Mashed Faux-Tatoes

These mashed faux-tatoes look like mashed potatoes, taste like creamy rice, but it is really cauliflower!
... This was my opening line to my family but their response was "it smells terrible"! I admit that boiling cauliflower doesn't smell like roses but I thought it really did taste good! I quite liked these faux-tatoes! They couldn't ever substitute real mashed potatoes but they are great as a vegetable side dish!
I've been a reading fool this weekend! I read the Wake Trilogy Books by Lisa McMann in two days! Once I start a book (or book series) I just can't stop though! I've got a whole week full of boy's activities ahead of me though so I need a new book to read! Do you have any book suggestions?

Ingredients
2 pounds cauliflower, trimmed
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
Boil cauliflower until soft. Mix cauliflower with rest of ingredients in blender or using a mixer. Cook on stove-top for 15-20 minutes.

Margarita Chicken

This is going to be one of those years with my boys. We've already had way too many conversations with their teachers and Abbott's testing my laundry abilities by wearing the same outfit everyday for a month! Abbott wants to be a doctor so my parents bought him a set of scrubs for his birthday. He wants to wear them everyday so I have to sneak into his room to launder the outfit while he sleeps! This is my doctor... ...or as a girl in his class calls him, "nurse boy"! Being a mom is so stressful but thankfully my wonderful sister-in-law understands, she shared this hilarious video last week...


This video does a pretty good job of summing up my life! It's crazy!
However, the upside of Abbott's determination to wear his doctor outfit everyday is that I don't have to buy him a Halloween costume! Have you ever noticed that something weird happens on Halloween? I'm not talking ghosts and goblins... I'm talking about the weather! It feels like summer right up until Halloween blows in and it's frigid every day after! I won't be fooled this year though! It may have been 80 degrees today but I am on to you Halloween... I know this is the last week of warm weather so I wanted to slip one more summery recipe in before it's all soups and spiced breads!

Ingredients
5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 can (10 ounces) frozen non-alcoholic margarita mix, thawed (I used Bacardi)
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the margarita mix, lime juice and garlic. Pour 1 1/4 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 4 hours. Rotate half way through marinading. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.
Drain and discard marinade, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and grill or saute the chicken to cook. As the chicken cooks baste it with the the remaining marinade (that you covered and saved in your fridge).

Spanish Rice

Due to some outrageous medical bills we've been eating at home every night (which I love) but we have to eat the cheapest meals we can (which I hate). Our cheap meals are usually hot dogs, noodle soup, hamburger helper, burritos, grilled cheese, etc. All junk type foods with no fresh fruits or vegetables :-( Why are cheap meals also the most unhealthy meals? I gotta tell you, it really tweaks my melon!

Anytime someone says "tweaks my melon" I always hear in my head "I gotta tell you Travis, it really tweaks my melon to see a buff bro like Crawl here get weeeeezed on by a greasy scumbag like you! Now let's chow down here and munch on some grindage!" I'll give anyone a hug that can name that movie! Also, anytime someone says "Yippee Ki-Yay" I finish it with something in my head too... but that's not really blog appropriate ,-)

So, anyways! To save money I thought I would make my own Spanish Rice! We were bummed though, this recipe wasn't very flavorful. Don't stop reading yet though, this rice has potential! Justin added some salsa to his and it was much better so I'm going to give this rice another try but substitute salsa for the tomato sauce! I'll let you know how my 2nd try turns out ,-)

Ingredients
1-2 tablespoons oil
2 cups white rice
1/2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (next time I am using 1 cup of salsa instead)
1/2 onion, minced
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
5 cups water

Directions
Heat oil in skillet and fry rice until light brown. Add tomato sauce and stir. Add onion, bouillon and water to the rice, stir well and cover. Bring rice mixture to a boil, over medium-high heat. Once liquid level has dropped below the rice, turn heat down to low and simmer 30-35 minutes. Move rice to see if liquid remains. If so, keep simmering. Once rice is done, you may crack the lid to let steam out and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving (this helps the rice dry out a little and not be so sticky).

Taco Cups

After 30 years as a police officer and detective, my wonderful dad retired from the Blue Springs Police Department a few weeks ago! His career was so spectacular that September 17th is now "Troy Pharr Day" in the city of Blue Springs! He had a huge retirement bash at city hall, which was covered by a couple local papers...
Kansas City Star Article
Blue Springs Examiner Article
My mom asked my cousin and me to cater the party... yikes! So we made a few appetizers (stuffed strawberries, bruschetta, chocolate covered pretzel sticks, etc.) but the most popular appetizer were these Taco Cups! The boys enjoyed them so much that we had to make them again, they are so yummy!

Ingredients
Tostitos Scoops Chips
Seasoned Taco Meat
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour cream (put the sour cream in a pastry bag with an icing tip)
Sliced black olives, drained

Directions
Get a Tostitos Scoop, spoon on some taco meat (I used a melon baller spring scoop), spoon on some salsa, sprinkle on some cheese, use an icing tip and bag to pipe on the sour cream, and top with an olive slice!

These are so easy to make and the boys have a blast assembling them!

This is Andrew making our Taco Cups (for my email readers, I think this animated picture will only work on my website).