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Happy Birthday…. to ME!
It’s not even 9AM yet, and I already feel beyond loved. Thanks so much everyone for all the sweet Happy Birthday emails, messages, facebook statuses, tweets and everything! You’re awesome people! And thank you so my sweet sissy who blogged about me. Awww. :)
Last year, on my birthday I wrote about 28 things about me. Today, I thought it would be fun to share some of the things I’ve learned over the year as I grow into the ripe old age of 29. *deep breath*
1. I learned how to grow a garden!
And that hard work paid off.
2. I learned that I LOVE Zumba!
and the sweet friendships I’ve made since then.
3. I’ve learned that through hard work and dedication, I can achieve goals I’ve set out to do.
and that through accomplishing those goals, I’ve felt even more empowered to venture out of my control zone and always strive for even greater things.
and that my friends is just a few of the things I’ve learned this past year… and thanks to all of you, who have been amazing blog readers & friends. xoxo
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What’s for Dinner – Follow-up
Thanks so much ya’ll for all the great dinner tips on this post. I wanted to share those tips with you, in case you missed them…
Lindsey @ SoundEats said…
Crock pot meals all the way! Seriously. I used to think I could only use the crock pot when it was cooler outside (which here in FL is like…2 months), but lately I’ve been relying on it multiple times a week. Usually between 6AM-7:30PM I’m working out (if time), at school, studying, and working, and then I come home and have to study more. So I totally feel her on not wanting to cook! There are so many things you can do in a crock pot though. Just yesterday I threw some chicken breasts and a jar of marinara sauce in my crock pot on low all day(literally took 30 seconds), came home, shredded the chicken, and put it on rolls/ bread/ tortillas/ whatever and let a little cheese melt on top from the heat of the chicken (less than 10 minutes when I came home). SO easy, so fast, and delicious!
As far as exercise, is it possible to go for a walk or a jog while your son is at football practice? Even if you have to make phone calls or something at the same time, you can still walk and do it! Another fast favorite is the BodyRock.tv workouts…a lot is just using your own body weight, and you can find workouts for 12-16 minutes that will make you SWEAT and burn later! I always rely on those when I feel like I have zero time but need to get something in.
Sorry for the novel of a comment – I can just totally relate to having no time! 
Good luck to our mom in need!
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Erin said…
How about cooking a weeks worth of food on your day off and freezing it. Then you can have hubby start the oven for you and pop it is or nuke it and it’ll be cheaper and healthier.
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Gwen said…
I was turned on to a GREAT website called the Six O’Clock Scramble – http://thescramble.com/that provides really great meal plans each week, including shopping lists for everything you need. These really do save time and take a lot of the guess work out of it. PLUS they are simple and fairly quick to prepare. The site is subscription-based, but I think it’s worth it! My favorite new dish in the world, a zucchini casserole, came from the site!
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Jenn’s Adventures said…
My immediate advice is what Lindsey said — Crockpot is the way to go!!! I just visited Akways Training Trio — and today they posted an uhh-mazing crockpot recipe. Super low maintenance, lock and leave, tons of healthy recipes — it’s a huge win/win. I’m also a huge fan of prepping. If people can prep beforehand it will save SO MUCH TIME!
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Heidi @The Sweet Life said…
I can’t relate to having children in the mix but I can relate to being busy! I pack mine and my husband’s lunches every day and to save time in the morning I have been packing up all of our sides like fruits and vegetables in little baggies. I keep them in the fridge in a plastic container so I just grab baggies in the morning after making sandwhiches. I do the same thing for dry foods like chips and granola bars. They are all in baggies in a plastic container in the pantry so I just grab and go.
I think Lindsey’s idea about maybe trying to walk/run during football practice is a great idea! Also, if you are making dishes that you just have to bake for dinner like casseroles, you could use that baking time to go run. Just have your husband keep and eye on dinner.
For dinners, my suggestion would be to look for 30 minute meals that are fast. We also like to make homemade pizza dough and pizza sauce and freeze it for quick and easy dinner options when we don’t want to really cook. We just thaw it out, toss in whatever vegetables we have in the fridge that we don’t want to go bad and toss some sauce on top.
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Laura said…
I love these ideas!
As far as food – I second the crock pot meals! There is a woman who cooked solely in her crockpot for 1 year and she blogged every single recipe. Some are hit or miss, but there are some good ones. Bonus: every recipe is gluten free (they are a GF household) so there’s that bonus!
Second, I would recommend making casseroles ahead of time and just popping them in the oven to re-heat. It will take you 30 minutes of cooking time and you’ll have a fresh cooked meal right there. There are so many great recipes for casseroles and you can even freeze them ahead of time and thaw overnight before you want to eat. I’m not a big freezer fan, but I know lots of families that freezer cook 1 day for the entire month!
Lastly, fast meals! Pre-cooking/prep on the weekends is wonderful. Grill up chicken breasts or veggies and throw them in the fridge. You can even pre-saute your veggies. Then throw everything into a scramble for dinner with eggs. Or institute a sandwich night where you make veggie sandwiches or grilled chicken sandwiches. On the side you can have cut up veggies and hummus or yogurt dip.
It’s really all about planning and the more time you put into planning your meals before you get home at night, the more time you’ll save eating healthy meals! http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
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Thanks Ladies! So many great tips. I love all the crockpot ideas!
The other I made a soup in our new Vitamix blender. The recipe is from the Vitamix cookbook. The soup is called Harvest Cheddar, and it had all kinds of interesting things that I would have never added into a soup before.
The soup contained: Green Apples, Celery Stalk, Thyme, Vegetable broth, Baked Potato, (1 whole) Onion, Nutmeg, and shredded Cheddar Cheese. I also made mini corn bread muffins.
A little plain greek yogurt on top and dinner was served! I really liked it, it was good and tasted like a Fall soup. Ya know, when you can just taste fall? Yeah, it was like that. Even though I like it, Hubs… did not. But (according to him) he made good use of it….
*sigh*
Win some, you lose some.
Question: What did you make for dinner tonight?
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