Quickie Lunch

Man, lunch hour flew by today – this has to be quick!

I had some more of the cottage casserole leftovers + green beans + smoked turkey for lunch

Thank goodness for leftovers!

Then Nick and I went to get a cool smoothie to have after lunch. We went to Elderberry’s and we both got the “Morgan’s Strawberry” – strawberry juice, raspberry sherbet, strawberries.

I got the kiddie size, which is just enough. I drank almost all of this before we got back -oops!

Back to work for me!

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

Read Full Post »

26 Things + Lunch

Happy Humpday! Well, today is going pretty well even though I’m at work  🙂 I would much rather be somewhere else, but it’s been a pretty low stress day, thank goodness.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! 🙂 and I liked reading your birthday memories, too. There were some good ones!

Lunch today was courtesy of Sunday night leftovers and it was nice and colorful –

Leftover cottage casserole + some of the smoked turkey

Some green beans

and this awesome peach I got from the farmer’s market over the weekend.

Since I haven’t had the blog very long and I wanted to do something kind of fun today, here are 26 things you might not know about me:

1. I write and eat left handed, but throw and use scissors with my right.
2. My favorite show of all time is I Love Lucy, followed closely by The Office and LOST and HIMYM (and Veronica Mars, which was cancelled even though we loved it)
3. I have 2 sisters – one older and one younger.
4. I went to 3 different colleges in 4 years and still graduated on time! Not sure how that happened.
5. I have 2 degrees, yet am not using either.
6. I make lists all day long. For everything. Paper lists so I can cross stuff off.
7. All of my best girl friends live at least 5 hours away from me.
8. I never cooked anything other than grilled cheese or boxed macaroni before I got married.
9. I have the best husband and family.
10. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
11. Barney Butter is too salty for me – there, I said it!
12. I use huge purses at all times.
13. You have to get a Hot Brown or Bourbon Ball French Toast from Lynn’s Paradise Café if you are ever in Louisville. Holy heart attack, they were some of the best things I’ve ever eaten. (Here’s my guest post about it on Carrots’n’Cake)

14. I took piano lessons from age 8 -11 and am sad I stopped. I was in chorus from 6th grade through my first year of college, and I miss it.
15. I have an unhealthy obsession with the Food Network.
16. Shopping here is horrible – we don’t have any good stores.
17. I love roller coasters.
18. I have to watch super scary movies during the day (while it’s light outside) or I’ll have bad nightmares.
19. I really want a maxi dress for this summer…or a few.
20. I really want to travel all around the world someday.
21. I used to “make” some of my own clothes by changing stuff I bought at thrift stores. When did I get so lazy and un-fun? I had these sailor jeans that I loved! And raspberry chuck taylors.
22. College football starts in less than 3 months!!!
23. I still have trouble holding my breath under water.
24. Kelly green is my favorite color and I used to have diamonds painted on my wall in my room.
25. My first “real” concert was New Kids on the Block, I believe – loved it! And I’ve been to some awesome (and much better) concerts since then.
26. I think this year will be the best so far!

Okay – your turn! What’s something fun I don’t know about you?

Oh, and make sure to check out Missy’s grassy giveaway 😉

Read Full Post »

Layer by Layer

It feels so good to have everything crossed of your list, doesn’t it? 

I usually always have a list going (at all times), and I love being able to cross everything off, one by one, and just know that I got everything done that I needed to.

I got banana bread made (recipe to come):

 And I did get to take this out of the oven while still wearing my dress – super fun  🙂

While the bread was in the oven, Nick and I cleaned the bathroom and got all the vacuuming done. As soon as the bread was done, we changed clothes and headed over to the pool! Yay, I actually got to go this weekend! By the time we got there, it was 5:30 and the pool was only open until 6 tonight, but it was nice to swim for a little bit. I can’t wait to go back – it’s actually a really nice pool and a lot bigger than I thought. This may make summer a bit more fun. I really miss having beaches close by (I grew up in Chesapeake, VA), so this is the best I can get – plus, I love being able to lay out and just jump in the water when I get too hot.

We headed back home, I jumped in the shower to rinse off the chlorine and got started on dinner.

For one part of our dinner tonight, I was trying out a recipe of Diana’s that I found the other day:

Diana’s Cottage Casserole

 Check out that layering!

I doubled the recipe so I could have some for lunches this week. I also made my own breadcrumbs with some whole wheat bread because I realized I didn’t have any dry ones on hand. So easy! I just threw 2 slices of whole wheat bread in the food processor for like 10 seconds. Done!

I baked this for 20 minutes covered since I wasn’t sure if the breadcrumbs would burn; after 20 minutes, I took the foil off and finished baking.

The rest of dinner included some smoked turkey, courtesy of Nick’s parents, and some more peas from our garden – they were so good.

Oh! And the shoes I wear with the dress are usually these black +woven wedges – I’ll try to get a picture of them soon  🙂

Is tomorrow Monday already?

 

Happy Father’s Day!

 

I love my dad – I’m sad I didn’t get to see him today, but I did get to talk to him – AND I get to see him AND my other dad next weekend  🙂

I’m lucky to have a Dad D. and a Dad E. – I don’t know how I got so lucky to have both of them in my life. They’re also both going to Honduras this summer! I can’t wait.

Read Full Post »

Bent, Not Broken

I can’t believe it’s already Monday – I feel like this weekend flew by and I missed most of it! I’m still really sore and tight, but it seems a bit better than it was yesterday. I was able to go see my chiropractor this morning and she took some x-rays of my neck/shoulders. The good news is nothing is broken or in a place that it shouldn’t be. The bad news is my collarbone seems to be a little out of place from the impact/seatbelt forces and I have some soft tissue damage at the base of my neck. I pretty much knew that one since it hurts to bend my neck back or turn it a certain way. It’s just really sensitive to move my head certain ways, but she said tissue damage like that is pretty normal after accidents and they heal fine; it will just take a while for it to not hurt.

I was able to get up and put a casserole in the oven – that may be my accomplishment for today 🙂

Nick requested some of my mom’s breakfast casserole for this week so he has something quick to heat up in the mornings, and I finally had the chance to make it a bit healthier than the normal recipe. It isn’t horribly unhealthy, but I did cut out the sausage completely and used something else.

Mom’s Breakfast Casserole

• 1 pkg. reduced fat crescent rolls
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• sausage-y seasonings (salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, sage, thyme, fennel seeds, garlic, onion)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup 2% shredded cheese, plus 3/4 cup grated fat free cheese
• salt, pepper, oregano

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Lay crescent rolls in bottom of 9×13 pan and pinch seams together so the rolls cover the entire bottom of the pan.
3. Cook turkey in pan with all of seasonings until browned.
4. Put cooked turkey over crescent rolls.
5. Top turkey with cheese.
6. Beat eggs/egg whites with salt, pepper, and oregano to taste and pour over cheese.
7. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

I’ve never had this without the “real” sausage, but it still tasted great! You could tell it wasn’t as greasy as the original, but I think it turned out really good. I had 2 pieces and some berries, plus a cup of coffee that Nick made for me – it was good.

After eating breakfast and talking to our insurance company some more, I called and got an appointment with my chiropractor and made an appointment for tomorrow with my family doctor just to make sure everything else is okay. I’ve never gone through this before so I just want to make sure all my bases are covered.

I had to get some electrode therapy stuff done at the chiro today – it’s these little things they put on your back and they send electrodes into the muscles to get them to relax. It feels so strange because your arms will just start moving on their own and it feels weird but good at the same time. After having my muscles massaged, I came home and scrounged the fridge for some lunch.

I made a serving of whole wheat couscous and topped it with the last of the mushroom sauce, plus some broccoli and cauliflower from some point this weekend.

I think I’m going to follow Roxy’s lead and take a little nap   🙂

Read Full Post »

The To-Dos Are Done!

It started raining this afternoon 😦 BUT that pretty much made me get all the stuff on my to-do list done!

• Finish laundry – check! The only thing left is to make the bed with the clean sheets
• Clean house – check! Nick and I finished that earlier
• Plant tomatoes – check!
• Make dinner – check! and eaten  🙂
• Bake cookies – check!
• Uh….clean up kitchen full of muesli that I just spilled on the floor    check! I’m glad we have a small shop vac. What a mess!

We were able to plant the tomato plants right before it started raining hard here, and I’m glad we got them in the ground for their first rain. I can’t wait until they come up!

As for dinner, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the meal.  I’ve tried meals like this before and I think I just expect it be like cornbread even though it’s not. Once I got it into my head that it was NOT cornbread, I really liked it.

 

Baked Tamale Casserole

Meat filling:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can beans, drained (use any kind you want – I had great northern)
• 1 small can chopped green chiles
• 1 Tbsp ancho chile powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion flakes (I was just too lazy to dice real onions tonight)

Tamale Dough:

• 8 cups water
• 4 cups cornmeal
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 2 eggs
• couple tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1. Heat pan over medium and add ground beef. Brown beef.
2. Heat oven to 350.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, and spices to beef and let simmer while you cook the cornmeal mixture.
4. In big pot, bring water, cornmeal, and salt to a boil. Lower heat and let cook 5-10 until thick, stirring/whisking constantly to keep from clumping.
5. Take off heat, and stir in eggs and applesauce.
6. In 9×13 pan, layer 1/2 of the cornmeal mixture, top with all of the meat mixture, then layer the rest of the cornmeal mixture on top.
7. Bake 20-30 minutes until heated through.

Ole!

 

We had the tamale casserole with some corn, and salads with romaine and avocado. I topped my salad with a little salt and some lime juice.

I really enjoyed this meal; more than I thought I would! I think making sure my mind and mouth isn’t expecting cornbread is the key.

In cookie news:

I found this package in the grocery store yesterday and decided to try it.

I love the packages of the “break and bake” cookies for busy weekends, but I hate that most of them are filled with ingredients I can’t understand. Enter Immaculate Baking Co.! Nick just ate a plate with about 5 of these cookies, and he said they’re even better than the normal break and bake cookies we get.

I haven’t had one yet, but I’m planning on it. It’s nice to know I can get these for busy weekends and feel good about what we’re eating, even if I’m not making it all myself.

It looks like have a bunch of different flavors, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for them.

Well, I’m off to make the bed and get ready for a little Iron Chef before getting some sleep.

I hope you’ve had a great weekend! We did and I’m sad it’s almost over.

 

What was the best part of your weekend?

Mine was probably watching the football scrimmage / getting to the farmer’s market. It was such a nice day yesterday, and I enjoyed both things. It was fun to just be outside enjoying the weather.

Read Full Post »