Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Monday, May 2, 2022

And, just like that it is May! It’s time to link up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday, where we report back on the weekend. Are you ready to see lots of food pictures? I hope so, because that seems to be the main thing I documented this weekend.

Friday was the fifth day I worked in a row. Ha! Does anyone think it’s just too much to work a five day week? Just kidding – it was fine.

Erica bought us Jimmy John’s unwiches for her meal prep day and it was a treat. You can order any regular sandwich, but they wrap it in several iceberg lettuce leaves instead of using the bread.

After school, Ernie and I walked for quite a while. I have been so sore. I really need to stretch more.

I made myself a super pretty drink – it was like my friend Beth’s wintertini. I used Blue Curacao, Grape Pucker, a little bit of lemonade flavoring (Mio), and Diet Sprite.

We got some sad news that our German restaurant is closing for good. They were offering take out one more time so I ordered for us. We also found out our kids were bringing home load number one from dorms so they got to enjoy one last meal, too.

Tom, Jack, and Mason had pork schnitzel and I had all the carbs – spaetzle (a noodle) and German potato salad, and their really good bread and really good butter.

I put some of my grilled chicken in with some of the German sauce that came with Tom and the kids’ food!

And, I made a salad for balance.

This dessert looked amazing, but none of us liked it. It was Irish cream cake.

The sign of college kids – these IKEA bags (that can also be found on Amazon) are my number one tip. They hold so much. I plan to have them wash all of the bedding, towels, etc. and pack it right back up in these to store over the summer.

So, we completed (mostly) our primary bath a week ago and we decided to go ahead and start the next bathroom project (what was I thinking?), so that meant a dumpster. Demo is horrible. Dust shows up everywhere; it doesn’t even have to be remotely close to where the demo is happening. I have spent Tuesday through today chasing all of the dust.

And, as will all renovation projects, things take longer than you think and get delayed. Demo was supposed to be Tuesday and Wednesday with the dumpster gone Thursday. Demo happened Tuesday and Saturday. Not ideal.

So, now we have an open space where the little primary bath was and the hall bath was. There will be a door on it (our new pretty big door) so I won’t have to look at it, but we won’t be ready to start this until our guy finishes another project. We will start ordering the supplies soon, we hope.

The crew left around 3:00 on Saturday.

Then, it was time to celebrate Dan! It is the season for all of my friends to turn 50!

He wanted to have a “roast” where people could come to the microphone and make jokes about him – and he would have comebacks. It was really funny!

Tom, deep in coversation:

Their sweet yello lab, Ruby, who only has 3 legs. She had cancer and they thought she wouldn’t make it, but with the love of a good family, she has done amazing for several years.

Yesterday morning, I did mild meal prep. I decided to do breakfast bowls for lunch one day and then I made breakfast tacos for my breakfasts. I also hard boiled some eggs. I am losing steam on meal prepping. I can tell it’s time for summer.

And, for breakfast Sunday, I made some hashbrowns (that I also used in the bowls), fake sausage, eggs, and a bit of cheese and mushrooms.

I won’t buy these again. They are ok, but I just didn’t love them. In the bowls, I am using AmyLu chicken sausage that I got at Costco. I think it’s really good. In fact, I can sign off on all of the AmyLu products I have tried.

See, I told you I was going to talk about food a lot!

I have added two things to my diet. I started drinking Metamucil (it is so gross!) and green tea. I feel that I have kinda plateaued and I added one super carby meal Friday night, the green tea, and the Metamucil to try to jump start things. I’m also not super worried and ok with staying status quo right now until I get the school year done. At the same time, we still have almost a month…

I ate super clean the rest of the weekend after Friday night, with the exception of birthday sheet cake for Dan. Love me some good old supermarket sheet cake, ya know?

I went to Trader Joe’s and got a little carried away. There are just so many temptations!

I took a walk and the weather was glorious. My neighborhood looked so pretty!

I was going to donate this old teak shower caddy but Tom suggested using it outside for plants.

I forgot all about my outdoor Derby decor and my bushes are looking so pretty!

I went to Target to get a couple of things and decided to buy a couple of books. I have not bought a book for myself in a long, long time, but I didn’t have anything to read and decided it would be ok.

Started this one:

Ah, it was so nice on my patio. I sat in the sun for a bit, but had to switch to the shady area.

Tom and I went to the marina to see what was going on and just enjoyed being outside some more.

And, then I cooked burrito bowls for dinner.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Thursday, April 28, 2022

It’s time to link up here for another edition of Fashion Files. How is it Thursday already? That’s ok; I will take the days going by quickly right now.

Spring Fever has hit the school grounds – especially with my seniors. Ay!

The teachers in my district are pretty mad right now. Remember the bad weather day we had on April 14th where we had an unexpected day off due to downed power lines and blocked bus routes? We had school cancelled and they decided to forgive the day for the students. In fact, they are not making students make up two of our bad weather days this year, but teachers still have to work them, because they pay us for a set number of days – 187 to be exact. Well, someone decided to suggest that they make the teachers work on election day, May 17th. Some teachers counted on that day to have appointments, work the polls, or other things so they are mad that a last minute change would be made like this. The alternative is June 1, so I think I would rather work May 17th. But, let’s be honest…three days without students at the end of the year will most likely not be very productive. I try not to get too worked up about things like this, but sometimes I fail.

Ok, so let’s talk clothes…

This is what I wore for Senior Awards Night. I am department chair, so it usually falls on me to present awards. I wore an old LuLaRoe skirt with oranges, lemons, and flowers, consignment Evan Piccone pumps, an old Old Navy blouse, and my Walmart Scoop blazer. My blacks don’t exactly match. Do you get bothered by that?

Then, for Prom, I wore a super old dress from Kohl’s that is a pull over the head dress that has fit me at a few different sizes. The layers are kinda forgiving. I wore my Target clear heels and a light consignment sweater. I really don’t have any nicer wraps or anything but I needed something to go over the dress. The necklace is an Amazon purchase that was influenced by Melanie Shankle. I hadn’t had a chance to wear it yet. One must have an LBD that works for many different events, right?

Sunday for a happy hour in our friends’ yard, I wore my old Old Navy butterfly blouse, my Walmart Time and True black cut offs, and my Marc Fisher lace up gold sandals from last year. I have already gotten my $13.98 worth from both my black and pink shorts. I probably should have gone down a size, but they are fine.

And, the only blog worthy outfit I’ve worn to school this week…J.Crew jeans that are very high waisted. I really think I’m a mid-rise gal and that is what most of my jeans are. I bought these on major clearance a couple of years ago. They didn’t fit then, but I couldn’t return them because they were clearance. My blouse is by online boutique Shop.Set.Apart and my shoes are my Amazon Essentials. Unfortunately, my blouse is kind of messed up in the photo, but I love it. It arrived super fast and I really love the owner. She has no idea who I am, but she is a WW person and her sweet Dad just passed away. She has two adorable little girls. Give her boutique a look because I like to help nice people!

I do think this would be more flattering with a bit of a heel, but I was at school so needed to be practical. Yes, I do wear white jeans to school. I live on the edge.

Do you have a favorite outfit of mine?

What have you been wearing?

I’m still trying to wear all of my spring clothes and trying not to buy anything new until summer. I may cave if I find a good deal or something I just love.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the fashionable ladies in the link up!

Amy

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

This post is for all of you who get mad everytime I do a Costco or a Trader Joe’s post! My regular grocery store is Kroger, but these items can be found at any supermarket, I would say!

Here are my cheese staples:

Babybel Light – I like it better than the original!

Light string cheese – Yes, I do “string it”!

Laughing Cow is great on celery with everything bagel seasoning, or a few crackers, and I use it to make a creamy sauce.

I will freak out if I don’t have these items in my cheese drawer.

I always have to have Greek non-fat yogurt. I use it for sauces and dips and I use it in my cake mix and for my skinny pizza dough.

Buffalo sauce is a staple. I love combining my Greek ranch above with this with some grilled chicken and celery.

Salsa! This is our favorite brand. I mainly use this in my burrito bowls.

Avocado toast! I have gotten Tom on the bandwagon, too.

This is my favorite brand of low carb tortilla. I found the street taco size recently, too.

I think it is nice to have a few salad or veggie mixes around. This was really good!

I am low-key obsessed with spaghetti squash right now.

I almost always have celery, grape tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, salad fixings, and a nice stash of frozen veg.

