Weekly Wrap Up - Week of January 28th

 

    Monday - It was mayhem, coming back from our annual meeting after being off Friday when all our offices were closed for our annual company meeting. Even though we gave our clients plenty of notice and we left our "out of office" notices on email and left updated messages on voice mail, they just didn't get it. I had so many voice mails saying I need to talk to you right now, please call me back ASAP. Let's hope Tuesday is better. 

    Tuesday  - nothing really exciting happened,

we've been having really heavy rain and a lot of wind. I hope my rain gutters hang in there. Thank goodness I got all my trees trimmed in November so no branches will be dropping through my roof and my fence is only a few years old so I don't have to worry about the wind. It can huff and puff but it won't blow my house down! 

Chorizo enjoying the rain and fresh air!

    Wednesday - Lisa and I went to Walmart after work and we captured this gorgeous sunset!

    Thursday - All the rain and excitement is over at least until the weekend when they are predicting super big storms...we'll see how that turns out!

    Friday was a fun day. I still worked all day but I had dinner plans with my two local coworkers and two of our top producers were coming in from Fresno to take us out to dinner as a thank you for all we did for them in 2023. We met up at a fairly new restaurant for Bakersfield, El  Puesto Cocina & Lounge. I had not been to this one, so I was excited to go and I really liked it! I'll just share some pictures now and caption what's going on.

The Group beginning with the blond lady bottom left, Amy, next to her Angelica, bottom right, Gabby, middle is Anusone and then me. Amy and Anusone are two of the top producers and I am so proud to be on their team, they are real go-getters and both do so much charitable work in their communities. I don't know where they get the energy. 

Amy - top producer and Angelica, my co-worker, friend and recently promoted to Transportation Manager!

Me, Anusone and Gabby. Anusone is also a top producer and entrepreneur. Gabby recently was promoted to Account Manager, so proud of her and how far she has come as well!

This is us on the way out, don't you love the decor? They actually served food in those pots and dishes, which you'll see the pictures of the food I'll share.

   

 I started out with my usual, a Jalapeno Margarita. I try to always have one so I can see if I can find the perfect one. This one was ok, not as spicy as I would have liked. 

    These were their nachos. They were so good and see how they are served on the pottery plates. I thought I had taken more pictures of the food but I didn't, this was the only one!

    We only had appetizers, but we ordered every appetizer on the menu so we could try everything. I wish they had a website or that I had taken pictures of the appetizer menu but I was having so much fun that I forgot all about it. It was such a nice end to the work week!

   

Saturday - Had a nice breakfast with my son at Dennys and then we went to the AT&T store to upgrade our phones. Mine was still the iPhone7, and now I have the iPhone14. My son upgraded to the iPhone12Pro. It's so nice to have new phones. I don't normally upgrade because I take really good care of my phone and I don't like to learn a new one, but they make it so easy now the learning curve is not as bad.

   

    Sunday - I'm going through football withdrawals. Thank goodness the Pro-Bowl is today. The wind and rain started while I was sleeping, it woke me up but I fell back asleep.

    Let me tell you it is howling out there as I finish up this post. I don't plan to go anywhere today. I hope the weather is good where you all are at and if it's not I hope you are safe. Take care all!

Today's weather, it's seems like 100 mph winds, but this says it's just 24 mph.

Happy New Year and my plans for 2024

 With a New Year visible off in the horizon, I am prompted to look back on the past year and look forward to the new year. I cannot change what happened in the past year but I can make changes that will affect my new year. One of those changes is that I want to get back to blogging. I love, love, love writing, so why am I not doing it anymore? I can name several minor reasons, but what is the underlying reason that made me stop? I come up with one thing, Covid.

Huh you say? Covid? Covid made you stop writing/blogging? Is it because you got Covid and now you have brain fog? Nope, that is not why, let me splain.

