Sweet Saturday.... Lemony Goodness

I have made a lot of "sweets" prior to the weight loss journey....which probably explains the need for a weight loss journey.... Anyways, for the next few weeks, at least, I am going to share one of these sweets each Saturday, along with a link to some "sweets" I want to try from pinterest on cheat days!!

Lemon Blueberry Cake

My friend Brooke celebrated her birthday last week, so I knew I was going to be making her a cake! As far as cakes and food in general go, we pretty much have the same tastes. I knew I really wanted a good lemon dessert, and I was tight on money, so I wanted to use things I had at the house. I knew she would approve of lemon as well, so when I found a lemon cake mix in the pantry, I was excited! I wanted to do more than just make a lemon box cake, so I jazzed it up a little.

So here it is... Lemon Cake with Blueberry filling and a lemon buttercream!!!!

Ingredients

Lemon Cake Mix (and whatever it calls for)

Lemon Zest... about 3 lemons 

juice of the lemons from above

1 cup of blueberries, plus some for garnish

6 cups of powder sugar

1 stick of butter

a few tbsp. of heavy cream

Cake

For the cake, I baked it according to the box. I added some lemon zest to the batter, and that is it.

Filling

In a saucepan, I combined blueberries, 1 cup of powder sugar, juice of one lemon.

Let it cook until you have a light boil.

Remove from burner and cool.

You can either mash the blueberries if you want it chunky or puree it in a blender like I did. I added more powder sugar to thicken it a little more. 

Icing

In a mixer, beat butter and slowly add remaining powder sugar and lemon juice from remaining lemons. 

After you've added all of the sugar, gradually add heavy cream until you get the consistency you want. Stir in remaining lemon zest.

Assembly

Place one cake on plate. 

Top with blueberry filling.

Place second cake on top.

Ice the cake with the buttercream.

Decorate... I used a little fresh mint and blueberries.

Enjoy! 

Pinterest Lemon Goodness on my "to make list."

Starkbucks Lemon Loaf Copycat

Hellloooooo! I love this cake! Heck Yes for a copycat!!!!

and then there was a muddy buddy recipe.... oh me, oh my....

Lemon Muddy Buddies

Peace, Love, and Geaux Tigers

Weight Loss Wednesday :)

I feel like I am getting good at coming up with these little slogans for each day! Of course, I live by the mantra that teachers beg, borrow, and steal, so I suppose I do that a lot in all aspects of life ;)

Anyways, today is WEIGHT LOSS WEDNESDAY! Each Wednesday, I plan to share something about my weight loss journey whether it be a picture, a recipe, a sales pitch, or a shout out to some one else on this crazy journey with me.

Today, I am going to give a little overview of my journey to this point.

On January 21, 2013, a little red box by the name of IGNITE entered my life. Ignite is program powered by Xyngular! If you click on the word Xyngular, it will bring you the website to check it out!!! Since January 21, 2013, I have lost 47.6 lbs! I understand that Xyngular isn't for everyone, and I am not trying to convince you that it's the best, but it has worked for me and my family! I drink some protein shakes, I take supplements, I count calories, I live a low carb lifestyle, I read boxes religiously, and I exercise lightly. Those things may not be for you, but I can tell you this.... if you aren't willing to change your lifestyle, you're not going to see results. I am not trying to sell you this, but if you are interested in what I am doing, I would love to answer questions and talk more about Xyngular with you! I can sell the products! The videos on the website linked above really explain the products! Everyone should at least check them out just to see what it is that has changed my life!!!

While I am thrilled to have lost 47.6 lbs, I have a long ways to go. This is why I am putting it out here. If everyone knows my business, then maybe I will keep going as planned!! My next goal is 60 lbs, but I will probably celebrate when I hit -50 just because that seems so surreal!!!

I will leave everyone with my first transformation picture!

The left side was taken last summer, and I probably weight 5-10 lbs less than I did when I started Xyngular. The picture on the right was taken in April when I had lost 40 lbs.  

If you're on a weight loss journey, please share your story with me! Let's keep each other encouraged!

Find me on My Fitness Pal at amaree5595 :)

Peace, Love, and Geaux Tigers :)

Teacher Tuesday :)

Of course, if I am going to get back into blogging, I am going to need a theme each day! Most of what I am up to is teacher stuff, so let's geaux Teacher Tuesday! 

