MIMM #26 {I Will Survive}

Happy Monday!! Whose ready to conquer another week?? It's ours for the taking so lets make the most of it! Now, the majority of you are probably wondering where in the world did that title come from for today's post. Well, if you happened to see Instagram on Saturday afternoon, then you may understand its meaning, if not we will get there! But before we get there we must first highlight Friday!

Friday:

So I'm not sure how I totally missed mentioning the official first day of spring in my Friday post, however I made sure to rock out some spring colors at work. Friday's are casual day. 

Our front desk girl brought in a box of assorted donuts after lunch, which definitely made for a perfect afternoon pick me. The one I grabbed was cinnamon apple. Mhmm!

After work I headed home and while I was waiting for Billy to come over I did a few loads of laundry and watched Scandal (thanks Heather for the show suggestion!). Instead going out for dinner like we had originally talked Billy suggested he stop by the store and we make something. It was delicious! 

We planned to watch a movie, but rather decided to go downtown and meet our friends Alex and Kayla. We ended up running into some other friends too and the spontaneous night turned to be full of laughs!

Saturday:

Was a lazy morning, accompanied by doing a few things around the house, taking a nap. Before long it was time to get ready because it was game day! Before heading down to the Palace Billy came and picked me up so we could head out to say hi to his Grandpa. Oh hey there mules! 

I had been looking forward to Saturday's game for quite some time because we were performing halftime with Gloria Gaynor. Back in 2005 I performed at halftime with Ms. Gaynor during the Hula Bowl and it was unbelievably surreal to be performing with her again 10 years later. The song she sang was "I Will Survive" which now is the moment today's title makes sense! Lol.

The whole night was 70s themed! 

My parents, Billy, our friend Kyle and I headed to Applebee's after the game for a quick bite to eat. I've been to Applebee's a million billion times it feels, but Saturday night was the first time I really paid attention to the front of the menu I guess. I didn't ever realize they said "celebrate every day."  

Meet goofball Kyle on the left and goofball Billy on the right.

Sunday:

Had me headed back down to the Palace for practice, followed by rehearsal for fashion show where members of the entertainment teams are repping Piston's merchandise prior to Tuesday's game. 

Around 3:30 I was headed home. I took some time to relax an unwind from the day, then decided to dive into cleaning out my 'bottoms' - pants & skirts - closet. And of course Coco wanted to help!

What was the best part of your weekend?

What are you looking forward to this week?

❤ Nichole ❤

Linking up for MIMM with Katie!

Foodspiration #2: Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Last night my mom and I decided to give one of my many Pinterest dinner ideas a try! A few weeks back I shared a bucket list of sorts with recipes that I wanted to make sometime soon, all which came from my boards on Pinterest. Now even though the meal we decided upon last night was not from the specific list I posted, I am still proud to say a Pinterest creation was made - Buffalo Chicken Wraps!

The ingredients:

• Egg roll wrappers

• Shredded chicken

• Dry cole slaw

• Buffalo Sauce

• Ranch for serving

• *optional - blue cheese*

• && chicken rice for a side dish 

Note: Below are the brands we used, yet brands may vary based on where you are located.

Step 1- Prepare the chicken:

• Used Tyson Grilled & Ready Pulled Chicken Breast

• Heat in skillet on medium for 5-7 minutes

• During cooking used spatula to further shred chicken 

Right: before cooking - Left: cooked

• Stir chicken and hot sauce together

Note: Amount of sauce to use is your personal choice depending on spice preference. 

Step 2- Make the wraps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

• Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray

• Lay egg roll wrappers on a clean surface

• Place one tablespoon of cole slaw on diagonal corner of wrapper

• Place 2 tablespoons of chicken onto of the slaw

• *if using blue cheese add 1 tablespoon here*

• Fold and roll the wrapper

• && repeat 

Note: We made 20 wraps and had 8 left over after serving 4 people.

• Ready to be cooked!

Step 3- Baking instructions 

• Bake for 12-15 minutes

• Rolls should be crisp and turn a light golden brown

Side Dish- Knorr Rice Sides:

• Boil 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of margarine and package contents

• Stir and cover

• Reduce heat and let simmer for 7 minutes or until rice is tender

• Let stand for 2 minutes 

Note: I used 2 packages so all was doubled.

Right: during cooking - Left: cooked

They turned out incredibly delicious and were a hit with the fam! As we were eating, we talked about how easy it would be to make these with other sauces and even shrimp. We'll be experimenting!

Have you made anything like this before?

Find the original recipe here!

❤ Nichole ❤

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In My Free Time

Graduation is one week from today. I cannot believe it! I have one last final on Tuesday and then I am official done with my undergraduate classes. Talk about crazy! I haven't been able to keep my mind from wandering to the question of what am I going to do with all this free time over the next couple months. Relaxing is definitely the top of the list! I also have a list made of shows I either need to catch up on or have been wanting to start..Netflix here I come! As I was thinking further I also remembered all of the recipes I have pinned on Pinterest throughout the years, but have never made. Since I will be the one who has the majority of days and nights free while my parents are working and brother is studying I want to take it upon myself to prepare food and finally put those recipes to use!

I decided to go take a scroll through Pinterest and make a "bucket list" of sorts from the recipes I have pinned. When I was doing so, I instantly thought of the blog and how it could make for a really fun post to share with you all; hoping you will discover a few recipes you want to give a go, too!

Here are the are the ones that made the cut!
(recipes listed top to bottom are pictured left to right)

Breakfast

• On The Go Egg McMuffins
• Breakfast Cookie
• Tater Tot Casserole

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Lunch

• Mini Chicken Cheesesteaks
• Ranch Turkey Pasta Salad
• Not So Typical PB & J Wrap

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Dinner

• Sweet Hawaiian Chicken
• Cajun Chicken Alfredo
• Lasagna Soup

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Snacks
• Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Jalapeño Popper Wontons
• Fruit Salsa With Cinnamon Chips

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Dessert
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread
• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Now I am not going to lie, getting through this post was highly difficult as looking through all of it was making me sooo hungry! Although I am not a huge cook, I'm more the of the baking type, I cannot wait to try some of these out over time. As I do, I will be sure to post the process along with pictures! 

Lastly, today's post would not be complete with out giving a Happy Birthday shout out to my daddio!<3

"A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall, 

but instead picks you up, brushes you off and let's you try again." 

My dad on his first birthday! We're not sure why he's such a grump gills in the photo! LOL

Questions of the Day:

1) Do you have a bucket list of recipes?

2) Which on these lists were most appealing?

3) What is your favorite recipe to make?

❤ Nichole ❤

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Study Snacks

Hi all! And Happy Easter! 

I hope everyone's had a great holiday weekend so far! Enjoy every minute. Today my plans are just time with the family and the inevitable studying. I know, I know not very Easter fun but hey, someone's gotta do it! 

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It's the time of year where finals are creeping up and it just so happened that I came across an article about snacks for studying the other day. Since my next week and a half will be full of studying I found it interesting and yummy! I hope you do too, especially if studying is in your near future! And good luck!

Power Snacks from jeobox:

1) Banana Bites

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2) Mason Jar Hummus and Veggies

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3) Apple Sandwiches with Almond Butter and Granola

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4) Frozen Yogurt-Covered Blueberries

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5) Roasted Chickpeas

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6) Multigrain Flatbread Cracker Snacks

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7) Blueberry Yogurt Parfait with Granola

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8) Peanut Butter Honey Yogurt Dip with Apples

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9) Avocado Toast

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10) Spicy Sriracha Popcorn

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11) Cheese Cucumber Sandwiches

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Mhmm! I definitely will be tying a few of these!
Bring on those finals! :)

Questions of the Day:

1) Do you have finals coming up?

2) What are you favorite study foods?

3) Which ones above look tasty to you?

❤ Nichole ❤

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Foodspiration #1: Muffins

So Thursday night I got this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to bake! I couldn't wait to get home from school and see what I could make. I looked in the cupboard and had a few packages of Martha White Muffin Mix. 

These are some of the easiest muffins to make and are incredibly tasty! I decided to make a mixture of Wildberry (left) and Banana Nut (right). 

As I was waiting for the muffins in the oven it hit me how food can inspire and motivate us just like anything else. My excitement to get home and bake these muffins got me through two more classes. This is not the first time I have had a time where being excited about a certain food has gotten me through a situation or time period. I'm sure we all have experienced this!

Whether it be; a tasty home meal, dinner plans with a friend, going to a favorite restaurant or getting my most loved take-out all have at some point given me an extra kick for the day. It's crazy how things can motivate us when we don't even realize (or think) that they would have the ability to. 

And I just have to say....

They turned out absolutely delicious and were a perfect after dinner sweet!

Have you ever thought of food as a motivator?

Nichole <3

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Bedtime Snacks

Since I've been having some insomnia lately I decided to look up different things that can help you sleep better at night! While I was searching I came across an article on Readers Digest that listed off 16 helpful foods. 

1) Walnuts

- good source of tryptophan 

    • sleep-enhancing amino acid

- contain own source of melatonin

Source

2) Almonds

- rich in magnesium 

    • mineral needed for quality sleep

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3) Cheese and Crackers

- tryptophan is found in dairy 

- calcium helps to trigger melatonin

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4) Lettuce

- contains lactucarium

    • has sedative properties 

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5) Pretzels 

- high glycemic index which causes natural spike in blood sugar and insulin

    • increase helps tryptophan enter brain 

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6) Tuna

- high in vitamin B6
    • body needs to make melatonin and seratonin 
- other foods high in B6: raw garlic and pistachio nuts

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7) Rice

- like pretzels also has a high glycemic index
- jasmine rice particularly brings sleep on fastest 

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8) Cherry Juice
- naturally boost levels of melatonin

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9) Cereal 
- has carbohydrates and calcium
    • 2 components for sleep

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10) Chamomile Tea
- causes an increase of glycine
    • helps relax nerves

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11) Passionfruit Tea
- filled with Harman Alkaloids - chemical found in flower
    • acts on nervous system to make you tired

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12) Honey
- natural sugar slightly raises insulin 
- try mixing it with chamomile tea

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13) Kale
- loaded with calcium
- other good options: spinach and mustard greens

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14) Shrimp and Lobster
- good source of tryptophan

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15) Hummus
- another good source of tryptophan

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16) Elk
- this meat has twice the amount of tryptophan as turkey

Source

Questions of the day:
1) What sleep tricks work best for you?
2) Which of these things are your favorite?
3) Are there any you want to try?

❤ Nichole ❤

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>>Linking up with Jenn<<