semi-homemade spaghetti and meatballs

Let me start by saying this was a two day recipe because my Thursday nights are usually busy with yoga so I didn't want dinner to be served at 9 pm. I opted to make the meatballs on Wednesday evening after work. The recipe for the meatballs is below, but I don't have a picture of just the meatballs once they were made. This recipe was pretty easy to follow and required minimal cleanup. 

On to Thursday evening! The sauce is semi-homemade (hence to title of the post). I don't have a recipe for the sauce since I kind of wing-it and so some taste testing throughout. The base for the sauce is a can of Prego original spaghetti sauce from the grocery store. I pour the jar into the saucepan an then add a clove of garlic, 1/2 pound of ground beef (cooked) some fresh ground parsley, and some Italian seasoning. I will also add some salt and pepper depending on how the tasting goes while cooking. While the sauce is simmering together with the previous nights meatballs, I throw some spaghetti noodles in a pot of boiling water and that's it. Seriously. The recipe is not hard its just a tad time consuming. Once the noodles are finished I drain them and add them to the meatballs and sauce. 

Italian Style Meatballs:

Ingredients:

½ lb. ground beef

½ lb. Italian sausage

½ cup bread crumbs

1 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs

2 tsp finely chopped parsley

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350˚

2. In a medium size bowl add each of your ingredients into the bowl and mix well after each addition 

3. Make slightly larger than golf ball sized meatballs and place them into a muffin tin that has been coasted with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, flipping them halfway through

porcupines in a skilllet

This was such an easy recipe for nights that you don't have much time to cook. It's a one skillet dish which also makes for easy cleanup. It can easily feed 4 people or more with some leftovers to spare. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

1 ½ cup hot water

¾ cup uncooked rice

1 (16oz.) can tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

1 small can mushrooms – optional

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, crumble beef and brown

2. Drain and stir in onion soup mix, water, tomatoes, and (optional mushrooms)

3. Add rice and stir

4. Cover and cook on low heat for 25 minutes or until rice is tender

5. Sprinkle with cheese, melt and serve

brown sugar glazed pork chops

So I am THE WORST at pinning recipes to my Pinterest board, and then just letting them sit there. I never actually attempt to make them even though the headline-that caught my eye to begin with-says fast and easy or six simple steps. I know we all have this bad habit on Pinterest with at least one board.

I finally decided to put some recipes to the test. First up was Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops. These were SUPER easy-no joke- and they turned out delicious. I am always a big fan of dinners that are still good as left overs that I can take for lunch the following days, and this meal delivered. The pork was really juicy and had a nice balance of spicy, yet sweet from the brown sugar.

I would definitely make this again and this is easily a recommendation for a quick easy meal that anyone would love.

Ingredients:

4 pork chops

¼ cup brown sugar

½ tsp cayenne powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Directions:       

1. Preheat oven to 350˚

2. In bowl, combine the brown sugar and spices

3. Remove pork chops from package and rub spice mix on both sides of the meat

4. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium/high heat. Add pork chops. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side, or until it is nicely browned

5. If your skillet is oven safe transfer the pork chops directly to the oven. If your skillet is not oven safe you must transfer the pork chops to a foil lined baking sheet. Once in the oven, let the pork chops cook for about 5 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly

6. Remove and serve

quarter life crisis

I recently celebrated turning 25 and happened to stumble upon this on Facebook a few days before hand. Forever Twenty Something hit it out of the park with this article on their page. Now I will preface this by saying I fit into a lot of these scenarios before I turned 25, but this is still a fun list that depicts mid-twenties life quite accurately.


1. You wear the same clothes you wear to work when going out. This is when you KNOW.

2. You have at least one friend (or acquaintance) who is engaged. Like someone your age could afford a ring. People know who they want to be with for the rest of their lives already. HOW?

