Baked Spaghetti

Last week was my "short week" at work, but it almost seems longer because I work longer shifts. Thursday I was scheduled until 5, but I was able to leave a little early because I had to go into work for a bit today. 

I have been thinking about making baked spaghetti for awhile now and thought Thursday night might be a good night to try it. I looked around for some recipes online and talked to one of my technicians at work. I kind of decided I would wing it and hopefully come up with something good. 

I stopped at Lowe's Food after work and gathered my supplies:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 had Ragu pasta sauce

1 box thin spaghetti

1 bag of shredded Italian cheese 

I browned the beef and drained off the fat. While the beef was cooking I boiled a large pot of water and cooked the spaghetti to al dente. I added the jar of sauce to the beef and simmered while the noodles finished cooking. I greased the bottom of a 8x8 glass baking dish. I started with a thin layer of sauce then added noodles, sauce and cheese. I repeated this layer once more. I placed the dish into a 350 degree oven covered with foil for 20 minutes. I then baked uncovered for 5 minutes. 

This ended up being delicious and was even better as leftovers!!

Taco Tuesday

Tonight Chase and I are celebrating Taco Tuesday.  I grabbed an Old El Paso kit at Walmart earlier, so nothing too fancy!  Chase has mentioned several times how much he loves yellow rice and how his nanny always makes it for him with chicken so I also got a small package of Mahatma saffron yellow rice to go along with our tacos.  Round the meal out with some black beans and viola---tacos will be happening soon!  I totally forgot to get sour cream, but I did have some plain Greek yogurt in my fridge so I will be using that to top off my taco salad.

I was off work today and knew that I needed to get some things prepped before working all day tomorrow and most of the day Thursday.  If I don't pack it I generally won't have anything to eat (unless my techs are going out and pick something up for me)--unless it is JUNK!  In my recent endeavors to start clean eating I've read over and over that failure to plan is planning to fail.  I am becoming more of a believer in this, but have slacked recently in the planning department.  I ran to Walmart earlier and quickly did some simple food prepping while washing some clothes and eating lunch.  I made the taco meat and rice for dinner tonight, cut up a small watermelon from Whole Foods, marinated some chicken tenders in Wishbone light Asian with sesame and ginger dressing to have with salads, roasted a spaghetti squash, and popped some stove top popcorn.  (sorry for the lack of pictures, but my phone was charging).  I need to get some more fruits/veggies, but this should get me through the rest of my short work week.  I want to try some new recipes next week and plan on using Sunday to get things prepped and ready.

Thanks to my awesome mom and her ideas here is some of my work crew last week for Halloween:

New find

I have been eating Morningstar's Spicy Black Bean burgers for awhile now, but I recently found the Mediterranean Chickpea burgers at Walmart.  I bought them and wow they are delicious!! I really like Greek food and these are quite tasty and a calorie conscious way to enjoy one of my favorite foods.

I had one for lunch Monday before work with some whole foods fruit salad and green beans.

Here and now

As I sit here on the beach in Grand Cayman, a place I was sitting almost exactly 2 years ago, I can’t help but think about how much my life has changed in that time.   It makes me somewhat emotional to think about the attitude I had last time I was here—swallowed up by a feeling that nothing seemed to be going right in my life.  I didn’t have a job offer (and come to find out wouldn’t for quite awhile) and I let that eat away at me until it made me miserable.   Don’t get my wrong I did enjoy my time spent here over that long weekend with my mom to celebrate our birthdays.  We snorkeled, sunbathed, and even enjoyed a little Margaretville happy hour.   My family means more to be than I could ever explain—perhaps now even more as I am faced with the harsh reality that even that can be changed in a moment’s time.  As I told my friend Allison, 2 years ago I felt like my life pretty much “sucked” and now I am thankful to report that I feel blessed by a life that I enjoy and doesn’t cause me too much heartache.  I have had to learn to separate work and personal life--something I think I will always have to continue to work on.  I have come to learn that one cannot expect to be a leader in the workplace if you never think about it once you leave work.  The fact that you care is often the trait most unable to be taught. 

