MmmMmm Good!

Lately I have been working (not to be confused with working out- whoops), traveling (nothing big, just a couple small trips for work and to see friends near and far), and relaxing (everyone needs to take a day off just to play golf and watch daytime tv, ya know?). 

But, I digress..

Here are two things that I made this week. Let's just say that I felt like my mom when I planned out my meals for the week. However, it saves me money and a potential heart attack. I really do love cooking and, more importantly baking, so all is well.

Recipe #1

Mini Chicken Pot Pie Cups

These are fun... and great for portion control. I used a half of biscuit for each cupcake tin and whatever veggies were in my fridge/freezer (aka green beans, green onions, corn, and cilantro). 

Ingredients:

- 1 can of reduced fat biscuits (

- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced (I used 1 large chicken breast)
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies (anything works)
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

- 1 teaspoon of onion powder

- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

- 2/3 cup cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, chicken soup, veggies, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley flakes, and black pepper. Mix well to combine.3. *Separate biscuits, roll them out, and place each biscuit in a cup of a lightly greased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing dough up sides to edge of cup.
4. Evenly spoon chicken mixture into prepared biscuit cups.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Place muffin pan on a wire rack and let set for 2-3 minutes. Serve at once.

*I do this one at a time -- flatten out the biscuit, press it into a baking tin, and then fill it with the mixture. 

Bam! There you go…an easy dinner that's yummy and filling! Andddd this one that helps you clean out the fridge. Wahoo!

But…It doesn't refrigerate well for more than 2 days. My rating: 7/10 

Recipe #2

Banana-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Bananas are tricky for me. I usually can eat two in a week without getting tired of them…but this week I was only able to eat one. Enter: "healthy" cookie recipe using 1 ripe banana. 

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 banana, very ripe

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I use a bit more because I love cinnamon)

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/2 cups oats (old-fashioned or quick)

- 1 cup coconut, preferably unsweetened (optional)

- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Melt butter in a small dish in microwave, 10 seconds at a time.
3. Transfer to mixing bown.
4. With an electric mixer, thoroughly mix in sugars, banana, egg and vanilla.
5. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt.
6. Mix in to the banana mixture.
7. Mix in oatmeal (and chocolate chips or coconut).
8. Drop dough by tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
9. Bake for 11-14 minutes until set and golden.
10. Cool 5 minutes and remove from tray right away to a cooling rack.

Alright, friends…no excuses. Make these and you will not be disappointed. *These do have a banana flavor so they are not exactly regular cookies. I enjoyed them…every. single. one. of. them. My Rating: 9/10 (I'm going to try to make these with splenda and if that works/tastes good, then these will become a 9.5/10).

PS- I'm in the beginning stages of making a recipe book so if you have any go-to recipes or ideas (cooking, baking, snacks, etc)…send them my way.

Be merry, and eat well!

Reflections

A Simple Life. 

That's what I like. 

To wake up in the morning with a purpose. 

To conquer "something."

To smile.

I choose to praise Him.

All day long.

While thankful for family.

And the friendliest of friends.

I choose to love.

A Simple Life.

My life.

While I have the mic (ehmm I just gave it to myself) I have a couple things to say. At times I find myself reflecting on life and most times I end up thinking about my family and friends one by one. After hearing from my grandpa this evening, who called for my address so that he can send me Valentine's Day chocolates, he wrapped up the call by saying, "I'm going to go fix myself a sandwich and something to drink (most likely a beer and then scotch) but I wanted to say that I love you." 

I love that sentence. Because it is so him! He eats dinner pretty late and on Sundays my grandma doesn't cook. So he's on his own. He loves his dranks, and that is not a typo. Beer in the evening and scotch for his HBO movies. And the love…well of course I love him too. xoxo

I don't want to forget the "little" things. That's why I'm writing them down. Because they mean a lot to me. I want to remember that at 8:25pm on a Sunday in January 2014 my dear Papa hadn't eaten dinner but didn't hesitate to write down my address, even after I offered to email it to him. 

And I cannot forget that just the other day my grandma called and left a message that was very similar. She was just calling to check up on me and to say that she was thinking about me. How sweet is she? I really do love her. I don't want to forget that she picked up the phone and gave me a call- because I was on her mind. 

And while I'm at it, just last week my other grandma called to thank me for a gift she received from my sister and I a couple weeks earlier. She had opened it and loved it! #winning! And somewhere in that voicemail she said, like she always does, "and that's it…I didn't want anything." Man oh man I wish I would have been able to answer that call to hear her excitement for myself. <--she had a stroke two days later and her speech just isn't the same…yet! Prayers, please xx

I am blessed. 

I think I'll be taking these thoughts to paper (or keyboard) more often. 

Love to all,

2014, I'm ready for you :)

Every year, millions and millions of people make New Year's Resolutions to:

Go to the Gym

Get Healthier

Lose Weight

Take time for themselves

Go on Vacation

Try a new food

Keep their home cleaner

Be nicer to others

Get back into going to church

Etc. 

Instead of creating a list of resolutions, another bucket list, or a "things to do" list, I have decided work on a different category of my life every couple months. This is in an effort to become more well-rounded. It's self explanatory and with 2 months per category, I should at least be able to attempt each. 

Isn't this awesome?! 

You can download a copy for yourself by clicking HERE!

Below are some things you can do for each category. Remember: Goals are supposed to stretccchhh you as a person. They shouldn't be comfortable and will take practice/some getting used to. But that's why they are great! We get to experience a sense of accomplishment after completing them. 

Now go ahead and make goals for yourself. State what your goal is going to be. Then how you are going to accomplish it. And finally, chart your progress or check-in with yourself every once in a while. It will be fun and we can hold each other accountable! 