In March of 2020, Covid hit. My employer, like many others sent us all home immediately. We high-tailed it out of there carrying our computers and anything else we thought we might need for a few weeks/months of working from home. We left that place looking like a ghost town in an old Western movie, just pieces of paper floating along in the dust and wind.

So here it is 3 years and 9 months later and I am still working from home. Relegated to a little corner in my bedroom where I have just my desk, computer with double screens, and a chair. My only companion and coworker, my daughters dog Chorizo. While Chorizo is cute as heck, she is not much of a conversationalist, so mainly I speak with clients and occasionally chat with a co-worker, mostly on our intranet chat program.

CHORIZO BY MY SIDE AND DOING WHAT SHE DOES BEST

Before, when I was going to the office, I socialized, noticed things, ran across interesting stuff, and discussed it with coworkers, other employees in the building we worked in, clients and friends. Now I just see these 4 walls, 40 hours per week. At lunch instead of going with coworkers to grab a sandwich or hit our favorite Mexican food place, I walk 20 feet to my kitchen to grab whatever was left over from dinner and I watch YouTube.

Before, I knew where all the new restaurants were opening and I would visit them with coworkers or friends, now I don’t even remember what Chipotle and Rubio’s Fresh Grill even tasted like.

Before, when I was going to the office, I would make plans with friends to grab the occasional Happy Hour drink, or I would stop by my favorite stores and just wander around before going home, now I don’t even apply make up or wear anything other than jeans and a t-shirt and slippers, I don’t even know if I can still walk in street shoes!

Before I would look out my office window on the second floor and watch people fighting in the parking lot, cadets marching in the parking lot across the street where they trained police officers. I would hear the occasional accident on the busy street our office was on and we would all rush to whatever window offered the best view and discuss whose fault we thought it was. I would stop and be amused by the little squirrels that lived in the trees and sometimes would sit by my window and look in at me.

Before I was living life and finding things to entertain me, educate me, enlighten me, anger me, thrill me, confuse me and it was all fodder for my blog and my mind, keeping me active and “in the know.”

That is what Covid did! It took all that away from me!

Do I want to go back to an office? Not really. I would go back if they could figure out a way to just teleport me there, I hated the commute which was 20 miles one way and I hated dealing with the idiots that didn’t know how to drive and always felt that they needed to be where ever they were going before me because they were more important than the rest of us on the street. I like not having to apply makeup everyday and I can see that my skin also likes it. I like not having to spend money on nice office clothing and shoes. I like having Chorizo close by me all day, she soothes my soul with her entitled attitude and grumpy face.

But I loved writing, I loved my little blog and I am ready to try blogging on the regular in 2024. Not sure what I will blog about, but maybe it will make me be more alert to things in my small town and outside my window and will my family and in my heart and head. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. So, keep an eye out for me in 2024 and if I start to fall behind and get lazy, you all have my permission to call me out, you all will be my conscience!

Happy New Year to you all and may 2024 bring us all closer to the things that make us happy. May 2024 bring Peace to our world and our hearts, may it bring the knowledge to cure Cancer and Diabetes and all sorts of other diseases, may it open our eyes to the good in the world, in our small world, in our homes. It is up to you 2024 and up to each one of us to be kind, gentle and present.

Over Achiever, Perfectionist or Nut Job? You Tell me!

*ding ding ding*** Revelation time people!

 I was chatting with my coworker about life and people we’ve worked with and her kids and my kids and you know how it is, you start with one conversation and it goes off into all these tangents.

 I believe we started with Palm Sunday and whether either of us went to church or not and that led to why we should or shouldn’t have gone and then belief in God and it snowballed and before you knew it we were talking about how this new generation of kids have such a huge sense of entitlement and how it may or may not be our fault as parents.

