January 2019 – A Blog, A Magazine. It's JustsumInspiration!

Lunch and Soup – 4 Different Ways

Published on January 24, 2019April 18, 2019 by Roshonda B11 Comments

I have a couple of questions for ya..

Are you on a budget? This girl definitely is!
Do you like Soup? Of course I do…(anything dealing with food really…haha)

So, yes…I’m on a very tight budget and I can’t or don’t I should say always have money to go and break a 20 on lunch only to have a couple of dollars left – Yesssss, food establishments make a killing off of our “lunch” dollars because they know 1 of 2 things to be true…

You either left your lunch at home. -or-
You were too lazy to cook.

And let me just say that I have been at the helm of both of those statements. And after going through what seemed like fifty dollars or more a week for lunch; I decided that enough was enough!

In which inspired this post >>>>> Lunch on a Budget for $20 or LESS!

With the cost of food seemingly going up every second it seems, it can be challenging to try and map out meals to bring to lunch everyday. I mean, who really wants to munch on PB&J or slurp up salty Noodles and Oodles. So, while shopping the aisles for lunch choices one day, I decided to get a couple of staple items and mix and match the ingredients for each day of the week – I even had a solution for snacks in between.

I have to be honest with you, shopping for food for lunch can be a little crazy; because you want to eat something different every day of the week and depending on your tastes buds, that can get a bit costly as well. So, listed below are a couple of things I picked up off the shelves and freezer section that lasted me all week and guess what (all of it was well under 20 dollars!!)

Here are my buys for Lunch:  Total Cost: $10.08

Minute Rice – Multi Grain Medley – 2 @ 1.84 each
Bag of Mixed Vegetable – 1 @.57 cents
Green Giant Steamers Vegetable Medley/Broccoli Cheese – 2 @ 1.18 each
Green Giant Harvest Protein Bowl (Vegetarian) Southwest Style – 1 @ 3.47 each

Here are my buys for Snacks:  Total Cost: $8.81

Great Value No Sugar Added Pear Cups – 2 @ 1.43 each
Great Value No Sugar Added Mandarin Oranges – 1 @ 1.43 each
Great Value Dry Roasted & Lightly Salted Almonds – 1 Bag @ 4.52

What I had at Home:   
Sam's Choice Organic Bone Broth Chicken Total Cost: Free

Overall Cost: $18.89

So this is how I did it:

First, let me start with snacks. It’s 4 cups of fruit to a carton, so I had two snacks a day. A fruit cup and some almonds. I measured the almonds out according to the serving suggestion and put them in zip lock bags and took them all to work along with my fruit so I wouldn’t have to remember to take it everyday. So there were my snacks for the week. Two cups of fruit and almonds a day.

And then there was lunch. So for lunch, it was pretty easy. 1st Day: I had a cup of rice medley and some steamed veggies. 2nd Day: I had the steamed veggies with some chicken bone broth ( I made it like a soup). 3rd Day: I had the broccoli cheese and rice medley. 4th Day: I had the rice medley and the bone broth. 5th Day: I changed it up and brought in the Green Giant protein bowl, which was very delicious by the way, see below….

Green Giant Harvest Protein Bowl – Southwest Style

So, as you can see – lunch was not only cost efficient but different as I didn’t feel like I was eating the same thing every day……ever felt that way about a salad?? Any-who, the key to making this work is making sure you choose what it is you want to eat for the whole week. For instance, I knew that I wanted veggies – the only thing I needed to do next was find a partner to go with them and once I did….everything else was simple.

Don’t forget to incorporate items you may have at home, so another suggestion I would make is to check your cupboards before you go shopping. That frozen broccoli that’s been in the freezer for a month, could be paired with something delicious.

Think of things that you can use multiple times throughout the week without breaking the bank and going to the store everyday for items to eat (I’m still working on this feat for dinner as I do this currently). Don’t look at me like that, I’m a work in progress – say a prayer for me…lol.

Well, I hope your lunch time can now be an adventurous one. Oh and psssstttt, by the way, don’t be afraid to shop the yellow tags. I got some soup on sale last week at Wal-Mart for $.86 cents that usually run $2.87 cents. Now you may want to hurry and eat it up, because I mean, they put yellow tags on items for a reason, right???? rightttttttt…..but it can also save you loads off your pocket, especially for LUNCH!

Below is one of the creations with the products I purchased up top:

Soup and Broth Ingredients
Soup and Broth

BON APPETITE!!

Learning to Be ME

Published on January 22, 2019June 18, 2019 by amytemple98153 Comments

by Amy R Temple

As anyone of you who may have read my previous post about living with a learning disability may recall, I have had to deal with numerous discriminatory situations as well as being rejected; simply because I didn’t “fit” the status quo.

And please don’t ask me what “status quo” is because I have no idea and even if I did, I would totally ignore it!

Anyone who knows me would tell you (my parents, especially) that I don’t like being told what to do, I just hate rules! But let’s back up a sec, I’m not saying that I will purposely go do something completely stupid and get myself arrested, Of course not. Although I have been tempted to strike someone for looking down on me for not meeting this ridiculous status quo!

It all began when I was little…

Whenever my parents would take me to this one particular pediatrician, I would be fine…until he walked in. And then I would begin to cry. Let me rephrase that…I would wail!

After a while, he asked my parents, “Have you ever considered the possibility that Amy may not be educable?” Yeah… no, I very seriously doubt that EVER crossed my Mom and Dad’s mind. Needless to say, calling me stupid didn’t win the man any brownie points. Then there was the psychologist who was going to base my intelligence on whether or not, I knew what a frankfurter was. “Did you know that Amy doesn’t know what a frankfurter is?”

“That’s because we have always called them hot dogs”, my mom said. “Oh… good point.”

Again, no brownie points were scored. To make a very long story short, what they were trying to indicate was that I was going to be in a nutshell…..pretty much, a waste. According to them, I wasnt going to amount to absolutely nothing!

“Amy will not be able to be independent.”

“Amy will always need help taking care of herself.”

“Amy will have a tendency to get lost”.

Have any of you seen the movie, “Top Gun”?

Remember the scene where Val Kilmer coughs the phrase “Bull—-”?

Mom, Dad and I have made the facial equivalent numerous times! I honestly could not have asked for a better set of parents. Other people may have given up on me, but they haven’t and won’t let me do it either. And I will always be grateful to them.

I was diagnosed 36 years ago. I have dealt with these disabilities for over half my life. It’s who I am. It’s me and if someone created an operation where you could rid me of them…

Offer it to somebody else!

What is the big hairy deal about having learning disabilities? It’s not like it’s contagious or anything! How can they think that we are not going to amount to anything because we don’t fit their ridiculous notions? They wouldn’t hire me because of them?

Fine…

I started my own dog care business nearly 13 years ago where my main focus is on walking, feeding and playing. And that just gives me more time to write. Now I may sound as if I have all my ducks in a row and yes, that is true. But that doesn’t mean, I haven’t been affected by it. I am ashamed to admit that I wasted a lot of years wondering what was wrong with me and I tried to change myself to fit other people’s approval and acceptance. I thought, what is wrong with me?

I am ashamed to admit that I wasted a lot of years wondering what was wrong with me and I tried to change myself to fit other people’s approval and acceptance. I thought, what is wrong with me? What was it about me that made them think they could do this to me? I can’t do anything about the learning disabilities, but I thought if I could change this or that, maybe I would be accepted.

I royally messed with myself mentally and emotionally for years. I don’t know how many self-help books I read, trying to find THE cure. As much as I think it stinks that I am rejected because of my learning disabilities, there is nothing I can do about it but just move on with my life. I don’t have any more time to waste.

Accept me or don’t. It’s your call.

Me? I’ve got a life to live. So, excuse me while I go live it.

———————————————————————–

Amy is a resident of Florida. Since 2006, she has been self-employed in the dog care field. In May 2017, she self-published a memoir titled “I Am Not Stupid” which is available through Amazon. She writes for seethegoodinfo, an inspirational website and the Learning Disabilities Association’s newsletter LD Source.

What’s Up With Your Winter Skin Care Routine?

Published on January 17, 2019April 18, 2019 by Roshonda B5 Comments

Yes, Lordy! Winter time is officially in FULL swing – I just heard earlier this week that Baltimore, Maryland got dumped with 6-8 inches of snow…..YIKES!! So, yes – winter is here and determining it’s on again, off again relationship here in the Carolina’s with cold whether one minute and 70 degree whether the next, it’s hard to figure out what to wear on a given day. In which speaking of something to wear, can I ask?

How’s your skin holding up in all this chaos! I know winter time is the time for soups and crackers and bundling up and I mean ALL the way up, especially if you’re in Baltimore. It’s the time where we forgo skin care and just throw on anything that will keep us warm. I don’t know about you, but I hate when my skin feels dry, scaly or ashy. I’m sure you do too but where is the time to take care of it when the winter is having a field day with it’s mood??….

At Night!!!