Anyone else super excited to be out for summer, yet spending all of their time putting a plan together for next year?! I know I am!!!

I'm not in the classroom anymore, but I may as well be. I still teach a reading lesson based on the common core curriculum units established by our district to each grade Pre-K- 8th. I went ahead last week and made a curriculum map and lessons plans for all grades for the first 9 weeks of school!!! I am determined to be super prepared this year! 

In library news, I have decided on an AR theme thanks to this little boy : )

The theme is..... PIRATES!

At BEEMS, we are HOOKED on READING! (with Captain Hook)

The AR slogan is "Racing for the Treasure." On the display wall, we will have a beach mural with "Treasure Island" to the right. Each class will get a pirate ship. For each person that meets their goal, their pirate ship moves closer to Treasure Island.

I am using the Walt Disney quote, "There is more treasure in books than in all of the loot on Treasure Island" to gear the theme more towards reading. It's hard to pick themes that a kindergarten student and an 8th grade student will enjoy, but I think this one appeases to all ages. WIth Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Pirates of the Caribbean, I am hoping this will be a success.

I have retired all of the Dr. Seuss stuff...at least until March...bring on the pirates! 

Here are a few on my pinterest pins for the library (sorry- cannot get the link to work.... grrr. Find the My Pirate Classroom board on my pinterest to find links for these fabulous ideas that I plan to steal from someone :))

I'll do something like this for the door....

Reading Log for K- 2...

My two goals for the upcoming year are......................

#1. Have entire classes meet goals each 9 weeks

#2. Focus on K-2 reading fluently and with comprehension, and meeting their goals.

More to come in the following weeks....

Peace, Love, and Geaux Tigers : )

Meal Planning Monday... edition #1 for me :)

This will probably be a little different than most MPMs. I started a program called Xyngular on January 21st. Since then, I've lost 46 lbs. Part of the program is an 8 day detox. I do them every so often, and today I started my 3rd one. 

Day 1- Monday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Shake with Almond Milk

Morning Snack

- 4 oz Greek Yogurt with a little xypstick (xyngular product) mixed in

Lunch

Lean Butter Finger Protein Shake

-1 scoop of Lean Protein Powder

- 8 oz. of almond milk

-1 tbsp sugar free butterscotch pudding mix

-1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

-1 tsp PB2

Afternoon Snack

-4 oz Grilled Flank Steak

-2 oz. Fresh Mozzerella

- 1 tbsp Fresh Pesto from pinterest pictured below

Dinner

Lean Protein Shake with Almond Milk

Day 2- Tuesday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

-6 oz. community coffee- chilled

- 2 oz. almond milk

-1 scoop lean

- 1 scoop of ice

blend and enjoy!

Morning Snack

- 4 oz Greek Yogurt with a little xypstick (xyngular product) mixed in

Lunch

Lean Butter Finger Protein Shake

Afternoon Snack

-4 oz Grilled Flank Steak

-2 oz. Fresh Mozzerella

- 1 tbsp Fresh Pesto from pinterest

Dinner

Lean Protein Shake with Almond Milk

Day 3- Wednesday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

Lunch

Turkey Sandwich on wheat with pepperjack cheese stick

Dinner

Grilled Flank Steak- leftover from snacks all week

Grilled Pesto Shrimp from pinterest

Day 4- Thursday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

Morning Snack

- 4 oz Greek Yogurt with a little xypstick (xyngular product) mixed in

Lunch

Lean Butter Finger Protein Shake

Afternoon Snack

- 2 hard boiled eggs

- 2 snack size slim jims

- 1 oz. cashews

Dinner

Lean Protein Shake with Almond Milk

Day 5- Friday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

Lunch

Turkey sandwich on wheat with a pepperjack cheese stick

Dinner

Bacon Wrapped Pork Filet 

Day 6- Saturday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

Morning Snack

- 4 oz Greek Yogurt with a little xypstick (xyngular product) mixed in

Lunch

Lean Butter Finger Protein Shake

Afternoon Snack

Paleo Tilapia

Dinner

Lean Protein Shake with Almond Milk

Day 7- Sunday :)

Breakfast 

 Lean Protein Coffee Shake

Lunch

Beef and Bean Chili served over quinoa

Dinner

Paleo Tilapia and Shrimp

Giving this a try again...

