Cookies, Menus, Mexican, and Penguins

How's that for a nice, random title? It really does capture most of what I have to share today though, so it works! This weekend was nice and low key- I had a lot of reading to do for school, and the hubs worked and had stuff of his own to do. One of the things I did to break up all the reading was to make one of the desserts I shared on Friday. Peanut Butter Pretzel M&M cookies= WIN. I made them regular cookie sized even thought the recipe calls for bite sized cookies because, well, who wouldn't want more cookie? They were still soft and chewy 2 days later and had a great flavor from the combo of the salty, crunchy pretzels and chocolately m&ms. YUM

Another thing I did was make a little gift. My brother's girlfriend lives several hours away, and we don't get to see her much. They had planned to visit together in January, then it didn't happen. As a result, I still have her Christmas gift! Plus her birthday is in January, and looking over her stuff I realized it needed one final thing.

Isn't he adorable? Amy loves penguins, and as soon as I saw this pattern I knew I had to make one for her. If it weren't for all the reading I had to do for school I would have made a few more- the pattern is easy and entertaining. If you are interested in making your own Penguin Popper, you can find the pattern here. 

The hubs and I actually planned ahead and did our grocery shopping yesterday, at the beginning of the week. Usually we end up running out of a lot of stuff and stopping after a long day of work and school Tuesday or Thursday. We're tired, usually hungry, and its just not a good time! 

While we were out and about, we stopped to get dinner at Azteca, which is a small Mexican restaurant in Fredonia. We had eaten there a few times before but it had been a while. I practically had to beg the hubs to eat there- for some reason he wasn't feeling it. Boy, was he glad we went!

They give you a warm bowl of corn tortilla chips and homemade salsa while you decide what to order. Any restaurant that gives me complimentary food while I browse the menu gets a gold star! It turns out we were pretty hungry, so there's no photo of the chips, but I did manage to snap a photo of the salsa that was left! 

Then it came time to order. The hubs got the burrito tejano, which the menu describes as "One large burrito filled with steak, beans, rice and pico de gallo.  Served with melted cheese on top; lettuce and guacamole on the side." I only nabbed one bite of it, but it was good! 

The photo doesn't do it justice- this was a BIG burrito! He ate just over half and then decided my dinner looked good, and helped me out :)

I ordered the Chilaquiles, which are "Nachos stuffed with nacho cheese, chicken and grilled mushrooms.  Served with Spanish rice and guacamole salad." This dish isn't as unhealthy as it sounds, the corn tortilla chips are only on the bottom with plenty of chicken and grilled mushrooms on top. There wasn't a ton of cheese (but still enough to have the melty factor!) and I only ate about half (with the hub's help). 

It was good good good. And I love that they serve you a plate with rice and lettuce, tomato, and guacamole on the side. You can customize your meal as you like!

We couldn't finish our plates, so we both took some home for leftovers, which brings me to my menu for the week!

Monday: leftover Mexican

Tuesday: leftover casserole from Saturday (potato, ham, and cheese with corn!)

Wednesday: Breakfast Casserole (using up some ham, sausage, potatoes, cheese, and maybe eggs?)

Thursday: either pack or eat out

Friday: Pasta with aspragus, broccoli, and polska kielbasa

I also plan to do more baking this weekend. It works out well to bake and then send at least half to work with the hubs! That way we still can enjoy treats without having an entire batch taunting us :)

I'll probably go with the chocolate chip cookies from Friday's post since I had such good success with the other recipe!