Hi readers! As you know, I'm on vacation (heading to Houston from Little Rock today!), so Lindsey from The Accidental Wallflower was awesome enough to stop by and share a recipe with you guys (and seriously, go check out her blog -- she's one of my faves!). -Alex

Hello GGGW readers! My name's Lindsey and I usually blog over at The Accidental Wallflower. I blog about everything from my everyday life to money saving tips to crafts. I have a lot of fun with TAW and I'd love for you to check it out!

With Alex being out of town, she asked me to put together a guest post for her. Today I'm going to share a new recipe I recently tried out, my Broccoli Sausage Casserole. This casserole is a variation of my Zucchini Casserole, which I adapted from another blogger's recipe. And if you're a parent, you'll be happy to know my one and a half year old son loved this meal. And he's kind of a picky eater, so that's saying something!

Here's what you'll need to make the casserole, which I usually serve as my main dish, but it'd work just as well on the side in smaller portions.


Broccoli Sausage Casserole
Serves 2-3


Ingredients

- 12 ounces broccoli florettes
- 8 ounces sausage, cut into quarter inch pieces (I used chicken sausage)
- 3/4 onion, chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
- 6 ounces fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/3 + 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese (both cheddar and mozzarella work well)
- 2 tablespoons freeze dried garlic (fresh would also work)
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- Pinch of breadcrumbs (unpictured)
- PAM spray


 Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine onion, sausage, garlic and oregano in a skillet sprayed with PAM, cook until onions are soft, approx. 10-15 minutes on medium heat
- While onions are cooking, steam broccoli (mine steamed in the microwave for 3 minutes)
- When onions are soft, add mushrooms and steamed broccoli to skillet, cook for an additional 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and stir in Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup shredded cheese
- Spoon broccoli mixture into glass baking dish and top with breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup shredded cheese
- Bake for 25 minutes

Enjoy!

The Pinterest Fitness Challenge ended on Friday. I know I said I was going to do a link up, but only one other blogger participated (Ashley from Sweaty Girl in a Fur-Covered World); the other participants were non-bloggers, and we kept up with one another in a Facebook group.

I didn't lose any weight over the past three weeks, but I'm okay with that.

Because I have muscles now.

It's crazy for me to even think that. I've never had any sort of visible muscles before. And I still don't...until I flex. If I flex my left arm, a bicep pops up. It's a real, actual muscle; it looks like a muscle and feels like a muscle. I have one on my right arm too, but it's much smaller.

My other muscles are harder to note, because they're still covered in layers of fat, but you can feel them if you touch (not that I'm going up to people and being like, "FEEL THIS!!!", but I have had Tom feel).  Hamstrings? Yup. Quads? You know it. Glutes? Tom says my but has never looked tighter or better (as he put it, "it's shapelier;  it's smaller and rounder"). And, somehow, beneath all the jelly belly, I have actual, tangible ab muscles. It's crazy to me.

I just can't wait to see what it'll look like when the fat is gone :)

I've become more flexible, having been doing more yoga than usual (which I plan to keep up -- I really enjoy yoga). I did miss a day of workouts (we went back home for my brother's graduation), but I've been incorporating more activity into non-gym days. And I did eat meat about halfway through the challenge; my body was craving protein, and I gave in. I'm a lot more worried about getting the nutrients I need.

What I do need to really work on is getting my nutrition back on track; I've been slacking (and eating fast food). I need to get back to eating clean. I felt a lot better when I was.

Welcome to the Lazy Sunday hop! I hope you're having  a  wonderful day so far!


This is a no rules hop; just link up, hop around, and have fun!

This week's featured blog is Journey. Kahleel lives in Abu Dhabi, and  is spending the summer in NYC and Paris; I can't wait to see the pics she brings back!

Seriously, how freaking cute are these kids?

Got a Wordless Wednesday post? Don't forget to link up!

So I know I've alluded to this a couple of times, but I'm going on vacation next week.

Unfortunately, it won't be with my husband, but it'll be with one of my best friends, who I used to go on road  trips with, so it's going to be awesome.

We're leaving next Thursday for Houston (which we've visited together before, and fell in love with it), then spending a couple of days in Dallas. Oklahoma City is our last major stop before heading home.


I'm excited. I've never been to Dallas. I get to cross off a few more states off my never been list. I get to work on a photography project I've been itching to do for awhile.

And I get to spend time with one of my oldest friends (I've known her since she was in kindergarten).


And since I'm going to be gone a few days, I need some guest posters. I already have some takers, but I'm looking for a couple more.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

If you're interested, email me :)

Welcome to the Lazy Sunday hop! No rules, just link up your blog and social media links :)


This week's featured blog is The Big, Beautiful, and Broke Blog! Chelsea is awesome, so you guys should definitely check her out!

Commercials aren't exactly vying to be great television, but I feel like the current crop of advertisements is full of commercials that are A.) ridiculously stupid, B.) insanely annoying, and/or C.) insulting. I'm pretty sure I've complained about at least two on my personal Facebook page in the past month.

Here are a smattering of commercials I wish would just GET OFF MY TELEVISION, ALREADY!!!:

The KFC "I Ate The Bones" commercials



I really, REALLY hate these commercials. They're ridiculous. Who on earth is going to believe that you've been sitting there eating a chicken leg whole? If you're eating the bones, YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW IT!!!!!!!! Ugh.

