{What I Ate Wednesday - June 3rd}

This What I Ate Wednesday includes two of my favorite recipes! 

The first is a recipe I make almost once a week. These Turkey Stuffed Peppers from skinnytaste.com are quick and easy to make, and they taste delicious too! Another plus - every recipe on Gina's website tells the amount of calories per serving, so it is helpful for me in keeping track of how many calories I'm eating each day! Click on the link above to check out the recipe - you won't be disappointed! Here are how mine turned out:

But since my pictures don't really do them justice, here is a photo from skinnytaste:

Since the hubs and I are now on a serious healthy lifestyle kick, I decided to pair the peppers with one of my favorite summer salads! This Spinach-Strawberry Salad is great as a side dish or by itself for a refreshing lunch! I don't have an official recipe but here's what I threw together:

Spinach-Strawberry Salad

(for one serving)

Two handfuls baby spinach

3-5 sliced strawberries

Small handful blueberries

Sprinkle of goat cheese

Sesame-Poppy Seed Dressing

(Note - this dressing is VERY sweet but goes really well with this salad)

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds

1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds

1/4 Cup Distilled White Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Balsamic 

Dash of Paprika 

Other things I occasionally add to this salad: candied pecans or walnuts, toasted almonds, sliced kiwi

What did YOU eat this Wednesday?

{What I Ate Wednesday - May 27th}

For this edition of WIAW I share with you Roasted Corn Salad from Shugary Sweets.

 

This week I have been really motivated to stick with my fitness/food goals. On Tuesday I did both my workout video AND the hubs and I started Day 1 of Couch Potato to 5K. This is an app for your phone and it takes you from a couch potato who can barely run up the driveway {that would be me} to being able to run a 5K! Or so they say, we will see...

So after a nice afternoon workout and early evening walk/run, this corn salad was the perfect pairing with my leftover pineapple chicken kabobs! The honey/lime dressing was so yummy and I had enough left over for my lunch Wednesday!

Now normally the workout, running, and healthy eating would be enough for me to call it a great week, but I am also just a few days away from posting my newest (and longest in the making) product on TPT! I've talked before on this blog about my Whangdoodle Unit and kept promising it would be posted but I never finished it. I am now just putting the finishing touches on it and editing it before putting it on TPT. My goal is to have it up for Friday so it can be a giveaway for Freebie Friday, so if interested, check back!

Until then, here's a little preview of just some of what's inside:

This is a really fun read aloud! The book alone is enjoyable but adding in these fun, interactive activities made this the absolute favorite read aloud of my kiddos this year! If you use this novel in your classroom or are looking for an engaging read aloud, this packet is for you! As I said before, check back in Friday... if I get my unit done in time my reward will be hosting my first giveaway of 2015!

Don't forget to link up and let me know What YOU Ate Wednesday! :)

{Memorial Day Weekend - Family BBQ}

Since I am not in my classroom this Memorial Day I do not have any Memorial Day lessons or activities to share. Instead I thought I'd share in a special edition of "What I Ate Wednesday on Sunday" and give you a peak at the yummy {and unfortunately not necessarily healthy :/} things I made for my family BBQ this Memorial Day weekend.

The "star" of the BBQ {in my opinion} were these delicious kabobs from The Gunny Sack. I've made them only once before but both times they were a hit! The only thing I did different was I omitted the sriracha sauce so they wouldn't be spicy - still delicious!

Others will tell you this potato salad from Foodie Crush was the star, and I have to tell you, it was a close second! I am a fan of potato salad in general, but BAKED POTATO SALAD? Heaven! It had all the delicious flavors of a baked potato right in there! Cheese - check! Bacon - check! Sour creamy goodness - check! The hubby, who normally isn't a fan of potato salad, even loves it! As I mentioned above, not necessarily super healthy but delicious! 

Also on the menu was my mom's famous tuna dip, my sister's delicious pasta salad, and corn on the cob. To end the meal I tried my hand at a Three Berry and Rhubarb Pie! I absolutely *love* rhubarb and am so happy when it is back in season!

Here is the before pic:

And after:

As far as a recipe goes, I couldn't find one that went with the exact ingredients I had on hand so I improvised and made my own recipe. Luckily, it came out pretty good! I still need to work on my presentation but hey, as long as it tastes good!

So, what was on your Memorial Day Weekend BBQ Menu this year? I'd love for you to link up below!

{Freebie Friday}

I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday! My freebie for this week is sweet and simple. I'm still getting back into the swing of things with products and the blog so I don't have many finished things to share {yet!} but this WRITE Banner is something I made to hang over my Writing Center this year and I loved how it looked!