I decided I'm going to get back into the blogging world! I love reading Emily Babb's blog about meal planning mondays, pinterest ideas, and what not, and I need to figure out how to be held accountable for meal planning to save money!!! So here we go AGAIN!

Library Tour 2012

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever, and I have been doing a lot of crock pot cooking lately that I want to blog. Unfortunatly, I do not have pictures (or recipes for that matter) of these latest creations. However, I do have some pictures of the library, so I will start there!

Below, you will find pictures of activities I am doing with pre-k (all inspired by pinterest, of course)

You will also see my book jacket garland! I just love it!

Then there are the first nine weeks AR theme decor pictures. The theme is Go for the Gold: Be a Champion Reader! I'm Olympic obsessed which you should see!

Peace Out, 2011

I am usually into typical blog posts like this, but I saw several friends doing it, and I thought I would give it a try this year.

**disclaimer- I am attaching pictures from my phone, so they will not be in the order j want them to be. Just a warning.

January
The start of the year was all about little man, brenden. My how he has grown in a year. He talks, and talks a lot! At school, we were hoping for snow.

February
Normally, I'd be gearing up for Mardi Gras during this month, but mardi Gras was late this year. At school, I decorated for Mardi Gras to get ready for March. I also had a birthday during this month! I got a pretty special present. My grandmother passed away last August, and I got her engagement ring. I just love it! I started a train ride in February that continuously gained speed until 2 weeks ago. I missed a week of school with the Flu- worst experience of my life. The next week, I had jury duty for the first time. I was chosen to be on the grand jury or the next year. I learned a lot through this experience, and overall, I am glad I was chosen.

March
March brought Mardi Gras, 9 weeks exams, and Spring break! This year, we went to Disney World for the break! Words do not express how much I enjoyed the week!

April
April was super busy as well! At school, it was MCT2 crunch time. At church, I had something every week as we prepared for the end of AWANA and the beginning of summer.

May
Yay May! May was my last month at WCES. During this month, I started a new, exciting, scary journey to beginning a new job! I accepted a library media specialist position at Bolton- Edwards Elem/ Mid School. also, my sweet cousin Sarah graduated from high school!

June
You would think that summer would mean lazy days, but that was not the case for me. At the church, we were busy with day trips, Narnia bible study, and my very first VBS experience! Wow! That was the craziest, most stressfully, wonderful thing ever! The same week of VBS, I attended new teacher orientation in Byram, and I bought a house! Yes, I said I BOUGHT A HOUSE! What a week/month?!

July
Hello craziest month ever. Wrapping things up at the church, packing, prepping my house, cleaning out the library, setting up the library, CENTRIKID, day trips, and MOVING! Did I mention I was also in grad school this whole year and I had the most terrible class ever during July?!

August

I was relieved , nervous, and excited to see August. I moved into my house, started my new job, had a month off of school, and met some pretty great friends in Clinton. Also, my little brother was baptized.

September

Brenden turned 2, so we had a Mickey themed birthday! Football season started- hallelujah! LSU started their dominating season by killing Oregon at Cowboys' Stadium. :-) I traveled to Starkville to watch LSU beat my alma mater :-)

October

Fall break, State Fair, 2 flat tires, Brad Wing get penalized for taunting after scoring a TD against Florida, friends, jury duty.

November
Grad school misery, Family Literacy night, my first book fair :/, stomach virus, thanksgiving with the Jones', found out my BFF is pregnant, Mickey on Ice. Oh, and there was this little thing called LSU beat bama in t-town in OT :-)

December
Finished coursework for grad school, went through an audit at work, had oral surgery, decorated everything for Christmas, LSU won SEC championship after their first undefeated season (geaux tigers), LSU and bama were selected for national championship game, drew Bree's beat marino's record in the dome against the dirty birds and clinched the NFC west, Christmas :-) Topping the year off with a trip to Newks and Yog N Frut with the fam.


What a year it's been! Looking forward to 2012! Graduation from UTA is first on the list!