Cuties commericals

 

When I lived with my grandma, we went through Cuties like it was our job. As adult women. It always irks me that they say "Cuties are for kids." YOU KNOW WHAT, CUTIES? CUTIES ARE FOR GROWNUPS TOO!!!

Red Robin commercials

 

I don't really know why I dislike these commercials so much. There's just something about that chick that makes me want to smack her. (I did say I get irrationally irritated).

Acuvue "One Day" commercials

 

I really hate these commercials.They imply that people with glasses don't have the confidence to do anything. You know what? I PREFER my glasses. My stupid astigmatism contacts bother my eyes in ways that my non-astigmatism contacts didn't, and I actually think I look better in my glasses than I do without them. The only thing my glasses have ever held me back from is seeing properly in the rain (since I take them off if I'm umbrella-less). And sometimes wearing sunglasses.

But I've talked to boys in my glasses. Heck, I married my husband in my glasses. I got a job I love in my glasses. I drive with my glasses. Glasses aren't going to salt your game, no matter what Acuvue wants you to think.

So yeah, I think those commercials suck

And don't even get me started on last year's Target commercials. Oy vey.

What commercials do you wish would just go away already?

Not Wordless Wednesday-related, but the second episode of my podcast is out! This week I was joined by Ashley from Sweaty Girl in a Fur-Covered World :)

And now, a goose:


Got a Wordless Wednesday post? Link up below!

Thursday, I FINALLY got to go back to the Indianapolis Zoo (I hadn't been in seven years). Unfortunately, Tom didn't get to go (he was at work), but we're hoping to go together soon. I went with my best friend, her son, her mom, and her nephew; though there were a few stumbles along the way (High gas prices! Lost phones! A case of the gimmes!), we had a great time.

I LOVE the Zoo. I actually wanted to get married there, but we couldn't afford it (though I'm not discounting it for our vow renewal, especially since Tom hates all my vow renewal ideas). The Indy Zoo is great because in addition to the zoo, your ticket includes admission to the White River Gardens. I had never been able to see the gardens before, and though we had to rush through them this time, they were GORGEOUS. My pictures seriously didn't do them justice.

Fun fact: the Indy Zoo was the first to successfully artificially inseminate an elephant.


But anyway, onto some pictures :)

We began our visit by touring the Oceans pavilion.


Jellyfish are beautiful. The little one on the right looks like a jellyfish from Spongebob Squarepants.


I've always been a fan of seahorses. In fact, when I had to write my first Young Authors' Conference book in first grade, it was about a seahorse (with the incredibly clever title of Bubbles the Seahorse -- cut me some slack, I was six). These seahorses kept nuzzling one another, and it was adorable.


I never expected to get such a clear shot of the tiger, but it was pretty much posing for me. I love tigers; they're so beautiful and graceful. Plus their paws are really freaking cute.


This dog, a Kangal named Solo, was one of the biggest dogs I have ever seen in my life. HUGE. Apparently, they protect livestock in Africa from cheetahs.


This baby elephant was seriously one of the cutest things I'd ever seen. She looked so happy, splashing, spraying, and rolling around in the mud. I took SO many pictures of her.

The White River Gardens is currently holding a butterfly exhibit where the butterflies get to fly freely all around the conservatory. They were so beautiful, and it was so cute to see the little kids trying to interact with them.


I wish I could have gotten this butterfly with its wings open. They were an absolutely gorgeous shade of blue on the inside.


There were all sorts of butterflies with really interesting markings that I had never seen before.


One of the (several) peaceful reflecting pools in the Water Garden.


There's an absolutely gorgeous ivy-covered gazebo that I think would be the absolute perfect place for a proposal. It was breathtaking.


These little frog fountains added a fun touch of whimsy to the garden :)

I just went four days ago, and I already can't wait to go back!

I'm just going to warn you now, I'm going to rant. You may think I'm overreacting, or being ridiculous, and you might be right. But I'm going to rant anyway.

USE YOUR FREAKING TURN SIGNALS, PEOPLE!!!

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this was my biggest pet peeve in my blogiversary vlog, but today I had yet another incident where I came thisclose to getting in an accident because some douchecanoe didn't think he needed to use his turn signal.


I was on my way home from work, on an extremely busy State Road around 5pm, so traffic was a little heavier than usual. I was in the right lane, just driving along, with cars in front of me, next to me, and behind me. Like I said, this is a really busy road, and there are a lot of places to turn into restaurants, shops, banks, etc.

The guy in front of me turned into the liquor store. He even used his turn signal. The issue?

He didn't turn the turn signal on until he was in the middle of actually making the turn. He also didn't slow down until he was making the turn.

So basically, I have to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him, because I'm going 40/45ish down the road. This, of course, causes the guy behind me to have to slam his, and we start a giant chain reaction.

All of this could have been avoided if he would have just used his freaking turn signal properly. I would have started slowing down if I had known he was going to turn.

Ugh.

I actually have something else to rant about too, but it inspired a whole 'nother post.

What's your biggest pet peeve?

My baby brother graduated high school on Sunday. I was going to use a "nice" pic, but I figured this was a more realistic portrayal :)

my mama, my youngest brother, and my stepdad

Got a Wordless Wednesday post? Link up below!

I hope your June is off to a great start; I know mine is! The Pinterest Fitness Challenge is now up and running, and you can still join!


Welcome to the Lazy Sunday hop! No rules; just link up and have fun!

Every week I feature a different blog, and this week's featured blog is Stringtown Home!