Mimmsical Creations

Wow. It has been a lot longer than I thought since I posted here! I took an unexpected/unplanned break!


I've decided to jump back into blogging, but I'm going to do so at a new blog home! I hope you all will come visit me again over at my new place!


Off Center Studio - http://offcenterstudio.blogspot.com/.


I hope to hear from some of you who used to stop by here!! I've missed you! :)


Hugs,

Tammy

Today's Wishcasting Wednesday prompt is: Where do you wish to go?

I wish to go:

• to Oregon - permanently!
  
• to Italy - wine country
  
• forward
  
• to Hawaii
  
• back to NYC again!
  
• into a place of authentic creativity and self.

Wishcasting Wednesday prompt:

"What do you wish to become?"

Short, sweet and to the point. I wish to become the "real me". I'm working on that!

During Circe's Circle last week, Jamie led us on a guided visualization. (I have had some amazing things happen during guided visualizations in the past - I had a conversation with Merlin, the wizard, once!)

In this one, she took us to 10 years in the future to converse with ... well, ME. I saw the real me - the Phaedra side of me - living on the coast in Oregon - being the person I know I am and the real me.

I want to get to that point before 10 years from now!

You may have noticed - I haven't been posting nearly as much lately as I used to.

Part of the reason for this is that I haven't been feeling well for several months now. I have been dealing with migraines for many years now. I've had many doctors tell me "there's nothing wrong with you"... But then why does my head feel like it's going to explode?! On a bad week, I have 4-5 migraines. On a good week, maybe 2.

Since about October, I have been taking a daily medicine to try and prevent the migraines from ever starting. The medicine is an anti-convulsant that is now being used for migraines. It is EXPENSIVE (even with insurance) and I am realizing - the side effects are worse than any benefit I'm getting from it! I've given it a good long try, but yesterday, I went to see my doctor and I am stopping it!

I feel like I have the flu about 90% of the time on it. I am achy, and exhausted all the time. I have had a couple of "episodes" where I couldn't form complete thoughts and sentences because I was so completely exhausted. It was a bit scary. It felt like I had mono again truthfully. Many mornings, I wake up more tired than when I went to bed. It is hard to function when you feel like that all the time.

So - my energy level has dictated my blog posting. I haven't wanted to really post about how I feel all the time, but I guess I wanted to share now! :) I am tapering off of the old medicine over the next few days, and I'm starting a new medicine that apparently is being used to try and prevent migraines now... It's an anti-depressant. (Migraines ARE depressing!) So, I'm hopeful that I'll start feeling better over the next couple weeks! (Mike is too!) Maybe I'll have more things to share if I start having actual energy to do anything outside of the house!!

I normally don't like Rachel Ray. She annoys me for some reason... however, she does have good recipes on her show now and then. On this particular day, she was featuring eggplant, so I kept it on to hear the recipe! Boy, am I glad I did. This recipe was YUMMY! It was supposed to be a 30-minute meal, but it definitely took me longer than that. It was still a pretty easy meal overall though - and really tasty! And it was pretty healthy too! :) (The recipe features a side of orzo too - I only made the eggplant though.)

First you slice up two smallish eggplants into about 8 slices (length-wise). This is a bit tricky in my opinion! Brush each slice with olive oil and grill both sides for about 4 minutes each. (Grill pan - I don't have an actual grill!) While the eggplant is grilling - sauté some garlic, diced roasted red pepper (from a jar), and thawed frozen spinach. (you're also supposed to put in diced olives - I forgot them!)

Once your eggplant is done and your veggies are sauteed, lay out the slices of eggplant on a baking sheet - put a few spoonfuls of the veggie mixture on each slice of eggplant. I put a few crumbles of feta on each slice at this point too (though the recipe didn't call for it!)

Then spread a couple big spoonfuls of hummus on each slice and top with breadcrumbs! Bake the whole tray for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy - it's really good! :)

Inauguration Day. I have never been so aware before of a day like this in our history. I am aware today. I can't turn off the TV!

My high school alma mater marching band is in Washington DC today. They were chosen to march in the parade there! How cool is that?! I marched all four years of my high school career (except when I had knee surgery!) I was on the color guard and played either French Horn or Bass Clarinet in concert band.

