Thursday Thoughts - Vol 29

Happy Thursday! Have you made Valentine's Day Strawberry Puppy Chow yet? If not, you should make it this weekend! For now, here's Thursday Thoughts:

1. I went to Target last week to buy a few groceries and miscellaneous household items, but came out with a swimsuit (in January when I have no warm vacations planned), Valentine's day socks, a zillion Valentine's Day decorations, and Valentine's Day candy...when I'm doing Whole 30. Why did I think that was a good idea? Peanut m&ms have been tempting me all week. So far I've stayed strong, but we'll see if I make it through the weekend. Also, Target takes all my money. I shouldn't be allowed in there by myself with unlimited time to browse.
2. I need to stop watching weeknight KU basketball games. I think I'm bad luck. On Monday KU was winning literally the entire time until I turned it on. Guess I need to stick to the Bachelor on Monday's.
3. I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday working on a puzzle sooooo there's that. 
4. I'm a little scared to confess this for fear of being shunned by the entire blogger and health community, but I cannot get on board with kale. I don't know how many times I've ordered a kale salad hoping this time I would love it, but I just don't. I can't. It's so strong tasting. I bought kale slaw salad mix and kale chips on my weekly Trader Joe's run this week, and regretfully I can't say I've fallen madly in love with either. 
5. Ohhhhh to grow up in a family of three girls! Pretty sure I can relate to all of these photos unfortunately (or fortunately. Love you Mandy and Brooke haha). Be sure to check out these 18 Photos That Won't Make Sense to Sisterless Families if you have sisters! Those scratch marks bring back memories for sure. The amount of fights we had over who was on who's side of the car on road trips, who got the computer during prime AOL hours, and who stole who's clothes will never be forgotten. 
6. It's almost scary how perfectly this list of 11 Things Every 'Type A' Person Wants You to Know describes me. I'd rather die than be late (I'm habitually 15 minutes early to almost everything), and I seriously couldn't function without my to-do list. My nervous habit? If you know me at all then you definitely know it's playing with my ring...and dropping said ring. :)

Valentine's Day Puppy Chow

Valentine's Day treats just might be my favorite of all. Everything is pink and girly and cute and well, you get the picture. Now, while I wouldn't classify this particular treat as cute, it is super easy to make and requires no cooking. All you need is a microwave! Easy enough right?



Okay so here is what you'll need:

• 5 oz. white almond bark or candy melts
• 5 oz. red or pink candy melts
• 5 cups Chex cereal
• 1/2 cup strawberry cake mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• SPRINKLES! lots and lots of sprinkles!
• Valentine's m&ms (optional)

Divide the Chex cereal into two bowls (2 1/2 cups in each bowl). I usually opt for Rice Chex, but really any kind will do.

Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and slowly start to melt in 30 second increments. Make sure to stir between each so the chocolate doesn't burn. It can be quite finicky! Once melted, add to the Chex cereal and lightly stir to coat evenly. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and some sprinkles. Again, lightly stir to evenly coat.

Repeat the exact same process with the red or pink candy melts, strawberry cake mix, and (duh) more sprinkles!

Allow both to dry completely, and then combine for the most perfectly delicious Valentine's Day puppy chow! If you want to get really crazy, you can even throw in some Valentine's Day m&ms. Personally, I like it without the m&ms, but I'm not real big on chocolate. I know I'm crazy. Enjoy!

I'm back!

Hi friends! It’s been awhile….like months. So as some of you may have noticed, the website I had been using no longer exists. Life got busy. I started a new job in September that has basically consumed my life for the last 5 months (but I love it!), and when my site expired I honestly didn’t even notice for a reeeeeeally long time, and then when I did notice it wasn’t a top priority. Anyways, long story short, everything is gone. Wah wah. They can’t recover any of the content so I guess the last year of my life didn’t really happen. Does that make me 29 again?!? J I wish. Anyways, I’ve decided that rather than pay for a domain name and hosting and all that nonsense, I’m just going to go old school, and use jendoebakes.blogspot.com again. Cool? Cool. Maybe at some point I’ll try to get everything updated on this site (maybe I can convince my dear friend Ashley to help me. Hi Ashley). Until then you’ll just have to live with the old name and a super outdated picture and a profile that says I’m 26.

Okay so let’s see. What have I been up to since we last talked?! I’ve been working a lot. I tried to start the BBG program, but failed miserably. I went on a few vacations (Charleston, Chicago, Tuscaloosa, Oklahoma City, Portland, Cancun/Tulum). I did some wedding planning. I turned 30. I baked a lot. I celebrated the holidays with my family, and most recently, I started another round of Whole 30 because I basically went the entire month of December eating whatever I wanted and not working out at all. Hello wedding diet. If you want a full recap and to see what I’m up to on a daily basis you can follow me on Instagram. J

I’ll try to get some updated recipe posts on here asap. The good thing is my weekends are pretty wide open since I can’t go eat delicious meals (of course it’s Kansas City restaurant week) right now or go out drinking (not that I do that a whole lot anyways) so there’s plenty of time for blogging…and doing jigsaw puzzles. Seriously. I just bought two last weekend. Buy 1 get 1 50% off at Barnes and Noble in case anyone is wondering! Okay, I’ll stop my rambling, and leave you with a few Thursday Thoughts just like old times.

