Loaded Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice is probably a meal that I could eat everyday and not get sick of it, but we don't eat it that often. Sometimes we make it 100% homemade but we also like to keep a box around the house for a quick meal. Tonight, I made Zatarains Dirty Rice and added my usual extra ingredients to it. 

All you need is:

-1 box of Zatarain's Dirty Rice (we like the low sodium one best) 

-1lb meat of your choice (sausage, ground beef, turkey sausage, turkey, chicken, shrimp, etc)

-1 can of black beans

-1 can of corn

-1 can of Rotel 

-shredded cheese

-onions, mushrooms, & bell peppers (optional) 

First, cook your meat with the onions and bell peppers. Once the meat is done, cook the Dirty Rice according to the package (in the same pan) and throw in some fresh sliced mushrooms. When the rice is done, drain the corn, Rotel, and black beans. Mix them into the dirty rice. Top the dirty rice with shredded cheese and enjoy! 

It is a great one pot meal & super easy! It is just as good reheated and eaten as leftovers. 

xoxo

Jade

Gluten Free Traveling

Tomorrow I am leaving for Oklahoma to stay with my dad for a few days and visit family. I am really excited to see all of my family since it's been so long. The drive there is 7-8 hours, so I am loading up on snacks for the car ride. Plus, I ALWAYS bring my own gluten free foods when I am staying somewhere else. My dad has some gluten free items at his house and will buy whatever I need once I get there, but I still feel more comfortable bringing some of my own items (in case we can't get to the store immediately).

Here are a few of my favorite things to bring on a long trip. I usually keep all of these items on hand in my gluten free pantry  in case I need to grab something fast. I'll be in the car for a total of at least 14 hours & the only fast food places that I really like and can eat at are Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, and my local Freddy's Steakburgers (they have gluten free buns), so I will most likely be eating one of the snack packs on the way there and on the way home. I don't like making pit stops unless it is absolutely necessary.

gopicnic turkey pepperoni & cheese, Bakery on Main Fiber Power Triple Berry Granola,

Fruit Chia Cranberry Blast (my favorite flavor is strawberry), Annie's Gluten Free Snack Kit, and HEB Central Market Gluten Free Corn Spaghetti. 

Annie's Gluten Free Mini Meal Kit, Jif Peanut Butter, HEB Central Market Gluten Free Corn Penne, and Chex Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal.

Once I get to my dads, we will get fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats if he hasn't gotten them already. I will also have him take me to Sprouts to buy my gluten free bread. They don't sell Three Bakers brand bread anywhere in College Station, so I always stock up when I go to Oklahoma and bring it back in an ice chest. It's the only gluten free bread that I like, so it is definitely worth it to me. :) I am bringing a good amount of snacks on this trip because one full day will be spent wedding shopping with my cousin who is getting married and I don't know if there will be nearby restaurants that offer gluten free items. If there are, that will be amazing! If there aren't, a couple snacks will hold me over until I get home. Wedding shopping with my cousin needs to be a fun experience, not a stressful one, and definitely NOT one where I get glutened while dress shopping... that would be terrible. 

What are your favorite 'go-to' snacks? Do you pack food when you go 

out of town or do you buy it once you get to your destination?

Allergy injections [my magic shots]

Today was shot day. The only day of the month that I absolutely dread. I don't mind shots, but four shots? Not fun. As much as I don't like going to get my shots, I know they help. I know they have made me healthier and I know how important they are.

When I was younger, I would pray and ask for a pill that would make me healthy. I would tell my mom how much I wanted a "magic Jade" pill that would heal me and keep me from getting sick all the time, but we both knew that this "magic" pill was not logical.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been sickly. I was always in and out of the doctors offices, usually Urgent Care Centers because I would ALWAYS get sick on the weekend. Honestly, I was probably sick every other month with a sinus infection, ear infection, bronchitis, strep throat, or a nice combination of them. It was terrible! I don't know how many times I have been tested for mono, but the tests have always come back negative even when the doctors were positive that I had it. I was tired of being sick, tired of missing school, tired of taking medication, so I begged my parents to pay for me to go visit an allergist. I wanted to stop being sick. I just wanted to be healthy.

I found this picture online but this accurately

depicts all the boxes of kleenex we keep 

around the house. I have boxes hidden everywhere,

but I don't use them anymore.

In December of 2010, I met with my new allergist. My parents paid a great amount of money for me to undergo this long commitment, but they felt that it would help. My insurance did not cover a good chunk of it. I went through allergy testing (which was terrible, for me) and I was allergic to 70 of the 72 things that I was tested for... I was not allergic to dogs or food. However, I was highly allergic to cats, trees, grass, mold, dust, and pretty much everything else. It was terrible. At my next appointment, I started standard allergy desensitization shots.

Let me just say allergy shots are a HUGE time commitment and if you don't think you will be able to commit to these for the 3-5 years then I think you need to look for other options that are shorter commitments (although they often cost more and my insurance didn't cover these options for me).

I started out by receiving four shots twice a week (two in one arm, one in the other arm, and one in my hip). I constantly had sore and bruised arms, but it wasn't a big deal.

Next, about six months later, I started receiving four shots each week. About this time, my arms would swell pretty big, about the size of my palm, at the injection site. It is not a pretty site to see. Sometimes they would swell more, while other times, I wouldn't swell at all. When swelling larger than the palm of my hand would happen, I would have to go down a dosage on my injections and work my way back up. It was at this point that allergy shots started being a problem. I wasn't sure if they really would be worth it, but there was no backing out after my parents had paid an arm and a leg for my testing and my serum and my appointments and my injections and everything else...

Once I finally got my dosage high enough, I moved to four shots twice a month. My arms went back and forth with the swelling, so I was constantly working to maintain my dosage. At this point, my allergy shots started making sneeze and have asthma problems later in the day. It wasn't a big deal, I just used my inhaler and started taking Benadryl before I went in for my shots.

Then just over a year and a half ago, I reached maintenance level. That means that I am finally taking the strongest dosage of EVERYTHING I AM ALLERGIC TO. I now get all of the reactions that I have mentioned above (the swelling is just the size of a quarter now) and I also get really sleepy a couple hours after my shots. My arms ache for a few days and stay swollen for just over 24 hours. My shots hurt. Sometimes they aren't as painful, while other times they are the most painful shots I have received. It isn't a feeling that I can explain because it burns and hurts and aches and it's just not comfortable. Most patients receive a numbing medication in their shots to help with the pain; however, since I now live a good four hours away from my hometown allergist, I am not able to receive the numbing medication any longer... but it is still worth it for me. I now go to a doctor of internal medicine, in my town, to receive allergy shots.

For the first time in my whole life, I have went over a year without being sick! It is amazing how much these shots have helped me. I no longer am on daily medication for my allergies or my asthma. It has definitely been worth all the pain I have undergone and all the money my parents have spent for these shots. When I am done in May 2015, I will have completed four and a half years of shots. For me, this will amount to over 600 allergy injections. No big deal. ;)

Now, don't let my story scare you away from it. I have NEVER had to use my emergency Epi-Pen. I was highly allergic to almost everything, so that is why I had to get four shots. Most people I know only get one or two at each appointment. Most people do not have all the reactions that I have. It is also not painful for many people. It has been worth it for every person I know that has gone through it. Each person is different and in a different situation, so some people don't take the shots for three years while others are on them for five years. 

If you are taking or have taken allergy shots, let me know how yours are going or how they went. How many do you get? How long have you been receiving the injections? Do yours hurt, swell, or cause any reactions?

If you are thinking about getting allergy shots, feel free to email me and I can give you more in-depth details of my story or try to answer any questions you may have. There are many different options to consider. I am not a medical professional so I may not be able to answer all the questions, but if I cannot answer a question you may have, I can help in finding some allergists near you so that you can call and get some answers.

Cheers to not being sick any longer. 

Cheers to my magic shots that made me healthy.

xoxo,
Jade

College: my experience & my advice

Summer is almost over & while most people are dreading school, I am so excited to start! I have always LOVED school... until I started college. I was never quite sure what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I mean, I was only eighteen years old. How do people expect you to know what you want to do for the rest of your life when you are still so young?! I had many ideas of things that I might want to major in, but I knew I wasn't ready to make the choice of just one thing to major in.

So what did I do? Well in high school, I had taken dual credit courses which covered a good chunk of my basics. Once I started college, I took both business courses and science/math courses because I was thinking of either going into (A.) accounting or (B.) biomedical engineering. I know you are probably thinking I am crazy for having an interest in two things that were so extremely opposite of each other, but I did. My first year of college was spent at a community college, a few miles from home, on a full scholarship with some extra scholarship money. Basically, I got paid to go to college. No joke. It was great. My second year, I moved to College Station, decided to study strictly for biomedical engineering, and went to Blinn College... on NO SCHOLARSHIP. Yep, you heard it right. I was super bummed, but since I had gotten 'paid' to go to college the previous year, all that extra scholarship money went toward the tuition at Blinn.

I have always made good grades. I graduated in the top 10% of my school. I always worked hard and school had always been easy to me... until I got to Blinn. I had a terrible first semester. I didn't know ANYONE and stayed to myself pretty much the whole semester. So guess what? My first semester at Blinn was spent at home, never going out with friends because I didn't have any. I know it sounds super depressing, but I was way out of my comfort zone, struggling in school, and didn't want to add more stress to my life, so I just went to school and came home. School was so bad and I was so stressed that I dropped a course for the first time and it was Calculus 2 (just so you know it is okay to drop a class). I was barely making it in physics and honestly wasn't sure if I would pass the class (I did pass by the way).

For the first time in my life, I felt like a failure. I felt like I had failed not only myself, but also my family. After really trying my hardest, I gave up. I talked to my mom, my brother, and my older sister and asked for advice. I knew that if I was struggling this much at Blinn, it would only be harder at Texas A&M University. I searched and searched and prayed and prayed on what else I could major in because I needed answers and I needed them fast. I enjoyed my business accounting class that I had taken my freshman year, but knew that was not something that I wanted to do as a job. I went through so many different emotions and was a complete mess.

I worked up enough nerve, did a ton of research and finally told my family that I wanted to take an education course the next semester and I was terrified of how they would respond. Teaching is something I had always dreamed of doing since I was little but honestly, my family and ALL my friends pushed me to pursue other fields. They were pretty supportive of my decision and I actually felt relieved for the first time since graduating high school.

This past spring, I applied to Texas A&M University. I started taking some prerequisites for Education and absolutely loved it! Children are my thing. I love helping, playing, tutoring, teaching, and volunteering with children. I got accepted to Texas A&M and I start school this fall! I am working towards a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a major in Special Education. For the first time in my college career, I am happy. I am where I am supposed to be. I have friends. I learned so much about life, but most importantly about myself. This past semester was better, but I am so looking forward to being at Texas A&M.

I know my story is long, but if you are struggling through school, get help. I used all the resources I could before giving up and technically I didn't 'give up' on school, just on that major. Do not be scared to meet with professors or counselors. They are there to help you! I met with my professors, got one-on-one tutoring from other professors, paid for tutoring, spoke with advisers, had study sessions with other classmates, got help from my genius brother, and called family for support and advice, but it wasn't working for me. I have learned it is okay to fail. It is good to fail (never thought I'd say that). Once you fail in something, you learn so much about yourself and work so much harder to not let that happen again. It has allowed me to find myself and find happiness again.

It is okay to change your major. Look how many times I did. It is normal. From thinking I'd major in either business or biomedical engineering to changing my major to education, I am only one semester behind and all those majors are completely different from each other. It doesn't bother me that I am behind because I am so much happier and I feel like I am free to go out, socialize, have a ton of friends, and actually experience & enjoy my last years of college.

My advice for all college students is:

1. Join a club or organization. This is a great way to make friends. There are so many clubs and organizations to choose from and you will instantly have friends with the same interests as you. Have a social life, but don't allow your social life to cause to you struggle in school. 
2. Get to know all of your professors. You may need help from them at some point. You might need a reference letter or you might need a boost in your grade because you're on the line of passing or failing. Truly getting to know your professors can be so beneficial for you.
3. Be organized! I cannot stress this enough! I am extremely organized... probably way too organized. Know your test dates. Write them down! Bring all materials to class. Don't be late. Don't skip class. Professors do notice.
4. Study. Study with classmates and friends. Study alone. Learn different study habits because what you have been doing your whole life just might not always work in a course. Avoid cramming as much as possible. Most importantly, take breaks. 
5. Get out of your comfort zone! I did not do this my first two years, but you can bet that I will be doing it this year. Don't stay to yourself. Introduce yourself to a few people in each of your classes so that you have someone to go to if you need help, have a question, or miss class one day. 
6. Lastly, have fun! I wish I would've had fun my first two years of school. My life was school and that's all it was. That is not how college is supposed to be. College is supposed to be fun and exciting, full of experiences and making lifelong friends, while working towards your future career. 

I already have my books sitting on my shelf (they've been sitting there for a month now). My binders are organized and ready. I have all my school supplies in my new backpack and my planner is ready and waiting to be scribbled in. :) Please tell me that I am not the only person who does this? Okay, maybe I am the only person. I like to be on top of things and plan for the future. I mean, I'm already planning for my masters degree and I haven't even completed my bachelor's... I'm really looking into Speech Language Pathology to work with students who need help with communicating.

Here are the majority of my supplies all decorated

and ready to be put to use. :)

(included in the picture is Vera Bradley Lighten Up Large Backpack, 

Paper Mate InkJoy Quatro Pens (my new favorite),

Paper Mate Clear Point Mechanical Pencils,

various textbooks, lime 3inch spiral notebook decorated

with washi tape, my planner (center of picture) designed

using Avery Brand Mini Binder Products and my own personal

planner inserts, and my binders (all found on Pinterest and then edited.

If you want them, comment with your email).

I hope all who read this have a great fall semester and a great year! I am excited for all that this semester has to offer. If you aren't ready, start getting ready. Order your books, buy some supplies, and be prepared for this upcoming school year. 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or message me. I'd love to help!

xoxo,

Jade