I’ve been craving homemade pierogis so I made them yesterday on my day off. They were time consuming, but worth it because they were very delicious! These ones are stuffed with broccoli cheddar filling. I served them over a bed of sautéed onions, peppers, and kielbasa.
Had anyone tried different types? What do you stuff them with or what’s your favorite kind?
Does anyone else think it’s so adorable when their dog sleeps? Steele has many different position he sleeps, but usually it’s on myself or my husband. If he’s not on us he’s always somewhere close! Enjoy some cute photos of Steele sleeping.
I love to cook. When I cook I’m focused only on cooking. No matter what is going on it seems I am able to block it out and focus solely what is in front of me. This is a comfort recipe for a cold winter day. I made it with beef, carrots, celery, and cabbage. We ate it a few different ways. One was plain stuffed in croissants. Then I bought biscuits and made mashed potato’s and we ate it that way. Each way was great. I didn’t have tomato paste or Guinness so I used chicken broth. It still turned out great!
Steele is not a fan of the heat. I’d like to invest in some doggy shades, but I don’t think he would be a fan.
Tomato sandwiches are always a staple for summertime . They are so easy and very good! Somehow I am just having my first one this evening. I like to put mayo and extra pepper on mine! Did you grow up eating this? If not what is something you ate growing up? Thanks for stopping by to read my blog! -Lilly 
My husband and I went on a short get away to reset for a little while. We were supposed to go to Vegas this year, but COVID had other ideas. Instead we went and did some hiking in Ashville and walked around downtown. If you ever get the chance to go there for a few days I would highly recommend it. We loved the area!
Below are some of the pictures I took while we were there. We went to the following places.
*Biltmore Estates
*Biltmore Winery – They do complimentary wine tastings.
*Catawba Falls , Looking Glass Falls, Sliding Rocks.
* Hi- Wire Brewery, Green Man Brewery, and all the local ones downtown.
*Flat Creek Boys played some local music
This was the perfect get away for a few days and the vibes of Ashville were very relaxing. I would love to go back !
While scrolling through Pinterest, I randomly came across this quote. Honestly I couldn’t agree more with it. Being the first to graduate high school in my family, the first to go to college, the first to travel abroad. It’s not only education that makes an impact on your life. In fact it’s everything around it as well. The little things that people don’t think about. For instance driving, getting a car, and going out to eat. When I first started going out to eat the only thing I could order were chicken tenders. As much as I love chicken tenders this order was out of fear. Fear of not knowing if I’d like something else(food envy is real). Fear of ordering something and regretting it. It was fear of pricing, and just not knowing any different. Overall the inability to order in general.
Since traveling my taste buds have expanded tremendously. I also love to cook different foods( I usually photograph these in my food porn section.)
This quote resonates with me for more reasons than one. The access to transportation is a huge one. I can remember my grandma paying people to take her places. When our vehicles were broke down it was a never ending cycle of trying to get someone to take us to the grocery store, or to the doctors. When I finally got a vehicle in college I drained my savings account (all 1,500) to buy a Dodge Ram 1500 I found in the newspaper. Until I found a vehicle I paid my college roommate gas money to take me to the orthodontist, to go to the store, and to drop me off where her mother worked to carpool to get a ride back home. Are these things a freshman in college should have to worry about? No, but I did. Generational curses are real, and generational poverty is one of them. My family had endured it for decades. While I worked multiple jobs my whole life to try and keep my head above water(until now). I do feel like I myself have broke one chain of the generational curses, but the endured trauma will probably always be with me. Do you ever wonder why you do the things you do or why you act the way you act? I do. The more I’ve read into articles on trauma, and the brain the more I realize many of the things I do have resulted directly from some form of trauma. Granted I have had a lot of counseling! The best thing a counselor has ever said to be is “Do you not think you’re worthy? Worthy of someone helping you? Worthy of someone loving you? Worthy of allowing someone else in? From that moment on something clicked differently. I told myself I would let people help me, I would say yes instead of no. I would handle things differently. I would let the word love be welcomed freely. Even though some of my family have told me directly “you think you’re better than us.” Or “You think your way is always right.” Maybe I am? Not so much in the sense of worth, but in the mindset. The mindset of not letting anything hold me back, for wanting more than I’ve ever had for myself , and my siblings. I am better for making myself better. I’m better for taking opportunities for multiple jobs. I’m better for working till 1 am and getting up for class at 7 am. I’m better for sacrificing the average college experience to earn money to be able to get further in life. I missed out on all the spring breaks, and short holidays. It’s okay though, because I’ve came out better. Better for myself and others. Who cares if people talk shit. Let them. YOU ARE DOING GREAT THINGS. YOU ARE A BETTER PERSON THAN YOU WERE. AFTER ALL A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE JUST TALK.
Thanks for coming by to read my blog! Keep doing great things ! -Lilly
Tonight I made shrimp scampi spaghetti squash for dinner. It was amazing and I would try it again. Oddly enough it taste very much like pasta. I would make it again! If you’ve never tried this before I would highly recommend it! My husband loved it so much he scraped his and mine out ! My dog Steele said it smelled really good too!
Each year Mother’s Day comes and goes and I always seem to go through all the phases of grieving all over again. If you don’t know, my mom ( grandma that raised me and my biological mom ) passed away when I was 26 years old.
It’s almost like going through all the stages of grief all over again. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.
Sometimes I feel like I never had time to grieve if that makes any sense. So much went on in such little time I just had to push through, be strong for everyone else, and get on with working 3 jobs to save money to get back on track.
Then I get angry, because I know people who have moms and treat them like crap.
I’m angry that I don’t have my mom here to call on rides home from work, to tell Happy Mother’s Day to, to eat her chocolate covered strawberries my Aunt would send her, or give her flowers, or take her out to eat to somewhere she’s never been. You know spoil her like she deserves.
Then I think to myself well maybe if life would have been different she would still be alive and I begin to bargain with myself . Although no matter how many times I think things through it wouldn’t change the way things were.
There’s a small piece of the day I feel really down and depressed, but I know deep down there’s nothing that can change what’s happened.
Then I realize that I have people. I have Susan that adopted me as an adult, I have my foster parents , I have my mother in law, I have my friends mom’s that look after me and treat me like their own. So when the day is over I’ve finally hit acceptance. It sucks that it takes going through all those emotions to kind of slap me in the face and say wake up woman! You HAVE MOMS! That’s something not many people can say. I did get ahead of the game and send out cards on time this year so that’s a plus.
It’s a weird way to feel and to process all those different feelings in that order. I try to block it and ignore the day all together sometimes. Some years hit me different and some are more difficult than others.
It’s very heavy on my heart so it helps to write these things out even if it’s a day late.
What is you’re way of coping with holidays after losing someone? Does anyone else feel this way?
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you enjoyed your Mother’s Day with your mother or motherly figures! Treat them good they won’t be around forever.
I was going through pictures and found this one of my Grandma holding me as a baby. She always looked this happy holding a baby. I swear she was a baby whisperer. She raised myself and 6 other siblings. I miss her so much it hurts so badly at times.
I love this quote. I describes how I feel on so many occasions.
Thank you again for reading. I hope it helped if you have a heavy heart as well. ~Lilly
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