new adventures

I have never been one to sit down and really search or shall I say Surf the internet. Not until I became a blogger that it is. I recently joined Pinterest after seeing it everywhere and not knowing what it was I finally Googled it ... Haha Duh me right!  I've always been the person that knows what she needs from the computer signed on did whatever i needed to do and signed off. But Now I'm really loving that everyday I discover something new I can look up or get lost in.

Another reason why I'm please with my internet surfer of the day is because of CVS.com. YES cvs. See I found a receipt on the bottom of my purse that said $4 off my next purchase for just registering my e-mail. I then remembered that I have yet to register a phone number for my extracare card. So I logged on and viola! I registered my e-mail, my address, and then I registered for cvsphotos! Here I can take all the pictures that have been sitting on my computer and turn them into hard copies which then in turn means I CAN FINALLY FINISH my scrapbook..... OR at least get it up to date.

All this makes Caity a happy girl....... it's the little things every girl understands that!!

In other news I finally made a dinner date with my MOMMA!!!

I miss her so much. Ever since I started my job I haven't been up to the NE to see my family. My mom, dad, stepdad, sister, and nephews. I miss them all. I used to go up on Sundays for dinner and hang out with the kiddies. But since it's summer Someone's got something to do every weekend so it's been a challenge. But this Friday me and the Momma are getting together for dinner and drinks. I'm excited!

It's funny to think about how close me and my mom are. Well we've always been close but My mom just said to me today that it makes her so happy that I like to hang out with her. Awwww .... But Mom I've never not liked hanging with you. She's always been my best friend Love You MOM!!!!

My kitchen story

Cooking, cleaning, parenting, all new territories for me. 

I have been domesticated.

I have turned myself into that "perfect little wifey"

Haha not quite I'm still a work in progress.

My story is to show you how i taught myself to cook in a kitchen that is way less then appealing.

Here is my little corner in the kitchen.

Yes I have avocado green Metal cabinets!

I have basically no storage

I have a stove with an oven that doesn't and hasn't worked in years AND only two of the four electric burners work.

So i have basically taught myself to cook with two burners, a microwave, and a toaster oven.

I know crazy!! I want an oven installed so bad, it's literally the only thing i ask for every holiday that involves presents. I dunno if it's just his laziness or what but my love has still not answered my wishes. 

I WILL HAVE MY OVEN BY THANKSGIVING!!!

 OH I also have a slow cooker (which I love finding new uses for)

I absolutely hate my kitchen.. Its just not at all up to date. My whole house needs updating but I've been researching the best way to spruce up my little home without doing many changes OR spending a lot of money.  ANY IDEAS??

 sorry the rest of the pics are soo dark... I use my phone for pictures  **wishes for a new working camera**

Even though I don't have much I have learned to make the best with what I Got!

I'm much more appreciative of the small things these days that most people take for granted,,, like having an oven!

FACEBOOK.....

So remember the days when Facebook didn't exist. OR how bout when Facebook was literally ... a book... with your future roommate/classmates pictures in it. Or how bout when Facebook was only for use with college students??

It's crazy to think those days DID exist. I usually about this time would say I miss those days. But instead I'm saying I'm grateful for Facebook. Now that I'm older, and a mommy, working, living in a different neighborhood, making new friends, and trying to keep old ones. I have Facebook to thank for keeping me in touch with others. 

Now there is a secret about me (well not really a secret if you know me). I H.A.T.E having to call someone. I didn't always when I was younger I was on the phone constantly, but nowadays it's easier to keep UP with keeping IN touch using the internet.

Not only has Facebook and other social media sites helped with social networking but friends that I haven't seen in years and family that live in other states are now more accessible to chat with. 

I miss my "old days" a lot. My being "young" I like to call it. I mean I love my New days and I'm super excited for my future days but being able to re-connect with old friends via Facebook has made me a happier person than I was when I first started going through the abrupt changes into my new Mommy-hood life.

Two years ago I was a depressed pregnant mess. I felt like I screwed up somewhere a long the line and that I was a disappointment to many, especially family and friends. (my story coming soon) Living through certain struggles and gaining new friends while slowly backing away from others  has brought me to a whole new life along with a whole new OUTLOOk on life. I have learned more about myself in the last two years of mommy-hood then I have have in all of my 24 years. 

