Friday Favorite Finds- Freezing Rain Day Edition

Well, the wind blew, the rain came, the snow came, and the freezing rain came.  So much for telling my students that I doubted there'd even be a delay so they had better study hard.  Today was supposed to be the last day of the trimester.  However, old man winter wasn't about to let it end normally, so here I am trying to figure out how to plan things for next week because we will have the teacher work day before the trimester is actually over.  Oh, well- the good news is that I actually get to participate in Friday Favorite Finds from joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com.

I've been trying to get more into cooking since reading Mr. Money Mustache.  I've always read all of these ladies' blogs and been like, well they are just a Betty Crocker and that is not me and used that as an excuse to hate cooking.  However, for some reason when I read a guy's blog it clicked that maybe I just have the wrong state of mind while cooking.  I was too worried about pleasing these random "other people" that I forgot that 99% of the time I am just cooking for my husband and me, so I don't need to stress about the "other people."  Before, I was just annoyed because I could work really hard at making something and make it perfect and people still might not like it.  My math "one answer is the correct answer" background definitely surfaced.  

However, now I am all about making things my way.  My goal is to be able to create healthy food that I find delicious for cheap.  Once I started focusing less on how others might view my food and more on making it the way I like it, the whole process became much more fun.  I know that sounds extremely self centered, but it is really just less "keeping up appearances" oriented.

Anyway, if that doesn't work for you, I want to tell you another item that has made me enjoy cooking slightly more.  Wine!  If I cook with a glass of wine in my hand I feel like I have been instantly transformed into Julia Child.  Many nights I don't have any wine, I have learned that it is just the power of having a fancy glass in my hand filled with any random beverage.

Without any further ado, here are some of my pics for the week:

Source: iowagirleats.com via Tamessa on Pinteres

Easy Chicken Fried Rice

Source: dineanddish.net via Jess on Pinterest

Easy Baked Chicken Legs

Source: momstestkitchen.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Roasted Broccoli

Source: aldi.us via ALDI USA on Pinterest

Baked Zucchini

Source: goodrecipestotry.blogspot.com via Noelle on Pinterest

How cool are those chocolate bowls?!

Happy Friday!