OUT TO EAT - MUTTS

this was one of the greatest discoveries i had ever made...

on the way to the gallery to pick up my latest monkey painting (in support of the Oklahoma zoo) i saw a new restaraunt. called: MUTTS.
we had just been to a train show that our train club was at..and it was mid day, and we were hungry, so we thought to stop in there.
it was PACKED! i mean, the place was FULL!
we culdnt figure out why, all they sold was...hot dogs.
until, you ate one, then we knew!
they are GOURMET hotdogs, and by gormet, i mean luxury...not in prive, in taste...price  was ok for a fast food...
but they served hotdoges made from all kinds of different meats, like duck, for instance.

well, i HAD to try eveyr hor dog. (not all at one time, lol)
i started off with the breakfast dog..

thats a breakfast link under all of that other stuff, topped with french fries, mixed cheese, egg (scrambled, or fried, i chose scrambled) and what they call: bloody Mary ketchup (ketchup dusted with black pepper)
for a breakfast, this was really good.

craig had something very similar to the SANDYS HOTDOGS we used to be able to get in columbia, SC

. thay called it the: SWEET CAROLINE

beef dog, covered in chili, slaw and green onions. looks, and reminded me of home. :)

i had another dog as well...
couldnt resist.

HOT WING DOG...YUMMMMMY!

a get this, CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN DOG, thats right, chicken fried, as in dipped in batter and fried! the casing was a but crunchy..but it was worth it...
then its covered in crumbled blue cheese, the bun is slathered with a green habinjaro sauce and its all topped off with celery bits...
this is one of my fav hot dogs...LOVE IT! but, ill be going through the list to try each one..because they all look so good!
MICHELLE

CRAIGS 49th BIRTHDAY

the man of the hour

Craig and Daniel

a Guest, seems to always be at these family events...*sigh*

craig enjoying his standard celebratory dinner, STEAK, with a side of APPLES and a POTATO

daniels standard dinner, a BURGER with BACON on it, and "no stuff" with a side of fries.

paris bought his own dinner. a BURGER, with allot of ranch...

my dinner: SEASONED TALAPIA with a side of  SEASONED VEGGIES and Steamed BROCCOLI.

daniel and paris having a conversation...

craig chose NOT to have deseet, mainly because he was filled with dinner...so he let daniel have the dessert hed have gotten, an APPLE something, topped with a scoop of VANILLA ICE CREAM and drizzled in CARAMEL

of course that meant that paris also HAD to have his own dessert, he opted for a cheesecake.
folks, let me tell you, that was the LARGEST slice of cheesecake i had ever seen, period! hard to tell in the pic, but it looked like it was an 8oz piece, seriously.

GIFT GIVING TIME! sorry about the bag they were in, it was what was handy at the moment, lol

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE..towel. this man LOVEs trains, so it was fitting for him to have this for a gift.

craig fancies himself a kind of HIPPIE, mostly just for the tie-died stuff, and the music...so when i found these towels, i HAD to get them for him..

MORE GIFTS!

PENS! the man NEVER goes WITHOUT making sure he has a pen in his pocket, a true nerd, except he DOESNT have the pocket protector...lol (im working on that one,,lol)

PURPLE (his fav color) NOT BOOKS the size of his pockets.
one of my pet peeves about my wonderful husband is, the fact he carries around a buch of loose papers torn to the size of his pocket to write notes on as he needs to. THATS not the pet peeve, its associated tho.
when craig bends over with that massive  bunch of papers in his pockets, they ALL fall out and...scatter, and it takes craig a minute or two to gather them all up...frustrates me.
so, this was a gift  out of frustration for watching the happles smess over and over and over again...
USE THEM HONEY! i dont want too see those silly loose papers falling and blowing and getting wet anymore...

mans an eagle scout, and he also, never goes without a flashlight in his pocket. PURPLE at that!

he also, can juggle! my hubby is versitaile, lol...
so, i found these  balls, thought, well he collects them, hers some more.
ENJOY HONEY!

MICHELLE

FATHERS DAY 2011

This was craigs FIRST official fathers day as a DAD and not a step dad.
he Earned it too!
glad you managed to survive most of these tough teen years, honey! i know ill be glad when they are over with. lol

i enjoy holidays. most of them, anyway.
and i enjoy when i can share something creative with someone on one of them. it gives me the excuse to shower them with creativity.
this year, because i had found a white tie and told craig id tie-dye it for him for a gift, i decided to have daniel get a tad creative, cause hes as good an artists as i am (runs in the family, my mom drew pretty well as well), i ask (then demanded at the last minute, lol) to have him create a one of a kind tie for craig hed like and enjoy.


so, daniel put his mind to work
came up with something of a collage of craig likes.
put them on the tie.

came out pretty good.

