Thank God it's Friday!!! I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci again for 5 on Friday so I've got 5 random thoughts for you today.
#1
Trader Joe's recently came to the DFW area and I had yet to visit one, even though that's where the wine for my wedding came from! My coworkers were sweet and provided all the wine as a wedding gift to us.
Yesterday, my coworker and I ventured out during our lunch break and went to Trader Joe's and it was awesome! I really wish there was one closer to where I live! I'd go all the time! They have way more food than I was expecting. They have fresh produce, frozen pizza, all kinds of oils, cheeses, breads, and even household products - mostly organic. I bought some lotion with aloe without "fragrance".
These Irish Bangers make me laugh....Arrested Development anyone???
#2
I think I'm going to revamp my blog. It'll have a new look and possibly a new name soon! I never realized how technical blogging can be. I'm super impressed with all of the blog authors I currently follow! See my blog roll on the right side!
#3
I've been trying to make us salads for dinner lately. It's so much lighter and we haven't been home until later, yet go to bed early. I definitely can't go to bed with a full stomach so a salad settles a lot better.
Ingredients:
Chopped Romaine
Chicken
Red Bell Peppers
Feta Cheese
Sliced Banana Peppers
Kalamata Olives
Balsamic Vinaigrette (I love making my own with the little Italian packets)
#4
My friend, Carroll, is a consultant for CAbi, a very cute, classy clothing line that you will love! For the next week, we're having an online "party"where you can purchase anything on the website with free shipping, including free shipping if you have to send it back in to exchange for a different size. I know you will love the new Spring Collection!
If you want to purchase something, just contact Carroll directly at carrollschuler@gmail.com
#5
Don't miss the beginning of my Wedding Story series. You can read the first post about how Kevin and I met here. Many posts to come that complete our story!
I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea for the Favorite Things Party today!!! Since Kevin and I just returned home from our road trip with Grandpa Bill from Phoenix to Dallas, I thought it'd be a great time to share some of my favorite road trip items (all under $10). And don't judge! Health goes out the window when I'm on a road trip!!
First...some photos on the road:
Grandpa Bill and Callen (last stop on the roadtrip - to see Kevin's brother, his wife and our sweet nephew)
My favorite snack: Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos. I'm so addicted! I know they're bad for me, but they are so good.
Kevin's favorite snack: Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn - also very delicious!
Other snacks we love to have on hand:
We try to not drink sodas often, but occasionally, we'll get a Vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic. It's definitely our favorite drink on the road so we got one to share at the beginning of the trip.
And of course a good book to read when you're not the driver. Right now, I'm reading "Love and Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs. It is wonderful so far! He hits the "conflict in marriage" nail on the head! It's a little over $10 brand new, but if you get the Kindle version or a used one, it's under $10!
As for music, we usually just plug in our iPhones/iPods and let them shuffle with our favorite tunes. Sometimes we feel like listening to country, including my favorite...
Why is Josh Turner my favorite artist?? Let me tell ya... He has the most amazing voice EVER, he can hit notes lower than I can even imagine hitting, he's easy to look at (wink wink), he's an amazing family man and sings about his wife and kids in many songs, you never hear about him getting involved in negative celebrity drama, and most importantly, he's a follower of Jesus Christ and is very vocal about it. See his I Am Second video here.
Or sometimes we're in the mood for a little worship music. One of my favorites is Kari Jobe.
It's time for 5 on Friday!! I look forward to this every week!
#1
Last weekend I did a wine tasting with my small group girlfriends in downtown Grapevine at D'Vine Wine. We had such a blast! I just love these girls and feel so blessed that God has brought them into my life. We missed the three that weren't able to make it and love them too! They are such an answer to prayer!
(sorry for the zombie eyes!!)
On that day, 50% of the proceeds from wine tastings went to support Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas. This is the organization through which Kevin got our sweet little (but big!) Riley....or as we call her "Riley Cakes". Isn't she adorable?!
