Veggie Bowls

I have to share my new favorite dinner recipe with you today!

It's healthy, easy and so good.

Veggies Bowls w Teriyaki Chicken

I grabbed all the veggies in my fridge.  Chopped them up into bite size pieces.  Sauteed them in olive oil.  Baked the chicken with teriyaki glaze.  Then we all built our own bowls.  The kids weren't interested in the veggies, but loved the chicken and rice.  The adults loved all the veggies.

Ingredients:
Broccoli
Yellow onion
Purple Onion
Red, Yellow & Orange peppers
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Baked chicken
Teriyaki Glaze
Olive oil
Soy sauce
White Rice

I added a little white rice in the bottom of our bowls and my kids ate the rice with their chicken.  These veggie bowls were delicious for dinner and leftover the next day.

 This is an easy dinner that I almost always have all of the ingredients for at my house.

Then we had peach cobbler for dessert!  You can find my recipe here.

April JOY

Happy Friday, friends!  Hope you've had a great week.  I'm excited to tell you about all of the things that have brought my family JOY this month.  We're all battling colds this week so it's fun to look back on all the highlights of the month and remember the fun times.  I also made it a priority to go to bed at midnight every night this week instead of my usual 1:00am-ish.  It's amazing how much better you feel when you get more sleep.  haha

INFERTILITY AWARENESS WEEK
Many of you know our story to grow our family included struggles with infertility both times.  I shared the details of our infertility stories last year (I Never Thought It Would Happen to Me TWICE) and just wanted to encourage those of you who are currently going through infertility.  It's exhausting, hard, expensive, hopeful, time consuming, discouraging, exciting and totally worth it.  Olive and Fletcher bring us so much JOY!  Feel free to comment or email me if you need some infertility encouragement sent your way!  polkadottyplace@hotmail.com

OUTSIDE
Our motto has been if the sun is shining we are outside!  We've been working in the yard, playing, watching our flowers bloom and the kids are taken to heading up to their tree house and shouting their snack orders to me.  They think it's awesome to pulley their snacks up to their tree house.  If you're on the fence about whether or not you should invest in a backyard play set... DO IT.  My kids would stay out and play on ours all day long.

These tulips are the most gorgeous mustard color!  They're almost like a tulip/peony mix.   It brings me so much JOY to see my gardens thriving.

Hello, Mr Raccoon.  This is our raccoon friend that likes to say hello late at night.  The picture is hilarious now, but he definitely freaked me out peeking in the windows late at night.  He kept doing this for 15 minutes so it was easy to snap his picture.

FACEBOOK PAYS
Kevin won a big contest recently thanks to Facebook!  He entered a local heating and air company's contest for $2000 towards a new AC unit and WON!!  He'd forgotten all about the contest and then several students/coworkers told him that they announced he was the winner on morning radio.  We were THRILLED.  Home expenses are always a pain so we'd been saving up to replace our AC one day.  Well this huge check will speed up that savings process.  So thankful and so surprised!

CATS:
My kids are obsessed with pretending to be cats lately thanks to Boss Baby the TV series.  Have your kids watched that yet?  Then I found these three guys hanging out together one sunny afternoon.

BAKING FOR OTHERS
I am trying to teach our kids that little things make a big difference to people.  We try to bake for our neighbors and friends regularly.  This day we were surprising Kevin with brownies after a long day of work.  They're his favorite dessert so it was fun to bake them together.

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT
My friend invited me to Legally Blonde The Musical at a local college and it was so much fun!  We went out for a delicious dinner (Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese on a Pretzel Bun) and had the best time.  We are almost always together with our kids so it was a real treat to have uninterrupted conversation and a night out.

DELICIOUS FOOD
I made several yummy things this week: Reese's Pieces Cookies.  I made my usual Monster Cookie Recipe and swapped out the M&Ms for Reese's Pieces.

Loaded Chicken Salad (recipe here)

KIDS
I mentioned these $1 sunnies for kids from Target earlier in the week.  Well, I'm happy to report that they're great!  My kids have been wearing them all week and love them.  They're durable, fit well and are so cute.

We've gotten back into our routine of going on long walks every day.  The kids love it and the fresh air is good for all of us.  I tell them early in the day that we'll go on a walk in the afternoon.  That way they remind me to get out and exercise.  It's one of our favorite hours of the day.

