Back…again, kinda

Hi friends!

I have really missed writing after taking some intentional and some unintentional time away from here. The last time I  wrote we were still in Southern California and waiting for our move to happen.

We both finished our work/tests up by Thursday July 9th and the movers came and packed us up on Friday July 10th. We left SoCal July 11th and drove to Spokane. We got here July 14th. Our stuff was supposed to be arriving sometime between the 14th and the 30th (today), but that has not happened.

To be completely honest if we hadn’t been consistently calling I don’t even know if our stuff would have even left SoCal at this point. It’s been a bit frustrating because we have been trying to plan another road trip to see some family before we start work here. I won’t go into the whole thing because it still fires me up…I’m working on it though.

Meanwhile, we’ve been trying to situate everything as much as we can-things like the DMV are a little hard to figure out because of COVID. We’re not stressing about it and trying to do what we can and just enjoy our time off.

I’ve been reluctant to get on here because as I mentioned in my previous post I downgraded to the free WordPress which caused me to lose some storage space for media. I’ve been trying to figure out how to resize and so far the process has been tedious. I love adding pictures because it really adds some color to the image I try to paint with words.

I have come to realize that the resizing will take some time and I missed interacting with you guys so I figured I would write this out to get my thoughts out and to see how you guys are doing. I haven’t had much of a chance to even read posts recently so I am hoping to get back to that too! Hang in there with me!

I hope you’re all doing well! Sending you hugs and love from here!!

A little update

Hi friends!

I feel like 2020 has been a wild ride so far and it has brought a few changes. I thought it would be a good idea to sit down and give you guys an update on our lives.

Starting with blogs-I decided to not renew my personal plan and stick with the free version. I haven’t felt the same excitement about blogging in a while and if I am not fully utilizing it, I don’t feel like I should spend the money. I think that this might relieve some of the pressure of having to post and I can jump on and write when the mood strikes.

Gyms still are not open where I live and I have started including a once a week jog to switch up the fitness routine. Initially, my shins hurt and I felt like I was on the struggle bus but it has improved significantly. I am so happy that my body is adapting to this new physical activity!

We are moving!! My sweet husband worked his butt off and got his dream job in Spokane, Washington. I am so proud of this gem of a man. He is incredible! We went out this past weekend to find an apartment and the plan is to try and move mid July.

I can’t think of anything else for now so I am going to end it here. Thank you guys for reading! I am hoping to see you lovelies next week 🙂

What we’ve been eating…

We have been eating our colors and more whole foods…at least during the week 😁

I wanted to share with you some of our yummy weekday meals starting with this lunch. We used the sweet kale salad kit and baked up some frozen air fryer chicken tenders.

These tenders were from Tyson and they were crispy and delicious. I have to add though that you need some kind of sauce to dip it in because they do run on the dryer side.

I mentioned in my last post the breakfast tacos I have been making with the Siete tortillas.

I roasted up some potatoes for the week to create a quick and delicious breakfast.

The addition of some yummy pickled veggies amped up the flavor!

Watermelon has been a go to snack recently. We get one good watermelon and we are on a roll with finding all the sweet, juicy ones.

For dinner one night we made a stir fry with yuba noodles. Yuba noodles are made from tofu and add a chewy texture and a bit of protein.

We did a combo of shrimp, broccoli, onion and mushroom. It was tasty and filling!

The protein pancakes from Kodiak Cakes and cherries have been another go to breakfast. I love cherries and am so happy it’s cherry season 🙂

These are our eats as of late! What have you been munching on??

Siete Almond Flour Tortillas

I love making subs to more whole foods when given the chance. I had heard about the Siete brand if tortillas from a YouTuber and was very curious.

I am usually skeptical about “healthier” carb alternatives, but I am glad I took the leap to try them out.

They are pricey at almost $8 for 8 tortillas. I found them in my Sprout’s freezer section, but they may be in the refrigerator section of your grocery store.

I put them in my freezer so they last and they thaw out really quickly so it has not been a big deal. I cook them up with a little cooking spray on a non stick pan. They bubble up and become crisp and chewy.

I have been making breakfast burritos with them. They are thin and light but they taste exactly like a flour tortilla to me.

They have tortillas made with other flours like chickpea if that sounds more interesting. I am curious about the chickpea version but I am going to use the almond ones up first.

I am loving these tortillas and the wholesome ingredients. They are great for my weekday meals and super versatile.

Have you guys tried these tortillas? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

Some fun eats

Hi friends!

I feel like it’s been a minute since I shared about any food that we have eaten out.

I wanted to come on here and chat with you guys about some fun food we have had.

With the season change we have had a lot of different fruit at the house. We love our fruit! Mangoes and grapes have been so good recently!

Our love for pizza still runs strong so some Blaze had to be included in the mix. That veggie pie was spicy-between the jalapenos and the chili flakes we always add. I’m getting heartburn thinking about it, but boy was it worth it.

The pb cups were an impulse grab when we made a Sprout’s run. These were not peanut buttery enough but hubby enjoyed them!

We discovered a new Mediterranean spot-Luna. They have such yummy wraps! Their fries are pretty great too. They are thin and crispy, but still soft on the inside!

Baked was closed for a while and has now reopened only on weekends and for a few hours. We had to support one of our favorite local businesses and picked up some cupcakes!

Our Chick-fil-a had been closed for reconstruction. We were so happy to see them open back up and we headed into the drive through for our usual. We had 2 spicy chicken sammies with extra pickles, small fry, and some grilled nugs on the side.

It’s been a little while since we had an actual cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory so we decided to try the Reese’s. It was very good, but I do wish it had chunks of Reese’s cups in it. At some point I would like to try the Adam’s pb cheesecake.

Have you guys had any fun eats? How are you all holding up? Let’s talk in the comments!

