Trying to be creative and such

I saw this on pintrest and then I added to it to make it something more :)
it consists of:
frozen chicken tenders
black beans
black olives
a block of cream cheese
a small can of mushrooms
a can of corn
a can of diced tomatoes (because I didn't have the can of rotel it asked for)
a little garlic powder
some taco seasoning from a packet
...I think that is all. it had to be stirred every hour or two and then, once the chicken was cooked, I pulled the chicken out and pulled them apart with forks to shred it up. I put it back in the pot, stirred it up and served it over rice a little while later.
it was actually pretty darn yummy! and we were excited to eat the leftovers :)

my camera's neck thingy doesn't feel very good on my neck. it is skinny and a little rough. I bought some fabric and felt or fleece stuff (for padding) and I made a cover for it! it can be slipped on an off when needed too. it literally took me 3 tries to make this. it was always too small! partly because it had the padding that made it thicker so when I tried to pull it through...it just didn't budge. lol. third time is a charm!


because I was in so much pain that wrapped around my midriff, I needed heat on my front as well as my back. Jacob filled up one of his knee-high socks with cheap rice for me almost a year ago. it has been such a blessing! I needed something a little flatter so that I could lay on it. I had leftover fabric and fleece stuff, so I made a rice bag pillow thingy! it works great!!!

because of our lack of money, Jacob and I didn't do anything too out there for our anniversary. it is times like these when I wish we live near the woodlands so we could walk the waterway for free or go through the shops on market street or something for a little romance. just being together for a day with Jacob not being called into work was pretty darn good this year, though.
we stayed home so that we didn't have to have gas issues (already having to spend about $80-100 a week in gas is quite enough). we did splurge at the grocery store, though. we bought lots of fruits and veggies! we loved it :) I wanted to make some type of fun sandwich thingy during our day, so I went to pinterest. haha. I don't like the sodium and such in some meats and cheeses that are packaged. I try to go the deli and only get about 1/2lb of two or three things each time.
Jacob's sandwich was made on potato bread.
it consisted of:
a slice of mozzarella cheese
tomato slices
it called for peperoni, but I don't like that so we did salami
sliced avocado
one more slice of mozzarella cheese
then cooked like a grilled cheese sandwich :)
mine was the same, just made on g-free/wheat-free bread.
it was quite yummy! can't wait to make it again.

just a day or two ago, I got these books in the mail...it was a total surprise! no lie. I was addressed to Kristine instead of Kris and with my maiden name. with that evidence, I'm pretty sure it was from my dad. he didn't tell me that anything was being sent my way, but it was a pleasant surprise. I have been able to learn a lot more about the ingredients, purposes, and substitutes. some of the recipes are beyond anything I am interested in, some of them are lamb and eggs, but some I have marked to try. I invested in a hand mixer finally. I don't like hand mixers...I have never really used them all that much, they kinda freak me out, and I always seem to make a mess with them all over me and the kitchen. yeah... but I can't afford a kitchen aid yet. lol. gluten-free stuff already tastes a little odd to me at times, but not mixing your ingredients all the way can make them taste even worse. I'm hoping my hand mixer will help me in my up coming adventure!

<3