Delicious (and easy) are a must

I love to cook. (Not so much love the cleaning up, but then again, who does?) About this time last year I started getting more experimental with my cooking, being braver to substitute this or that in a recipe, and trying to use more diversity in my cooking (namely, add more fruits and vegatables and flavor). I was also not working at the time, so I was clipping coupons like a mad-woman and signing up for all kinds of freebies, including some I found through http://www.bettycrocker.com/. If you enjoy cooking - even if you are a novice - check out the site and sign yourself up!

Every couple weeks I get emails with cooking ideas, as well as coupon offers, and there are often contests to enter, as well as postings of the winning recipes (WITH PICTURES!).

My newest email arrived on Monday, and after perusing for a while, I found a couple of interesting recipes to try. So, last night, using left-over chicken from our dinner the night before (thank you Safeway rotisserie), I made

"Thai Chicken Salad Cones".

Simply put, they were AWESOME!! Anyone who loves peanut flavored Thai will love this meal. Even better, it was SUPER-EASY to make!

Plus, in total I would guess that this meal for 3 adults (I doubled recipe) cost roughly $10, as I had many of the ingredients on hand (e.g. peanut butter, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, Apple Cider Vinegar and Soy Sauce). The fresh ingredients were really inexpensive (cilantro, $.89; pre-cut/bagged coleslaw, $1.29; cucumber, $.99)... with the most expensive being the wraps, a whopping $3.09 for 6 large sun-dried tomato flavored. (FYI - I omitted the dry-roasted peanuts on purpose.)

As the weather heats up, my desire to "cook" will certainly decrease, and this non-cooked meal will definitely be at the top of my future mealplan lists!

Ready to travel!

I love movies. Those who know me know that. One of my favorites is "While You Were Sleeping" with Sandra Bullock. In the movie, she acknowledges she loves maps and planning trips, and even has her passport, but has never travelled beyond the local area.

I can relate!

Before marrying Monico, I did not do much travelling other than between Washington and Utah for the annual take-a-sibling-to-BYU trek. Sure, I had been to Canada a couple of times -- once for a family vacation when I was 10, and once with my high school band -- and I had even visited Southern California & Disneyland... nevermind that occurred 6 months before my marriage, and was only the second trip I had taken on a plane, because if I couldn't get there by car, it just didn't happen.

Monico loves to travel. I hate the expense, and with one less income while he has been in school, we simply could NOT vacation. Prior to school, together we have vacationed in Orlando, New York, and Washington DC. But, despite living 3 hours from Vancouver, BC, we have never been together.

So, why the photo above? That is the cover to my newly issued, good-for-ten-years passport! After having a moderately steady double-income for a few months, we took some of our extra cash and both got our passports. (For those of you who scoff at my years of delay in spending $100 each on passports, just remember that is the same as half a month's groceries!)

We are both excited to use our passports this summer to visit Vancouver BC, and look forward to the near future, when Monico gets a contract for a full time position and we can purchase tickets to take cruises and visit family in Europe (currently in Naples, Italy, but soon to be in Southern Germany)!

Have passport -- able to travel -- will soon be willing to expend the money to do so!

Congrats Brandy

(Info below cut and pasted from WSBA website)

Brandy E. Schwartz, Esq

The newest bar licensed attorney in the State of Washington

and member of the Washington State Bar Association!