Friday, January 19. 2024

It’s Friday and time to link up with the Friday Favorite girls here! 

What a crazy week! Was yours all topsy turvy? So, it was very, very cold here over the last week and I hardly left the house Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. We had Monday off for MLK Day and then Monday around dinner time we heard we would do E learning at home due to the extreme cold temps more than anything, but we did get some snow and ice. Same thing happened Tuesday, and we heard we would be out Wednesday, too. So, it made for what felt like a really long weekend and a really short week!

Let’s hear some favorites from the week…

First off, let’s talk about my most recent press on mani, since I NEVER talk about my nails! Ha! So, I use Impress brand press ons and they keep sending me coupons and I look at their website under the sale tab and can seriously get two manis out of a $4 set. You can’t beat that! You cannot tell these are press ons and if you can tell, please don’t tell me. 

So, I order “short” unless “medium” is on sale and I just plan to really cut them down and file them. These came in and I didn’t realize they were “petite” instead of “short”. I thought that meant for little nails, but it just meant shorter than “short” and it worked out great so I didn’t have to cut down the light blue French. I just slightly filed them. 

So, a favorite is this fun mani! I really like how it looks! Sorry for the blurry photo. 

If you saw my Back on Track post Tuesday, you will know that I am trying to get back on track. I made my low carb egg casserole and so did Andrea! I doubled the cottage cheese and it turned out so fluffy!

Here is how I did this one:

1 cup fat free cottage cheese

I can green chilies

3 whole eggs

1 carton of Costco Kirkland egg whites

garlic powder, salt, pepper, cajun seasoning

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. I had so many egg whites that it took this one a bit longer. You see it here on my plate with my stats on the post it along with some Amylu chicken breakfast sausage, zucchini, onion, and a tiny bit of potato. 

We were down to only one working lighter so I put one in my Kroger cart and just picked a random color. They were out of whatever color it was and subbed this gorgeous rose gold. Kroger loves me! I am happy! 

Snack: Chomps stick, laughing cow, rice cake

I cleaned out my jewelry during my closet clean out and it’s time to let my beloved white and turquoise Kendra Scott necklaces go. If I had a dollar for every time I wore these…

I just don’t see myself wearing them again. I did keep a couple that are slightly different styles. Did you love these as much as I did? My blog will be 6 years old in a couple of months and I think these are from my pre-blogging days!

Always a favorite for a teacher in the winter: 

I am trying to clean up two old cast iron skillets to cook with. Do you use a cast iron skillet? 

I talked about my dip this week and I had not made it for so long. This rivals the full fat versions you might make for parties and gatherings. The secretis to heat it up after mixing. This week I put it in a street taco low carb tortilla, used carrots, and made my own tortilla chips in the air fryer with corn tortillas. 

I have been tracking protein grams in my phone memo like this: 

After a day of working at home, I had a nice cozy happy hour by the fire and indulged in an old fashioned and a glass of wine. I told you I was going to have balance and treats in my life! You just didn’t think it would be so soon! Lol!

Work from home snack: 

Work from home snack: 

Make your own tortilla chips in the air fryer – cut into triangles and spray a bit of Pam and salt. I did 350 for about 10 minutes but it depends on how crispy you want your chips. 

I took one tablespoon of Tostitos queso and as much salsa as I wanted and microwaved it. This is is good! 

I wore my new Hey Nuts blue pocketed leggings for my second work from home day and after work, I took myself to TJ Maxx and snuck a photo: 

I came home with cute springy disposable coffee cups:

Snickers coffee? I will let you know what I think. I am now using a big girl coffee maker and not a Keurig so I have been making a half pot each day. I plan to froth up some fat free half and half to have with this. 

And, I always think my hair gets brassy so I had wanted some purple shampoo to use occasionally: 

It was one of those TJ Maxx trips where I was just using it as an excuse to get out of the house after being home all day! Do you do that, too?

What were your favorites this week? 

Amy

30 thoughts on “Friday Faves”

  1. Yeah our weather has made for a short week too; Monday off with MLK, Tuesday off because of snow & ice, Wednesday they had a 2 hour delay and yesterday was a scheduled 1/2 day to begin with. It made me feel better about not doing any schoolwork with Evan this week though since I figure Alec didn’t really do any either! LOL Our schools are not allowed to do virtual learning days and haven’t since 2021 so we still get real old fashioned snow days off.

