Five on Friday Week 7ish
Welcome back to Five on Friday where I post a list of the top five things that made me happy during the week. I know it has been three weeks since I have posted this, but I am finally back!
- Disney with family- My mom’s birthday is in September. She requested months ago that we go to Disney for 2 days to celebrate. We did 3 parks in 2 days. We rode every ride! We stayed open to close both days and spent 1 night at the All Star Movies Resort. It was really fun to go with my nephews who are just about 3 years old. They like to ride the rides now and we were having a blast dancing and singing while we waited in line. I am a little sleepy, but it was worth it!
Riding Small World
2. Matching Shirts-My mom has always wanted up to wear matching shirts with our names on them when we go to Disney. We have lots of tee shirts that are the same, but nothing with names. I thought it would be the perfect surprise for our trip. I had everything all planned out, then Irma hit. The shirts I ordered didn’t get here in time, I didn’t have access to my friend at work who was going to help me, and I certainly wasn’t going to bother someone about making the shirts after a hurricane. We also didn’t have internet so I couldn’t print anything off of etsy. I had to have them for mom’s birthday! So, I decided to get creative. I ordered some supplies from Amazon (Thank God you can shop on your phone!) and set down to work with what I had. I don’t think they turned out half bad and mom loved them!
3. Back to work-I am excited to go back to work tomorrow. The students do not come back until Monday, but we have a day to plan and get stuff back together before their arrival. I have missed my class!
4. Inspiration at Epcot-I love bao buns! I have had them numerous times out in restaurants and Epcot has this really yummy version with duck in hoisin sauce featured in their China Booth during the food and wine festival. They were so yummy I just wanted more, but I didn’t have any room in my belly and today I am back home. So as tired as I am, I decided that I would try to duplicate the recipe at home today with what I had in the fridge and pantry. I was not about to go to the grocery store. I didn’t have fresh cilantro or green onions for the top, but I did have hoisin,pork chops, and a hundred spices to work with. So I found a few recipes for the steamed buns, figured out a dough that would work, created a steamer out of a metal strainer and stock pot, and blended up some 5-spice powder. I would say that they turned out pretty well! I’m going to perfect the recipe in the upcoming weeks and I will have it up soon.
5. Generous and Kind People-I am so happy that people are willing to help with my upcoming Disaster Relief Drive that will benefit the animal shelters in Lee County. I usually do a food and blanket drive for the animals before the holidays, but right now they are in desperate need of help! I can not stand to see animals in need. It is so heartbreaking! My dear friend and co-worker Janet, got me a phone number today of a group that needs help. I contacted them and they really need cat and dog food, litter, puppy pads, and toys. My principal is also willing to help and for us to use our school as a collection area for the items. My wonderful sisters are already starting to stock up on stuff needed for this drive. FYI cat food is bogo at Publix this week!
Then tonight my sister had a friend of hers in Indiana that is also a teacher contact me. She wants her class to do a drive to help the schools impacted by Irma. This is so kind and generous as well! I will be working in the upcoming days to find out what is needed in the schools. I know our school wasn’t severally damaged, but others were. Supplies are expensive and teachers do not get paid very much money.
The hurricane was awful, but at least it is bringing people together and bringing out the best in each of us. If you would like to help the Lee County Animal Shelters or Lee County Schools please email me and I will get you the information. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
What has made you smile this week? I would love to hear your top five too. Please leave me a comment with your top 5 below. Don’t forget to sign up for the weekly newsletter!
Happy Friday!
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Busy Morning Breakfasts
During the summer and on the weekends I am not a huge breakfast person. I like to get up, drink my coffee and maybe eat a handful of nuts before I workout. If I’m in the mood for breakfast, I will make it around 11 and serve it as brunch. But, as we are ending our second full week of school here in Florida, I am thinking about the most important meal of the day, breakfast. No, nothing fancy, but something healthy and filling since I get up at six and I get a 2o minute lunch break at precisely 11:46. It has to be easy to make and something I can prep the night before. It has to able to travel to work because I usually spend my morning eating my breakfast while standing at my podium computer or prepping stuff around my classroom before the kids arrive. I imagine I am not the only person in the world that eats breakfast while working either.
Since I can’t imagine trying to work and think while my tummy is rumbling, I have come up with a few different breakfasts that work really well for me and I thought I would share them with you. I wouldn’t want your tummy to be rumbly either!
- Toasted bread with cream cheese and marmalade. I’m crushing on Dave’s Killer Bread.
