Thirsty Thursday (A Day Late): Chocolate Chip Cookie Shake

Hope everyone is ready for a great weekend!!  Since I did not get to post this recipe yesterday, I thought I would today.  It will be close to 100 degrees this weekend so why not feature a drink with some ice  cream in it?!  Plus, Chief's birthday is tomorrow.  He likes cookies.  He likes shakes.  He likes ice cream.  Why not combine his favorites?

I found a recipe online but decided to change it up a little.  If you don't have a blender, don't substitute your kitchenaid mixer for it.  Just go buy a blender.  Trust me...that's why there is not a picture of a sweet little hazel-eyed boy sipping away on his shake.  But I will get my blender this weekend so I can make a good thick shake for the birthday boy.

You need:
3-4 scoops of vanilla ice cream-homemade vanilla, classic vanilla, vanilla bean (whatever your preference is)

1-2 chocolate chip cookies, crumbled (homemade or store bought; your preference)

1 cup of almond milk

A Handful of chocolate chips for topping

In a blender, combine the ice cream, crumbled cookies, and almond milk.  For a thicker shake, use 4 scoops.  I liked 3 scoops in mine.  If you add too much ice cream, just add a little more milk to thin it out.  Blender until semi-smooth.  Then pour into your glass and top with chocolate chips.  Perfect!!

Thirsty Thursday- Agua Loca

Seriously?!  After several days of nice 80 degree days, I woke up to a brisk, windy 52 degree day.  I was just sitting on my porch last night enjoying the weather.  Now I would get blown off my porch!  I realize that the north is way colder and still covered in snow.  But I live in Texas for a reason!  I don't do cold.

Well, if I can't change today's crappy weather, then I can at least drink like it's warm outside.  I found this great and simple drink on Miss Information's blog The combo of coconut and pineapple will make you think you are on an exotic beach somewhere far away.  It's pretty easy to make.  

Here's what you need:

Ice

3 oz pineapple juice

2 oz coconut rum

Maraschino cherries for garnish (optional)

Recipe: 

Fill a glass with ice.

Add pineapple juice and rum; stir.

Garnish with a cherry.

Enjoy.

                          

Go check out her page to get the recipe to make a larger serving size.

Hugs y'all,

Melissa

Thirsty Thursday-The Perfect Summer Lemonade

It's Thirsty Thursday again!!  I decided this week would be a non-alcoholic lemonade.  I was craving lemonade...but not the powder stuff...the real stuff!  Like "fresh from the lemon tree" lemonade.  So I checked out Pinterest to see what I could find.  I found some that were okay but I wanted JUST LEMONADE.  Not strawberry, not watermelon, just lemonade.  So I took my research to the lab (or my kitchen in this case).  I bought 6 BIG lemons...not those pansy ones that come in a bag.  The big ones that were 2 for $3 at my local grocery chain.  Then I bought a big bag of granulated sugar just to make sure I had enough.  I even bought a manual juicer!  I could not wait to get home and concoct the perfect lemonade.  When I was a kid, there was a corn dog place in the next town over that had the BEST lemonade.  Not too sweet but not too sour.  But like everything else good in the town, it is no longer there. 

I started off by boiling a cup of water and 1 1/2 cup of sugar.  You need the sugar to dissolve and make a clear syrup.  Once you have brought it to a boil, pour into a pitcher to chill.  I put mine in the fridge.   Then I heated my lemons in the microwave for 30 seconds.  I read several recipes that believes the heat releases the juices.  Whatever, I'm game!  Once heated, I took them out and rolled them between my palms and the counter.  Again, it helps release the juices.  After a few rolls, I put them on the cutting board and began cutting them in half.  Make sure to pick out the seeds!!  I juiced all 6 and got around a cup of lemon juice.  The ideal amount ranges from 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice.  I then removed my pitcher from the fridge and poured in the lemon juice.  Depending on your pitcher size, add 7-8 cups of water to fill the pitcher.  I used my cute Fiesta one and was able to fit 7 cups.

My daughter came in from working outside all day and she loved it!!!  Apparently I did not make enough.  It's almost gone between her two BIG glasses and mine.  The best part is it tasted like the corn dog stand from my childhood.

Here's your grocery list:

6-8 BIG lemons

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

8-9 cups of water

Enjoy!!

Hugs y'all!

LSG

Texas Tuesday in a Small Town

This Texas Tuesday is brought to you by the small, quaint little town of Grand Saline, Texas.  As with most small towns in Texas, there is not much to it but it makes for a fun and low maintenance day trip.  We took the kids there during spring break this past March.  I wanted to go to the Pink Pistol in Lindale, the hubs wanted to check out a food joint (in the middle of nowhere) so we needed something fun for the kids.  We found it in Grand Saline!  Our first stop of the morning was East Texas Gator Farm.  The kids loved it!!  It is on a small farm off of FM 1255 so don't expect a "big hooplah" in the middle of town.  The best part is you won't go broke getting in!  I think it was around $20 for all 4 of us.  You enter in the gift shop which turns into a hands on exhibit.  There were several handlers allowing the visitors to touch and hold the animals.

(Check out Chief with some sort of horned toad looking creature)

Ok, so you've seen a cute kid and a creepy lizard; let's get to the real reason we went!  GATORS!!!

Yeah, they had big ones.  Since we went during spring break, it was still a little chilly that morning.  All the gators were out sunbathing.  Very cool!  There were also several other animals to look at like tortoises, lemurs and (yuck!) a llama or two.  We had pictures of the kids with those animals too but I did not feel like bogging the blog down with photos of my adorable kids!

A small thing you may or may not know about me...I enjoy the history of small towns...no matter how lame it might be.  Did you know Grand Saline sits on a huge lode of natural salt? So much salt that Morton Salt sits up shop there!  They even have a salt palace in town!   No it's not an actual palace but it is a neat little museum (free of charge but they accept donations) with sweet little elderly women eager to tell you the history of the salt mines.  The building is made of actual salt (with a sign that says do not lick the walls).  And yes, these two clowns licked the wall!  Apparently, there is Facebook page for the salt wall lickers but I have not gone looking for it!

Kiddos sitting with a GIANT chunk of salt!

While you are in town, you cannot miss out on a trip to Nutty's.  It sits right now from the salt palace in downtown.  If you want awesome (not just good) peanut butter, check this place out!!  I will drive 45 minutes and pay $8 a jar for their peanut butter.  It comes in many different flavors but my favorite is the chocolate marble.  We first visited this place back in November during a basketball tournament weekend.  The hubs and I knew we had to make a stop when we went back through in March.

Now that I have given you a little rundown of what fun there is to have, get off the computer, pack up the kids and go!!

Hugs y'all!

LSG

Thirsty Thursday-School's out for summer...almost

It is that time of year...the last week of school that drags for school teachers, students and parents alike.  Everyone is excited for different reasons.  Teachers are excited because they get rid of that one kid that just grates on their last nerve (yea, I know the spill..."I love all my students equally..."  I worked in schools for 7 years; I know the truth!).  Kids are excited about the freedom and sleeping late (if they are teens).  Parents are excited because the summer usually brings a more lax schedule.  Most of the school districts around us start their summer break tomorrow.  Not mine...Pistol has one more meaningless day.

So in celebration of summer break starting, I found a nice little peach flavored drink that reminded me of summer.  If you don't like peach, then this blog post may not be for you.

Here's a quick grocery list:
1.5 fl oz of peach flavored vodka
1.5 fl oz each of pineapple juice and cranberry juice cocktail
0.25 fl oz of fresh lime juice
2 fl oz of ginger ale

Combine the first 4 ingredients in an ice filled shaker.  Shake well and strain into an ice filled collins glass (one of those tall skinny glasses).  Top it of with the ginger ale and drink up.

Enjoy the night with a drink in one hand and a bowl of ice cream in another.

Hugs ya'll,
LSG

Make up Monday-So you got a sunburn...

I am sure you can tell what I am dealing with after a wonderful weekend...Yep, the first sunburn of the summer.  Now before I get lectured on why I did not put on sunscreen, I was not in the sun that long. Pistol had a 10:15 am baseball game Saturday morning.  I looked super cute in my button down white shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) and my new black and white polka dot shorts.  Topped it off with my "baseball mom" necklace and my favorite red converse shoes.  I was supporting his team with their colors-red and black-while still looking stylish.  I sat on the opposing team's bleachers so that I was not directly in the sun using their dugout as partial shade.  Fast forward to that afternoon, as I am running errands and delivery necklaces...

Notice the odd sunburn?  Burnt one side of my right leg all the way to my knee!  See how cute the shorts are though?! Now if I had been raised in a "normal" family, I would run to get aloe vera to slather on my leg to stop the stinging.  But no... this is where I tell you that my dad believes in one thing when it comes to sunburns, sprained ankles, jammed fingers and any other injury that is "sore."  My dad called it "Brown Vinegar" (because he has names for everything that no one else is familiar with)but it is known as Apple Cider Vinegar.  This is one tip (could be considered a beauty tip) that I use all summer long!!  Pour some on a cotton ball and dab it on the sunburnt area.  I do it before I go to bed, allowing the vinegar to work overnight and causing me to HAVE to wash my sheets the next morning. The next morning you will not feel the "sunburn hangover"-you know, when everything your sunburn touches makes you want to crawl under a rock and cry...that is if the rock does not touch the sunburn.  You will still be red but you won't hurt. 

This is fairly simple trick to use in the summer that I thought I would share as a "beauty tip".  I like to keep the vinegar in my fridge so that it is cold when I have to use it.  You definitely won't smell good but at least it works!  Hope this helps you survive the summer...and if nothing else, helps remind you to use sunscreen. I have used the vinegar on my shoulders, back, forehead, nose, etc and it has worked every time.

Hugs ya'll,

 LSG

Thirsty Thursday-The Hippie Edition

Whoo hoo!!  I completed my first full week of blogging!!  So why not enjoy Thirsty Thursday?  I mean that's enough reason to celebrate, right?  This Thursday I am blogging about a drink that screams "SUMMER!"  It's called Hippie Juice.  I am pretty sure it's been floating all over Pinterest so I cannot take credit for it.  Although if you have a rockin' good time after consuming it, you can given me credit for that:)  You're welcome.  Here's what you need:
1 cup of Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka
1/3 cup of Triple Sec
1/3 cup of Malibu Coconut Rum
4 scoops of Country Time Pink Lemonade (because is there really any other lemonade mix?)
Add cold water until your pitcher is full

Mine will be going in my cute little "sunflower yellow" Fiesta pitcher:)

Boom!  There's a party in your cup!  This would also be a great drink to consume during your "me" time one night after the kids have gone to bed.  Sit outside on a porch swing with the nice summer breeze blowing and listen to the frogs croak and crickets chirp...and the coyotes howl.

I hope you have enjoyed my blogs over the past week.  They have been fun to write and I love seeing which posts bring the most readers.  Be sure to share and comment!!

Hugs ya'll,
LSG