Married | Mother | Millennial
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and one of my absolute favorite Valentine’s Day desserts are chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate plus strawberry equals a match made in heaven. It feels good not feeling too guilty about eating a dozen all by yourself. You know, since it’s fruit underneath the chocolate LOL.
Read More
Last weekend I dedicated a few hours of self-care to myself. I took a nice long bath, washed my hair, did a face mask, and drank a glass of wine. It was heavenly…while it lasted. About an hour and a half into my self-care session my oldest daughter, Jordyn, invited herself into the bathroom to ask me fifty questions. Oh, and to remind me that I’m a Mom of two small children, which means time to myself is limited. Ha!Read More
Making painted pumpkins for Halloween has become a yearly tradition for me. Each year I try to find a theme with three to four printable characters for my pumpkins. In past years I’ve done Nightmare Before Christmas, Ninja Turtles, classic monsters etc.
This year I turned to my Facebook family and friends for ideas on pumpkins this year. A few people mentioned the movie “Coco” and I realized as much as I love the movie this would be the perfect craft. I also knew it would be a challenge for freehand drawing to make the characters look like exact like movie.Read More
September 27th, 1988 is the day and year a star was born.
OK, now that I got that out of the way I can be serious now hahaha.
Today is my 30th birthday and I couldn’t be more grateful or full of love. I’m grateful to have made it to see the age of 30. There are many who never did, or will, and for this I am forever thankful each year God allows me to grow a year older.
I decided to take a break from blogging earlier this year due to my pregnancy. It was an exhausting pregnancy and I struggled with staying awake the entire day let alone run a blog in the process. I’ve had plenty of time to plan and have some quality blog posts coming your way soon. From recipes to personal stories to DIY projects. They’re all coming soon.Read More
Riley loves fruits and vegetables. If you’re wondering “who is Riley?” the answer to your question is, my unborn very picky child. I am currently eight months pregnant and have plenty of vegetable cravings. Especially this delicious honey lemon green beans recipe I created on Valentine’s Day. I made a surf n’ turf type Valentine’s Day meal that called for a vegetable side dish of some sort. I bought green beans at the store earlier that day so I decided to “wing it” and throw some flavors together that complimented the dish. It was delicious and I’ve made this recipe multiple times since then simply because of how much I loved it.Read More
Happy 5 year anniversary to us! On this day five years ago my husband and I said “I do”. Here we are two baby girls later and still finding ways to connection with one another. We often talk about how well we work because we’re a team. With each passing day and year we are able to go to the drawing board and be better than we were before.
This year will consist of so many changes for our family. Great changes but plenty of them. The biggest change of all: waiting for our second baby girl to make her entrance into this world. Unfortunately, this is the first wedding anniversary we will spend apart. Considering we’re a military family we should be counting our blessings that this is the first anniversary we’re spending away from one another. But it doesn’t make it any easier. Especially when I’d love to simply be in the presence of my favorite human being.Read More
Jordyn and I traveled to California last week. My husband was in California for a month and a half for work. Jordyn and I met him there towards the end of his work commitment. We flew there and road tripped back with him to Montana. Going to California is always a good time because we get to see so many of our loved ones when we’re there. My father in law even flew into town from Florida for a few days so we could spend some much-needed time with him. Although Jordyn and I ended up catching colds the last week of the trip, we had an amazing time, and can’t wait to see everyone again.Read More
It is so important to recycle. One of my personal goals this year is to recycle. Yes, this may seem like a minor goal, but it’s an important one. It’s also a more than attainable goal because recycle centers are not hard to find. Obviously, this will take a little more effort of consciousness on my part, but it’s an effort which helps our planet and will teach my children to do the same. When we moved into our house on base we never received a cycle bin. They had apparently ran out of recycle bins for any new residents moving in. Long story short, recycle bins are an easy way to keep recycling items organized. I thought to myself “why not make your own recycle bins?”
I wish I could say there was a lot of thought that went into this project but I was honestly going for easy and simple. Easy because the bins need to be functional for easy transportation to and from the recycle center. Simple because the bins need to not be an eye sore in my dining room/kitchen area. Oh, and I forgot to mention I wanted something frugal which means I naturally thought of the clear storage bins at Wal-Mart. They cost less than $5 each and can be reused for storage purposes when we move. (Being a military family means you’re always thinking about the future a.k.a. moving)
First, I looked up what categories recycling centers separate their items by. This helped me figure out how many containers I needed to buy and how they would fit into my kitchen area. My recycle bins are for: glass, metal, paper, and plastic. My glass recycle bin container is the smallest because we don’t use many glass products to recycle. To create my recycle bins I bought my 4 containers, a large black poster board paper, and a pack of metallic sharpie markers. I already had both tape and a hot glue gun at home to paste the designs on the containers. I took my items home and got to work! To create your own recycle bins you will need:
– Four 58 quart containers
– One 22×28 poster board
– tape and/or glue gun
– 2-3 marker colors
Once you have you necessary items for your project you will:
1) Measure and cut your poster board paper into what ever design or shape you want displayed on the front of your bins.
