Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Hey y'all! I know, it's not Wednesday. Sorry, I got side tracked. I'll do better next week [maybe]. Anywho, I'm still working on my "Why I was missing" blog post. I'll get it done eventually. Until then, enjoy Wonky and Woot-tastic. 

Wonky:

    - Working out in the gym and then having a flood of younger guys (seniors in HS or youngins in college) come in to "work out". I'm pretty sure when guys say they're going to work out it actually means they're going to go up to the gym, stand near the equipment and watch one guy work out while the other 6 stand there talking and pointing out his mistakes. Sounds like city workers to me. They also like to YELL across the gym to each other.

   - My pink eye is back. Again. For the third time. THIRD!!!!! AGH

   - The college I USED to go to took FOREVER getting my transcripts to my new school (I'm changing because the admissions department at my old school is horrible, as you can tell from this story). They forgot to send them two or three times THEN when they finally did send them the admissions dept put in my test scores wrong so I couldn't register for classes at my new school. I then had to call the school I am leaving to find out what they heck is going on and can they send the correct scores. After being transferred 500 gajillion times (seriously, that's exactly how many) I finally was sent back to the place I started and was told to tell my new school that it is, and this is a direct quote, "just how they do it at Collin". Thankfully, my new school made it work some how.

   - The bank I bank at changed their website and reset everyone's passwords. I am now locked out of my account and will have to call my friend that works there because I have no clue what my member or account numbers are.

   - Maizy (my car) failed the emissions part of the state inspection. The NO2 was too high :( Sad day.

   - I was sitting in the living room the other night and George was sitting on the floor in front of me. We both saw a spider crawl in front of him, and like a good kitty he went to attack. Unfortunately the spider was able to scuttle under our entertainment center. George, trying to insure that this spider would not jump out when I walk by starts to look for it, which is great. Except he was looking for it around the fireplace... which is not really near the entertainment center. While George had his back turned the spider, of course, starts to scurry across the floor TOWARDS ME! And like any normal female, I'm yelling at George, "Look George! Here it is!" "Turn around Kitty! Get him!" and when none of those worked I got my flip flop and beat the crap out of the spider and muttered "Stupid, worthless cat." Seriously, how did he manage to catch a bird and 2 bunnies when he can't even get a stupid spider.

Woot-tastic:

Obviously not us on a walk.
But cute none the less.

   - Going on walks with AJ. Seriously, awesome.

   - Sunflower seeds are one of the best parts about summer. Although, the lady whose car I hit when spitting out a seed probably doesn't agree with me. 

   - The movie Crazy, Stupid, Love is kind of awesome. I love it. It has Ryan Gosling shirtless.

   - Got my hairs did. It's pretty. My favorite part is the scalp massage my hair dude gives me while he's washing my hair.

Well, that's my Wonky and Woot-tastic Southern Soapbox. Sorry if it wasn't very eventful and, again, sorry it was late, Good night!

Menu Monday: August 20th- September 3rd 2012

Yes, I know. Where the heck have I been? Answer: A lot of places. I'll do a separate blog post explaining my absence. For now, Menu Monday. I'm aware that you were probably expecting Maizy Music, or maybe you weren't because you really don't pay that much attention. I noticed that not that many people were as interested in Maizy Music, so I will only be doing that every other week, alternating with Menu Monday. What is Menu Monday, you ask? I'm so glad you did!

Menu Monday will occur every other Monday when I make the menu for my family. In this post I will explain every step by step process that goes into me making my menus so you can start making your own! I have grown up with my mom making a menu every payday and using that to form her grocery list. If you're like me, you hate going to the grocery store, menus make it easier to form a detailed list so you don't have to go to the store every day because you forgot something, or because you didn't have anything to make for supper that night. Make sense? It's not very hard so I'm sure you'll catch on! If I can do it, so can you.

Step 1: Gather your resources.

If you're like me, you're always repeating the same dishes over and over and over. You know how to do them, you know exactly how long it will take and there is no chance that you'll screw up and have to start all over again. All very great points when you're tired and don't want to spend forever in the kitchen. Not so great when you're sick of seeing spaghetti every week. So, let's be brave and get out those cook books we never open and pull up all those recipes you pinned thinking "man, I'm going to cook that some day" but never did. It's ok. We've all done it. I think I've cooked one recipe from my Pinterest. Start going through all those recipes. When you come across one you like, scan it, copy it, save it in a computer database, dog ear it.... however you want to mark it. I use a combination of these. I have some saved in a database on my computer but I usually use those little Post-It tabby thingys. Some of my cookbooks are very colorful.

Step 2: Write your menu.

Now you have to write down what recipes you are going to make. Don't forget to write down the sides too! Some people prefer to assign each recipe a day. Like say "Monday: Maegan's Meatloaf, Tuesday: Green Bean Cassarole" etc. I prefer not to, that way if I have a hankerin' for Beef Stir Fry on Monday, I don't have to worry about changing around the days. It's completely up to you though. Make sure you get every part of the meal written down so you know what you need to buy though. If you're going to make appetizer and/or dessert with a meal, write those down too. Also, if you're trying a new recipe from a cookbook or website go ahead and jot down where you found it so you know where to look up the ingredients and the directions. At the end of the "menu making instructions" I will post my menu for the next two weeks. Mind you, you don't have to make your menu for two weeks. Some people make it for a week, some for a whole month (I'm not that brave). It's all up to you!

Step 3: Make your grocery list.

Now you make your grocery list! I start out by just going through each recipe and writing all the ingredients down. If I know for sure that I have it, I leave that off the list, if I'm not sure, I write it down. I know for sure that I have chicken breast, so I left that off the list but I'm not sure if we have rosemary, so I put it on the list. Before I go to the store I will look through my pantry and fridge and cross off, or add anything if needed. I will also go back later and rearrange my grocery list. You don't have to do this but I just find it easier. I rearrange all the items based on the isles of my grocery store. That way as I head down isle one I can find everything I need at the top of my list for that isle. It makes it harder to forget something and then you're not running back and forth because you forgot to pick up some ketchup that was listed some where between milk and steak.

After I list all the ingredients from my menu, and before I rearrange my list, I also list anything we need for breakfast, lunch or snacks or any personal/household items like deodorant or bleach. THEN I rearrange my list. Sorry if this step is confusing.

Now all you have to do is go to the grocery store with your nice complete list!

My Menu: August 20th- September 3rd, 2012

Maegan's Meatloaf
             Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
             Salad

Roast
             Green Bean Cassarole
             Wild rice

Cheesy Chicken
              Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
              Salad (or maybe pasta?)

Chicken Enchiladas
              Refried beans
              Mexican Rice

Pasta with meat sauce
              Salad

CookingLight's Beef Broccoli Stir Fry
              White rice

CookingLight's Italian Seasoned Roast Chicken Breast
               Asparagus
               Russet Potatoes

Sliders
               Homemade fries

Three Cheese Tortellini
               French Bread
               Salad

French Dip

Baked Penne
              Salad


If you want recipes to anything I posted (I linked everything I had online) just leave me a comment and I will gladly post it! Most of these recipes are new to me so I will let you know how everything goes!

That's my Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoyed and have lots of success with your menus! If you have some yummy recipes send them to me! I'm always looking for new stuff!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Happy Hump Day/ Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day!

Wonky:

   
   - Maegan and I found this leg work out that we did and it was great, but then I came home and did another work out which apparently I shouldn't have done. I spent 2 and a half days waddling everywhere because it hurt to walk. After about 3 days of not working out I was finally better so I did a light work out. They started hurting again. After a lot of ice, they're feeling much much better.
   - The person in the audience of the girls volleyball game that had their US flag upside down. Opps...
   - I am constantly surprised by how little people seem to know about health and human anatomy. Take a health class people.
   - This heat (lower 100's)! What's even more wonky is, it's usually MUCH hotter than this (111 ish).
   - Ryan made a mac n cheese hot dog. He made a hot dog, complete with ketchup and mustard THEN put mac n cheese on it. I almost threw up when he ate it.

   - Do I really need to say anything about this picture? He was sleeping... on my side of the bed...
   - Well, I'm sure you were waiting for this to come up. The Chick-Fil-A "thing". It really saddens me that they are being criticized for their beliefs. I stole this from a guy on Twitter but I really like it so I will post it on here. "I'm eating at Chick-fil-A because the CEO of a private business should enjoy the same level of free speech as a pride parade participant." 


Woot-tastic:

   - Sometimes little things make your day. Like sharing a chocolate smoothie with your nephew and seeing his "chocolate goatee".

 
   - Mom, Mollie (my cousin), Maegan, AJ and I all went to Coo Coo's this past Friday. Coo Coo's is this awesome place with TONS of bounce houses! It's AWESOME! They had so much fun. Mollie was so tired that she fell asleep in the car on our way home.

   - I have started a "diet". I call it a "diet" because, really, all I'm doing is eating healthy and exercising. Like you're supposed to. Does that mean I don't eat ice cream or cake? No. That means I don't eat it every day. Instead of snacking on chips, I snack on blueberries and strawberries. Maegan and I are going to our first work out class tonight!

   - We went to Chick Fil A today. Yummy! The line went out the door and wrapped around the building but we only waited for about 15 minutes. The drive threw wrapped around the building TWICE and went out on the street in front of the other businesses! There was a poor little guy that was flagging traffic for the drive through.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! Stay tuned for Fashion Friday. I have a SUPER special post!