Party Dip Recipe

My sister, Morgan, and I have been spending quite a bit of time together lately. One thing we both love to do is EAT! She has recently lost 30+ pounds, and has lost all her baby weight, plus some, while I have not lost the last 5 pounds of baby weight. Grrr. Anyway, we still take part in our favorite past time. Recently, she spent the night with me and Riley and we made this dip.

Oh my, was this ever great. I have always made cheese dip using 1 can of Rotel tomatoes, 1 lb of ground beef or sausage, and velveeta cheese. My “rotel” dip has never been my favorite. It’s to velveeta”y” for me, or something. Now, don’t get me wrong, I will eat it, and eat plenty of it. It just doesn’t taste that great the next day and I always have a bunch leftover.

Those days are over with. I found this 3 ingredient recipe on OurBestBites.com and knew I had to try it out. Morgan and I whipped this up between supper and bath-time, and let me tell you IT’S AWESOME. To start, it’s 3 ingredients! And velveeta isn’t one of those 3! Yes!

OBB used cream cheese instead, and I love cream cheese!

1 12-oz pkg of cream cheese
1 12-oz pkg sausage
1 cup salsa

Brown the sausage. Drain grease if needed. Cut the cheese into little blocks and add to pan with sausage. Add salsa and heat until cheese is melted.

And that’s totally it. Of course, we topped it with shredded cheddar cheese, but this dip will taste fine without it.

So it’s no more velveeta for me. This will be my go-to party dip from now on!

Keeping Busy

Dear Riley,
Spring is here, and as I said before, you love to be outside. The weather is so nice right now: cool when the sun comes up, a little windy throughout the day, a few clouds every now and then, warm in the afternoon, and the sun doesn’t set until about 8:00 p.m. We play outside as much as possible. You love to play at Grandmom and Grandad’s house and PawPaw’s house.
  Here, you are blowing your first dandelion. I am so happy we took a picture of this. One day, I hope you enjoy looking at all these pictures.
Grandad has quite a collection of hats. He has them hanging on hooks in the garage. I don’t know who started this with you, but all you want to do is play with those hats. But, someone has to stand there with you and hang the hats up. And then hand them all back to you. And then hang them up. And then hand them all back to you. And so on. You are very particular about how you want them to lay on the garage floor. It was really cute the first day you did this, but now… now it’s not so cute for whoever is hanging and unhanging the hats.
The clover at Grandmom’s is so pretty. Of course, you can’t wait to pick the flowers.
Here’s to many more Spring’s like this one, Riley. Let’s always pick the flowers together.

Riley Claire – 19 Month Newsletter

Dear Riley,

These newsletters come way too soon each month. It almost seems like tomorrow you will be packing your bags to go off to college. I remember the first few weeks after we brought you home, I never thought I would ever sleep again. It’s amazing how things change and how I would give just about anything to be back in those first few weeks.
So, let’s see, what are you up to now. How about EVERYTHING! Nothing is off limits to you. You try and reach your little hand into kitchen drawers, you love to take your clothes out of your drawers, and you love to play in dirt. Dirt.
Oh, and you love to sit at the computer. You know how to click the mouse and everything!


Probably the biggest development is your speech. You have REALLY started talking this month. Your ever-growing list of words includes: Momma, Dadda, ball, bite, pretty, shoes, bye-bye, drink, nose, mouth, eyes, ear, belly, Mamaw, Papaw, your own variation of Grandmom and Grandad, dog, and cat. There may be a few more, but that’s all I can think of. You respond to many more words than this, you just haven’t figured out how to say them yet.
You LOVE to play outside. And hate to come indoors after frolicking around.


You are my little girl. Sometimes I stare at your little face trying to remember everything about you. Your little cheeks and the dimples when you smile. Your sweet little nose. Your bangs. The part of your neck that meets your jaw.
You make my days worth living.
I love you,
Love, Momma

Easter

Just sitting here thinking about Easter. Last year we took a picture in front of the wisteria. This year Henry was working, but Riley and I kept up our little tradition. Tradition. We have a family tradition!


You can’t see the wisteria in this picture, but we were standing in the same place as this year…

Riley has grown so much! I just don’t want to believe it!

Easter – Part 3

Dear Riley,
You had an amazing Easter! We did so many fun activities with friends, family, and strangers. I think you had a great time and that makes me so happy.
On Easter Sunday, you and I went to church. You almost made it in the nursery by yourself, almost. After church we went to my cousin’s house. He has two little girls, Lori who is almost 4, and Jamie who is almost 2. We had good food and an Easter egg hunt.


You had the best time with these girls! Braxton was there too.

One day I will tell you what Easter is really about. The eggs are nice, but the Gift we have is even better.
I love you. Happy Easter!
Love, Momma