Also, I am a big fan of rewards after accomplishments. Maybe you deserve that massage you've been thinking about…but only after deep cleaning your entire home and cleaning out your dresser/closet?!

----------------------------

Organization/Cleaning- Clear out your closets, bring clothes you don't wear to Goodwill, make a weekly chore list, give everything in your house a "home" or a special place so you're not scrambling to find things, deep clean your floors, fans and baseboards, etc, clean out your garage, organize your time (less time texting, playing phone games, facebooking, etc), file birth certificates, tax info, bills, etc.

Spiritual- Read your Bible daily, listen to sermons by your pastor (or go online, there are plenty available), be kinder to yourself, make a better effort at sincere prayer, stop gossiping, practice faith, keep a spiritual journal, meditate, look for the good in life, listen to uplifting music and watch uplifting movies

Physical- Workout X amount of minutes X many days a week, eat lots of greens, drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, go to bed on time, cut out desserts/sodas/junk, eat correct portions

Financial- Make a budget and stick to it, make a bin for all your bills, receipts, etc, cut extra costs, pay off any debt you may have, pay with cash, build up your savings account, get smart about where money goes

Selfless- Call up an old roommate, commit to talk to parents or siblings more, bring dinner to someone who is sick, just had surgery (or a baby!), was in the hospital, etc, reach out to someone who needs a friend, reach out to someone who has hurt your feelings, find a place in your community to volunteer

Your pick- could be an educational goal, career goal, family goal, a goal to use time more wisely, a repeat of one above, or maybe just a goal to survive.

Kudos to Danielle from La La La Love You for the great printable and category suggestions. 

Happy New Year, everyone! 

Cheers xoxo

A Year in Review

This is one of my favorite parts about January…when I think back about the past year and how good it was to me and for me. 

I am blessed beyond measure and I am thankful each and every day that I have a loving family, supportive friends, and live in a free country with the ability to travel the world. 

So with that, I will leave you with my favorite picture from each month in 2013. 

{January- Hit the course (mainly, the driving range) and started golfing}

{February- Checked an item off of my "things to do in 2013" list and became a Be The Match donor!}

{March- Spring Break Road Trip with Katie from SAS. Below: Grand Canyon}

{April- I studied a lot and entered the 21st century. Bye-bye Blackberry, hello iPhone}

{May- Studied, wrote, and passed my comprehensive exam for grad school}

{June- Gevirtz Graduate School of Education Graduate -- Woohoo Commencement!}

{July- Spent the last couple weeks living with this one. There really is something special about being roommates}

{August- Reunion in Florida with SAS friends. A day at Walt Disney World :) }

 {September- Jean visited me in SB and we made my headboard. Two minds are better than one}

{October- Gave the gift of life! Donated Blood and it felt oh-so good}

 {November- Cross-Country Road Trip with Kelly. Below: Cadillac Ranch in Texas}

{December- SAS Reunion in Nashville for NYE! We shared 5 days/4 nights of relaxed fun and ongoing excitement}

My prayer is that in January of 2015 I will look back on this year and know that I accomplished new things, explored the world a little bit more, was loving and caring to all I encountered, and grew spiritually, personally, and professionally, but not physically (wider, that is).

Thank you, 2013, for being so good!

Road Trip 2013

My dearest Semester at Sea friend, Kelly, came out to California to work for a couple of months (Sept-Nov). While preparing for her return to Florida, we came up with the grand idea that I would drive back with her! So clever we are. It was pretty simple to us. Pack our stuff, get in the car, and drive until we got there. 

We planned where we would lay our heads at night but that's about it.

I also wanted to learn how to use iMovie. And with an iPhone, it couldn't be that hard to film everything. So this was the perfect project. Short enough that I could make this video in a couple days. But long enough that I could practice using just about every feature and perfect (ha!) my technique as well. 

Everyone needs a video like this to look at when they're 80. I know we'll never forget those 10 hour days in the car. Thank goodness for cell phones, bluetooth, yelp, and unlimited song choices. 

We never got bored, didn't eat junk food...just enjoyed each other and made conversation. This trip is one for the books. 

It's a little lengthy but when I'm 80, I'll have 15 minutes to spare. Guaranteed. 

We had a ball, to say the least. I have a sneaky suspicion that another trip like this is in our future. Who knows, we might be the type to take trips like this to escape our roles as wife and mother. But that would require each of us to find a husband, first. 

Good Deed #1

This evening, as it was beginning to rain, I saw a young guy running frantically towards the public bus as it drove away. I immediately knew that he was trying to catch the bus. There is a certain look that can be associated with someone who is running, in traffic (as he tried to cross the street), with a rolling suitcase that doesn't want to stay on its wheels, as water begins to fall from the sky. 

I was able to circle back through a neighborhood and offer this guy a ride in my car to the bus. He was so grateful and thanked me no less than 5 times in our 3 minutes together. Turns out, he is a student who was catching the bus to take him to the airport so he could spend the week at home for Thanksgiving. 

When we caught up with the bus it was 3 stops down the road and a solid 13 minutes away by foot. Basically, he wouldn't have caught up with the bus. 

It felt good to help him and I know he appreciated it. 

Good deeds are awesome. And reflecting on them is great, too :)

Twenty-Five

Well, folks, twenty-five is here and I'm feeling great (as though one day would make all the difference). I enjoyed two donuts for breakfast, lunch with friends from work, dinner with more friends, and then finished the night out with late night eats, drinks and dancing at a downtown Santa Barbara favorite spot. 

In honor of my quarter century of life, I have created a list of 25 things I want to do while 25. I welcome friends and family to join me on my quest to check off everything on the list. Ready, Set, Go...let's make this happen. 

We'll see how it goes...