Our science class was all about the life cycle of a butterfly this week. They learned so much and have been talking all about butterflies.

When you spot a firetruck you stop.  Obviously.  Made this two year olds day :)

We've been doing after dinner art time while I clean up the kitchen.  The kid sit in their seats and color or draw anything they want.  Apparently tongues are fun to color.  Yuck!

In case you missed it on Polka-Dotty Place:

Monday: Summer Target Haul
Tuesday: Loaded Chicken Salad
Wednesday: What I'm Wearing for Spring

I'm joining these lovely ladies for the monthly JOY filled link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm also linking up with My Glittery Heart

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals

Hope you have a great weekend!!

What I'm Wearing for Spring

It's finally starting to feel like Spring so we are dressing to match - bright colors and flowy florals.

Here's my Spring outfit inspiration for you:

Kimonos.
You know by now that I LOVE a good kimono.  They're the perfect summer layer.  They are light weight and come in tons of fun patterns.  I found this one at Goodwill for $2.  I wore this for a fun dinner with a friend.  It was perfect and will definitely be on repeat all summer.

Flowy Floral.
I found this pretty tank at Old Navy and wear it often.  It was a great non maternity buy that I wore while pregnant and can now wear again.  The loose fit is great.

I loved this dress from TJ Maxx, but it was too small. Have you seen anything similar in stores?  It was a little short for my taste so I'd likely end up wearing it as a tunic.

Velvety Kimono. 
This was a gorgeous TJ Maxx find last fall that was under $20.  It's so pretty!

Matilda Jane.
Did you know they sell women's clothing??  Their dresses for little girls are darling and the women's clothes are just as fun.  The quality is amazing.  Let me know if you want more info about ordering here's my trunk keeper's info for you: Ellie @  matildajaneclothing.com/ellietempleton

What's your favorite thing to wear for Spring??

It's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday ladies.
Be sure to join us with a recent post.

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place / Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter 

Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest / Facebook

Keri at Keri Lynn Synder / Faceobok / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Mauri at The American Patriette /  Facebook /  Pinterest / Instagram

Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World /  Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Loaded Chicken Salad

I'm a huge fan of chicken salad.

I like hot chicken salad and cold chicken salad.  It's all delicious to me.

A friend recently posted a recipe for greek yogurt chicken salad and I was intrigued.

I haven't tried many new recipes lately.  Life's been busy so we've been sticking to our favorite foods.  But, with the warmer weather finally arriving in Indiana I am feeling motivated to try some new recipes.

I made up this recipe on Sunday and it was SO YUMMY!  It was light, filling and I am excited to eat it for lunch all week.

Loaded Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts cooked & shredded (I did mine in the crock pot)
1 5.3 oz plain greek yogurt
2 celery stalks finely chopped
1 c green grapes cut in fourths
1 c red grapes cut in fourths
1/2 c strawberries cut small
1/4 c chopped pecans
1 t cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Shred the chicken.  Wash and chop all the colorful ingredients.  Stir everything together in a big bowl until well coated and chill.  Serve on a bed of baby spinach or with crackers.

Isn't it a pretty chicken salad??

How do you like your chicken salad?  Leave me all the details in the comments.

Summer Target Haul

I ran in Target to grab a few things the other day and had to share them with you.  I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was on the hunt for some sunnies for my kids.  I can't stand the idea of paying much for them since my kids are so hard on them.  Several friends messaged me that Target Dollar Spot had a good assortment of ONE DOLLAR sunnies.  Yes, please!

Let me show you what I found.

Every trip to Target starts at the Dollar Spot for me...

Road Trip Supplies:
We have some fun summer road trips coming up so I'm trying to stock up when I see cute things for cheap.  There was Road Trip Bingo for $1 that will be so fun in the car.  I think Olive will be old enough to enjoy it and there are no loose parts.  The covers just slide right over the pictures.  I also found these sticker sets for $1 - dinosaurs and mermaids.  Tons of stickers in each.

Sunnies!!
These were also in the Dollar Spot.  They were $1 a pair so we stocked up.  I know things like this won't last long so I grabbed boy options and let Olive pick out her favorites.  They are kid size instead of toddler size so I think they'll fit my large headed kids really well.  How cute are the sprinkle pair and the two toned blue/green ones??  Major deal!

