September to October

Anne Spring, courtesy of Quotelife Photography

September

This was a month of trying to establish a good routine for our little family. My sweetheart was still gone most the week, Coco was going to daycare, and I was trying to balance work/school. I was also taking the lead on wedding planning, since we knew life would get a little hectic during the holiday season. Leaving us with really only six more months once January came around!! I spent a lot of my lunches interviewing florists, DJs, makeup artists, and hair stylists. For some things, it was really easy to make decisions. For others, like the DJ and florist, I really struggled. We also had our engagement photos taken by our wonderful photographers!

I also finally asked my bridesmaids, matron of honor, and maid of honor if they would accompany me on this journey. They've been wonderful! They picked out their dress, and I can't wait to see them! 

I also realized during September that if I wasn't careful, I was going to isolate myself from dear friends and family again. Also, it's pretty clear I am still obsessed with our dog. I've been trying to make it a point to see my friends, and not just the ones in the wedding party. I'm thankful that my sweetheart and I have done this, it has made me feel much more well balanced! 

October

This was an awesome month! Some friends and I went horse riding at the same place where we had our engagement photos from. My derriere was definitely sore for three days. I can't believe I used to do that as a kid!

My sweetheart and I also took a trip to the mountains to see some family and such. I'm really grateful we took the trip, as one of his old childhood dogs passed away. I imagine it is never easy to have a dog pass away, and I really can't imagine what it's going to be like that when I lose my first. 

There was also a bachelorette party! I was a bridesmaid, and we had a blast throwing the party. We had delicious food, drinks, and gifts, and then went into the city to dance the night away at four different hot spots! Got to love the Queen City!

FINALLY

I figured out what was wrong with Coco. After she acted a little sickly at daycare, I took her to a new vet. I love our old vet, by they were too far away! She needed some antibiotics. They helped relieve her issues temporarily, and I finally went with my gut instinct: change her diet. We had been feeding her a brand whose first couple ingredients were pretty good. After I did a loooooooooooooot of research, I found that in order to determine if it was the food causing the issue, I had to change her diet 100%. We went from chicken, to lamb and oatmeal by Blue Buffalo. 

She is in heaven. She loves her food! She has never been motivated by food, and sometimes wouldn't eat all day. We haven't had an issue in almost a month! The company has also sent me coupons! The food is expensive and she somehow has more energy, but I am so thankful that she is healthy and happy! 

So now you're just about updated. November has been a month of wedding stuff, and I am getting a little wedding'ed out. I didn't think it was possible!

courtesy of Quotelife Photography

July to August

i like mud.

July.....
August....
September...
October........

It's hard to believe I last posted on July 4th. So much has happened! I obviously can't update you on everything, but I'll try.

July

Starting in July, my sweetheart was working a couple hours away during the week & we expected that to continue until January. I was taking another really difficult class, and working from home a couple days a week to keep up with Coco who was just about six months old. I thought I could balance everything well without him there. I was so wrong. 

Unfortunately, it turns out Coco was going through pottying issues. It took me forever to figure out what the problem was, but I hadn't figured it out in July. She was consistently pooping pottying in her crate before I could get home from work. It was INCREDIBLY frustrating to clean the dog, clean the crate, clean the floor six times (I can't wait to replace this porous flooring), clean any other surface, and then clean myself. Then there was the incident where I left her out of her crate once during class...but I won't go into that. 

At the end of July, Coco turned 6 months old. We went to our last day at puppy preschool, and she had a blast! We knew she needed to stay social, and I let her try daycare for a day. She loved it! But of course, she had to get spayed before going to daycare regularly. So, Coco got spayed at the end of July. What a goober, she was HILARIOUS when she came home! 

Thanks to the Coco situation, I wasn't getting much time to study. Summer classes are usually intense for six weeks, but with holidays and my professor teaching in another country, we really only had four weeks. It doesn't help that one of my group members in the class had salmonella poisoning, as did the rest of his family. And my second group member had a hard time communicating, as a new foreign exchange student. Got to love grad school!

August

I finally finished my class, by the skin of my teeth. Thank goodness, I had a week off before starting the Fall semester!!

My parents came to visit during  my week off of school. We had a great time! They got to see our new house, meet Coco, and see the town we used to live in. We visited my sweetheart's new work too. They also helped me a lot with wedding planning. I am so lucky, i found the dress while my parents were visiting. It was only the third dress! It was the perfect moment, where I just knew that if it was that easy, it was meant to be. We also found a wonderful hotel for our visiting family to stay in. Minus a couple issues with the DMV, we had a wonderful trip. No one wanted the week to end, which is exactly how every vacation should end. 

