Baked Potato Bites

I was craving a loaded baked potato the other day but didn't want to eat a whole one, so I decided to make "bite sized loaded baked potatoes". I was all proud of myself until Devin pointed out that they are essentially a smaller, healthier version of "Loaded Potato Skins" that you can get at many sports bars across America. 😂 Hahaha, whoops! So much for being innovative! Regardless, I liked the fact that I could have a smaller and healthier version, that wasn't super greasy. If that sounds like something you'd like too, the recipe is below!

What's Up Wednesday

Hi friends! I am looking forward to catching up with all of you today... this mama needs a little more social interaction-- even if it's through the internet!! I've had a couple Zoom Happy Hours with friends and they're a fun way to catch up with everyone while still staying at home. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it!!

Now, on to What's Up Wednesday...

What We're Eating: Umm... does "everything in sight" count as an answer for this?! The bad thing about being home all day every day, is that we keep finding ourselves eating all day every day. Devin and I keep joking that by the end of this we will have gained the "Quarantine 15". In all seriousness though, we have been trying to eat as much take out as possible from some of our favorite local restaurants. We all know what a difficult time this is for the restaurant industry so we are trying to do our part to help support our favorite places.

What I'm Reminiscing About: Not to be Debbie Downer, but I've been reminiscing a lot about being able to go places without thinking twice about it. I didn't realize how much you take things like running errands for granted, until you can't do them anymore.

What I'm Loving: I honestly am loving all this good quality family time we are getting right now! 

Our New Brick Paver Patio

Good morning friends! I know we have all been hoping and praying for the end of this to be in sight. Praying for our healthcare workers, praying for our government (and the governments of other countries) to find an answer to how to stop this, and of course praying for the people who have been infected or who have family members who've been infected. It feels so weird to be writing a post about "normal life", but at the same time, I find myself needing something that isn't a discussion on this virus. Last week I found myself getting consumed by the news and felt it was having a noticeable effect on my overall attitude and demeanor. By no means am I trying to "pretend this doesn't exist", but I do need to try to find a balance of normal life again.

Over the weekend we got to knocking a big project off our to-do list: a new brick patio. Our patio in our backyard is one of the places we spend most of our time. We play with chalk out here, do art on this patio, play with the kids water table/water toys, etc. It's also a great place to sit with a cup of coffee in the morning and listen to the birds sing while the kiddos aren't up yet. The one problem with it? It was made of concrete and kind of an eyesore. 

Devin and I first bought this house when we were newlyweds and as many of you know, newlyweds aren't typically swimming in a whole bunch of cash. We were fortunate enough to buy a big house in a wonderful area of Charlotte, but in order for that house to be in our price range... it came with some things that were less than ideal. It would've been a great house for Chip and Joanna Gaines to come in and "Fixer Upper" for us 😀. Over the past 6 years we have been chipping away at some of the projects but still have quite a lengthy to-do list. One of the few benefits of being quarantined for weeks on end is that we HAVE to be home, with a lot of time on our hands. Meaning, it's time to check off some projects on the to do list! Several Youtube tutorials, articles, and a friend who's done this before (multiple times!) led us to believe we could tackle building our brick paver patio... so we did!

What I've Been Priming For Our Isolation

Hey All, I'm assuming most of you are in the same boat as I am: stuck at home and already wondering how many more days we have to do this. We aren't supposed to go out of our homes, but there are some things that we can do in-home that can make our self-quarantine easier. 

If your kiddos are anything like Lily Grace, they are struggling with this isolation. Lily Grace is almost 3, very energetic and a social butterfly. She has asked daily "when can I go back to school/church/swim class/the YMCA/etc.?" I'm trying so hard to remember that while us adults are having anxiety about all of this, so are our kids, even the really young ones. LG may not understand WHY we can't go out, but her routine and the structure she so desperately craves is gone, and it's doing a number on her. 

That being said, the rules are the rules for a reason. I completely understand why we are staying at home for the unforeseeable future and we are doing our best to make this situation as bearable as possible. We are trying to stay busy, and keep things around the house light and fun. Here are a couple things we have bought on Amazon to help us fill up the endless amounts of time we have:

Manchego, Roasted Garlic, and Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

Good morning friends! Today I am sharing just one of the super quick and easy healthy recipes I whipped up recently. I use this prepackaged seasoning mix in order to make things simpler. You can pick this up on Amazon, or from World Market, Walmart, or other stores. I promise you that once you taste this seasoning mix, you'll be buying it in bulk! I grabbed 4 packets the last time I was at World Market 😀

Here's What You'll Need:

1/2 pound of fresh green beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 packet of Manchego and Roasted Garlic Seasoning

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine green beans, olive oil, seasoning mix, and one tablespoon on Parmesan cheese. Mix until seasoning evenly coats all green beans.

3. Spread green beans onto an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and top with additional two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, stopping halfway through to stir green beans.

Since we bought a giant bag of Costco green beans I think we will be having these a few times this week... I'm not mad about it, they're delicious and easy!

See you tomorrow 😀