I’m a huge fan of skin care and feel as though we have to take care of it before the summer time rolls around and catch our skin care off guard! Remember how quickly the spring/summer came last year? It wasn’t enough time to get anything together. BUT! there’s hope. Good skin care in the winter will definitely show up in the summer, trust me. Will yours have a great story to tell?

Listed below are just a couple of things that I do to make sure that my skin is noticeably soft underneath the gear.

A moisturizer for this and for that

There was a time in my young life…lol, where I would use one lotion for my whole body and to make matters worse, it had no “umph” to it. Meaning, it was the watered down lotion that would go on like it was doing your skin a huge favor, only to dump it later with an ashy look. I would always have to re-apply and re-apply. I came to the realization that there’s a lotion for different parts of your body. Such as hand-cream, foot-cream and face-cream. (Yes, I would use regular lotion on my face). So first, you have to either get a lotion or body butter (my favorite) that’s thick and has olive oil, coconut oil and vitamin e in it. The thicker the better to me….

Foot Care at it’s Best

When you get out of the shower, the best moisturizer for your feet is Vaseline or a foot cream or oil and cover your feet with a sock. Now if you’re hot natured, then a nice oil or Vaseline will work without a sock. The sock keeps the moisture in and makes your feet feel noticeably soft the next morning. Make sure you add extra on those heels…

Hot Showers are a NO NO for Winter

I absolutely LOVE me a good hot shower, however – a hot shower in the winter time can damage your skin as it can severely dry it out. Lukewarm water for winter skin is the perfect temperature.

Moisturize while skin is still damp

I’ve been doing this for years. I do not dry off with a towel when my shower is done, the first thing I do is moisturize immediately after. What I’ve found is that this process makes my skin feel soft all day long without the ash effect. The damp water and my moisturizer help lock in the moisture so I won’t lose it. My favorite moisturizer after a shower is Baby Oil or Baby Oil Gel – they are my staples outside of Bath and Body Works =)

Other things you can do to make sure your skin is on point, is to use an exfoliate – I love body washes or soaps that have exfoliate beads in them. It makes my skin feel extra soft and removes dead skin cells. I also take out time and use a foot scrub as well while in the shower. Sometimes regular showers don’t do the job and can miss dirt build up around the ankle area of our feet.

A great hand-cream is good for throughout the day. Don’t trust the harsh soaps in the bathrooms when you wash your hands at work, those soaps are not only rough on the skin but leaves your hands severely dry afterwards, it’s good to have a good hand-cream on hand to add that moisture back into your most precious assets. Our hands tend to get dry throughout the day as well, so it’s good to show them a little love by dousing on a little moisture.

That wasn’t bad, right? As stated – those are just a few tips that I do to make sure my skin is well nourished during the winter months. Good skin care in the winter, determines it’s outcome in the summer. Get a good routine going now, your skin will show it’s appreciation to you months from now!

Do you have a winter skin care routine? Share in the comments below.

Announcements – Check this out!

Starting next week, I’ll have two contributors whom will be sharing posts with you!

**Amy Temple**, will be contributing posts until March. Amy desires to inspire the world by letting them know that anyone (disability or not) can achieve greatness. She let’s the world know through her writing that your limitations should drive you and not stop you from achieving your destiny – if you missed her work you can catch up **here**, **here** and **here**.

*The other contributor is* **Fasoronti Damilola** – Fash is the Founder/CEO of Prikkle Academy in Nigeria. Fasoronti is an education leader, writer, coach with a strong background in grassroots education. Through his writing he’ll tell you about his country and the projects he’s created and currently creating to put Nigeria and rural youth awareness on the **map**.

Don’t Get Stuck, Pass the BUCK!

Published on January 10, 2019April 18, 2019 by Roshonda B2 Comments

So here we are, it’s 2019 and what do we do – where do we start – what new adventures will await us this year, what new experiences, what heartaches. Will we accomplish the ever so popular “New Year’s Resolution” we set forth every year, this year? Well, I don’t know about you – but I tend to not “stick” to the ever to faithful resolution, it’s out the window before February can say, Hi Beautiful!

Yes, Yes – It’s very true and while I can’t promise that I’d squash the goal of losing weight this year as I do every year (although I’m going to put forth a mighty good effort). There’s one thing over the holiday season that I did promise myself that I would do more of this year and that’s “passing the buck” or the load as you can say. It’s funny However, there’s one thing that I know I will be doing more of this year and that’s passing the BUCK!

