It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Happy December 1st! 

Yesterday we hung the lights up!

Tonight we went and found the perfect Villwock Family Christmas Tree. The past two years due to various activities we have picked out our tree on December 1st. So this year we decided that it is our tradition to get the tree on December 1st. We have always gone to Home Depot to get our tree, it is the best deal in town! We found a good one, but why does the tree always look bigger in the house then at the Christmas Tree Lot?

Love This!

Merry Merry Monday!

It's back to work Monday after a fun, long weekend!

We are officially in the Christmas season now that it is after Thanksgiving. Our house is almost all the way decorated. The lights and the Christmas Tree will go up this week! This is the fourth Christmas we will have been in the house and each year it gets more and more decorated.

Saturday night we went down to Downtown Disney to go to dinner with Ashley and her boyfriend Robby, who had gone to Disneyland for the day. The Christmas tree was up at Downtown Disney and so were all of there other decorations. Disney always does such a beautiful job with there decorations.

Sunday it was off to the Chargers Football game in San Diego with our friends Justin and Elizabeth to watch the Chargers take on the Broncos. We got down to San Diego by about 10am for the 1pm game and plenty of time to tailgate and people watch before the beginning of the game. It is amazing to see how into it some people can get with there satellite dishes and flat screen TVs

White Pizza

Last Saturday Nicole and Ken, and my parents came over for pizza night, I made several different kinds of pizza including a white pizza. Since then both Nicole and my Mom have been bugging me for the recipe, so I thought I would share it with everyone.

White Pizza 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon minced garlic 

1 3/4 cups coarsely shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 450 

2. Place pizza on desired cooking surface and brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of  the olive oil. 

3. Spread the ricotta evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/4 inch border and sprinkle the garlic over the top. 

4. Scatter the mozzarella over the top, and sprinkle with oregano. 

5. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top and cook in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until   crust is golden and cheese is bubbling. 

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! (A few days late I know). Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I know I sure did, I have so much to be thankful for. I went over to my parents where my Mom cooked, and the whole family was together to enjoy it. 

My contribution to Thanksgiving Dinner was Turkey Cake Pops! I got the idea last year from the Barkerella Cake Pop book. They are a little bit of a project to make, but they turned out adorable again!

On Black Friday I was lucky enough to get it off of work, and braved the mall with  Mom and Nicole. We were at the mall by 5:15am, it was busy when we got there, but even busier when we left a little after 9am! I got a few Christmas presents taken care of, and a few presents for myself. There were some pretty good deals out there and I took advantage of them! The free coffee in the mall that the Keurig table was giving away helped up keep going! 

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Why are tacos so good? And there are so many different kinds that you can make. I will normally make tacos a couple a times a months. They are easy and a favorite in our house.

I am always looking for new taco ideas, and I came across this recipe for Buffalo Chicken Tacos a couple days ago. I haven't made them yet, but I am hoping to in the next week or so.

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

1lb chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3 cup flour

3 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup buffalo wing sauce 

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 6-inch yellow corn tortillas

Toppings:
Shredded butter Lettuce
Diced onions mixed with cilantro
Avocado slices
Ranch dressing
Green onions, sliced thinly

Directions:

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, cayenne, and garlic powder. Season the chicken pieces with pepper, then dredge in the flour mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and once it gets hot, add chicken and cook on both sides – about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Once the chicken is done, set it aside in a bowl and toss with ⅓  cup buffalo wing sauce.

Assemble 10 tacos, dividing the toppings evenly among each taco.

Corks, Corks, Corks

Jordan and I have been collecting wine corks over the last couple of years now. We normally write on them the date, occasion for the wine, and who we drank it with. When we go out of town we try to get a bottle of wine and then save the cork. It's a fun little wine scrapbook for us, from time to time we will look at them and remissness on the memories from that bottle of wine. 

I really like the idea of making something out of wine corks also. Although different wine corks from the scrapbook wine cork collection. You name it, you can just about make it out of wine corks. 

Christmas Trees

Pumpkin or Apple 

Bath Mat

Cork Board

Monogram Letter 

Wine Cork Wreath

I guess I need to get drinking more wine to make all these things!

Quick Easy Dinner

Williams and Sonoma seriously has the best sauces and starters. They are so easy to use after a full day at work; they are simple and delicious. 

My favorite one is the Sloppy Joe Starter. It is simple just brown 1lb of ground beef until cook. Pour the starter over it and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve on a hamburger bun. The starter sauce "combines vine ripened tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, sweet red bell peppers, garlic, and spices." It is delicious, everyone will love it. It is priced at $14.95 which is a little bit expensive, but I normally will just use half the jar at a time and save the other half for the next time I make them.