I have gained some and lost some over these past 2 years.  I have a brand new life, in a brand new city, with a brand new job, which is something I wasn’t even able to imagine 2 years ago.  I thought I had everything planned out---amazing what you’ll find if you somehow manage to let go and trust that things will work out.  I have been blessed with a person who I care deeply about and who seems to bring out the best in me and I hope I do the same for him.  I have a family who supports me no matter what, but who has learned to let out the reigns and let me learn and grow from the curveballs life throws at me.   I lost someone who I thought would always be there.  An angel who will never leave my heart, but I wish could be here now to know just how special they were to me.  A missed opportunity to say once more just how much you love and care about someone no matter how far away they are, but a chance to hold onto those last precious moments no one can ever take away. 

I am proud of the person I have become and look forward to who I continue to be.  I would never say I wish I could go back and change things because living life, the good and the bad parts, is what makes us the person we are supposed to be.  

I have also decided no time like the present to get back to posting!! So I'll tell myself welcome back!

60th birthday

The first weekend of August was really fun because it was my DADDY'S 60th BIRTHDAY!!  Chase and I went to my mom's house Saturday for the night and it was wonderful to spend some time with my family and celebrate something so special.

On the way home Chase and I stopped at Dennis Vineyards in Albermarle, NC to use a groupon my mom had purchased.  The groupon included a tour, tasting of 8 wines, and bottle to take home.  I had called and was told the tour was either at 11am or 3pm neither which fit into our schedule so I told the lady we would just skip that part.  We got to the vineyard a little before noon and were told since we didn't get to go on the tour we would be able to taste 12 wines instead of 8--score!!  All the wines were great and I am looking forward to enjoying the bottle we brought home.

My whole family went out to dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday Saturday night and it was great to spend some time together.  We all enjoyed each other's company!  Once we got home we closed out the evening with family game night playing Apples to Apples and it was a BLAST!  My favorite pairing was the word "filthy" which Chase chose to play "my past"....of course, he won that round!  My mom won the first game overall and Chase came in second, which he hasn't let me forget :)

We rounded out our weekend with a trip to Peaches 'N Cream for some homemade ice-cream Sunday afternoon!

We also managed to squeeze in a Friday afternoon day date before heading home to see The Wolverine in 3D and it was really good and I would definitely recommend it.  Make sure to stick around through the end of the credits though!!

Glenville,NC--Lake Weekend

Chase and I spent a long weekend with his family at their lake house in Glenville, NC, which is located in western North Carolina about 30 minutes from Western Carolina University.  I was really looking forward to getting away and basically "unplugging" for a few days!  It was WONDERFUL and we all had a great time.

This past weekend was my weekend to work, but I was able to get off Sunday and Monday so we were able to enjoy the lake Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon.  The weather was nice, although since it was in the mountains it was a little cool and rained some Sunday/Monday afternoons.

Chase's parents rented a boat so we all enjoyed some time out on the lake Sunday afternoon in between rain showers and cold wind, but it was still fun :)

Chase and his brother, Chad, on the tube

Of course once I got all bundled up to ride and see the waterfalls the sun came out.  The top picture is me redoing my "I'm cold" face for the camera!  This is the first time I've been bundled up and Chase isn't haha :)

Chase and I also tried to do a little fishing, but we weren't really successful.  It was nice to spend some time together so I still enjoyed it!

(I didn't really catch a fish....my line was stuck in a tree)

I also cooked dinner Monday night and made one of Chase's favorite meals...Emily Bites French Dip Cupcakes.  I think everyone really enjoyed them and they are super easy to make for a big group of people. 

I look forward to going back up the lake house.  I think we may be up that way Labor Day weekend while we are going to the Clemson vs. Georgia game!!

PS: Chase is posting some new video game reviews on his friend's blog so everyone go check out his first post here!

