This Week's Menu

Happy Sunday!  After some thought I decided to move my menu posts to Sundays.  Typically, I do not post on Sundays but I thought why not give it a shot this month.  

Here's what we're eating this week!


Delicious Chili
It has been a while since I made chili - a family favorite.  It was decided that we would have this crock pot favorite after I noticed all the ingredients were on sale!  I love it when you have a good sale that helps you plan your meals easily!  My theme this month for the blog is "poor mouthing" - a term we use in the south when someone talks about how tight things are in their finances.  After doing research on finances I found out that February is one of the slimest financial months for many Americans.  Well guys if you are afraid of eating beans all month then this is a dish for you.  This crock pot dinner can go on for a few days saving you and your's money!

Healthy Cajun Chicken Pasta
This is a family favorite in my home.  This recipe is from Skinny Taste and it always delights us!  The ingredients are delicious and also on sale at most grocers this week.  Double up your recipe so you can enjoy it for more than one evening!

Sweet Corn Chowder
Last week Katie over at Cup of Tea Blog shared this recipe that she deemed a must try.  This week I am trying it with my family.  Chowder is one thing we never turn down.  Corn is not in season so I will use canned corn, drained and rinsed for this recipe.  Most of the items you need you probably already have on hand!

Other notes for this week's menu:
Super Bowl Sunday is upon us!  Usually, we eat at my dad's where my husband makes some amazing ribs.  The boy can grill!  I love Superbowl get-togethers because they bring so much delicious food.  However, they can be seriously bad if you're on a mission to cut carbs and watch calorie and fat intake.  I found this recipe to help us keep our intake in check!  It is a Weight Watchers recipe but I found it over at Chef-In-Training.

Salsa Roll Ups - a Weight Watchers recipe - provided by Chef In Training.  Serving size = 2 & Calories = 90

I will be back later in the week with a healthy hints post for the Superbowl 50!

What are you eating this week?  Please, share!

Tasty Tuesday is up tomorrow with a requested recipe!

Its like this and like that and like RECAP

Happy Saturday, friends!!!

I'm sitting here sipping my coffee, with the sun beaming in my kitchen window, and the kids are still asleep!  

SCORE!

We are closing a chaotic week that began with snow and ended with warmer weather and sunshine.  Ahhh yes, sunshine!  The best news is that the 60 degree temperatures are pushing our way and that makes me one happy chick.

To celebrate I am taking the kids swimming today!  I am a bit stressed over that because indoor pools are gross to me BUT it is water (highly chlorinated) which is my element.  Of course I will be the only one trying to keep my three year old in check but I think maybe I can win over the lifeguard?!?!?

Alrighty let's move to on to this week on the blog...

I started the week with the menu planning - per the norm.

My week of menu planning was pretty messed up thanks to the snow storm.  However, I am happy to report that we had a successful week of eating from that menu I made.  

Some of the items?  Salmon cakes and Orange Glazed Pork Chops.  

Check it out for ideas for this week; or you can wait tomorrow!  

Yes, I am moving my menu posts to Sunday effective this coming week (ah hem, tomorrow!) 

I freshened up the look of my menu posts as well and I hope you do enjoy that.  I love playing "pretty" with design here and there!

Tasty Tuesday - I love to share!

This week I shared my recipe for my very own version of Italian Soup.  

As you know I am not a pasta fan so this recipe is lacking pasta (carb conscious folks will adore this recipe!)  This soup is very healthy and will warm you up by, of course, being a soup but also by dumping in as much red pepper and fennel as you want!

Give this soup a try!  Pin it too!

Can you believe it is the end of January?

The last Wednesday of the month is reserved for What's Up Wednesday.  This is where I share with you good things (my addiction) and bad things (a 34 year old who cannot get enough Bieber in the earbuds.)  Check it out and compare to see if our crazies match in any way, shape, or form.  My favorite email I got off this blog post was - "Why can't we live closer together.  I think combined we would be a total and complete riot."  Be still my heart!

