getting outside for some fresh air!

Our Sunday started with breakfast on the deck. 

Gary and I worked in the yard and then we put up the trampoline!

The kids were so excited!  The trampoline has been with us in every backyard in every state!  It has traveled from Texas to Ohio and now Georgia!  We have tons of memories with our fun trampoline.  We plan to replace the spring cover, but all in all even through all the moves it's heald up well.  

Jump!  Jump!

fun new foods!

Look at all the goodies I got at the Buford Highway Farmers Market yesterday!

I met a new friend and you will never believe it.  She's a personal chef.  I'm such a foodie and a wanna be, but she's the real deal y'all.  She's fun!  Soooo, anyway, at Hayden's soccer game we were chatting and she mentioned this fun farmers market across town, so we went!  

It was so cool and I was almost as overwhelmed as I get when I step foot into HomeGoods.  You know where you have a plan and you know what you want and then you get so distracted by all the goodies you can't even think.  Yea, that is what happened to me.  It was so much fun!

Look at these little spikey fruit balls.

Have you heard of Rambutan?  I bought a few and they are tasty little treats.

They grow in bunches on a tree in tropical regions of Southeast Asia.  They have a pit, but we just ate around it like a peach.  Yummy!

Look at my pretty white eggplant!  I'm so excited about them.

I got Hayden an apple the size of his face and I got Layla a few pears.  She said it was the best pair she'd ever had!

I know it's hard to tell in this picture, but I also got tuna steaks.  Our family loves thick tuna steaks on the grill!  

There were tons of interesting foods all around.  There were foods I'd never heard of.  We saw chicken feet and the picture above is ox pizzle.  Google that.  Or don't.

What a fun day and now I have some fun new things to snack on and find recipes for!

single sentence Sunday ~ BIB

My little chefs had the great idea to cook daddy breakfast in bed this morning!!

spring soccer is in full swing

These two munchkins had their first soccer games today!

They each had one practice due to the snow and rain we've had, but both of their teams played great.  I was impressed with their ability to work together even though they all just met.

Layla's team won and she played great!  She ran her heart out and I am so proud of her.

Hayden's team won their game also.  He scored 2 goals!  

He looks ready to play in this picture huh?!?!

Hayden looks so tall this season.

I love seeing Layla back out on the field with that pony tail swinging!

chicken tortilla soup

I love Chic Fil A's chicken tortilla soup and I think I could eat it every single day! 

 As with most recipes I fall in love with I try to duplicate them at home in my own kitchen.  It was a fun task and I was happy with the results.  I love all the beans and shredded chicken in the soup.  I'm not usually a chicken fan especially shredded, but I loved the way this soup turned out and I didn't even have an aversion to the shredded chicken.  Each bite was full of chicken and the perfect amount of spice and flavor.

I looked on Pinterest for ideas and browsed a few recipes, but I didn't have the ingredients for most of the recipes I found.  

Here is what I came up with what I had on hand:  

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded with two forks

1 can yellow or white corn 

1 can of black beans drained

   (I don't like the color they add to food so I always drain them.)

1 can white (cannellini) beans 

2 cups of milk

2 cans of low sodium chicken broth, I used the broth from cooking the chicken breast

(more if you like it more soupy.  I wanted a 'stoup' consistency.)

1 cup of saffron rice or whatever rice you want 

(you can omit this, but I used the rice to thicken the soup and I had it leftover in the fridge)

3 tablespoons of taco seasoning

2 tablespoons of Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning with cumin

cumin 

(just sprinkle and taste, sprinkle and taste.  I like A. LOT.)

Cayenne pepper 

(I wanted it hot.  I didn't have green chilies or Rotel on hand so I spiced it up quite a bit with all the seasonings including cayenne)

salt and pepper

I usually add sauteed garlic and onion to everything I cook, but this time I didn't.  Shocker huh?!?  You can add them if you like, and maybe some chopped and sauteed red pepper would be good, but this time I skipped it.

I started with the broth and veggies and just started pouring the ingredients into a dutch oven on the stove top.  I added the chicken last and then added the spices.  The soup sat on the stove and hung out for 2.5 hours simmering.  As it simmered I tasted it and added more spices to please my taste buds.  I added more milk to make it look and taste more creamy.  I also added the cayenne and didn't measure it, so I can't give you an exact measurement.  I will say Gary and I like our soup spicy and the kids didn't eat a bowl, so it was caliente.  We like spice!

I was lucky we had a snow day so I had time to baby this soup.  If  you want to you could throw it all in the slow cooker.  Dinners are always easier in the slow cooker.

Let me know what you think if you make it!

a little Sunday workout talk

Sometimes I update y'all on Instagram, and other times I don't.  Maybe I should stay consistent with posting all that stuff, but I'm not an all up in your face kinda person.

When I added these numbers up just playing around I thought it all sounded pretty neat-o.

I burned 2,497 calories 5 days and it only took 6 hours of my week.

The white watch-thing in the pictures is my heart rate monitor.  It has a chest strap that counts every single heart beat while I workout.  The top number on my watch in this setting shows calories burned.  The middle number shows calories burned percentage that goes toward body fat burn.  (I honestly don't pay attention to that number much).  And the bottom number is the length of time I worked out.

I found a fun and challenging arm workout on Pinterest and it is amazing.  It's working, so that is double amazing.  Each day I put on my Polar FT40 heart rate monitor and get down to the basement.  I try to do about 20-45 minutes of cardio, sometimes less.   I always plank and do the arm workout.  I started the arm workout as an experiment and I'm glad I did.  I'm planning to go pin a few more workouts and experiment with them too.  I usually throw in an ab workout or squats and lunges too.

I realized I don't need a gym or an expensive workout plan.  I don't need to spend money on videos, bu they can be fun.  I just need to stick to having fun and that proves to me that I can do whatever I want with work and dedication.  I'm hoping that adding more protein to my diet will also help with my fitness habit!

I love when the kids come down to the basement with me and play around.  They love it and I love being a good example for them, but I think I'd workout anyway because I like it!   Sometimes I miss working out in a gym setting.  I miss the social aspect of it all, but knowing I can do workouts at home and still see results, and that is very rewarding to me!

For me it's about the push ups.  Ahhhh those push ups!