July Recap

Hello everyone and welcome to August!!  I can't believe we are already more than halfway through 2013 it seems to be flying by!

Work has been going well, but it's been super busy!  That's a good thing, but also means it is only going to get busier as we get closer to flu season!

July was a fun month and wasn't too crazy so that's always nice.

I had to work on the 4th so nothing too exciting went on around here.  I did see some fireworks from the Dash baseball game out my window that evening.

Chase and I spent some time at the pool and also used a groupon at a restaurant called Big Mussels Oyster Bar here in Winston.  It was ok, but literally the only thing on the menu besides shellfish was a ribeye steak, which was just so-so.  Chase said his oysters were really good (and HUGE), but I don't think we'll be heading back anytime soon.

We also headed down to Charleston for a weekend to see one of my girlfriends Samantha and one of Chase's friends from Clemson, Nate.  It ended up being a GREAT weekend and sunny enough for us to enjoy the beach at Sullivan's Island and get super sun burnt.

 We went out downtown for a little while Saturday night and ate at Coast Bar and Grill.  It was so good and I definitely recommend it.

 We also hit up a place called Sesame Sunday before leaving thanks to Samantha's recommendation.  Home of Charleston's best burgers and onion rings.  They also have amazing milkshakes (even adult versions, but I was about to drive 4.5 hours home so I opted out of those).

(Please notice my sweet tan lines)

I pretty much spent the rest of July working so I could enjoy August!!

Chase and I did take a short Sunday afternoon trip down to Morgan Ridge Vineyards, which is the best Vineyard we have visited in NC by far! My mom had bought us a groupon to use which included a tour, tasting, cheese plate, and souvenir glasses.  Our tour was great and we learned a lot about wine making in general and how they do it at Morgan Ridge.  The winemaker and owner was actually the one who gave it to us so that made it even better!! Their wine was fabulous and it was a great afternoon!  I even got a bottle of their Beach Babe to take to Chase's mom next weekend when we got to their lake house.  

Catch ya'll later!!

Foodie Pen Pals--July!

I participated in Foodie Pen Pals for the first time during the month of July.  I found the information on the LeanGreenBean's blog when I was first looking for information about doing meal prep.

Here is some information on the program:

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

I received my package from Chelsea and it was wonderful!!

It was full of all sorts of yummy snacks and I couldn't have received better items if I had given Chelsea a list of things that I would like to get!!

1.Goldfish: I mean really these are delicious!

2. Double chocolate milano cookies: haven't tried these yet, but I love the normal ones

3. Lemon Biscotti Bites: I haven't tried these yet, but they're local to Westport, CT. I can't wait to try them out

4. Chocolate mountain mix: I love granola and can't wait to take this to work for a pick-me-up

5. Highland Park Chocolate Chip Cookies: THESE WERE AMAZING!! wonderful

6. Clif Bar/NuGo Bar: haven't had either yet, but would be wonderful to throw in my bag for work

7. Justin's All-Natural Peanut Bar: Chelsea described this as a "healthy (or at least less unhealthy) snickers bar" and all i have to say is WOW, it was yummy!! too many calories though for a snack, so maybe a once in a while treat

8. Justin's Nut Butters: I have had some of these, but can't wait to try Chelsea's favorite the maple almond butter

9. Watermelon Mint Iced Tea Packets: perfect for a HOT summer day  I need to get on packing this!

I think it had a good experience for my first time, but do not know if I will do the FPP program in August just because it is a super busy month for me with several different small trips to look forward too!

July Already?!?

I cannot believe it is already July...where has half the year gone?!?

I am on day 7 of 7 at work and I have to say I have not been eating the best this week since I have been super busy at work with it being the first of the month.

One good thing about July is that it is my first month to participate in Foodie Penpals from the Lean Green Bean. I am so excited and I can't wait to put together my first box and receive my first one.