All you need to do is print out the banner on cardstock, add some cute ribbon, and you're ready to go!

I hope this cute banner can find a place in your classroom home as well!

Click on the image above to get your freebie! 

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

{What I Ate Wednesday}

Happy Hump Day! While home on maternity leave I've decided to make a conscious effort to keep up with this blog and thought what better way to do that than start up my own linky! I remember there being food and recipe linkies last summer when I was a more active blogger but couldn't seem to find any. So at the risk of stepping on anyone's toes or creating a linky that already exists, I am starting a What I Ate Wednesday Linky!

My inspiration for this linky is that Baby M is now two months old and it is time for me to get back into a workout and healthy eating routine. I have to say, I have really been slacking the past few weeks in terms of eating as healthy as I could. So, for baby and myself, I am now making a promise to eat healthy all day, every day as best I can! I will still take part in the occasional cupcake, of course, but for the most part want my meals to be healthy and nutritious!

So, each Wednesday I will post at least one yummy, healthy thing I made or ate that week. Knowing I have this commitment coming each Wednesday will help motivate me to try and make or create new healthy meals and {hopefully} help me stay on track!

If you are trying to eat healthy and want to take this journey with me, link up! I'd love to get some delicious recipes that fit into my healthy eating plan from blogger friends!

Alright, drum roll please... I bring you my first linky and healthy recipe of Summer{almost!} 2015!

Today for lunch I made a most delicious salad! I bought some frozen salmon at the grocery store to have on hand for salads or quick lunches - yay Omega-3's! I used mixed greens and added goat cheese crumbles, mandarin orange slices, toasted almonds, and craisins before topping it with the salmon. I used my favorite semi-homemade balsamic dressing to drizzle over it. It was delicious! 

(Notice the books in the background - Baby M and I had a little book club session right before lunch)

Balsamic Dressing Recipe:

One packet Good Seasons Balsamic (dry mix)

1/4 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

ON THE MENU FOR DINNER:

o Brie and Cranberry Stuffed Chickens (not necessarily low calorie or super healthy but one of my favorites and my inspiration to eat super healthy the rest of the day!)

o Sweet potato/russet potato Casserole - I dice the two potatoes into medium size pieces, toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs and bake until perfect, crispy doneness! I use a 2:1 ratio of sweet potato to regular potato here to be a bit healthier :)

o Carrots - this was the one food that made me nauseous while pregnant and I'm happy to be able to eat again!

o Side salad topped with left over mandarin orange slices, almonds, craisins, and dressing!

So, what did YOU eat this week?

An InLinkz Link-up

{Sunday Scoop - May 17th}

I am linking up with Teaching Trio for their Sunday Scoop!

So, here's the scoop on me this week:

Fingers crossed I actually get to the workout! I am starting Debbie Siebers' Slim in 6 and hoping I will actually stick to it! I need to get my post pregnancy body back into shape, and pronto! Summer is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! 

I'm Back {again} and This Month's Freebie!

Ok, ok... once again announcing myself back into the blog world and making a promise to be a better blogger. I had every intention of becoming more active in the blogospehere after last summer, I really did... then my husband and I found out we had a baby on the way and the blog took a backseat to my classroom, maternity leave planning, nursery decorating, and waiting for our little one to get here! 

Now that our little one is here {and almost two months old!} I am starting to get some free time back and plan to use a little chunk of that time each week to get my blog and TPT store back up and running! I have a ton of works in progress for my store, as well a bunch of ideas of products I want to create. Some of my products in the making include novel studies, a graph-a-day packet, my graphing unit, and a fun new decor kit for my classroom next year, just to name a few. 

To celebrate my return, I've decided to include this freebie:

I used B.E.E. Binders this year in my classroom (I had previously used B.E.E. Folders - see this post) and for the most part enjoyed the binders. It was nice to have one place to put everything, however, I think I may go back to folders for each subject next year. This is mainly because I don't use a ton of worksheets and instead am very project-based and found it difficult to find other places to store all the little parts of our projects when using the binders. This was much easier in our folders two years ago - we would just put those pieces in the "Works in Progress" side. I normally sell this product for $2.50 on my TPT but will keep it up as a freebie for the month of May!

I hope you enjoy this {temporary} freebie and I look forward to sharing many more products and ideas with you all!

Monday Made It {July 14th}

Today I have I few simple Monday Made Its to share with you.

Kale Salad

Photo and Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

I had a picnic to go to this weekend and made this yummy {and healthy} kale salad. It was easy to make and super delicious so I thought I would share the recipe with you all!

