Goodbye, Houston Rodeo!

Every night for the past few weeks, the streets around my apartment have been full of idling buses and people carrying giant stuffed animals. It's been frustrating to get anywhere since the rodeo apparently gives everyone the idea that it's okay to stop in the middle of the road and turn left from right lanes. But it's finally over!

Will and I went after work a week and a half ago and saw Blake Shelton. But we enjoyed the fried foods and rodeo events more. Mutton bustin' is absolutely my favorite spectator sport. We also rode a scary ferris wheel. Someone, not naming any names, was a little scared we were going to fall out. Last week, though, a little girl DID fall out of one of the rides, so I guess it's not that insane.

Fried Oreo (we also tried fried Snickers), probably all stuck in Will's teeth.

It's hard to say how it stacks up against the State Fair. I'd say the State Fair could use a calf scramble and more impressive concerts, and the Rodeo could use more creativity in their fried foods (and more common sense from the people who attend).

Cheesy enchilada casserole

This casserole has made it into Will's top 5 favorite things I cook. I don't know if that's a testament to how good the recipe is or just how bad my cooking is. In fact, I think he only named 4 things, so it's probably the latter. (If you're interested, the list goes Crunchy Onion Chicken, Salisbury Steak, this casserole, and Southwestern Casserole. They are all really hard to screw up).

I found this casserole on Pinterest, of course, and it's super easy. A lot of ingredients, but nothing very complicated.

Ugly, but so good. Just like most things in life. 

You can go here for better photos and a better description of how to make it.

Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- A large onion diced, but I used onion powder. My eyes appreciated the substitution.
- 2 1/2 cups salsa. I didn't buy enough so it was more like... 1 1/2
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning (reduced-sodium so you can pretend you're being healthy)
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- A few 8-in tortillas. I used flour, the ruler of all tortillas.
- A can of drained corn. They say small can, I just used part of a big can and ate the rest while I waited for it all to cook.
- 3/4 cup sour cream ... or whatever suits your fancy.
- Shredded Mexican cheese. They say 2 cups, but err on the side of way too much.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I didn't do this and had an agonizing wait for dinner.
2. Brown the beef/turkey, drain.
3. Stir in salsa, beans, corn, dressing, sour cream, taco seasoning and cumin.
4. Spoon a layer of meat mixture into a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Put a tortilla on top. (Side note: The woman from the link above cut off the edges of her tortillas and fried them and added cinnamon and sugar. I hate frying, but it sounded like a good idea, so I buttered my leftovers, sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them, and baked them on a cookie sheet with the casserole until they were crisp.)
5. Repeat the layering a time or two and then top it all with a whole bunch of cheese.
6. Cover (they say foil, but I just used the baking dish glass cover) and bake for 25 minutes-ish.
7. Ta-da! Bring the leftovers to my house (seriously, that's a very important part of the recipe).

One more baby tasting a lemon

But this one's a special one! I visited the family a couple weekends ago and we fed Jonas his first citrus. And he loved it! He kept bringing my dad's hand back to his mouth so he could have more. He barely even made a face, but here it is.

And of course, some non-lemon photos because he's just too cute (and too big) to ignore.

Guilty.

Lured over by the iPhone.

New rug

Bought this rug from Urban Outfitters. It serves absolutely no purpose in my bedroom besides making me look cooler than I am. I would've taken a picture of the actual thing, but that would've required picking up all the dirty laundry on my floor, and I'm just not that invested in this blog post. I reserve that kind of effort for actual in-person visitors. So come visit my new rug!

Shameless self-promotion

Sorry for the lack of posts, Mom ... er, I mean, readers. I haven't been busy, unless busy being lazy counts. But I'm on my game right now, so be prepared for an onslaught of posts, followed by an inevitable lull, and then hopefully another deluge. It's just how I work, people.

First up, here are some articles I've done for work. I've been doing a lot of boring ones lately, so I'm reminding myself that I occasionally research interesting topics.
Famous people with boring twins: I'm glad my siblings are normal.
College secret societies: Using every chance I get to mention the NoZe Brothers.
Foreign remakes of American shows: I'd rather watch these Russian episodes of The Nanny and Married with Children than the originals.
Best Valentine's TV episodes: Yeah, I know. I'm a holiday late.
Undeserving Oscar winners: This was written before this year's Oscars. Are there any to add now?