Alas, still no improvements with Coco, although she was going to daycare a couple times a week and loving it! I was still working from home a couple times a week, and so the other days she would "romp with friends" as we say! She would come home exhausted, and I would finally do some school work. 

I also started a new job, which is more like a rotational group. I found out back in May that I'd been selected, when I got back from Brazil. It's very different and eye opening, but made our summer a bit more hectic. 

As you can see, a lot of things changed! Most for the better, and a couple complicated life a little more. It had been months since we did any updating or changes to the house, and I certainly didn't have time to cook!

{sparkling fourth}

Let's sum up what's happened in the last week or so...
 
1. Finished the Brazil class. Hooray!
 
2. Started my next class. Boo.
 
3. We had another dog stay with us for nine days, so its owner could go get married! Coco played ALL DAY. The other dog didn't always want to, since she was three years old and much smaller. So I ended up playing referee. They were so sweet, I miss having something to entertain Coco.
 
4. The garden has done nothing. NOTHING. Time to go get fertilizer. I should probably give up at this point, but I'm too stubborn.
 
5. My sweetheart has started a new job! I'm so proud of him. Even if this makes things a tad more difficult since it's a long commute, it's just something else for us to figure out.

6. We bought a new car. I love it! My sweetheart's truck wasn't too reliable, so he is now using my old car. I am so grateful, I now have a/c. And bless his heart, he thinks my old car still has a/c when it blows out lukewarm air.

I've also finally gotten to do some the deep cleaning I have been dying to do. I know it's gross-but it wasn't our mess, we moved into it!

Ew. Disgusting. You would be amazed what is under your little knobs! With a toothbrush, bleach, and gloves {I forgot to use them...}, you can make everything sparkle like new! Don't let the bleach sit too long, just long enough to get all the grime up. It even whitened the caulk around the rest of the sink.

Just in time for my sweetheart's family to come visit!

I hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July!

Alas, the garden

proud garden puppy

There it is! The garden I have been waiting for. Almost all by myself!
Ok, here is what I planted:

In the picture with Coco above, east is facing us. You can see the tomatoes staked up closer to the fence. The diagram above shows everything I've planted.

You can only see one okra plant, one watermelon, four bell peppers, four eggplants, and six tomatoes. The rest I've mapped out are my leftover seeds I planted. I don't know what plants go together and which don't, but hopefully something grows.

I mean, water and sun and it will all grow right? Probably so very wrong.

I was able to find the bell peppers and eggplants really cheap when visiting New Bern, NC for a wedding. Beautiful place! I even found wedding decorations. Yes, I am slowly, slowly planning..

{raised garden, pt2}

Onto day 2!
I was already sore, but so excited because I have been waiting so long for a real garden.
{not that pots in your apartment aren't a garden, but still.}
 
Now the hard part is making the garden even. I've got my level, but I was never able to get the garden completely flat. I needed to have the lower section {to the left in the picture below} of the garden below the grass level, in case all of the rain and dirt started to push the garden down hill.

But I also needed the top part of the garden to stay above the grass level, so that I didn't have all of the grass and dirt spilling into my garden after a hard rain. Also to prevent slipping, I decided to just create a trench to slide the board into, so that there was compact dirt on each side.

I hope that made sense. If not, just tell me. So, this is what it ended up looking like. It's fairly flat, except maybe a quarter inch off. Good enough!

Instead of using a weed liner, I chose to use cardboard. You can use newspaper too! It sounds like cardboard will last long enough to kill any grass, and then decompose. Also, the worms love it. I found plenty of worms, and definitely kept them in the garden!

Then spread your new dirt around. We purchased way too much dirt, but each bag was about $5.50, and since I lowered the boards into a trench, I didn't need dirt to fill 5x6 exactly. I used about 4 bags, and I am sure I will use another one or two as the dirt settles. Another $22-33.

Coco was a very helpful garden puppy. She was a little too interested though. If you tell her 'no' and are very clear about what she is not supposed to do, she will be good. We had the pots in her way on the deck for a long time, and she left them alone. I expect she will do the same with the garden. Only time will tell!


We spent 42-53 on the garden, not including the plants. To re-pot all of my existing plants, it would easily have cost that much to buy cheap big buckets.

More later-I'm off to play in the dirt!!

{raised garden, pt1}

Finally, time to create the garden I have been waiting for for so long!
& I can say that I was able to do this {mostly} by myself!
I know it is already so late in the season, but that wasn't about to stop me.

I think it turned out really well,
but I could very well be biased.

