Penny's Passion

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Let's Make Texas Caviar

Last week I made a big bowl of Texas Caviar to share at a couple gatherings.  It had been ages since I made it and had forgotten just how much I loved it!  


Here's What You Need
2 cans black-eyed peas - drained
1 can shoe peg corn - drained
1-2 bunches green onions - cut up
1 medium-large green pepper - chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes - drained
2 small fresh tomatoes - seeded
1 large bottle Italian dressing (16 oz.)
Frito Scoops or Tortilla Chips


Here's What You Do
Chop the green onions, tomatoes, and green pepper.


Drain the cans of ingredients and put them in a large bowl.  Add the chopped vegetables.  Pour the entire bottle of dressing over the ingredients and mix well.  Cover and let set in the refrigerator overnight.  


Before serving, I drain off the Italian dressing.  You can use Frito Scoops or tortilla chips for dipping.  This is the perfect thing to whip up if you're having a lot of people because it makes a lot of dip!  And it's a real crowd pleaser!

I picked up the cutest bowls a while back for soup, but they are perfect to use for individual chip and dip bowls.  As a matter of fact, if you had stopped by my house Sunday night you would have found me in front of the TV holding this bowl in my hand!


Enjoy!

Monday, March 9, 2020

Weekending - March 6, 2020

Happy Monday!  This weekend flew by for us!  Here's a recap ~

I made a few little treat bags after work on Friday.  They were super simple to put together with the help of a printable by Sunshine Tulip Design I found on Etsy.  You can grab it HERE.  My friends are going to love getting these on St. Patrick's Day!  I'm sure yours would too!  



Friday night was our monthly game night at our son and daughter-in-law's house.  This month we played inside cornhole.  We had gifted a set of Blues boards to them for Christmas and I had gifted Eric a Cardinals set.  We drew partners and the fun began!


It's so fun seeing this little guy every month!  It's amazing how much they change in just a month's time.


I took a yummy bean dip over to share with everyone.  I'll be sharing the recipe on the blog tomorrow!


We also celebrated our son's birthday.  It's hard to believe my baby is 29 years old!


Saturday morning I headed off to McKendree University to grade the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee.  The contestants have to spell out 25 words and the best of the best move on to the oral spelling competition that will be held the following week.  Thank goodness I'm a grader and not a contestant because I think I could have only spelled about eleven of the words correctly!



We capped off the day by joining some friends for dinner at a Wurst-Markt outside of Nashville, Illinois.  The food was amazing!  We brought home some sausage to have later and I am already wishing we'd bought more.

After church on Sunday, we headed to the home show happening in downtown St. Louis.  I'm feeling pretty accomplished - we have an appointment set up with a landscaper this week and an appointment with a closet designer a couple weeks after that.  But my favorite part were the animals at the show!  Who knew you'd be able to see a bald eagle and a llama at a home show?



We popped in Gringo to have lunch and used our St. Louis Passport to take advantage of the buy one margarita get one free deal.  Have you guys heard of the Passport Program?  It's a handy little book that has all kinds of buy one, get one drink offers at establishments around St. Louis.  They offer them for other cities too.  Click HERE to see if there's one for a city near you.


We hadn't been to Gringo before and was anxious to give it a try.  Eric and I both had their fried burrito and loved it!  The street corn was great too.  We will definitely be going back.



The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home and catching up on the TV shows we missed last week.  Anyone else a Grey's fan?  I personally will miss Alex on the show and sure didn't see that twist coming!  

Hope you have a wonderful week!  We'll be adjusting to the time change and I'm looking forward to the extra hour of light at the end of the day.  Hopefully, it will make me more productive when I get home from work each day!

Friday, March 6, 2020

Five on Friday - March 6, 2020

We've made it through the week!  This has been a fun one and I've had the opportunity to spend some time with friends.  That always makes the workweek better!  Now I'm looking forward to the weekend and sharing my five with you today ~

1.  Daylight Saving Time
Make a note to set your clocks up an hour before you go to bed on Saturday because Sunday starts daylight savings time.  I for one am excited about having an extra hour of sunlight in the evening.  That benefit is well worth the loss of one hour to me!

