Monday, August 20, 2007

Taco Salad Recipe

Here is a nice taco salad recipe that doesn't include using the dried package taco seasoning mix.


Taco Salad

· 1−1/2 Pound Ground beef
· Bottled French dressing
· 1/4 Cup Onion, chopped
· 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
· 1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
· 1/2 Teaspoon Dried oregano, crushed
· 1/2 Head iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
· 2 Tomatoes, cut in wedges
· 8 Ounce Can corn, drained
· 8 Ounce Can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
· 1/2 Cup Radish slices
· 1−6 1/2 oz Package Tortilla or corn chips or a taco salad tortilla bowl
· 1 Avocado, peeled and sliced
· 4 Ounce Cheddar cheese, shredded
· Pitted black olives, sliced
· Sour cream

Brown meat and drain off fat. Add 1/3 cup French dressing, onion, salt, pepper and oregano. Simmer 5 minutes.

Combine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, beans, radishes and enough dressing to moisten. Toss lightly.

For each salad, serve meat mixture over tortilla chips or in tortilla bowl. Top with lettuce mixture, avocado, cheese, olives and sour cream, as desired. You could also add some sliced jalapenos if you want to add a bit of heat to the salad.

Bon appetit (or Buen appetit)!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Decorating Using a Focal Wall & the Color Wheel

You will often hear it recommended that you use a focal wall when decorating. What this means is that you take some architcetural element or important piece of furniture or artwork and draw attention to it by creating a focal area in the room. This is often accomplished by painting that wall a different color that the other walls in the room. It can also be accomplished by using wallpaper on just that one wall, or creating texture on that wall with fabric, wood, or other treatments.





A focal wall, while a useful decorating tool, should not be overused. Every room in the house does not require an outstanding focal wall. Also, be careful of how you use color when creating the focal wall. Consider complementary colors when using paint or fabric (colors opposite each other on the color wheel) or for a subtler effect, consider adjacent colors. This will give it enough differentiation to make the feature stand out without being overly aggressive.

What is an Eggplant - Answer to Food Word Game #6

Here are the answers to our latest Food Word Game:

What is eggplant?

A vegetable 60%

A fruit 40%

A legume

An plant that grows egg shaped nuts

While 60% of our players thought eggplant is a vegetable, it is actually the fruit of an Indian plant. You will occasionally find a dictionary that calls eggplant a vegetable however, it is a berry related to tomatoes and potatoes. Amazing!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Burberry Sunglasses 9421 Grey Lens NEW & AUTHENTIC! eBay Auction

We're clearing out some merchandise on eBay, so check out the fantastic merchandise we are offering at unbelievable prices! Here is our latest listing:

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

What is a Kitchen Mandolin - Food Word Game #5 Answer

Here are the answers to our last Food Word Game:

What is a kitchen mandolin?

A cutting implement with interchangeable blades. 66%
An oval shaped sauce pan.
An Italian instrument used for playing dinner music. 34%
A device used for trussing poultry.

The correct answer is... A cutting implement with interchangeable blades.

Real Estate Investing - What is the Future?

We were having a discussion about real estate investing, such as house flipping, vacation property rentals, and even home purchases. With the current real estate environment of dropping home values, increased interest rates, and more foreclosures and problems with sub-prime mortgage lending, we wondered if many people still consider real estate as a positive investment choice.

Of course real estate in general should be considered a long-term investment, unless you are in to flipping properties. However, with the loss of recent value in properties some investors are nervous they will be losing their large gains of the past several years. Is this a permanent correction that will cause large losses of revenue? Is the future of real estate investing in doubt?

We certainly hope not. Real estate has always been an up and down value but has generally been considered one of the safest places to invest your money. Where do you see the future of real estate as an investment? What types of real estate do you invest in and do you feel it is successful? We would love to hear what you think and what your experiences have been.