I am pumped to try Jif's New Whips that I found at Food Lion Tuesday morning.  I love the Peter Pan Whipped peanut butter (and it's cheaper) but I did want to give the Jif a try because there was both a peanut butter and a chocolate version.

Since I had to work on July 4th I tried to be a little festive thanks to my mom's purchase last weekend!

Happy Friday everyone!! I am looking forward to relaxing this weekend after I make it through work 2-10 tonight.  I might whip up some more Blueberry Power Muffins this morning to have for breakfast :)

Weekend Adventures and Monday Meal Prep

I went into this weekend without having a lot of plans.  I thought I would just kind of hang around the pool, clean some, do some food prep, and just chill out, but that isn't quite what happened.

My mom ended up taking a ride with her Harley group from Charlotte to Old Salem for some Moravian Bread from the bakery.  I live about 5 minutes away from Old Salem so I decided to meet her over there.  She had bought me 2 all inclusive tickets to Old Salem on Groupon that I still need to use so we had talked about using them Saturday, but by the time we walked over to the bakery it was about 2pm so we decided to wait and use them another day.  We bought some lovefeast buns, shortbread cookies, and a gift set of their Moravian cookies that I am taking home to the rest of my family next weekend.  I can't wait to go back and see everything that Old Salem has to offer!

(Some how I accidentally deleted the photo collage I made so here is a screen shot from Instagram)

After Old Salem we grabbed some lunch at Jeffery Adams on 4th street in downtown Winston Salem.  It was my first time there and it was delicious!

My mom had already planned to leave Winston Salem and go to Love Valley to meet up with some of her friends so I just invited myself along.  I have never been to Love Valley, aka the "cowboy capital" and I wanted to see what it was all about.  It is definitely a different world, but I had fun.  We went to an auction in town to raise money for the children's mule association, cooked out, went to the saloon Saturday night, and went for a trail ride Sunday morning.

I got home about 7pm Sunday evening and although I did make myself stop at Trader Joe's I did not feel like doing any meal prep.  Luckily I didn't go to work until 2pm yesterday so I got up and did a few things to help me prepare for work every day this week.

I ended up baking the sweet potatoes I got last week from my Backyard Produce order to have for lunch and also to make some sweet potato banana bites that I found from The Lean Green Bean.  I also cooked a cup of dried tricolor quinoa and some power blueberry muffins I found on the Domesticated Academic's blog using the blueberries I got last week in my produce order!

**A few notes regarding the recipes I made:

1. I ended up with 21 mini bites from the sweet potato mixture (I made each one with 1 tbsp of batter) and I calculated them to be 50 calories each.  The ones in the larger muffin tins I made double size so they are 100 calories each.

2. I halved the blueberry muffin recipe because I didn't have enough flour to make the whole thing.  My batter was very dry so I did add about 2-3 tbsp of water to help it come together.  I got 7 muffins from the batter, which came out to 184 calories each.  I wouldn't say these are a "clean" recipe, but they are healthier than other muffin recipes I've seen plus there is some added protein from the Greek yogurt.  These are delicious and I can't wait to make them again!

Chase and I also watched Silver Linings Playbook Friday night when I got off work and I thought it was really good.  I have always had an interest in mental health and took a mental health elective in school and did a psych rotation during my 4th year.  

Just saying hi :)

Catching Up and Clean Eating

I am really hoping to get back into blogging because I feel like I have a ton to say and have really been trying hard to try out new recipes and things in general.

Speaking of new things meet Chase (aka boo or boyfriend):

That is us at the Salute Wine Festival last weekend in downtown Winston Salem.  I had to snap a quick picture because this was the vineyard we went to on our first date! He is wonderful when it comes to me wanting to take pictures so he may make a regular appearance on here :)

Work has been crazy crazy busy recently plus I had shoulder surgery at the beginning of May and I have completely fallen off the workout train and trying to eat healthy wagon.  I can totally tell :( I started researching clean eating and meal prep ideas to help me get back on track!