Evaluation of List No. 1

If Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil or Dr. Whoever-Is-Yet-To-Come decides that list making is a disease then go ahead and send me to the show.  (Please just make sure it includes a beach, a spa package, and some free shopping!)  Each month I make a list of things I hope to accomplish.  I am extremely honest with you about the list at the end of the month - therefore, you should totally go check this one out because it may be the only time I get a result that good.

Fri-YAY Link Up Day!

Friday was so nice!  I went back to worky work but that isn't what this post is about.  Nope, I did my regular Friday deal and shared a few things from the past 7 days with you.  It all gets shared over to a Link Up, my most favorite Link UP #H54F.  This week I shared...well you'll just have to go see!

So here we are in the middle of the weekend and I'm hoping to soak in every ounce of sunshine possible.  Next week is busy around here so I went ahead and put together posts for four days!  I hope you will check back for menu planning, a great recipe from my kitchen to your's, some fabulous ideas of things to do in February in North Carolina, and some pretty fabulous Superbowl 50 party stuff (ahem, Panther Nation!)

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Join me on Facebook this weekend!

http://www.facebook.com/abrownieworld

H54F: What a week! (#4)

The past seven days have felt like a month!  Here's a recap of (nearly) everything, I think!

Ewww, snow!  And quite a bit for my neck of the woods.  I will say that I am kind of happy it did this whole snow thing.  I got extra time with my husband around and my kids were so excited.  See, I'm not a cold hearted winter hater (well not fully!)  Jonas, you totally blew our weekend totally around!  The kids had a five day weekend and that was pretty tough on day five!  Luckily, everyone was safe in our area and we weren't stuck in!  That made a huge difference.

My work out game was off during the snow.  I got back to the gym on Tuesday and kind of tried to do as much as I could to "make up" for lost time.  Well let's just say I sent my bestie a text that I could not move the next day.  Anddddd I was back at the gym just hours later doing it all over again.  Slightly addicted to thinking about fun clothes and SPRING and SUMMER!

I have been cooking up a storm!  And sharing each week on Tuesdays.  Over the snow I made a massive pot of soup and shared it on Tuesday!  This week I have made a lot of goodies like salmon cakes, and orange mustard pork chops.  I think the husband likes having a real meal for lunch and not having to eat sandwiches at work!

The blog got a make over that I am really happy about.  The Facebook banner is what you are seeing here.  I want to do so much with my house but due to $$$ I have to put my change up over here instead!  I think this captures me - the colors and design.  I like it!

Thank you, Minion Movie, for being in Redbox and keeping my children entertained while I mopped and straightened up and worked on this blog post.  You are very much appreciated.

And one more...

I started a Prayer Journal a couple weeks ago.  A lady in my Bible study group mentioned how it had made an impact on her life.  Well I am two weeks in and I already see how my tiniest prayers have been answered.  Had I not taken time to write out my petitions and thanks I don't think I would have noticed what has happened.  When I think about it - I am overwhelmed and reminded how merciful and loving God is.  

Alrighty, a few hours of work and this girl is weekend ready.  I think we may go swimming this weekend!  

2016 List No. 1 - Evaluation

I did pretty awesome...
And I'm going to celebrate it right now with you.

Here's my January Bucket List...

1 - 3 days a week pavement pounding
     Actual - Oh I whipped this one's tail.  I started my gym membership back up so I had no excuses and I started working out at home too.  Yes, yes, yes - I am proud of myself.

2 -   A new recipe a week to share with you
Actual - Well snap de dap I did that!  For two weeks I have brought you some recipes and I'm so happy about that!  Check them out here and here.

3 - Utilize my Fitbit more
Actual - Skippy that number three!  I have been wearing it more and more.  When I feel my wrist vibrate I am one happy girl.  You should get a Fitbit.

4 - Food Diary to get back on track
Actual - Did that too!  OMG Becky look at my work!

5 - Contemplate a Valentine's Get-Away
Actual - Well I did contemplate it but instead we booked our anniversary get away for later in the spring!  I'll take that as a pass in a pass fail classroom!

6 - Craft Date
Actual - Introducing fail number one.  HOWEVER, it wasn't a fail by either of us hotties.  No it was a fail thanks to good ole Jonas coming through and giving us a blizzard.

