2 BLT Wraps with Herbed Mayonnaise

These are great for picnics/ kids lunches/ kid parties, etc!

BLT Wraps

(roll these BLT Wraps in foil, baking parchment, or waxed paper and cut into halves just before serving. The wrapper can be peeled down as the sandwich is eaten, making a good holder. Just remember to pack a knife!)

1 package pecan-smoked bacon or any type bacon (flavored bacon is better!)
1 cup Herbed Mayonnaise (below)
8 (10 inch) Flour Tortillas (I like spinach tortillas too)
1 head baby romaine, coarsely shredded
3 tomatoes, thinly chopped
2 avocados, sliced

Arrange bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown and crisp; drain on paper towel. (can microwave!) Spread the mayonnaise over 1 side of each tortilla. Layer each with shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, 3 slices of the bacon and sliced avocado and roll to enclose the filling. Wrap each roll individually in baking parchment, twisting the ends to seal. Slice diagonally into halves just before serving. Makes 8 wraps.

Herbed Mayonnaise

2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine the mayonnaise, green onions, parsley, basil, thyme and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Store, covered in the refrigerator. Dried herbs may be substituted for the fresh herbs, but fresh is preferred. Makes 2 cups. (I use fresh herbs and have a couple of these growing in the backyard! They even survived numerous freezes this winter!)

River Road Recipes IV by the Junior League of Baton Rouge

0 Strawberry Spinach Salad

Going through my RRR IV by the Junior League of Baton Rouge today. . . can you tell. . . ;-)
This is an AMAZING salad!

1 cup pecan halves
1 package fresh baby leaf spinach
Crumbled blue cheese
Purple Onions, sliced and separated into rings
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 (12-ounce) bottle Brianna's Blush Wine Strawberry Vinaigrette

Spread the pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast at 300 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until fragrant and light brown, stirring occasionally. (I use the pecans "baked" and raw and both ways a great!) Toss the pecans, spinach, blue cheese, onions and strawberries in a salad bowl. Add the desired amount of vinaigrette and toss to coat. Serves 6.

1 Blueberry Crunch

Nate LOVES this cobbler-like dessert from my FAVORITE recipe book of all time, "River Road Recipes IV" by the Junior League of Baton Rouge!

Blueberry Crunch
4 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Spread the blueberries in a 9x9-inch baking pan. Combine the brown sugar, flour and oats in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the butter. Spoon the crumb mixture over the blueberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm in dessert bowls or goblets. Serves 8

0 Blackberry Pie

Here is the recipe for the Blackberry Pie that I made Nate for Thanksgiving!

Ingredients
4 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons milk or less
sprinkle of white sugar
Directions
1. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.
2. Bake at 425 degree F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
ALL RECIPES.com

1 For Love of the Game

A while ago I explained to you how much baseball means to our family here.

This Saturday, Nate and I went to our first baseball game of the season. Those A&M stands are so special to us. They are special to Nate because he watched A&M baseball long before Parker played there, and special to me because on those stands I watched Parker play 5 wonderful seasons. But they are especially memorable stands to us because that is where our love really grew for each other. Yes, we fell in love in the A&M baseball stands. Olsen Field provided a wonderful place for Nate and I to get to know each other and for Nate to get to know my family! I will never forget when Nate went to a Tuesday night baseball game with my parents (and I couldn't go!) about two weeks after we met. He sat IN BETWEEN my parents and they grilled/talked to him the whole game! Mom and Dad called me afterwards and said they LOVED him and Nate said he had SO much fun too. . . and we went to almost every baseball game of the season. . . Dad, mom, me and Nate!

The past two Spring Breaks, my family and Nate have spent our time watching the Dodger's Spring Training! This past Spring Break, Parker was moved up to play a game with the major league guys! It was pretty impressive watching him warm up next to Brad Ausmus.

Parker chronicled his minor league life in his blog here. There have been so many ups and downs in his career but God has shown that he is sovereign throughout all of Parker's many seasons.

The start to this baseball season is different though. . .Parker made a difficult call a couple weeks ago. He called the Dodger's organization to let them know that he was "hanging up his cleats." The Lord has given Parker the ability to excel at baseball, many second chances, and even the opportunity to end his career on Parker's own timing. . .

Parker, If I could choose one verse to describe your baseball career this would be it. . .

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" Ephesians 3:20

Proud of you. . . .

2 Happy Birthday Gus Gus

February 11 was Gus Gus' 6th birthday! I had every intention to throw him a little party but. . . wedding planning got in the way. . . so he got a Gus sized bone, a Greenie, and lots of love from me and his caregivers at Grandparent Day Care!