3. When watching sports, you often pause and reflect on the fact that you are older than, like, half of the athletes.

4. People have graduated from college who were not even in college when you were in college. Wait, what?

5. You love brunch. But it goes right to your hips.

6. You consider a night on your friend’s couch “going out.” You left YOUR couch. You’re out.

7. You do not have time for hangovers, yet the only way you can avoid them now is by not drinking… which you’re not going to do. You’re only 25 dammit.

8. You are like so totally done with college-style apartments. You need to move into a better area. You need to live in a real apartment. The problem: you can’t afford one. *Weeping in a corner, brb*

9. You can count the number of people you still talk to from college on a regular basis on your fingers. Where did they all go?

10. The thought of making plans on a weekday night makes you cringe. You want me to leave my couch? And stay up late? And pay for drinks? On a weekday?! But I have work tomorrow!

11. You’re not sure if it’s okay to enjoy listening to pop music. Especially very loudly with your windows rolled down while sitting at red lights. And you’ve actually wondered when it will really NOT be okay. Like when will you be looked at like you’re trying to be a cool mom and not a regular mom for listening to 5 Seconds of Summer and Iggy Azalea?

12. You’re not the youngest person in the office anymore, but you’re also not one of the “old people,” so it’s kinda awk. Who do you hang out with? You’re not sure. Is it okay that you went to an EDM concert this weekend? Do you keep that to yourself?

13. The thought of buying a condo/apt/house is real. Some of you may have purchased one already… And the rest are just wondering HOW THE FUCK they will ever save enough money to buy, like, a new computer never mind a fucking house.

14. Sometimes you learn what certain abbreves mean or how to do things on your iPhone from someone younger than you, because apparently you’re not “all up on that stuff” anymore.

15. You sometimes have to take a minute, sit on the couch, put on Elton John, and shut your eyes to get away from your REALLY FUCKING STRESSFUL LIFE… oh that’s just me? Nevermind…

My life is definitely numbers 2, 6 (for sure!), and sometimes 8. I thought this would be the perfect post to celebrate turning 25, which I am reminded is halfway to 50, thanks little brother. 

Source

ncdr.15 conference in san diego

For the last few days I have been on the west coast soaking up some sun and attending training sessions and seminars. 

I arrived in sunny San Diego on Wednesday morning and I was able to get to the zoo before the opening orientation. That zoo is AMAZING and worth every penny of admission, and in my case a few pennies as souvenirs. I knew that I wanted to see the polar bears while I was there so the first thing I did when I got there was head back towards the polar section. I will say that I wish I had more time to sit and enjoy the animals, but since it was a work trip I had to keep to the schedule. In order to see everything at this zoo you really do need a full day. There are so many paths to walk, animals to see, and educational programs to attend. 

On the second day the conference was the main attraction from 8-5 so the only time I had to explore was lunch and the evening. Luckily we were served lunch outside so I could take advantage of the amazing weather in the afternoon. I decided to venture down to the Gas Lamp District of downtown San Diego for dinner. The Gas Lamp district is very unique. There are many restaurants, shopping opportunities, wine shops, and souvenir stores yet it doesn't feel “touristy”. Petco Park, home to the Padre’s is just a few blocks away so I imagine during the spring/summer months that area of town is very busy and lively.

The third day of the trip included the final day of the conference. The only outside time that I was able to get was an hour at lunch and in the evening. I decided to make the most out of the evening and walk downtown to the USS Midway and Unconditional Surrender statue. I will preface this by saying that the only reason I walked down there was because the restaurant I went to for dinner was right next to the aircraft carrier. I will start with dinner, because everyone loves food. I went to a place called the Fish Market which sits right on the water in San Diego. Dinner was absolutely delicious. I got the grilled Mahi with au gratin potatoes and roasted vegetables. After dinner I knew I didn't want to make the 2.5 miles walk back to the hotel in the dark so I rode in a rickshaw, which is basically a cart that you ride in that’s being pulled by someone on a bike.