Clean eating/Meal Prep Day 1

I was off work today and since I will be at work for the next 3 days I thought no better time than the present.  Over memorial day a girl who lives in my building was telling us about backyard produce so I promptly signed up because it sounded awesome!  My first order arrived Thursday and in the excitement I left my phone downstairs in my car when I rushed over to see what all I got.

My order included:

Everything was in great shape and good quality.  I am already looking forward to next week.

I have heard a lot of people say that Aldi has decent produce for a good price so I finally went to check it out today.  I got some limes, lemons, broccoli, and spinach before hitting up trader joe's to finish up my shopping.  I spent a lot of time reading labels trying to determine what I thought was "clean".

For me "clean eating" is definitely a work in progress and I am going to attempt something like 80/20 which means clean eating 80% of the time and just normal good choices the other 20% with an occasional splurge here and there. In my research I have seen several places mention if an ingredient list has more than 5 ingredients it shouldn't be considered clean (some exceptions do exist) and also if you wouldn't buy an ingredient separately than again it shouldn't be considered clean.

I feel pretty good about my grocery choices between backyard produce, Aldi, and Trader Joe's.  Here is my haul before I started any meal prep:

For lunch I made a berry smoothie: (and it was delish)

1c 2% milk

3/4c frozen mixed berries

1tbsp chia seeds

2 scoops aria vanilla protein powder

1 cup baby spinach leaves

(can't even tell there is spinach in there...surprise!)

I did my meal prep off and on throughout the afternoon but I am really happy with what I accomplished on my first go round:

Top: snacks to have for work and home which includes watermelon, kiwi, apple slices, celery, citrus water, some leftover red bell pepper strips and strawberries

Bottom left: baked pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal (not completely clean, but not awful either) see the recipe in my previous post (I made 4 servings to have breakfast through Tuesday)

Bottom right: lunches x3 for work which is a baked baby sweet potato, roasted broccoli, and quinoa black bean patties (they kind of fell apart I need to work on the recipe some more) and a snack of strawberries + blueberries from backyard produce.  

I feel prepared to face this weekend/Monday at work!

Quinoa black bean patty

(I adapted this from a recipe found on the bag of tricolor quinoa at trader joe's)

1c tricolor quinoa, cooked in chicken stock according to package directions

3/4c black beans

2 cloves garlic

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 egg

olive oil

panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the bell pepper until it starts to soften then add in the garlic and continue to cook until completely softened.   Add black beans, garlic, and bell pepper to a food processor and pulse until combined and smooth.  Add bean mixture to the quinoa.  Add the egg to bind the mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Divide into 5 portions and pat out into patties.  Place patties on a plate and refrigerate for 10 minutes to allow them to set up a bit.  Once they had set up I put the same pan back on the stove over medium heat and pressed each side into some panko bread crumbs before heating over medium heat until each side was browned.

I had enough mixture to made 5 patties and based on the ingredients I used each one had about 260 calories.  Quinoa is a super grain because it has a lot more protein than other grains and it is tasty and versatile.  

Have a good weekend!

A little snapshot of our visit to Old Stone Winery over memorial day weekend

Dinner at home!!

I really do love to cook dinner at home whenever I have a chance.  Not only do I feel better about what I am eating, but I usually have leftovers to either eat before work the next day or take with me!  I am always off Thursday evenings so it has become a time I regularly cook at home.

Last Thursday I knew I wanted to make a pasta salad type side dish with orzo pasta.  I usually go sort of Greek with it and wanted to have a main dish to compliment it.  Off to google I went and searched for "Greek Chicken".  I found the best recipe from Rachael Ray called "Lazy Baked Greek Chicken"

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken:
(From the Rachael Ray Show)

I used 3 rather large chicken breasts for this recipe and tried to semi pound them out so that they were all an even size and would be easier to stuff.

On the stove top I heated some olive oil, minced garlic (I used the jarred garlic so I used a small spoonful) and 1/2 a white onion, diced small.  Once the onion was translucent I mixed all this in a bowl with a box of thawed chopped spinach, feta cheese (I found a great feta cheese at Trader Joe's that also had Mediterranean seasonings added), and some pepper.

