5 Favorite TV Shows

I watch too much TV. Mostly at night. However I like to have it on as background noise while I clean or pay my bills. I especially like to "watch" Days Of Our Lives when I do those two tasks. I know, a soap opera, pretty pathetic right? A little bit. To my defense, it is a fond memory I have of my Nana. She would sit me down at 1 o'clock everyday to watch, we would stop what we were doing and watch Days Of Our Lives. I tried stopping, but I can't. It reminds me of her and the fun we had when I went to visit.

My 5 favorite TV shows are:

1. Grey's Anatomy

 

2. Chicago Fire

 


3. Survivor

 

4. Revolution

 

5. Modern Family

 

What are your top 5 TV shows?

Favorite Valentine's Baked Good

I love all baked goods. I mean I LOVE them ALL. So it's hard to just pick one. However the first thing that came to mind were sugar cookies. They are so simple. And the beauty is that you can cut them out as hearts and decorate them with messages for that special someone in your life. Or in my case those special someones.

Here is a basic sugar cookie recipe:

For the cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until soft and creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until well combined. Add in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour and continue to mix until smooth. Chill dough until firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Roll out dough on a well floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies with floured cookie cutters and carefully transfer them to the prepared cookie sheets. Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes. Cookies should NOT brown. Let cool completely before frosting.

I got this recipe from Cake and Allie. She has a lovely picture of her cookies with royal icing. They are lovely! I just wish I had the patience to decorate that intricately.

So tell me, what is your favorite Valentine's Day baked good?

He is His Mother's Son

I remember when I was in 6th grade. It was tough. It was not fun. I had a teacher whose expectations were so great that more than half the class was failing. Failing in all subjects. How does that happen? Especially to students who are A+ students? Well, let me tell you.......the teacher would have been an awesome (and later did become) a high school teacher.

What I remember most from that year? I was on restriction for the better part of the year. I couldn't do anything. I had to come straight home from school, sit down and do my homework......In. My. Room. There was no TV, no phone, no social life. The only thing I could do was go to practice for whatever sport I was playing. That's. It.

My middle son is in 6th grade this year. It has been a challenge. I have been getting emails since the first week of school about him and his behavior. This week has been overwhelming. We battled about homework for science and that set the tone for the rest of the week. I was spoken to by 2 of his teachers about behavior and I got his progress report. The kid is not turning in his homework or isn't even doing it. His reasoning? Because if he becomes a construction worker he won't need to have any of this knowledge.

Well, it looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know he is seeking attention, but all he is getting is the negative kind. Not. Good. I just got an email from one of his teachers and she asked him if he would like it if I sat in the classroom for Homework Club. Not to just sit in there, but to sit with him. A lightbulb went off. The poor guy just needs some extra one on one attention and a bit of love. So this coming week we will have some quality homework time that doesn't involve helping his brothers, cooking dinner, and making sure everyone is on track. It will be just me and him sitting together, working on homework. I hope this is the start to a road of behavior recovery. I also hope this is a good start to satisfying his need for one on one time.

5 Valentine's Day Dates

For me, simple is better. Simple seems to take some thought, but is ultimately pretty easy. Five Valentine's Day Dates that I would enjoy are:

1. A nice long hike with my honey.
2. A picnic lunch.
3. Home cooked dinner in. And I mean home cooked by my honey.
4. A day at the beach.
5. I could even go for a movie on the couch.

I doesn't take much to amuse me. I would love to do these things with my honey alone, but they are all kid friendly "dates".

What is your ultimate Valentine's Day Date?

2014 Goals

So this month I am going to try to do the writing prompts provided by the SITSA's. There is a prompt a day for the month of February. Maybe this will get me back in the swing of things.

My goals for 2014 is to learn more about clean eating and implement it. With doing that I intend to find and post some recipes that I enjoy. This will be a process so it may be a while before I post a recipe I find worth sharing. My biggest problem is meal planning and preparation. I can wrap my head around it, but I feel like I am being told what to eat, how to eat it, and when. Sounds crazy right? Especially since I am the one making the meal plan. I think part of it is that I need to do a few days at a time rather than an entire week. One. Whole. Week. Of meal planning seems daunting and I run out of ideas. 

My trick, so far, is to screen shot other people's meal plans. I am doing this through some groups I have joined, all full of people who are on a similar journey. We check in daily to report what we did for exercise and how we would rate our food choices for the day. The coaches/leaders provide a lot of information, recipes, and we can all support each other and post what we had problems with and how we can tweak our nutrition so that we are successful.

Here's to clean eating! Wish me luck......