Thank you for all your responses to my last Everyday Adventures post. I am so glad that so many readers love my keeping it real posts that share a look into my everyday life. I plan to keep sharing them a few times a month. 

I just realized that I am keeping it very real with that muffin picture… poor lighting, dirty counters, and not so pretty muffins. But that is what my kitchen looks like the majority of the time. I am guessing that yours look similar. When you use your kitchen a lot you often have random food waiting to be put away, dirty counters, and a sink full of dishes. 

My daughter and I recently did a baking/cooking day. We made five meatloaves, gluten free banana muffins, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, rice, and more. 

We stocked the freezer, gave a meal to a friend, froze some food for a family member that had surgery recently, and froze a few things for us to use over the next few weeks. It was a lot of cooking, but was so worth it. 

And in the spirit of keeping it real dinner last night was a total fail. I saw a crock pot recipe online that looked great. It had tons of great reviews. The recipe though looked like it was missing something.

It was one of those recipes that I just wasn’t sure about. The ingredients didn’t look very flavorful and the cooking time seemed really long even for a crock pot recipe.

My gut told me that it might not work, but the reviews were great so I gave it a try. I should have stuck with my gut instinct. It was a totally fail.

We saved it by covering it in cheese when we ate it… It was dry and it was lacking in flavor. I will not be making it again. I don’t even think I will try to adapt it to make it better. 

I might love to cook and run a food website, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have cooking disasters like everyone else. Some recipes and experiments just don’t work like you hope that they will. 

This is my new favorite way to drink hot chocolate. I have been putting a little caramel sauce in my hot chocolate for years, but my daughter recently bought chocolate whipping cream and it is so good. It makes hot chocolate even better! 

Tacos and taco salad are on the menu plan at least once a week at our house. It is easy to make and everyone loves it. Don’t feel bad about serving the same meal every week. If your family loves it, serve it as often as they will eat it. 🙂 

A few weeks ago my daughter had course that she had to take in the Dallas, Texas area. My husband and I decided to go with her. Dallas is only a few hours drive and there is so much to do in that area. 

When we travel we love to visit bookstores. Texas has some great ones. I did a quick search before we left looking for used bookstores that we hadn’t been to before. We decided to visit Recycled Books in Denton. 

Recycled Books might be my new favorite used bookstore. Or at least one of my favorites. It is amazing. It is three stories of used books. They have some other stuff, but it is mainly books. We spent at least three hours there looking around. And we left with a big book of books. 

I am going to do a full review soon over on From Our Bookshelf, but if you live in Dallas area or plan to visit there you need to visit Recycled Books in Denton.

If you love reading and books be sure to check out our new Sunday Reading series over on From Our Bookshelf. Every Sunday we are sharing a favorite Christian book. We share all kinds of books on our book site, but this is a fun way to share some of our favorite Christian reads. 

When we were in Texas we visited WinCo. That probably sounds odd to many of you. But I am in Oregon girl, born and raised there. My family has shopped at Winco for years.

When I saw a Winco across the street from the hotel I knew we had to go in. Sometimes you just need a little reminder of home, even if it is just a quick stop inside a grocery store. 

We saw this when we were looking around WinCo. You remember that popular green pudding “salad” that everyone made back in the 1980’s and 1990’s? It was a staple at church dinners, potlucks, and picnics. Well apparently it is making a comeback.. Or at least enough of a comeback for stores to sell it. 

Maybe this has been around for awhile. I know Resers is a company in the Pacific NW. But I have never seen this salad sold in a container like this.

Really are people loving this “salad” again? And can I just say that if you love Pistachio Salad it takes like five minutes to make and will be much cheaper made at home. Just saying… 🙂 Have you ever had Pistachio salad? Do you love it or hate it? 

I hope that you have a great weekend!