{WHW}: Recipe'ing

Happy Wednesday, friends!

As promised, I'm sharing the super super easy and reeeeeally tasty meal that MG made last week from Damn Delicious.

Originally the recipe was for beef and broccoli, but we changed to chicken because I'm not as big a fan of beef. So, choose to do whichever you'd prefer (and know that it works for both).

What You Need (it looks like a lot, but it's mainly things for the sauce, that you probably have on hand if you've made any Asian dishes before):

~2/3 C soy sauce (we do reduced sodium)

~1/2 C chicken stock

~1/4 C honey

~2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

~2 Tbsp brown sugar

~1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 3 cloves)

~1 Tbsp sesame oil

~1 Tbsp corn starch

~1 tsp Sriracha

~1 tsp ground ginger

~1/4 C water

~1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (*we left this out so that Ella could eat it without it being too spicy)

~1 Tbsp olive oil

~1 lb chicken breast cut into chunks (or flank steak thinly sliced)

~1 head fresh broccoli, cut into florets

What You Do:

1. Mix all of the ingredients from above through the red pepper flakes (if you're using them) in a medium bowl for the sauce ( soy sauce, chicken stock, honey, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, minced garlic, sesame oil, corn starch, Sriracha, ground ginger, water, red pepper flakes). Set aside.

2. In a skillet, add the olive oil over medium high heat. Add in the chicken (or beef) and cook through.

3. Add in the broccoli and the sauce you mixed. Stir until it thickens and the broccoli softens some. We cooked ours longer so that it would be easier for Ella to eat, as opposed to typical Asian dishes where the broccoli is a little more crisp.

4. Serve it however you like. We did ours over brown rice and the sauce just soaked into it all and made it delicious! 

This made 4 meals for us, with some to share with the kiddo. I didn't take a pic of the finished product in the bowl, with rice, because I ate it too quickly! Oops!

Super quick (about 15 minutes) and incredibly tasty, for the win!

Link up with Jessi and I below and share what's hap-"pinning", or cooking, with you!

Weekly Wins

Happy Friday! It's been a quick week here with a long weekend and some snow day/delays--but there's still been some wins and it's been a bit since I counted up the wins.

~a 2 1/2 day work week, which included a family snow day at home since the govt was closed in DC as well. Family snow days are the best!

~took advantage of the snow day at home to organize Ella's room, pack away old clothes, put stuff away in the attic, and get another donation pile ready! (And have a quick trip to ChikFilA because YUM!)

~feeling like parenting hasn't been very hard this week. I'll probably bite my tongue real soon on that, but Ella's been so fun and happy go lucky recently, which is a nice change from some of the toddler mood swings that were happening frequently in the past weeks

~making an investment in health this week, buying our new exercise bike, which comes today. Looking to get a ride or two in this weekend to get back on the horse--or bike :)

~my FIL booked a cabin in the Poconos for the family next month for a long weekend as a surprise for everyone. Looks like I'll be trying skiing for the first time and lots of time with the fam :)

~getting to see my mom on Monday, and watching Ella get SO excited when she heard that "grandma was coming"...and then the next two days hearing her say "gamma!" and look for her around the house

~finishing one book and starting another one that a friend lent me a while back. Sneaking in reading whenever I can get the chance!

~MG found a new recipe this week and cooked! And it was deeeeelicious (and super simple!) Will be sharing soon

Chicken and Broccoli (instead of Beef and Broc)

~good news on some test results

~a double date night on Saturday with a couple friend of ours--babysitter coming, and we're going out for some adult time! In addition to a meet up with some other friends of ours Saturday during the day--lots of fun stuff this weekend! :)

Hoping your week was full of wins, too!

{WHW}: Snowflakes are Falling

Happy Wednesday, lovies! I'm coming at you today from yet another snow day! Luckily this one was called last night around 5pm, so I knew nice and early that I'd have today off. Hoping MG will get one too, so we can have a nice family snow day together.
I'm getting way too used to all the delays and days off we've been having this year!

Eating....this week's menu consisted of Cheeseburger Soup, Tacos, Shrimp and Pesto Pasta, and Chicken and Broccoli (new recipe trial).

Drinking....Water. And coffee. Allllll the coffee.

Reading....I just finished Verity this past weekend--SO good! Now I'm trying to find a new book, and also reading a book about Toddler Discipline. Because that's the stage we're in ha

Dreading....a doctor's appointment next week with a hematologist. Just another step and appointment on this fertility journey!

Pissed about....getting pulled over for the first time and getting a damn ticket for the first time IN MY LIFE last week, on Valentine's Day, for driving into a bike lane to make a right. Didn't even know that wasn't something you can do. So now I get to go to court in March to fight the ticket or the points. Dude didn't even give me a warning! Not the kind of Valentine I was hoping for that day.

Loving....the love celebrations we had at home. We don't do big stuff for Valentine's Day which is totally fine. But MG brought home cake, and my favorite cheese. His dad always sends me flowers, and we had friends over Saturday for a belated Valentine's dinner.

Enjoying...when Ella's not under the weather and she's our fun adventurous little eater. This past weekend she tried ramen, edamame and shrimp dumplings and DEVOURED everything we gave her! 