This is one of those lessons that I should’ve actually learned a long, long, long time ago but I didn’t….some lessons come by “the hard way” That’s what my mom used to tell me growing up, she’d say “Sometimes, you have to learn the hard way” I never knew what she truly meant by those words, however; being an adult now and as I look back that’s how most of my “life lessons” were learned. THE HARD WAY..

I have a tendency of taking on too much and that’s too much of anything. Whether it’s something to do at work, church, the kids and so forth – for some reason I become superwoman and viola! I take it on and get it do!nn@nnn$eeenn*n…..??? Yes, I really did mean to type “done” that way, because that’s how my brain functions once I take on too many assignments, it gets a little crazy. Another thing I do, which goes in line with what I’m talking about here is “obligate” myself to toooooooooo many things. I say YES before I can give myself time to think it through and then find myself complaining in the midst of it as I’m swearing up and down that I am NEVER!! going to do it again….

Finally, one day I had to ask myself “Why do you do this?” and “Who are you doing this for?” is it to get people to like you or are you trying to network and make connections – because sometimes we do things out of the ordinary for those causes too. When I couldn’t come up with an appropriate answer for my madness. I finally started evaluating the reasons why I was doing what I was doing and I came to two conclusions:

1) I wanted to be liked and wanted people to feel as though they could count on me to do anything, even if I suffered at my own expense.

2) Having a lot of things going on made me feel as though I was really doing something good with my life.

Whew!! That Felt Good Letting Go….

Coming into this year, well months before this year. I decided that enough was enough and started either saying NO to things I know I can’t balance or and this may sound selfish to some of you – Building my own business and spending more time on “MY” projects. Are you a victim of not passing the buck? Well, listed below are a couple of tips to help you out!

Evaluate Your “Already” Spoken for TIME!

What do you have going on right now, that’s basically what this is saying. Before you commit to something – take a day and think about all the things you have going on in a day or a week and the times set aside to do those things.

Are you a Good Manager?

This sort of goes along with #1 but honestly ask yourself – are you focused and on top of the projects you’re already doing now? If you’re struggling with keeping up with your own things, then it’s probably not a good idea to take on someone else’s project or add more to your already dwindling list of things to do.

Please, Don’t Feel Bad….You Betta Not!

You know and I’m going to be transparent here, most times people think if they take on the world so to speak…it makes them look busy, it makes feel important and makes them look credible or reliable to others and the lie detector test determined that’s a lie! But hey, I used to be that girl too. Whether in church, on my job or favors for close friends, I always took on more than I could chew. While I felt important my body was saying otherwise…

Do you Care about Your Health?

Okay, picking up from the last tip….my stress level and blood pressure was through the roof! I knew I had taken on too much but I was too ashamed to say it or give it back because I felt as though it would not make me look credible. There’s a saying that says “If you die today, someone else will do your job tomorrow” and that’s the truth, most of the time before your body even gets cold; they already looking for someone else to fulfill the job….sad huh.

So, what I’m trying to say is – If you don’t have to do it, DON’T! If you have to much on your plate already? Just pass the Buck! This is a new year, sometimes we can spend so much time on other people’s projects (unless it’s a part of your business) until we forget our own. We become focused on stressing out over someone else’s dream, while ours is hanging out in the background.

Don’t let keeping the buck, affect your attitude, health or overall goals because this is your year to not get stuck, but to PASS THE BUCK!

Will you or Have you passed yours??

19+ Things to Think, Do & Achieve in 2019

Published on January 3, 2019April 18, 2019 by Roshonda B3 Comments

Well, 2019 is officially here ready or not. WHOOMP, here it is! Remember that song by a group named Tag Team?? If you do please don’t blame me for that anthem swimming around in your head today, My Bad….

However, So what are your resolutions for this year? If you’re like me and I just got this way like a little over a year ago, I threw making resolutions out of the window. This is probably why this muffin top of a waist of mine has decided to make itself a permanent home. HA HA – I’m really going to work on that this year….

Anywho, whether you still do or believe in resolutions or even achieve them. I thought this year would be great to ditch the resolutions (again, in my case) and let’s think about how we want to think, what we want to do and simple things we can actually achieve for ourselves, without feeling so guilty when 2020 arrives, okay yes I know right now that’s far-fetched but did you see how 2018 left us like Justin Timberlake left *NSYNC or maybe a little more current like Toni Braxton just left Birdman a.k.a Cash Money? So yeah, you really can’t put off tomorrow what we are going to do this year….Okay??

I came up with 19 things because, well we’re in 2019 and there’s A LOT of ground to cover mentally, spiritually and physically. So, Let’s Get right to it shall we??

LET’S THINK MORE:

Positively – No matter what, try to find the good in every situation. I promise it’s there.
Wisely – Let’s try to think before we speak, my mouth has gotten me into more trouble than I care to say and let’s not even talk about my emotions that drives the get-away car. The bible says, a soft answer turns away wrath but grievous words stir up anger. Tell your emotions to give you the keys….
Thoughtfully – Let’s think more about someone else than ourselves.
Maturely – I know this is hard but sometimes you have to be the bigger person in a situation, even if it means saying you’re sorry first.
Responsibly – you know what this means…lol
Unapologetically – having/living without regrets

LET’S DO MORE:

Exercises, Exercise, Exercise – If you haven’t been to the gym in ages (like me…hehe) then you don’t want to go out the gate committing to working out an hour or more a day….That won’t happen. A little bit a day goes a long way….trust me! (5-10min is a great start!)
Picking Better Food Choices – Getting fresh meals delivered to your house every week is truly ideal (I may have to check into this later) however; it’s not affordable for everyone. So Instead, start small. It may be adding green beans instead of fries to a meal and/or opting for the side salad instead of the fries for a burger or picking up an apple or orange instead of the cookies out of the vending machine at work (preaching to the choir here, I’ve done it) Take Small steps towards health and soon….it’ll be a full commitment.
Things for ourselves – YASSSS!!! I mean this wholeheartedly. Ladies and Gents schedule a massage once a month or go get your nails, feet or hair done. Take some ME time for you, even if it means taking some time and going window shopping or getting an ice-cream cone. Even taking some time off work, not to run errands or do things for the kids but for YOU. Know how they say on an airplane cover your nose before anyone else’s? – Yes, Exactly…..YOU FIRST!
Calendars on Our phones – Use It! Soooo, let me just say I know all of our phones should have a calendar on them and that’s great if you use them. I noticed last year that my brain had failed me in remembering quite a few things – a friend then asked me, why don’t you use the calendar on your phone?? I know this might sound silly or juvenile but that calendar has been a lifesaver! We get new phones and sometimes don’t use half of the stuff on them…I don’t know if you do it or not, but make use of your phone calendar and it has reminders, so there’s no excuse to miss those very important appointments.
Say I Love You! – OMGosh, we don’t say this enough. Practice not only telling yourself this but others as well. LOVE IS THE KEY!
Take Chances – We miss many of the chances we don’t take. Take more chances
Forgive…..Need I say more?

LET’S ACHIEVE MORE:

Dust it OFF – You don’t even have to tell me, everyone has something that they put on the back burner to be written, explored or tackled for later and that later ended or ends up being 2yrs long….whatever it is, dust it off and put yourself on a timeframe to get it done (For me? Book #2 is on the dust it off list, what’s on yours?)
Travel – In my mind, there are A LOT of places that I go too – only for them to be just that…stuck and lived out in my mind; have you been there? This year, plan to go on that long-awaited trip – even if it’s a hike…..travel someplace you’ve never been. I’m actually working on getting my passport and visa to travel to Africa or Russia this year….fingers crossed. Let’s hope my wallet is favorable = )
Social Media what you Say? – Okay, we all love social media and in this world (maybe this should’ve gone under the DO MORE tab) however, I feel as though we all could use a needed break from social media. It’s amazing because once I scroll and look at one pic or statement – next thing you know an hour or two has passed by and I’m tired. An hour or two lost that could’ve been used on something productive (like the Dust if Off bit above)
Take Some Classes – whether you want to cook better, learn how to ballroom dance, do pottery, take those much needed business classes or even if you want to learn how to crochet (not my thing and I tried it…lol) whatever it is you want to do, Nike says “Just Do It” I say “Just Take It” let’s be more adventurous this year, speaking of which….
MeetUps Anyone? – Last year I signed up to do a meetup with a group of writers who were supposed to meet at our local library here in town every week, needless to say – it didn’t work out as the library had not heard of such a group….anywho, there are plenty of meetup activities and places to go and get involved in, you just have to look for them and it depends on what you like or want to do – trust me, there’s a meetup for it. Check it Out!!
Go to the Movies and not on your Couch! – Yes, I do I do I do LOVE the Redbox and enjoy watching a movie in, rather than out. But going out to the movies over the holiday season with my two kids (We saw Bumblebee – Awesome movie by the way!! – Thanks Mallory for the gift card) was a joy. It allowed us to get out of the house and enjoy some fresh air as well as popcorn with everyone else, it was a good outing and I loved seeing an even bigger screen.