Wholly Gaucamole!

One of my favorite things I found at Sam's Club (Ive seen them at Kroger too) are 100 calorie packs of guacamole. I love me some GAUC, but I don't like to make it because it goes bad so quickly. Yes, Ive heard those tricks about leaving the pit in but these packs are so easy! They are great for dipping chips or veggies in or even a healthier substitute for mayo on your sandwich.

Not gonna lie Im excited to bring them to work for lunch

I confess, I saw them on a biggest loser commercial first

I mixed in some mango salsa with 2 or 3 packs for some company

5 Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas

Well its soccer season so that means I am a busy bee with no time to blog, or cook dinner. I decided to share some of my quick fixes that Ive been loving.  All winter I have had a really hard time eating salad and Ive finally gotten the summer itch and this dressing has me eating salads everyday. Which explains why the bottle in the picture is empty.

#1- Ideally, I would precook chicken for the week but I'll be honest and say that it doesn't happen. So I buy a bag of precooked chicken at Sam's Club and its been awesome for quick and easy lunch and dinners. Last night I threw a bunch of lettuce, chicken, pepper, parmesan cheese and caesar dressing in a bowl, tossed it and then wrapped in in a whole wheat tortilla.

#2- Tortillas are something that Ive been eating a lot lately too. Whenever I need to curb my fast food craving I throw a tortilla in a pan and sprinkle on some cheese, chicken, hot sauce, and a some drops of ranch and its just like taco bell. Mmm.

#3- Cereal has also been on the dinner list quite a bit lately, Multi-grain Cheerios to be exact. Along with cheese, veggies, and/or crackers. I really like the laughing cow garlic and herb for only 35 calories a wedge.

#4- I really think that I honestly made a dinner in less than 8 minutes the other night and 6 of them I wasn't even in the kitchen. I threw some salmon on the George Foreman grill and sprinkled on some Mrs. Dash seasoning and let it cook, put it on a bed a lettuce to finish it off. Easy peasy.

#5- Lastly, my fellow teachers and I are eagerly awaiting summer vacation and with this weather I think we feel like we are coming out of hibernation. So some of my dinners have been at happy hour and not gonna lie I cant wait for more free time with my coworkers!

Cheers to Oberon!

Chores!

I can remember doing dishes when I was younger, we would have a scrubber and a loader. I always wanted to be the loader so I didn't have to dive into the sink of eight family members after dinner. I look back and I'm actually glad that we had to do chores all the time. I like that it taught me how to do a TON of things to take care of where I live. Some of my "favorites" (or shall I say the ones that I thought were easiest) were always washing the windows, cleaning the bathroom (I know but it was one of the quickest choices), dusting, and unloading the dishwasher. I'm sure my Mom would find this amusing but I'm glad that we were taught how to do a lot of things. Even though we had 3 girls and 3 boys Dad tried to get us outside as much as he could. The girls inside boys outside trick didn't work all the time. We dreaded going outside, ugh those Saturday mornings. I will say though that I now know how to plant flowers, weed, cut the grass, clean the pool, weed whip, use the edger...snow blower... leaf blower... the list goes on in that giant back yard! I chuckle as I write this because we hated doing all of this stuff.

It took Lee and I awhile to figure out housework routines and what not but now its not too bad. I think living in an apartment helps. Ive realized that not everything has to be done the way I was taught, like if the cups face up or down in the cupboard. Everyone has their own way. Lee always found it annoying that I would scrub the dishes clean and then put them in the dishwasher and I always hated unloading unclean dishes. Well I found another one of my favorite things, Cascade Complete! I barely have to scrub anymore, I guess the commercial was right when it said powers away 24 hour stuck on food. Its the little things in life! Ha!

Anything with an elastic waist band

One of the best things about my job... sweat pants! AMAZING! I even prefer them over jeans. I dont know how people wear normal clothes all the time. All I have to say is "I'm sorry because that must really suck." The fact that I can just grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and throw on a hoody and have a great day at work is magnificent. Another reason why I hardly feel like a grown up.  On the brighter days of teaching PE, I'm just a big kid playing along with them.


