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5 Ingredient Corn Casserole

The official start to summer is quickly approaching and in honor of the coming cookouts and parties I wanted to share my ALL-TIME favorite party dish. It’s a fan favorite and must-have. This dish is the easiest to make, and when I say easy- I mean it. You’re gonna love it!

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Happy Friday everyone! The official start to summer is quickly approaching and in honor of the coming cookouts and parties I wanted to share my ALL-TIME favorite party dish. It’s a fan favorite and must-have. This dish is the easiest to make, and when I say easy- I mean it. You’re gonna love it!

I found this recipe from Tastes of Lizzy T, but my family’s been making it for years.

Dish Details

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 can of corn, drained
1 can of creamed corn
1 cup of sour cream
1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup)
1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix

Instructions

Are you ready…?

Toss all those ingredients into a bowl and mix it up.
Transfer the mixture to a greased 8×8 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. The exact baking time will depend on the exact size pan you use, so just be sure to watch the casserole closely. You’ll know it is done when the center is completely set.

That’s it! Really. It’s the most low hassle dish I’ve made so far, and I’m in love! Typically I like to double the recipe so there’s plenty for everyone and even leftovers, because you’re not gonna want to put this down.

One of my other favorite things about this dish is that you can make it ahead of time! Up to 48 hours in advance. Mix it up, put it in the baking dish and cover it with plastic wrap or tin foil and pop it in the fridge. When it’s time to bake, take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you put it in the oven. Then bake as the recipe suggests.

**It might take a few extra minutes to bake since the casserole will be cold.**

Try this out at your next get-together or for a great side dish during the week. Let me know how you love it!!

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Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

Life Update!

WOAH. Hi friends! It has been WAY too long. Life has been a little crazy, but so so good. I figured it would be fun for me to give ya’ll a life update since I haven’t posted about myself for a while.

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In March I landed a full-time job as a Staff Accountant for a Fund Administration firm. Pretty much doing a mix of accounting and data entry for companies that work with investments. It’s ALL remote which I’m loving, and the company is so great. They were actually founded as a remote company so they were ahead of the game when Covid hit. They’re experts at WFH so I get a good balance of communicating with my team and not feeling too secluded during the day.

I just went home to Ohio to visit in April and that was wonderful. I got to see so many friends and family and catch up with a lot of people. It’s so good getting to be home, I definitely missed it a lot and am already planning my next trip back, haha. I had a spa day with my mama, a day in CLE with my cousin, hit up the ol’ country bar for some line dancing, visited my alma mater and ate SO much good food. It was honestly rough coming back to work after all that.

Annnnnnd, just about two weeks ago I bought a new car! Well, certified pre-owned. She’s a 2019 Chevy Equinox named Edna. She’s a beaut I’ll tell ya. I’m so blessed, I had my list of all the features I wanted and I got all that and MORE. This is the biggest purchase I’ve made… ever, lol. It felt so good getting to buy myself something so nice. Especially after working so hard to get a good job and save save save.

In short, life is wonderful but chaotic in the best way. I’ve checked off two big goals for the year and can’t wait to keep going. I’m hoping to find a good posting schedule that isn’t too overwhelming with work, so bear with me as I figure this out.

I hope you all are doing GREAT, and I’m hoping to have another post come out very SOON! If you have any ideas of things you’d like to see please let me know! I’m always looking for inspiration.

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support!

Chaos Walking Movie Review

This past week I took myself on a date, currently on a journey to get comfortable spending time by myself, see: Treat Yourself. I had been seeing the trailers for Chaos Walking starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, and Nick Jonas for a while and decided it would be the perfect movie to see in theaters.

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This past week I took myself on a date, currently on a journey to get comfortable spending time by myself, see: Treat Yourself. I had been seeing the trailers for Chaos Walking starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, and Nick Jonas for a while and decided it would be the perfect movie to see in theaters.

SPOILER WARNING!

Boy, was I right. The movie takes place in a dystopian world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise. “The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.” This quote opens up the movie and honestly captures the film in the perfect way.

