Wordless Wednesday

Impromptu Four Generation Pic (AKA:  why I'm in my pajamas)

Menu Monday

Monday:  Orange Chicken

This was that straight up out of a box frozen meal from Costco that has been on repeat for months.  It comes with two packages so this was package number 2.  It's yummy, easy, but very high in points and not something I'm into every week.  It makes the day seem so long when I've used the rest of my points up by 11:30 and have to wait until 7:30 to eat this.  Bring on the fruit.

WW Points:  19 points (1 3/4 cups) + 4 points for a serving of brown rice


Tuesday:  Velveeta Italian Sausage Bake

New meal this week using the feature of plugging your ingredients into the search boxes and seeing what comes up.  Mine?  Sausage and penne pasta.  This meal was super delicious!  If you're into Velveeta of course.  The thought of Velveeta kinda grosses me out, but in finished dishes I cannot deny its awesomeness.

I omitted the zucchini in this recipe so it probably could've used a little more pasta in my version, but if you follow the recipe the amount should be adequate. 

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

For some reason I picked two meals with Velveeta this week.  Not really on purpose but it worked out well because I already had some in the fridge.  This meal kind of reminds me of this yummy cheese dip my mom makes but all rolled up into a pizza dough.  It's good, but I feel as if the dough is a little thick for my taste and leaves me wanting more meat.  That's what she said.  But nonetheless, yums.

Next time I would cook the bacon separately and then add it in later.  I don't feel like it gets crispy cooking it with the beef and I'm a crispy bacon kind of girl.

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Friday:  B-Spot & Leftovers

It was Girls' Night Out Friday at B-Spot, a new restaurant in town by Michael Symon.  I ended up getting a salad because I saved the rest of my points for wine.  Yep.  That's how I roll.  Matt ate up the leftovers from the previous evening.


Saturday:  Hamburgers & Grilled Corn

This was a last minute throw together meal as my plans for the evening fell through at the last minute.  Matt was in charge as I do not grill so I just kind of made up the points for this one.  AKA: a night of not caring.  Followed by ice cream.  With peanut butter smeared on top.



Sunday:  Steak and Chicken Kabobs, Potato Casserole, Caramel Brownies

We had a cookout at a friend's house and I was of course in charge of bringing dessert.  The brownies were so yummy, but they were incredibly rich and very gooey.  Practically impossible to get out of the pan.  They were so gooey you had to eat them with a fork.  I'm not sure I would make them again because of the messiness factor but they were soooo good. 


Clearly I lost no weight this week because of my weekend crazies.  But some weeks, maintaining is succeeding my my book.  And so is sending the leftover brownies to work with your husband.

Thursday Randoms

• It has been a long time since I wrote a bulleted post.

• I kinda miss it.

• I reminds me of when I used to blog at work.  Good times.

• Do y'all watch Big Brother?  I'm pretty much obsessed with the show.  I follow some spoiler feeds on Twitter and I try to talk to Matt about it all the time.  He could care less.

• What kind of toys to you buy for 7 month olds?  I feel like Natalie is still playing with her baby toys and some stuffed animals and she is beyond bored.  

• I'm borrowing my FIL's car for a while whilst we continue to look for a new car for me.  My Taurus is dying a slow death and is no longer safe.  So now I'm sporting around town in a serious old man car.  With two doors.  Have you ever tried to get an infant carrier out of the middle seat in the back of a two door car?  HELL.

• Because of this, I think I'm going to switch Natalie to the convertible car seat this weekend.  She's almost to the weight and height limit on her carrier anyways.  Guess this was just the push I needed.

• I got Natalie her first sippy cup yesterday and she looks so big using it.  But seriously, there are a lot of different sippy cups out there.  How the heck are you supposed to know which one to get?  

• My new favorite snack is the Fiber One 90 Calorie Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie.  So good and only 2 points!

• I've lost 35 lbs. since starting WW after Natalie was born.  I'm less than 5 lbs. away from my pre-Natalie weight!  Funny how nothing seems to look the way it did before I got pregnant though.  

• That really sucks.

• But everyday I get to spend with my sweet girl makes it totally worth it.  Plus, I'm still working on another 40 lbs. so maybe it will look better when those are gone :)

Speedway Sparkplugs are the Best!

Last weekend we ventured back to Indianapolis for my big 10 year high school reunion.  I honestly wasn't super pumped about going but it turned out to be an incredibly fun day.  It was fantastic to see all of my high school buddies again and it made me miss them terribly when I left.  I really need to keep in better touch with these people because I remembered just how fabulous they all are.

The weekend started off with a picnic lunch where we could bring our families.  We took some pics before we left my parents' house that afternoon.

