Resolutions and Goals for 2018

Happy 2018, everyone!  A new year, a fresh start, right?  Up until a few days into 2018, I had no set resolutions or goals for this year.  I had a few ideas that had crossed my mind, but nothing that I was really setting out to achieve.  After the go-go-go of the holidays, hosting a New Year's Eve party, and so on, I took a little time to decompress and jot down goals for 2018.

My first, I was going to attempt dairy free 3 days a week.  After 11 days into the new year, I'm pretty sure this is my first day without dairy so far (until I just remembered that I added a splash of milk in my eggs this morning, so I'm back at the beginning).  So, I'm going to aim for dairy free 1x a week until the end of the month, then possibly bump it up to 2 in February...January can sorta be a trial month, right?

In the past, I have considered the whole Dry January thing but never ended up partaking.  It's supposed to be good for your health, weight, cleansing, give you more energy, and all these other benefits that I don't know without Googling (also since I've hit my 30's, I can get some absolutely TERRIBLE think I'm legit going to die hangovers and thought it might be nice to have a month without losing those battles) I decided to attempt this month, but the weekends are a little difficult for me.  I had a few drinks last Saturday so I cheated the whole dry MONTH, but figure significantly cutting back and a few drinks one night a week can't really harm anything.

Also, since we're talking about liquids, a resolution is to DRINK MORE WATER.

For Christmas, I received a Cricut machine so made a set goal of how much I would like to sell per month through crafting.

Another goal is to COOK a meal a week.  Like actually find a Pinterest recipe, go to the store, get the ingredients, and make dinner rather than grabbing a Boca Burger out of the freezer, tossing that in the microwave, adding it to greens and calling it a night.  On Monday, I made some Creamy Tortellini Soup and it was SO GOOD.  Here's the recipe I based the soup off of:  Creamy Tortellini Soup

While we're on the topic of food, another goal is fewer carbs, fried food, and reduce sugar intake.  Sugar is a big pitfall for me...I love sweets but find that when I reduce eating them, the craving goes away.  Focusing on upping fruits and lowering cookies.

I always say I would like to read more so I'm aiming for 1 book a month.  :)

And lastly, but probably most importantly:  Be more present.  Put technology down for a bit.  Spend time with my boyfriend, watching a show or movie, and not look at my phone every few minutes.  Learn to take a break from social media.  Stop getting caught in the black hole that is Instagram and Facebook, scrolling mindlessly for who knows how long through things that don't even really matter...and by doing this, I hope to find the time to accomplish all the things that do matter.

Here's to 2018!  What are your goals and resolutions for this year?

♥ always
Allison

{whatever wednesday}

{Cute Jewels:  Show-Me-State Bangle Available at Style Your Space}

{Cool Girl School:  6 Ways to Cuff Your Jeans}

{Outfit Inspo:  All Black Boho}

{Currently Craving BBQ:  The Best Hot Dog You Will Ever Eat - JDawgs Special Sauce Copycat}

{For the Dog Lover in Everyone:  This Teacup Poodle Gives Therapy to Those in Need}

{whatever wednesday}

{Halloween Things:  How to Create a Candy Bar}

I was lucky enough to win Game 1 Playoff tickets through an Instagram contest, thanks to Strange Donuts.  Clearly, I had to go through a ton of donut eating trouble to get those tickets.  With my dad as my date, we rooted on the Cardinals, drank beers, sat in the cold, wandered to the bar, joked around, laughed a lot.  He wanted to leave after the 7th inning (rightfully so, since we were losing), but I may have guilt tripped with the whole, "How often do you get to enjoy a Playoff game with your favorite daughter?!" thing...His response was, "Never." ((sorry, Melissa))  We stayed until the end and although we lost the game, it was great to spend one on one time with Dad.

 {This Quinoa Chili from Last Night}
We've been having a stormy, gross, gloomy week in St. Louis and yesterday, I had had enough.  Craving something hearty to fill the sadness, I decided to give my cooking skills a shot at some Quinoa Chili.  I followed the recipe above, altering the spices a bit, using chili tomatoes.  Also, I think the recipe called for a bit too much onion, half or a third would have done well.  Despite the overly-onion oops, I made enough chili to feed a small village and the craving hit the spot.

{Wednesday Wisdom}

{Song of the Week:  Jason Mraz - Living in the Moment}

Soup Season

Evidently, the average woman's favorite thing about fall is pumpkin everything.  MY favorite thing about fall: SOUP SEASON.  Soup, chili, stew...I seriously love soup form foods.  I even eat soup the summer, because I can (and I love it that much).  Here are some bowl and spoon requirement, cold weather recipes that I'm excited to get all chef-mode with this fall and winter:

{5-Ingredient Easy White Chicken Chili}

{Roasted Jalapeno Soup}

{Skinny Tomato Soup with Cheesy Orzo}

{Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup}

{Pretty. Easy. Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili}

{Quinoa Chili}

Meatless Monday

This past week called for a much needed girls night with a few close friends.  Gossip, cocktails, treats, laughs, and music that takes us back to our high school days required.  This being said, I scoured my Pinterest recipes and decided on a Fiesta Dip.  Quick, easy, delicious...and it made enough for leftovers for all.

