My school hosted a Superbowl Party.

We may not know who won the big game yet, but I did eat my fair share of party food and chat about football or at least pretend to know about football.

Each person on our teaching team was asked to bring a tailgate themed dish. I was stumped for inspiration as Mr. R and I aren't really tailgaters. But I turned to the brilliance of the blog-o-sphere and found a Sonic inspired dish on Mimi's Meals.

For those of you who are smart enough to avoid Sonic, you may have never tasted the fatty amazingness of chili tots or a Coney dog. You my friends are the lucky ones.

I however fell prey to Sonic my first month of graduate school. My friend Tiff and I found a Sonic in Metairie, LA and I promptly fell hard for cherry limeade and cheesy tots.

Mr. R swears by the CONEY DOG.

Mimi took the Sonic Coney hotdog and turned it into a dip that can be made in the crockpot.

I followed her recipe, but subbed the cheddar cheese sauce for Velveeta and sliced the hotdogs into bite sized pieces. I also added some diced red onion.

I served mine with Doritos.

And if you save any leftovers for your Sonic loving husband he will love you FOREVER!

February 2: Happy Groundhog Day!

My students have no idea who Punksatony Phil is! After announcing "Happy Groundhog Day!" to my homeroom, only to be greeted by blank stares... it became obvious the little brown rodent is not as popular as he used to be.

I am happy to announce that he DID NOT see his shadow and that spring is around the corner! Apparently Florida did not get the memo and instead of spring sunshine we got crazy humidity and rain.

Mr. R. and I celebrated Phil with a 2.5 mile run, small group, a 450 next meeting (for Mr. R.) and hot tea with chocolate chip cookies.

The best part of my day was the run, followed slightly by the cookies.

I am off to watch DVRed 30 rock, talk about our days, and actually get some sleep.

Oh, and I gave Mr. R. his most favorite V-day gift by far today.

Bloggers, meet Sonic's coney hot-dog in dip form.

I made the dip for a party at school, but saved a little for Mr. R. to have for dinner.

He said this dip is A-to the-MAZING!

I'll do a post on the party and the dip recipe later this week.

Toodles Poodles!

Some PREGO pictures: Weeks 24 & 25

24 weeks: still wearing normal jeans and tops.

25 weeks:

I had to retire the skinnies and all pencil skirts. I can still squeeze into my American Eagle boy fit jeans and my old navy capris and khakis. Let's all say a prayer of thanksgiving that most women's clothes contain a bit of stretch/spandex these days.

Chicken Parmesan?

If it looks like chicken parm and smells like chicken parm,

it's not safe to assume it's chicken parm.

This pregnancy has made me anti-chicken. I can't do the smell or sight.

But I can do Morningstar Farm faux chicken patties.

And they taste amazing smothered in marinara and topped with provolone cheese.

We also had Alfredo pasta with broccoli and sun dried tomatoes.

Tonight's dinner took a little longer than planned, but the Rat Pack kept me company as I cooked and we ate at the table tonight. I will spend a little more time at the stove if it gets me more quality family time with the people I love.

Also, today started DAY #1 of the fitness challenge.

Mr. R: 2.5 miles and 100 crunches

Hilary: 30 minuts of interval training on the elliptical and biceps, triceps, and chest press.

Happy Valentine's Day Mr. R!

I know V-day is 13 days away, but at Casa Republican I like to spread out the love. I think one day goes by too fast to really enjoy all the effort you put into the holiday. If you stick around long enough you will find out that I like to stretch my holidays into weeks or if possible the whole month.

I am shooting for 14 days of lovin' around here.

In celebration on Valentine's day numero uno I bought Mr. R a little memory of Britannia.

When we were in London this summer there are billboards everywhere advertising MILKYBAR. A white chocolate candy bar made by Nestle only available in Europe. We kept meaning to try one while we were over there, but forget or fell pray to other temptations.

I was walking through Publix the other day and found they carry a British food section complete with MILKYBAR! And I snagged one for Mr. R.

His verdict: It smells like cheese, but tastes pretty good.

Not bad Britain. Not bad at all.

I made waffles (on Sunday).

From scratch.

Using this recipe.

And we ALL loved them.

Yes, I am including the pups in the ALL statement. (They love waffle scraps).

We have a well loved (and seriously old) waffle maker. But he is still going strong and rocking brunch on Sundays.

Mr. R was also pleased to see bacon is back in our fridge. (I may have actually bought 4 pounds of it at Costco! Thank goodness it freezes well).

I love waffles, but much prefer them for dinner rather than breakfast.

Stay tuned for more waffles recipes later this month.

Chocolate waffles with strawberries

Oatmeal cookie waffles

Cinnamon Bacon Waffles

February Goals!

Marriage:

• Continue weekly dates
• Eat dinner at the dining room table (twice a week)
• Go unplugged once a week.
• Show Mr. R some v-day love with a few romantic surprises (details to come!)

Meals:

• Keep cooking! Six dinners and 7 lunches per week.
• Go vegetarian twice a week
• Eat a rainbow daily (one veggie or fruit that is red, orange, yellow, green, and blue)
• FYI: There will be lots of food posts this month, but I hope to try out some new recipes, increase my veggie intake, and keep our weekly grocery budget under $80. (Wish me luck!)

Money:

• Save 10% per paycheck in savings account.
• Finish Pip's nursery (stay within budget)
• Use coupons for groceries and dates

Fitness:

Just like last year I am embarking on my February challenge. 28 workouts in 28 days.

• Run three days per week
• Walk once per week
• Lift (arms & legs) 5 days a week