    We have a few cast iron skillets and pans and while I love cooking with them my boys all hate them since they require extra work to clean and season and keep up with. I have always had an iron deficiency though so I think it’s worth it.

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    1. Crazy, right? But, now it’s almost the end of January! We can’t have anymore delays in my district because of our crazy staggered start time schedule and the bus shortage. Hey – you’re the principal of your homeschool so you get to make the rules!
      I think virtual can work for high school and it’s real world to prepare them for college and working independently and for the real world where they might be on Google Meets and working from home.
      Oh, yeah, they are great to up your iron, aren’t they? I have heard just to scrub with kosher salt and then rinse and dry quickly and thoroughly and then oil up for next use?
      I think I want to learn to make a really good steak for Tom for V Day. I think he would be surprised. We rarely eat steak in a restaurant, but he does like it on occasion.

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      1. Yeah, we’ve even used soap and water and a chain mail scrubber when needed in a pinch but the key is to keep them as dry as possible and then oil it up for the next use.

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    1. I don’t think I like it! It tastes artificial or has a weird after taste. I love that, too. That’s why I love online shopping, but in person shopping/meandering has always been a fun outlet for me. I just love seeing what’s out and available.
      Thank you! I really liked this mani this week and it made me happy!

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  3. We are so on the same page, I literally bought that snickers coffee yesterday at TJ Maxx and I was in the checkout. They also had Twix so I got that as well. Can’t wait to see what you think, I haven’t brewed it yet. I cannot thank you enough for that egg recipe. I ate on it all week! So good girl! So looking at your rice cake, did you see my stories about putting one of the little triangles of laughing cow spreadable cheese on the tomato basil rice cake? Oh my goodness girl 75 cal and such a great snack! So flavorful. I love love love your manicure I have not done French tip in a long time! I always do color. French tip is do classy. Happy Weekend! Stay cozy.

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    1. I don’t like it! Let me know if I need to try it again – tastes artificial. Which it is! Ha! I have heard that Snickers creamer is good but I heard that from Real Housewives of New Jersey and don’t think I’ve seen it in my stores. Now I know that you and I have the same flavor profile! I’m so glad you like the egg casserole! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen tomato basil rice cakes? I really need to quit with Kroger. They have nothing. It’s just so close to my house. My little Walmart Neighborhood Market is just groceries and they have stuff that Kroger doesn’t have, but it’s about a 10 minute drive. Not bad, but I’m spoiled and busy all day during the week from 5 am- 4 pm so that would have to be on Saturday or Sunday usually.
      I really loved looking at my nails this week. I usually go for darker colors, too.
      You should do a whole snacking blog post! I might do that, too, and I think I might do a lunch post.

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  4. I love going to Marshall’s for that same reason! I have been buying my conditioner from there for a few months…that’s a great thing to buy from a store like that. We used to have a Mexican restaurant here called Pancho’s that closed down last year; they had really good cheese dip there, and I would always mix it with their salsa, because the salsa was too spicy to eat on its own. Their cheese dip was orange, though, instead of the white queso. It was always so delicious! That’s what your chips and dip reminded me of. I hope your Friday passes by quickly and uneventfully!

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    1. So, my Marshall’s is not great, but because of you it’s on my list today. It’s next door to Whole Foods and I have been meaning to go there for inspo and because it’s so much more affordable now being owned by Amazon and you get your Prime discount.
      You should try the Tostitos queso, salsa, and make your own chips in the oven on a cookie sheet out of very thin or thin corn tortillas. You might be surprised how good they are!
      Friday was so nice. I felt so happy to be home with my sleepyhead Jack in bed until noon and my early bird Mason up at 8 chatting with me from time to time.
      The roads were too bad to go out, but we walked and played with Ernie in the snow.

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  5. You are doing so good with your healthy eating!! I have been home since Sunday, outside of a quick trip to Kroger on Wednesday when my husband could drive me in our 4 wheel drive truck. The roads won’t clear up until at least Sunday when it is above freezing. What a week. I got some Impress nails for Christmas, but I could not get them to stay on for more than an hour. Is there a secret? I used the swab included to clean and dry my nails beforehand. Enjoy the weekend and stay warm!

