Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Today is the last day of January and I thought I would recap my fashion purchases for the month. 

Well, I really didn’t plan to shop this month – oops! My plan was to be content with and wear all of my winter wardrobe! But I think you will agree that I got some great deals and I shopped with a purpose – maybe? Ha – let’s see…

Can we blame it on the fact that January has 573 days? Can we blame it on the fact that I really didn’t shop much from August until December except for trip stuff? Nah, that probably doesn’t hold water!

I mentioned in my winter closet cleanout that I see my closet as a fluid entity. I don’t hang on to things that are not serving me – I like space and margin to add as my tastes change. Also, fashion is a hobby of mine and I really enjoy putting outfits together. Some hobbies are very expensive, and my hobbies are pretty cheap if you think about it on the grand scale of things. See how good I am at justifying things? 

Early in the month, I made a trip to my favorite little consignment shop Sassy Fox. They had everything 25-75% off and it had been a while. I had a $20 credit and found these things: 

black sweater vest with silver zipper detail – have worn three times and plan to wear more with silver accessories and shoes – feeling a bit more silver these days. Also, my mom gave me some new to me silver jewelry when I was at her house. 

black Jag pull on jeans – a little too skinny for my tastes currently. I may re-sell these – probably a mistake. 

navy/red cognac handbag – used once already – think it will be a much used bag in the spring!

black tan tote – I have used every day for my school tote! 

$30 for all 4 above – even though the pull on jeans were not a great purchase I would have paid $30 for the other three items! So, I did ok! 

Next up was…

This Lilly Pulitzer Going Cruisin crossbody – free with Tom’s work gift card – the tag said the price was $148! Tom’s work gives them a gift card to this online website and they can pick what they want. They gave him one for Christmas and one for a work anniversary and he couldn’t find anything he wanted with one of them and gave it to me. I have already used it twice and I love it! 

Then, during the closet clean out, I wanted new leggings…

Bright blue Hey Nuts pocket leggings Amazon $27 – already worn them every weekend! I cleaned out my massive leggings collection. I decided to not keep many that didn’t have pockets because why? I wasn’t reaching for them anymore. I have enjoyed this bright color that looks great with my many black tops. 

Then, I was influenced…

Kristin has talked about this brand for quite some time and I’ve been curious –

Carly Jean Los Angeles white kimono (more like a light long sleeved sweater) $20 – I saw this on super sale and that is what drew me in to this company and website – I always need a topper in the spring and summer and had let go of my older white things. The material is mostly rayon and modal. 

And I also chose this: 

Carly Jean Los Angeles white and black striped boyfriend tee. This is pretty oversized so I could have gone down in size but it was on sale for about $14. This is the same rayon and modal material. It looks black in the picture, but it is navy. 

I am really wanting to add some stripes to my closet because I didn’t have any stripes anymore!

And, I placed a Walmart order and again, I am so impressed! 

I ordered Joyspun undies and they are great. 

I ordered this Pumpkin Spice sweater on clearance for $14 – it is the exact same as my “Sweater Weather” sweater. Obviously, I will not wear this now! Ha! 

I ordered this $20 Free Assembly feminine spring sweater: 

And, I ordered this $17 sweater:

Yes, the buttons should also be pink! 

I have already worn everything except Pumpkin Spice so that is really the test for me – if I don’t want to wear it right away, it needs to be returned. 

And, finally I placed a Gap and Old Navy order at the same time. Did you know you can do that? It combined what I had sitting in my Old Navy cart when I went to purchase a Gap item and I qualified for free shipping. 

I have been seeing silver shoes everywhere. I have also been wearing my clogs – I have red and gold. I love clogs so much. They work great with the jeans styles that are popular right now, too. 

I couldn’t believe these were on sale for $12 from Gap! 

I’ve worn them twice over the weekend and they are also comfy!

And forgive this photo – wet hair – and the shirt needs to be washed and dried to shrink just a bit, but I ordered two button up shirts from Old Navy – pink and white stripe and blue and white stripe. These were $27 each – wow, Old Navy! $54

And that brings my grand total to $208. Now, do I wish I were the type of person to just buy one thing for $208? Yes, sometimes. But I also think I had a great month when you see everything I got. 

Also, guess what? I already have my spring consignment appointment set up for two weeks from now. I have started going through my spring stuff to see what still serves me and what doesn’t. It’s hard to believe, but they are taking spring clothing now, so now is the time to start taking inventory and starting a list of what holes are in your closet. 

I love spring clothes! You should see how colorful my spring stuff is compared to my winter stuff. I am really feeling green and pink! 

Ok, talk to me! What have you bought this month? 

Amy

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Did you make it through your Monday? I think many of us are just getting back on track after the holidays and so many weather-related days. It’s really hard to eat healthy when I am on vacation mode! Are you like that, too? Also, when I have a snow day, I feel like baking! Anyway, I started eating healthier again on January 8th and I have definitely had some treats, too. 

Before I tell you about my favorite website and its new feature, I have a recipe to share with you that knocked my socks off!

Breakfast Pizza! 

First of all, I must tell you that I am not willing to eat something I hate or that tastes gross or artificial because there are so many foods that I love out there. 

I have a favorite brand of low carb flour tortilla and I would not eat it if I hated it. Period.

La Banderita is the brand. Call me, La Banderita! I even speak Spanish and know your name means “little flag”! 

So, preheat your oven to 375. Place a tortilla in the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan or pie plate. I used a glass pie plate. Mix together 3 eggs (I used some liquid egg whites, too), any veg you have around – I did mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and add whatever spices you like. I did cajun, pepper, and garlic powder. The mushrooms and onions were already cooked, by the way. 

Put everything on top of the tortilla and bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cheese. I used reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese. Cook for 5 more minutes. This whole pizza was 4 WW points for me. So, you can divide it up and have some for a few days or share with family!

Most of the dishes you see me make for Erica and I for lunch and for my fam at dinner (usually just Tom and I) come from this website:

Slender Kitchen – Click the red font and it will take you there. 

Erica found it so I have to give her credit. Tom does not know the meals are healthy if I don’t tell him. Jack and Mason have also enjoyed many of the recipes and I don’t say anything to them, either. 

She has every type of cuisine imaginable or you can search by “chicken” or whatever ingredient you want to use. 

I tend to do a Mexican meal one night, an Asian inspired meal one night, and try to use the types of cuisines. 

Not to be dramatic, but I think I have also become a better cook because of Kristen, the author. She does not know who I am, but I have messaged her to thank her! 

Here are some of my faves – just click on the red type:

Blackening seasoning – so good for fish tacos. I feel like a boss making my own seasoning blend! 

Mango salsa – never knew how easy this was. This is great on the fish tacos with the blackening seasoning! I also feel pretty cool dropping this in conversation: ”Sorry, I have to go make some mango salsa to go with my dinner”. 

Beef bulgogi bowls – So good!

So, the even better thing now is that she has a blue circle with the WW points listed for each recipe – or most recipes. 

I am making this dish this week: 

Kofta Ground Beef Bowls!

Let me know if you check it out or of other sites you like!

Amy

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Happy Saturday! Coming to you an extra time this week and much later to link up with Jennifer!

ONE: 

I think one way to “hang on” to a special trip is to adopt some of their habits and try some of their recipes! Do you do that? Tom and I have a cookbook from our honeymoon in Aruba and I think it’s a great souvenir. 

I just ordered Mason’s favorite tea and I plan to join also try it. We have an electric kettle out on the kitchen counter now!

Tom and I were the only ones home for dinner Thursday night and I made breakfast for dinner which included “Bubble and Squeak”. It was really good! 

TWO:

Outside! 

I was able to sit outside a couple of days this week after walking Ernie and it was wonderful! I am hoping to be outside this weekend, too, with this more mild temps. 

THREE:

Ernie doesn’t want me to put the Christmas rug away. I think it’s softer than the one I replaced it with. I will be switching it back this weekend and who cares! 

FOUR:

Have you seen the bow trend? I ordered this 2 pack off of Amazon and the bow has a hairclip on the back. 

It’s hard to get a photo, but I kind of liked it! 

What’s something you would share on this Saturday?

Happy Weekend!

Amy

Friday, January 26, 2024

It’s finally Friday! It’s time to link up here for Friday Favorites! 

We needed a 5-day week! The heart wanted more time at home, but the brain knew we needed the routine. Boy, the kids were whining about having to go to school for five consecutive days, too! 

If you are new around here, I am a high school Spanish teacher by day and a blogger by early morn’ – ha! 

I am really being hard on myself this week and doing what I am asking of the students. I am entering grades daily so they can see the impact of getting back on track (or not getting back on track). It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s so important as we start a new semester. The semester actually started on January 16, but last week was not normal for many of us in the blog world with all the winter weather we experienced. 

I’m tired, y’all!

But, despite being tired, I also had some favorites this week, so let’s get started…

One of friends is Victoria who I met at my current job. In fact, I met her on the day I interviewed. She was on her planning period and I got a tour of the school and she was available to meet me!

Victoria and I in October on our Fall Break when it was 80 degrees and we got a day pass to a boutique hotel pool: 

She left (transferred to another school) after we taught together for 17 years but of course, we remained very close friends! Victoria’s mom was teaching at an American school in Paris when she met Victoria’s dad who was a doctor at the American Hospital in Paris. I hope I got that correct! Victoria’s dad is Greek, and they proceeded to move to Greece where Victoria was raised until college. Her mom was from Kentucky which brought the whole family back to Kentucky when Victoria started college. Her mom is an amazing cook and cooks southern food, Greek food, French food, among other cuisines. 

Her mom published her very own cookbook of 700 pages! How cool is that accomplishment! I ordered my copy and I’m enjoying going through it. 

She loves cooking with lemons and thus the name of the cookbook. 

Vic told me to try New York Chicken and that is what you saw last weekend, so here it is: 

Here is what ours looked like. We halved the recipe, but got lucky because I had made too many frozen biscuits and put them in the freezer so we had that taken care of. I had never heard of using biscuit as your breading. 

We also made hasselback potatoes, which are Swedish! How cool! They were really not hard to make at all. Mason did the precise cutting and I was impressed. We put sage leaves in some of the slices and topped with a garlic butter during the cooking process. 

I also had a cooking project with Tom last weekend! We made homemade hummus! It turned out pretty well, but I forgot to take a photo. 

I did a fun bright blue mani this week! 

I stumbled upon Love is Blind – Sweden and I’ve watched a couple of episodes. I like it! The premise of Love is Blind is that they kind of speed date without being able to see what the other person looks like. They pick favorites and continue to “date” behind a wall and have to get to know the person without the distraction of physical appearance.  

Ernie has seemed to enjoy the grass that is now visible again! I was happy with the weather this week. I come home, walk Ernie, and then do a couple of chores before I make dinner. I walk him in snow, rain, whatever, but it makes it more pleasant when it’s not so cold!

One day, I even sat outside for a bit! 

I abandoned this book. I just couldn’t make myself keep reading and it was due back. I have not started 2024 in a good reading way. 

I can’t believe I forgot some of my faves! I had these in my more summerish earrings. I wore the black this week and thought I should show you. Did you catch my earrings post this week?

Mason made sourdough French toast while he was home last weekend, too. He said brioche is better for this! 

One of our favorite meals at home this week was Natalie Mason’s Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps and I did a side of fried rice, too. I did not do the peanut sauce and this meal came together quickly!

Erica did tuna poke bowls for one of our school lunches this week. I was a little scared of the “raw” tuna but I really liked it and how fancy is this for lunch? It had like 35 grams of protein when you put the edamame and the tuna together. 

I have upped my brow game and the senior girls have noticed. I am using the white Elf pencil first, then brushing with the spooly, then I end with the elf brow mascara. Be careful not to be too heavy handed. Brows really make a difference and neither of these products breaks the bank. 

I hate having a week that is just go to work, come home, go to work, come home. It’s what has happened more often than not during this school year. Last year I was really good about doing something for myself during the week, but this year I just can’t seem to make it happen. 

On Wednesday, though, Jack was home with Ernie in the afternoon, so I didn’t feel like I needed to rush home. I went to happy hour on a Wednesday with Erica on the spur of the moment. I had a really good sangria and…

some chips and queso. Keeping it real that I am still enjoying life but eating healthier 90% of the time! 

Did you catch my What I Ate Wednesday post? 

I went home and had salad, salmon, and half a baked potato for dinner, and a Dum Dum for dessert! Balance! 

My favorite outfit I wore this week didn’t make it to Fashion Files on time.

This is clog week! I have been wearing rain boots and then changing because we have had rain every day! I am wearing my TJ Maxx colorful blouse from fall, a fringey black vest also from there maybe 10 years ago, Target jeans, and my red Bjork clogs. 

I do think my jeans are a little loose! 

What were your faves this week?

Amy

Thursday, January 25, 2024

It’s Thursday and that means it’s Fashion day! I’m linking up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files. 

Did you clean out your winter wardrobe? 

Are you wearing all of your winter things or they must go? I am focusing on my non-red and pink things because I am gearing up for red and pink month! Ha! 

I haven’t put on real clothes much lately because of our extreme winter weather and being stuck at home most of the time! 

I finally wore my Target Rowing Blazers collab sweater to school and I didn’t overheat. It was our only day to attend school last week (on Thursday) and it was quite cold outside, so that helped. I wore my 20-year-old Uggs and then changed at school. These are my red Matilda Janes. 

Saturday I finally went to Marshall’s because Jennifer talks about her good luck and it’s been on my list for some time. My Marshall’s is not good. My TJ Maxx is much better. I saw “my” because I only go to the stores closest to me. Tom makes fun of my little bubble I stay in around town! I ran errands and I wore my short rain boots, fleece drawstring pants from Walmart I got back in November and probably forgot to show you. They came in a 2 pack and I gave one to Erica. They are super warm. I wore my TJ Maxx striped polo style top and my black vest. I did find one thing and I will show you what I got later in the post! 

For school Monday, I wore brown Matilda Janes and my Amazon Essentials black puff sleeve sweater and I also didn’t overheat. 

On Tuesday I debuted my Marshall’s top with a bunch of little black birds sitting on wires. It is super soft and was $8! I wore it with my black pants and my black MIA clogs until I had to change into low black Dansko clogs. So, even though I don’t love my Marshall’s, I am really happy with my new top. 

One of my classes told me I should have worn white pants to signify the amount of bird poop this amount of birds would produce. And, that, folks is what teaching high school is like. There is no filter and they say whatever pops into their not fully devoloped brain!

I got a new bra! I am so happy with it that I have to share. Click on the red font. It is a wireless smoothing minimizer and I think it’s made my tops look better. I plan to get it in another color, too. The price is right at $17, too. 

I got new undergarments and I have to share that they are Walmart Joyspun. I was on the Walmart website and I saw them and thought they must be good if they are Joyspun because we (the blogging community) love the jammies so much. And they are! They are very stretchy, and I love the material. They come in a 6 pack for $10.96. 

I hate “wasting” money on undergarments and I always wait too long to replace them, but it really makes a difference. 

What have you been wearing? 

Amy

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

I had both of these posts as separate beings, but then decided to combine them. 

I sometimes grocery shop at Target and am often amazed at the great prices as compared to Kroger. Also, they have items that Kroger doesn’t carry. 

On one of my E learning days last week, I needed to get out and had a specific purpose in mind to get a few things that are “Weight Watchers friendly”. Now, to be clear, I want to eat mostly real foods, but there are some things that I think can help me. 

I am trying the blacked chicken strips again. I didn’t like them before, but I plan to air fry/convection oven them and see if I like them better. 0 points

Velveeta slices (Tom’s favorite) are no longer sold in my Kroger. This is only the 100th item or so that we bought that they stopped carrying. 1 point

A lemon flavored tuna packet to top salads, a salmon tuna pack, a taco seasoning pack for my fat free refried bean, salsa mixture that can be a dip or put on a burrito. 0 points for all of them

Thin corn tortillas to make my own tortilla chips. 1 point each tortilla

Turkey for sub in a tub. 0 points

Banana peppers for sub in a tub. 0 points

Lettuce for sub in a tub. 0 points

Salsa for Tostitos queso mixture and bean dip. 0 points

Devil’s Food cake mix and Angel food cake mix for mug cake. You mix these two mixes together in a big baggie, spray a mug with Pam and put 3 tablespoons of the cake mixture in your mug with 2 tablespoon of water. Microwave a minute or a bit less. 3 points

Tostitos bite size for the salsa and queso mixture. 24 chips for 4 points – probably the best bang for your buck with chips, but I ended up giving those to my kids and enjoying the taste of my homemade chips more and you get a lot more!

This is the mixture I’m talking about. Do heat it up – so much better! Experiment with heating things and leaving things cold and cut things in smaller pieces are a couple of tips I have. 

“Sub in a Tub” - make a mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and italian seasoning and pour over whatever you would have on your sub. This is a great summer lunch, but I was craving it!

My buffalo chicken dip with homemade chips: 

My egg casserole has been my breakfast lately, along wtih 3 Amylu chicken breakfast sausages: 

6 eggs or sub in some egg whites, a can of green chiles, a half cup to one full cup of fat free cottage cheese, spices of your liking – I do cajun, garlic powder, pepper. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. 

I love La Banderita low carb flour tortillas and buy the street taco and the burrito size. You can put anything in one. This dinner had chicken, lettuce, mustard, and pickles. I had a side of green beans and a twice baked potato where I used some bacon bits, shredded cheese, and laughing cow cheese! Look at my tiny potato! 

My carrots look weird and I should have grated them. This is a new salad to me and Tom and I both loved it. 

Just Google Weight Watchers cabbage soup and you will see this. I personally love cabbage. 

I know posts like this help me to get new ideas, so I hope this helped some of you, too! 

Amy

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Let’s talk about earrings! Who thought naked lobes were so ugly that they needed to be adorned? Are these also the thoughts that keep you awake at night? I can’t remember when I got my ears pierced but it was probably between the ages of 8 and 12? Did you know your lobes grow as you age? Just another wonderful part of the ageing process – you’re welcome. 

I recently did a winter closet clean out and I finally tackled the elephant in my closet – my jewelry! I had been avoiding this mess for quite some time. The before pictures are non-existent, but here are the afters. 

My necklaces are on the necklace tree with the exception of some in the top drawer: 

My earrings are in plastic containers in the top drawer. I’m not sure this is the best place, but these are the facts.

I pulled them out to show you what is in my earring wardrobe. 

But, first, I won’t wear heavy earrings anymore. My earrings are all light as a feather – for real – except for one that is too cute to not keep. 

I’m not showing you all of my collection, but I am showing you my most worn, for sure!

Let’s go left to right:

hot pink Gucci-esque bees, two different rose pairs, sparkly red, my initials on animal print, and then my St. Patrick’s beer, and my two Derby pairs

These are grouped together because I plan to wear the pinks and reds in February, the beer in March, and then start with the Derby!

Topo Chico orange and silver, Prosecco that went to the UK with me, mint julep, white champagne, black tassels, tequila, pineapple

Yes, I stlil get a crazy amount of joy from my beaded earrings! 

Now I am using a plastic divider for my metal based earrings: 

I have really embraced smaller earrings. I wear the top two a bunch – the starburst and the small gold hoops. I love the Pavoi brand on Amazon and have had great luck with the quality and have gifted some, too. The tiny gold diamonds (not real) are for my second hole. Do you have a second piercing? I got them my senior year of college instead of the tatoo that I kind of wanted. I am still tatoo-less – for now! There are two reasons why I will probably remain that way – I don’t like pain or wasting money when it could go toward shoes. I guess I wore two pairs of earrings for like a year and then just left the piercings alone and ignored them for almost 30 years. A couple of summers ago I decided to stick an earring in them, and they were still pierced. Now, I am enjoying wearing a small pair sometimes with another pair. 

The gold balls are from Loft – love.

The skinny hoops are from J.Crew Factory and the fat hoops are Pavoi from Amazon. I wear both all the time. The rectangular gold ones are from a local shop called Work the Metal and I love them and wear them out sometimes to be a little fancier. 

I definitely gravitate toward gold, but I like silver, too I wear these four pairs a lot – the white ones only in the summer. You also see here a silver and gold pair that I adore. I kept my Kendra Scotts because I really like the grey with gold. 

I keep my small earrings and more second-holers in this little dish: 

I have faux pearls in three sizes, cute little pearl half hoops, little pearl and gold, black and gold (I took these to the UK), little gold doodads, and these little bars in two sizes 

And, I have silver diamond studs, a crystal and gold, and a pink and gold – all usually second holers. 

Showing you the cute half moons here with some others you have seen:

I am super happy with my earring collection! But, there is always room for another pair! They always, always fit! 

Do you think I have a lot? 

They all get worn and they all feel like me! 

I let about 20 pairs go that I wasn’t wearing. 

I’m all ears if you want to chime in!

Amy

Monday, January 22, 2024

Last week was so crazy and I kinda loved it! I will tell you all about it and what I did this weekend as I link up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday!

So, we had off Monday for MLK day, Tuesday and Wednesday were E learning days (we call it “NTI” in Kentucky which stands for “non traditional learning” – no learning is traditional anymore, folks, amiright?), went to school in person Thursday, and were home again on Friday for another E learning day. What a week!

Thursday night Mason came home for the weekend with my commuter Jack. They share a car and Mason acts unbothered by the fact that the commuter uses it the most. I was thrilled Mason came home because this plan was not shared with me! 

I came home from school Thursday to my oven’s screen that looked like this: 

This oven sure is sweet! She will put up recipes for me every now and again on her screen. 

I really wanted to stay home Friday because my kids don’t have college classes on Fridays. I didn’t sleep well because I kept checking on Mother Nature. 

The district finally made the call at 4:48 a.m. 

I worked from about 7-9 am getting everything set up for the day. I took a break for this breakfast: 

leftover sweet potato, onion, Amylu sausage, and eggs. 

I worked some more and for my next break, Mason and I took Ernie out to his winter wonderland playground.

Ernie snow angels! 

Ernie is a snow dog! His birthday is January 25. 

Then, I made chocolate chip pancakes because I was pretending my college kids were still little, ok? Don’t judge! Snow days feel weird when they aren’t here, so I was just as happy as a clam even though I was tied to my computer. 

And, you have to have hot chocolate when you come in from the snow!

I got a funny IG message from two senior girls, and I taught them the papyrus font that Jen taught us! 

I made “sub in a tub” for lunch because this has been sounding really good to me. 

When we have E learning days, we have to provide an asynchronous assignment through Google Classroom, and I have 3 different levels of Spanish that I teach so that takes some time. We also had Semester One grades due, so I had to finalize those. We have to hold office hours during a certain time, too, so you have to set up a Google Meet for anyone to pop into or to stay the whole time. You have to field emails from students, too, or they can send you messages through Google Classroom. I explain this because some people might wonder what teachers do from home on these days. I love Google Classroom, Google Meet, Google docs, Google slides, etc. But, you cannot do the exact lessons you do in person, and it requires re-working how you do certain things. It was also an awkward time because we just finished a semester and hadn’t started new content yet. 

So, it is definitely not a day off or a traditional snow day because you need to be on your computer most of the day. 

Tom had been at work all day and he knows I need to get out sometimes so he came home, walked Ernie again, and we went to the Mexican place up the street with our friends. We were bringing arroz con pollo home for our kids who were hanging out and we stayed talking so long that they were worried about us and texted! Ha! 

This is supposedly skinny! I only drank about 1/3! 

I really love restaurant fajitas so I got these: 

We had a nice time and it was great to get out!

Saturday it was 1 degree! Our winters usually aren’t too bad and some years we don’t even get any snow to speak of. So, this is pretty cold for us. I still say I love having four distinct seasons, but this extreme cold is not my favorite. I do like a good snow, though! 

Reporting back – I do not like the snickers coffee. It tastes artificial (which it is) and it’s just not good in my opinion. 

I was totally out of eggs, but have lots of Costco egg whites so I made this:

Amylu, some egg whites and one piece of Dave’s Killer thin sliced turned into avocado toast with egg white.

I was complaining about how dirty the mudroom and Mason said, “that’s the point – it’s in the name!”

But, I love to mop it and keep it clean: 

Tom was already out with Ernie, so he picked up my Kroger order and brought it all in. I felt like a princess!

Do you clean out the fridge before putting the new stuff in? I usually do!

I organized and put the stuff away and mopped the kitchen floor, too. I took photos for a blog post coming this week, too. 

I tried a new recipe for lunch and Tom loved it, too. I can’t remember where I got this and that is my toxic trait: 

If you schedule your Kroger pick up after 11:00 am, you can get a rotisserie chicken. 

I had to use regular slaw because there was no tri-color available, so I added shredded carrots. 

I also made my own tortilla chips and the Tostitos queso + salsa that I shared on Friday. 

Jack teaches voice and guitar lessons on Saturday afternoons and when he left, Mason and I went to a new to us coffee shop. I just get drip coffee or tea these days. 

And, he picked this cookie and I tried some and it was really good! 

Shhh…don’t tell! 

Then, we stopped at Fresh Market to get a few ingredients for dinner. We made my friend’s mom’s recipe for New York Chicken: 

Hasselback potatoes:

roasted butternut squash:

and broccoli: 

Mason loves broccoli so much! I’ve told this story before, but he wanted to bring it to school for his birthday in 2nd grade. 

All four of us ate this delicious meal together! It was so fun, and it turned out great! 

I’ve been trying to put away this Christmas rug and replace it with a new tan rug from Target but first I need to vacuum it and Ernie is not having it. I have it off to the side and he keeps using it! 

Ernie questioning my tv viewing choices: 

Wrapping this up early Sunday morning! 

Are you over the cold and the snow? 

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

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