Sheet Pan Dinners

I made three different sheet pan dinners this week from recipes I found on Pinterest.  I have been desperate to mix up our dinners and found a link for simple and delicious sheet pan dinners.  Simple and delicious are pretty much the highlight of my dinner-making-repertoire and so I picked three dinners that I hoped my family would enjoy.  

Monday night, I made this Sheet Pan Chili Lime Salmon

I substituted the variety of peppers and just used green peppers and onion.

I served with a side of rice.  

I really liked the entire dinner!  The girls enjoyed the fish, Caroline likes rice and Elizabeth does not.

They both tried the vegetables but didn't love them.  Ben said he enjoyed the meal 

(he isn't a huge salmon fan, but ate it for me).

Tuesday night I was supposed to make the sheet pan teriyaki chicken with vegetables, but Caroline ended up in the after-hours Kaiser emergency clinic, so we ate fast-food.

Wednesday night I did get to make the sheet pan teriyaki chicken with vegetables and it was yummy!

I forgot to take a sheet pan picture, so please enjoy my dinner plate picture. :)

I altered the recipe a little and used carrots, green pepper, and broccoli as my vegetables.

I also made a side of macaroni and cheese "for the kids".

Everyone enjoyed the chicken and macaroni.  Ben and I enjoyed the vegetables, and the girls ate a few of them (because they have to).

Thursday night I made the Sheet Pan Steak and Vegetables.

Again, I altered the recipe (for the veggies) a bit and used asparagus and potatoes.

Everyone LOVED this meal but Caroline, and I am guessing that was because she was sick. 

Ben declared it his favorite meal of the three new dinners.

Dinner plate pic :)

So a little takeaway from my dinner night experiment:

I bought all the vegetables at Aldi on Monday and they stayed fresh all week.

The fish I bought at BJs on Monday along with a 10-pound bag of frozen chicken breasts.

I bought the steak on Thursday morning at the grocery store.

I'm funny about fish and steak and want it to be extremely fresh.

Chicken, turkey, pork doesn't bother me if it is frozen (I know, I'm weird).

ALL of the meals were extremely easy and did not take long to make.

If I didn't have an ingredient, I either substituted it or just skipped it 

(like rice wine vinegar for the chicken, I didn't have it and didn't add anything else)  

Hope you enjoyed the post and maybe got a new idea for dinner.

Below is the lunch I made most of the week:

I blogged earlier this week about working on my overall health and fitness.

I eat a turkey sandwich most days for lunch.

I decided to "add some jazz" to it this week.

I toasted the bread, then spread hummus on one slice.

I added spinach, cucumber, and tomato to my turkey.

For my sides, I cut up a few strawberries and had a bag of pre-cut apple slices.

If I was still hungry or wanted something crunchy, I had some goldfish.

All the vegetables I grabbed at Aldi and the fruit came from BJs.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Friday y'all!

Life lately

Life lately has been a lot of our favorite things on repeat.  Caroline loves target, the girls love to snuggle, and I am loving my fresh hair. :)  Here is a look at life lately:

Fact:
Caroline's favorite store is Target.

Caroline's favorite things at Target are the toys and the dog.

I was in desperate need of a haircut and highlight!

Highlights first.

Haircut (and diet coke) second.
I cut about three inches off.

Yay for fresh hair!!

I took the girls to an early movie one day and they saw the poster for Incredibles 2.

The Incredibles is their favorite movie and they are beyond excited 

(meaning they ask me daily) for the sequel!

Sometimes, you just need a margarita

Caroline gave up naps around Christmas, boo...

But, if we run errands in the afternoon, she almost always falls asleep :)

Isn't she so cute??

Ben was at the office, so I took the girls to Bob Evans for kids eat free night.

Pancakes for dinner, yes please!

I mean, she is just the cutest!!😍😍😍

This was Thursday night before I flew to Florida on Friday morning.

Caroline was sad that I was leaving, Elizabeth loves to smile for a picture :)

 

Love my people BIG TIME!

It was time to get them ready for bed, but they decided to lay on Dad.

The love snuggling and climbing all over him.

Or you know, just laying all over each other :)

And two more car nap photos to end our post!

Happy Thursday y'all!

What's Up Wednesday!

I'm linking up today for What's Up Wednesday to share what we've 

been up to for the past few weeks.

 

What we're eating this week:

I'm doing all sheet tray meals this week, here's what's on the menu-

Monday-  Sheet Pan Chili Lime Salmon with peppers and onions (I also made rice)

Tuesday- We ended up eating out because of Caroline's emergency doctor's appointment

Wednesday- Teriyaki Chicken with carrots and broccoli

Thursday- Sheet pan steak with potatoes and asparagus 

Friday- Homemade pizza

(Monday, Wednesday, and Friday dinners on Pinterest)

What I'm reminiscing about:

Being in Florida.