Fiesta Dip

Ingredients

8 oz package fat-free cream cheese

16 oz container fat-free sour cream

11 oz can yellow corn, drained

15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained

1.5 tbsp taco seasoning

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

tortilla chips

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Cover and chill for 24 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Serves 10-12.

Allison's notes:  I served it cold but zapped some leftovers in the microwave the next day and it was ah-maz-ing.  Served nacho style, in a quesadilla, even on Cheez-its...multiple possibilities with this recipe.


I'm a fan of breakfast food but rarely eat breakfast at breakfast time.  I came across this recipe to make scrambled eggs in the oven (I'm not the best at scrambling stove top) and decided to give it a shot.  They turned out great...so I made some toast, threw some eggs on my toast, with onion and a slice of cheese, added ketchup, hot sauce, and enjoyed a spectacular 9:30 p.m. breakfast sandwich.  I also have enough scrambled eggs to get me through the week.

Oven Baked Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter

12 eggs

1 cup Almond Milk

pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

dash of hot sauce

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the butter in a 9x13 baking dish and place in the oven so the butter melts while the oven preheats.

2.  Remove hot pan from oven and swirl so the butter coats the bottom.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce until well combined.  Pour over melted butter and place in oven.

4.  Remove after 8 minutes and stir the eggs using a spatula, making sure to scrape the edges of the pan.  Continue baking for 8 more minutes and stir again.

5.  Top with cheese, add veggies, build a bagel sandwich or breakfast burrito...Serve your eggs however you wish!

See the full recipes here:
Kelly's Fiesta Dip
Oven Bakes Scrambled Eggs

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burgers and Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Lately, I've been trying to get in to cooking and baking more.  I'm really good at spending countless hours and minutes browsing recipes and drooling over pictures, but have a hard time deciding on what to make.  Overall, I'm a healthy eater, love spicy dishes, and am not a big meat eater, so figured this Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burger with Spicy Slaw would be perfect for my first home-cooked vegetarian meal.

Black Bean Fiesta Burgers

makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups black beans, drained/canned (unsalted)
3 Tbsp fine bread crumbs
3/4 cup baked/mashed sweet potato
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro - including stems
1/3 cup diced white onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chopped garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 jalapeno, diced/de-seeded
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast - or use more bread crumbs
a few dashes of chipotle powder or cayenne for extra heat

1 bag Broccoli Slaw

Special Spicy Sauce:
1/2 cup mayo
2 tsp garlic hot sauce

6 whole wheat burger buns
6 round onion slices and 6 round tomato slices
optional: lime-juice spritzed avocado slices (not shown in burger photos - but recommended!)

Directions
1. Mix together slaw, mayo, and hot sauce and refrigerate.

2. Next up, prepare the burgers. Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor. You can also mash well by hand - but a fp is a tad faster. Next, hand-form burger patties with the mixture and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. I like to roll my burgers in a touch of bread crumbs so that they have nice crisp edges.  (I mashed mine by hand)

3. Bake your burgers at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before assembling burgers. The last 5 minutes of cooking - add your burger buns to the oven to warm/toast them. (Toasted bunz-Very important)

4. Assemble those burgers! Warm bun, spread of special sauce, tomato, onion, optional avocado, burger, fiesta slaw and finally another slather of the special spicy sauce on the top bun.

{assemble}

{serve and enjoy. NOMZ}

Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Now, now...like I said, I typically eat healthy, but I'm a sucker for peanut butter and chocolate.  I had been dying to try this recipe for weeks and got around to it.  Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as the pictures, but whatever.

Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Ingredients
16 oz fat free Cool Whip  (I accidentally bought the 8 oz size)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (Since I had half the amount of Cool Whip, I altered to half a cup on PB)
16-20 reduced fat Oreos

Directions
1.  Line the bottom of a standard loaf pan with 8 Oreos.  (I broke some of mine apart to fit better)

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and Cool Whip.  Pour half the mixture over the Oreos.

3.  Line another 8 Oreos on top of the Cool Whip layer.  Pour remaining peanut butter and Cool Whip mixture on top.

4.  Top with crumbled Oreos, drizzle melted peanut butter, chocolate, and/or all three. (optional) 

5.  Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.  Freeze it for easier cutting and a more ice-cream like texture.

{Clearly I did not do the freezing method.  Presentation?  Not there.  Taste?  Phenomenal}

It SHOULD have looked like this:

See the full recipes here:
Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burgers
Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake