured 15 x 29.

Pin the zipper to the "good side" of your fabric.

Next, you'll need to put your zipper foot on.  It's the one that has a skinnier foot.

Get the needle as close to the zipper as possible without actually sewing on top of the zipper.  I made that mistake, and pulling out stitches is not fun.

When going over the hardware, I kinda pulled it back to get the stitches as close as I could.

Next, pin the other side (good side) to the fabric, and repeat the above steps.  You should get this result.

Unzip the zipper, and then finish stitching up the other three sides.  It's important to unzip it first, because you will have no way to get inside it if you don't.  Insert your pillow insert, and you're done!  Here's my finished result:

They become so much more meaningful when you know you made them!

Pinterest Recipes #2,3,4 and 5!

OK, this will be quick, but I just wanted to document that I did make a few more of the recipes I found through Pinterest - I'm telling you, ya gotta join!!

The first was Smores Crescent Rolls.  I don't know that I'd call this a recipe.  It's just adding chocolate chips and marshmallows to a crescent roll before baking, but they were sooo good!!  I loved them, and I will make them again!

 The next is Mexican Pizza.  You can find the recipe here.  I really don't like Taco Bell very much, but I do LOVE their Mexican Pizza!  Their's seems to be made out of Tostadas maybe?  This recipe calls for tortillas.  I use white flour tortillas instead of the Wheat.  Tastes better.  The only thing about using tortillas though is that you can only really fit two on a cookie sheet.  I had to use two cookie sheets.  I'm not sure that I could make this for more than two.  Hmmm...We'll hafta find a way.  I also added Taco meat to the middle so we could have a little more substance.  Anyways, it came out just crispy enough!  It was FULL of flavor, and I ate every last bite!  I didn't take any pictures...I was too eager to eat it, I forgot.  But here's how it should look:

I planned to follow this recipe for guacamole to go with our Mexican pizza, but Eric came in and worked his magic without the recipe...so, I'm not sure that we made THIS guacamole, but we did use all of these ingredients - just not sure how much of each.  It was REALLY good though.

The other recipe I made was quite possibly my favorite so far. I made these Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies.  They were SOOOOOO good!  I was a little worried I would hate making it, because the recipe is from scratch - meaning you don't buy brownie mix, you make it yourself.  However, it was actually pretty easy, and they came out looking pretty much just like the picture:

Don't they look delicious??  Well, they are, and so chewy and moist!  If you are a chocolate lover, these are a MUST TRY!  I will definitely make them again!  

So, I've been busy.  This cooking from Pinterest puts the fun back in cooking!

I've been eyeing these Toasted Raviolis for a while.  That might hafta be next.  And the pie for dessert.

Pinterest Recipe #1

I tried out my first recipe from my Pinterest Favorite Recipes board today!  I had to make this my first recipe to try since it was my first pin to my recipe board.  I got up this morning and made these cute little Bacon and Egg cups!

Don't they look delicious?!  It's a combination of everything you want in a bacon and egg combo put together.  The toasted bread is there at the bottom, the bacon, the sunny side up eggs - the best way to eat them - and the cheese!  YUMM!  The best part is that it was super easy to make!  You can get to the recipe by clicking on the picture on my pinterest board, but I did it a little bit different.  The recipe says to put them in a muffin tin, but I thought that was a little small, and I used my soufflé dishes instead.

First, You use a cup or round cookie cutter to cut bread into round pieces.

Grease the soufflé dishes, and put the bread rounds in.

  Put it in the oven to toast at 350.  Meanwhile, cook the bacon halfway - about 2 minutes - you don't want it crispy.  Take the bread out of the oven, and layer two pieces of bacon around the bread and on top.  The recipe isn't very clear how to do this.  I cut small pieces to put on top of the bread, and wrapped 1 1/2 pieces around it.  It's a little tough when the bacon is curly, and you have to be careful putting it around so that you don't burn yourself.   It should look somewhat like this:

Crack the egg on top, and put it back in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the egg is cooked.  Add Salt and Pepper, Sprinkle cheese on top and put back in the oven for about 1 minute.  It will look somewhat like this before adding cheese:

They are really easy to pull out of the dishes when they are done.  I just used two forks to pull it out.  And it looked like this:

Top View:

They were soooo good!  Eric approved, but wanted to add his Cholula:

He says it adds some good spice to it.  He always adds this to his eggs.  Weird.  I don't like it, but if you like spice, you may like it.

So there you go, my first recipe I found on Pinterest was a success.  Hmm, which to try next??

Pinterest

Ok, it's time to let you in on what I've been up to all week.  And I mean literally all week.  I only took a break to sew some pillows - post coming soon.  Through all of my avid reading of the wonderful blogs I follow, I discovered Pinterest.  Oh, where have you been all my life?!  Pinterest is a place where you can organize things that you like, want, things that define you, and share with others.  It's kinda like a big design board, which is perfect for me, because all summer if I saw something I liked or wanted to make on a blog, I would do the good 'ole copy and paste into a word document, or worse, load up my bookmarks with the links.  Pinterest is a way to keep all of those things in one place, AND a way to find more!
When you get onto Pinterest (which you should so do), it will ask about your interests, and then automatically make you follow a select few with the same, plus your facebook friends who are on it.  Then you can see everything they pin, and repin it if you want!
I do have to warn you, it is ADDICTING!  I can't stop!! Maybe I need to set a Pinterest Timer!
I have also discovered through pinterest, Polyvore.  This is a for real place for style design boards that you can save and publish - fashion design boards.
So now, I will share with you a favorite from each of my Pinterest boards - you can make as many boards as you like.  I have 12...so far. :)

1. Books Worth Reading - This is where I put books I want to read.  One I've heard so much good about is Crazy Love.

2. My Style - This is quite possibly my favorite at the moment, but I just wish i could have all the outfits I put on here!  This is where I post the outfits I put together on Polyvore.  Here is a favorite:

3. For the Home - This board is where I keep all of those creative ideas I find on blogs, things I want to make, and brilliant ideas.  I especially like this brilliant idea: Prepaid date nights.  So much needed!

