Family Fun (Plants)

  I don't know if spring is only here because the calendar said so or not.  By the way the weather is acting it's definitely not a confirmation.  I heard today on the new Punxsutawney is wanted.

  Apparently people are fed up with the lies!   With a few more days of a threat of snow this weekend I have decided to start pretending spring was here with a little bit of planting.

  If spring won't come to us we will do it our ourselves.

Some of my perennials are coming up so I know winter is almost over.  This pot has some Hostas.

 I will clean it out after the snow is gone.  Until then I will keep the debris for extra warmth.

  We planted a variety of flowers.

So now we will sit and watch them grow! 

Next we will maybe plant some veggies!  I did plant some parsley for the butterflies and found some milkweed I'll need to plant as well.

  Have you started planting flowers?  Do you plant flowers or buy them. I will buy a few plants as I can't grow everything and I like all the colors.

Dinner is Served

  This week my meal plans were not complicated. I try to leave the complicated meals to the professionals or a holiday. 

  This week I pulled out the slow cooker, used leftovers and followed the meal plan for the week.

  I find my recipes in a variety of places but this week everything came from the internet.  My biggest goal was to use leftovers items I bought last week.  I succeed. So yeah no waste for me!

Chicken and spinach enchiladas!

Potato soup!

Zucchini Italiano casserole!

Each week I try to make new recipes and not just stick with old tried and true ones.  I have made this soup before but the other two recipes were new.  Two days of leftovers from last week was nice too.  

All of the recipes were easy and everyone liked all the meals.  No complaints means these recipes can go in the rotation to be made again.

  Now the weekend is here and the kitchen is closed.  It's everyone for themselves! Have a great weekend everyone.

Tasting Thursday (coconut chips)

Back with another tasting today.  My daughter has grown to like this activity.  She asks what the treat is for the week and reminds me when Thursday is coming up.

I picked up another treat from Dollar Tree.  It's not that I frequent the store that often; it's just luck of the draw when I remember to grab something.

I brought up the idea of sampling all the food in the produce section but, she didn't like that idea.

Today we sampled Coconut!  I have used coconut in baking so it's a taste the kids have had.  It's hit or miss depending on how it's used.

These coconut chips were purchased for $1.00.  These coconut chips are by the brand Real Coco.  I bought the original flavor but am interested in what else is available. The bag was 1.43 oz and it was filled!  Might I add it was filled with a lot of air so definitely packed for safety. Plus if you like coconut the smell is amazing.

These little chips are crunchy to be expected but, the flavor is 100% coconut.  The chips sizes vary.  These are not the same size as a potato chips. They are more like shavings but each piece is delicious.

Check out the stats!

Did you know coconut is a good source of fiber?

My kids actually liked this snack. YEAH for their approval! They ate this straight from the bag but, think of the endless possibilities of snacking.  You could sprinkle these on anything or blend them into things. This is  definitely something we will buy again!

What have you snacked on this week? Have you tried anything new?

Ipsy Bag Review (March)

  A new month means a new bag! Boy Ipsy really brought it this month.  I love the create your own bag this month.  What a fun way for us all to get a little creative.  When your supplied with a canvas and markers you feel compelled to get busy.

Now lets check out what was in my bag this month.

  First up a little bit of lip care!

This balm by Glossier is a tube full of fun and efficiency.  I received the coconut flavor but other flavors include: mint, original and Rose.  The scent is awesome and I love how smooth it makes my lips.

 Surprise there's an eyeliner in my bag.  I need to count all the eyeliners I have gotten since I started this subscription.

This sex kitten eyeliner by Tarte is in the shade of black.  It's a nice little pencil.  Providing the perfect grip for eye lining perfection.  I like to think Ipsy is trying to help me perfect that cat's eye.  Maybe it's not me but, the right eyeliner hasn't been given to me yet. Or maybe practice makes perfect.

 Does your lotion inspire you?

Words speak a thousand words.  Meet solutions for stressed skin.  This is Pure Cloud Cream by Skyn Iceland.    I don't care for the scent but, I like the light weight lotion. It's easy to rub in, absorbs immediately and is not greasy!

After you have taken care of your lips with that balm it's time to make them pop.

Apply some Unspoken lip veneer cream gloss by Kokie Cosmetics to do the trick.  I haven't tried this yet but, one claim is its not sticky! 

  There's always an occasion for gold!

  My last item was this eyeshadow by Hikari.  This cream pigment is a gorgeous color that holds the color solid.  This shade is shine! With all the rain and cold weather I think this is the perfect shade to warm things up!

  Each Ipsy bag comes with 5 products based on the answers to the profile questions.  I appreciate all products I get because it's usually a brand I have never tried. With these samples it's the perfect size to try it a few times and decide on a future purchase.

  This is the best $10 I can spend every month.  A little treat for myself.  Something to pamper myself with.  A product to give me some me time with.  Makeup can be a guilty pleasure right?

Its OK (by me)

It's that time again. A time to reflect on what we did a little less then perfect but, who cares!  Shake it off! It's ok! I'm going to play along with airingmylaundry today as I tell you what items/events/activities are OK by me.

Check out her latest post here.

It's OK that I actually started cutting my daughters birthday cake before I sang to her.  She stopped me before I started serving.