I went to Windsor (about 15 miles from where I live now) last Wednesday afternoon to watch the band in a mini-parade for the community in preparation for their trip. They looked awesome! I hope they rock today in Washington and enjoy the amazing experience they are having! I also have a short video of them playing. You can see it here. I can't get it to embed correctly on my blog this morning!

I wanted to share our holidays with you, even though they are well past! Mike's birthday falls right before Christmas. We had quite the crazy couple of weeks filled with celebrating and presents! Mike was very good to me for Christmas! Not only did he buy me a couple things that I had put on my "list" - he surprised me with other unexpected things too! Project Runway - Season 4 DVDs were on my list! Yay! Amazing, superb jewelry was a surprise!!

The gift wrap was also entertaining! Mike does not do gift wrap. I'm lucky if anything is even sort of wrapped. He sort of outdid himself with one of my gifts! It was wrapped in a brown paper bag (from a local restaurant) and "taped" with tape from a lint roller that he tore into strips. So lovely! And then right next to it was the lovely present that the jewelry store wrapped for him - what a contrast! We had a good laugh about that!

We enjoyed our low-key holidays. We spent a lot of time enjoying our new TV and blu-ray/playstation as well! I did a lot of cooking of recipes that I got from spending way too much time watching the Food Network - my new addiction!

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits - a little bit of southern heaven in a pan from Paula Deen. Yummy!!

And Brussel Sprout cooked with Pancetta - WOW! I can't remember which show these were on! But, man, were they ever good! I also made these hash browns from Tyler Florence. Of course, they weren't as easy as he made them look - but they were tasty!

And just because I have some really adorable photos of our cats, and I haven't shared any in a while - here are some great shots! :)

I'm a day late on this one, but I want to play! Wishcasting Wednesday prompt for this week is:

What do you wish for your creativity?

Well, now if this isn't the perfect wish for me to jump on! On Tuesday night, I actually got on the phone and joined into the first call of Circe's Circle with the amazing Jamie and Suzie! We have a small circle for the group - just the three of us, but it is going to be a wonderful and magical 12 weeks - I can just tell already!

On the first night of our circle, we talked mostly about our creativity.

My creativity has a name and a personality of her own. While I had thought about this before, I had never given voice to her actual presence and being. I gave her a name and traits. Or rather, I let those things surface. They are already hers - and therefore, mine too.

My creativity is named Phaedra. (Phaedra is Greek and it means bright.) She wears flowy, "hippy" clothes - flowery print dresses, loose flowing skirts and shirts, bright colors, mismatched colors, stripey socks, fabulous shoes (that might or might not match the clothes she is wearing!) Loads of jewelry! She is someone you would notice on the street and think, "Wow! I wish I could pull off wearing something like that!" She is comfortable no matter what situation she is in.

She is a Libra (which is also my sign). She loves art, dresses for the occasion, is a perfectionist, is bossy and detailed. She loves beauty, attention, color, texture, and intellect. She dislikes noise, pressure, deadlines, and criticism.

Phaedra lurks just below the surface of my own personality. Glints of her come through now and then, but for the most part she remains hidden. I feel her bubbling there most of the time, but I am scared to let myself become her, or allow her to become me.

One of our homework prompts for the week is to collect things, images, words, whatever that might be for Phaedra, or representative of her. (our creativity) This image is for her. I took it before we started Circe's Circle. It is the window in my new home office. It is for my creativity - FOR SURE.


My wish for my creativity for 2009: for Phaedra and Tammy to merge. For me to be her - her to be me. For the fear of letting her bubble to the surface to disappear.

I am WAY behind in posting about this wonderful package I received in the mail a couple weeks ago! I was very surprised!

The wonderful Mary Ann sent us a great package for our wedding! It was so fun to find this out of the blue package from her with such lovely stuff in it!

Jamie has been hosting Wishcasting for some time now and for 2009 she is changing how things are done. Each week, she will post the Wishcasting prompt at her blog. Then YOU (or in this case, ME!) answer the question and submit the link to your blog post at her blog. It's a wonderful way to track your wishes and dreams!

