Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Chicken Fajita Salad

I love salads and I love burritos. So, I figured I would just mush them together!

The night before I made chicken fajitas in the crockpot based off this recipe here. It was easy to modify based on what I had in my pantry and my freezer. I used:

two chicken breasts
a bag of frozen sliced peppers and onions
a diced can of tomatoes
a little garlic powder
a little cumin
some salt
some pepper

Set the slow cooker on low for 6 hours and its good to go!


Now to the salad! It's so simple and easy, I'm eating this until I run out of leftover!

1. Crush some tortilla chips
2. Add some lettuce or greens of your choice
3. Add the leftover chicken fajitas
4. Add a little cheese
5. Of course, some salsa
6. And I had to add some sour cream!


Until next time,
Kandi


Moving Tips for Moving Yourself

It's been a while... Don't worry, I know.

I've been gone since we moved! We went from a tiny two bedroom, one bath, no yard, only a patio, less than 600 square foot duplex to a three bedroom, two bath, a garage, backyard and about 1500 square foot house.

Can you tell how excited we are?

I just wanted to share a few tips that made this move our easiest one yet!

Tip 1:
As you pack your boxes label them with the gist of the boxes and what room you are planning to unpack it. This was my biggest help! I labeled the boxes that had our mugs, plates, basic kitchen stuff, the clothes we need for work, etc. I was abled to unpack the kitchen in a few hours (not counting the organizing time). Get my point?

Tip 2:
As you are packing your place, clean as you go! This was such a help since we had one day to move and one day to clean/return the keys. As I packed up a room I would dust the walls, clean the baseboards, the window seals, sweep and mop the floor. This was so incredibly helpful because once the house was completely empty it only needed one more good wipe down! Talk about a life saver!

Tip 3:
Take your time. This goes for pack and unpacking; at least take as much time as you can. I focused on the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and the living room, in that order. I started on the needed living spaces and worries about the less used spaces last.

I hope these tips can help someone else!

Until next time,
Kandi

Sunday, January 3, 2016

A New Year: 2016 Resolutions and Goals


It's 2016. A brand new year. This year will be filled with changes for our little family. We are starting off the year with moving into a bigger place and than off for vacation! My husband (hopefully) won't be deploying this year and we can spend all the holidays together (which never happens). 

Who all know's what all will happen. I try to plan and go with the flow - 50/50. 

So here's my resolutions and goals for this year. Nothing too crazy, but what I would like to improve on, try, discover, push myself, and grow with:

  • Drink less coffee and soda: I love my caffeine. There's no secret in that. I've always been dependent on caffeine, I rely heavily on my morning coffee. I'm slowly trying to change that. My ultimate goal is one cup a day. I know that will take time... 
  • Drink more water: I can go days where I drink so much water I'm bloated. And then there are days I don't drink much at all. My goal is to drink at least 64oz of water a day. I have a reusable water cup that holds 32oz, so that won't be hard to accomplish... I just need to remember less coffee, more water.
  • Work out 3-4 times a week: I think this is my goal every year. Whether it's a workout video, a class, a gym session, yoga, a walk, or hiking, I want to work out at least 3 times, shooting for 4, days a week. I have a little weight I would like to loose but I mainly want to tone up my body.
  • Healthier diet: When my husband is gone for long periods of time I eat really healthy because it's just me. I can eat chicken and veggies for every meal for weeks. He's not a fan of that. When he's home I some how throw everything out the window, and I have no idea why! He is blessed with a fast metabolism, I am not. So, it's back to portioning and balanced meals. And not skipping breakfast.
  • Eat out less: This goes with a healthier diet. When we are home I don't think about cheeseburgers and cake all the time. But when I scan a menu and see those things, well I want them. Eating out less also helps save money and not waste food.
  • Discover new recipes: I love to cook. That has sorta fallen off my bandwagon these last few month and I would like to get back to that. My goal is to cook one new recipe a week and add it to my recipe binder. I'll see what's a hit and what doesn't work out so well. Look out for those on the blog!
  • Watch the sweets: I have a big sweet tooth and that's not too good for the backside. I don't want to completely cut it out, because there's no way I can have that self control. Once again, it's all about control.
  • Planner: I like to plan. I always have. I am such a researcher and planner. Over the past year I have gotten into using a daily planner as half functional, half scrapbooking. I like looking back to see what we did weeks or months ago. Plus I get more done when I can plan my day. I have three potential planners to use over the year, so I'm curious what I liked come December. 
  • Blog: I used to keep a blog, I did for many years. Then one day I deleted all of the content. I went on to make YouTube videos for a few years recently stop this past October. I just wasn't feeling it anymore. But then I missed having a place for my thoughts, and I remembered this place. I've enjoyed having a place for my thoughts this past month and want to keep it up. This blog will be a mix of everything I enjoy: make up, beauty, planners, my thoughts, ramblings, recipes, updates, and who know's what else. This is my little bubble of the internet. I'm ready to see where we end up.
  • Work: I'm going to lie, I have no idea what I want to say here. Last February I quit my full time job and now I'm still figuring out what I want to do. Lately I have been enjoying working with kids and I'm going to do just that for a while longer. Some days I miss the structure of having a 8-5 job, but I do not miss the stress and frustration that came with it. I really want to work on finding a job that I can make a career and hopefully do that from home.
  • Advocare: I am a distributor for Advocare. I love their products. I love that the company helps aid a healthy, active lifestyle. I did the 24 Day Chanllenge and saw amazing results. Then I just stopped... for no reason. I want to get back to using their products (and my husband, too) and also spread the word about how amazing this company is.
  • Organize the house: Once we move in the new house I want go room by room and organize the heck out of it. I want to go through the boxes we always stash away and donate unwanted things; Sell new or lightly used things; And just get rid of what we don't need.
  • Read more books: I used to listen to audiobooks while I was stuck at a desk and read book at night to relax. Well, I just want to get back into that habit. I miss letting my mind wander into new lands and dreaming about things I could never imagine.
  • Listen to podcasts: When I would travel long distances for work I would discover new things. Listen to stories and advice. I miss that. I'm ready to open my mind and learn new things. 
  • Grow with my husband: This will be this first year that we get to spend almost all of it together. He's usually gone up to six months (or more) for work. We have always been dependent on communiation, but i'm excited to see what all we can accomplish together. I'm excited to grow with him on adventures and unknown challenges. This year we will be married for two years and together for four. I'm ready to make memories with him.
  • Trips: I want to get out and explore. See new things and new places. Drive till we can't anymore and spend nights out under the stars. I want to visit national parks (it's the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service this year). I want to see whatever may come our way.
  • Off-roading: My husband and I both have jeeps and I want to push them to the limit. Well his more than mine. He has a Wrangler that we love to take off-roading and I have a Cherokee that we take for lighter off-roading. We plan to take weekend trips and see new things and have fun together. He's got plans to fix up the jeeps to be even cooler. So stay tuned for that.
  • Savings and spending: Like lots of others, we try to save what we can and not spent more than we should. We budget the best we can and learn as we go. We are only in out mid-twenties so I try not to be too hard on us. Life happens and we just try to be a prepared as we can.
  • Spoil Zero: Zero is our Husky/Border Collie mix who is incredibly spoiled. He will be two this February and I just love seeing him grow. He's a great dog with a lot of attitude (you won't guess where he got that) and smarter than he lets on. Don't worry, this blog will be spammed with pictures of him soon.
Well, as far as I can tell or think of, these are my resolutions and goals for this year. I guess I'll have to look back on this come December and see what all I've accomplished.

Here's to a new year and all thats to come!

Until next time,
Kandi