It's OK that we got more rain today with this Nor'Easter because all the spring flowers need water.

It's OK that I'm excited for Housewives of Potomac to start on April 1st as long as it's not an April's fools joke.  I swear sometimes a series gap is too long.

It's OK that I went to the gym today after skipping ALL last week and only accomplished less then 2 miles (all day).    

That's a wrap!  What are you OK with this week?

Monday Motivation (Dinner Mealplans)

   Since my week was off a little bit and I skipped Fridays meal and made it Saturday I have leftovers and will eat them tonight and plan the rest of the week after that.

  I also have some leftover veggies bought for last week that I will use this week to avoid  wasting anything.  You will see meat this week as I am not a vegetarian but, do enjoy eating meatless meals sometimes.

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: meatless
http://www.wildernesswife.com/slow-cooker-zucchini-italiano-casserole-recipe/

Wednesday: Soup
https://thehappyhousewife.com/cooking/cheddar-potato-soup/

Thursday: chicken
http://www.5dollardinners.com/chicken-and-spinach-enchiladas-5-dinner-challenge/

Friday: leftovers

  There's my week!  Some chicken, a crockpot meal, soup and leftovers!  Have a good week everyone. Take time off from the kitchen at least one day.  What's your favorite quick and easy meal?

Week 11 Recap and New Goals

  I ran errands and took it easy this week. As I write that it's funny to think I was home a lot and away at the same time.  Have you ever had one of those weeks?  Have you ever been not sure what you actually accomplished because you were busy the whole time?

  Goals last week were started but, not accomplished.

Book 7 is almost done.  I'm about 50 pages to completion.  New book is ready to go!

Clothes are in progress of being gone through.  I have started with my kids first. Its easier to get rid of their stuff then to go through my own.  Clothes with holes, too small and under appreciated (not worn) are being removed.

  I didn't see a pamper day but, I did go out to eat last week, had birthday cake and pie for pi day so I'll fill that into that spot.  Dessert and dinner out is kind like a treat and treats are like pampering, right?

  No cardio outside or inside this week. I skipped the gym all week. It could have happened a couple times I suppose but I just didn't make time for it.  Don't ever make an excuse; just own it.


 Here's to a new week:

Start on to book number 8!

Continue on with going through clothes. 

10 cardio miles outside! I'm going to aim for jogging over cycling because cycling 10 miles would be too easy.

 I need to get a few posts completed to schedule for upcoming busy weeks.

  I'm throwing in a mandatory pamper day!  There's no excuse to not have one.  I know I will feel good for at least that moment in time!

  What do you have planned for the upcoming week?  Are you already organized and know what needs to be done?
 

Feeling Productive

 So this week my meal plan was meatless all week.  I actually made it through the week following the menu minus yesterday but finished it off today.

  I had the ingredients on hand Monday but had to go to the store and pick up the rest of the weeks ingredients.  Spent $85 on the weeks dinners!

  All the meals were delicious and worthy of being kept in the recipe files.  Some  definitely need to be doubled or have a side added to it but most of them were filling!  If you see any meals of interest you can find the recipes here.

Monday

Bean burritos.  This was a nice easy and fast Monday meal.  

 Tuesday

This pizza was our favorite for the week.  I had never had Naan bread and adding just a few toppings over a pesto sauce was so easy.  This may become a lunch on the weekends AND my picky son even liked it.

 Wednesday

I like to use my spiralizer but I don't use it enough.  I also like shrimp and need to find more recipes to use them in.

 Thursday

Spinach filled lasagna.  I used to think making lasagna was a chore but, the filling was easy enough to assemble while the pasta cooked; so no complaints there!

 Saturday

Finally to end the week was a quinoa dish.  I have made quinoa in place of meat in a taco dish before and really like the flavors.  This dish had pinto beans in it too and all the flavors were great.

I surprisingly didn't hear any complaints at meatless day after day this week.  That was nice.  It could be that a complaint really wasn't worth it.  Dinner hot and ready on the table is worth it no matter what, right?

Well I hope you had a healthy and filling week and I haven't thought about my menuplan yet but, am excited for whatever it is.  What are your plans for next week?

Family Fun (pottery)

  I received a gift certificate last year to PottsnPaints and decided to share it with my kids.  This was the first time I had ever painted anything and of course it was a first for my kids too.

  We looked at all the shelves to decide which item(s) we were going to paint!

We looked in the clearance section.  

They of course have a big holiday assortment. Halloween, Christmas etc.

How about some dishes?

Everyone choose their items.

Then we were introduced to the color options.

It was so neat to see all the colors.  My kids couldn't wait to select their colors.  They had such an organized system.  Everything was numbered and easy to locate.

Our colors were chosen and it was ready to get busy!

My daughter selected an owl to paint.

My son selected a spider web to paint.

After we were done I tried to explain the process to them after wards.

We left them to be glazed and returned a few weeks later to pick them up.

My kids were so happy first off to see their pieces but they really loved them when they saw how shiny the pieces were.

My son made sure to make his as colorful as he could!

My daughter worked very hard on her details!

I think we had a great day together and we have physical pieces to go with the mementos this time around! 

I hope we do this activity again sometime.  We could make gifts for others, ornaments for the tree or anything.

Find time for your family this weekend and do something special!