Cupcakes!

Caramel Appletini Cupcakes

On Sunday I made these Angry Orchard-inspired cupcakes. You can click on the picture above to link back to the recipe. Here are how mine turned out:

(Note - not the best photo but I remembered last minute to take one!)

The frosting was VERY sweet but overall they were quite yummy and the smell of them cooking reminded me so much of fall! The hubby really liked them, so that is a success in my book!

Prefix and Suffix Freebies!

I have been back into full-blown planning mode this week. This week I focused a lot on guided reading and literacy related activities. I wanted a quick and efficient way to make sure I taught my kiddos all the prefixes and suffixes covered in our Journey's Reading Program (2011-2012 ed.). I teach 2nd and 3rd Grade, so those are the two grades covered in these freebies. Click here for the 2nd grade set and here for the 3rd grade set. 

Lastly, I've been working really hard on being more organized! So I started working on organizing my teacher binder. I created only the files I actually used last year to go in it... click the link below if you want to snag a copy of them for free!

I hope to work later this week on my Guided Reading Binder but we are going away for our {1 Year Anniversary} later this week, so it might have to wait until next week! 

Thanks to Creative Clips and I'm Lovin' Lit for the great clipart, frames, and papers to make these so adorable!

That's it for me for this week! I can't wait to stop by 4th Grade Frolics and see what everyone else has been up to! 

Mixing Things Up a Bit...

Well I decided I just wasn't loving my old blog title and have always wanted to incorporate one of my other true loves into my blog - cupcakes! This template is just temporary, I am hoping to purchase a blog design from one of the many amazing creators out there. So I am a work in progress.

I spent a little while trying my hand at cake decorating, which was fun at first but also very stressful. It was also expensive and very time consuming. Here is a picture of the last cake I created for my little nephew's 1st birthday (and most likely the last one I will be doing for a while):

It turned out ok but I realized it just isn't fun anymore. But what DO I enjoy making? Cupcakes! I love the different flavors and decorations you can add onto these little gems. So this summer I am adding cupcakes to my list of summer to-dos. First up - these yummy looking Angry Orchard Caramel Apple Cupcakes!

The hubby and I have made Angry Orchard our {unofficial} summer drink of choice, so once I found these little beauties I knew I would have to make them! Tomorrow the hubs finishes a two day golf tournament and all the wives/mothers/girlfriends always wait at the 18th hole to cheer them on when they finish {and share yummy snacks!}. It's always a lot of fun and these will be what I am bringing to share with the group!

I'll let you know how they turn out tomorrow!

Five for Friday Linky {July 11th}

Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for the Five for Friday Link Party! 

Eating Healthy!

I actually changed my eating habits about two years back, cutting out a lot of junk food and trying to eat healthier, count my calories, etc. I actually lost about 40 pounds between eating right and exercising. However, this year I kind of "fell off the wagon" and started back into some unhealthy eating/drinking habits (I went a whole year drinking almost no calories - just water and seltzer and cutting out all soda and alcohol). So this summer my goal is to get back on track! My healthy, low calorie meal go to sources include Cooking Light, Skinnytaste.com, Eating Healthy, and, of course, Pinterest. Here is the recipe for last nights healthy meal:

And here is how ours turned out:

It was actually quite quick and easy to make and the serving size was the perfect amount! 

I am THIS close to finishing the Beautiful Creatures series. I actually had the whole day off to spend reading at the pool. Why didn't I finish it then, you might ask. Well, I somehow misplaced the fourth book with only about 50 pages left! My goal for the evening is to figure out where it went to, so I can finish it and move on to my next read....

I cannot believe I have only just found Krista Wallden and The Creative Chalkboard. Her fonts and graphics are amazing! She has a ton of wonderful freebies she so generously offers to her fans and from the looks of it hosts a bunch of fun clipart events throughout the year as well. I purchased her Summer VIP membership and love all the clipart and tips she includes each week in it! I highly recommend you purchase a membership if you haven't and be on the lookout for her fall VIP membership later this summer! I can't wait to use these purchases

  

and all the great freebies she offers as well!

I am STILL working on my The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles whole class novel study. We did so many fun, wonderful activities together as a class using this book and I can't wait to share them here and in my TPT store. There are just a bunch of last minute details I need to pull together to make it store-ready!

Graceland - my new summer series obsession! I had never seen this show before summer vacation started but thanks to On Demand I was able to catch up on all of Season 1 and am up-to-date on Season 2. I absolutely love this show! 

Happy Friday!