#2
This week, my sister, Lauren, sent me this adorable photo of my 3.5 month old niece, Kassidy. Isn't she so stinking adorable??? I just had to share it with you all!
#3
I don't normally brag but I'm going to for a second. Ok maybe I did in #2 about my niece already. Ha! Before Kevin left for Arizona, he bought me flowers! Aren't they so pretty? I'm a lucky girl! And I'm posting a photo of him looking mighty handsome along with it.
#4
This week I made Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos using my Crockpot! I used this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff, bought some corn tortillas, shredded a little cheese, cut up an avocado and we made them into tacos! You may have to scroll down that post a bit to get to the Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans. We also added a little of the awesome Fuzzy's Taco Sauce. They were delicious!
#5
Caroline over at In Due Time had a really great post this week about "taking captive" your negative thoughts. She was talking about Philippians 4:8 and the thoughts that the Lord does want us to have.
The Lord really convicted me while reading this post. This is so hard for me. I mean, how often does a negative thought come across your mind? And more so...how often do you verbalize that negative thought? I know it happens for me in the form of complaining. I've really started praying and asking God to take those thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). I'm really trying to be aware of when these thoughts come through my mind and ask God to take them away.
This weekend I'm getting both alone time and girl time! My husband is on a trip to Arizona with his grandpa so I'll be catching up on cleaning and reading at home AND enjoying some wine with my small group girlfriends and hanging out with my friend, Jennifer. I'm pretty pumped! Please pray for Kevin and Grandpa Bill - they're on a 17 hour roadtrip and then Kevin flies back on Monday. I'm sure going to miss him!
#2
I recently found this amazing recipe for Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken! Kevin and I LOVED it! It kind of tastes like chinese food from the mall food court but waaaay better and you know what's in it! No MSG, not fried, no extra hormones. We served it with white rice.
I want to share a little about an organization that I love and support! Crystal, the executive director, is one of the most compassionate, go-get-em, driven people I know. She worked with the International Justice Mission in the Philippines before helping run My Refuge House, a ministry that helps provide a safe home to empower and restore survivors of commercial sexual expoitation and abuse. Kim, my friend and fellow IBCer (Irving Bible Church) just became MRH's Director of Engagements as well! Congrats Kim!
Visit the website! Pray for the work they are doing! I will share more about this in another post someday!
#5
Just so you know...it's almost baseball season!!!! Woo hoo!!! Kevin gets to go to a Spring Training Rangers game this weekend and I'm jealous. We're ready for the season to start! GO RANGERS!!
This pie was definitely a hit! Everyone loved it. I will say...I had some trouble with it. It took waaaaaayyyyyy longer to bake than what the recipe says. It may have been my fault though. I ended up with 20 sticks of margarine after my wedding because of an error on my part so I used that instead of butter. I think that was the mistake. My pie was a bit more doughy than this picture looks but it still tasted great!
A week after Thanksgiving, we had an ice storm and were stuck in our house for days. I had a box of spice cake mix so I made these pancakes! I didn't make gingerbread ones though...Kevin doesn't love gingerbread so I left the ginger out which made spice cake pancakes! They were actually amazing!! I also added some chocolate chips into them which was extra amazing! I think I'll add the ginger in next time to see how it is!
This Thursday evening, we'll be hosting Kevin's work Christmas party so I plan to make a few desserts and dips then. I'll let you know how they are! More holiday recipes to come!
Hey readers! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, I haven't had time to cook a lot so I didn't know what to post about. I do want to share this though - I love to read this blog: Mix and Match Mama! I've mentioned it before. I love making Shay's recipes and looking at photos of her adorable children. I've also bought a few clothing items she's suggested before. She's doing a Christmas giveaway that you can see here! I get extra entries for posting this! :-)
Update on Thanksgiving: The meal was great! Like I said, I was doing pretty traditional, not-healthy plates so I don't have a lot to share. But I did get to use my new Temptations ovenware - an awesome wedding gift from my aunt and uncle! And we used the mason jars from our wedding for drinks!
And here's a glimpse into our home. Our fireplace is decorated for Christmas. We have a tiny tree and it leans a little, but we love it! :-) And this year, we all get tiny stockings...even the doggies!
This will be my first Thanksgiving to ever host and I'm excited! We're having my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and super cute nephew over on Thursday and I'm cooking us a delicious meal!
But first things first...the only recipe I have to share with you this week is this awesome pasta bake from Mix and Match Mama Blog.
Kevin and I really enjoyed it! The recipe made a large amount so with just two people to feed, we ended up with a lot of leftovers! So needless to say, we've been eating leftovers since then. I prepared it exactly like she says. The only things I'd do differently next time is maybe add some more cooking liquid and mix mozzarella into the pasta to make it a bit more moist.
I have a few recipes I plan on trying this week so check back later for the results. For Thanksgiving, I'm going to keep it simple for my first one and make the traditional dishes...turkey, ham, greenbean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and crescent rolls...oh and a chocolate chip pie from Mix and Match Mama again. My sister-in-law is bringing the mac n cheese! I'll be honest, I normally like to cook with fresh ingredients, cut out the unhealthy stuff and put my own twist to it, but I'm not doing that this year. I know my audience and I know they want the traditional stuff. And it's once a year, so why not?! I'll get more healthy at future Thanksgivings!
Money!!!!
On a different note, I want to share about something non-food related! Something I'm passionate about (hold on...don't get too excited) is budgeting money. I know...make fun of me...I'm an accountant! But I don't think it matters if you're an accountant or not. Money is something EVERY person handles and depends on to live in this economy. It can make or break you. The love of it can hurt you, the lack of it can stress you out. It can be used as a blessing, it can be used as a weapon. Whether you're single, married, white, black, young, old, tall or short, this topic affects YOU! Financial freedom is so important and in fact, it's Biblical. We are to be good stewards of our money (1 Peter 5:2-3), be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7), honor the Lord with it (Proverbs 3:9), work hard for it (Proverbs 10:4), but not put our hope in it (1 Timothy 6:17).
For the past 5.5 years, I have volunteered as a budget counselor for New Friends New Life, a non-profit organization that helps women leave the sex industry and lead them to a life of self-sufficiency.
In our budget counseling program, we teach women how to track their expenses, budget their money, and about spending tips that can help them be able to become financial independent. My main goal in this program has been to teach others how important tracking your expenses is. Before I did this myself, I never knew where my money went. I didn't know if I was overspending on food or entertainment. I believe that you have to know where your money is going or you won't be wise with it.
I used an Excel spreadsheet to do this for years and it worked very well for me. And then I got married. I've only been married for 5.5 weeks and I can already see how hard dealing with finances can be. I have always heard that the majority of marital arguments involve money and I believe it. My husband and I have been trying to figure out the expense tracking part first...baby steps! We have both been using Excel as single people, but that doesn't work very well for us together. So here's what we're trying...
Goodbudget is a smartphone app where we can each enter our daily expenses/bills/income in one place. I know there are many out there such as YNAB and Mint. In fact, one of my friend's husbands (computer guy) has created his own app for them to use. We're not "techies" so we're using one that the Apple Store has to offer. We're liking this one so far! We don't like how it allocates income to certain categories so we just leave it uncategorized, but that doesn't matter. It's just nice to see how much we spend, as a couple, on a monthly basis. We know when we're getting close to the monthly budgeted amount for a category and can appropriately plan how much to put in savings or pay extra on the mortgage each month. Our goal is to be debt-free (including the mortgage) in just a few years. We'll have a better timeline once we get the hang of this...again, it's only been 5.5 weeks.
I encourage you to start tracking your expenses if you don't already. Download an app or sign up with a website like mint.com. I'm also happy to send you my Excel spreadsheets if you'd like to try one of those. If you already do track expenses, I'd love to hear what you are using and how you like it!
There are so many budget-related topics that I'd love to write about (saving, investing, how it affects your marriage, debt, spending tips, etc), but I'll save those for another post so this one doesn't get too long!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! Be safe, have fun with your friends and family, Sic 'em Bears and most of all, remember...
"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for those who belong to Christ Jesus."
My husband and I liked the lentil soup, but didn't love it. I probably liked it more than him. My only variations: I didn't include the tomatoes (I have bad acid reflux...boo) and I used normal green chard instead of swiss chard. I had to add a little water since it didn't have the juice from the tomatoes. I thought it tasted great! It's pretty hearty...I told my husband it tasted earthy though I'm not really sure what that means. The chard has a pretty strong flavor. I'd recommend it if you're looking to cook something vegetarian that's healthy and pretty filling.
OMG! This is one of my favorite soups I've ever made! My husband loved it too! I got it from the Six Sisters Stuff blog. My variations: since both of us are lactose-intolerant, I used Lactaid milk instead of regular milk and I used leftover chicken breasts from another meal. I would suggest using actual shredded chicken cooked for this purpose. The broth is delicious! I don't know what it is but with all of these flavors coming together, it makes the best chowder I've ever had!
I'm just going simple tonight! I'm making a shrimp stir-fry with items I already have in my fridge/freezer. We'll be eating out for most dinners this week so I'm not sure what else I'll be cooking, but these tacos from Mix and Match Mama sure sound good!
I've obviously not been a good blogger. I recently got married, was SUPER crazy busy and honestly thought "do I really have anything to say that's that interesting??"
Well...I LOVE reading random blogs. I thought "what do I love to read?" I am not a super domestic woman, however, I love to cook. I see each meal as a project and hope those that consume the meal are pleased (eek...see previous post about my approval addiction..workin' on it!). I love finding recipes on random blogs. I also love DIY projects and learning a little more about fashion...that's definitely not my forte.
So when I'm not blogging about something profound that the Lord has told me, I'm going to share recipes and DIY projects I found on other blogs/pinterest/etc and tried. I'll say what I did wrong/right and what I'd do differently next time. Pinterest never gives you that much info ;-) How do you think your grandma got to be such a good cook?! Trial and error starting in her 20's/30's!
I'll start out by sharing with you the blogs that I love to read lately (just to name a few):
If you know me, you know I love smoothies for breakfast! I always love a new healthy smoothie recipe. I got this one from Pinterest and it turned out GREAT! It tastes just like strawberries. Don't let the spinach freak you out. My husband hates (or thinks he hates) anything with greens in it, like this. But he tasted this one and actually liked it, because he couldn't taste the spinach. My variations:
1) I added about a tablespoon of agave nectar to make it sweeter.
2) I used a whole banana and didn't freeze it.
3) I added a few cubes of ice.
4) I added about 1/2 cup of water. (Mine wasn't blending well without it)
This recipe had so much potential to be amazing! BUT wow...it calls for WAY too much lemon. The green beans and potatoes were so tart that my husband and I couldn't finish them. I'm going to make it again sometime and either use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and not put the lemons on the bottom OR substitute the lemon juice for white cooking wine, tarragon vinegar, or just plain olive oil. I think it'll be amazing next time!
This chili pot roast was a success! My only variation was using a 3 lb roast instead of a 2 lb one, but it turned out the same. I'd probably add some salt next time, but I tend to like saltier food. My husband prefers it the way it was and it's probably better for you that way.
Holy moley, this dessert is awesome! My husband and I loved it! I love pumpkin recipes, but he doesn't and we BOTH loved it. I prepared it exactly the way she says to. I'd like to try spice cake instead of yellow cake next time though.
This lentil soup is in the Crockpot right now! Assuming it's not destroyed and we eat it for dinner tonight, I'll let you know how it is!
