What's Cookin' Good Lookin'

If you remember my post from earlier this year, you'll recall that I had a goal to cook dinner more.

While I'll admit we had a brief period where we went back to eating out too much, I am back in FULL force and am LOVING cooking.

I figured to stay on top of my goal and keep cooking, I'd share my menu plan with you all and some tips and tricks along the way.

Here is my menu for last week:

On Monday we had Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole.

I found the recipe via Pinterest and am so glad I did. Here is a link to the actual website too.

Andrew absolutely loved them and they were great as left overs too. He even was upset that I took the leftovers to work for lunch and didn't leave him any; he loved them that much.

We served them with salad and it was a great dinner overall.

On Tuesday we had breakfast for dinner.

We made sausage, scrambled eggs, and waffles; it was delicious.

On Wednesday we had Pigs in a Blanket.

They're always easy and always so yummy. Definitely a good thing to make if you're short on time or have to work late.

On Thursday we had the new Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese.

I had a coupon and wanted to try something new so I went ahead and bought the Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese when I was at the store. 

I'm glad I did because it was quite delicious and my hubby was able to make it because I worked late.

On Friday I got off early so I wanted to make something nice. 

I decided to make a recipe I found on Pinterest awhile ago that I had made before.

I made Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta.

This recipe is very lemony and very delicious. 

I'm glad this blog was willing to share her recipe with us all.

Each week I plan for one night out, date night, or time with friends family. 

As a result, on Saturday we went over to my parents' house to watch the UFC fights and have a grand old time.

I enjoyed my day off from cooking and enjoyed the yummy pizza and wings. :]

Last but not least, on Sunday we had White Chicken Enchiladas.

I made them on Christmas so I knew they were good (original recipe found here), but they were even more delicious the second time.

This was the only recipe my hubby didn't LOVE and that's because he hates sour cream. I didn't think he'd notice it but I guess he could...lessons learned in cooking for your husband I guess.

I'm so glad we had such a successful first week in following our menu plan and can't wait for future menus.

Some things I found that make cooking more fun and successful:

-Use Pinterest to find new recipes and actually TRY them. I try to make at least one new thing a week.

-Make your menu ahead of time. It's easier to shop for everything you need and actually stick to your menu if you have a plan.

-Don't be afraid of leftovers. If you cook too much, you just have lunch for the next day.

-Have fun, try new things, and just get cooking!

I hope you enjoyed this week's menu and look forward to next week's!

Please feel free to share your menu with me each week! I think it's easier to make new recipes and get out of a cooking rut if you talk to others.

HAPPY COOKING!

Valentine's Decor for a Killer Deal

Have you guys heard of GroopDealz before? It is AMAZING!

It's a place where cute shops sell their products at a discounted rate and the buyers get to enjoy the items AND save money. WHO WOULDN'T LOVE THAT?! :]

I've bought quite a few things from them before and I've loved everything I've ordered!

In fact, with Valentine's Day coming up, I ordered some really cute pillow covers and I can't wait to get them.

Here is a picture of the beauties:

Aren't they ADORABLE?! They are just what I need to add some cute Valentine's Decor to my front room. In fact, the LOVE pillow cover would be cute for any girl's room.

Since I loved this deal, I wanted to share it with you all. 

You have about 23 hours left to get these pillow covers at 38% off. You can get each pillow cover for $7.50...or be like me and buy one of each.

I hope you like this deal just as much as I do. Or, find something else you love while looking at GroopDealz

HAPPY SHOPPING!

What I'm LOVING Wednesday

I'm loving all the fun blog posts I have planned for this week.

I'm loving that Andrew and I have stuck to our "no eating out, except (AT MOST) once a week for date night" plan. I hope we'll see all the savings soon and that we'll also lose some weight in the process. I think a  big part of why I gained so much weight is poor eating habits so I'm really turning that around and feel better already. I'm eating breakfast (which was rare before) and making my lunches and dinners. HERE'S TO SUCCESS!!

I'm loving that I broke out my planner and I'm getting ORGANIZED.

I'm loving that DISNEYLAND is getting closer and closer.

I'm loving that it's a new year and there are so many fun things in store for 2012.

And most of all, I'm loving my sweet husband who seriously is the love of my life. I couldn't ask for a better person to spend forever with and I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father brought him into my life. I LOVE YOU BABY!

To Earn Your Dessert...

I have recently had the urge to BAKE BAKE BAKE, but that doesn't help me achieve my goals of eating healthier...

In the last few weeks, I've made a couple different types of cookies, been tempted with candy, and even had the urge to make lemon bars. And do these foods sound healthy to you? I didn't think so.

So as a result, tonight we came up with a new way of "earning your dessert" around these parts.

Before I cut myself a piece of these Lemon Bars I had to do one thing:

100 JUMPING JACKS

It's nothing big or too hard, but definitely gets you moving before you get to eat your treat.

I think I'm going to do this from now on so if I do decide to eat a treat (which won't be too often), I will feel more like I earned it.

Sounds like a plan right?!

What do you think? Are you going to start "earning your dessert" too? ;]

Lessons Learned on my Fitness Journey

So as I mentioned yesterday...I'm not very smart with picking shoes to wear while working out. 

Actually, to be honest, I'm not very good at picking shoes in general. I always end up with shoes that tear my feet APART and leave me wishing I never had to wear shoes again. I don't know what it is about shoe shopping but I can rarely find a pair of shoes that fit correctly.

So I don't know what I was thinking today when I forgot my work out shoes as I left for work. All I had with me was my super comfy Uggs that my sweet hubby bought me while we were engaged.

I went about my day as a comfy happy camper and enjoyed an AMAZING lunch with my life long friend and bridesmaid, Kelli. Then I went back to work and as I was finishing up, got a text from Brittney about going walking. I'm so glad she texted me because I probably would have not gone without that extra push. As I was texting her I was reminded again about the shoe situation and told Britt that I'd have to take it easy today...or at least that was the plan.

While we did walk at a slower pace than yesterday, we walked much longer than expected. I was thinking we'd only go a half hour or so, but after walking and talking, we realized an hour had passed.

I'm SO glad that I go walking with someone because it definitely makes the time go by faster and makes it much more fun. My only problem tonight was that my shoes didn't agree with my walk, haha. While we were walking I could tell they were rubbing on my heals but I just ignored it and kept on trucking.

While I love these shoes on a daily basis, I quickly found out they are NOT the shoes to be wearing while working out. I came home and found that I have quite a few blisters because of these cute boots I own.

I'm happy to say that I'll have the weekend off from walking and will definitely have time to find some appropriate shoes for my weeknight walks.

Here's to resting my poor feet and continuing to work out.

Oh, and since I posted those old Christmas pictures, I couldn't end this post without posting another picture from that night.

Can't believe that was two years ago. Can't wait to CONTINUE to work out and get back to that weight.
Anyone know a good shoe store? ;]