*Fun fact time* You didn't come here for a history lesson, but you're gonna learn today! Bento boxes have been around since the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) and were derived from farmers' seed boxes. They were popular because they were convenient and portable - which is still very much the case today. Below you will see 8 options for low calorie "bento" boxed lunches which require very little effort, which is how I roll. I hope you enjoy! Box 1 Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Box 5 Box 6 Box 7 Box 8 Please comment below with your favorite low calorie snack/lunch ideas!
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Microwaves. Great when they are clean. Super sucky when they aren't. No one wants a dirty microwave, but there is also never a line of people waiting at my microwave to clean it - myself included. In this post you will see my super easy, all natural way to clean a microwave. Here is my microwave. It certainly is NOT at its dirtiest, but it ain't clean either. There is ONE product needed to clean your microwave and it is the magical, all powerful: White Wine Vinegar Fill a microwave safe cup with vinegar and pop it into your microwave. Nuke that bad boy for 3 minutes and let the steam and vinegar sit in your microwave for 5 minutes afterward. While you wait, give the outside a little scrub down. Open the door and remove the plate and little plastic rotator with wheels. Scrub all the goo and gunk off of that microwave plate, which should come off pretty easily from the vinegar. Many times, this little doohicky goes unnoticed, but look at those yucky wheels! Now get to work on the inside. I use a paper towel and will keep the hot vinegar on the side to dip into when needed. You can also use a sponge. Make sure you get the top really well since that is where literally everything seems to go: straight up. Wipe down the sides and bottom, removing any debris from the ghosts of meals past. Be sure to clean in these little vents on the sides and top as well. Give the inside of the door a good scrub down. Replace the plastic plate turner along with the plate and you have yourself a nice, clean microwave until your husband decides to reheat spaghetti. Thanks for reading! -Jamie ![]() When I roll out of bed in the morning and drag myself into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee, there is always that day old coffee staring at me, judging me. I know what its thinking. "Look at you, wasting all this precious brown deliciousness. And you're about to do it again aren't you. Yeah you are. Shame.... Shame." Soooo I got to thinking and came up with ways to repurpose that leftover coffee. 1. Make Coffee Ice Cubes Rather than watering down your iced coffee with regular ice cubes, freeze yesterday’s coffee into cubes to use instead! You can also put a cube or two into your hot coffee to cool it down a bit faster or (as you will read later in this post) you can turn it into a coffee shake. 2. Iced Coffee When you turn off your pot, put the rest of the coffee in a hot/cold safe container in the refrigerator and have yourself in ice coffee later. The sooner you get the coffee into the fridge, the more you will preserve the taste and quality of the coffee. 3. Coffee Ice Cream Food.com has an awesome coffee ice cream recipe. 1 cup of heavy cream 1/3 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup of strong coffee, chilled In a medium bowl, whisk the cream and sugar until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture is frothy. Add the milk, vanilla and coffee. Whisk until blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Prepare the ice cream in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. There are ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker. Visit TasteOfHome.com to see their instructions. 4. Make Coffee Brownies Rather than using water, add in your leftover coffee for a light coffee taste to your "café mocha" brownies. 5. Make A Marinade The acidity in coffee is light which compliments steak well. Below is a marinade from Taste of Home. 6. Use Coffee In Your Hair I would not recommend using this with light colored hair, as coffee is a natural staining agent, but the caffeine in coffee can promote hair growth and stimulate follicles. Use up to 4 cups of coffee (depending upon your hair length) after shampooing and let those tiny little caffeine monsters go to work on your scalp! 7. Compost It Put the coffee ground AND the filter straight into your compost bin to help regulate the acidity of your wonderful, plant nurturing compost. 8. Make An Exfoliant GroundtoGround.org has several DIY exfoliant recipes but this one is my favorite: 1/4 cup used coffee grounds 1 cup of brown sugar 3/4 cup olive oil 1 tsp honey Mix in a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Best results are when used in a hot, steamy shower. 9. Make A Coffee Protein Shake This is a perfect “get your butt up and going” breakfast idea. Mix your cold coffee, protein powder, and some of your frozen coffee ice cubes into a blend and voila! A caffeine/protein packed snack that is also low in fat and calories! 