About Me

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Hi there! I'm a mom of 3 boys and happily married to my husband for the past 13 yrs! I work full time and try and take care of everything home related as well- basically I'm tired and loving life! I love to try new things- especially cooking! I love the outdoors, music, old movies, church, and my family!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Where Summer ends and chaos begins

I don't know about you but my calendar is filling up fast and I'm trying not to pull all my hair out in the process. This can only mean one of two things... it's not the holidays yet so it must be BACK to SCHOOL!

I work full time so my kids don't really get a "summer" but we do try and take them to some places when we can and give us adults a little taste of vacation while we're at it. With that said, it's not a huge transition but man... just looking @ my calendar I'm tired.

My oldest is starting Junior High (that makes me feel old), middle one will be in 2nd grade, and the baby will be in pre-k! STOP GROWING- It means I'm getting old and I don't think that's possible. One of the things I LOVE about our amazing school district is that we can pre-order the school supplies so I didn't have that crazy shopping trip, thank you very much. My mom, oldest sister, and niece took my tween school shopping while he was visiting them so that was another check off my list without having to do anything either (this is making me look like I haven't had to do anything :/ ) But now the end is near and we started football, scouts, back to school/meet the teacher nights, schedule pick ups, and looking on Pinterest on how to survive packing lunches and which first day of school sign to print off.

I believe my husband's exact text to me this morning was," no more calendar updates, mercy please." HAHAHA, we've been married for 12 years.. he should know I show no mercy. ;)

My fellow mom,
   
              I feel your pain, hear your tender cries of help, and I see your SOS signal when you look at me in the store. This to shall pass.. and we will look back at these days and say, "I do not miss that." We will however miss the first day of school, how excited the kids were to meet the teachers and see who is in their class. What clothes they want to wear and making sure their hair is just right. How we secretly tear up in the car after we drop them off and they have grown to old to wave goodbye. The first game of the season and the last. It is hard to watch them stumble as they grow and learn to be "adults" but, I've never been more proud as I see them become who they are and figure out who/what they want to be. My children are people and as they grow older they demand the respect they give me. Life gets crazy and our hair gets thinner, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. God has given us the gift of love in our lives when he gave us children. We (I personally) need to find those little bits of love in everyday and cherish them, because this to shall pass and we will look back on that day and say, "I MISS THAT."

From my Chaos to yours-Happy Back to School everyone!




Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Tisket a Tasket filling those Easter baskets

Well it's almost Easter and by now if you're like me this week is filled with parties at school, church picnic's and WAY to many egg hunts. I LOVE chocolate just as much as almost every other women but all that Easter candy just adds up and by Sunday I'm not really feeling like the Easter bunny should be bringing my kids any in their baskets. I thought some of you might feel the same way so here are some quick, small, easy, and cheap non-candy Easter basket filler ideas.

younger kiddos:
play dough (DIY Carrot playdough-  http://www.thatswhatchesaid.net/2014/play-dough-recipe/)
bubbles
Annie's snacks- they are in the shape of bunnies!
stickers
small stuffed animals (I am personally not a fan)
little ponies or hot wheels
small dress up accessories
hair accessories
bow ties/ties
little gardening tools
coloring books and crayons
books
finger puppets (see link below for some DIY ideas)
little flashlights
DVD
legos/duplos

older kids:
trading cards
gift cards-Sonic (fast food place), iTunes, Google
make up
fingernail polish
jewelry
action figures/collectibles
books
cap
tie (boy) scarf (girls)
gum/mints
body spray
book light
DVD
legos

If you are feeling crafty and have a few mins to spare: A.tell me your secret and B. here are some easy FREE printables that would make a great basket filler.

First we have Egg coupons from U-createcrafts.com. These are super cute and easy... just print, cut, and fill your eggs! These will be in my kids eggs when they go hunting.

Next one I found is geared towards younger kids but if my older one gets board enough at church he'll play with them too. Easter Lacing Cards from Everydaydishes.com. Again, easy peasy and I'm going to laminate mine so they last longer.


If you are feeling REALLY crafty this website has a list of 8 different finger puppets you can choose from ranging from quick and kid friendly to I hope you've got more than a few mins. to spare. All cute and great!

Hope you all have a blessed and safe Easter. 

* I was not given any monetary means to promote or suggest these websites/items. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Time saving ideas-straight from other moms

As a "Resident Mom" for Skinnymom.com I get wonderful opportunities to share my ideas, but what I love the most about it is the wonderful community of other women who share their thoughts, idea, recipes, and encouragement a long the way. This past "Blurb of the Week" was all about time saving tips... love it!! I got to include my two cents and also got to read some other really great ideas from some of the other ladies. I don't care if you stay at home, work away from home, or in your home...dinner time is a little crazy and with 3 boys stating the are "starving!" I have got to have a plan.

I do A LOT of food prep in my "spare time." I find it really does save time during the week as far as dinners go and also to help keep me on my healthy eating track. Making a weekly menu plan, going through my cupboards checking off items I don't need at the store and checking my coupons before I go shopping really helps me keep on budget and not get over whelmed and buy a lot of things I don't need. Then when I get home I look at my recipes and see which items go with what dinner and try and keep them all together so I don't have to go searching for an ingredient when I'm about to burn something. My husband helps a lot with this as well. We work together in the kitchen to cut up the fruits and veggies (that won't go bad) so they are more accessible and I don't spend as much time cutting things during the dinner rush.
 

Last night My husband and I prepped 40 lbs. of chicken we got from Zaycon Farms  zayconfresh.com/refer/zf452682. It was a ton of chicken, but at $1.69 a pound I couldn't pass up the deal. Together with my trusty FoodSaver, my husband and I bagged 5-2 lb bags of cubed chicken, 5 bags of 5 thin sliced breast, 1 gallon bag of breast ready for ground chicken meat that I'll do tonight and 3 ready to go chicken freezer meals. I don't so this much prep on a daily basis but doing every once in awhile helps my grocery bill down and my freezer stocked.
Food Prep

Here are more time saver ideas from other moms just like you: http://www.skinnymom.com/resident-moms-reveal-our-time-saving-secrets/

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

If you Instagram-

I'm on Instagram as @aliher78640.

Spaghetti Alternative

My kids were beyond excited for spaghetti and meatballs last night until that is they saw it wasn't the usual spaghetti that I make. First of all... I never make meatballs for our spaghetti and secondly these meatballs weren't beef!!! As my husband and I go through our clean eating lifestyle change our kids aren't always as eager to try new recipes but I will give them credit... they did all eat at least one "vegetarian meatball" (that's what they called it because it was made from chicken and turkey instead of beef.) The recipe was very fast, easy, and great for week nights. I served it with regular noddles for the kids and my husband and I had ours served over steamed spaghetti squash (harder than you would think to cook.) I was also able to make the meatballs the night before in my mini muffin tins so I'll I had to do is throw them in the over when I got home from work! Easy peasy... on to the recipe!

This comes from Skinnymom.com (love it!) and I only made a few minor changes. Very yummy and we will be making this again in my house for sure...I think I'll just crumble up some of the meatballs and hide them in the sauce so the kids won't be so picky next time.

http://www.skinnymom.com/recipe-chicken-parmesan-meatloaf-muffins/

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground chicken breasts
1 egg
½ cup Italian style bread crumbs (use gluten free panko)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ onion, diced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¾ cup reduced-fat grated Parmesan cheese
¾ cup marinara sauce
¾ cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350° F and spray a 12-count muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside.
  1. In a large mixing bowl, with clean hands combine the chicken, egg, bread crumbs, garlic, red bell pepper, onion, Italian seasoning, and grated Parmesan cheese.
  2. Evenly spoon about ¼ cup of the meatloaf mixture into each muffin tin.
  3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the marinara sauce on each meatloaf muffin and bake uncovered for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
  4. Remove from the oven, top each meatloaf muffin with 1 tablespoon of mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
  5. Allow the meatloaf muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tins before carefully removing them.
  6. Garnish with the fresh basil, and serve 2 per person.
Alisha's Tweeks- First of all I doubled the recipe but used chicken and turkey (1 lb of each.) I also used Italian Panko instead of bread crumbs and omitted the red pepper (not big fans in our house.)


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Protein packed breakfast

I have been having trouble with finding yummy breakfast foods that have protein in them besides eggs, sausage, and smoothies with protein powder. Today I made these very yummy Pumpkin Protein Pancakes. I found them on http://cleanfoodcrush.com/best-pumpkin-protein-pancakes/
These were so delish! She has some really good recipes on her site, check it out and give some a try.
As always I would love to hear reviews and what you think. And yes, I was using one of my kids plates.
 

Life style changes

Everyone has resolutions and we all hope we keep them. People say you should make your resolutions achievable... well I believe I did that. I wanted a healthier life for not only myself but my family. I started out slow and gained a lot of momentum when I start the 21 Day Shred through Skinnymom.com.
It was contagious... my husband joined me on my healthy eating and workout program and now my 11 yr. old son has taken an interest into eating better and using his Wii Fit program (to him, it's still getting in his video games.) We have all come to the conclusion that not only do our bodies feel better but our minds as well. We have more of what I call, " Happy Energy!" Less fighting and yelling and more helping and saying "yes" the first time asked. Now I not saying it's all because of healthier/cleaner eating but I do believe it has helped. As parents, my husband and I are less stressed due to working out and our energy levels aren't crashed from eating poorly during the day, making coming home in the evening a lot easier to deal with hungry kids and homework. It has had a big impact on our marriage. Don't get me wrong, our marriage wasn't bad before but, working out together, looking over new healthy recipes, and food prepping together has brought us closer and we now have a new found interest we both enjoy.

Finding the time is hard and I am not perfect! There are great days, good & bad ones, and then really bad ones. Do I always feel like going to the gym or working out at home? NO! but once I do it, I feel a lot better. Do I still like chocolate and sugar? YES!!! I don't completely deprive my body of those things... I just don't eat them very often or I find healthier ways to curb my cravings.

Life get's in the way and that is OKAY because it's life and it's always changing, we don't have any control over that. So the next time you feel like you've failed and falling off the the resolution rocker... get back up and try it again! What's the worst thing that could happen? You might fail again? or you might succeed! Don't give up, you're worth it. Whatever it is you're wanting... loose weight, start your own business, start a blog, stop yelling at your kids as much, organize your pantry, you name it and you can do it... you just have to be willing to do the work.

All right... I'm off my soap box. Now go have fun and I'll post a yummy Pumpkin Protein Pancake recipe I found later (I eat it with dark chocolate, shhh)