Catching up.

 Friday after work I went for my first run since New Years Day.  It was so hard! I feel like I am totally back to square one. But it felt great to get back out there.

Saturday I had a headache and just walked the dogs.  

We made these amazing burgers for dinner from my March Tastebuds

And also Loaded Potato Wedges-  so good!

I found a new training plan hopefully to get me back up to 5K fitness. Calling myself active is a bit of a stretch these days but hopefully it will start getting easier!

Monday night I made Weelicious, Catherine McCord's Pressure Cooker Spring Risotto in Bruce 2.  

So yummy! 

Also I was too cheap to buy arborio rice and just use regular white rice... turned out fine.

Last night my 2nd run back- first official training run...

saw some geese...

listened to some Hamilton...

...in preparation for going to see Hamilton on Sunday!!  We are soooo excited!

I tried to make taquitos last night for dinner but my corn tortillas kept breaking so I gave up and made sheet pan nachos instead.

I capped off the evening watching the virtual book launch of Kendra's book The Lazy Genius Kitchen.  Yesterday was supposed to be the actual book launch but some of the first printing ended up at the bottom of the ocean and the book is now coming out May 3.  I preordered just so I could get invited to this virtual party last night and it was delightful!

I came to the end of my list of titles I had planned out for book club.  Which led me to perusing book lists etc to plan more selections. Which in turn added about 50 books to my TBR and now I am feeling completely overwhelmed by it.... but have book club tentatively planned through January of 23- subject to change at my whim of course! :P 

Looking forward to turning 42 tomorrow. NOT being at work! Taking the dogs for a walk, taking Bruno for a run...maybe at the lake depending on if the rain comes or not and curling up with a book for at least part of the day!

Friday, Friday, FRIDAY!

Today I am trying to see the possibilities...

We made some yummy eats this week- Minestrone soup in the Quick Cooker.  Super yummy.

Last night was pizza night- Mikayla and I did a live video on my page --> HERE <--

I'm pretty pleased with my party from Monday night so far- Just looking to book a couple more ;-) Check out all you could get if you had been the host of this party    ↓↓↓

I have some other direct sales experiences recently. I know I am a little biased but truly Pampered Chef has one of the best Host programs there is!

I'm trying to decide if I should order this guy (the NEW Deluxe Air Fryer)- 

60% off tonight with my party order

... 

Would you??

And just because...

My 80 lb lapdog

FRI-YAY!!!! =D

It's friday! I am sooo happy. It's been a long week here...

I joined a cookbook club (on facebook)- they vote on a cookbook every couple months and then spend two months making all manor of deliciousness from it.

This is the March/April selection. Cravings: Hungry for More. I got it from my library.  I can not wait to jump in.

For the last two months I have been drooling over all the amazing looking recipes on instagram made by @kerrigankitchen.

So this weekend when she casually let it drop she was part of a cookbook club and that she would add any interested parties- I jumped at the chance.

The current selection is Super Simple from Half Baked Harvest.  I was third in line for this one on hold so I caved and ordered it. (It's on sale right now on Amazon ;)

It came yesterday and I'm so excited to get in on the last week of february with this one.  I flipped through it after dinner last night and everything looks sooooo amazing.

 

In fact-this morning I whipped up a batch and a half of the everyday dough (the very first recipe in the book!) and shaped it into sandwich rolls for dinner.

(I love using this bowl and cover for raising my bread dough!)

Oh my goodness, they smelled so yummy right out of the oven.

I'm also making Cajun Fries from the book.  Stand by for an update on those later. ;-)

I hope to try out a dessert or two this weekend too.

Last night was pizza night! I thought my chicken bake ranch looked so yummy.  And the pepperoni (not pictured) tasted exceptional!

And just because... dogs.

Does he look suspicious or what?!?

just life...

Thought for today...

 I'm getting back in the habit of regular runs. 3 treadmill runs last week at my parents after work- shooting for the same this week....

Added bonus to running on the treadmill- the frigid night air felt kinda refreshing :P

 Monday night I made Tomato Soup in Peggy- this my 2nd attempt- I liked it much better this time.  I processed the basil a little more (last time I had pretty big hunks) plus added 1/2 & 1/2 at the end to make it creamy.  I also read that some other consultants add carrot for sweetness- I might try that next time.  Also I might add another clove of garlic next time ;-)

Did you know- when you become a {Pampered Chef}consultant in January- you can get your very own Peggy {Deluxe Cooking Blender} for only $129! #WhatADeal plus all the other goodies pictured below AND the business materials you need to get started ie catalogs etc...