10. Make Your Plants Some Coffee Water The coffee water acts like a fertilizer for your indoor and outdoor plants. Be sure to dilute your coffee with water (25% coffee and 75% water) and spray or pour that morning goodness into your indoor and outdoor plants to give them an extra bit of caffeinated love. 11. Stain Wood Coffee is a great staining agent, as some of us may have found out the hard way with clothing or carpet… To stain wood, sand it first. Once you have a nice, sanded surface, use a cloth and your leftover coffee to rub the stain into the wood. Let the coffee dry into the wood before applying each coat to get your desired color. 12. Make Tiramisu If you are a baker (which I am NOT), you can turn that cold coffee into a delicious batch of tiramisu. There is an easy tiramisu recipe from Marth Stewart: 13. Scour Your Pots & Pans Coffee has a nice, coarse consistency to help get your pots and pans cleaned without damaging them. Add dish soap, water, and a bit of coffee grounds and get to scrubbing. Be sure to use a small amount of coffee grounds as they are not suggested to go down your plumbing in large quantities. 14. Remove Cooking Odors Keep a small bowl of coffee grounds next to your sink to remove garlic and onion odors from your hands after chopping. 15. Keep Pests Away From Your Plants Use the grounds as natural bug repellent in your garden. Simply sprinkling the grounds on top of your garden or potted plants can keep away pests like ants, slugs, and even snails. I can't espresso enough how much I appreciate you coming by my page today! Please comment below with uses you have come up with for repurposing your old coffee and coffee grounds. Java nice day! -Jamie Let me start this post by saying our toaster is OLD. It's not an antique or anything, but we have owned this toaster for longer than we can remember and it is well used. We are a family who loves toasty things. When I pulled out the toaster this morning to toss in some cinnamon waffles, I finally took a good, hard look at the tiny, appalling appliance. It was in desperate need of a deep clean. This post is to show you my cleaning method (when I actually remember to do it) for getting a toaster back to a decent condition. First, pull out those crumb traps. Now if you are like me, you will take a moment to let the shame of this sight wash over you. It's okay. This shame will be the motivator to get the job done. Anyhoo.... Put the traps in the sink and get to scrubbing with soap and hot water. The crumbs should come off fairly easily. Once those are clean, tip that toaster out over your sink and get to shaking. Shake as many crumbs out as you can. Get crazy on that sucker. Now it's time to clean the inside. This should go without saying - but make sure your toaster is unplugged. You can use a good dish brush to do a basic scrub around the inside of the bread insert openings or if your toaster is not as bad as mine (the shame...), you can use dry paint brushes to brush off the interior crumbs. Turn over and repeat the shaking process. Mine, however, was so bad that I grabbed on of my reusable straw cleaners, bend it to and angle, and used that to really get inside. After you have given your toaster a good shake for that second time, you will start cleaning the outside. I use soap, hot water, and a sponge with a scrubbing side to get the grime off. Keep in mind, this toaster is older and has seen better days. The after photo will still show scratches and other war wounds. Here is the before interior photo: And here is the after interior photo: Once you have dried the toaster as well as possible, pop those crumb catchers back in. And voila! You are done! Allow your toaster adequate time to dry before plugging it back in or using it. Don't forget (like me) that going long periods of time without cleaning your crumb tray can actually be a fire hazard! Thanks for reading! ![]() We all have those days when we didn't make lunch or don't feel like cooking and swinging through a drive thru is inevitable. This post is to give you insight into choosing which low calorie option is right for you. The foods will be broken down by: Calorie Count Total Fat Grams Protein Grams These are the fast food restaurants that I see or visit most often. Be sure to list other fast food places you would like to see in this post in the comments below! Let's get into it. First: Arby's
Burger King
Chick-fil-A
Sorry guys, there are NO fries on this list. Even a small fry is over 300 calories at 320, BUT you can get a bag of their waffle potato chips for 220 calories, 13g of fat, and 3g of protein. Be sure to remember that those dipping sauces that Chick-fil-A does so well have calories in them too! My favorite, the Chick-fil-A sauce, has 140 calories in one tiny container! The lowest calories sauce I found was the zesty buffalo sauce at 25 calories. KFC One of my favorite places, until all the ones near us got rid of their grilled chicken options!