It's cold.

It's raining.

And my baby is sick.

Please take me back to Florida.

What I'm loving:

That May is almost here!

Wedding anniversary

Mother's Day

Camping

Lots of LOVE is coming in May!

What we've been up to:

Playing at the house, girl scouts, t-ball, swim lessons, working out, and traveling.

We have been doing it all and loving all of it!

 Caroline is very into blocks right now.

We probably spend an hour every day making towers, 

buildings, and anything else we can think of.

 Both girls are doing swim lessons right now.

They have two weeks left and I am excited to have our Thursday nights back!

 We've been hitting the gym every day and I am loving the sauna!

I stay in for about 10 minutes and it has really helped with my asthma and allergies.

Elizabeth is working on her second season of t-ball.

She LOVES it and we love watching her!

What I'm dreading:

Nothing!

What I'm working on:

My health, my diet, and my exercise regime.

I am trying to be healthier for myself and my family and I have been working on eating more fresh foods, cooking at home, and adding more fruits and vegetables to my diet.

 Caroline and I split a home-made smoothie every day.

 The salmon I made for dinner on Monday

What I'm excited about:

My wedding anniversary with Ben!

We are going away for the night and I am super excited!!

What I'm watching/reading:

All. the. shows.

Scandal, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Lethal Weapon, LA to Vegas, New Girl, Designated Survivor, Blackish, Gotham, Agents of Shield, Seal Team, The Arrangement, The Good Place, The Royals, and This is Us

I've also read two Elin Hilderbrand books: Winter Storms and The Identicals.

Both are good and classic Hilderbrand!

What I'm listening to:

Anything on the radio

What I'm wearing:

Jeans or Cords with long-sleeve tops

OR

All the gym clothes :)

  

What I'm doing this weekend:

Celebrating my nephew turning two!

What I'm looking forward to next month:

Our wedding anniversary get-away!!

 

Girl's weekend in Florida!

A few weeks ago, I headed down to Amelia Island, Florida to meet up with two of my favorite college friends- Dana and Stacy!  They drove down from South Carolina and we spent the entire weekend enjoying the beach, the pool, cocktails, food, and lots of relaxing, talking, and sleeping in.

 Friday morning, champagne on the flight down to get the girls weekend started right!

 After I landed, I went for a quick run and then ran by the beach.

On Amelia Island, you can drive your car onto the beach.

I had never seen this and it was fun to watch.

 After my run, I took a quick shower and changed.  

As soon as I changed, Dana and Stacy knocked on the door of our hotel room!

We unpacked and then headed straight to Sliders for lunch on the beach!!

 After lunch, we walked on the beach (it was a tad windy)

 

 After the beach, we headed to the pool (where it wasn't windy)

  

 Cocktails at the pool

After the pool, we headed out to get pedicures.

It was prom weekend so we had to wait awhile, the staff treated us to some wine while we waited!!

 Dana's first pedicure!

  Wine and pedicures- yes!!

 This is Stacy relaxed :)

 Friday night we went to Pepper's Mexican and Tequila Bar

 This margarita was as big as my head

 Waiting for dinner and enjoying our margaritas!

 My dinner was soooo good!

 Shrimp tacos for the win!

(I ate seafood at every meal) :)

 After dinner we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the fire pit.

 Blurry photo by the fire pit!

We stayed up late, enjoyed cocktails, and had a blast Friday night.

 Friday afternoon we reserved chairs and an umbrella for Saturday.

We went down to the beach Saturday morning and it was all set-up for us!

 Stacy got in her work-out for the day by carrying our cocktails to the beach.

 

 We had a late lunch on Saturday, we went back to Sliders.

 

 Lobster roll was yummy!

 More live music

 And key lime pie for dessert!

 

 One last group selfie on the beach at the end of the day

Saturday night we went out for a late dinner at the Salty Pelican.

It was a 90-minute wait, so we walked around and shopped.

We ordered several appetizers to share, but our favorite was the giant pretzel!

 

 Saturday night we stayed up late (again) and enjoyed our last evening on the island.

Sunday morning we went to a relaxing outdoor brunch and then headed to the airport.

On our way to the airport, Stacy and Dana took me by Publix to grab a Publix sub.

We don't have Publix in DC and they make the best sandwiches 

(I always get one when I'm on a trip down south)

This is my I'm-so-happy-I-have-a-Publix-sub face :)

My flight was delayed a few hours because of bad weather, so I made it home a few hours late.

It was a great weekend and we have already planned our 2019 trip!

Thank you Dana and Stacy for a fun, relaxing weekend.

Thank you Ben, Jeff, Paul, and Gin-g for keeping the kids so we could score a weekend away.

Happy Tuesday y'all!