T-shirt- $10
Sweat pants- $20
Hoody- $30
Tennis shoes- $100
Wearing them to work everyday- PRICELESS!!!!

DOVE = LOVE

How can you not love Dove shampoo and conditioner! AMAZING!

I also came across this video during my student teaching, it was for a freshman health class. Very cool! Dove Evolution Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U



Now onto Chocolate!

I really eat well most of the time but there is just something about Dove chocolate ice cream bars that I cant stop myself. When I was younger I was only allowed to have one treat before bed, I can remember running to the downstairs freezer to sneak another ice cream sandwich. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?  Yes, yes I'm a dork! I also remember the rules of living with 5 brothers and sisters, hide your food! If you wanted it to be there tomorrow you better label it. Well I couldn't really label the box of ice cream sandwiches, hiding them in the freezer worked well too. ☺

A few of my favorite things

I'm not much of a coffee drinker and whenever I found myself at Starbucks or Caribou, I felt a little left out. Especially when the cool thing in high school was to go get coffee. Gross, I just don't like it. I finally found something I liked besides hot chocolate, Iced Chai.  You can have it warm if you'd like but I prefer on the rocks. However, I rarely buy it because its so expensive and I suck it down in two seconds. Strolling through the unfamiliar Meijers coffee aisle I came across Chai tea concentrate. Just add milk! And I get like 8 glasses from that little box. It's delicious and even cheaper at Walmart! They even have a sugar free that I haven't tried yet.

$2.98 at Walmart

I always used to bite my nails when I was younger. I can remember my dad complaining about it, buying me stupid nail polish that taste gross in effort to stop me. Anyways, one of our super busy summer days at the Hallmark store in high school I learned how to file my nails. I never understood clipping my fingernails, finally this tom boy understood. However, just any nail file wont do.

Its actually clear glass but this one is in a pocket holder. You can find them from anywhere to $6-$12. I buy mine at good ole hallmark, but Ive seen them all over. Best part, they never go bad. You just rinse them off and good to go again.

Lets see, I have a tube in my purse, drawer at school, drawer in the bathroom, and next to my bed. Oh and I think in the car too. Can you guess? I know my sister got it right. Burts Bees! MMM that minty tingle on my lips. I have branched out and tried different kinds, I say flavors. =) The pomegranate oil, honey, and mango butter. The original is by far the best but I don't mind the pomegranate once in awhile for a little color. (really dislike the honey kind)

For me, walking through the cereal aisle can be overwhelming. There are so many kinds that I like. I am a cereal snacker. I don't have it for breakfast because I eat on the run in the morning. For me, I love it after school for a sweet snack to hold me over until dinner. A coworker recently opened my eyes to by far one of my favorites, Special K with fruit and yogurt. I will say its not the healthiest but its perfect for replacing my snacking crave when I get home from work.

Snow day!

One of the many reasons I became a teacher... Snow day #5 today! Whew, not to mention winter break was all last week. I could hardly contain my excitement last night and was jumping and giggling like a little school girl. Last year I think we only had two.

Snow days make me think of jumping out of bed to see nothing but the outside world covered in beautiful sparkling white snow. As kids we would spend hours outside in the winter wonderland. We lived behind a church parking lot which was awesome because they would plow huge snow hills that we would use to sled, attempt to snow board, and build amazing forts. Whenever we had the first snow fall my mom would get all of us together and have a little snow party in the living room. Hot chocolate, cider, powder donut holes, popcorn, and the Let it Snow book. Just one of the many fun memories that I would like to do when Im a mom.

Happily Ever After

Lee and I have been married about a year and a half. Ive been trying to figure out all the little things of growing up and stepping into the adult married world. Mostly things around the house, the cooking, cleaning, and figuring out what we like best (along with all of our funny quirks that make us AWESOME). The hard part has been remembering everything. The recipes that were successful or the brand of laundry detergent I liked best.

Something my mom brought to my attention a few years ago was toothpaste. If you think about it you pretty much stick with the same tube that you've always used. So when my mom switched it up one day my mouth noticed. What a difference! It really does feel like a shower for whole mouth. So on a sad morning when I get caught spending the night elsewhere and don't have my Aquafresh extreme clean my mouth just isn't the same.