The first prompt for 2009 is:

What do you wish for in 2009?

My wish has often involved moving to Oregon. That hasn't changed! My wish for 2009 is for Mike and I to actually get moved to Oregon! We have been dreaming of this for so long and it hasn't happened yet. We both want it so bad.

We have talked about why it may not have happened yet, and there are good reasons... but it's time I think! My intent and true wish for this year is to see us pack up and move and start our new life in a new place! I'm keeping the ocean in my sights!

One of the things that Mike got me for Christmas, along with many other wonderful things (which I'll post photos of soon!), is a copy of the movie Mamma Mia! I saw this in the theatre a while back, and of course - being a huge ABBA fan, I loved it. Had to own it!

Like ABBA's music, it makes me happy - it is a totally campy, cheeseball movie, but I loved every minute of it.

The thing that surprised me was how sentimental I got during the movie. And in rewatching it on DVD, I'm really realizing how much I miss my friend Travis. He instilled my love of all things ABBA in me. We listened to them all the way to Canada and back on our road trip back in 1995. We watched Priscilla, Queen of the Desert countless times! I can't tell you how many times I would get home while we were roommates to hear Gimme, Gimme, Gimme cranked up on the stereo!

I find myself getting a little teary while watching this movie. I miss Travis very much. We were friends from childhood. He died in January of 1996 - almost 12 years ago. He was just barely 21. He had cystic fibrosis. One of my only regrets in life is that we had a falling out a few months before he died. We talked only once more after our "fight" and never really got the chance to make up. It has taken me a very long time to work through that.

This movie would be so much better with Travis laughing and singing along with me. He is there in spirit I'm sure! If Travis were still here, he would approve of Mike and be friends with him too, I'm sure of that! :)

I realize there are still a few days left in 2008, but I thought I would post my book list for the past year now anyway! I have read 60 books this year, and I listened to five on audiobook also. Of the 60, 27 were new books that I had never read before, and 33 were re-reads. The audiobooks were ones I had read, but hadn't listened to! I kept track using www.listigator.com.

First Time Reads (in the order I read them):
1. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
2. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
3. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
4. The Naming by Alison Coggin
5. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult
6. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
7. Something Blue by Emily Giffin
8. Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
9. Midnight Champagne by A. Manette Ansay
10. There's a Slight Chance I Might Be Going to Hell by Laurie Notaro
11. Crazy as Chocolate by Elisabeth Hyde
12. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
13. Cooking for Mr. Right by Susan Volland
14. Just Like Heaven by Marc Levy
15. I Did, But I Wouldn't Now by Cara Lockwood
16. The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb
17. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
18. Love and Meatballs by Susan Volland
19. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
20. The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris
21. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
22. The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory
23. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
24. Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives by Guy Fieri
25. A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton
26. Gypsy Masala by Preethi Nair
27. Sage-ing While Age-ing by Shirley McLaine

Re-Reads (also in the order that I read them, but they were mixed in between the 1st reads!):
1. Julia's Chocolates by Cathy Lamb
2. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
3. Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts
4. Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
5. Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn by Kris Radish
6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
7. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
8. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
9. The Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
10. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
11. A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
12. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
13. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts (NR) (yep, re-read this one twice in one year!)
14. Born in Fire by NR
15. Born in Ice by NR
16. Born in Shame by NR
17. Blue Dahlia by NR
18. Black Rose by NR
19. Red Lily by NR
20. Key of Light by NR
21. Key of Knowledge by NR
22. Key of Valor by NR
23. Jewel of the Sun by NR
24. Tears of the Moon by NR
25. Heart of the Sea by NR
26. Daring to Dream by NR
27. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
28. Celia's House by DE Stevenson
29. Holding the Dream by NR
30. Finding the Dream by NR
31. The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb
32. Love and Meatballs by Susan Volland
33. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (yep, again - after seeing the movie)

Audiobooks: (I will listen to 6 and 7 in the series too, but they take a lot of time to get through on audio, so it will be next year!)
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

You'll notice - I went on quite a streak of reading Nora Roberts this year... I love her trilogies. I have read my favorites numerous times. For some reason mid-year this year, I didn't want to read anything new - just "comfort" books. Stuff I knew I liked, etc. There was a lot going on in my life, and I think this was one place I could have something familiar without change!