1. I hate the cold. I’m over winter, and I have a feeling it’s only just getting started. After Cory and I get married we’re moving South. Peace out snow and ice and single digit temps. 
   
2. I just discovered that my planner for this year has inspirational quotes every day. Kind of obsessed. Today’s is “Always do what you are afraid to do.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. I’d say that’s a good one. Wouldn’t you? 
   
3. Speaking of planners, does anyone else have to use a good old fashioned paper planner? I understand that it’s 2016, and there are these things called cell phones with digital calendars built in, but I just can’t get on board with that. Maybe it’s my type A, OCD personality, but I like being able to write things down and cross them off. Putting a little check next to items on a screen just doesn’t give me the same level of satisfaction.
4. I found a new royal icing recipe last night which I’m super excited about. When I bake cookies, not only do I want them to look pretty, but I actually want them to taste good too. Is that too much to ask? Most royal icing dries SO hard. I feel like I’m going to chip a tooth biting into one. I think this recipe might have finally solved that issue. Only problem is I’m doing Whole 30 right now so I can’t taste test. Guess I found an excuse to bake some Valentine’s Day cookies in 11 days. 
5. You know what else is really unfortunate? I won a Black Card from Doughnut Lounge last Fall which is probably like the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I get one free donut a day FOR LIFE. Every. Single Day. Pretty amazing. Unfortunately I only made it there once before starting Whole 30. I don't think donuts are on my wedding diet either, but I may have to make a few exceptions because let's face it, life it better with donuts. 
   

This has turned into quite a long post so I guess I'll sign off for the day. Have a great day everyone!

Thursday Thoughts - Vol 28

Happy Halloween Eve! Thursday Thoughts are here!

1. Clean sheets are one of the best things on earth. There's just something about crawling into soft sheets that smell like fresh meadows and rain. Mmmmmmmm. Comfy cozy. 
   
2. Speaking of beds and sleeping, a few days ago I had a less than stellar night of sleep. I had a dream...let me correct myself, a horrible, horrible nightmare...I woke up and my bottom teeth were SO crooked. I'm talking couldn't even attempt to wedge my bottom retainer back in, snaggletooth crooked. They were the kind of crooked that could only be fixed by a second round of braces. The horror! I woke up in a cold sweat. Luckily, my bottom retainer was in place, and my teeth were still relatively straight. Phew. You can all exhale in relief now.
3. You know what is almost as gross as crooked teeth? Playoff beards. Woof. I'm sorry, but all these baseball players look so dirty. It's time to shave boys so we can see those pretty little faces of yours...and while we're at it, let's just all forget about no-shave November this year. 5 o'clock shadows = sexy. Full beards = creepy.
4. How I just recently discovered Trader Joe's macarons is a mystery to me, but they are fabulous. I wish I could buy an entire package of the pistachio flavored ones. So yummy. Good thing they only stay good for 2 days after you thaw them out. Thank you TJs for an excuse to eat an entire package of cookies in 48 hours. 
   
5. I do not, I repeat, do not understand people who like 20 of my Instagram pictures in a row yet do not follow me. If you like that many of my pictures I've already taken won't you like them in the future?! Don't think for a second I'm going to start following you. Doesn't work like that. Sorry.
6. You guys. I cannot take vegan leather jackets. I mean really, they are just plastic, pleather, PVC jackets. Why is everyone trying to make them sound way fancier than they really are?! Putting the words vegan and leather together is a contradiction. If you are vegan, you don't wear leather. You wear PVC. It is a plastic jacket. Let's call it that.
7. So I did just buy myself a real leather jacket a few weeks ago, and wouldn't you know I've already spilled all over it. Last week I was getting out of my car at work (in the rain), and I dropped my badge. I went to bend down and pick it up and being the dummy I am, I forgot I had a smoothie in my hand. I somehow managed to dump almost the entire smoothie into and down the front of my purse and coat sleeve. I am such a klutz. I should probably stick to pleather.
8. You didn't think I would let an entire Thursday Thoughts go by without mentioning Taylor Swift did you?!? No way. No how. It is album release week, and boy is it a good one! If you haven't listened to 1989 I highly suggest getting up and driving your butt to Target right this second. Seriously. Stop reading this and go! If you have heard it, bravo. You can vote for your favorite track here, and if you're crazy like me you can take this quiz to see which Taylor Swift album you are.