Daylight Saving Time - Second Sunday in March

2.  The Way Back
I'll be honest - I love Ben Affleck.  So if there's a movie he's starring in, I'm planning to see it.  Today his movie The Way Back is opening and I can't wait to sit back and soak up all 108 minutes of it.  An added bonus is the movie actually sounds pretty good.  Here's the summary from Rotten Tomatoes ~
Back in high school, Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) had everything going for him. A basketball phenom, he could have punched his ticket to college or even the pros, but, instead, he chose to walk away from the game, forfeiting his future. Jack's glory days are long gone... but, as it turns out, not forgotten. Years later, he gets the chance to take back his life when he is asked to coach the struggling basketball team at his alma mater. Jack reluctantly accepts, surprising no one more than himself, and as the boys start to come together as a team and win, he may get his last shot at redemption.

3.  I'm Dead, Now What?
When I had friends visiting a few weeks ago, one of them was talking about this book - I'm Dead, Now What?  She had recently ordered it and was planning to fill it out when she got home.  The more I thought about it, the better the idea of having this book sounded to me.  The details of your life go far beyond what an average will covers.  Does your family know what your last wishes are?  Do they know where all your paperwork is kept?  You might need one of these books too!  Here's the summary from Amazon:
Yes, it has a quirky cover design that will appeal to certain sensibilities, but the contents of this peace-of-mind planner are no-nonsense. Use it to gather those vital details about your contacts, legal matters, health, financial affairs, instructions, and more. Enter the information in this guided planner, and keep it in a secure location. Valuable and practical, it is a tremendous gift for your family and personal representatives. The I'm Dead, Now What? Planner covers:
  • My Personal Information
  • My Medical Information
  • Key Contact Information
  • At the Time of My Passing
  • My Dependents
  • Important Documents
  • Financial Information
  • Commercial/Business Information
  • What Beneficiaries Can Expect
  • Personal Property
  • Insurance
  • My Pets
  • What to Pay, Close, and Cancel
  • Email and Social Media
  • Miscellaneous Information
  • My Personal Wishes
  • Last Words
  • Note: This planner is not a legal document and does not replace a valid will.
  • Contents are identical to those of Peter Pauper Press's Peace of Mind Planner

4.  Homemade Hand Sanitizer
It came to my attention this week that hand sanitizer is flying off the shelves and is sold out everywhere!  Then it hit me that the stuff couldn't be that hard to make.  After a quick Google search, it confirmed making your own is super easy.  You need rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel.  Mix 2/3 parts alcohol and 1/3 part aloe vera gel together.  A few drops of essential oil can be added if you would like it scented.  Shake well and it's ready to go!



5.  A couple hand washing thoughts...

Image may contain: possible text that says 'Coronavirus Tip: Wash your hands like you got a club stamp you don't want Mom to see.'

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, text

Hope you have a nice weekend!  We have game night tonight, which is always fun.  Tomorrow I'm grading a spelling bee and then Sunday we're headed to the home show in St. Louis.  I'll be back next week to share the details.  Hope to see you back!  

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Thursday, March 5, 2020

Friday Favorites - March 6, 2020

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Wednesday, March 4, 2020

St. Patrick's Day Mantel

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  With St. Patrick's Day getting closer and closer, today I'm thinking out loud about our family room decorations.  I love having the mantel decked out with holiday decor and St. Patrick's Day is no exception.  We're showing our green proudly!  Here's a look ~







I'm still in love with the pillow covers I purchased years ago from Amazon.  The covers make it so easy to change the look without having to worry about storing a million different pillows.  Purchase 18 x 18 pillows and slip different covers on them for any holiday or event.




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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - March 4, 2020

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St. Patrick's Three-Tier Stand

This past weekend we flipped from red and pink Valentine's decorations straight into all green for St. Patrick's Day.  The three-tier stand in my kitchen window is my favorite place to decorate these days.  Here's how it looks now ~  





I've started spreading out the decorations beyond the stand itself and love the whole thing!  Until the Easter decorations come out, this will be my view.





Stay tuned - I'll be sharing our mantel soon.