7 - Finish the book I am reading
Actual - I did and now it is headed to New York to Kim.  I then read another book and now I'm finishing up my third book of the month!

8 - 8 days
Actual - Epic fail, not a damned one.  But I have work for February.

9 - Carve out "us" time
Actual - I say we passed.  We got lots of time with the blizzard and took advantage of a Sunday afternoon without the babies.  This will be a goal for every month.

There's my January!  Did you have a good one?  Did you set any goals?  How did you fare?  Let me know!

February will be up SOON!

What's Up Wednesday?!?!?!

And just like that the first month of 2016 vanished.

Here's the monthly update...

1.  What are we eating this week?

Check out my Monday post - every Monday I share the menu with you!  I'm not very excited about eating.  I know this is weird but I'm not much into comfort food.  I have some strange issues I am aware.  For example:  I do not like mac n cheese. 

2.  What I am reminiscing about?

Last summer - I'm so ready to get in the water!  On Sunday we were at Dick's Sporting Goods and we looked at kayaks because the hubs and I enjoy doing that together.  We may buy a tandem for our summers.  That just excites me to no end!

3.  What I'm loving?

I have an addictive type of personality.  No, I'm not addicted to bad things but I am addicted to moving about and sweating and reaching goals.  I love this about myself.  Give me a goal and watch me meet it - may be a little slow and have some roadblocks but I will meet it.

4.  What we've been up to?

Well that whole winter weather event took some of our attention.

I've been maintaining the hacienda, getting the winter off of me, raising kids which means going a little crazier each day... ya know the regular.

The kids have been full of energy and chatter.

Pretty normal.

5.  What I'm dreading?

The yearly feel up next week.  I really don't care about it but the older I get the more I'm like ewww speculum.

6.  What I'm working on?

I'm a cheese ball....

Being a better me in 2016.

That is so freaking cheesey.  Really though I am working on being a much better 34 year old than I should care about.  This is where you say damn she's vain or damn she's going to have a bad midlife crisis in a few years.

7.  What I'm excited about?

Spring.  I mean duh, y'all.  I hate winter and spring is just a happy time for me.  Someone emailed me and said I shouldn't hate winter the way I do and I probably have SAD and I was like yeah you're probably right, Sherlock.  Now go get on a real case.

Sometimes I am a little mean girl.

8.  What I'm Watching & Reading?

Watching:

Making of a Murderer

Younger

Fixer Upper

The Middle

The Goldbergs

Can I say that Making is the tv show that captivates me because it is so ambiguous how corrupt that sheriff's department is.  My husband gets so pissed off at it he walks away and says, I'm done.  Of course thirty minutes later he's ready to watch it again.

Reading:

I just finished The Three Miss. Margarets.

This is a pretty good book based in Georgia (from the 1920's to present-ish day) and has a little crime mystery going on.  I think if you like Mary Kay Andrews you may like this book - it is missing the comedy that Andrews throws in her books.  I was led to believe this book had more comedy to it but I never was able to find it.

If any of you would like to read it I will mail it.  Just let me know in comments.  First come, first serve.

Now on to:

Shopaholic To The Rescue

I am a HUGE fan of the Shopaholic series.  I look forward to finishing this up over the weekend.

What I'm listening to?

Cue to ridiculousness slash cheeseball button....

I turn up the Bieber when he comes on.  Currently, this one has me smiling as I'm sweating.  I'm really just listening to whatever comes on Amazon when I press play.  Nothing in particular over here, bless it.

What I'm wearing?

Non Snow Days:

Work out clothes, sorry-not-sorry.

Snow Days:

Leggings and long sweatshirts

Pallazzo pants and long sleeve t-shirts.

SO freaking boring but comfy.

What I'm doing this weekend?

No freaking clue.  Probably swimming and crafting with the kids.  I had some invites to some fun stuff but had to decline and cancel due to changes to the schedule.  Tis life!  Make the most of it :)

My Italian Soup (White Bean, Sausage, & Spice)

During the visit from that cold guy Jonas - I made a very delicious albeit spicy soup.  It was a bit much for my kids (weaklings) but for myself it was fantabulous.  The husband (who is also a spice weakling) enjoyed it even though he needed to take five minute breaks between sips.