The fourth and final day of the trip was just a travel day. The flight was supposed to leave at 1:00pm but got delayed an hour and a half, and I almost missed my connecting flight home (not a great feeling) after being away for four days. In the end I got home very close to the originally scheduled arrival time despite all the delays in the process. 

pinterest project

In today’s age, where everything is digital, it’s nice to walk to the mailbox and see a hand written message inside. I know for me the mailbox is always full of bills (lots of them), junk mail, random coupons (that you know you will never use, but insist on keeping), and sometimes a magazine. I can’t describe that feeling I get when I see that someone has taken the time and mailed me something instead of sending an email or e-card. My mom will frequently send me cards for holidays and the envelopes will have stickers decorating the outside. I am now getting more wedding invitations and save the dates with age and the quick approach of wedding season. I seem to have some sort of attachment to greeting cards, save-the-dates, birth announcements, and anything else in the form of snail mail BUT I never know how to keep them organized. I found this project on Pinterest and tried my hand at storing all of my cards in a binder/book to keep.

First I gathered all my supplies-which really meant I went to Hobby Lobby and spent wayyy too much time browsing the ENTIRE store instead of actually picking up what I really needed. I did manage to get all of the supplies that I would need in just one shopping trip. Here is a list of supplies that I used.

                1. Chipboard with pre-cut holes 

                2. Scrapbook paper

                3. Letter stickers 

                4. Glue

                5. Mod-Podge (Matte) 

                6. Scissors

                7. Hole-punch

                8. Craft rings

                9. Pencil/Pen

I started by laying my scrapbook paper on top of the chipboard so that I could trace the same shape. I used my pencil and just traced the shape onto the scrapbook paper and cut it out using scissors. I did the same thing for both sides of the “book”, so I only traced twice on scrapbook paper and applied it to the outside of the chipboard. At this point I decided to glue the scrapbook paper onto the chipboard, but not finish with Mod-Podge yet.

Then I took all my cards and lined them up from tallest to shortest. You can organize yours anyway that you like, but my OCD-ness made me line them up as so. Once you have them in the order you want all you need to do is take each card and trace the pre-cut holes (on the chipboard) onto your cards. This was probably the most tedious part of the entire job in my opinion. I would trace a few then hole punch them so I didn't get bored from doing a single task repetitively.

Once all your cards have holes punched in them you are ready to assemble the book. All you need to do is start feeding the cards onto the rings in the order you prefer.  Once I finished adding all my cards to the craft rings I used a thin coat of Mod-Podge on the scrapbook paper to keep everything in place. When I say thin….I really do mean a thin layer. If you put too much on the paper will wrinkle up and rip. After the coat of Mod-Podge was dry I applied the letter stickers. If you are having issues with the letters not sticking to the scrapbook paper, you can always add a little glue to keep them in place. As you can see the finished project turned out quite well and I can easily add more cards as I get them!

vacation essentials

Now that the cruise is booked I have been eyeing things that I want for the upcoming vacation. Here is my wish list for all things cruising. 

Mint Eyelet Shorts // iPhone 6 Case // Neutrogena Sunscreen // Ray-Ban Sunglasses // Sandals // Ralph Lauren Fedora

I am loving the floral sandals from Target-which means they are totally affordable-and I will be buying them very soon! They look very comfortable and sturdy enough to walk around the island. I’m a little wary of the way the sandals handle water, but they are way too cute pass up.

The Neutrogena sunscreen is my absolute go-to when it comes to sun protection. This product goes on super smooth and it has a cooling effect, so if you are already sun burnt this sunscreen relieves some of the pain. I will be stocking up on this Neutrogena product not only for the cruise, but for the whole summer.

Last but not least I have asked for the iPhone wallet case as a birthday gift to use while on the cruise. This would be perfect for keeping things like credit cards, room keys, cash, and my phone without having to carrying an entire purse all over the ship. I love that the case looks like a book and is small enough to fit in a pocket if need be. 

Also, our official countdown says that we are 100 days from cruising!