I not only really like this bread, but I love this company! They hire people who have troubled past and give them a chance. Check out their company.
The Power Seed is really yummy and I really like the company. They are all about second chances and teaching people to be leaders. I spread it with a few tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese and a few tablespoons of some kind of marmalade. Of course I any jelly would work, I’m just on a citrus kick lately. This week I have orange marmalade, but I really like honey tangelo marmalade and grapefruit marmalade too! Press it together, cut it in half, pop it in your lunchkins the night before work, and just like that you have a filling healthy breakfast.
2. Peanut Butter Apple Sandwiches with Granola-I simply slice a granny smith or honey crisp apple like you would slice bread. I spread the slices with peanut butter (yes, you can use any nut butter), press them together, and roll the edges in granola. It’s tasty, it’s easy, it’s filling. I love it!
3. Oatmeal with fruit and nuts-I eat this nearly every single day! I make 4 or 5 containers at a time and store them in the fridge. When I need breakfast, I grab one, pop it in the microwave for about 2 minutes, and I have breakfast! I mix and match fresh, frozen, and dried fruits to create my fancy oatmeal. My co-workers frequently come in my room and ask me what I’m eating because it smells so good. The quick and easy recipe is located here-Oatstanding Oatmeal.
oatmeal with dried cherries, dried apricots, pecans, and cinnamon
I hope you will enjoy these breakfasts and that they make your morning a little better too!
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Back to School Means Back to Crock-potting
It’s the time of year again when schedules become hectic, when you’re running a million miles an hour, coming home exhausted and starving. Yup, school is officially back in season! Here in Southwest Florida, the kids actual start today, although teachers have been back since the end of July.
There is nothing worse than coming home so tired you can barely think and having to create a difficult meal. Yes, you want something tasty. You want something healthy. You don’t want to go out and waste money. So what do you do? I say bring on the crock-pot meals!
Words cannot describe the love I have for my crock-pot! I love that I can throw an inexpensive pound or 2 of meat and some seasonings into the crock-pot in the morning, turn it on for the day, and come home to a house bursting with the delicious smells of dinner. It makes life so much easier.
So I thought today I would share with you one of my tried and true, absolutely delicious crock-pot recipes. And bonus, once the meat is cooked you can make at least 3 different meals with it.
Shredded Beef Barbacoa
Everything starts off with the basic and totally drool worthy Crock-pot Beef Barbacoa. You can throw everything into the crock-pot and just leave it alone. When you get home from your busy day simply scoop the meat out onto a plate and pour the juices into a pan over high heat to reduce. This only takes a few minutes and you can shred the meat and prep the rest of the meal while the juices reduce.
Salsa Verda
Beef Barbacoa Tacos
Now the toughest part about dinner is deciding what to do with all this savory meat. I highly recommend that your first meal with this be Beef Barbacoa Tacos. They are easy! They are satisfying! They are a finger-licking, salsa dripping, perfect weekday meal. The recipe will feed 4 with no problems and can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.
If your feeling energetic or you have made this tasty meat on the weekend, you might want to consider freezing it for future quick weekday meals too. I have several cups of this yummy meat frozen in 2 cup container ready to go.
Baked Beef Taquitos
If you’re not feeding a crowd, you will have Crock-pot Beef Barbacoa left over for a few other meals. I like to make Baked Beef Taquitos and Beef Enchiladas with homemade Enchilada Sauce. The Enchiladas can also be made in advance and frozen. I actually made 2 pans of these while I was making them. One to eat right away and the other I froze for future use.
Beef Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce
If you still have just a little left over, because Mr. Teacher and I frequently do, I like to make super easy leftover quesadillas. Get a few tortillas and what every kind of cheese you have, we always try to have cheddar and peppercorn, but I have even used mozzarella or Swiss or blue cheese if I needed to. Trust me, almost anything goes! Put the cheese on top of the tortillas, add the meat and any of the following items or a combination of items: onions-cooked or raw, leftover or frozen corn, tomatoes, salsa, avocados, olives, peppers-raw, roasted, pickled, mushrooms, zucchini, cooked fruit-peaches, apricots, mango, or pineapple or any other little bits of things that are in your refrigerator. I make quesadillas for lunch nearly every Sunday and I don’t think we have ever had the some one twice! They are a great way to stretch a tiny bit of anything.
Pico de Gallo
Don’t forget to top your mouth watering Mexican meals with homemade Pico de Gallo, Guacamole, and Salsa Verde !
I hope these recipes will help you keep calm and your belly full during these first few weeks back.
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