The movie begins in a small village on New World, only inhabited by men, when a woman crash lands on the planet from her spaceship. Being the only woman, Viola’s (Ridley) life is threatened and young villager Todd Hewitt (Holland) promises to keep her safe. The story then follows the two as they seek refuge and safety.

We eventually learn that there were in fact women on this planet, but they were all killed off by the original habitants, or aliens to us. However, it comes to light that the mayor and priest of the small village actually looked down on the women because their thoughts weren’t visible. This made them think the women were soulless and weak. I find this interesting, because I think it gives the women an edge. Usually, on Earth, women are constantly at a disadvantage and this factor levels the playing field on this new planet.

I can see this type of genre becoming big: a journey to a new world because Earth is becoming or already is uninhabitable. Take Wall-E, Passengers, or upcoming movie Voyagers for example. It’s a very interesting story line and one lots of people have actually thought about happening.

I was slightly disappointed because Nick Jonas’ character, David Prentiss, didn’t get as much screen time as I thought he would. He played the villain, which is new for Jonas. He typically takes parts where he’s the hero or good guy. I did like this contrast though and thought he did an excellent job.

Overall: WOAH. 10/10. Chaos Walking kept me intrigued, because as an audience we were never given a true backstory about the New World: why it is and how it came to be. It leaves room for a sequel but the ending wraps it up as a stand alone film. I was on edge the whole time, and didn’t know what would happen next. It’s a very unique storyline and I appreciated that.

Chaos Walking is only streaming in theaters, so if you have the chance- GO SEE IT! You won’t regret it.

Have you seen Chaos Walking? What’re your thoughts? Thumbs up, thumbs down?

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

My Current Workout Routine | 2021

I want to focus on getting healthy and not just getting skinny. I want the gym to be a place I love going to and a time for me to focus on myself. If you’re looking to do the same or looking for some workout inspo, look no further! Today, I’ll be breaking down my current workout split.

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Hello friends! I am back with another fun fitness post! As I mentioned in my 2021 Resolutions post, one of my goals this year is to get in shape. I want to focus on getting healthy and not just getting skinny. I want the gym to be a place I love going to and a time for me to focus on myself.

If you’re looking to do the same or looking for some workout inspo, look no further! Today, I’ll be breaking down my current workout split, so without further ado… let’s get into it!

Monday
- Legs
  - Leg press, leg extension, leg curl, hip abductor/adductor
- Cardio
  - 30 min on the treadmill, 2.5 speed, 10.5 incline
Tuesday
- Abs
  - Russian twists, reverse crunches, side crunches, leg raises, 20 sec plank
- Back
  - Rear-delt, lateral pulldown, back row, back extension
- Cardio
  - 30 min on the treadmill, 2.5 speed, 10.5 incline
Wednesday
- Upper body
  - Bicep curl, chest fly, chest press, overhead press, tricep press
- Cardio
  - 30 min on the treadmill, 2.5 speed, 10.5 incline
Thursday
- Legs
  - Leg press, leg extension, leg curl, hip abductor/adductor
- Abs
  - Russian twists, reverse crunches, side crunches, leg raises, 20 sec plank
- Cardio
  - 30 min on the treadmill, 2.5 speed, 10.5 incline
Friday/Saturday/Sunday
- REST

For every exercise, I do 3 sets x 15 reps.

I planned out this split so I can ease myself back into exercising without burning myself out. To be completely transparent, sometimes I’ll skip my 4th day. The combination of hitting legs/abs earlier in the week + still being a newbie: I’m beat by Thursday.

I used to feel super bad about missing a workout, but I know it’s so important to let your body rest. Do your best, but make sure you aren’t pushing yourself too hard! You got this!

What’s your workout split? Favorite exercises? Recommended exercises?

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

Slow Cooker Crack Chicken Pasta

I am back with another amazing recipe for you all to try! If you thought my other recipes were easy, you are in for a treat! This meal took me a total of 20 minutes to prep and the crockpot does the rest for you. They call this “crack” for a reason, it tastes delicious and is so hard to put down.