2) Write your recycle bin category on each of the poster board cut outs using your bold marker colors. (Try using marker colors that will stand out on whatever color poster board you are using)
3) Using your hot glue gun and/or tape, individually attach your poster board cut out label to the front of each of your containers.
4) Place your containers in whatever section of your home you want them and you’re finished!
If you would like to take the project up a notch: line your containers with a plastic or paper that can be recycled as well for easy clean up. You can also decorate the containers themselves with additional colors and designs if they are too plain for your personal liking.
I told you guys this is an easy project! Not only is it easy to do, but we get to help play an important role in saving the planet too. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. If you make your own DIY recycle bins please drop a picture in the comment section below!
Brie <3
Winter time means comfy warm foods. This means a lot of crock pot recipes, oven baked recipes, and soups/stews. One of my favorite year round foods is potatoes. Idaho potatoes, red potatoes, Yukon potatoes, etc. they’re all my favorite. My usual go to comfort potato food is the universally loved mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are not only delicious, they are extremely easy to make. However, as much as I love mashed potatoes, I need to switch it up every once in a while. I’ve always loved roasted potatoes, but I’ve recently discovered how much my toddler loves them too. My husband loves potatoes as much as I do so I wasn’t worried about him loving this recipe too. Ha!
Despite the fact that this recipe is absolutely delicious, it’s an extremely easy and quick side dish for multiple recipes. Whether you’re making baked chicken, searing some salmon, or going strictly veggie, this side dish fits perfectly. Did I mention this dish is cost friendly too? A 5 lbs bag of red potatoes will last for a few different meals, and if you love an assortment of seasonings like myself, then you don’t have to buy any other ingredients for this dish. Who doesn’t love having all of the necessary ingredients for a recipe in the kitchen already?
Before getting started, remember for recipes such as this, you can be as generous with your seasonings (except for the salt) as you would like. You can also add any of your additional favorite seasonings you think will add more flavor to your potatoes. There really is no wrong answer when it comes to seasoning your potatoes. Let’s go ahead and get started!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Wash your red potatoes well and cut into 2 inch pieces. Pat the potato pieces dry.
Using a medium sized bowl with a lid (or a gallon ziploc bag), put your diced red potatoes into the container, drizzle your olive oil in, cover and shake to coat the potatoes in the oil.
Add your sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika to the container, cover and shake again until the potato pieces are evenly coated in the seasonings.
Take your teaspoon of grapeseed oil to lightly coat a 9x9 baking dish. (We use grapeseed oil because it cooks better in high heat)
Pour your seasoned potatoes into the greased baking dish and place in the oven (uncovered) for 30 minutes or until tender.
Once your potatoes have baked to your desired crisp or softness, garnish with your parsley and serve!
About a year ago I saved a recipe video on Facebook for chicken teriyaki pineapple bowls. The recipe gave three ingredients to use but no details on measurements. I decided to wing it and see how it would taste. Although it tasted good I knew the dish could taste much better. Over the last few months I have tried many food combinations and different ingredients to achieve this final winning recipe. This is one of my family and friend favorites in our household.
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is you can use whatever vegetables you prefer in this dish. I've made chicken teriyaki pineapple bowls with broccoli, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, onions, etc. and they've all been delicious. However, out of all of these combinations, our favorite combination is the broccoli and onion. We especially love the teriyaki sauce. This recipe ensures there is plenty of gravy for your rice and any leftovers for the next day.
If you're lucky, you pick a very sweet pineapple and get to eat the delicious pineapple while you're cooking your meal. I'm currently working on a delicious drink recipe to use the sweet pineapple for so be on the lookout for that! In the mean time, enjoy this delicious, and easy, chicken teriyaki pineapple bowl recipe!
Cut your broccoli florets off of the heads of broccoli into 2 inch sized pieces. Place in a bowl to the side
Cut your onion into 1-2 inch pieces and add them to the bowl with the broccoli pieces.
Cut your chicken thighs into 2 inch size pieces and set to the side in it's own bowl.
Start cooking your rice now so that it will be done at the same time as your chicken teriyaki mixture.
Heat your olive oil over medium high heat until very hot. Add your chicken thigh pieces to the pan and brown the chicken for 2-3 minutes.
Now add your soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and mirin the pot with the chicken. Stir the ingredients together well and let the chicken cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add your broccoli and onions to the pot and stir until well coated. Cover and cook your vegetables for 3-7 minutes. *How long you let your veggies cook depends on how crisp or soft you want your vegetables.*
While the vegetables cook down, cut your pineapple(s) in half, the cut a square around the middle of each half, and using a spoon scoop out the pineapple. Put in a bowl to the side to eat for later or to throw into your chicken teriyaki if you want more sweetness.
In a small cup mix together your chicken stock and cornstarch until the cornstarch completely mixes into the liquid. Pour the mixture over the chicken teriyaki and vegetables and stir enough to coat the food. Cover the chicken teriyaki again and let cook for a minute or two so the sauce will thicken.
Place your pineapple bowl halves on individual plates, scoop a cup of rice into each pineapple bowl, and then top with your chicken teriyaki and vegetables.
Sprinkle with red pepper flakes for a little spice and it's time to eat!
