Rodeo Wrap Up and Cheesy Potato Soup Mix

The weather here has gotten close to the 90's then dropped back to the 60's and is now reaching back up to warmer weather. That means it's a better chance of me getting sick. I lucked out this year and started to fight a sore throat last Friday and I still have a cough, but no other symptoms (knock on wood). That didn't stop me from going to see Taylor Swift at the rodeo Friday (which was an awesome show!!!!). I had high hopes for Saturday getting a lot done and ended up just going to the grocery store (which I haven't done for 4 weeks, I'm having withdrawls) and then vegged out catching up on my taped shows. I was then in a mad dash to clean the house and be ready for my parents who came in town for ZZ Top on Sunday who closed out the rodeo.

My dad photo shopped himself in the picture as the drummer since he's such a huge fan. He used to have a beard as long as these guys and I admit as cool as it is it's still embarrassing when you're a kid because all of your friends are scared of your dad and won't come to your house to play. The last day of rodeo is also extreme bull riding day. It's my favorite part of the rodeo to watch.

Now that the rodeo has now come to a close, I'm happy and yet sad at the same time. I really do enjoy volunteering, but if I could stretch it out a little like a season or just on the weekends it wouldn't be so bad. As usual it'll be around the corner again next year in no time.

We got our proofs back from the steer auction and the Rodeo used a new photographer this year. I know there's a lot of people waiting in line to get their picture taken as well as steers who have to get adjusted because they're large and do what they want to do, but they smooched us together so we're kindof overlapping. Oh well, we met 2 great kids in the process and watched as they said goodbye to their steers.

I intended on making these soup mix jars at Christmas when I made my gift baskets, but ran into one problem.....I found all the ingredients except ONE. I hate when that happens. Well I was in the store and saw that they now care the 4 cheese sauce packets and I had to buy 20 packets of them (just in case they run out). I think the lady at the checkout counter was thinking I had an addiction to the stuff because she asked if it was any good and then smiled.

These make a great get well gift or works great for a busy night when there's no time to cook, just dump it in and stir.

Cheesy Potato Soup Mix
(Adapted from Gifts in a Jar)

2 cups powdered coffee creamer

1/2 cup imitation bacon bits

2 (1.5 ounce) packages Knorr Four Cheese Sauce Mix

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning blend

1 teaspoon dried minced onion

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups Hungry Jack potato flakes

Layer the ingredients in the order given into a wide-mouth 1 quart canning jar. Pack each layer in place before adding the next ingredient.

Attach a gift tag with the cooking directions.

Gift tag directions:

1 jar Cheesy Potato Soup Mix

Place the jar contents in a large soup pot. Add 8 cups boiling water. Mix well and let stand 5 minutes.