Mesa's Place

The last week my extreme desire for autumn to arrive has really been kicked into overdrive.  I'm itching to pull out my decorations and deliciously perfect fall candles.  I long for mildly warm days and cool evenings.  For that crisp smell that wafts in with the breeze which unmistakenly announces the season.  For the pumpkin and apple cider flavored everything! There is no doubt the fall is by far my favorite and I love everything about those couple months. Every year around this time I start to nest.  Not like I'm knocked up nest, but settle in for the 'colder months'.  I start to get my home in order and create a happy and comfortable environment since more time is spent inside during the later seasons.  And I must admit, it is the final 4 months of the year that my home really does feel the most cozy. I try to start in September, even though there are usually several, if not most, days that are summer-like.  But fall and spring seem to ...

A little over a year ago this recipe was everywhere I looked on Pinterest and I couldn't resist trying it out.  At the time I was living with my [then] boyfriend and his 2 elementary age boys, one of whom was an extremely picky eater.  Lucky for me, the meal was a hit and they didn't know that I had used healthier ingredients. About a month ago I joined a Beachbody challenge and armed with what I have learned there along with my extensive Weight Watchers knowledge, I made it for myself last night (planning to freeze some of the leftovers for a later time). I make no claims for creating this, I honestly have no idea where the first one came from with all the sites I found that had it listed.  I also do not want anyone to think this is the healthiest version out there, (I know there are several clean eating versions where you basically make pizza sauce from scratch, etc.) but this is the version that works for me, and is fairly quick- you can obviously make chang...

A couple months ago I was surfing the webs for recipes involving bacon because, let's face it, to most men it is considered its' own food group and my boyfriend is no exception.  I found this delicious looking recipe for Bacon Chicken Dumplings, promptly printed it out and purchased the ingredients for us to make that night. Long story short, it was delicious... and enough to feed an entire college campus at 2am on a Friday night.  We were juggling pots and pans like the Ringling Brother's Circus !  "But the recipe says a large skillet," Boyfriend had said as we pulled out a third pan to accommodate the growing proportions. The boys (Sauce who is 7 and Pants who is 9) loved it.  Pants is a very picky eater and not usually a fan of chicken unless it is deep fried and covered in ketchup but he devoured his serving and even came back for seconds.  After the overwhelming response, Boyfriend and I decided we needed to make the recipe again but we made some c...