Happy Tuesday, friends! I am back with another amazing recipe for you all to try! If you thought my other recipes were easy, you are in for a treat! This meal took me a total of 20 minutes to prep and the crockpot does the rest for you. They call this “crack” for a reason, it tastes delicious and is so hard to put down.

I found this recipe from Coupon Cravings, and it is amazing.

Ingredients

5 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. Velveeta cubed
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
One Packet Hidden Valley Buttermilk Recipe Ranch Dry Seasoning found by salad dressings
3 cups Penne/Mostaccoli Pasta uncooked
1 1/2 cups mild cheddar cheese
1 cup bacon pieces I used Oscar Mayer

Instead of rotisserie chicken, I swapped it for 3 regular boneless chicken breasts. I also couldn’t find the Velveeta cubed cheese, so I subbed that for some generic cubed cheese from Target and I couldn’t even taste a difference.

Instructions

Cut the meat off your Rotisserie chicken and shred it or dice – you should use about 5 cups of shredded chicken
- I placed the chicken breasts in whole and shredded them after they cooked, before putting the pasta in
In your four quart crock pot combine your shredded chicken, ranch packet, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, water and cubed Velveeta
Put the lid back on your crock pot and cook on high for three hours
After three hours on high, add the noodles and give it a good stir
Place the lid back on the crockpot for 20 more minutes on high
Give it another good stir and place the lid back on for ten minutes
Give it (yet another!) good stir and top with the cheese, and lastly the bacon pieces
Replace the lid and let the cheese melt for about 5 minutes
Scoop into bowls and enjoy!

Holy cow! This recipe calls for 6 servings, but as I was putting this in my containers for my meal prep this week, I had SO much extra. Use it for meal prep, a big family meal, or just you, if you’re feeling extra hungry.

Try this out and let me know how you like it!

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

January TV Favorites!

In honor of January coming to an end I wanted to recap my TV favorites: all the tv shows I’m currently watching/re-watching or binged during January.

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Happy February friends! Holy cow, I can’t believe it’s already February. Usually January feels soooo long, but honestly this year it flew. I’m ready for a new month and a new chance to better myself! But, in honor of January coming to an end I wanted to recap my TV favorites: all the tv shows I’m currently watching/re-watching or binged during January.

Let’s get into it!

Schitt’s Creek
- Rewatching
- This is my comfort show right now so I always have it playing.
- 10/10
The Vampire Diaries
- Rewatching
- This is my second time through. A lot has happened that I forgot about. I sometimes feel like I’m watching it for the first time, haha.
- 9/10
The Bachelor
- Currently watching, I’m not sure what season this is (there have been so many, lol)
- I’m a Bachelor fanatic, but this season definitely isn’t my favorite, hopefully it gets better with less drama.
- 5/10
LA’s Finest
- Binged
- Sadly, it was cancelled after 2 seasons and Netflix is only streaming the first season, but it was really good!
- 8/10
WandaVision
- Currently watching
- AHHH, this show is SO good! Since I just finished rewatching all the Marvel movies, this is giving me my “Marvel” fix. Love it.
- 20/10
Riverdale
- Currently watching
- I believe this is season 5. Honestly, at this point I’m keeping up with the show out of loyalty and not so much interest. HOWEVER, it still has really good parts and I’m super excited for the 5 year time jump.
- 6.5/10
Legacies
- Currently watching
- Season 3. Legacies holds a special place in my heart because I love The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.
- 8/10
Upload
- Binged
- Holy cow, this show is soo good. I can’t wait for season 2. For any The Office lovers, this show was created by Greg Daniels and he didn’t disappoint.
- 10/10
The Good Place
- Currently binging
- This follows the afterlife storyline similar to Upload and was also created by The Office’s Michael Schur. Super into this one, I honestly never know what to expect next.
- 10/10

What TV shows were you binging in January?

