Month: July 2017

Music That Gets You Hooked in 10 Seconds

/ jennced15 / 4 Comments

This post is a little unfair since I can think of a gazillion songs that get me hooked to the beat within the first couple of notes. Why I choose the songs below—there really is no rhyme or reason to it except you will notice that I am focusing on a particular time frame. This one is for you Mom (and I would also like to point out that the music, clothing and hair is no better in that decade than other decades—we all make mistakes). LOL!

. . And The Chef Has Prepared

/ jennced15 / 6 Comments

So I do cook . . . all the time, but I hardly ever add the images to the blog or the new recipes that I have tried. I don’t know why except that this isn’t a food blog. My blog is about the favorite things in my life and that includes a lot of things. However, I have had some questions recently asking about the recipes to food that I have made. So here you go . . . 5 of my new favorite recipes.

  1. This is my new go to dinner and lunch. Super easy and SUPER tasty. The only difference I make is that I use turkey bacon.  Asparagus Egg & Bacon Salad from SkinnyTaste
  2. Once again, SUPER easy to make and keeps well so you don’t have to cook every night. Left-overs are great! Easy Chicken Gyros from Creme De La Crumb 
  3. Yes, I made these for Memorial Day because they were red, white and blue but they were a wonderful treat. They satisfy your sweet tooth without being a big involved treat. Red White & Blue Strawberry Cheesecake Bites from The Kitchen is My Playground 
  4. This is a great recipe if you like dill in your potato salad. I did add green onions to the mixture and on the top plus I used more salt and pepper. I hate it when the potatoes suck all of the seasoning out of the dish by the next day. Dill Potato Salad from Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen 
  5. This is a great summer treat that feels indulgent without being chocolate. Lemonies from I Sing in the Kitchen 

It’s All Worth it if the Kids are Having Fun

/ jennced15 / 1 Comment

This week I have been thinking a lot about summer vacations when I was a kid. My parents really went above and beyond to ensure we did fun things, but I am not sure if we as kid really understood the sacrifice that went into those vacations. So here are 5 things that I am grateful to my parents for as an adult.

  1. Camping: We camped a lot as kids and one trip I remember in particular had all of us kids throwing up in the tent one night. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience and it required a deep cleaning the next morning and a trip into town with sleeping bags to the local laundromat. But I don’t remember my parents complaining and later that day we continued on camping like nothing had happened.
  2. Disneyland: Seriously need to give a HUGE shout out to my parents for being willing to plunk down the cash for this exorbitantly priced theme park. Make no mistake; we LOVE Disneyland but the amount of money it takes to get in, purchase food, and a memento to take home at the end of the day is a little on the ridiculous side of spending.
  3. Beach Trips: Yes, we could just show up at the beach with a towel and call it good. In fact, that is how I do the beach as an adult but my parents were too nice and they thought of and brought everything. We would lug down to the water a cooler with food and drinks, blankets to sit on when our towels were wet, shade in the form of an umbrella or canopy so we could stay ALL day, plus toys to play with in the sand when we were worn out from the surf. I realized my dad was a pretty strong “pack horse” after these excursions.
  4. National Parks: I grew up in Southern California and was very fortunate to live near some national parks but there were MANY summers that we spent in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. That required a 16 hour drive each way and many hotel reservations not to mention all of the reservations my parents had to make when in the parks to ensure we had places to stay or camp. Then there were the reservations for outdoor recreational activities like renting boats and horses. (Please keep in mind that my first real memory of this kind of trip was when I was 9—I am the oldest of 4 kids). I think my parents are pretty much superheroes.
  5. Weekend Getaways: Yes, my father and mother would work 12-16 hours day for 5 days, drive home, load up the car (including the family) and then drive that night so we could spend a 3 day weekend in some awesome city like San Francisco. I am here to tell you that as an adult, I really dread leaving for trips when I have been crazy busy at work all week.

Make sure you thank your parents if you have spent any summer doing something fun without much thought to the time and resources it took for them to provide the entertainment.