With the pan still on the stove I melted about 3 tablespoons butter, added a small amount of garlic, and about 1c panko breadcrumbs.

In order to stuff the chicken you need to slice through the middle of the breast, but not all the way through--kind of like making a pocket for the stuffing.  I stuffed the chicken with the spinach mixture, put on a baking sheet and topped with the panko breadcrumb mixture.

Bake at 425 about 20 minutes.

I cooked some orzo in boiling salted water until it was al dente.  Once I drained it I added some of the same feta cheese, halved grape tomatoes, some black pepper, and a little Kraft Cesar Italian dressing.

I served this up with some Rex Goliah Pinot Grigio.


I also wanted to cook dinner last night since I knew I could eat leftovers for lunch today.  I made a recipe I had first cooked for my mom for Valentine's Day.  It is super simple and from one of my favorite websites: Emily Bites.  I love her website because all the recipes are healthy and she also includes the nutritional information.

French Dip "Cupcakes"
(From Emily Bites)

10-12oz deli roast beef that I asked for thin sliced and then chopped up
4 laughing cow light cheese wedges, chopped
1/3 c. au jus gravy (I found Heinz in a jar, I think it said Bistro gravy on it)
16 wonton wrappers (or egg roll wrappers work if you cut them into fourths)
4oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 8 muffin cups with cooking spray.  Place one wonton wrapper into each of the tins.

In a microwave safe bowl combine all ingredients except the remaining wonton wrappers and shredded cheese.  Heat 2 minutes until the cheese wedges are melted and stir well.

I like to put the unfilled wrappers in the oven for about 2 minutes to just crisp them up a little before I start to fill them.  Once these are crisp spoon a small amount of the roast beef mixture into each cup.  Top with a small amount of shredded cheese, place another wrapper on top, add the remaining roast beef mixture, and top with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake 18-20 minutes until the "cupcakes" are golden brown.

I served these with some spicy sweet potato fries and green beans.  This is a great weeknight recipe because it is super easy, but extremely tasty!

Wonderful Weekend

Finally I was off work, the weather was nice, and I was able to take advantage of it!

Saturday I went to Westbend Vineyards in Lewisville, NC.  I love wine and really want to visit more vineyards around North Carolina because there are a ton. I will say that this was not a great one.  I was unimpressed with the employee's knowledge who helped us and their tastings were very small.  The great thing was that there was an outdoor seating area so it was nice to sit and enjoy the weather.

I stopped by Whole Foods on my way home to grab some sushi and decided to throw some chicken in the crockpot overnight to have this week for work.  I typically make my chicken with salsa and taco seasoning because it is so yummy, but I forgot both salsa and taco seasoning.  I dug around in my pantry and came up with a new recipe:

Rotel Spicy Chicken

a little over 1 pound of thin sliced chicken breasts
2 cans of rotel
1 small can of corn (drained)
about 1/8 c Mexican hot sauce

Put the chicken in the crockpot.  Pour in all the other ingredients and mix.  Cook on low overnight.

I had this last night for dinner over some rice with a little shredded cheese and sour cream.


Yesterday after church and lunch at Mellow Mushroom I went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful at the Imax in 3D and it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it, but I don't know if it would be as good if it wasn't in 3D.

The great thing about living in downtown Winston is the ability to walk places.  So last night I walked over to 6th and Vine because they have 1/2 bottles of wine on Sundays.  I think this is going to become a regular Sunday spot!  Their Sunday brunch is pretty awesome too.  The bartender, Chris, was extremely knowledgeable about the wine and recommended some great ones.  We tried Ramon Bilboa Crianza and Line 39 Petite Sirah and both were really good.

Happy Monday everyone!!

I am finally back on the blogging wagon because I am getting out of my comfort zone, trying new things, and want to share that with everyone!