Bread with the Brisels

  It's Friday! Today I'm linking up with  Andrea  and  Erika  to share some Friday Favorites from the week.  It's Homecoming week in my town, so we've had a super fun week at my school! Our town does a Homecoming parade each year on Thursday before the game. I walked in the parade with my school staff while wearing Jack in the baby wrap, while Dustin and Sammy watched. Sammy wore Dustin's high school jersey for the festivities.  I wish I could tell that high school girl that 15 years later their son would be wearing that jersey for Homecoming. 😉 This pictures melts my heart. He has such admiration for the "Newton Cardinal Football players."  It's soccer season! The "Hurricanes" [AKA Sammy's team] play a game each Saturday. I love watching him play! Dustin is coaching them and equates it to "herding cats." haha! Sammy requested spaghetti this week for dinner and was thrilled when it was finally spaghetti night. He promptly ate a

I tell you what, I should include Amazon on my gratitude list just about daily. It seems I am ordering something from Amazon at least weekly, and they've helped me out when I've needed something quick.  We are spoiled [and lucky] to live in a time of convenience!  I went to my Amazon account and looked up the last five items I ordered. Here we go! I ordered these pillow inserts  for some new pillows to sit on our outdoor rocking chairs. Do you know the pillow insert trick? Always order your inserts a size bigger than your covers. Your pillows will fill out the covers a little nicer this way!  These are the  pillow covers I purchased. They were reasonably priced and the material has a nice texture to it. Perfect for my porch!  We use this  soap for washing my pump parts and baby bottles.  I ordered this sweatshirt  when it was a Lightening Deal. I think I paid $16 for it?! I don't like the color as much as I thought I might, but I liked it enough to keep it. I like to chan

  Happy Wednesday! Guys...where in the world did September go? I think I blinked and it's over! Today I'm so excited to be linking up with  Sheaffer  and  Shay  and sharing a little bit of what's going on right now.  What I'm Eating... This time of year is tricky for me. I very much want to enjoy cozier meals, but it seems very odd to enjoy a bowl of chili when it's above 80 degrees outside. Maybe next week it will cool down?! Sunday: We went to Fall Fest at our church and ate walking tacos Monday: We had Italian chicken sausages and roasted vegetables with a side of Trader Joe's pumpkin ravioli. Yes, please! Tuesday: We grilled burgers and had salad on the side. Wednesday: I plan to pull a lasagna out of the freezer that I made a few weeks ago, which we'll probably enjoy with a salad.  What I'm reminiscing about... This week in 2020, my husband Dustin left for the police academy. He was there Monday-Friday for TWELVE LONG weeks, and my Amazon Photo memo

Raise your hand if you love a crockpot meal! I LOVE a crockpot meal year round, but especially during the busy season of back to school. Nothing beats the feeling of walking into your home after a long day and dinner is simmering away in your crockpot. This is an easy recipe for Italian beef. We like to shred it up and serve it on a crusty roll with provolone cheese. If you don't like pepperoncini or giardiniera, feel free to serve without.  Crockpot Italian Beef Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 hours Ingredients: 1 pot roast (I used a 2lb boneless petite pot roast) 1 Italian Dressing seasoning mix  1/2 16-ounce jar of pepperoncini peppers, plus juices 1/2 16-ounce jar of giardiniera, drained Beef broth Ciabatta rolls Provolone cheese Directions: Turn your crockpot to low, and add in your pot roast. Top with Italian dressing seasoning mix, pepperoncini peppers + juice, and drained giardiniera.  Add beef broth until it covers 2/3 of your pot roast.  Cook on low for 10

I've been back to work for a full week and can remember why Friday evenings are typically "pizza and movie nights" for our family. Haha! I'm READY for the weekend! I'm linking up with  Andrea and  Erika to share some of my favorites from the week. Here we go! My tired eyes are so thankful for this magic brightening stick. I think I put on makeup less than 10 times from the months of June-August, so it's been a change getting myself out the door in the mornings. Haha! I put a swipe of this brightening stick  underneath my under eye concealer and it seems to wake my eyes up. It doesn't tingle, it's not creamy, it's very similar to a concealer stick in consistency, but plus some skincare. Love! The beginning of the week felt hectic figuring out our morning routine. I am a routine girlie, and thrive on it. I told myself that by Friday we would have a solid routine figured out, and that's totally true. I was able to fit in consistent workouts this

There's not much I love more than a run to Trader Joe's during the months of September, October, November and December. I took  a trip to Trader Joe's to stock up on our favorite fall items and wanted to share my haul. Basically the name of the game was "if it has the words apple or pumpkin  on it, it goes it the cart. Haha! Here are some of the items we picked up: Trader Joe's has a really delicious maple syrup. I use it in a variety of recipes this time of year! These little cookies are quite delightful. They aren't overwhelmingly pumpkin  but they definitely have a pumpkin spice flavor.  Yes, yes, yes. I put some of this Honey Crisp Granola over their vanilla bean yogurt and loved it.  I tried this soup for the first time last year and was a huge fan. I love to divide the jar between two containers, and voila! Lunch is served for the next two days.  Now these donuts are yummy, but they aren't going to be able to compete with apple cider donuts purchased

Now that I'm back to work following maternity leave, that means that I am back to packing lunches. Womp womp - it's the least favorite part of my job. 😉 I thought I'd share a method and a recipe for packing lunches that works well for me, and helps me knock out the dreaded task of lunch packing in about 30 minutes, instead of packing a lunch each night. It also ensures that I have something wholesome for lunch instead of eating out, or eating something not as healthy.  Each week when I plan our grocery list, I include the ingredients for a salad each week. I want enough ingredients to make 4 salads that I'll eat (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). On Fridays, our secretary usually orders in lunch for us, which I often take advantage of. On this week I decided to make Autumn Apple salad, so here's the ingredients I needed to make sure I had on hand:  Ingredients:  1 bunch green leaf lettuce  1 package spring mix  1 large apple (I like honey crisp) 1/2 pound d