So now I appreciate simple things in life and I appreciate our good fortunes of life, including things like internet access and networking sites and also farmers markets and pumpkin patches and vintage/thriftstores, you get the point right?. 

The MAIN fact that I love is being able to reconnect and stay connected to old friends and family members. Especially when its friends that I was so close with as a kid/teen and then lost contact with them either over something stupid or b/c life got in the way. 

OR that I can stay connected with my sisters and cousins (we all live in separate places and most of us have young kids) its good to see us all grow as people and mature into adults and mothers. 

I know I'm a crazy rambler but appreciating something that people take advantage of every hour of everyday makes me stay in tune with my values and wisdom I've gained in my short life.  

I am slowly learning to be comfortable with my new surroundings (which isn't so new anymore IT's HOME) Everyday there are new challenges but BEcause I have a strong network of family and friends I know how strong I am and strong I can be and I can't help but to love life!

HELP!!!!!

OK.... I'm getting way too frustrated over here I NEED HELP!!! I'm trying to gain more followers while trying to understand how to set up my adsense account along with trying to gain an actually visual spot on top mommy blogs BUT i'm so new to it all and don't understand what the hell I'm doing...  IF anyone is reading this and feels that in their  heart they would like to help me out just a teeny tiny bit I WOULD be soo GREATLY appreciative. I'm trying to do this so my family and I can get ahead on our bills and I can stay home> Yes I got a job but i can't work anymore hours than I already am since I have to take care of my son and I see more woman earning some type of living with their blogs so it can't be that difficult to learn and understand. I'm just asking for a little direction!!! THANKYOU!!

Everything Chicken Quesadillas

I made lunch the other day and basically raided my fridge for extra filling in my quesadillas since i only had one chicken breast. THEY ended up tasting AMAZING!!!... My boy even came home and ate the leftovers and usually doesn't try anything new I make. Well I decided to mental note the recipe and made the again, this time I took pictures!!

the ingredients I purchased for recipe

chicken (I only used two breast)

tortillas the smaller sized ones

I used half the can of black beans

the rice i made for a side dish with the salsa that comes in the taco kit!! OH and the other half of the black beans.

CHopped the chicken up in small bite-sized pieces and sauteed with some olive oil and salt and pepper.

Always rinse your beans!!!!!

OH YEAH the leftover fridge part (I forgot what else i put in the filling until i saw this pic.)

I had a small tomato i cut up and half a onion and half a yellow pepper!

filled em' up add some cheese fold em' over and put them on your griddle or whatever.

yummy!! Never got a pic of the rice but it was simple whit rice mixed with salsa and beans petty self-explanatory.

ENJOY!!! I def. DID!

I never take pictures of myself but i was too excited for my quesadillas!!! 

Hungry and BUSY!!

WOW have I been a busy girl or what. This whole working thing is so completely different.  I wanna say new, but it's not I've been working since I was 14!! Rita's Water Ice baby!! Up until almost four years ago, wow, I have always had a job, then it just made sense to stay home and be a wife and Mom. BUT I'm so happy again!! I never thought being back in retail would give me such a wonderful feeling but it definitely helps to have extremely nice coworkers and the closeness of the job (distance wise) is incredible. ANyway since starting work and taking care of my two year old, two dogs, hubby, and a three story house, I'm pooped! First I didn't have my computer for a while so I couldn't blog Now I'm just so darn busy. But I'm loving life yes of course we are still struggling with bills and money and such BUT we have incredible family members who, if i step up and say I need something, they will answer and help out the best they can. It's amazing that when you put your stubborn pride wall down How many people are actually really there to help you. I LOVE YOU MOM and DAD!!!
Like I said tho even with all the struggles I can still be happy which with the way things have been going in the past few years its a really great thing for me to say I'm truly happy, and I am. I'm even in the kitchen again. Yes I know i made a menu said I was gonna stick with it but lets just face it with our schedules and certain appetites it's hard to stay on track. especially when the man of the house is in the mood for pasta n meat sauce and I was so looking forward to chicken and broccoli I'd have to switch things up a bit..... so coming at you here and probably in a couple other posts SOME NEW recipes.....
So tonight it was Eggplant Parm. for momma and Spaghetti and meat sauce for the boys!!

