Thursday, May 9, 2013

Freezer Meals

With Janey's baby girl due in a matter of weeks, we decided to get together and make some freezer meals. We scoured Pinterest and made a shopping list and ended up spending $50 for like two weeks of dinners! Here's what we made...

Baked pasta with turkey sausage
Black bean taco soup
Creamy green chile chicken enchiladas
Lemon and garlic dump chicken
Ritz-y cheddar chicken (I cannot find the recipe for the life of me, sorry!)

I used a garlic press for the first time and it was amazing!

Janey is a pro at chopping

The final product

Cheese

The kitchen was a disaster, but we had a lot of fun! To all of my pregnant friends: look out! I'll probably be bringing you some of these meals once your little ones get here :)

-Jenn

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

What's New?

Andy, part 2
We're going to see Andrew McMahon again! A few weeks ago he announced a handful of additional tour dates, including a show at the Majestic in Madison, so naturally I bought tickets as soon as the pre-sale opened. So excited to see him again!


It turns out Andy is playing his own show at Summerfest on July 4 and I'm bummed because I can't go. Fireworks and Andrew McMahon? Pretty much my two favorite things. Luckily I'll be home for Jordan's wedding, so it's good thing it's such a big event, otherwise I'd have to reconsider my plans.

Andrew McMahon also recently released his new EP, The Pop Underground. Like the rest of his work, it's a gem. There's a very studio vibe though, it's not the usual piano driven pop-rock you'd expect. There are some synthesizers and auto-tune, but it's still very much Andrew. I think it's a big leap for him, I'm sure it was terrifying. You can listen to the new tracks here. He also took to Reddit and HuffPost Live for some Q&A, I still love him even though he wears jeans with flip-flops.

Charleston
We're going to Charleston after Step 1!!! We found a sweet flight from O'Hare to Charlotte, then we used Hotwire and got a great deal on a rental car. We're staying in a little duplex I found on airbnb.com, a super cool website my co-worker told me about. I think my family is going to try to come down one of the days we're there, so that will be awesome. I can't wait to show Daniel around!


New hair
I have a new hairdo! I grew my hair out for my wedding and then cut it off as soon as we got back from our honeymoon. I've kept it pretty short since then, but several months ago I decided to try growing it out to see if I liked it. The answer is still NO, but instead of cutting it off again right away, I decided to keep growing it out to donate. I was shooting for the 10" that Locks of Love requires, but when I found out that the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program takes 8", I decided that was good enough. Katie totally rocked my cut and I love it! I missed short hair! It took way less time to get ready this morning, I might be able to set my alarm a few minutes later!



Daniel
Daniel has a couple weeks of finals and then Step 1 on June 15. He took a practice Step 1 and did really well, he stuck it on the fridge like a little kid :)

The school year is wrapping up and the responsibilities of the student organizations are also winding down. One of the student groups Daniel's in, APAMSA, had a budget surplus, and it's a use-it-or-lose-it kind of deal. So we went to Sam's Club and spent $500 on snacks for next year's meetings. We currently have a full pallet in the basement, so should the zombie apocalypse strike before APAMSA members can pick it up, we'll be set.


Daniel also recently got a new toy for school - an iPad mini. He prefers Android (we both do), so Apple will take a little getting used to. I think it's silly that the hospital mandates Apple products, but what can you do. I can't believe he starts rotations so soon! We're almost halfway done with this crazy adventure, what?!

The Pinterest experiment
I have a Pinterest board called Domestic Diva. It has some ideas of fabulous ways to improve my home life, and I decided to try one out, this homemade Dove body wash recipe. I'm pretty pleased with the results so far!

Step 1) Gather materials

Step 2) Grate 2 bars of Dove soap

Step 3) Add 3 cups of water, melt on medium heat, stirring every couple of minutes until there are no more clumps

4) Transfer to glass container, cover and allow to cool

5) Pour into containers

The only difference I can tell between this and regular Dove body wash is that the homemade stuff if a little thinner. It lathers the same, smells the same, etc. I grated most of a bar in about 3 minutes, then took a break because my arm hurt. Daniel came in and not only finished my bar, but totally demolished the other bar in about 90 seconds. My Wisconsin boy knows his way around a grater!

Instagram
Q: How much does a hipster weigh?
A: An Instragram.

I've had my awesome smart phone for like 4 months and finally caved and started Instragramming (I think I just made a new word). You can find me here. I've only uploaded a handful of pictures, but I hope to share more frequently so my blog posts aren't so long!

-Jenn