Boys T-shirts.
I didn't intend to do any clothes shopping, but I couldn't pass up these tees for Fletcher.  I just love the pattern mixing and they are SO SOFT.  This Well Worn brand is new to me.  I'd not seen or hear dof it before at Target.  They had several cute things that I was tempted to buy.  This cactus shirt felt nicer than their usual tees and more like a boutique tee.  And the best part was that it was only $7.99!!
 
Chambray print tee by Cat & Jack.  I love this combo and it was only $6.

Click the pictures below for more details on both shirts from Target:





What's your favorite Target find lately??


PS Some affiliate links included.  Thanks for reading & supporting Polka-Dotty Place!

The Highlights

Happy Friday!!  Hope you had a great week.  We were busy and had loads of fun!

The best parts were:

Fashion Show.
Olive and I were invited to participate in a Matilda Jane fashion show with our friends and had so much fun!  We got to check out a new winery in town and we just love their clothes.  They have the cutest clothes for moms and kids.  I love stocking up on their clothing when they go on sale.  I was so excited about our outfits.  I think I'm going to have to order some of our favorite pieces.  Olive had the best time.  It's so fun to see her make friends and I've loved getting to know their moms.  It's hard to find moms and kids you all love hanging out with.  Thankful for this crew!

Eat the Rainbow.
We've been eating lots of fruits and veggies!  I asked my family to tell me the fruits and veggies they wanted to eat for the week.  Then I added them to my grocery list.  They were all excited to see their favorites in our fridge.  I washed and prepped everything in bulk so that it was ready to grab from the fridge.  I also made a yummy baked egg & roasted veggie dish.

Tooth Hurty.
I am not a big fan of going to the dentist because something is almost always needing attention and requiring costly repairs in my mouth.  This week I went in for a follow up appointment to figure out what's going on.  I got some unexpected news that requires a couple more appointments.  I'm thankful to know what's going on, but not super excited to have it fixed.

Heated Seats.
My new van has heated seats.  I swore I'd never use them, but I ate my words this week.  Temps dropped down into the 30s again and you better believe I enjoyed the toasty seats.  The kids just care about the DVD player.  This floral sweatshirt is also a favorite.  I wear it a couple times a week if not more.

Sunshine.
The sun was shining a lot this week!  We got out and played, worked in the yard and went for as many walks as possible.  It was great.

Mermaids & Pirates Party.
Our children's museum hosted the cutest mermaids & pirates night.  My kids dressed up and loved all of the special exhibits - Moana yoga, sea creatures, face painting, Ariel the musical, seashell jewelry, etc.  I can't recommend a museum membership enough if you've got little kids.  We use ours weekly for science classes, play dates, special family events and more.  Totally worth the investment for all of the learning opportunities.

Gymnastics.

One of moms groups scheduled an open gym playgroup yesterday and my kids had a blast.  They jumped, bounced and played hard all morning. 

Teenager.
Fletcher strolls around with his hands in his pocket looking like a teenager this week.

You Can Stay Home with Your Kids!
I finished Erin Odom's newest book You can Stay Home with Your Kids!  100 Tips, tricks and ways to make it work on a budget.  It was a quick read that was jam packed with ideas for stay at home moms.  I think the book is best for new moms hoping to stay home with their children.  There are a lot of common sense tips that come with territory of parenting so I didn't find a ton of new information in the book.  I wish the list of apps, websites and information would have been more detailed.  I was surprised to find some DIY recipes.  The book is organized into different categories and I loved that Odom points out that choosing to stay home with your kids will mean that you'll have to make certain sacrifices.  She is encouraging to all moms and it's obvious that she wants to help moms on a budget.  This would be a fun book to read with a moms group I wish there would have been more ideas for free activities with kids at home or on the go.  I'd gift this book to new moms.  *This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review of it from BookLook.

In case you missed it on PDP:

Monday: 6 Easy Ways to Eat Your Veggies
Tuesday: Tips for Finding the Best Things at Thrift Stores
Wednesday: Weekending: New Van Road Trip

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We've got some fun plans with friends and are hoping to get some yard work done if the weather cooperates.

Linking up with
My Glittery Heart

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals