Menu Monday

Another week is here I don't know about you but last week flew by! I'm linking up again with I'm an Organizing Junkie to post our weekly menu. Here is what we are planning this week.

Monday - Jennie O burgers, Corn on the cob and french fries (left over from Friday when the hubs surprised me with a movie & Dinner date)

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday, a tradition we started a while ago but have not been to lately because we have a connect group we go to from church but this week we had a Sunday brunch. Check them out and see if you have a location near you. We love it and $4.99 for two tacos, chips and a drink? Cant beat it!

Wednesday - Mom's Chicken pot pie, a childhood favorite that I've been craving. Give it a try and I guarantee you'll love it too!

Thursday - We've been invited to dinner at a friends - cant wait!

Friday - I'm closing at work so the hubs will be on his own.

This week breakfast is bagels and lunch is cold cuts, yogurt and rice cakes.

Not too much cooking but seeing as I have a busy week ahead of me its nice to know that the meals are planned. I also find it less stressful to plan ahead so the Hubs can help out too! I've been faithfully logging my meals and keeping track of my calories. Meal planning is definitely helping track $$ and lbs!

Whats your menu look like this week?

All great things must come to an end

First of all don't laugh!

We all watch TV and have had a show that we connected with in a way we cant describe.
Example - Friends, there was tons of hoopla when it ended. Personally for me  there have been shows I watched usually via boxed sets in a marathon weekend were the entire number of seasons was crammed in to a short period of time that included lots of food, no sleep, no shower and never changing out of pajamas.

But there is one show I grew with over time. Faithfully watching each week and connecting with in a way I never intended. I know I am a few weeks late but today I finally sat down and watched the tribute and finale of One Tree Hill.

The show began when I was 20 and at home after taking a year off of college. It then saw me thru 2 years of college, 2 years living with my parents (a 3 month stint of living in Rochester) and then 4 years here in Florida. While there have been those marathon weekends to recap seasons passed in the company of great friends and sisters, I've also watched it week to week, as it became an ingrained part of my weekly routine.

They started Team's. Team Brooke & Team Payton were the first (at least as I like to remember it)! Then it went to Laguna beach Team Kristin & Team Lauren (Small world: Steven from Laguna became Chase on OTH) way before Team Edward and Team Jacob!

Here is one reason I love the show

I wont do into depth as to the who what and when of the show because if you watched it you know and if you didn't then my words would not do it justice. So Ill leave you with a compilation video of my favorite song that I used to listen to over and over again

Menu Monday

In my attempt to blog more consistently I'm linking up with a few other blogs I enjoy reading. While I've been doing my own version of posting my weekly dinner menu's I'm linking up with Menu Plan Monday, go on over and check her out!


Monday - Grilled Chicken and Vegetables (peppers, zucchini & Squash)
Tuesday - Grilled Pork Chops, Roasted Ranch Red potatoes & Asparagus
Wednesday - Late night . . . well 10ish, crazy since this is my "new late night" compared to my "Old" one being 2am!
Thursday - Grilled pizza
Friday - Jennie O turkey burgers & Corn on the cob.

Breakfast - Blue berry muffins - one batch made and these should last us the week.

All recipes are variations of things I've read on line or made in the past. Let me know if you'd like to know how they turned out or how they were made and I will post.

This week I spent $65 on grocery's. These meals should all make enough for dinner and lunch the next day. In planning our meals I am trying to accomplish 3 things.

1. Be frugal with our grocery budget. Changing job locations has its perks and its sacrifices. I did have to take a pay cut to have the luxury of seeing the Mr every day - def worth it! While we are still more than able to maintain our financial goals, I do want to make sure that we make the adjustment to spend less.

2. Buy fresh. When I went into the grocery store I wanted to see how much I could buy from the "out side isle". Have you heard of this method of shopping? Next time you go try it! The best stuff lines the out side isle of the store like the bakery, produce, dairy, meat & deli. I was able to do most of my shopping there - what did i but from the inside? Marinade & muffin mix both of which I bought to make life easier. I could have made them both from scratch but I just didn't have the time. Also I had everything I needed for the grilled pizza at home ( soft tortilla shells, mozzarella & Pizza sauce, just added the left over veggies from Monday)

3. Be fit using My Fitness Pal - I'll be logging my meals to see where my calories come from each day. I don't usually work out but this is the first step for me and the plan it to work more Dog walks and Yoga time in.

Whats your menu look like this week?

I'm Back

I've been out of the blogging circle for a while now - well my own blogging, I've still been known to stalk a blog or 7. The main reason being that my computer when kapoey and blogging became quite the hassle when turning your computer on took upwards of 15 minutes. The power cord kept me on a tight leash and after all that there were times where it just froze and all my hard work was null and void. It was depressing and i found not blogging or dealing with that hunk of metal was easier than a battle with dang thing.

I also struggled with what to write - see my 1 year post. Taking some time off helped me to reignite the desire to write as well as compile some ideas to get back in the blogging rhythm.

All that said - I'm back so be on the look out for some fun posts!

Valentine's Day Bridal Shower

My BFF is getting married next month and we threw her a shower last weekend with a lovely Valentines day theme. Her wedding colors are Black & Red and with the time of year it all worked out perfectly!

It also turns out Im completley and utterly addicted to pintrest! just about all of the recipies I made were found there.  

The food table.

We served lasagna, salad & Bread with these Caprese bites!

My BFF's name is Lindsay and growing up my Dad always called Lindzer Trarts Lindsay Tarts so I made these. They were easy to make and fun too - I'll be adding them to my Christmas cookie list!

these lil bites of goodness tasted great but looked nothing like the picture I was after!

 Now these were so easy to make and so delish! Strawberry cheese cake bites- ahhh I could eat the entire plate myself! Ill def be making these again in the future!

Heres is the happy couple!

 cake table - if you look close you see these - Marsh mellow pops. Fun idea and pretty & tasty!

I admit I was a little stressed out about how the shower would come together but in the end it was a success!

Finding My Balance

Do you ever feel like you don't have much life in your Life?

This past month has been rough. I survived the Holiday season but have yet to see things calm down at work. I feel like every day when I go in every ounce, drop and semblance of life is taken out of me. Too dramatic? Maybe a little. But every day when I get home and collapse on the couch and look at my wonderful husband I feel like there's so much more to life that a job.

The Mr has been the most wonderful, kind, gracious, giving man - the fact that he even puts up with me amazes me at times and the  fact that he loves me in spite of all this amazes me!

Well this is it - I'm a tired of being consumed. I am taking my time and my LIFE back! I am consciously making time fore me and drawing a line in the sand. Work is work and will remain at work! I am going to relax and stop stressing over things beyond my control.

Say a prayer for me as I know these choices are easier said than done. Mr & I have been reevaluating and prioritizing things in life and its so nice to have a partner in life to make a life with - and it is what we make of it!

This month my focus will be FOOD! I'm calling it FITNESS FEBRUARY. Using my Fitness pal I phone app I will consciously track every thing I eat and take control of this area of my life.

The holiday season had me on a food roller coaster. Im not the type that will gorge on food I'm the type that will eat one meal a day and and it wont always be healthy. So what I am eating is bad and I'm not eating enough! I'm trying to find balance! Because at the end of the day its all about Balance in all areas of life.

A year of Food, Family & Friends

Can you believe I've been bogging for a YEAR?!? 


Maybe you can but for me I'm a little awestruck and a tad proud of myself. 


My original goal was to cook all the family recipes I received in a wedding gift cook book form my MIL. My mission was to make everything in the course of our first year of marriage. To be honest there are still quite a few recipes that I have yet to attempt. So I may not have mastered them ALL, I am satisfied with the attempt and the habit it has created. It has helped me break free of the chicken for dinner every night of the week routine and has brought a smile to the face of my husband after a long day at work too many times to count!


While I will continue to cook and try new recipes I'm thinking of changing up my posting focus. I've been trying to decide what direction to take for the last month or so and while it might not be the topic for an entire year I've decided to take you on our "new home owner" journey. I'll take you room by room and show you start to finish how we put our own stamp on the place. Biggest problem now is that I don't have one room complete! The living room, kitchen and bedroom are close but each miss a piece or two from my complete vision! I have a few projects that we have worked on and a few on my to do list so I may tackle some projects before the big reveal of an entire room.


I'll still add in a recipe every now and then so thanks for reading and bare with me as we start a new journey!


Wish me LUCK!