4. Wall Art - I have gotten so much into typography, and once I get photoshop, I'm gonna make my own.  I love the idea of having encouraging words and thoughts hanging all over the house.  What a great way to encourage kids AND promote literacy.  Here is one I love:  Family Rules:

5. Favorite Recipes - Now this is definitely a favorite, but for some reason most of my pins on here are sweets.  hmmm...  Well I hafta share two:  Bacon and Egg cups - Brilliant. Red Velvet Cheesecake brownies - YUMM!

6.  Craft Ideas/DIY - Another Favorite.  My favorite on this board is the Scrabble Coasters!  So cool!

7. Wish List:  I only have two things on here, one of which is a silhouette!  I could make such creative things!

8. Baby Girl Room - Ok don't get any ideas...a girl's just gotta plan ahead.  This little item gave me the idea for a girl's room - I want a tree on the wall and this little bird mobile:

9. Baby Boy Room - Again, no ideas.  I want to incorporate Brinkley's silhouette in this room.  Our little boy is going to LOVE his Brinkley!  I don't like this room, but the silhouette on the wall gave me the idea.

10. For the Classroom:  I follow a number of Teacher Blogs through my other blog - laughing my way through teaching, and I pin ideas from there like this one.  I hate my ugly file cabinet.  What a great way to dress it up!

11.  Classic Style - This is where I pin favorites from my favorite classics, like CARY GRANT (ahhhhh!).  Now who wouldn't melt for this:

12.  Things that get my emotions:  And last, I will leave you with a dose of cuteness.  This is so Brinkley!  Go ahead - Out loud - "AWWWWW!"

Thanks for looking through my Pinterest interests (hehe).  Now it's your turn!  Follow me on Pinterest!  Just click the button to the left!  

A favorite Classic

When I got up this morning, and got my coffee, I turned on the TV, but really didn't want to watch the typical morning show this time.  I felt like a comfort show/movie, and when I feel the need for comfort in the morning, that usually means an old classic like "I Love Lucy".
So I opened our entertainment center, planning on pulling out my I Love Lucy set, when I spotted the CD case from my Dad.
A few Christmases ago, my Dad burned all of the old movies we grew up watching onto DVDs for each of us, and put them in a CD case.  I opened it up, and pulled out one off my "old"-time favorites,
Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

This is set in the early 1900s.  The plot revolves around an American League team, The Wolves, and three of it's players O'Brian (Gene Kelley), Ryan (Frank Sinatra), who also happen to be part time vaudevillians.  The team is up in arms in the beginning upon hearing that their new owner, K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams), is none other than a woman.   Once it becomes apparent that she is not only beautiful, but knows her baseball, Obrian and Ryan both fall for her.  Ryan, however becomes the object of the affections of an adoring fan, Shirley (Betty Garrett).  The film is filled with humor and song, a true American classic.
I just love a movie with an all-star cast, especially when it includes Gene Kelley and Frank Sinatra!  Esther Williams was a famous synchronized swimmer, and actress, and I used to love to try to imitate her in the pool when I was little!  Betty Garrett is hilarious, and adds such great humor to the film.
Take Me Out to the Ballgame is definitely a good classic to curl up with on a Saturday morning (or Monday morning in the summertime!).

Class T-Shirt Design Idea

Today I sat down in the office to do some curriculum writing, and ended up
designing my class t-shirt  for this year.  I get side tracked easily, and besides, I'm super excited about this coming up year.
Next school year I will be teaching one class Reading, Writing and Social Studies, and for the second half of the day I will be coaching - teachers, not PE, as my brother-in-law thought. :)
I am so excited about this, because this is the direction I have always wanted to go with my career ever since i got my Masters in Reading!  I would really love to be doing it full time, but it is nice to still be in the classroom - I think I'd miss it.
Many schools have two PFs(Peer Facilitators) - A Reading Coach and a Math Coach.  My school only has one, so in order for both coaching duties to be filled, my sweet friend and PF, Erica and I will be sharing duties.  She will be teaching the Math class while I'm coaching, and I'll be teaching Language Arts while she is coaching.  I am so excited about this opportunity!!  Erica is awesome, and I know we will work well together.
I began to think as we were planning for next year - My class will no longer be "Mrs. Ramirez's Rockets", They have two teachers now - two homeroom teachers.  Hmmm...Erica's class used to be "Mrs. Moreno's Monkeys" so merge the two together - I thought:

Ramirez and Moreno's Rowdy Monkeys?

Ramirez and Moreno's Reading Monkeys?

Why not use both of our Mascots?  Ramirez and Moreno's Rocketing Monkeys!

I began to google images of Monkeys on a Rocket, thinking it would be a hopeless cause...Who creates pictures of monkeys on Rockets??

Well Apparently This Lady does.  Lots of them.

 She must have a thing for monkeys.  Her blog is full of monkeys - on cars, rockets, scooters, etc.  And sooo cute!  Rather than using her image though, I put a piece of paper up to my laptop screen and traced it. That way I could add my own colors and design.
I also printed out our names in a cute font that I got from www. flamingtext.com.  I love this site and use it a lot to find cute fonts for things in my classroom.  You just copy and paste it into your word document.  Here's the print:

Then I traced the rocketing monkey into the background and colored it:

Isn't he cute??  So, I'll hafta check with Erica and see what she thinks about it, and then we can take it to the Printers!  Such fun combining mascots!  Hmm...what else could we do???