First, we compromised to a 5x6 garden, and had two large 12' and 10' boards cut in half. {if it was up to me, it would be so much larger, but after all the work...glad we chose this size.} This wasn't very expensive, about $20. Plus, for recently moving into our new wonderful home, we had a 10% off coupon!

 

Second, we marked out where the garden would be. I looked for a spot that most importantly had sun all day! Also, you can tell our new backyard isn't exactly flat. I knew we would need to pull out my handy level, to get it as flat as I could.

The next part is where I needed a little bit of help on the last quarter of shoveling. I chose to remove all the grass, instead of using a weed liner. Based on what I found, the weed liner does prevent weeds from growing up into the garden, but also restricts the roots. No bueno. I'll show you what I did instead.

This part took the longest. We dug up the whole section, and then called it a day.

sleepy puppy

My thoughts:
-when you dig up the grass, go ahead and put it in the trash/transplant it. It is a huge pain to move it later.
-Don't do this in the middle of a hot day, shoot for an early morning or partly cloudy. Or just do this in mid march like most people.

{almost officially summer}

It is hard to believe, we have been living here for officially 2 weeks!

Our home is so perfect for us, Coco is in love with her back yard.
It's more unbelievable that I haven't started a garden yet!

I'm shooting for a raised garden. I have everything I need...I'm more curious to see if my usually well behaved dog is going to behave herself around my precious plants.

This time last year I had basil, and one giant tomato plant.
I eventually tried cucumbers and watermelons.

With all the rain and intense thunderstorms, I haven't really had to time race out there and start planting.

But thankfully my sweetheart and I have some free time on our hands, while I wrap up my first summer class.

I will never have a summer class again in June!!

P.S.-We are less than a year away from our wedding day! So much to plan! 

{rio, brasil}

Olá.
I already feel like I was in Rio a lifetime ago.
It was only a month ago that I arrived in Brazil.
& for the next nine days, so many school lectures, tours, and hilarious moments happened.

Too many to count, but here are my favorite.

 Christ the Redeemer. There is a small church under the feet of Jesus. I said my prayers, got up to leave. A Brazilian woman asked to pray over me (so translated a Brazilian pastor). What an experience, being blessed by two people I would never see again on Mother's Day. After praying for my mother, the lady sang a beautiful song. Can't help but wonder how this sweet, blessed Brazilian lady is doing.

Curious George. Came to see a few of us on our way to Sugar Loaf.

Favelas. Home to many, owned by one. The poor and middle class live here illegally on government land, with conditions that would be looked down on in the U.S. The cable cars are meant to help with transportation. Many children don't go to school; it takes too long to get there. You can see a layer of pollution on the horizon. Very mixed feelings about this picture, but a view to remember forever.

Cannon ball fruit! The inside looks like a coconut mixed with an avocado. I had to research what it was when I got back, not even the Brazilians we asked knew what it was.

If you ever have the chance to visit Brazil, you should! I don't speak spanish, but definitely picked up on important words. Hello, bathroom, please, thank you, goodbye, no nuts (allergies!!), water, and a couple others.

Tchau

{long time..}

It has been so long.
I didn't even get the chance to announce I was going to Brazil!
& I am already back.

& we are all ready to purchase and move into our new home. {surprise!}

So much is happening all at once. I want to share, but time flies so quickly!
I hope to share soon!

{Dash of Coco}

one, two, and puppy makes three

Since starting to blending our two lives into one, we've added one more to the mix.
My two best friends came over one night for a girls night/birthday celebration {yes, I'm one year older}, and she happened to find this cute little pup on a rescue shelter's website.

I fell in love. I didn't have to beg my sweetheart, she was definitely meant for us.
In four long days, we brought 9 week old Coco home with us!

signed the papers, we're a family of three!

It's so hard to believe that was three weeks ago.
So much has happened since then. She turned out to be a sick pup with the coccidia parasite and went down from 13 to 10 pounds. But thanks to Halfway There Rescue again, she felt much better within a week.

She's now 21 pounds and 3 months old. She knows how to sit, and she is learning how to 'come here' and 'shake'. She hasn't had an accident inside for a week and she hasn't chewed on much except her toys {knock on wood}!

More adventures to come, featuring Coco Chanel!

Thanks again, to Halfway There Rescue who traveled to Ohio to rescue Coco from parvo at 5 weeks old. I had no idea how much this puppy would change my life!

{ties that bind}

For spring break, my sweetheart and I went on our first tent camping trip together. The camping trip may have been one of the worst we've ever been on with coyotes, howling wind, and temperatures below freezing. We were determined to stay positive, and now I know why he was being so optimistic!

We were relaxing beside a calm lake, on a beautifully sunny day after a very long hike.
He caught me by surprise, and asked me the most beautiful question, "Will you marry me?"