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    1. I bet you have cabin fever at this point! Eating healthy while stuck at home is super hard!
      Ok – new tip – do not submerge your hands in water after applying the nails. Clean them up beforehand and make sure dishes are done! Ha! So, the best results would be to do them at night and sleep in them and the glue should be stuck well by am.

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  6. It must be lovely to work from home for a couple of days when it’s freezing outside! Hub and I just took a lovely walk in our “Central Park”; it was beautiful but I thought my legs would literally fall off from the cold – 8.6, same as you I believe? Closed schools!? Ha!
    One favorite this week was going to the theatre with my 7 graders. Can you believe I get paid to go to the theatre? 😀

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    1. It really is in the winter! Aww, love that! It is 1 degree here this morning! We really don’t do well with any sort of snow here in Louisville, KY and you know of our bus fiasco – they aren’t going to take chances of kids waiting in the cold.
      Oh fun! I used to feel like that when I did my one field trip a year.

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      1. 1 degree!? That’s crazy! Is that normal!? We never have such low temperatures! Well, up in the north, sure, but not down in Stockholm.

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  9. I love the lighter substitution! It makes me so happy when they substitute with something I actually like better than what I ordered. We are going to have virtual days after we use 5 regular snow days and I am not looking forward to it at all! Your TJ Maxx finds are all so good. I feel like I never have good luck there. My sister has that Lilly purse and it is so so good!! I always not so secretly hope she’ll accidently leave it at my house when she visits. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Same! Ah – we have no built in snow days but can use up to 10 virtual and I’m like finally – we can do this – we did this in 2020 and 2021. I think it’s much harder at elementary but in high school asynchronous work can be fine and meaningful. I always follow up with it in person.
      It’s real life – they will have to do this in college! I also think that special area teachers really struggle. My sister as an elementary art teacher just can’t do much!
      Thank you! I usually don’t buy much at TJ Maxx and avoid temptations. I really like their candles, holiday stuff, and now I really like looking at their beauty section.
      I am enamored by this purse that retails for $148 and I got mine for FREE! It’s so pretty! Ha – you should ask for it for V Day or Mother’s Day. That is how I used to get things I really wanted but felt guilty about – send link to my hub! Now we really have taken gifts off the table in favor of experiences.

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  10. After being home Monday and Tuesday, TJ Maxx was one of my first stops! I use cast iron, and especially like it for stove to oven cooking. I rub oil around the inside after every few times I use the pan, and that keeps it looking good. I try to scrub without soap, but occasionally use it. I just make sure to oil after that.

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    1. So I have a big one and a medium sized one and I scrubbed them with kosher salt and then oiled them down and baked them upside down. They look way better. I want to be a person who goes from stove to oven and I think I want to learn to make a steak for Tom in it!

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  11. I have been reading that it’s freezing over your side of the world. Over here it’s been unbearably hot and humid! I think my husband and son are counting down the days until Autumn because they can’t stand the heat. Your TJ Maxx finds are great! We call it TK Maxx over here and I have no clue why?? We just like to be opposite I guess!

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  12. I took both kids to the library story time 30 minutes away just to get out on a snow day this past week. I understand! Ugh. I need more purple shampoo. I worry that the kind I have isn’t effective enough. Sally’s cheap black/white bottle is usually the best.

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    1. Yes! I get it! The verdict is out on the kind I bought. I hate going to Sally’s because the parking lot is insane in the shopping center where it is located. A drunk person designed it and I always think I will get in a wreck there.

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  13. I’m trying to think how many times I left the house this week. I think maybe two times. It’s been so bitterly cold, and I didn’t need to be anywhere so I stayed home and in my pjs! Love your manicures! I think they look as if you’d gone to a salon. Oh, I remember doing that and wasting an hour or more of my life ever couple of weeks. I’m so glad I don’t feel that need anymore.

    Congrats on all the protein and counting! I do wish eggs didn’t make my GERD flare up, but they do for some weird reason.

    Have a wonderful week…will it be a full one?

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Ha! Probably not much! That’s the main reason I do nails at home – just don’t want to go there and sit and waste that much time.
      Thank you! Sorry about your GERD! I love eggs so much. One son says he can’t eat them because his stomach hurts.
      We should have a full week now – finally!

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