Thursday, May 31, 2018

Skinny Housewife: Chunky Portabella Veggie Burger

Chunky Portabella Veggie Burger


Guys.  THIS.  This recipe is a HUGE HUGE favorite in my house.  When I know I'm going to make these for dinner I seriously look forward to them ALL DAY.  Two had a veggie burger at Buffalo Wild Wings not that long ago and reported: "it was good but not as good as the ones you make."  They are so good. 

If you've been coming to this blog for awhile, you know that I almost always make changes to recipes.  I don't know what to tell you...I bend things.  So, I can tell you that this recipe is REALLY hard to screw up.  Really.  I have made it without the steak seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce (just totally forgot to put them in) and they were STILL delicious.  The most recent time I totally forgot the beans.  I'm not even kidding.  And guess what?  Still delicious.  I only ever use 2 eggs.  And I make them with Flipz crackers (these are pretzel crackers, and they are bomb.)  I've also made them with cheezits once.  You know, I just roll with the punches.  Honestly, we've never had a batch that wasn't amazing. 

Then you just add all the things you would add to a "regular" burger.  The steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce really give them a BEEF taste.  If you don't look at them (so that you wouldn't see the broccoli) you could be fooled.

This is at the top of the list of recipes we've tried since becoming vegetarian, so it's the first recipe I wanted to share with you all.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Two For Tuesday

Yeah, I still have links to share.  :)

The first one is about creating a summer bucket list.  I'm so busy these days with work that I want to make sure I carve out time over the summer to really BE with the boys while they are out of school.  My "real job" schedule allows me three half days a week and my other job is at my own schedule (nice right??  Someone not so long ago told me I was lucky.  I told them I am not lucky, I don't believe in the concept of luck actually.  THIS is the life I've created for myself.  BOOM.)  Anywayyyyyyy, I'm working on compiling a list.  Because I'm a list maker.

Here is your link to my Summer Fun board over on Pinterest.  It's just a jumping off place.  For me personally, reading other people's lists gets my own thoughts going.  I'll (hopefully) at some point in the next week-ish post my own list for us for you to puruse.  We've done a lot of the things on the board I shared, but just by re-visiting it today I saw three things that I want to add that I saw and know we either haven't done or would like to do again.

The second one is about limiting screen time.  This is a HUGE problem for us.  There are multiple old blog posts about it here on my blog, so it's been a problem time and time again.  With summer approaching, I was looking for a way to limit how much time the boys are in front of a screen.  My girls remind me all the time that they had to EARN screen time and they are salty AF about the fact that their brothers do not.  Well, boys, summer is about to be a rude awakening because yesterday while cleaning out my closet I found STONES.  Yes, stones.  This is the system I used with their sisters.  Each stone allowed for a certain amount of screen time.  You started off with a small amount, but you could earn more.  You could also lose them for bad behavior.  For us, it's going to look like this.  You can start your day with three stones.  Thirty minutes.  If you'd like more, you will have to complete things from a list.  The things on the list will be reading, writing, playing outside (although, we tend to do that anyway,) chores, helping me or Two with something.  They will also be weighted.  Three HATES to read, so if he will read for the 20 minutes that school recommends he can earn an entire half hour of screens.  Judge me if you want, but I'm doing what I need to do here.  Four loves to do all the things on the list so he should be watching Gotham ALL SUMMER LONG.  Here is your link to some tips you can look at and see if something seems like it would work in your household.

Monday, May 28, 2018

Manic Monday

Well, Helloooooooo friends! 

I skimmed over the last few posts that I made to this blog and laughed at myself.  It's been 2 years and 3 months since I posted anything here, and man oh man have things changed.  I updated the "About Us" page, but I'm going to post here as an update to what I hope will be a resumption of regular posts again. 

For starters, I no longer homeschool.  All the sad faces.  It was something I loved, really and truly loved but I made some choices that left us all on a different path.  The boys are both in school now, just finishing 5th and 3rd grades.  The transition has been hard for Three, but this year has been MUCH MUCH better than last.  In August he starts middle school.  I'm not ready.  Not even a little ready.  Ugh.  Four has had a much better transition and is thriving by all accounts.  He is in the gifted program at school and gets to attend a special camp over the summer. 

Secondly, I'm no longer married.  *gasp*  Yeah, I managed to mess up another marriage.  I take all the blame.  He was a very good man, and he loved me with all of himself.  There is no fault with him.  It just didn't work for me.  I also no longer live in my "waterfront" home.

Thirdly, I work three jobs currently.  The last time I posted I had two.  I currently still work both those jobs, but I added in a writing gig.  This blog was my "prior work" and they actually liked me anyway.  *smirk*  That job is the reason I'm back to blog my own stuff...it has brought to my attention that I really enjoy writing and want the creative outlet.  So, you're welcome! 

Fourth, another major life change for us is that we are MOSTLY vegetarian now.  I say mostly because the boys and I still eat meat when we are out or they are with their father.  But we never eat meat here at home.  One and Two are both totally vegetarian.  Two is MOSTLY vegan.  She sometimes eats cheese, but that's about the extent of her non-vegan consumption and even that is pretty rare these days.  Pizza is her vice. 

Lastly, without homeschooling what will be the purpose of this blog?  Yeah, I've sorta thought that myself.  I've decided I'm just going to write and see what comes of it.  I have lots of recipes to share (vegetarian, or easily adaptable) with you all so look forward to those Skinny/Lazy Housewife posts.  I still have kids so it will be more of a general parenting snark than homeschool oriented snark, you feel me?  I'm also on a personal journey that has created a lot of growth over the last couple years. You'll get details of that and get to come along for the rest of the ride, lucky you??!!  I've been reading a lot (part of the journey I'm on) and so there will be discussions from that and recommendations.  Basically, I've still got a lot to say. 

Much LOVE.
Shauna