Natalie napped through almost the whole picnic so I had a chance to chat and catch up with some friends.  But when she woke up, she got to go in the swing at the park for the first time and she LOVED it.  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.  She got this huge smile on her face when she was flying through the air.  Priceless.

We spent the rest of the day with Matt's parents and then the two of us headed out to the main event.

It was a little awkward at first seeing everyone and going through the whole...where do you work, how old are your kids, what's new in your life...sort of conversation.  Plus, Matt and I both completely suck at making small talk.  So we started playing a game where he would pick out someone in the class and then try to guess the type of person they were in high school.  You know, jock, band geek, smarty pants?  And you know what?  He guessed it right every time.  Ha!

But as you might expect, once the booze got to flowing, we were all best friends again!  Funny how that works, huh?  But it was so great because it was as if all of the cliques just faded away and we were all friends just dancing and having a great time.  I wish high school would've been like that all the time.

Let's just ignore the fact that you can see my bra in practically every picture, shall we?  

Here's a pic of our whole class.  There were only 88 of us so I think we had a pretty good turn out.  

And no party would be complete without a picture of me doing this.

And scene.

Nataile's 6 Month Photo Shoot

all photos taken by Matthew Connors

Menu Monday

Monday:  Leftovers

These Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes are just as delicious the second time around.  I do wait until right before we are ready to eat to make the bread each time, though.  Reheated bread = sucktastic.


Tuesday:  Chicken Tortilla Casserole

I LOVE this dish.  I did a lot of prep work throughout the day so it wouldn't take as long to prepare that evening (chopping the veggies, prepping the chicken, crushing the tortilla chips) and it was super delicious.  Matt thinks it's only okay as he's not much of a tomato eater and the chopped tomatoes are not hidden in the slightest.  His plate was full of picked out tomatoes bits.  But I'm not a tomato fan myself and I think the other flavors masked it quite well.  Well enough for me to eat them without spitting them out.

I used red onion instead of a shallot as I had some leftover.  Also, I used 1 Tbsp. of the chipolte peppers in adobo sauce and that was plenty.  Perhaps even too much.  It was very spicy.  Matt and I are both lovers of the heat but these peppers are my nemesis for sure.  So be careful.  Also, I used 5 oz. of tortillas chips and about 26 oz. of chicken.  The points reflect these amounts.  Oh, and no cilantro.  Matt thinks it tastes like soap.  I know.  He's a strange, strange man.

WW Points:  14 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Burritos

Nothing fancy here folks.  I browned 12 oz. of lean ground beef, threw in some taco seasoning...and ta da!  Done.  We're more of a burrito family rather than a taco family so I served the meat up in soft shells.  Easy peasy!

WW Points: 8 points for 6 oz. taco meat, 3 points for 1/3 cup Mexican cheese, 6 points for 2 tortilla shells
Total meal:  17 points


Friday-Sunday

We were out of town for the weekend so no cooking for this mama!

Hope y'all are having a great Monday!!

Class of 2001 Baby!

We're heading back to Indy, my hometown, this weekend for a very special event. 


My 10 year high school reunion.


Dun, dun, dun.


How the heck has it been 10 years?  That seems like such a long time.  I feel like I've been out of high school forever...but still, 10 years sounds like forever. 


I'm not super jazzed up about this reunion...in fact I probably wouldn't be going if it weren't for the fact I had to help plan the event.  Yep.  You're reading the blog of a former class president here.  Impressed?  Yes?  Want to learn a little bit more about "high school Jenny?"

I was a huge nerd.  Surprising, I know!  I wouldn't say I was dorky, but my grades were extremely important to me and undoubtedly my top priority.  I was number one in my class from 7th grade on.  Yeppers.  Valedictorian.  Woot, woot! 

But although I was very much the academic type, I also played sports.  I played volleyball, basketball, and ran track.  Now when I say 'ran track,' that really means I threw shot put and discus and then hid with my friends in the bathroom whilst everyone else ran their laps.  And I also lounged on the high jump pit.  Oh track.  Good times. 

But I was a legit basketball player.  In fact, I still hold almost all of the rebounding records at Speedway.  If I could go back to high school to do anything again it would be to play basketball.  Those were probably some of the most meaningful and memorable times of my life.  I remember so many conversations my dad and I would have about my games.  Such a bonding experience it was for us.  I miss those.  Very much.

My best friends from high school, the two I still talk to, weren't in my class.  So although I think it will be a good time, I'm not dying to go back.  But at least I'll get to show off my little cutie pies and have a little wine.  Not a bad weekend in my book!

Hope y'all have a great weekend and I'll let you know how it goes when we get back.

Loves!