Buying...clothes from the 70% off Loft sale (thanks Rachel for pointing that one out), an exercise bike for our house (arriving this week), and a new rug for our bedroom, arriving today! Clothes updates, room updates, body updates!

Heart Melting....over Ella's "yuh you"s. It's the cutest most heart-melty thing ever to hear your kid tell you they love you!

Watching....The Resident. All caught up to current season now and we're obsessed!

Tried....a new restaurant called Maggie McFly's that opened near us. It reminds me of Yardhouse (and is right down the road from ours). Got to try it out during a lunch date with my friend, without our kids! The garbage burger was SO good!

Link up with Jessi and I to share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

{WHW}: Dear Wednesday

Instead of Friday letters, I'm changing it up and doing some letters this Wednesday for WHW!

Dear Wednesday, you got here so much faster than normal since we had a teacher workday on Monday, and I'm grateful for it!

Dear Massage, I took advantage of having some free time in the afternoon on Monday and got a much needed massage. It was mediocre, but that was better than nothing. The worst part was that there was drilling going on outside of my massage room, so it wasn't the most relaxing. Way to go, Massage Envy.

Dear Allergic reaction, please stop. I've had it happen twice now that my eyelids have swollen due to some allergic reaction to something, yet I have NO IDEA what it is! One eyelid swells on top, and the other swells on the bottom. And it's happened after I've eaten food that I've always eaten before (and from two separate restaurants). Monday it happened after I ate leftovers of food that I had Saturday and didn't have any reaction to, so I'm at a total loss.

Dear doctors appointments, I'm over you. Between Ella having another ear infection (and follow up appointments), needing to schedule an ENT consult for her, and a ton of follow up appointments recommended by my fertility doctor, I'm just done. I'd love for everything to be normal and healthy so I could avoid all of these extra appointments, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon.

Dear pointless trainings, you suck. Without going into detail, I hate having work trainings that are a waste of time and meeting just to meet. Give me time to work, or let me stay at home and use my time productively!

Dear Manifest, you were good for the first few episodes, and after about 7, it got repetitive and meh. Moving on to The Resident and loving it!

Dear couch, why you gotta be so comfy around 9pm, making me want to cozy in and fall asleep? All. The. Time.

Dear Superbowl, borrrrrrrrring. Snoozefest. I stopped watching after the halftime show and watched Sister Wives on demand instead.

Dear weather, thanks for the mid 70 degree day which was quite the change after our single digit days (and negatives with windchill)! Those days did lend themselves to lots of mommy Ella time...and cute photos like this:

Dear bestie, so so happy I got to see you this weekend and shower you and baby C before her arrival! The next few weeks are gonna fly by and I can't wait to meet your little love! Like always, it's like no time passed at all between the last time I saw you, which I love. Hoping it's not so long til the next visit!

(Also, how cute are these handles that she got for her daughter's dresser/changing area? I'm obsessed!)

Link up with Jessi and I below and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

TBB Asks: Relationships

1. Who is your oldest friend/how did you meet?

    My oldest friend is Crystal and we met in 6th grade. She was new to the state and our school and it was just as we were starting middle school. I had my best friend Shannon at the time, and our middle school had two "teams" and Shannon and Crystal happened to be on the other team that I was so they became best friends and I disliked Crystal for "taking my friend". Cut to the next year and Crystal and I were on the same team, and then we became best friends and she's been in my life ever since! Gotta love middle school drama haha

2. Tell about your circle of support. Who are your people?

    My circle of support is really strong the older I've gotten because I've learned what healthy relationships are. I keep friends who invest in me as much as I've invested in them. A lot of my circle has become my mom friends who I lean on in those mom moments and I appreciate that help SO much. I've also been blessed to develop so many strong relationships with women from blogging--some I've met in person and others I haven't, but still talk to on the phone or text frequently. But I also have my long time friends who I know I can call on at a moment's notice and they'll be there to listen and help. I'm blessed to have my sister-in-laws to include in that list, too, as they've become two of my closest friends.

3. How did you meet your partner?

   On match.com. MG's initials on here stem from him being "Match Guy" when I initially talked about him on the blog and the nickname has stuck around here ever since! He was the one and only person I met on Match and I'd say it worked out pretty well for us :)

4. How is Valentine's Day celebrated in your home?

   Lately, it's pretty low key which is totally fine with me. I'm about quality time and we usually exchange a small gift or something, but have dinner together at home. My favorite part is the card and MG always delivers there! I keep all the cards MG has ever given me.

5. What is your love language?

   Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation

6. Do you prefer receiving flowers or chocolates?

   I'll take either. Flowers are always a nice way to brighten up a room so I love them, especially when they're "just because" flowers. And chocolate always tastes good, so I'll never complain if I get either one.

7. What is the most meaningful gift you have ever received or have given?

   This is hard to narrow down, but I'm thinking about most recently, I got a package delivered that I wasn't expecting around the holidays. And when I opened it, it was an ornament to memorialize the baby who we lost from miscarriage from my friends Lynn and Jess. I immediately teared up at the sentiment and the thoughtfulness of my two sweet friends, during such a tough time.