Just kidding - it was more like 2 minute breaks.

Don't let the spice scare you away from this recipe.  You can totally make it less spicy by eliminating or decreasing the amount of red pepper flakes you put in.  I just went a slight bit insane with red pepper because I do like heat!

For this recipe you will need:

1lb Andouille Sausage
2 cans of drained and rinsed white beans
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cups of crushed plum tomatoes
2 cups chopped fennel bulb - you can do it
1/2 cup of fennel tops chopped
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon of rosemary
6 cups of sodium free chicken stock
1/2 cup vodka
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (I used a tablespoon, obviously if you are not a heat person you should use NONE being that the sausage and fennel can give it a tiny bite)
Salt to taste

Your prep work consists of chopping the veggies.  Chop your fennel bulb into very small pieces.  These do cook down!  Most of my chopped fennel was about half an inch in size.  You also need to chop your onion to your liking.  I used minced garlic so I didn't have to get my knife skills out for it.  I love these ingredients because they are super healthy and super sinus clearing!

After you have everything chopped - and your sausage cut into smaller pieces you load it all into your dutch oven or chef's pot.  I used a chef's pot as you can tell.  The veggies and sausage go in together and cook for about 12 minutes.  You will watch that fennel cook down, the onion become translucent and the sausage will cook through.  The green you see is the fennel not the fennel bulb.  I also put in my rosemary at this time.

The next item I put in was the vodka.  Some people cringe at the thought of alcohol but remember when you are cooking the alcohol cooks out.  However, you get a richer flavor!  It doesn't matter if you use bottom shelf or top shelf potato liquor and if you do not have any vodka to use then go for a dry white wine - same amount 1/2 cup.

Now we are going somewhere!  Your veggies and meat have cooked.  You got it a little drunk on some wine or vodka.  Now you add in your chicken stock, tomato paste, and crushed plum tomatoes, and the heat! Yes this is where you decide if you want red pepper flakes.  Remember this:  fennel has a bit of heat to it already as does the sausage.  Go ahead and do a slight taste test to decide if you want to add to the heat or if it is spicy enough for your palate.  Stir it up and let it boil and then let it simmer for about ten minutes.

I served mine up with some garlic toast!  It was delicious and lasted us the whole winter storm.

Mmmm, good!

Monday Menu *So Screwed Up*

We did go through like 8 slices of bread and half a half gallon of milk....is that what you people are talking about when you rush to get bread and milk?

Thanks to the snow storm my menu is so wacked.  I swear, y'all.  I did not cook as much as I planned to over the snow days because the pot of soup I made lasted us three, yes count them, 1,2,3 days.  So you may see some redundancies from last week this week.

Monday

Orange Glazed Pork Chops

Bone in pork chops are one of our favorite types of meat to grill and bake.  The bone flavors the meat and allows it to be much more tender and juicy.  I look forward to trying my hand at my own style of creating this orange glazed chop!  To go with this entree I plan to make yeast rolls and also serve baby green peas.

Tuesday

Salmon Patties aka Salmon Croquets (per my husband's request!)

While being snowed in my husband told me that he would really like to have some salmon patties.  I did not have any salmon on hand so I decided this week I would throw together his request.  These are really good and depending on how you make them can be excellent for your health.  I have highlighted them before in my blog and probably will again soon!  To go with the salmon we will have the traditional black eyed peas and macaroni and cheese (for the kids, y'all know I cannot stand mac n cheese.)

Wednesday

Soup & Salad

Tonight is busy!  I will let Progresso do the cooking tonight.  To go with the soup I will throw together veggie plates and or salads.  

Thursday

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

There is a good old standby!  A couple weeks back my local Harris Teeter had an unadvertised deal of boneless, skinless chicken breast for .39 cents a pound.  I just purchased two packs (if I had room for a deep freezer,  I would have went a little crazy.)  For some reason I always keep BBQ sauce on hand so this is a great meal to have on reserve for these weeks where I'm out of ideas (yes, this week!)  I will serve up Preacher Taters and shoe peg corn with this dish.

