hurry up june.

So I've been a little MIA lately and frankly I've been a little MIA in life. 2015 so far is kicking my butt, not in a good way. March was one of the worst months of my life. April was spent trying to climb out of the March pit and then May knocked me back down a few steps. 

There's a lot that could be said, but I'm not going to, at least not right now. Instead I am going to focus my eyes forward and try to let the past be the past and refuse to let it get the best of me. Unfortunately, I know the months have the potential to be even worse than the previous ones, but most of all I need to face them with positivity and grace.

So, June. You and me. We got this.

c/o pinterest 

As for June goals... I'm keeping it pretty simple. 

1. Read something: the past few months I haven't even read as much as a magazine for leisure. 
2. Do something every day to decompress
3. Make incredible memories in Denver 
4. Do something spontaneous ... and for me
5. Spend some time at the pool getting my tan on
6. Start working on a new budget for myself

We'll see how this goes, fingers crossed!

Eating In: Week One in Review

Week One of eating in was a success!  We're ten days in and while this weekend was incredibly difficult to resist the temptation of a McAllister's Ham & Cheese Toastie we held firm and have already seen a dramatic impact to our bank account.

This week's menu...

Sunday: Chicken Parmesan--salad--bread
Monday: Pork Loin--Purple Hull peas--buttered noodles
Tuesday: Crockpot Ravioli
Wednesday: Chicken Rice & Broccoli
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chili
Saturday: Leftovers



We deviated slightly from the menu when we evaluated the leftover situation on Wednesday evening!


A sweet friend requested I blog the recipes each week!  I thought of taking pictures of the finished products but obviously that did not happen.

Chicken Parmesan

bread crumbs
chicken breasts
spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese
egg wash
spaghetti noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Dip chicken breasts in egg wash and bread with a mixture of bread crumbs and cheese
Pan simmer on both sides until bread crusts
Lay chicken flat in greased glass pan & top with spaghetti sauce
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Cook spaghetti noodles and add sauce
Sprinkle cheese on top of chicken and melt
Top spaghetti noodles with chicken and serve



Pork Loin: we buy the preseason pork loin from Sam's.  We can divide in half and freeze.  Simply follow the directions on the package.  (This was Coach Husband's night to cook for the week).  We cooked homegrown purple hull peas from my Papwaw's garden and it was delish.

Crockpot Ravioli

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
15 oz tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Italian seasoning
10 oz spinach
16 oz bow-tie pasta
1 1/2 cup mozzarella

Brown beef with garlic and onion
Place beef & sauce in crock-pot.  Add tomatoes and seasonings.
Cook 6-7 hours on low.
Add spinach, cooked pasta and cheese.
Cook 30 more minutes on high.
Top with cheese & serve

Personal note: next time I will be adding more tomato sauce than the recipe calls for, it wasn't enough for our family but made a TON of leftovers


Chicken Rice & Broccoli

1 tbsp oil
1 can creak of chicken soup
4 chicken breasts
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups broccoli
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

Heat oil in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat.
Add chicken and cook until browned on both sides.
Remove from skillet
Stir soup, water and seasoning into skillet.  Heat to a boil.
Stir in rice and broccoli.
Reduce heat to low and return chicken to the skillet.
Sprinkle paprika and black pepper.
Cover and cook until rice is tender.

Coach Husband loved this dish.  I loved that is was all in one pan for easy clean up and included a starch, protein and veggie all together.  The recipe said it was 5 minute prep time and 20 minute cook time but that was a lie.  My chicken took longer than expected to brown and the total time was more like 35-40 minutes.


Chili

We use the McCormick seasoning packet and follow the directions.  With a side of Velveeta/Rotel cheese dip it was a good night at our house.



Week one was a success.  With work picking up this week I am sure it will be difficult to resist the urge to run out for dinner so keep us in your prayers!  Wednesday CH & I both have late meetings and will need extra prayers around 6:15 when we finally make it home and have to cook.

eli young band concert

I am officially 1/5 of the way to completing 1/100th of my goal list! This week a friend and I went to an Eli Young Band concert, supporting a local food pantry. The proceeds from the concert (and some other fundraisers that I don't recall) netted $92,000 to be donated! Also Richard Petty was at this concert, which I guess is kind of a big deal? 

I was super excited for this concert because it was my first time seeing EYB. Surprisingly, our paths never crossed the entire time I lived in Oklahoma/Texas.

I picked up CK and off we went...according to Siri the venue was only 15 miles from her apartment! Flash forward an hour and a half and we finally pulled up to the correct location. Not only did Siri lead us to a dead end once, but twice. Straight up dead ends, as in no roads. Whatever, luckily the program/concert hadn't even started yet and frankly I wish we had been lost for another hour or so instead of having to stand around waiting for it to start.

Let me just set the scene for you. Do you remember the episode of Full House when Uncle Jesse has his 10 (5?) year high school reunion? And he goes back to high school and his band plays on the stage and his ex-girlfriend Carrie shows up in the tight red dress? Okay well there was no Carrie, but other than that it was the exact.same.thing.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, well then I'm sad for your life and feel the need to educate you. 

John Stamos..you are so welcome :)

Back to my concert. After some introductions (Richard Petty, racecar man driver Eric, a lady named Gayle) and talk of good will, EYB took the stage. Frankly I only knew about half of their songs because I realized that I mainly listen to their older music. They main songs they played that I recall knowing were: "Even If It Breaks Your Heart", "Always the Love Songs", "Drunk Last Night". The band was pretty good live...Mike Eli was shorter and more compact than I thought he would be, but the drummer had incredible SING facials (Baylor frats, you should sign him up). 

Patiently waiting

REAL Farmland racecar!!

Towards the end of the show, I was devastated by the realization that they were most likely not going to sing my favorite song. Why would these Texas boys sing their song about an Oklahoma Girl, whilst playing a show in Missouri? Luckily for me, they did - and I think I was the happiest girl in the gym...until they changed the lyrics to "Missouri girl". Wrong senor Eli Young Band. Oh well, I just ignored that part and danced anyways to my song, in my heart I know the real lyrics. After this song we decided to bid adieu to EYB and call it a night - and life was good. 

Overall, I give the band a thumb and a half up (is that an accurate means of measuring??). Definitely not the best concert I've seen (cough, Lady Antebellum), but also not the worst (ahem New Politics). 

Until next time...