Life has been so busy and beautifully hectic since then!
We may have been dating for three years, but I am so excited to be bound even closer together. 

{out of touch}

Hanging Rock Waterfall

Sometimes life seems to happen all at once.
March has been one of those beautiful months for us.
So many amazing things have happened in just a few days.
Anniversary, birthdays, and something new to celebrate.

& I didn't even know that this blog has officially reached over 1,000 views!
I can't wait to share so much more!

without cable

Life without cable isn't nearly as difficult as I thought it might be.
We didn't watch much tv during the week anyway. Some of the shows we watched weren't guilty pleasures, and we didn't watch them regularly. They were just more interesting than whatever else was on. Probably turning our brain to sludge.

why get rid of cable? 
We were paying $58 dollars for cable, and the service wasn't really great since some channels weren't always available and other channels would freeze. Also, we were charged a random $25, and tried to dispute the claim {and they claimed they couldn't see the charge...but it was on our bank statement?} for almost four months. So we had enough.

what do we do without cable? 
First, with some of these rabbit ears that are on sale, we pick up the basic channels. The basic channels are nbc, abc, fox, and cbs. We do get the bachelor, and a few other shows that are popular.

I have a hulu account to watch some other shows like Grey's Anatomy, Raising Hope, and Modern family.

We decided to get netflix {check to see if you can get a free month trial}, and we pay $7 a month to watch our favorite shows like How I Met Your Mother and White Collar. We just found the show White Collar. It is so good! There are lots of movies, and maybe we will check out a few more tv shows. Right now, I'm just stuck on White Collar.

For the shows that cable gets that we can't watch, we usually hang out with friends. I really love the show Pretty Little Liars, just like every other high school girl. I always meet up with two of my best friends and watch it together. Obviously I can't host the party, but thankfully my friends like me enough to see me every Tuesday! & if we can't get together on Tuesdays, I'll just watch the show online the next day.

pros
We save almost $700 dollars per year!
I can watch all of the shows I care about
I get to see my friends more often

cons
watch shows on a delay {usually only a day}
watch them on a laptop {but you can hook your laptop up to a tv if you have a newer one}
your show may not be online
rainy days can affect your rabbit ears

We're happy with our decision. With rabbit ears, hulu, netflix, and most shows being posted on the network's website, there's really no need for cable!

Alfredo pizza, the best ever!

Even though we are busy almost every day of the week, we still reserve at least one day a week to eat dinner together. It's our reserved date night. I've shared this recipe before, last september's date night. It gives our week a little ohm. It grounds the rest of my week, and it's something we both look forward to.

I made this pizza with my friend Sam not too long ago when she came over to have a girl's night and just catch up. We were originally going to make regular pizza, but she's adventurous too so we decided to try out a recipe I found in a calendar a long time ago. It was so good, I ended up making it again with my sweetheart a few days later. I have a pesto recipe I will share soon that always tastes great mixed in with the alfredo, even for pasta!

ingredients for dough.
3 c Bisquick
2/3c very hot water
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
4-5 sticks of mozzarella cheese string cut in half length wise { I even like mozz & cheddar string cheese}

toppings.
1/2 c Alfredo sauce
1-2 c spinach, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1-2 c Italian or Mozzarella cheese
Italian, garlic salt, or basil seasoning to taste

 I

Mix the water, Bisquick, and oil til dough forms. Then beat vigorously for 20 strokes. 

Cover, let it stand for 8 minutes.

Put rack on the lowest position, and put the oven on 450 degrees. Spray the pan. 

II

Spread the dough out onto the pan. Then you'll lay the already cut cheese along the outside of the dough. Then fold the dough over the cheese, to create the cheesy crust. Pop it into the oven for 6-7 minutes. 

While that's in the oven, prepare your pizza sauce. We mix Ragu sauce with tomato paste until it reaches a good consistency. 

III

Put the sauce & toppings on, and then make for 11-14 minutes until your crust is golden brown. 

Enjoy!!

{pantry challenge & organization}

A few weeks ago my sweetheart decided to challenge me to use everything in our pantry for meals, and to barely buy anything from the grocery to do it. We were using our pantry closet as well as a few shelves in a cupboard. There's no need for that much stuff!

Challenge accepted. 

So over the past month or so, I've made a lot of recipes that I've shared with you guys and a few that I haven't yet. Here is a list of everything I've been remaking that I've already shared. I've also updated the recipe links in the tab at the top of the page, that includes every recipe I've posted.

