Friday, April 24, 2020

Today’s Friday Favorites are a little more like the favorites of yesteryear – or 5 weeks ago! I am happy to link up with Andrea, etc. at Momfessionals.

How was your week? Now that I’m in the third week of distance teaching I have figured out a few more things and the week went a little more smoothly. Did you read my post yesterday about distance learning and teaching? I apologive about my Hello Monday post crashing this week, but I had two great recipes for you this week, too. Sausage squares and limoncello mule cocktail. Maybe you can try one or both this weekend. I don’t know about you, but I am cooking all the time!

I was afraid that I would do an excessive amount of online shopping during this stay at home time period. I ordered one thing from Loft and a few things from Old Navy at the beginning because they were having great sales. I will try to get a post together on these items that were successful. I haven’t wanted to order clothes because I don’t want to deal with returns! Then, about a week ago I started ordering things I needed from Amazon just because I was only doing pick up at Kroger. I felt a little bit bad getting non-essential items. I was also a bit worried about the boxes being contaminated but I am less worried now. I don’t remember what it’s like to go in a store. Some of my friends are shopping in stores that are open as usual, but I’m not. Unfortunately I am having to plan my Kroger orders about 5 days in advance and then adding things as needed.

This is my second time ordering this popcorn. I really like it!

My nails are growing out and getting stronger after removing the dip over a month ago. Megan at Honey We’re Home blog recommended this for an at home manicure. This smoothes out an uneven nail base.

Lindsay of Lindsay’s Sweet World blog recommended the next two things. I love this makeup you guys! She says it’s hard to find in stores and can never find her shade. I took a chance on a shade and I love the texture and consistency.

I am obsessed with white for spring. Or, I will be if I ever go out again. This shirt was $16 and I can’t believe how thick it is and what good quality it is.

I think it was Monday that Bravo did a Ladies of London marathon. Bring it back, Bravo! I am obsessed with all things British. I taped all of the episodes to watch at my convenience.

Monday was gorgeous! I actually put sunscreen on my pasty legs. This may be what summer looks like right here.

Ernie and I visited my school’s baseball field and it was so sad. Seeing empty sports fields just doesn’t feel natural. I am so sorry to senior athletes who lost their spring season.

Have you heard of Noonday Collection jewelry? Check out their website and their mission and if you need a rep let me know in the comments and leave your email. These beauties might be my Mother’s Day gift, if you know what I mean. I can give you the name of my rep if you are interested in anything.

I got my Dinnerly box Monday and I hope my two readers Kate and Jenny like it as much as I do; they were the first to respond about the free boxes that Dinnerly lets any subscribers send. This week we had coconut shrimp, cheeseburgers, and everything but the bagel chicken on the menu.

I am trying to finish my current book and I’m waiting on an Amazon book to come in the mail. I don’t have a Kindle and I don’t want to be on a screen on my ipad to read since my whole day is spent on a screen now.

I think we are in for not great weekend weather, but I hope to get some good takeout one night and maybe do a Zoom cocktail with friends.

What are your plans?

Any highlights from the week?

Stay well,

Amy

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Why is this drink called a mule? Is it because it carries the alcohol into your body? I guess I could google it, but I think I would rather ponder this question for a bit. Also, who knew mules were this cute?

So, if you have ever had a moscow mule, it involves vodka and lime. If you have ever had a Kentucky mule, it switches out the vodka for the beloved bourbon from Kentucky but still retains the lime flavor.

Enter the limoncello mule. I was browsing Pinterest and saw this idea. I have a very old bottle of limoncello that my sister gave me for my birthday and I had a Trader Joe’s ginger beer that is quite old. Did you know that ginger beer isn’t alcoholic?

Here is what I did:

1 shot vodka

1/2 shot glass of limoncello*

1/2 shot glass of lemon juice*

*In the photo I have combined teh limoncello and juice

Mix all together well and pour over ice. Add a splash of ginger beer.

My friend Kellyann of This Blonde’s Shopping Bag told me about Sprite Zero Ginger. Add an extra splash of this if you have it or ginger ale. This makes the drink have a bit of extra carbonation which I love in a cocktail!

You guys, I was shocked by how good this turned out. It was the perfect amount of lemon flavor and lemons scream summer to me. I enjoyed this out on my deck before dinner. What’s the only thing that would’ve made it better? A friend!

How are you holding up? Maybe you can make one of these this weekend? And, make the sausage squares from yesterday to go with it? Just kidding, but read the comments from yesterday, because you all have some good ideas for variations on the recipe!

Amy

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Here is a really easy recipe. You need two tubes of crescent roll dough, a roll of breakfast sausage, and a block of cream cheese.

Preheat oven to 350.

Unroll one pack of crescent roll dough and place on bottom of a sprayed 9×13 Pyrex.

Brown the roll of sausage and when fully cooked, melt in the cream cheese. Place that mixture atop the crescent rolls.

Cover with the second roll of crescent roll dough and bake until golden brown on top – 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.

In the photos below, I made a half recipe.

It taste a lot like biscuits and gravy. I first had these several years ago when our family and my sister in law’s family went to a cabin on the lake for the weekend and my SIL made them. I forgot all about them until my co-worker made them for our end of the school year brunch last year.

Have you tried this recipe?

Amy

Monday, April 2020

Well, if you read my post before it somehow crashed, thank you! I can’t seem to find where it went so I assume it is floating in the cloud.

I will leave you with my weekend photos.

Sorry about that!

Hope to see you back here tomorrow for a post that hopefully won’t disappear!

Amy

Friday, April 17, 2020

I alternate between thinking the weeks go by fast and thinking the weeks go by slowly. This week the weather turned cold and it made it a little harder to get that vitamin D that helps me so much. But, on the brighter side, I got more into my groove with distance teaching. I had more of a set routine and kept my work in one place of the house and that helped. I have a post planned for next week on more specifics about distance learning/teaching and tips if you are interested. I will probably write it anyway as a way for me to document and write out how I felt.

O.k., so my favorites are kind of a recap of the week, too! I will be linking up with Andrea, etc. at http://www.momfessionals.com here. I am not really buying much. I do have a couple of things coming from Amazon every now and then that are necessities, but nothing too exciting to share.

Ernie gets a walk every morning around 7:30 from his favorite – Tom – and then I (his second favorite) take a break and give him a walk around 12. It is good for both of us. I always let him off leash for a bit. Can you see him by the big trees? He gets another walk when Tom gets home and sometimes the boys and I accompany him. I am usually still cooking dinner, though, but it is good to get another little walk in. I want to start taking after dinner bike rides, too.

I did not drive anywhere Sunday or Monday so on Tuesday I decided it was time. Around 3, I went to the drive through liquor store to replenish some of my stock. This is nice to have right now. I have only used this maybe once or twice because under normal circumstances I would prefer going in and browsing, but I remember once when the boys were maybe 6, I drove up to this window and they asked for chicken nuggets. Ha!

I held class three times this week. I was able to record it and post for those who could not make the live class. I had one faculty meeting online, too.

Business on top, comfort on bottom. My bottom half is adorned with leggings and slippers but I have done my hair, a bit of makeup, and a decent shirt each day for my classes.

I have been enjoying my iced coffees this week.

This is my little basement office. I also have a laptop but there is something to be said for keeping your work contained to one area.

I treated the boys to bagels and I got tomato soup and sandwich from Panera on Wednesday. It was a nice treat and the first time we have gotten lunch delivered.

I am starting this new show on regular t.v. It is about a Cuban family that runs a bakery in Miami and the son meets a famous actress. I love the Spanish music and language featured in the show.

I also started watching Listen to Your Heart – It is kind of like Bachelor in Paradise with people coupling up but it involves singing. I was kind of hooked after the first episode. Anyone else watching it?

I had a very disappointing Kroger pick up this week. They did not have several items I requested and I can live without all of them except there was not a single egg to be found. Also, Ernie would like his dog treats but those were not to be found either. Are people still hoarding or overbuying eggs, chicken, ground beef, toilet paper? I am leaving most non-perishables in the car for a while. I feel like a crazy person. If we need it, I go out and wipe it down. The bottles you see are due to my husband. It is a soft drink called Ale 8 and he cannot run out. He is weird.

I started this book – free with Prime – and I was really liking it but now I am getting annoyed by the main character. I will see it through, though. Has anyone read it? I have not been reading much because I just have not found anything I am really into.

Even though it has been cold, I still try to get some fresh air by walking and by sitting outside each day.

And that is about all I have for this week.

This weekend I think we will pick some take out to have. I have cooked every night this week per usual. Last week we had Mexican so it might be time for pizza? We are still watching Community with the boys and really enjoying it. I would like to go on a family walk or hike. I thought it might be fun to go on an urban walk downtown just to see some different scenery.

What were your favorites this week? Will your weekend look different than the week?

Stay healthy at home,

Amy

Thursday, April 16, 2020

How is it already Thursday? Distance learning/teaching is going much better this week and I have a post planned for next week to talk about it.

Today I want to talk about the struggle bus that is cooking every night. I love to cook, but if even I am getting tired of cooking – I feel bad for those who truly don’t enjoy it.

I read a blog from time to time called “The Frugal Girl”. She mentioned a meal delivery service – they send you the ingredients and recipes and you cook it – that I had never heard of called “Dinnerly”. Come to find out it is a Martha Stewart company. Love her or hate her – the girl can cook!

I have now had two deliveries and I am really pleased. FYI – I did Hello Fresh and Blue Apron once each and chose the meals for 2 people – my boys were maybe 11 when I did it. It was too expensive to do for a family of four and I was cooking extra food so it was a bad idea.

Dinnerly, on the other hand, claims to only cost $4 something a person so I am doing 3 meals a week for 4 people to the tune of about $55 a week. We can’t really get one take out meal for 4 for less than $40-50. So, I find this super affordable and I think it will cut my grocery bill a bit. But, that is not reallymy motivation right now. My motivation is that grocery shopping is not easy now.

So, they send you the suggested 3 meals based on your preferences that you filled out and then you can deny one or all of the meals an choose from maybe 5 other options. The meals are simple and real life meals that my family would like.

BBQ Chicken

broccoli

Everything but the bagel seasoned potatoes

I added the corn because it was leftover (By the way, I ordered a pack of already shucked corn on the cob from the produce section on my last Kroger order and it was delicious!)

Here is an example from their website of quesadilas but I didn’t choose that because I make them all the time and already have the ingredients on hand.

Here is another example of lemon pepper chicken and fresh green beans. I added the roasted cauliflower and banana bread.

And, cheeseburgers with potato wedges and I added the corn again.

All of the meat seems great quality and it has been hard to find the chicken and ground beef I normally buy. All of the vegetables are super fresh. They sent giant baking potatoes to make the wedges. They sent nice bags of red potatoes for another side dish. They gave me a whole head of garlic when I only needed a tsp. They also send all the spices needed. They do asssume you will have olive oil, salt, pepper, milk, butter.

Anyway, whether you follow the recipes to a T or kind of use it as a jumping off point for dinner/grocery delivery like I have been doing, I think you might really like it.

Have you ever tried one of these services? Would you?

Amy

P.S. – One of my favorite things about it is that I am out of dinner ideas and this takes the thinking about what we will have out of the equation. Hallelujah!

P.S.S.- I can send a free box to two people – the first two to respond with Name and Email address get it. But there is a catch – I believe you have to give your credit card info to get the box and then you can cancel but you have to cancel quickly so you don’t get charged.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

I have a fun cocktail recipe for you and a recipe to k,eep the kids busy while you sip it! Lol! Kentucky lemonade is called such because it has bourbon in it! I read that a local brewpub was selling bottles of this for carryout. I did some digging to find out what this was all about.

Extremely closeup of Kentucky lemonade in a Mason jar:

You need half a stick of Crystal light lemonade, a shot of lemon juice (I may reduce to half a shot next time), a shot of bourbon, a tsp. of simple syrup (I had some made but I could probably leave this out if I didn’t have any). Mix all of that together really well, add ice, and then top with diet ginger ale – I probably used 1/4 cup of ginger ale. It was very lemony which I liked but you could reduce the lemon juice for less lemony flavor.

It was delicious! I enjoyed this on a sunny day on the patio while listening to country music.

And to keep the kids busy while you sip, make this cloud dough! It only requires two ingredients which you may have on hand or could probably order easy enough at your next grocery pick up. My sister sent this screenshot.

Let me know if you try one or both recipes!

Amy

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Well, I don’t think we are doing as much laundry as usual! But, dishes are another story. Wow! We are constantly loading and unloading it seems. I hear this from my friends and fellow bloggers, too. I guess to put a positive spin on it – we are cooking and eating at home more than ever!

Anyway, back to laundry… ,I wanted to share what is working for us right now.

I bought four of these tall hampers. I have one in my new closet, hub has one in his new closet, and each boy has one in their room. I don’t know why it is, but this seems much easier to lug around than the traditional laundry basket. When our hamper gets full we each do our own laundry. I have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that I don’t have to nag the boys and I am not involved in their laundry anymore. Hallelujah! But, seriously, I taught them to do laundry when they were 10 maybe but I still had to ask them to transfer from washer to dryer and put things away. And, for the past 7 years I have done lots of telling them what to do in regards to laundry.

When one of us does our laundry, we simply leave the empty hamper in the mudroom to tote the clean laundry back to our room or closet. These days I do one once a week. My husband can usually wait two weeks and the boys maybe once every week and a half?

The person takes the clean laundry back to their room to fold. I like not mixing each other’s clothes together because that seems like an added step.

I mostly have the job of washing the towels but Tom helps with sheets and he will help with anything else that needs to be done. The boys are responsible for their own sheets, too.

This has really been working for us. How do you handle laundry in your home?

Amy

Monday, April 13, 2020

How was your weekend? Ours was pretty good. I was ready for a weekend after learning the ropes of distance learning last week. It wasn’t bad but I was really tired of staring at screens and my brain hurt from learning new things. Much of what I had to do was record keeping for my 146 students. It was tedious and time consuming. This week will be even busier but I think I have figured a few things out.

Friday night I decided to get the local Mexican. I used Door Dash instead of picking it up because I figure the driver is local and needs money.

I made my own margarita while I waited!

Saturday morning I took a nice walk by my school and saw some geese enjoying the grounds.

I need to do a better job of having vegetables cut up and ready to go so that is what I did for lunch Saturday. Everybody could grab what they wanted. Did you see my post Saturday? These are my brownie cookies made from a brownie mix. Check it out if you didn’t see it!

I only boiled 6 eggs and I tried a vinegar and food color dying method. It was cool.

I made another whipped coffee.

I was so happy to take it out to the patio and I had been waiting since Tuesday to be able to make one. Kroger failed and didn’t put it in my order so I ordered it off of Amazon. It came around 11 and I was so happy to receive this pack of 80.

After the eggs dried this is what they looked like. I should’ve rolled them around in the paper towels more.

I will probably always do Easter baskets. They were pretty light this year because one item did not arrive on time. The boys really laughed at the t-shirts – funny references to a show they like and they really liked their blue light blocking glasses for this new online school life.

Then, we had a Zoom with my sisters and mom and all the kids.

It was rainy Sunday. We watched online church, some other t.v., I did school work, boys did school work, and I cooked a lot of stuff.

Here is how our Easter dinner turned out. We have lots of leftovers.

How was your weekend? Are you ready for another week?

Take care!

Amy

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Welcome to your weekend recipe! This is a super fun and easy one for you – or, maybe, hand it over to the kids? By the looks of my grocery store shelves almost a month ago, people stocked up on brownie mix! There were only a couple left on the shelves! I personally have at least 3 boxes right now. I usually keep one on hand during normal times. There is something really comforting about a brownie made from a mix, don’t you think?

Did you know that you can make cookies out of a mix? You probably do, but this was big news when I learned this from a student several years ago. She did this for her demonstration speech – they had to teach a skill all in Spanish and demonstrate it on video or live in class. Lots of kids did cooking demos and the students were not hating it when they got to eat the final product in class!

Here is what you need:

Brownie Mix – simply follow the package directions but it will call for the following items:

water

vegetable oil

eggs

1/4 cup flour

Simply add 1/4 cup flour and then drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes – watch because your oven might be hotter than mine.

The result seen at top is a chewy delicious cookie! You could make ice cream sandwiches out of these, too!

Happy Easter tomorrow!

Amy