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

What’s in My Bag? | 2021

I’ve always wanted to do a What’s in My Bag? post, I think they’re so fun. I love seeing the differences in everyone’s bags: what they love, need, and have “just in case.” I always end up buying at least one thing (usually more) from their recommendations.

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Happy happy Monday, fam! I’m so excited for today’s post. I’ve always wanted to do a What’s in My Bag? post, I think they’re so fun. I love seeing the differences in everyone’s bags: what they love, need, and have “just in case.” I always end up buying at least one thing (usually more) from their recommendations.

If you’re interested to see what I have in my bag, keep reading!

My bag is from the company LOVEVOOK it comes in a set of 3, this is the biggest. I absolutely love this bag, it holds so much! Even with all this in it, it has plenty of room for more. It’s very sturdy, spacious inside, and there’s plenty of pocket space as well. Also, I love that it’s tan because it goes with EVERYTHING.

Planner
- I can’t go anywhere without my planner. It has all my tasks, errands, and activities in it. It literally is my life and I’d go insane without it!
Kindle Paperwhite
- I’ve been getting back into reading (yay!) so I’ve made a point to carry my Kindle with me. If I’m ever out and find myself waiting, where I’d usually pull my phone out to pass time, I’ll read instead. My Kindle is so light and just bigger than my phone so it feels the same but I’m being more productive.
Gratitude Journal
- If you guys don’t have a gratitude journal, start one! I was given this for my birthday, it’s small with blank pages and no lines. I thought it would be a perfect gratitude journal. I keep it with me as a reminder to fill it out every day, and if something happens that I want to put in it, I won’t forget.
Michael Kors wallet
- Pretty basic, the heart of my bag. I’ve had this wallet for years and somehow it still looks great, love it!
Extra disposable facemask
- You know when you go into a store and forget to grab your facemask so you have to turn around and go back? Yeah, that happened one too many times for me, so now I keep this just in case that happens so I don’t have to go back.
Hand sanitizer spray
- Gotta keep those hands clean!
Travel-sized deodorant
- Hey, we all need a little extra sometimes.
Airpods
- You never know when you’re gonna want to jam out to some bops or listen to some inspirational podcasts. Also, I use these a LOT when my friends or fam call, I’m too lazy and don’t like to hold the phone up to my ear, haha.
Extras: mini & small roller, chapstick, nail clippers
- Essentials, honestly. ALWAYS need chapstick (my lips do be chapped.) My rollers are filled with lavender essential oil, so if I get a little stressy during the day I rub those on. I swear I always get hangnails at the worst times, so the nail clippers help fix that!
Keys
- Of course. Can’t go anywhere without these bad boys, literally.

What’s in your bag?

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

Yummy Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip

I’ve got a super yummy party dish to give to ya’ll today. BUT considering we can’t have parties (stupid Covid), you can still make this and enjoy with your household, or quite honestly yourself! Everytime I make this, everyone LOVES it, it’s definitely my signature dish. I honestly could eat it as a meal instead of as a side, haha.

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Happy Monday, everyone! I know I’ve been a bit absent so far this year, I’m sorry about that. I decided to take some time for myself and spend time with family to kick start the new year in a positive way. But I am back and ready to kick 2021 in the… well you know.

I found this recipe from Food. and boy are you in for a treat!

Ingredients

2 (10 oz) cans of chicken
2 (8 oz) packets of cream cheese
¾ cup of Frank’s hot sauce
1 cup of ranch dressing
2 cups mild cheddar cheese
1 bag of Tostitos scoops (or whatever you prefer)

Get ready, this is the easiest recipe you’ll ever make…

Instructions

Drain and shred canned chicken and put in medium sauce pan
- MUST shred it, that’s the key
Add hot sauce and cook on medium until heated through
Add cream cheese and stir until blended
Add ranch dressing and mix
Add 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese and heat for a few minutes until mixed and melted
Pour the dip into the crock pot, sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Keep heated on low

That’s it! How stinkin’ easy. Another tip, I’ve known some people to throw all the ingredients straight into the crock pot and cook on low for a few hours until melted and mixed, so you could try that and see if you like it. I prefer cooking it on the stove first, I just like it better, lol.