McDonald's 1. The fruit and yogurt parfait has 160 calories, 2g of fat, and 4g of protein 2. A small Strawberry banana smoothie has 210 calories, 1/2g of fat, and 2g of protein 3. Egg McMuffin has 300 calories, 12g of fat, and 17g of protein 4. One hash brown has 150 calories, 9g of fat, and 1g of protein 5. 4 piece chicken nuggets has 190 calories, 12g of fat, and 9g of protein and the 6 piece has 280 calories, 18g of fat, 13g of protein 6. Their hamburger has 250 calories, 9g of fat, and 12g of protein 7. Cheeseburger has 300 calories, 13g of fat, and 15g of protein 8. One sausage burrito has 300 calories, 16g of fat, and 12g of protein- but let’s be real. Who on earth only eats ONE of those?? 9. Fruit and maple oatmeal has 290 calories, 4.5g of fat, and 5g of protein 10 You can grab a kiddie cone for 45 calories and 1g of fat or get a strawberry sundae for 280 calories and 6g of fat. Peanuts are an extra 45 calories. 11. The hot apple pie is 250 calories and 13g of fat while that little packet of McDonald’s cookies (which I have not seen in a long time!) are 260 calories and 8g if fat. Good news! A small fry is 230 calories, which means it makes this list! It comes with 11g of fat and 3g of protein. For their coffee choices, I would suggest pulling up the full nutritional guide or their nifty online nutrition calculator. Their coffee and McCafe options are endless and there are MANY under 300 calories. Popeyes
Sonic
The beverage list from Sonic’s nutritional information site is over 4 of the 9 pages long. It contains lemonades, slushies, Ocean Waters, teas, juices, limeades, along with various add-ins. Many options are under 300 calories, but I would suggest pulling up their nutritional info before ordering. I saw drinks on there as high as 600 calories! If you order diet, you are probably getting a drink well under 100 calories. Starbucks This post is specifically about Starbucks food and will not include coffees or drinks. In another blog (click the button below to go there) you can read about the Starbucks drinks orders that are 100 calories or less.
Starbucks carries many snack options by other manufacturers such as Moon Cheese packs (which are 70 calories) and That’s It bars (100 calories). Steak n Shake This is a very small list. The nutritional information of Steak n Shake is not great. That's probably why they are so tasty.
Sadly, no shakes made it onto the list due to calorie content. Taco Bell My favorite 1:00am drunk food.
Last, but certainly not least: Wendy's
Take a Jr. fry and a Jr. chocolate Frosty and mix them together for a heavenly treat... at 460 calories. YIKES. But totally worth it. Thanks for reading! -Jamie If you're a mom like me, you are always looking for ways to keep your kids entertained. My kids turn boredom into chaos, and I prefer to shut that "sheet" down as quickly as possible. So - We craft! Painting outside, blowing giant bubbles, chalk on the driveway, whatever it takes to keep the chaos at bay. For Halloween, the kids LOVE to holiday oriented art. Below are a few crafts the kids and I have done so far this year. Dollar Tree has these pumpkins. For $1 each you grab a pumpkin, bring it home, and have the kids paint it. They are currently sitting on our dining room table in all their gourdy-glory. It's cheap and they love to paint. *BONUS INFO* Turns out these pumpkins are hallow! I painted one myself and plan on turning it into a spooky succulent vase. Lollypop + Tissue Paper + Ribbon = Ghost! I help draw on the faces (because my kids and 4 & 2 years old and sharpies are NOT allowed in their hands) What I love more than anything right now is the ready made sugar cookie dough you can buy from stores now. No matter how hard I tried, I could never master the art of the elusive "sugar cookie". Buy some Halloween cookie cutters, some premade dough, and get to cutting! The kids will love it and the prep work and clean up for parents is essentially null! Life is batter with cake. And cake puns bake me smile. In keeping with the baking crafts, Walmart currently has these little gems for sale! How fun would it be to make little monster cupcakes with your little monsters?! Michaels makes it impossible to walk out of their store without buying crafts for your kids. These were already cheap, but then they were also on sale, so OF COURSE I had to buy them. Add a little paint (or markers or whatever you have on hand) and voila! Crafty kid fun! I tried to make sure I made lots of keepsakes for the grandparents and myself when the girls were younger. This is one and its so easy and cheap. I wish Dollar Tree had some kind of a membership club or point system because I am sure I would be a Platinum member. This and other plates were purchased at Dollar Tree along with a small thing of black paint. Dip some little chunky feet into the paint, mush them on there, and then decorate for a cute little keepsake. Lastly, rock painting is fun for any holiday. My little ghouls had a great time painting the rocks and then I had just as much fun helping them finish with decorating. I mean, come on. How cute is that little candy corn rock?! Candy corn in general is EW, but on a rock, it's really cute! I hope you and your little monsters have just as much fun as we do Halloween crafting. Thanks for reading! -Jamie If you have never had a fried egg over rice before now, let me start off by saying: You're welcome. Not only is this dish incredibly tasty, but it is CHEAP. It takes all of 15 minutes to throw this meal together. Quick - Cheap - Easy - Yummy Yep, that checks all the boxes for me. You will need: Two individual bags of "boil in a bag" brown rice Eggs Scallions Salt & Pepper Options add ins: Soy Sauce Broccoli Mushrooms Sriracha First, start by boiling your rice. I like to use the "Success" boil in a bag rice. You can use white rice if you prefer. One cooked bag feeds one person, at least in my house. As the rice is boiling, fry up your eggs however you like. I am an over easy/medium girl. The hubs is an over medium dude. Both of these are awesome with this recipe because as you dive into that fried egg on top, the yolk runs down into the rice. YUM. Cut your scallions. I keep a scallion stash in my garden all year round. Assembly is as simple as this: -Rice into a bowl -Add salt & pepper (I also put a few dashes of soy sauce) -Scallions -Fried egg Here is where I also top with Sriracha. The options for additions on this recipe are endless. Broccoli and stir-fried mushrooms are really great in this bowl along with onions, carrots, you name it! I hope you find this recipe egg-cellent! Be sure to come back for more corny puns. I literally can't help myself. -Jamie Halloween is my oldest child’s favorite holiday. If she could have Halloween all year long, she would be the happiest kid on this planet. While others might agree with her, I’m afraid I love all holidays and seasons equally so they all get their time in the spotlight in my house. But when September rolls around, I start breakin’ out the Halloween decorations and her eyes light up. Since our kids are both under 5, we tend to stick with a fairly “spook-free” type of Halloween décor. I have a slight addiction to Rae Dunn. I managed (barely) to keep myself to only two Rae Dunn Halloween items this year and I love them both sooooooo much - as I do all of her things! A newly added tradition (which started last year) are these flippin' bats! I LOVE THEM! They are incredibly cheap on Amazon and they don't take the paint off of your walls. We will continue to use them every single year to decorate. Talk about a great statement piece! A cheap little decorating cheat that I like to use is this: Dollar Tree frames + Halloween print outs You just print it off your computer, stick it in a $1 frame, and BOOM! So cute! This year I decorated the plants on our entertainment center with fake webbing. You could throw a few fake spiders in there too. I did not because the grubby little fingers that run around this house will steal them and at least one of my children will undoubtedly try to eat them. Each season/holiday I like to decorate the tops of our kitchen cabinets. This year, I kept it pretty basic with some cheap black webbing from Walmart, a witch hat and spider from Dollar Tree, and a few of those awesome bats in the back. TJ Maxx is ON IT this year with their Halloween options. I found super cute garland and kitchen towel there and they were pretty inexpensive. The bar gets decorated too. As you can see, the "bar" is pretty pitiful at the moment, but that Makers Mark really fits in well with that red wax looking all bloody. Lastly, the dining room table got a makeover. The amazing table throw came from Target (AKA: heaven on earth - AKA: where all of my money goes) And the centerpiece is a mix of Dollar Tree and Michaels, with a crystal and string-of-pearls succulents. I think my favorite of all the décor this year (besides Rae Dunn - I just CANNOT with her) is this $1 creepy cup from Dollar Tree holding the string-of-pearl succulents. It looks like the cup is bubbling over with some kind of crazy potion. This would also work well in a small black cauldron. These are our Halloween decorations. I hope you find something you like and use it to decorate your own home! Thanks for creeping on by. -Jamie No one likes dry, chewy chicken. When it comes to chicken breasts, I want a nice, juicy, moist chicken breast. I’m pretty sure I just lost several potential readers based on my decision to use the word “moist”. Below is my go-to way to bake chicken breasts so that they come out nice and ….. moist. Your cook time will always depend on how thick your chicken breast is; the thicker the breast, the longer the cook time. The proper food safety guideline is to ensure your chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Also, be sure to avoid cross-contamination of your raw chicken with other foods or drinks that will not be brought up to that same temperature. To begin, season your chicken however you choose. My current favorite is this seasoning which does not require any additional seasoning. Not even salt or pepper: Other favorites include Cavender’s Greek Seasoning and Jamaican Jerk seasoning blends. If you choose to go with a marinade, be sure to let your chicken swim in those juices for at least 30 minutes to allow it to soak up those flavors. Depending upon your chicken breast thickness, it could take anywhere from 20 - 45 minutes to ensure your chicken is cooked all the way through. Below are various oven temperatures and suggested baking times, but whichever option you choose- be sure to use a thermometer to check the internal chicken temperature and test the chicken in the thickest part of the breast. 350 degrees: 25-30 minutes 375 degrees: 23-28 minutes 400 degrees: 22-25 minutes 425 degrees: 18-22 minutes My preference is to cook my chicken breasts at 400 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Be sure to save all of those yummy chicken juices to use in another recipe! Good luck with your chicken! May it come out nice and… moist. :) -Jamie Last year, I challenged myself to change my "Funny Halloween Letter Board" sayings each day throughout October. I made it 26 days. SO close. Each day I posted them on Facebook for my friends and family to see. This post is a long collection of those photos. Enjoy! I hope you enjoyed reading these funny Halloween letter boards! Check out my other blog posts for other fun and helpful ideas. Thank you! |
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