Mar 31, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday

Am I the only one that is glad that this week is almost over??? I have spent most of it catching up on school work that I slacked on during spring break and the rest of if fighting my pollen allergies. Thank you, Alabama weather for making me sneeze for hours on end because of your high pollen count. Anywho, here are some thoughts for this week:










Have a great Thursday everyone and I am for real going to try to be a better blogger around here.

Mar 30, 2016

Hawaiian Roll Tuna Melts

I hope everyone has had a good week so far.  Last week, I was in a dinner time crunch/being a tad bit on the lazy side and had no idea what to fix for dinner. I had a bunch of tuna packets in the pantry. I eat fish at least twice a week so, they come in handy. I decided to make tuna melts on Hawaiian rolls since I did not have regular bread at home. Here's how I made them:

First, I used two pouches of Starkist tuna.
 I like the pouches better than can because the tuna is not as strong.

The two packets were added in a bowl with dried onion flakes, garlic powder, pepper, salt and mixed 
together. 


Then, a few pickles (about 20) were diced.


The pickles were then added to the tuna mixture.


2 tbsp of mayo were added to the tuna mixture.


While I sat the tuna aside, in the fridge, covered, I took nine Kings Hawaiian rolls and sliced them in half. 


I also sliced a 6oz block of Cabot Farmhouse Reserve White Cheddar, thinly.





A slice of cheese was added on the bottom of each roll. 


One spoonful of tuna was place on the top of each roll. 


One more slice of cheese was placed on top of each sandwich. 


After the cheese was added, the top of the rolls were placed back on top. A small amount of  Kerrygold Irish unsalted butter was rubbed on top of each roll.  Their unsalted butter is the only brand that I use now. It is great for any type of cooking. I especially like it in baking since it softens easier than other butter I have used.



The rolls were then placed in a skillet and browned on one side (butter was rubbed on side that was up while the other side cooked). 


The rolls were flipped to brown the other side and the end result was:

I am the first to admit that I let them cook a little too long on one side. Regardless of that, they were still yummy. I am going to post more uses for Hawaiian rolls in the future. They are extremely easy to make meals out of when pinched for time.

Has anyone else use Hawaiian rolls for anything beside sandwiches??/



Theses are my opinion of the products used in this recipe. 




Mar 29, 2016

Fitness Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!!! I had yesterday's post done but I did not have time to post it. I definitely was trying to relax last week during my spring break that now I have to finish all my projects I have due on Wednesday. Here are some quick workouts that I liked from Strong magazine and Pinterest












This is just a mix of some of the exercises that I have been doing at the gym. I have been trying to mix up my exercise routine since spring is here and its' getting warmer out. Has anyone else made changes to their workout routines recently??

Mar 24, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday

Spring break is almost over (BOO!!!) and I can say that I'm officially the worse about putting up my post. I actually had my post done for Tuesday and Wednesday but forgot to post them (I fell asleep editing the pictures for one of them).  I will be posting both of those next week. Until then, here are some thoughts for this Thursday:










Since  I forgot to post those two this week, I may put up a drink recipe on Friday since I have become a slacker of late. Happy Thursday and does anyone have any drinks recipes I should try or consider making??

Mar 21, 2016

$20 Little Big Deal

In case anyone has figured out already: I love to cook. Last Thursday, I decided to go to The Fresh Market and get what they call their Little Big Deal. It is a great and easy way to make dinner when you are in a time crunch. Here is this big option for the month of March:

Every month, they change the contents of the bag. The bag comes with items for an entree, side, and a dessert. One of the things that I like about the deal is that there are a couple of options to choose from. Of the four items that you had to make choices for this month I choose:
51-60  count Peeled and Deveined shrimp
Delallo Pesto sauce in Olive Oil
 Sidari's Angel Hair pasta
Chocolate Decadence Bar Cake
Alpine Sourdough Bread

For dinner, I decided to not use the shrimp. Instead, I added some chicken tenders that I had bought the day before.
 First,I cooked the chicken (on my George Foreman, of course) and cut the tenders into smaller nugget size pieces. 

While the chicken cooked, I started cooking the pasta. 

I would recommend this pasta to anyone who is pressed for time. This only took literally two minutes to cook.

I added the chicken into the Angel Hair pasta with the Pesto while the pasta was still hot.
This pesto sauce is so GOOD!!!! I ate some of it by itself with just bread and with the pasta. 

 You may not be able to see it but, there is two pounds of chicken in there. 
Oh, and I can't forget dessert:

Over all, I liked all the products together and individually. Sometime soon I am definitely going to try to use the pesto sauce in a few different ways. Has anyone else tried one of the  Little Big Deal bags?





This is my personal opinion of the Little Big Deal. I did not receive anything for my opinion of the products. 




Mar 17, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday!!! I definitely had a post for yesterday but forgot to post it. I'll post it on Monday most likely. Here are some quick thoughts for today from Pinterest and Lifehack:










Now off to finish my case study and three other assignments that I have due before spring break. Everyone have a great day!!!!!





Mar 15, 2016

Fitness Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, all. Today for fitness Tuesday, I am going to talk about one of my favorite topics: food. I am always for trying something new or a product that I have never had before. Here are some of the ones I have tried this month:

1. Jiff Peanut Butter Powder.
I know that pretty much everyone is making the peanut butter powder these days. I saw this in the store and decided I had to try it. One reason I like it is because it contains one ingredient: ground peanuts. It has less calories than regular peanut butter since you don't have all the extra ingredients that are used to usually preserve a product shelf life. Also, you can make just the amount you want. 
It is super easy to make too:
3 tbsp peanut butter powder
pinch of salt (optional)
sugar (I used 1 tbsp of honey)
3 tbsp water
Just make sure to not use too much water or it will be really runny. Plus, it is a whole lot cheaper then many of the other powders I have seen around (I got mine for $3.69 compared to another brand that was almost $6.00 for less powder).

2. Hint


I tried this water recently for the first time and was surprised at how much I liked it. I have seen it around for a while but finally decided to take the plunge and get some of it. Personally, I thought that it had the right amount of sweetness. The best way to describe the taste would be what water taste like when you diffuse it yourself then you add a packet of sweetener to it. And if you're one of those people (like my boyfriend) who likes flavored carbonated water they even make those now in select flavors.


3. Engine 2
About two weekends ago, I had to go on a store tour of Whole Foods that they opened here a few months ago with the Nutrition club at school. While I was there, the guide who gave us the tour (which I actually went on twice that day, long story) started talking about Engine 2. In a nutshell your becoming vegan in a since: you stop eating all processed and refined foods, meat, and meat. You only eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. There is a 28 day challenge where you slowly cut all the "bad foods" out week by week.

Whole foods is now selling some of the products that the company makes. Which if you ever did the challenge would be extremely helpful. The products range from Hummus to frozen foods. These are two of the products I got.


I go both of these and the wild rice was pretty good. I haven't tried the morning blend yet though. I am most likely going to try some of the other products at some point. I'm not be doing the challenge though. I did a challenge similar to it about three years ago and its not for everyone. My opinion is to choose what works best for you and that not every diet is for every person.
That's all for today.

Has anyone else tried any of these or have any new more nutritious foods they have tried that are out in stores now?


These are my opinion of the product.