I'd love to tell you more- shoot me and email or direct message if you're interested.

Be sure to stop by my page -> Amy's Pampered Kitchen <- tonight around 5:45ish-6ish to catch me LIVE! The video will be pinned to the top of my page afterwards until the next Live..in case you miss it ;-)

And just because I love  him...

...and I think the world needs to see this picture of my husband with a giant sloth.     

Sometimes life feels hard.

 It’s hard not to be overwhelmed and discouraged. I find myself waking up thinking what is even the point?

Thankfully God doesn’t leave me there- he gently urges me towards the kitchen. A cup of coffee and his word.

This morning I read in Jesus Calling-

“I will instruct you in the way you should go” psalm 32:8
And "Relax and enjoy the journey."

Then in my (in)courage devotional bible I read

I've been tired. Overwhelmed. Frustrated.  Downright angry sometimes. I have to remind myself to just do what I can.  Little things add up.  If the big picture is too much- what's the next thing I can do?

This morning I made Mikayla's bed. Ready for her on Friday!

Dinner.  Cooking. It makes me happy.  Food is my love language and the kitchen is my happy place.  Saturday night after spending almost the whole day rigorously cleaning I was exhausted- the idea that I didn't even feel like cooking and why should I flitted through my head.  But then as I started going through the motions the joy flooded my heart.  Cooking is my happy.

Saturday night I made this Teriyaki Chicken in the Quick Cooker.  Its a keeper!  I served it with Broccoli, and white rice and also frozen egg rolls from Aldi.

Friday I made an old favorite I had sort of forgotten about. And this is why I love my Tried & True recipe board on pinterest.  It reminds me of recipes I loved.  I love trying new recipes so sometimes I forget about ones that I would like to make again! Friday I hadn't planned on making dinner- we were supposed to have a mom's night out.  Things happen. So I was feeling down and went back to my board to find a quick, easy comfort food type recipe. This fit the bill.  Originally it was from Kraft.  I think back when I used to get their food and fun magazine or something like that.

I posted the recipe in an old blog you can see it -->HERE<--

Yum! We love to cook!!

Cooking is kinda a thing around here. We love it. I love cooking food I know my family will enjoy.

Saturday Hannah asked if she could make chicken stacks (or homemade Taco Bell crunch wraps). Kinda her specialty. And they are delicious!

 

She mostly follows this recipe- HERE. This time we used chicken.

She also made this super amazing cheesecake, entirely by herself.


PS-- she is 11.

Yesterday I made this deliciousness for dinner after church. Cooking yesterday made me insanely happy.  Like I can't even describe it. Then when I saw it all plated up I was practically giddy. It looked sooooo good!  Spoiler alert- it was! I even brought some for lunch to work today and that was still delicious maybe even more so, if that's possible.

 

I saw this recipe on pinterest that I used as my jumping off place.  10 minute honey garlic shrimp.

I cooked it on the grill on Pampered Chef's BBQ grill tray.  The chicken I used the same sauce and grilled as well.

For the sauce I used-

• 2 TBSP Honey
• a generous tablespoon-ish sized scoop of Sriracha Chili Garlic sauce
• 2 TBSP Soy Sauce
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp of ground ginger
• salt and pepper to taste

I marinated the chicken and shrimp for a few minutes then tossed em on the grill.

The veggies I did in a skillet.  I heated some EEVO, sauteed some chopped onion, added the red bell pepper for a few minutes, then tossed in the broccoli and cooked covered for a few minutes until everything was tender. Tossed with a little butter and salt and pepper at the end.

The rice is just plain white rice I cooked up in the Rice Cooker Plus in some chicken stock.

Tonight I am making Italian Wedding Soup. From Mash Up Mom's blog. She published weekly Aldi Meal Plans.   I was having trouble coming up with a meal plan, and hers looked pretty good so I just went with it. As part of my Pampered Chef Fall Products Reveal/Back to School Real Food Real Fast party.  I'll be making this recipe LIVE on my VIP page around 5:30ish.

What's for dinner at your house? 

Does anyone have an Instant Pot? Do you love it?