I love conversations like this! You learn so much about each other! I was mentioning to her that I have always been an overachiever. I remembered in grade school I always wanted it to be my name that was said out loud as the person who:
1. Read the most books
2. Colored inside the lines the best
3. Earned the highest grade
4. Spelled the most words correct
5. Finished her homework first

 You know, all those things that kids get praised and rewarded for in school. It wasn’t even about the reward or a certificate, I liked hearing my name being first. This led me to work really hard. I would like to think that I wanted to excel for the sake of my parents or teachers, but nah..I just wanted to hear my name be first.

 Fast forward to present time.

 We have monthly company meetings between our three offices. In our corporate office there are probably 22 employees including the bosses. My office has 2 in it and the 3rd office has 3 employees. One part of the meeting is where a member of management reads the names of the Account Manager(s) that have retained all their accounts during the month. Everyone claps and that's the extent of the reward for our hard work!

 I work really hard at retaining my accounts but sometimes things are totally out of my control. For instance an account may not renew because they go out of business. This could be because of retirement or death or financial hardship. Hardly my fault, but if I lose that account, even for a reason totally out of my control…it counts as a loss on my part and my name is not read. That kills me! That should not count against me!

 Once after a meeting I was complaining about that very point to my coworker and she said, “Why do you care so much? You know it was not your fault and that you couldn’t retain the account, why does it bother you so much?” I didn't have an answer, I didn't know why it bothered me so much. But it did!

During our conversation was when I had my *ding, ding, ding* “AH HA!” moment! I want my name to be read, I want my hard work to be acknowledged, and I’ve wanted that ever since I was a little girl. I haven’t changed in that respect! That is why I worked so hard in grade school and in junior high and then in high school. In high school I was the Salutatorian of our graduating class and I didn’t even mind that it meant that I was #2, only that it meant that my name would be called and I would get to give a speech.

 Is that Narcissism? Is that something you are just born with? Is it something my parents instilled in me? My brothers and sister are not like that. What creates that force in a person and is it a good thing?

 When I went back to school as an adult to get my Bachelors degree I was in a group that had to do projects together so we had to get together a couple of times per week to complete the projects and present them to the class. In this group there was not one person that wasn’t exactly like me! It wasn’t enough to accomplish the project and pass the class, we had to be first! We had to be the #1 group!

 Once, when we were not the #1 group, we got together and did a presentation to the professor as to why we should be first and why we should get the acknowledgement and he just laughed at us and told us it didn’t matter, the point was to pass the class. It didn’t sit well with us, let me tell you. The joy of just passing the class was not enough, we had to make do…but it wasn’t enough.

Regardless of whether I'm an Over Achiever...a Perfectionist...or a Nut Job, it's something I've been since a child and it's worked for me, so I guess there's no point in changing now....is there?

 

Birthday Goodies - Low Carb Style

I've been trying to post more often, ok…not really! What I've been doing is telling myself to try to post more often.

My sister and I use my blog oftentimes as a history of what we've done in the past and what day and where we went and what we did and what we served as food or what someone served us. But in the past year or so I haven’t been posting as I should and we’re losing track of our history.

So for my faithful readers, all two or three of you, some of these posts may be boring but they are bookmarks in time, so bear with me.

Last month my co-worker Angelica had a birthday. Angelica is not only my wonderful co-worker and friend, but she is my low-carb companion through and through. We help each other and share tips and tricks and encouragement.

During the time of my dad’s illness when I was spending every spare minute I had with dad in the hospital or at the nursing home, Angelica would fix an extra low-carb lunch to share with me every single day! I can never repay her kindness and thoughtfulness; she is a very special person.

For our birthdays, she and I try to make each other a special low-carb treat since we can’t do the traditional birthday cake and ice cream or donuts or cupcakes or whatever other things people do in normal non-low-carb offices.

We each put a lot of thought into what we are going to make for the other. For my birthday in July this year, Angelica spent the weeks before trying out different low-carb ice cream and cake recipes and she created this beauty! A low-carb Strawberry Shortcake with low-carb Vanilla Ice Cream. It was delicious!

So trust me when I say that I was stressing over what I could do to top that. But Angelica has the most powerful sweet tooth in the world! She loves herself some sweets, especially chocolate. That’s why I give her so much credit for sticking to a low-carb lifestyle.

So I knew that what I wanted to make for her was something sweet and it had to be fabulous! I hunted all over the Internet world for a low-carb recipe for Truffles. I must have pinned at least 20 recipes to my Pinterest board for low-carb recipes which you really should visit, I have some great things pinned in there.

I finally found a recipe that looked simple enough that even I couldn't possibly mess it up, so I went for it! So glad I did too as they were a big hit with Angelica and it made me so happy to see her eyes light up when she saw what I had created for her. Ok, maybe created is too strong a word, so she could see what I copied from someone else, just for her!

Now how about that?? Aren't those beautiful? And so easy to make using the recipe I found over at Your Lighter Side. Kimber, the blog creator calls them Mascarpone Choconutty Bites, which is a totally acceptable name, but since I was making these as a gift I wanted to give it a fancy name, so I call them Low-Carb Truffles. You can head over to Your Lighter Side and get the RECIPE HERE.

I did everything exactly as Kimber has in her recipe. The only thing I did different, besides change the name, is once the truffle balls were dipped in the chocolate, while the chocolate was still not set I dipped two in diced walnuts, sprinkled another two with the shaved coconut. Then I made a low-carb faux graham cracker mixture using a bit of almond meal, cinnamon and Splenda and sprinkled two with that mixture. I left two naked with just the chocolate dip on them and then "BAM" as Emeril Lagasse would say, I "kicked it up a notch" and sprinkled two with bacon bits!!! BACON and Chocolate? Have I gone mad?

Nope...I'm a genius! Those were the ones we tried first. Just take a gander! The inside was chewy and gooey and deliciously coconutty. The outside was crunchy chocolate covering and then you had that salty little bit of bacon! They were fabulous!

My co-worker/friend/life saver was thrilled! Thanks Angelica for being such a great person. I am the luckiest person in the world to work alongside you every single day, day in and day out for years upon years!!! Happy Birthday again!

 

Weekly Low Carb Wrap Up - Week Five

     This has been a tough week for me! But even with all that has happened this week which I'll detail more about in another post to follow later this week, I managed to lose one pound! Yay!!! 

     I know, it's not a lot, but imagine if you were to lose one pound per week? How many pounds would you lose in one year??? I can see you all doing the math. Let me make it easy for you...it would be 52 pounds!!! Amazing when you realize slow and steady wins the race!

     The bad thing about deciding to lose weight and eat better is that as human beings, we are a very impatient bunch! We are used to getting everything now! We don't stop to think that we didn't put on 30 extra pounds in a week, it took us a good 6 months to a year or more, so what makes us think we can lose it in a week?

     That is my mantra...slow and steady wins the race. I'm not just learning how to lose weight, I'm also learning how to cook and eat delicious food that can be eaten by me and my whole family alike. As I get older and realize that I want to avoid diabetes, which runs in most families, I know the only way to do it is to eat better and exercise.

     With that being said, let me tell you that while I stuck to my eating plan this past week, I really didn't have much time to try new things. But thank goodness for my co-worker, who decided to try to make a cookie using almond flour and coconut. I believe she found the recipe on the blog, I Breathe...I'm Hungry. These cookies are called Almond Joy Cookies and they are low carb and gluten free. 

Almond Joy Cookies

     We both discussed the fact that they were good, but could have used a little more Splenda to make them sweeter. We realize that would have upped the carb count, but as long as we are only going to eat one every once in a while it really wouldn't kill us. She too felt that maybe it would have helped to add some cinnamon for flavoring, but all in all, they were pretty good and went well with our morning coffee. She also made some cheesecake which I forgot to photograph.

     I usually like to try to make a nice meal on Sundays. It's a throwback to my mom and dad who always used to BBQ on Sunday. They would make enough food to feed an army! Last Sunday I made another Pork Tenderloin, but this time I made it the way my sister does, kind of like a pot roast. I loaded it with veggies. It look beautiful and tasted pretty good, but my familia is not big on the baked veggies and I myself like them only slightly steamed and still crunchy. But it's a pretty dish, don't you think?

     For this pork tenderloin I used a very simple dry rub, just salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, then I braised it in a cast iron skillet, added the raw veggies and into the oven it went.

     This Sunday was Easter Sunday. I was going to BBQ but it was windy in our neck of the woods and a bit chilly, so I decided to just make my famous (well famous to my family) Taco Bell Teriyaki Hamburgers with Guacamole for my son and daughter, and then for myself I decided to try a couple of new recipes that I've pinned on Pinterest. 

     The first was an Easy Cajun Chicken from...you guessed it, I Breathe...I'm Hungry! I just love her blog, so many wonderful recipes that are super easy to make. So easy that even I can do it!

     I did it exactly like her recipe except that I did not have any dried thyme so I just didn't use it. I had bought a huge pack of chicken drumsticks at the store the day before and I washed them, dried them, rubbed them with olive oil and then made the dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, cayenne pepper and dried oregano and tossed them in that, placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet and baked them at 400 degree oven for about an hour. 

     They were soooooooooooo good! The skin was crispy and spicy as heck! And the meaty part of the drumstick was juicy and delicious. I made the whole pack which was about 5 pounds so I will have plenty of leftovers to carry me through the week.
     

     To go along with it, I tried another Pinterest recipe which I found at Linda's Low Carb Menus and Recipes called Broccoli Slaw. This was very similar to my Broccoli Salad  except it didn't call for bacon and onions, so I improvised a bit and added onion salt and when I served the slaw on my plate I added bacon bits. 

     I also added some guacamole that I made for the burgers. I froze some of the guacamole as a test as I have been seeing on Pinterest that you can freeze avocado and they are really inexpensive right now. I bought these for 50 cents each! So here was my Easter Sunday Dinner...yummy no?

     So that's it for this week's wrap up. I didn't get a chance to exercise as I had hoped, but I did stay busy doing other things, which again I will post more about later this week. I'll try to exercise this week, but again...not sure it's going to be possible since I'm a pretty busy gal lately. Have a great week!

 

Meatball Sunday!

I finally broke my crock pot out of the box it came in when I bought it over three months ago and made those meatballs I told you about earlier this week. You remember, the meatballs I bought and then had to wait in traffic for hours before I could get them home to the freezer?

Well they made it home still frozen and today I tossed them into the crock pot along with a whole bottle of BBQ sauce and a jar of grape jelly (grape jelly is the secret ingredient that I didn't tell anyone about because I didn't think they would try them if they new grape jelly was in there).

I found the recipe at The County Cook and I followed it to the letter but they didn't look as pretty as hers, mine were a little bit darker. Maybe the BBQ sauce I used? Not sure.

I didn't take a photo of the ones I made and the results were mixed. Mom said they were ok, but she's not a big fan of ground beef. The son loved them! The daughter said she liked the flavor but not the texture of the meatballs. I'm kinda with the daughter, I liked the flavor but not the texture. Maybe next time I'll make my own meatballs.

I'm trying to make something new each Sunday. My kids keep asking for the same old tried and true recipes but I'm determined to benefit from the many hours each I day I spend pinning recipes from Pinterest!

Anyway, Friday was my company's holiday luncheon in Fresno which is about 2 hours north of Bakersfield. It was fun and I always love seeing my co-workers from our Fresno and San Jose offices, since we only see each other once a year but talk to each other almost every day. It was tough trying to gather everyone together for a photo. As you can see, I was camera ready but everyone else was too busy socializing!

And then when they are all ready, I decide to move my head so I'm a little out of focus...or maybe it was the wine?