Recipes

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
cheesy orzo & broccoli
forget it chicken
pick me up pancakes
stuffed crust pizza
caesar chicken sandwiches
broccoli & cheese soup



I've also made this fantastic new dry erase calendar to keep me organized.The calendar took some time, but I think it's going to help out a lot with our new home hunt, school, his exams, and any kind of other special stuff going on. The calendar idea came from pinterest, but I thought of doing it when we went to Home Depot so he could buy some paint for work. I ended up taking almost {or actually...} every single paint chip I could. We ended up picking out two special colors for our eventual wedding, and I couldn't be more excited! We are just in the thinking stage of it though, so don't expect too many more wedding details for a while.

I reorganized the calendar while making some of the amazing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies last night. I think it's important to say that if we have leftovers that we didn't each for lunch or something else comes up, we just push the scheduled dinner to another day or cross it off. Otherwise, this could get messy.

For the calendar, you will need 30 paint chips, some kind of background {I used some cloth}, scissors, a poster  frame and glue. Just cut the paint chips down for size, as you can see I left the name on there but just chopped off some of the extra stuff.

 I've been using the extra paint chips as little sticky notes, no need to waste! Also, I think my sweetheart has challenged me to use up the rest of hte coffee and tea in our pantry over the course of the next 10 months. Challenge accepted.

{farm for the future}

I think I take farmers for granted.
Energy supplies are equivalent in energy terms to 22 billion slaves working around the clock.
Easy to see, there's a problem.

{graham cracker pb balls}

These babies are delicious. They remind me of s'mores, minus the marshmallows and add peanut butter. So basically, there's not reason why these should even remind me of s'mores.

My sweetheart and I are looking at moving this year. We aren't exactly sure where yet, but we know we can't stay here! I've already shared that we are trying to cut costs of all of our big, exciting things that we are praying will happen in the next year or so. So nothing is really official yet, and finding out what we want to do could potentially be a really long process, but at least we've realized we have to do something.

As you can tell from the picture's Christmas touches, I'm a little behind in sharing this recipe. I originally was hoping to share it in December, and then I planned to share it before the super bowl {these would be easy to shape into footballs}. But with March Madness coming up, I think you can find a few ideas! Here's where I got the idea.

ingredients.
1 c peanut butter {I use Smucker's all natural}
1 1/2 c graham crackers that are crushed or blended in a processor
1- 1/4 c chocolate
3/4 mini chocolate chips or heath bits for topping {optional, I used graham cracker and whatever else I had on hand}

I.
Add graham crackers to peanut butter. Mix well, it will be crumbly but should be able to form balls. Add more of each ingredient as needed.

II.
Form 24 even sized balls, and place on a wax paper covered flat plate or pan, and freeze for 30-60 minutes.

III.
While they are still in the freezer, melt the chocolate. You can do this in the microwave, but I always make a homemade double boiler, see below. While it's melting, place your toppings in another bowl.
IV.
Once the chocolate is melted, either roll the peanut butter ball around in the chocolate with a fork {like when we made these amazing double chocolate truffles} or use a toothpick and roll the balls round to make sure they are covered.

V.
Dip into the topping, and put in the fridge or freezer to harden! I kept my leftovers in the fridge, too.



{Homemade double boiler: Place a half full or so pot of water on the stove, and place a heat safe bowl over the pot. Make sure that the pot does not fit perfectly. There should be some space to let the steam escape. Keep it on medium-low heat. Don't get in a hurry, you'll burn the chocolate.}

{40/40}

It's not too late to join in!! I'm not catholic, but my Dad and I always observe lent. I think it's good to be able to exercise self restraint, as well as the religious parts. I usually try to give up all sweets, or all chocolate, or something ridiculous that I fail at. He always gives up alcohol. Which isn't too hard, because he can still enjoy a non-alcoholic beer, aka "NA beer." It's almost too easy for him.

This year I wanted to shake things up. I'm tired of starting a lent tradition with the best intentions, and failing miserably! Plus, my birthday is in the middle of lent so of course I have to have birthday cake. And seconds. And the leftovers.

Here are some new, green resolutions or lent traditions you might want to try! We already do some of these, so you have extra help from me!

1. Give up plastic & paper bags. Cloth bags are only a dollar, and it does make a difference! We have about ten reusable bags, and we always forget them. & for all of those old paper and plastic bags that you have, just recycle them at your local grocery store! We are definitely doing this one. 

2. Stop using water bottles. Ever 'green' documentary says that these suckers are such a hazard! Go invest in an awesome new plastic container. If you don't drink enough water anyway {tisk, tisk, go get the free water app}, this could be a really good idea for you. If you buy two water bottles that are 32 ounces, you can monitor how much you drink too. Drink the first 32 ounces by a certain time, and then the second by the end of the day.

3. Stop receiving unwanted catalogs. Again, go get the paper karma app. Now, when we get mail, it is ACTUALLY mail for us.

4. Give up conventional detergents. I have two solutions for that. You can make your own laundry soap and your own dish detergent.

5. Give up the clothes dryer. We already use a drying rack for some items, but not for our work clothes. Here's the one we use from ikea for only $9!

6. Give up conventional toilet paper. I've tried using recycled toilet paper before. I'm personally not going back there again. Also, I just bought too much from BJ's. Too much...

7. Give up paper towels. Check out what is on etsy. I've thought about buying them, but it's on the wish list for now. Still trying to save a penny or two. However, we are doing this with the help of our many kitchen towels.

8. Give up two degrees. We are doing this. You can see my easy, peasy home made reminder below. Green Living says to keep the thermostat on 68, and 55 when you are asleep and away. We now keep it on 66 when we are home, and 62 whenever we are gone. I think 55 is a little too low. Can't freeze whatever plants are alive, because they are barely alive.

9. Give up dry cleaning. Yeah, we don't use that as you could tell in item number five. But there are home dry cleaning kits you could try.

10. Stop throwing away plastic baggies. We reuse all of our plastic baggies at least three times. Sure it's a bit of a hassle, but if you just reuse a them once or twice, and use plastic containers you will be surprised how easy it is to throw away less plastic.


Nine of these awesome ideas came from daily green, and one from my home to yours!

{freezing..choc pb bananas}

A nest of pearls favorite!

I made these amazing frozen peanut butter, chocolate banana bites just in time... for another cold snap from mother nature. It was 75 here the other day, and I got really excited! I had a great run in the morning, and kept trying to find excuses to pop outside all day. Mother nature was hot, and now she's cold.

I'm doing pretty well on my 100 miles by Valentines day challenge, but I know I won't make it. I'm hovering around 50 miles. I'm really surprised how well I've been keeping up with working out while I'm in school. Last semester was such a challenge! I'm so grateful for finding more inner peace during this semester. With changes going on with work, and another group project this semester, I really don't want to get stressed out.

I'm also trying to take more time to appreciate my Better Half. I'm trying to cook for us more, and make sure we're eating healthy. It's also saving us money, which we are trying really hard to do. Isn't every young couple trying to do this?  Saving for big things like cars, a house, and the list goes on, just seems impossible.

On a happier note, I'm getting close to finalizing a big trip in May! My sweetheart won't be joining me, which I'm pretty sad about. I'll be sure to spill the beans in a few weeks when everything is more set in stone!


Here's a recipe, I'll be sure to share again in the summer!

ingredients.
banana (however many you want)
Peanut Butter (I used smucker's all natural)
chocolate chips

I.

Slice the bananas, so that there are small round circles. Place some peanut butter on top. You'll place these in the freezer for a few hours. 

II. 

Before pulling the banana peanut butter pieces out, pull out your double boiler or makeshift double boiler.  

{I take a sauce pan, fill it with a few inches of water and place a heat-safe bowl on top of the sauce pan. The bowl shouldn't be a perfect fit, make sure there is some space between the pot and bowl for steam. You'll heat the water on medium/medium low.} 

Put the chocolate in the double boiler, and keep stirring. 

III.

Dip the banana bites in the chocolate. If you don't cover the whole bite with chocolate, it's ok. It will still taste and freeze well. Keep them in the freezer, and enjoy often!

{Super Bowl Dipping}

Happy Super Bowl!!

My sweetheart is a huge San Fransisco 49er fan, so I'm really hoping they win. If not, I may have a few days of sulking to look forward to. I'm pretty excited for the half time performance, chatting with friends, and the commercials!

We are having a bunch of friends over from some Caesar salad sandwich deliciousness and a few side snacks. I wanted to share one of my favorite chip dips that is from one of the many delicious and healthy Tone It Up super bowl recipes they posted last year.

I won't be able to make this recipe this year, it turns out I don't have black beans like I usually do. I made black bean burgers to grill out a few weeks ago, and I guess that was the last can! Otherwise, I usually have all of these ingredients all the time.

You'll see the recipe includes apple cider vinegar. I've been meaning to include how much I love an apple cider vinegar "acv" juice in the morning. There are lots of benefits, but hopefully I can talk more about that later.

For now, let's just get to the delicious recipe!!

Spicy Black Bean Dip

ingredients.
1 c black beans
1 jalapeno {or more!!}
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 pinches sea salt {any salt will work}
2 pinches red pepper
Fresh Cilantro {optional}
Chopped onions {just some for garnish, optional}

I.

Put into a processor, and blend until smooth. {Don't have a processor? You can mash until fairly smooth, but takes more time and will give you an arm workout!!}

Optional: Top with fresh cilantro leaves and chopped onions.

Go make some kale chips, and enjoy the commercials! {Or the game, if that's what you're in to.}

Cheesy Orzo & Broccoli

As usual, we found a sale on some good meat. Time to think of dinner...and I didn't know what to pair with it. Then this recipe popped into mind, thanks pinterest! What's a girl gonna do with a cheese craving? It's ok to give in. It may not help me get to being fit like I'd like to be, but it happens.

I discovered this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats a month or so ago. The recipe has some varying measurements, because it depends on what you prefer.

I really wish I could come up with a recipe on my own. I guess that just takes bumbling around the kitchen to figure out what goes good together. And a good apron. I really love this apron!! Darn you for being so expensive, anthropologie.

Serves 3-4
ingredients.
1 cup orzo
1-1/2 c chopped broccoli florets {I've used frozen}
1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese {this past time, I only had a pizza blend, still tasted great!}
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp butter
1/4-1/2 c milk
salt

I.

Add orzo to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes then add chopped broccoli and cook for 2 more minutes, or until orzo is tender. 

II.

 Drain well (broccoli florets are notorious for holding onto water) then return to the pot. Add cheeses, butter, and 1/4 cup milk then stir well and add more milk if needed. Season with salt to taste.

{kale, to the movies}

It's been a while since Big Red has had an ice-stash.

We had an ice storm the other day. Of course, we didn't listen to the news and went out for Restaurant Week with some friends.

I'm glad we did, because the food was amazing at Ruth's Chris. Their signature is that they serve the best prime steak, sizzling hot. For meat, the last bite is just as warm and delicious as the first.

We were lucky and didn't have any trouble with the ice. It wasn't hard to believe that there were over fifty wrecks in the areas affected; we saw lots of cars on the side of the road.

The next night it was still a little icy since the temps dropped and the roads were still wet. So, we rented the movie Ted, free of course thanks to the same mad skills I used on these movie nights. It was an alright movie. It was a little foul, but still pretty funny. I also made some tasty kale chips to go with it! They are salty and fill a popcorn craving, but don't add empty calories.

ready for the oven!

ingredients.
Kale {about 2 cups, or however much you want to eat}
Olive Oil {about 1 tbsp}
Sea salt/desired spices {a few squirts of lemon juice is nice too}

I.

Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry kale, break into chip sized pieces.

II.

Drizzle kale with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with sea salt and any other spices.  

III.

Pop into the oven until crisped, about 10 minutes. You want it to be dark green, not it's natural color or brown. 

delicious movie snack!

Enjoy! Let me know if there is another recipe that you like better!

xx

{3 Fav Ingredients & Pick-me-up Pancakes}

Best friends: Chia, Flaxseed, Brown Rice Protein

These are my three favorite ingredients right now. Chia seeds, ground flaxseed, and brown rice protein.

I love to sneak chai into salads, pesto, and any kind of recipe where they are discrete. They don't have much of a taste, but they are omega-3, antioxidants, and the list of benefits just goes on forever!

Flaxseed and brown rice protein are part of my favorite pancake recipe! I'm trying to complete a Tone It Up challenge: walk/run 100 miles by Valentine's Day. Lots of protein is key for energy! I'm doing well on my goal, just shy of 30 miles. Unfortunately it has been so cold, I haven't been able to log more miles.

Back on track, I don't post many breakfast recipes because this is what I usually eat.I know they sound weird at first, but you should really give them a try!! I first discovered them when I started getting into the Tone It Up plan last spring, and I haven't stopped since!

ingredients.
1/4 c  egg whites {I usually use the whole egg, I don't like to waste}
1/2 banana, mashed
1 scoop or 3 tbsp of brown rice protein {Found mine at GNC}
1/2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 c blueberries {I skip this and sprinkle in chia seeds or slice the other 1/2 banana on top when done}

I.

Spray pan with non stick spray. 

Mix the ingredients very well, and pour evenly into a medium-high heated pan. 

Flip & enjoy!

If the pancake breaks, just scramble it up! Make sure that the batter is poured evenly, and not too thick or it will take too long to cook through and one side will burn. 

There are endless possibilities with these pancakes! Check out the Tone It Up website for more recipes, and their recipes book has tons of options too.  

Time to start thinking up Valentine's Day ideas! Any cute decoration, dinner, or date ideas? 

I can't wait!

{forget it..chicken}

forget it, chicken!

I usually try to plan out of meals during Sundays. Remember the dry erase board? I use it to plan out our meals now. I think it's convenient, and my sweetheart can plan out the more "spicy" nights he needs to pick up something on his way home from work...aka "no-spicy" chilli night. But he loves tacos..

We are going to have a really busy week. We canceled cable {gasp!!} so I will be visitng a friends house for oen of my favorite shows, Pretty Little Liars. I know, that's what me and every other high school girl have in common. I have my classes this week, and we are going to going to Restaurant Week downtown on Friday with some friends! I'll tell you about our non-cable adventure once we've worked out all of the kinks.

During exams last semester, I started on a real pinterest recipe kick. I thought in between school during the last few weeks of December would be a great time to go through all of my pinterest recipes. 

I didn't go through all of them, mostly because I kept adding to them, but I did do several of them! This is one of my absolute favorites. I made this during exams {when I should have been studying}, but it was so easy it didn't take any time at all. 

Now with my new years resolution of cooking at least three times a week, I have a feeling my sweetheart will see this recipe on the board more often! The chicken here is moist, and flavorful. To us, the rice is the best part! All the credit to Brieanna!

ingredients.

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts {original recipe used 6}

2 cups uncooked Minute rice {I used brown}

1 pckg onion soup mix

1 can cream chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery

1 can water {reuse one of the cans from above}

I.

Butter a 9x13 dish. {This means, take a bit of butter and smear it all over the dish. No need for non-stick spray.} Peek at number four, to set the oven.

 II.

Mix the two soups, water, and rice pour them into the buttered dish.

 III.

Lay the chicken breast on top of the rice, and sprinkle the onion soup mix on top. Cover with tin foil {very important.}

IV.

Pop the casserole into the oven on 250 for about three hours. Or cook at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. See, forgotten chicken! The recipe says it is hard to mess this part up.

forgotten chicken

{in the dirt}

There is nothing in my pots.
My celery died because I watered it too much.
My green onion, I didn't tell you about because of the celery, is wilting and I think I didn't water it enough.

My gardening skills are going south. Not in a good way.


However, I did rescue a poinsettia and a green, piney thing from work and they seem to be doing well.

What's important here, is that I have not started to plan to turn the weird plot of back yard you see into a haven. {I find it comical that you can see where Tom Mater & friends sat beside the fence. My sweetheart does not find this funny, at all.}

Things to keep in mind, is I can't dig & I shouldn't kill the grass. We use this odd splat of cement to grill sometimes, so it is nice to be able to pull out chairs. Oh, and we don't know if we will be here til the end of summer. So, I shouldn't get excited and go all out.

This year I need to keep my plants more miniature than last year. I'm hoping for tomatoes, lettuce, & cucumbers at least. I'm hoping for something new too, as well as hopefully a cute pot and some non-expensive dirt. Not too much to ask right?

Wish me luck!!

{favorite free apps}

I got an iPhone over Thanksgiving break, and haven't said anything yet so I could figure it out and decide if I like it or not. I never imagined myself with an iPhone, but so far I really like it. Since I am such a newbie to all of the apple products, I figured I was alone and everyone else knew what they were doing! So for those of you who are like me and are just figuring apps out, here are some of my favorite free apps.

I used the pic stitch app to make the picture above. Which, by the way, you simple re-roll regular cinnamon buns into a heart. Perfect idea for valentines!

Paper Karma is fantastic, because it gets rid of my junk mail! You scan unwanted mail, and the app searches from their database to identify who sent the mail to you, and then they send a request to have you removed from their mailing list. Easy peasy.

 Daily water helps remind me that I need to drink lots of water. You should have half your body weigh in water a day! So 120 pounds? You should have 7.5 glasses of water or 60 ounces a day. This tracker helps me stay on track.

Of course, I do like Siri a lot. Siri has a bit of a personality, as you can see!

I got an iphone over Thanksgiving break. I feel like I'm still trying to figure it out, but I like it so far!
Here are a few of my favorite apps so far.

{simplicity: to buy an island}

I've made a resolution for my cleaning to go green by the end of 2013.

I'm already doing pretty well with  my own dish detergent and laundry soap.
I also like natural toothpaste and deodorant.
But I think there is more room to improve.

I've also made my two usual resolutions: work out and cook at least 3 times a week.

You wouldn't know it based on my recipes I usually post, but I"m a fan of healthy eating.
So for the past week or so, I've been working out and eating lean, green, & clean.
I plan on sharing those recipes more often too.

I feel like my ultimate goal is to make 2013 more simple.
Our house has school, CPA exams, and work, while still staying in touch with our family and friends.
Part of the idea of simplicity was inspired by this movie. 

So, cheers to the man who said he wanted to buy an island, and did.