Eggs! I love eggs!

I will often cook up a mix of vegetables and have it on hand to add to different things like omelettes.

As far as drinks, I only drink water, coffee, sparkling water, and alcohol! Ha! I am using fat free half and half right now for my coffee along with a bit of cinnamon dolce skinny syrup. I need some new sweet options for after dinner. I usually have a Built bar for lunch dessert or a snack and for the evening I usually have a dum dum. Did you notice that I have multiple desserts a day?

Recent Meals:

The Teriyaki Stir fry kit from above:

Breakfast burritos and letting some cauli rice thaw:

Breakfast egg and veggie scramble:

Honey mustard salad:

Broccoli, homemade wedge fries, a roll and some homemade aioli:

Vegetable omelette:

I just made Allie.Carte.Dishes bbq spaghetti squash – yum! Follow her on Insta; I left this photo un-edited so you could see all the details!

Mine:

A recent lunch of Amylu sausage and veggies:

What are your grocery staples? I hope you have gotten at least one idea!

Amy

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

This project took a long, long time for various reasons, but it was worth the wait! You may remember that a few years ago, we started the project of adding on about 600 square feet behind our house to create a primary bedroom, a mudroom, and a deck. Well, the next phase was to turn our old bedroom into a bathroom.

Looking in from the hallway to the new hallway. This new floor is the same as the bedroom and we will be doing the same throughout the entire main level. The new bathroom is on the right in this photo.

Now, looking the other way into the hallway from the bedroom…

The bathroom…

We are also replacing all of the doors to look like these. We have already done most of them.

The vanity is grey, but comes off as a bit blue, I think, and we have ordered two separate mirrors that haven’t come in yet.

I shopped my house first, so it is not all put together yet as far as decor goes. I found a few things at Target and a few on Amazon. I need a rug and some wall art, but I plan to take my time and not settle.

Tom and I will have been married for 22 years this summer and we have never had to share a bathroom. When we moved in, we designated his bathroom as the tiny little one attached to our bedroom and I took the bigger hall bath. I shared with the kids and then when we added a basement bathroom (the former nicest bathroom in the house), that became Jack’s so Mason and I shared.

Should we do a vow renewal in our new bathroom this summer? “I promise not to hog the bathroom” or something romantic like that? This is all so new to me!

Today we are demolishing the tiny bathroom and the hall bathroom to start the project of making those into one bigger hall bath. I’m scared but those two bathrooms are literally falling apart and are so bad that I deleted the photos I was going to show you!

Tom is very opinionated about everything construction and interior design related. He did give me free reign on paint color (I chose to continue with the same bedroom color – Sherwin Williams Egret White 7570) and decor. Fortunately, I like what he likes, and I’m not just saying that. He has really good ideas and good taste – in my opinion. Heck, he picked me, right? I chose to stay with the same paint color because we have a ton of it and because I have lived with it in my bedroom for two years and still absolutely love the light and airy feel. We used SW Agreeable Gray for the mudroom and I love that, too, and have lived with that for two years. We also have a ton of that leftover. I am a little worried that the grey trend was so strong and it’s at the tail end, but I also think you should do what you like no matter what. So…we will see. Everyone says it’s easy to re-paint, but I strongly disagree. I think it’s a beast!

Anyway, things have been exciting around here!

Thanks for listening to me ramble,

Amy

Monday, April 25, 2022

It is the last week of April! How is that possible? How is that NOT possible? Lol! I am linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday – a link-up where we share our weekend recaps!

This weekend was busy and I could use another day!

Thursday night we had our first “normal” Senior Awards! It was wonderful and I had to present for the language department. This sweet girl won the Spanish award.

I came home from school Friday and my bathroom was completed a couple of hours later! Post coming this week with all of the details if you are interested…

Senior Prom was also this weekend! Junior Prom was in March. I had a date with these two to eat before stopping by for a bit.

I was so happy to see that my kids didn’t waste any time and went immediately to the dance floor! It was full not long after I took this photo.

Fun photo booth:

Boy was I tired!

Saturday morning I actually had to go in to Kroger! I hadn’t been organized enough to do an order, but I enjoyed checking out the store and I had it pretty much to myself.

Two weeks until The Kentucky Derby and there is lots of swag to purchase:

How funny, right? Hats with the beer?

I am a sucker for outdoor serving ware, but I resisted. Look how cute the watermelon stuff is!

I made another batch of spicy saltines! Tom wants me to use Tony Chacere’s cajun next!

We went to Tom’s sister’s boat business and this lady was customer service. Her name is River and she only gets to wait on customers on the counter on Saturdays, but she works 6 days a week.

I said yes to sitting on a boat for the Derby air show for a few hours and Tom said he had to do yard work. Can you see the Stealth Bomber in the air?

My SIL made a fabulous charcuterie:

I came home around dinner and we got mediterranean take out.

Sunday morning it was so nice and I could drink my coffee outside!

Meal prep time:

I took down Easter and put up minimal Derby decor:

I went shopping for new bathroom decor at TJ Maxx and Target and found several things at Target and none at TJ Maxx! You will see soon!

Then, we had plans to have a happy hour at our friends’ house. Look how pretty their backyard is. It was a lovely day again and we had a nice time.

My friend gave me two plants that are toxic to her cats:

Aloe:

Jade:

And, that was it for the weekend, sadly!

What was the highlight of yours? We had 80 degree temps, but today it is raining and getting cooler and I think we will have 60s now.

Hope you make it through your Monday!

Amy

Friday, April 22, 2022

My favorites this week are going to be short and sweet in more ways than one. I am linking up here with the Friday Favorites girls! Also, please click here for Andrea’s Southwest Bowls recipe. She posted it a long time ago and these have been served once a week at my house since! I use frozen corn and sometimes use pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken. There are lots of shortcuts you can take, but do not skip the sauce! It is worth it to buy and chop the cilantro. Do it!

When making my Rolo pretzel treats, I discovered dark chocolate salted caramel Rolos – OMG! The original work best for my treats, but these are amazing on their own!

The treats again:

I follow Kathleen Jennings Beauty on Insta and she talked about this and I am already a big fan of NYX – love it! Weird name, though!

I love these Party Cake Peeps! I wanted to make S’mores but we never had a fire due to the windy conditions!

These jellybeans were good!

A sweet parent gave all 7 of her daughter’s teachers a goody bag this week that even included…

treats for Ernie!

Spanish Club this week was really fun. We called it “Salsa and Salsa” and we learned to dance salsa and ate salsa – but not before we did a blind chip taste test from different local restaurants with a few store brands thrown in!

I only have 5 more weeks with my seniors! I am going to miss them so much!

What were your favorites this week? I hope you had many!

Amy

Thursday, April 21, 2022

It is Fashion Files Thursday! I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill; make sure you click on one of their names to see what the other bloggers are wearing.

My weather has been all over the place. You may be tired of hearing this, but it’s true! We had some beautiful, but windy days last week. In fact, Wednesday night was the night we had some tornadoes in our area with 80 mile an hour winds and then had school cancelled on Thursday. Yesterday it was 30 degrees in the morning!

First up, here is the jean skirt that I cut and frayed. For some reason this denim didn’t fray that well, but I really do like the result. Pardon the super windy look in the photo! I am eating my hair!

I think the above the knee length is more flattering for me (I’m 5’4) and the heel height of my gold clogs helps, too. I paired it with a plain white Chico’s tank and my new consignment kimono. Sadly, I discovered that the kimono has a rip that isn’t on the seam. I am going to take it to my tailor because I really do love it!

Friday night I wanted to try something new…

Tom’s company had their outdoor concert with food trucks. So, I did business on the top and party on the bottom. I am wearing my Walmart Scoop scuba blazer, my Anthropologie blouse, my Walmart Time and Tru black cut offs and my new clear low heeled bargain sandals.

How do you feel about the blazer with shorts look? Did you know it was a trend?

I was comfortable and felt good and I plan to try this with a few other things maybe!

And, for my last outfit this week, I wore my last purchase of Spring Break. I did a bit of shopping that week and then when school started up again April 11, I said I was not going to buy any clothes until summer. It’s now April 21 and I have lasted 10 days! Honestly, if I see a really good deal, I will probably cave, but I just want to make myself wear what I have and be content. I am also weeding out anything that didn’t get cut over Spring Break.

I picked up this cute little strawberry printed tee at Old Navy for like $10 when I was in the store looking at Easter basket things for my kids. I was happy to get to wear this green sweater that I bought at Target for St. Patrick’s Day. I paired it with Target dark jeans and my red clogs. I felt a bit like a garden gnome, but I liked it. I have wore this outfit once on the weekend and once at school so far. I think this little tee will be fun for summer.

Do you have a favorite outfit?

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Happy Hump Day! Do you want a super easy recipe that doesn’t require any source of cooking? Do you know who Damaris Phillips is? She is one of my favorite Food Network stars and lives here in Louisville! I love her! I was so excited when I realized she was at Jack’s Shakespeare in the Park this summer and had prepared a gourmet picnic with her friends in the lawn. She had oodles of quilts laid out and it was dreamy. Yes, I walked by a couple of times.

Give her a follow on Instagram. She is great!

Anyway, I saw her share this recipe on Instagram..her Aunt Julie’s recipe:

I decided to try it out but I halved the recipe because it was a lot. They are to die for. In fact, I ate most of them.

You need:

1 and a half cups of vegetable or olive oil

4 sleeves of saline crackers (an entire box)

1 and a half tablespoons of ranch seasoning powder

1 and a half tablespoons of chili lime seasoning

Like I said, I halved the recipe and next time I think I will add a bit more chili lime to make them a bit spicier.

Put the oil and the spices in a big bowl and whisk, add the crackers, gently stir to coat with a wooden spoon. Let them sit in the bowl for 2 hours but stir every 20-30 minutes or so.

So yummy!

The next day, I did the same recipe and method, but used pretzel sticks! OMG! So good, too!

I love an easy recipe like this, don’t you?

Amy

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Hey, come along with me on a trip to Costco!

I have been a member since ours opened. In fact, I joined before it even opened. I was excited! I have used Costco for glasses, contact, Christmas cards, Christmas gifts, tires, winter coats, furniture, dog food, and so much more. I have a love/hate relationship. I love not having to think about trashbags, toilet paper, papertowels, Kleenex, and dog food very often because we buy in bulk. I always buy the Costco brand which is called Kirkland, by the way. I hate that I feel like I can hardly leave without spending $300!

On this trip, we really didn’t need those paper product staples. We were after food items. And, specifically, I was looking to add healthy food items that we needed or that I was planning my meals around.

I am low key obsessed with frozen cauliflower rice. Do not buy fresh. I repeat, do not buy fresh. It tasts like ground up packing peanuts.

I like this because it comes with four individual bags inside. I let one fully defrost on a towel or paper towels. Yes, I take it out of the package and let it sit naked. You have got to get that water out. Then, when it is fully defrosted, I put it in a skillet with some olive oil and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and whatever else I want to add. I use this as a base for my burrito bowls, my buffalo chicken bowls – anywhere you would normally use rice.

I must have a stash of frozen veg. I like to roast these on a sheet pan. I also keep frozen corn, frozen peas and carrots (for fried cauliflower rice), frozen french fries, and tator tots sometimes.

This is amazing! They really taste roasted like they say. I like to have these with some turkey sausage or with some of my healthy noodles pasta. I have put them in an omelette, too.

I really like this turkey breast. I freeze half of it because I am really the only one eating it right now. Tom is a ham man. I like to make wraps with this in my low carb La Banderita flour tortillas. I usually just do pickles and mustard to save points, but you can also do Laughing Cow wedges or a light cream cheese or really whatever!

This is new to me. If I had to tell you one thing that really is wearing me down right now I would say cooking.so.much.chicken. I also cook chicken for Ernie. Don’t question it; it started during the pandemic when we all were doing questionable things.

This is good. It doesn’t taste weird or slimy like a lot of pre-cooked chicken I have tried.

Ah!!!! My beloved noodles. This comes in a box with 6 packages of noodles. All you do is rinse them with cold water in a colander and then they are ready to go. I have found that I don’t want to over cook them. I make a sauce on the stove and just toss right before I eat. Tom approves of these noodles, too! I know that the picture features a pad thai, but they work with italian style pasta, too. These are zero WW points for me.

There’s always gonna be an impulse purchase and this was mine:

You can often find this brand at TJ Maxx and I think the bottles are so pretty.

Are you a Costco person?

What are your favorite things to buy?

Amy