 

But finally we get all the socialites and rabble-rousers out of the picture and get everyone to focus and pay attention and I think we came out great!

 

 

 

Each year they set up a luncheon for us at  Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater in Fresno. The cast there puts on an abbreviated portion of the show currently playing which this year was Beehive. It was so funny and they are such great singers. They also host a raffle where you can win prizes such as Kindles and Ipods and Ipads and bottles of wine and baskets of chocolate and stuffed animals and gift certificates. All the money goes to charity and sadly no one at my table won! But we still had a wonderful time!

 



 

 

Saturday my sister and I took my dad to breakfast. He had a good time and bought himself a little 1955 Chevy model car that they had for sale, so he was a happy camper to have had breakfast with his girls and a toy to play with later!

 

 

 

Then my sister and I took off for Valencia to do some Christmas shopping and share in a little sister-time. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures except the one of the Guacamole and Sparkling Pomegranate Margaritas we shared, but if I had gotten a picture, we would have been smiling because we had a great day.

 

 

 

So that was my weekend and tomorrow it's back to the salt mines. Have a good week everyone!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well I gotta say, all in all, barring getting 1 year older it was a great day! Although I did go to work the girls at work had a cake for me and a box of chocolates. Actually two cakes, one chocolate and one funfetti white cake!

Another friend gave me a canopy for my bed. I'm still debating if my room is big enough for a canopy or whether I'll feel claustrophobic. I'll post pictures if I put it up.

And my mom really surprised me with an addition to my grape/wine themed kitchen. She purchased the two grape trivets shows in the pictures below and then set up a little display along with the plates my daughter gave me. Now I've done a few tablescapes but it never dawned on me to display a tablescape under the glass top so I can actually use the table. The glass is on top and you are looking through it to see the display. Isn't my mom brilliant and doesn't she have excellent taste in gifts?

I also received a beautiful green suede jacket from my sister which I'll take a picture of once it's actually cool enough to wear a jacket since it's 108 degrees today!

My daughter took me out to a super dinner last night at Mimi's. I had my favorite Asian Chicken Salad, she had Scallops with Asparagus Ravioli - Yummo! And my mom who also joined us had Maple Glazed pork chops that were to die for! Mimi's staff was gracious enough to provide us with a dessert ensemble consisting of a brownie hot fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries and an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Thanks Mimi's. They also gave me a gift card with a free appetizer for next time I visit.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was a great weekend!

I've really been having a lot of fun the last two weekends thrift shopping with my mom on Sundays. Eddie Ross and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality have really gotten me in the mood. And even more so since Eddie is coming to California for a shopping excursion at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. I'm trying to get a little group together of me, my daughter April, my sister Lisa and my co-worker Angelica, so we can all go and meet him and shop with him. It should be so much fun I'm really hoping we can all pull it together and go!

But til then, let me show you some treasures I found the last few weeks. This isn't everything, but it's just some of my favs and the ones I can show you since I don't plan to give them as gifts. These are MINE Baby!

First off is the lovely watercolor picture by the artist Laurie Korsgaden. This photo doesn't do it justice, the colors are so vibrant and yet soft. I love it! I hung it in my bedroom to make me happy first thing when I wake up!

I also found this beautiful Candle holder, another item with beautiful, rich, vibrant colors. I love it! Even without a candle it looks to me like a work of art!

See the beautiful detailing on the bottom... and oh yes, I did crochet the doily/thingy it's sitting on. See...I am a Jack of All Trades. Thanks to my wonderful mother who taught me so well and patiently how to crochet.

and here's a close up view of the top.

Well, these are all the ones I can show you that I took pictures of. But I also bought two books that I love. One is "Napkin Folds ~ Beautifully Styled Napkins for Even Occasion" by Bridget Jones and Madeleine Brehaut and the other is "Decorative Murals" with Donna Dewberry. I just love the whole napkin folding thing even though I have never used cloth napkins. They just display so great when doing a tablescape. Speaking of tablescapes, remember my first post about them?