In case you don't know the story of Gus' beginning here is the short version. . . I lived next door to two Sigma Chi's in college. . . they just so happened to have a boy lab and a girl lab. . . my sweet neighbors would let me literally borrow their dogs and take them running, babysit them, etc. . . I begged them to have puppies and promised that I would TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING! So they finally relinquished and on Feb 11 . . . Darla had 11 puppies with me there for support, a pat on the head and a "Good Girl" every five seconds! (side note: I don't know how people cannot believe in God after they see a birth of ANY creature. . . the innate way the mother knows exactly what to do. . . etc. . .) (I was blessed to see Gus born AND blessed to see Gus' puppies born!) Over Spring Break, Darla's owner, Cole, went skiing and I loaded Darla and the 11 puppies in the back of my Tahoe and took off for Houston. . . such great memories! After he was old enough, Gus came next door to live with me. . . and we have been best friends EVER SINCE! Now just to brag about my good boy. . . my dad and I spent wonderful quality time together during Gus' training. Gus has "drive" that people spend thousands of dollars for. . . our trainer still can't believe that he was a product of "backyard breeding!" Due to elbow dysplasia, he now hunts and fetches for fun instead of for competition! Everyday, I drop him off at Grandparent Day Care and he and my mom spend the day together (he needs his socialization during the day!) Daddy always has a Biscuit for Gus to "find" when he gets to the house and sometimes Gus gets to go to the office with Daddy. . . basically, he is MASSIVELY spoiled! But he deserves it. . . He is SUCH a good boy! Here are some pics over the years!

1 Happy Love Day

Happy Valentine's Day (a day late) . . . made a little something for my man . . .

AND. . . this is why I love him. . . who doesn't feel good when their guy can't wait to eat what they have baked and just grab a fork and dig in?? (this becomes a problem when cookies go missing that are made for OTHER people. . . :-) but, I still love him! :-)

0 One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure!

My parents are redecorating their house. . .which requires all the kids to go through their rooms . . . Nate and I went through the "throw away" pile and found things that some of our favorite little ones would love! Aggie baseball stuff is always a big hit! The boys immediately decided to see if it would hurt if they hit each other as hard as they could on the head with the helmets on. Hmm. . . we have been told by their parents many times that paybacks will be coming when we have kids! ;-) I wonder if they are thinking about the HULK boxing gloves we gave the boys for Christmas. . . ??? :-)

0 Coaching rewards!

One of the dad's made us these shirts to celebrate being District Champs! Remember, I teach at MEMORIAL Middle School and so of COURSE all things must be fashionable! He got each girl on the team an orange long sleeve t-shirt AND a white short sleeve t-shirt! Can't show the back because all the girl's names are on it! PRECIOUS! Have I said lately how much I love my school??

1 Super Bowl Treats!

A few fun goodies for tonight! :-)

2 "Good to see you, Coach"

This was my first year coaching. . . I remember going to the first district meetings with all the coaches and laughing to myself as I looked around the room. 99% of the men look like the football coach you remember from middle school and high school and EVERYONE called each other "coach." Remember, this is my first year and I have never coached before but I had gained a new name. "Hey coach, will you pass the chips." As I opened the door for someone, I received, "Thanks, coach." It was hilarious. No one knew my name but everyone acted like they knew exactly who I was and just covered it up by calling me coach. BUT that was the way they acted towards EVERYONE. Imagine being in a room with 100 people, all of whose first name is COACH! Seriously, could be a Saturday Night Live skit!

I never played volleyball. I guess I knew I always wanted to be a cheerleader and volleyball is during football season. My extent of volleyball knowledge is limited to 4 years of college intermurals with Kappa. BUT, I coached two volleyball teams and absolutely loved it! If you don't already know, I am OBSESSED with my school. How much so is for another day! My sweet girls made the season so special and I loved every second of it. One of my teams actually won first place in the end of season tournament! Pretty amazing since their coach was kind of just winging it! My girls and I went out to dinner at the end of the season and they literally grilled me about Nate, dating, what it was like when I was at MMS, etc. PRECIOUS!

Then basketball season came around. Now this is a sport that I am a little more well-versed in. I played basketball at MMS and Coach Greenhill is actually still on staff here! I got to coach side by side with such an amazing person who was a big help throughout the season! Bree coached the 7A team and I coached the 7B team. My team was undefeated in district and came in first in the End of Season tournament! Again, the girls made the experience so incredible! I loved getting to know them and their families! The season ended this past Sat and honestly, I am sad to see it go.

But I can't wait until next year! :-)