Cooking with Pinterest – Chicken Nuggets & Fries

Each item took a few attempts but the best method was definitely following the recipe!

I used too much spice the first time (nuggets) thinking it would be okay because my son loves spicy but it proved to be too much. So this time around I am used a lot less and I didn’t use any for the fries.

I forgot to take pictures of the nuggets…

I based the coating for the fries off of the chicken nugget recipe.

All in all I definitely plan on using this recipe again 🙂

Ikea Date

Not all dates are created equal but ALL dates can be fun! We relaxed, ate, measured the bathroom then went to Ikea. I like to call this a working date because we gathered a lot of ideas and created a plan for updating/ remodeling our house.

The food: Ethiopian deliciousness!!

Below are a bunch of things we found/ are budget friendly. We have no idea which ones will make the cut but the pictures below reflect what we liked.

All in all these are just ideas and inspiration which I am sure will change as we get to the research/development phase. But this was a lovely date with my man. It helped me get back to being a wife and not just mom all the time. It also reminded me why I chose this man and why he chose me. He’s amazing and the perfect balance to my brand of crazy 😉

I don’t really have a good reason for this video as we have no plans of buying the light but we both love playing with it!

Walking Our Dog

My original post was about our family Penny Date. Unfortunately I messed up importing the pictures and now have to wait to see if hubby can fix it. If he can, I’ll post it later on this month. If he can’t, I’ll recap it with a series of funny Pinterest memes.

So here’s my very mushy backup post…

Today you walked your dog for the first time. Daddy helped you get started then the two of you took off. I couldn’t get in any of the pictures so I turned the camera on myself right as I was watching you walk away with the biggest grin on your face. This simple moment felt so special because I realized you were growing up. You’re no longer the infant I cuddled and stressed about. Now you’re the little big boy that puts a smile (and wrinkles) on my face. You made me mature in a way that I didn’t know I needed. You reminded me that crunchy leaf piles should be jumped in and stomped on not just raked into the yard waste bin. You’re helping me slow down and focus on what’s important; enjoying life while fulfilling mental, spiritual and physical needs.

Most important of all you’re showing me I only have a small window to enjoy putting tiny mask on you, pushing you in your Tonka truck and reading stories that you don’t fully understand. I need to stop trying to be the perfect SAHM I imagined and start enjoying being the imperfect mom that I am. You’ll continue to go through stages and I’ll continue to learn more and more as we navigate each one. But instead of picking apart everything I do I am going to simply chalk it up to experience and another lesson learned.

In the words of our favorite book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch:

I’ll love you forever,

I’ll like you for always ,

As long as I’m living

my baby you’ll be.

Random Visual Escape

I’ve been wrapped up in my feelings lately. From my own self-image to my titles (mom, wife, etc) to the state of the world. I feel caught up and unable to express myself so I choose to make a blog post of all the beautiful things I’ve seen recently. This is my random visual escape.

I am choosing to see beauty rather than drowning in sorrow.

I hope this post can be a relaxing retreat in this hectic world 🙂

Penny Date Day

We dressed casual since we only had a few hours until we had to pick up the mini and we forgot to grab a penny
We grabbed a penny & let the internet randomly generate a number (18 turns)
Wrote this on my arm so I didn’t have to keep opening Pinterest
We alerted this since we kept going in circle
We did then we restarted on foot!!

Likes

Fun & interesting
Cheap as long as you have gas
Restarting on foot was great exercise and added a bit of intrigue as we’d never walked the area before

Dislikes

Can be annoying when you keep going in circles
- this is why we altered it a bit
Better if you start in an area you aren’t familiar with
You should eat first to avoid being hangry… See last picture for our hangry fix:)

P1010176 — Though beautiful to look at in person, we went by this same building 3x

Winter Brew

2 Meat Treat (ribs, brisket and dirty tots)

October Weigh In

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So… I’ll insert details under each goal but keep the same goals for this month. Actually I might keep the same goals until I get it right. When I get it right I will completely change my goal or I’ll modify it to continue challenging myself.

Actual Date: 11/8/2017

Weight: ?lbs

Measurements in inches

Chest: ?

R/L Arm: ?

Waist: ?

Hips: ?

R/L Thigh: ?

Goal(s):

Stick to some type of diet/ healthy meal plan (IP)
- I have made healthier choices
  - Ex: swapping coffee for unsweetened tea (most days)
  - Ex: Penny Date night (detailed post coming soon) rather than simply eating out
Read something other than children’s books (Check!!)
- Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
  - Side note: Adventure, Sci-Fi and mystery are my favs
- Bonus points because I was able to read it to my son
Don’t use motherhood as an excuse (Umm technically check)
- I didn’t but I still didn’t exercise regularly
- I did maybe 3-4 workouts; progress but not my goal
Post updates every month on or after the 8th in order to hold myself accountable (Check)
- Yup!! Though nothing has changed (well I don’t think so because I didn’t check)

My Notes for Thor Ragnarok

Audience: May not be suitable for children that scare easily

Bonus Scenes: Stay all the way until after the credits roll (all of them). Yes I know most people know this however due to the shocking number of people that left the theater I figured it would be worth mentioning

Quick Opinions:

definitely my favorite Thor movie
it is way funnier than the previous Thor movies
holds my attention without feeling rushed or dragging
Hela is awesome!!! In a villain kind of way 😉
Grandmaster is hilarious and very colorful
snacks of some kind are a must because this, like other Marvel flicks, is a long movie

Cooking with YouTube – Pupusas

Hubby was having a rough week and I had leftover shredded BBQ beef so I figured I’d surprise him with a tasty meal that had yummy childhood memories attached to it. I’ve done this before when a friend’s mom showed me years ago but they didn’t turn out very flavorful when I tried to cook them on my own. Fast forward a few years, loving motivation and a few YouTube videos and voila flavorful hubby approved pupusas!

I didn’t take step by step pictures because well I forgot… But here they are 🙂 Yes, my photography skills need work but I’ll improve.

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Top left: what it looks like before I flip it to finish cooking plus one in the back that has been flipped

Top right/ Bottom left: finished product

Bottom right: finishing the last one that came out just perfect

Ingredients:

homemade shredded BBQ beef
- funny story it was supposed to be pulled pork but I grabbed the wrong meat because I was rushing to get out of Costco. I didn’t realize my error until it was time to put it in the crockpot
mozzarella cheese
outside/ shell: Maseca Instant Corn Masa Flour, chicken broth (water can be used but mine taste better using broth) & cayenne

About My Weight/Wait

Yes, this is the 1st “before” picture I posted but I look the same so I figured why not be lazy and use this 😉

You read that correctly. I waited to write about my weight because I kept hoping I’d have amazing before and after photos. I’m still over the weight I want to be, look like my “before” picture(s) and haven’t seriously stuck to anything. I tired the 4 Hour Body, intermittent fasting and counting calories but I always allowed myself to make excuses; motherhood was my go to excuse (avoids eye contact with fit moms). I don’t have it figured out and I will keep trying things until I find something I like but until I find my happy healthy plan here are my stats and what I hope to achieve.

Actual Date: 10/8/2017

Weight: 230.6lbs

Measurements in inches

Chest: 44

R/L Arm: 15.75/ 15.5

Waist: 41

Hips: 50.5

R/L Thigh: 29.5/ 28.5

Goal(s):

Stick to some type of diet/ healthy meal plan
Read something other than children’s books
Don’t use motherhood as an excuse
Post updates every month on or after the 8th in order to hold myself accountable
- I am considering posting weekly on my Instagram @jtm2015.wordpress so I don’t fall off of whatever wagon I’m on that week

Wig-ing Out

I bought a wig on Amazon!!

Brown Sugar Human Blended Lace Front Wig – BS206 (#SR2/REDVELVET) by ISIS HAIR

I’ve been wanting to do something different with my hair for a while now but I was a wishy washy mess when it came to making a decision. Finally what started as a trim turned into a cut which morphed into looking for a wig on Amazon. I spoke with my husband and this was the best routine to avoid any further scissor happy moments.

I looked up red wigs then human hair red wigs then affordable wigs and this pooped up some where during my search. I liked what I saw but was very uncertain about the color as I am of a darker shade and don’t like anything that makes me stand out too much. But after consulting with my husband I decided to take the plunge plus I knew my sister would look great with this color so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of money.

Below are pictures of the wig on me, packaging and instructions. I am by no means a wig expert but I used to buy a lot of them and often so I wanted to review this one based on the knowledge I’ve gained from previous experience.

color looks okay on my skin tone but does take a confident person to wear as it is very bright
color is beautiful
lace seems short and somewhat stiff but very user friendly
- I’m not sure how wide the lace part is on other wigs (this is my first lace front) but for my large head it seemed short
- should mention I didn’t braid it down properly
full with minimal shedding

standard wig packaging
no smell

loved the instructions for installing the unit and washing
comes with double-sided tape

Overall I liked the wig but gave to my sister because I wasn’t comfortable with the color. I plan on buying the same wig in a different color and I will definitely buy more wigs from this brand/ seller.

While this post isn’t sponsored by anyone, I was able to buy it with gift cards I accumulated through taking surveys. I still worked for the gift cards but it wasn’t part of actual regular income more like things I do while my son is napping on me. I have also purchased other things this way. I will try to note when I do but if I forget you can always ask if you’re curious 🙂

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Author: April's Universe