Well I wasn't really thrilled with the way my first one came out but today my daughter came over and saw it. She thought it looked a little bare and she was on her way to Kmart and told me she would see if she could find somethings to jazz it up a bit. Well she did, bless her lil ol heart! See...

Thank you April, just what I needed, a little pop of color. Now I love it! And, Welcome Home!

Deflowered by PF Chang's!

Oh MY! Tonight I went to a dinner meeting at PF Chang's China Bistro and it was sooooooooo yummy! This was my first time, yes...I was a PF Chang's virgin. And I'm so glad I've been deflowered!

There were eight of us there and we ate family style. I ordered Dali Chicken which is
"A rustic combination of stir-fried chicken and rich Yukon Gold potatoes in a spicy chili sauce"

We also had:
ORANGE PEEL CHICKEN - Tossed with fresh orange peel and a mild chili sauce,
WILD ALASKAN SALMON - Straight from the cold waters of our 49th state,
CRISPY HONEY SHRIMP - Lightly battered and quick-fried in a flavorful sauce,
SALT AND PEPPER PRAWNS - Wild Jumbo Mexican Prawns stir-fried in a salt and pepper mix,
ORANGE PEEL CHICKEN - Tossed with fresh orange peel and a mild chili sauce, and two in our party order Broccoli Beef.

When the various plates full of food arrived we each took a plate, spooned some onto a clean plate in front of us then passed the plate to the right and spooned some more onto the the plate in front of us. So before you know it, the plates came full circle and you had a little bit of everything. The only bad thing is if you really liked something, you didn't know what it was, but that was a good topic for conversation.

It was a great meal and I would gladly go back again!

Office Halloween Party

The Office...Halloween

Well, I have quite a few pictures to share about yesterday's Halloween fun, but first let me start with our office Halloween Party. This is only the 2nd potluck they have had since I've been there and we really enjoy them, not sure why we don't have more.

Here's some pictures of the food. I took my broccoli salad, and I'm going to post pictures and the recipe in the next post. Angelica took an Ambrosia Salad, Michele made Monster Stuffed Bell Peppers that were really cute, Mary brought a Green Salad with a ranch-salsa style dressing and Anna brought her yummy Chicken Enchiladas with her Avocado Salad.

First, Angelica's Ambrosia Salad. It had miniature marshmallows, slivered almonds, shredded coconuts, whipped cream and Jello pistachio pudding. It's such a beautiful color, I love this picture!

Michele really went all out. She made some Monster Stuffed Bell Peppers, which were bell peppers that were dressed up with tongues and eyes and horns. Here's some before and after pictures. She was worried that after they were baked they would be ugly, and they were, but that made them look even better cause then they really did look like Monsters!

And here's a whole little family of them. Michele even grew these peppers, they're from her own garden! Michele says she simply made the stuffing using ground beef and a little bag of meatloaf seasoning, simple and soooo eye appealing!

Anna made some yummy Chili Verde Shredded Chicken Enchiladas. She used canned Chili Verde and boiled her chicken. She seasons the chicken after she shreds it. She serves them with her avocado salad made with chunks of avocado, tomato and red onion.

I wish I had taken better pictures of Anna's food, but she got there last minute and everyone was hungry and so was I!

And now pictures of some co-workers and me.

Angelica and I sharing a moment after stuffing ourselves. I think that's why we're both smiling!
And here's Mary, waiting patiently for 5pm and time to go home. She looks fed and happy too!

Anna brought her father in law to share the meal with us. He was such a nice man and he really loved the food, he had compliments for everyone!They're sitting at my workstation and I have some more pictures to post of that later. We had a great time and sent pictures to our corporate office. The President of our company sent us an Atta-Boy and said it was nice to see us getting involved.