Next year, my goal is to read at least as many books as this year - and to read a few more new than I did this year! I have a list started of new books I want to read. Not necessarily new publish-date wise, but new to me! :)

Any recommendations for me? I'm sure I will have some of the same books on my list next year that I have on my list this year... I am a creature of habit when it comes to reading. I love to re-read my old favorites pretty regularly!

Do you do this too? Or once you've read a book is that it? Do you move on to something new? Also - do you always buy your books, or do you use the library? I used to always use the library as a kid. Then I worked at Barnes and Noble for a number of years. I own MANY books. I love having them in my possession (in case I want to read them again!) But this year, I did use the library a bit more than I have in the past... I am bad about getting books back on time. Not because I haven't finished, I almost always have... I just forget to get it back by the due date!

Happy Reading in 2009! I have a stack of new cookbooks calling my name at the moment! :)

Well, I went and did something really dumb last night. Something I have done many times, and never thought about!

I wanted a coke... I couldn't get the plastic rings off of the bottles, so I used a knife to cut them... only the knife slipped and sliced my hand open as well! Yikes!! It hit me in the fleshy part of my palm right under my left thumb. OUCH!

It is a pretty deep cut. We probably should have gone to urgent care last night, but we were able to stop the bleeding with pressure and it seemed like it was OK. Then I realized - I have NO idea how long it has been since my last tetanus shot... so, it was off to the urgent care this morning instead.

The doctor thought maybe it could have used stitches, but since it had been a while since it happened, he couldn't do any at this point. (It was iffy whether it needed them anyway...) So he put on the steri-strips to hold it closed, gave me a shot, and sent me on the way (2 hours of waiting later). Now, not only does my hand hurt, my arm hurts too from the darn shot!! Sheesh!

Oh well - it could have been much worse, of course. And I'm covered on my tetanus for 10 years now! And because it took so long waiting - we went out for lunch instead of breakfast to our favorite new place - Cafe Athens! Yummy Greek food! :) I took a very long, cozy nap when we got home.

My cookie-baking plans for the weekend have been foiled. I have to keep my hand all wrapped up for several days... Darn!

Moral of the story... don't use knives to open things they shouldn't be used to open! :)

Jamie at Starshyne Productions tagged me with a new meme!

The rules are:

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Copy these questions (originally 8, plus Jamie's added 9th, and my own 10th) but add your own answers to them
4. Add one question to the last one, don’t forget to answer your own question
5. Tag as many as you feel like but you have to a least tag one
6. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
7. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
8. If anyone catches this out in blog world is welcome to jump on board


The Questions:


1. Real or Fake tree?

I haven't put up a holiday tree in many years. The last time I did was probably about 11 years ago. I had two young cats - Lissy and Oscar. (Oscar is still with me!) They got rambunctious one evening and knocked my tree (fake at the time) over and broke a whole bunch of my antique Shiney Brite ornaments. I was so mad!! I haven't put up a tree since! I have a ton of ornaments and decor, but I never get it out anymore! I should pass it on to someone who would use it I guess!

2. How many do you expect at your family holiday dinner?

On Christmas day, it will just be Mike and I. We have made it our tradition to stay home on the day of - just the two of us. I make a breakfast casserole for the morning and then we do something different each year for our meal. Last year I made Cuban food. I'm not sure what we're doing this year yet!

3. Do you know one of your great great grandmother's name?

I honestly cannot remember either one. I feel like I should know, but I can't find it in the old memory! I knew my grandparents, but not my greats, and definitely not my great, greats! I'll have to ask my mom for some names! (My paternal grandmother was Lula Annis Travis, and my maternal grandmother was Elma Etta Evans.)

4. Did you have chocolate today?

Not yet, but the day is young!

5. Do you visit all of your blogging friends everyday?

I definitely try to. I don't make it every day, but usually at least every couple of days for sure!

