Celebration!

So two family members this week have or had a birthday. It's a busy time of year for birthdays in our big family. One happens to be for my brother here in Tennessee. We celebrated it yesterday because of work and well, work...

So there's a recipe that is pretty darn amazing that we make only for special occasions. I think the last bit is a little ridiculous because it is SUPER easy to make. Like, you literally throw everything into a pot or crockpot, or roaster, or probably the oven in a hotel pan... Hmm, I should try that. And let it cook for like 5 hours. Or more if you're not home.

This Chalupa recipe comes from my grandma on Dad's side. Grandma from Hawaii is what we call her. Yes, I have relatives who live in Hawaii. Anyway, our favorite way to eat it is super hot on rice with salsa, sour cream, ect. It an also be eaten as a chip dip, in burritos, with eggs for breakfast, cold and pretty much any way you want it. Chalupa freezes brilliantly, so it makes a good freezer meal.

So yesterday I made Chalupa and a white chocolate cheesecake. Yesterday morning was actually really productive. Elsa and I walked to the store (about a mile each way), picked up ingredients for sushi that I'm planning on making later this week or next week and a cake pan. Lisa didn't have a cake pan to make the cheesecake in which I thought was hilarious because back at home I think I have at least nine pans varying in size. And that's just the round ones... Anyways, it was a good walk/run and counted as my exercise for the day.

By noon, while Skyping with Mom, I realized just how productive of a morning I had had. I had put on laundry and done dishes, made dinner, made dessert, exercises, gone shopping and gotten Elsa ready for the day. That meant by lunch time, I had nothing to do and could just relax. It was awesome. I watched stuff, read stuff and ate chocolate. It was peaceful.

Samuel came home early, but had work to do around the house, so I cleaned upstairs, did more dishes and hung out with Elsa. Dinner turned out amazingly. Everything tasted delicious and the cheesecake while I was a little dubious about how it had turned out, was super good. I garnished it with fresh raspberries and dark chocolate drizzle.

So it was a good celebration with good food making for a quiet pre-birthday celebration.