Friday

Beefy Broccoli & Cheddar Burritos

This is a new recipe for me and it also fills the need my daughter has for some type of taco or burrito on each week's menu plan.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Saturday

Out to eat - I'm thinking we'll do Chic Fil A it tonight!

Sunday

Burgers

Right now the projected high for Sunday is 62 degrees (that's more like it!)  So I hope to pull out the grill and make like it is spring and grill away!  I plan to make corn on the cob and some sweet potato fries to go with our burgers.

From Pinterest:

No Bake Energy Bites

I am making these this week for my post work out sweet treat.  

Brrrr - Recap in a Winter Wonderland....

Day two of this winter crap and I'm over it.  I need all this snow to melt and a nice heat wave of about 75 degrees out to hit.  This girl has stuff to do burn (calories) and likes to get out of the house on the weekends (hermit, I am not.)

Anyhoo this is what my yesterday looked like:

And this is what I'm ready for:

Patience is such a virtue.

Well here's the recap for the week....

Monday means a menu!

If you're looking at making your menu today or tomorrow maybe you'll find a new idea in my menu from last week.  I will be highlighting the soup very soon on a Tasty Tuesday post!

Tasty Tuesday was all about substitution.

Instead of applesauce I used another sub for oil in a boxed brownie mix.  I liked it - the kids liked it - my mom not so much.

It is BACK! NC Happenings was on Wednesday!

Instead of weekly postings of NC events I have created a biweekly posting  I premiered the first one this week. In it I have events for Asheville, Blowing Rock, High Point, and Yadkinville, North Carolina.  I always look forward to getting info on events all around NC and cannot wait to see what comes in for the next edition!

A Little Fashion Fun

I have the hardest time with clothing in winter.  So I found just a few pins I loved and shared here.

High Five for Friday (Eeeek Snow!)

The week was pretty good and I recapped it on my regular High Five post.  Click for my fabulous Target clearance finds.  I mean that is the point of blogging, right?  Target?

Cheers to you, visit me over on my A Brownie World Facebook Page this weekend.

H54F Snowpacolypse 2016?

This week - Oh and I'm linked up with Katie and I also joined the 366 project this week at Lola & Lane.

Started with a holiday on Monday.  The kids were home.  It was crazy.  I realize I am a monster who goes insane without schedule/routine/etc.  I was missing them going to school.  Seriously.



Then I restarted my YMCA membership on Tuesday.  I was so proud of myself.  Got in a total of five miles between doing that old lady stand up straight, hips in line, power walk and then doing the eliptical and stair climber.  I have some goals.  I'm getting older, I need those goals to be MET!

Wednesday was a fun Target run day.  I scored some fabulous finds including some of those comfy palazzo pants, a coffee t-shirt (seemed fitting given my addiction) and a $7 sweater.  Considering the forecast I needed the sweater.  Another work out during the flurry rush we had that afternoon and then home to veg out.

It feels so good to have hair all one color family!  Thursday I got my roots did.  Got to get those gray strands in the place they belong - hidden!  My pre-storm shopping cart was filled afterwards - how does this sound?  My items:  avocados, lemons, chocolate chips, oatmeal, tea bags.  The hubby's items - beer, chips, dip for said chips, and soda.  Oh to be a man.  I snagged Redbook since my girl crush - Hillary Duff - was on the cover.  Have I told you that Younger is yet again my most favorite show!  And the best news?  It just started season two and has already been slated for a season three!!!



And here we are at Friday.  I'm sad to report that my bestie date was cancelled due to the forecast.  I'm hoping that March will bring us together again.  My hubby date night stands in the balance right now as we await to see what happens with the weather.  If we get this unheard of amount of snow for my area of NC then it will be postponed - sad face.  Oh well, let's just batten down the hatches and see what happens and think happy spring thoughts!

How was your week, friend?  I hope well!  Stay warm and dry this weekend.  Tomorrow there will be a happy little recap of the week on the blog up.

xoxo -