This recipe is cheap and easy, exactly what you’d want for something low hassle and DELICIOUS. Try it out and let me know how you like it!

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

Happy New Year!! | My 2021 Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!! I’m SO ready to begin a new year. 2020 was rough but it taught me a lot. As I was reflecting on 2020 I wanted to make sure I set goals that would challenge me and help me grow without being so big they become unattainable. I’m excited to turn over a new leaf and start working towards these goals.

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The first thing I do when I sit down to write out my goals, is think about what my word of the year will be. This word will be the overarching theme of the year: something I will continuously think about as I work through each individual goal. My word for 2021 is grind. 2020 taught me a lot about patience, resting, and waiting. Now, 2021 will be the year to challenge myself, push, and grind towards the things I want to accomplish.

Now, for all of my resolutions, I’ve separated them into four categories: personal, spiritual, financial, and work/career goals.

Personal:

Read one chapter/day & one book/month
Make bed daily
Get in shape!
- Gym 5x/week, 8,000 steps/day, gallon of water/day, meal prep

Spiritual:

Read the Bible (cover to cover)
15 min/day study time (reading the Bible/daily devotional)
10 min/day of stillness (prayer/meditation)

Financial:

Buy a new car
Pay off ¼ of student loans
Create an emergency fund

Work/Career:

Get a full-time job at a great company
Gain 100 followers on The Variety Files and Youtube

Those are my New Year’s Resolutions! I’ve already been working towards these since the New Year and am eager to continue. Sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated throughout the year. In my planner, every three months, I scheduled a “Quarterly Goal Check-In.” This will be a reminder for me to sit down and reflect on how I’ve been doing accomplishing these goals and see where I can improve. I’m praying that no matter what this year has in store, it’ll be another great opportunity to better myself.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? What are some ways you plan to hold yourself accountable?

Love you guys so much, thank you for the support & I’ll see y’all next week.

Merry Christmas!! | What My Christmas Looked Like…

Things are obviously very different this year and that makes the holidays hard and maybe not as exciting. I was so worried that I wouldn’t have as much Christmas spirit, but I’m so glad I was wrong. I was truly so blessed to celebrate with my family and be surrounded by love. This is the first Christmas in a long time that I’ve been in Texas and it didn’t disappoint.

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Happy 12th Day of Blogmas and Merry Christmas!!

We’ve reached the final day of my very first blogmas this year. I hope you all enjoyed my posts and had some fun alongside me! I would love to hear your opinion on how I did! I want to get feedback on what posts you enjoyed, ones you might not have liked as much, or what posts to include next year.

Today I thought it would be fun to wrap up blogmas by telling you what my Christmas looked like!

Christmas Eve

My family and I baked Christmas cookies and filmed a fun video for Youtube
I went to my brother and sister-in-law’s to unwrap our annual Christmas pajamas with my nephews, we got matching ones! After that we heated up some milk for our hot chocolate bombs and watched a Christmas movie. I went back home and finished celebrating the night by unwrapping my presents from my dad, stepmom, and sister.
I Facetimed my mom after this and we listened to my grandma’s recording of her reading A Night Before Christmas. As I went to bed I put on a couple Christmas movies and relaxed in my new pajamas and basked in the Christmas spirit, I felt like a kid again.

Christmas Morning

I went back over to my brother’s with all my presents for them. We exchanged gifts, and I also opened my presents from my mom in Ohio. Then, my dad, stepmom, and sister came over and we ate lunch together, played with my nephews, talked conspiracy theories, and ended the night playing Taboo.

Reflecting over this Christmas, I’m so blessed. It was more than I could’ve asked for and nothing short of amazing. I pray you all had a wonderful, safe, and healthy Christmas. This year, more than others, we have so much to be thankful for and it’s important to remember the true meaning of Christmas.