Cooking the ground meat frozen (something i do often lack of remembering to take something out to defrost)

the meat sauce 1lb meat, 1 28ozcan of tomatoes, 1onion, 2garlic cloves minced

1 eggplant breaded with egg and itailian breadcrumbs

used some tomato sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese and broiled the eggplant to melt cheese

cooked pasta as directed and POOf!! eggplant parm and s'getties

Easy Peesy!

SO one of my favorite meals and fastest dinners to make is TACOS!!.... I dunno why but I have developed an never ending craving for mexican food especially Tacos. I'm pretty sure these cravings are left over from pregnancy two years ago but I always satisfy my cravings. AND an easy way to do this IS Taco Bell taco kit! I don't do box kits for dinner but for taco and hamburger helper  for me they are heaven sent. Of course i doctor the meals up a bit you know use fresh herbs and garlic and add veggies whereever possible. 

SO I always start off with the usual 1lb of ground meat, tomato, lettuce, shredded cheese, and sour cream. I get the Hard and soft variation kit Everyone stays happy. Now I 've tried various taco kits and since the economy started getting bad the soft tortillas in other kits were becoming to thin and unable to really fill and eat. Me and my BF test ran many kits and have decided that we are never unsatisfied with Taco Bell's. 

The fixings out for display .... I also always add a half a can of corn kernals for extra filling and veggies!! It's 

how the taco trucks around the city make their fillings.

He Loves his tacos too!!

Ok thats it just expressing my love for Taco Kits!

p.s. dont mind all the clutter mess thats ...everywhere!

Misrepresentation!

SO I've been inspired!! 

I love getting a new magazine and sitting down and actually being able to read from front to back. I mean its sad to think that i don't get to buy a magazine that often or buy new books, I simply don't have a budget for them. So i usually turn to the internet to look up magazine websites and read (stalk ) blogs that I love. But I have to say nothing is better then going back to my roots of  inspiration hence the magazines and books. I could get a library card, of course, but you see my library is very small and hardly gets anything new in stock, sad to say. 

SO today I got two new magazines for August, Everyday by Rachel Ray and Everyday Food, a Martha Stewart magazine. well I've been reading and had to take a break because I have waves and waves of inspiration flowing through me. I want to go out and cook everything in those pages. But instead I practice some self control and thought about my budget and shopping list I wrote previously. You see there is something lacking in my blog posts that i finally see clearly now. 

I Do Not Represent Myself  as Truly as I thought I would.

Instead I have kept my blog simple, wordy with my thoughts, my crazy thoughts that run over and over through my head. I think I finally want to start being myself on my blog as well as in real life. Be true to myself and be true to anyone who chooses to stop by and read. 

I want to be able to inspire as much as others have inspired me.

Other women bloggers, magazine chiefs and articles, and everywhere in between.

I think I finally found my blogging niche I kept reading about when I first started this blog.

So to get back to my original reason of post before tearing into another deep thought, I have been inspired to try and find the easiest, cheapest, healthiest recipes or me and my family. SO a blog or two ago I wrote a menu up and was going to stick to it, but I wrote the menu before knowing my budget for the week. Stupid for me to do but its what I always do and then I switch things up. 

Yeah I write a ton of lists on a daily basis, I believe it keeps me sane.  

So I move on today to rewrite my shopping list  and menu and try to stick to the cheapest, easiest, healthiest recipes for everyone in my family to enjoy. 

I do intend on cashing in on the zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and corn this week considering they are whats in season. 

I challenge myself to be true, to be real, to write what I really feel and don't hold back.

I challenge myself to meet my menu and recipe goals and share with all of you.

Finally, I challenge myself  to be successful in what I'm trying to do here. ( Be an Inspiration!)

A 4th of July prayer for you all... Enjoy your festivities! 

Heavenly Father, purify in all the people of this land their love for the nation according to the mind of your Son Jesus Christ, who knew what was good for the peace of His land and people. May everyone strive by word and action to foster peace among the people of all social classes and creeds, so that, living in harmony and justice, they may be a Christian light to other nations, such as your Son would have them be.

From The Catholic Prayer Book compiled by Msgr. Michael Buckley