Southwest Loaded Potato

as i was planning this weeks meals, i was skimming thru skinnytaste and found her loaded turkey santa fe baked potato skins. when i was younger (cuz you know im really old) my mom would make us twice baked potatoes on special occasions or if we bar-b-qed. She hasnt made them in quite some time, so when I saw these it brought me back and realized how much i really wanted some!

the husband approved the choice of this for dinner one night, so i added it to the meal plan. but i knew i didnt wanna do so many little potatoes to make a meal and also i didnt want to save the potato for later. id use it to add fullness into the mixture. so i used her recipe as an inspiration and ended up with this:

i washed, poked, and wrapped the potatoes in foil. And baked them at 450 degrees for an hour. 

in the mean time, i cooked up the meat, mostly following the recipe. i used a full pound of ground turkey and used left over Rotel i had instead of a tomato. i also ditched the pepper, and cilantro because i didnt have any on hand. and i seasoned with chilli powder and a little bit of taco seasoning mix.

once the potatoes were done, i scooped all the potato out into a bowl. and put the potato skins in a shallow baking dish. 

i mixed the potato in with the meat. then started filling up the skins with the potato and meat mixture.

covered with cheese. and backed at 350 degrees for 10-15 mins. until the cheese was melted and everything was heated.

and added sour cream on top.

it was a good twist to just a regular baked potato.. but im still craving some twice baked potatoes! i should probably go call my mom.

hello 2013!

Well a new year has started and I cant wait to see what the new year will bring. Alot of wonderful things happned in 2012. I got engaged, planned our awesome wedding, bought a house, got married, had an awesome honeymoon, got a new car.. and lots of little things in between. Now that its a new year its time to set my 2013 goals.. and hopefully achieve them. Here is my review of 2012:

2012 Resolutions:
Personal:

• Save money to buy a house for when we move out the apartment (achieved :) )
• Be a better spender (don’t impulse buy, coupons, bargains, etc.) (still working on this one!)
• Build a better/closer relationship with Jamie (yep, and getting better everyday)
• Cherish my friends more and spend more time with them (ive def. hung out more than usual with my friends, but still wanna spend soooo much more time with them!)
• Go out more and not be a home body so much (uhhh.. maybe a little??)

Food/Fitness

• Try new healthier foods (did pretty good with this)
• Cook more often (no eating out or cooking processed foods) (this is going really good, ill post more about it this year)
• Run 3-4 times a week (didnt do it as much as id like :( )
• Run a 5k (sadly, no)
• Strength train at least once a week (no :( )
• Do pilates at least once a week (this is a big no.. i just dont enjoy it like i use to)
• Lose 30 lbs (lost 6, but gained it back)

Blog (no hope for this category... ill try again this year!)

• Post more
• Post more recipes
• Finish setting up the blog
• Make my blog more public to my friends

So i guess last years goals didnt go quite as id hoped for. But lesson learned and I wont be as ambitious this year. So with that said.. this years goals!

Personal

• Plan a date night once a month
• Try/ do more things that i fear

Food/ Fitness

• Cook one new recipe a week
• Lose 20 lbs
• Run a 5k
• Run 2-3 times a week

Blog

• Post more
• Post more recipes
• Finish setting up the blog
• Make my blog more public to my friends

so heres to a happy and healthy new year! see ya soon!

Honeymoon: Galveston

last time i was here, i wasnt a married woman yet. but now i am!

and i was also trying to fit into my dress. well i did!

now we are happily on the honeymoon and loving every minute of it. i didnt wanna forget it all, so i wanted to blog about it. ill also blog about the wedding, which went perfectly, once i get my pics in. so here we go.

after waking up at the hotel we stayed at saturday night, we went home to finish packing, stopped by moms to open our cards we received to see if we had any other honeymoon money and hit the road! we were beach bound!

 once we got there we needed food and hit up the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe. i had been there once before and remembered it being very delicious. my memory was right! i got a regular cheeseburger. but it was homemade on a homemade bun. and homemade fries.holy yum!

 afterward we headed to the hotel. and our room wasnt ready... for like 20 mins. so they upgraded us to the suite with the jacuzzi tub! heck yes! we had an ocean view from all 5 of our hotel windows. it was a pretty kick ass room. the jacuzzi tub was big enough to fit 2 ;)

 we then headed out to the beach for awhile, grabbed a quick bite and called it a night. we woke up bright and early the next morning cuz we wanted to be at the beach as the sun was coming up. it was so worth it! since its off season and during the week we basically had the beach to ourselves. it was quiet, but windy and cool. and the water was really cold too.. so i stayed on my towel alot.

 after hanging out there awhile we headed back to to hotel to clean up cuz we had a few places we wanted to go. one being specs to stock up on alcohol and so jamie could go since he hadnt been to one yet. and the other bring russo's for a big pizza slice! then we returned back to the hotel and napped until dinner.

we went to saltgrass for dinner. its one of our favorite spots. i have a spot in my heart for their filet mignon. i was one happy girl!

this morning we slept in then packed up to hit the road for san antonio. we arrived about 3 and headed for the riverwalk. but that will be for another post!

Wedding Week

well, its wedding week. but if its anything like yesterday im gonna rename is "hell week" every person involved in the wedding, except florist and church, called me yesterday.. eeek!

it is also wedding bootcamp week. i tried on my dress sunday for some alterations that we decided not to do, and the dress was a bit more snug than id like. it wasnt popping the seams tight, just uncomfortable. so i plan to cut back on the munchies, drink lots of water, and do some working out.

yesterday i did a turbo jam workout that has left me feeling super sore in my back today.. so ill have to find a much less physical workout today, like just walking. i have a meeting every night this week so im hoping i can fit in all my workouts in the morning.

wish me luck!