6. Do you have carolers come to your home?

Never

7. What is on your feet?

Black socks with multi-colored hearts and black tennis shoes

8. Do you make Candy for the holidays?

I haven't made candy, but this year, I'm in a cookie baking mood! I saw a recipe for salt caramels yesterday that is tempting me. Maybe this will be a first for making some candy!

9. What's a favourite holiday memory of yours?

I loved my first Christmas on my own. I lived in an apartment with my (still) best friend Andrea. We got this giant (real) Christmas tree. It wouldn't even fit in the door of our apartment. It sat outside on our porch until my dad could come over and saw off like two feet of it! It was huge! (I'm not sure what we were thinking!) We way overestimated our space! It was so much fun to have our own tree in our own place though!

10. (my question) What is your favorite holiday song? (sticking with the holiday theme here!)

I get irritated by holiday music in stores this time of year. You hear the same songs over and over. And yet, there are so many good songs that you never hear! My favorite song is Silver Bells. I haven't heard it one time this season and that makes me sad!

I also really like White Christmas as sung by Bing Crosby. (actually - I like anything as sung by Bing!) I like the old classics, sung by Bing, and Frank, and Deano! :)

I'm tagging to do this meme:

1. Lila
2. Mary Ann
3. Jana
4. You!! :)

Bear with me as I make some changes to my blog!! :)

Yesterday, 12/15, was Mike's 40th Birthday!! Whoo-hoo!! We celebrated by having dinner out at Carrabba's - our restaurant of choice for celebrations! Yummy!

I went a bit crazy and found 40 presents for him - he started opening them the night before his birthday and finished last night. There was a LOT of little stuff and a few bigger things mixed in. Let me tell you - it was tough to find 40 things for someone who "doesn't really like presents"! (I think he liked his presents though!) And Christmas is just around the corner... I've been a shopping fool!

Happy Birthday Mike!

And I just decided on a present to myself today.

I am joining in Circe's Circle led by Jamie of Starshyne Productions! I have been considering this for some time - and I just decided to take the leap and join in! I'm very excited about this 12 week group! Jamie is fantasticly creative, and I know that this group will inspire and will hopefully help me kick-start my creativity and confidence!

Suzie reminded me - I forgot to mention the bread I made on Thanksgiving day!! I finally tried out the breadmaker!

I was pleased with my first attempt! It tasted really yummy! The only problem with it was that it was quite crumbly and a bit dry. I think I realized - I used all purpose flour instead of bread flour. I'm hoping that will make the difference for next time. I wasn't really paying attention! I'll try again! Next time, I'm going to make the dough in the machine and bake rolls in the oven - Suzie's thyme roll recipe has been tempting me for some time now!

It is snowing like crazy here today. I'm wishing I was home making soup and baking cookies - maybe tonight! :) Stay warm!

For our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, Mike and I stayed home on the day of! We cleaned the house like maniacs, and I cooked up a storm! We went to his family gathering on Friday, and his dad and step-mom visited us on Saturday, so it was a busy weekend!

Our menu for Thursday was rather "odd" for a Thanksgiving meal, but Mike doesn't like turkey, so I made stuff I knew he would like! I made a pot-roast with veggies in the crock-pot, creamy brussel sprouts, and rosemary bread!!

First the pot-roast:

When I asked for help in the meat department on Wednesday, the guy was incredulous that I wasn't buying turkey! Buy red meat the day before Thanksgiving! It is WAY marked down! No one is buying it! He told me it didn't really matter what cut of meat I chose if I was going to slow cook it, and he was right - it was absolutely fall apart tender after 7 hours in the crock pot!

I took my friend Andrea's advice and cooked it with a can of coke. This is supposed to make it even more tender I guess. The only thing I would do different next time is maybe use only half a can plus some water - the flavor was just a bit sweet from the coke! (not bad - just a bit sweet!)

I placed in about 4 small chopped red potatoes, 1 onion, chopped in large pieces, 4 carrots chopped in coins, and towards the end 16 oz. of mushrooms. For spices - I used 3 bay leaves, garlic, salt and pepper. That was it! I let it cook on medium heat for about 7 hours - until I could tell that the meat was totally tender. I pulled the veggies out about mid-way through because they were too soft! Next time, I'll wait and add the veggies mid-way through instead of at the beginning. About an hour before we were going to eat, I added the mushrooms (they don't take much time to cook.) YUMMY! I also did make some gravy from the liquid, but it was pretty sweet from the coke, and the veggies didn't really need gravy, so we didn't use very much of it!