Penfold (from Danger Mouse Cartoons) and The Tick (from The Tick, Cartoons)

Craigs a PC guy, who likes Linux over windows, so daniel drew  windows logo and crossed it out with a red bar, lol, also added CTRL, ALT, DELETE buttons for a keyboard since it is mainly the device craig uses for his PC work, job, and fun

A turtle, the LINUX name, and its logo, the penguin. 

i really like this tie. i wish daniel made me one.
craig actually wore this tie to church that day. what a great dad!

we went out to eat, of course, lol
we will always go where craig can have HIS dinner on those days set aside for him.
happens to be LOGANS ROADHOUSE (because the kid doesnt enjoy mexican)

we all usually get the exact same dinner every time. and because im restrivted on what i can have, i always try for the highest in protein, lowest in fat and carbs.

i had a salad
with a vinegrette dressing

and also had a fish dinner. with a side of seasoned veggies on a skewer. i give craig the tomato, i cant stand them, yuck!

the guys get the same dinner each time,
craig gets a steak with a side of potato, with butter, and a side of apple something (baked im thinking)

daniel gets some BBQ burger with bacon.
side is fries.

i cant eat all my dinner anymore since my gastric surgery, so i always end up taking it home, for an additional meal the next day.

after some time to eat, came the fun part. GIFTS!
i so enjoy this part, i dont think ill ever get tired of seeing people open gifts around me, as well as myself ever opening them.
but this was craigs day...so HE got the honor of all those gifts. (including that awesome tie that was hand made)

CHEESEY POOFS! craigs a HUUUGE fan of cheesy puffs... when i saw this at walmart i HAD to get it.
wasnt a bad investment either. craig told me it took him about 6 weeks to put this all away at work!

a fake turtle. he collects them, cause he loves them, stems from the time he found that baby turtle in the woods and when he went off to college, his mom "did something to it" (im guessing let it free), but he has had a love ever since. so he collects them.

picture of that turtle he got.

along with the love of turltes comes a love for lizards. so, you can never go wrong when you get anything turtle or lizard.

and the tie....AHHH! save the best for last! i really think this was the best gift, besides the person who made it, himself.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY CRAIG!


oh yes, i was there too, but i dont get as many photo op, because im ususally taking them, i do however request that a pic or 2 be taken of me.

MICHELLE

MEMORIAL DAY 2011 CELBRATION

why do WE (myself and craig) celebrate Memorial Day?
well not to honor its purpose, lol (sorry, but thats the truth)

we met on a memorial day.
and we make sure , every year that we have that chance to celebrate that moment, we do it.

the day we met, we went out to eat. dutch (so craig wouldnt feel like he was dating me), and his favorite MEXICAN place in Columbia, SC.
so, to memorialize that day, we ALWAYS go eat mexican.

this would be my 1st real celebration since my surgery (2 months prior) and i was just at the stage where i could eat real food. i had been eating real food for a little while but we were gonna see how well i did on bigger dinners, and eating out.
id been other places had a salad, or a burger, or something along those lines, but not a full meal.

so, we adventured out.
one thing about not going to a buffet, i can take hm leftovers.

we had , in the past, frequented ON THE BOARDER. as our destination of choice each year. and wed go because when we tell them its our anniversary, they give us a free desert.
but i couldnt do that anymore, because of the amount i can ijest, and the sugar amount in the desert itself.
so, we decided on a much closer destination we frequent: PUBLANOS GRILL

Dinner is the same every time.

i start with an appetizer of "relish" and cheese sauce. i chose the cheese sauce for the extra proteins (NOT the fat)

pretty common that you get free chips and the cheese dip along with  salsa as well. i didnt have the chips. (fillers! a bad NO NO) craig got the entire thing! lol

Craig, enjoying those chips. lol

 

Me enjoying a carrot chip from my small cup of  "relish". YUM!

Craigs dinner. A Shredded beef Burrito, with sides of, refried beans. Ugh! look at all that fat! high in protein tho! :)

My dinner. A Taco Salad with Ground Beef. comes with A scoop of Sour Cream, and a scoop of Guacamole.i use the cheese sauce and the relish as my dressing. so i dont use anything for extra fat added.

craig enjoying his dinner.

its funny looking at this image of craig and his dinner. i can remember sitting there after i had given up on trying to finish mine (i had about 5 bites and i was full) he can eat that entire plate. i used to be able to do that, and more, now, it just grosses me out to see him consume so much food. cause i cant do it anymore. (6 months out as i write this post, still have the same issue. cant eat nearly the amount i used to)

thats about 5 bites in, and done. couldnt put another bite in there.

proof i had to take the thing home..over half full.

our annual kiss picture. 

thats one happy couple right there. :)

2 month post op full shot picture.