Taco Tuuuuesdayyy

When Cinco de Mayo falls on a Tuesday, you gotta Taco Tuesday! Or at least that’s what my husband said…

I came home from work on Tuesday and he totally surprised me with a full taco set up! We had chicken, pico, guac, salsa, onions, radish, “sour cream” (Greek yog), and of course umm Sriracha to mix it all up 😀

This was so incredibly delicious and we had some leftover priduce that we extended Taco Tuesday in Taco Wednesday. Instead of chicken, we used shrimp seasoned with TJ’s taco seasoning and had the exact same set up. It was so yummy!

Since I still had tortillas leftover, I made myself a breakfast taco with scrambled eggs, sauteed/steamed kale, and obvi Sriracha. I realize I take my food pictures pre-Sriracha so I intentionally made sure the Sriracha was on this time!

I never thought about making legit tacos at home before (I know, silly me!) but after this I am wondering what other delicious concoctions we could come up with…stay tuned!

Did you guys do Taco Tuesday last week? What kind of tacos do you make at home? I would love to hear all the ideas!

Tempeh everyday

My usual meals at home are vegetarian, but we’ve been trying our hand at making some new things and that has meant eating a little more meat.

I wanted to change that up so picked up some tempeh to try out.

I (wrongly) assumed that it would be like cooking up tofu. It was a little more prep then that.

You have to boil or steam the tempeh to rid it of a sour/bitter taste, marinade it, and then bake or cook it stove top.

My favorite thing to do has been to make sandwiches or BLT toast. Hubby has loved making wraps with them!

I picked up a carton of heirloom tomatoes to use for our BLTs. The tomatoes were so yummy. I cut it up and had the rest it on the side-they were so juicy!

Tempeh does take a little extra time to prep, but now is a good time to experiment with ingredients.

Have you cooked tempeh? What did you think? How do you make it? Let’s chat in the comments!

Stay healthy and I will be back next week!

Loco Moco

Hi friends!

I’m sorry there was no post on Monday, but I am back today! I may be sticking with one post a week for the next little while, but we shall see.

I wanted to share with you this loco moco bowl we made. When we lived in the Valley we frequented Oi Asian Fusion and would always get their loco burger bowl.

I have no idea why we never thought about cooking this dish up, but it was super simple.

This tasty bowl of comfort includes rice, a burger patty, sunny side egg and gravy.

We cooked up rice and a burger patty and used the McCormick packets to make our gravy. Hubby fried the perfect sunny side egg to top our bowls!

I chopped up seaweed sheets to add on top. It adds a good punch of flavor!

This would be a great dish for a busy day when you have little time but want something hearty and filling.

Let me know if you have ever made this dish or tried it and what you think.

I’ll see you guys next week!

Loving

I feel like I haven’t done one of these in a while and I thought it was about time! I have quite a few favorites so instead of going on and on let me just jump right in!

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but I love having fresh flowers in the house. It just adds a nice bright pop of color and freshness. Before this whole “situation” I had been getting $1.49 daffodils from Trader Joe’s. If they have them and we’re in there I still get some-they’re my current fun purchase when we have to go get groceries.

If they don’t have them I grab whatever I can find that catches my eye! Hubby got me this bunch of tulips when he went grocery shopping while I was at work. He is seriously the sweetest ❤️

I have really been loving this L’occitane lotion I bought a while ago. The smell is so soothing and it’s a good moisturizer. I love it, but I don’t know if I could convince myself to rebuy it because of the cost. I love the lavender Aveeno moisturizer-it smells so good and does a great job hydrating my skin for quite a bit less.

We always have candles at the house and they have literally been burning at all times. I love good smells and it is so nice to have a candle lit in the evening/night time. It creates such a zen mood and warm environment.

Hunida mentioned these Late July crackers a while ago and I have been thinking about them since. These were an impulse buy and I have ZERO regrets. They are so freaking good! I cannot stop eating them though…I’m not sure it’s a problem?!

Frosted Mini Wheats is another thing I have been loving. A trick I learned back in college is to heat it up in the microwave with a little milk and honey. Some of it gets soft and mushy and other parts stay crunchy. It all gets warm and sweet and so delicious! I love it!

What snacks have you guys been loving? Have you tried the Late July crackers? Let’s chat in the comments 🙂 see you next time!

 

What we’ve been upto

We have been blessed to be able to continue working so our routine has somewhat been the same.

That being said we are definitely not out and about so we have found different ways of keeping occupied.

I mentioned one of those in my last post-cooking. It’s been a great way to get creative and excited. We have to eat so why not have fun with it?

I dug out some puzzles that we hadn’t attempted to help with any boredom. Mind you it’s been a week or so and we still haven’t gotten to the puzzles, but it’s just having them easily available and in easy access 🙂

I did buy a few books that I am looking forward to reading (again, haven’t started) but good for a rainy day. I know there’s Kindle and Audible, but I have always loved a good book in my hand. There is something so satisfying about turning the actual pages…just me?

Cleaning-I’ve always been a bit of a neat freak. I like my space clean and uncluttered. Ask my husband, it drives me absolutely bonkers to not have stuff in its place. Besides just the usual I do think it’s a good time for some decluttering and getting rid of things you don’t need.

Working out and walks have truly kept me going. I will be honest and let you know that recently I haven’t been as motivated to workout but if I am home I still do it. It gives me a good boost of endorphins and energy that I really need right now.

My husband had the genius idea of watching the Marvel movies and found a website showing what order it is best to watch them. We both LOVE these movies and the great thing about them is 1) they are each about 2 hours or more and 2) they are so empowering and gives you that feeling of you can do anything. Right now I think both of those things are kinda nice.

What have you guys been up to? Let me know in the comments!