Now - for the brussel sprouts. Wow. I have to say, this is one of the best dishes I have ever made!! I found the recipe online at the Dutch Girl Cooking blog (which I found via one of my favorite food blogs - Pioneer Woman). It was super yummy - if not super healthy! Mike and I both love brussel sprouts, and these were the best ever! Her recipe is very easy to follow, so I'll let you do that (plus she has step-by-step pictures!) The only thing I did wrong was I didn't see that I was supposed to cut the sprouts in half, so ours were whole. I would definitely cut them - they were a bit difficult to manouver on the plate in whole form! I WILL be making this one again (perhaps even this week as I have everything leftover to do so!) My only modification was I used half gruyere and half havarti cheese. For some reason, gouda was ungodly expensive!

I neglected to get pictures of our other cooking ventures for the weekend! I'll do better next time! For our Thanksgiving dinner with Mike's dad and step-family, I made creamed corn! I used a recipe I found online (of course!) I would have liked to make it with fresh corn, but in November, that wasn't possible, so I used organic frozen corn - and it turned out great anyway! The recipe I used is this one - I didn't make any modifications except to make the recipe a bit larger since there were quite a few people to serve! (Oh - I did add a bit of nutmeg - I had used it in the brussel sprouts and really liked the flavor, so I thought it would be good in the corn, and it was!)

On Saturday, Mike's dad and step-mom came up to our house to visit. It is easier to visit with them one-on-one than in the big group such as the day before. More enjoyable in my opinion! They requested Mike's pulled pork recipe for lunch. So, he pulled that together while I made potato salads to go with it. I will share his recipe here at some point, but I don't have it to share at the moment! (It is a TON of spices making up the rub followed by hours of baking at a low heat! Yummy!) I made two versions of potato salad. I like mine made with green olives/olive juice, but some people don't so I did another version made with my homemade bread and butter pickles. Both turned out great!!

I had fun cooking up a storm all weekend! Now, I have to get on the ball and make Christmas cookies to mail out for a swap, which I am behind on! (Thankfully my partner is OK with this!! I promise they will be on the way soon Terrie!) I have a busy weekend ahead again too! Wow! And Mike's birthday is on December 15 - he is turning 40!! Busy month for us! How is your December starting out?

So apparently cooking is my creativity lately! I am drawn to the kitchen! (Mike is happy about this development!) A few weeks ago, my best friend Andrea sent me an email recipe exchange - her recipe that she included was one that she had invented, and boy, did it sound yummy! I finally tried it out over the weekend!

Beef Mushroom Pockets

3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1 lb. ground beef, browned/drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp. butter
12 0z. sliced mushrooms
1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Brown hamburger (I always add in onion, s&p, garlic when cooking hamburger). Drain and set aside. Melt butter in a pan and add green onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted. Add ground beef, soup, and cheese and mix well.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


On a baking sheet, lay out the crescent rolls keeping two together forming a rectangle. Spoon some of the mixture into the middle of the roll and fold the sides around to form a pocket. (Press all the seams together to seal, but don't worry if there are a few holes!) Bake for about 15 minutes or until rolls look golden brown! YUMMY! (Andrea did hers a bit differently - she used two rolls on the bottom - placed a lot of filling in, and sealed the top with two more rolls. I made more smaller pockets, she made fewer, larger pockets. If you make the larger version - bake for about 20 minutes.)

For me... I would love some input from any of you who work from home. My bosses have put an offer on the table for me to work from home starting early next year. Rather than coming in to the office, I would set up at home. I don't need to be in the office for the work I do. I am not involved in the day-to-day end of things anymore. My job is all web-based, web design, and mostly independent.

I would need to come in probably at least once a week for meetings, etc. and I would have to be available to cover things at the office if needed... But otherwise, I'd be independent at home.

I think it sounds like a good deal... Mike is a bit jealous! What do you think? Have you done this before? I'd love to hear what any of you think who have worked independently at home!!