Blogging Ben the Bachelor - Week 7

Another Monday, another bottle of Chardonnay. My life has been CRAZY lately. I am not going to lie, up until roughly 4 hours before Monday night started, I thought the special was tonight and not on Valentine's Day. So, I was thinking I would have a relaxing night on the couch, but was reminded that I would instead be drinking wine and blogging the Bachelor. So, here I am. Don't disappoint me, Ben!

1-30 minutes:

Ben and the girls are in Warsaw, Indiana, which is Ben's hometown! They sit down at a cute little diner and Ben explains all of the girls to his parents. Meanwhile, the girls arrive in the town and look absolutely smitten with Warsaw. Ben pulls up in a pontoon boat, which is so Midwestern I am cringing. Speed Boats? No! If you grew up in the Midwest you grew up driving a pontoon boat on a lake or a man made river. 

For those of you who have no idea where Warsaw is (or what Indiana looks like), I have attached a map for you!

Photo cred - Wikipedia.com

Lauren B. is picked for the first date and is given 30 minutes to get ready for the day. They start the day off by driving around the town. Lauren looks downright terrified. She is thinking that this town is straight out of a movie, and it is not impressing her. Where is she from again? Ben would work at a Youth Club growing up, I mean could he get any more picture book fairy tale? Good lord! The half court King, Ronnie, makes the shot which means that Ben has to kiss Lauren in front of 30 little kids. Some of the players from the Indiana Pacers show up, and of course the kids are ecstatic. 

Lauren wants to chat with Ben about the comments made at the last group date. Ben reassures her that one thing being said is not going to change the way he feels about her. I still believe that she is going to be in the top two. Ben wears his heart on the sleeve with her, and though she is a bit harder to read, I think it is way mutual. And hey flight attendants can fly out of anywhere, right?! Ben takes Lauren to his local dive bar. Hello! Most perfect date, ever. Good thing my husband and I are from the same home town, so we get to gobble up Coach's pizza and people watch at our favorite dive bar every time we come home!

31-60 minutes:

Jojo heads to Chicago to meet Ben for a 1:1. They head to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play, and of course the jumbo screen has a message for Jojo and Ben. Joj (as Ben calls her) has grown on me and I like Ben when he is with her. She also seems to genuinely have a good time when she is with him. 

Most of this date is spent back at the house filming the other girls complaining about being in love with a man that 5 other ladies are in love with. You would think the house being wired with microphones and cameras, would remind them that they are in fact on a reality show but I guess not. I guess when you get rid of Olivia and Lace it leaves really boring and uneventful T.V....

They have dinner on the field, hello dream world, and she reassures him that she is ready to give herself to Ben and she feels herself falling in love with Ben. She does seem to be moving a bit slower than the other girls, which is odd, but she is being true to herself I suppose!

Photo Cred - people.com

61-90 minutes:

The group date heads to a farm in Indiana, don't act surprised! He gets in a rowboat with Caila at the beginning of the date, and of course Becca and Amanda are not too thrilled with that decision. All of the girls seem to be over the group dates, making this date even more awkward than watching Amanda run in heels. Ben announces that whoever he gives the rose to will stay on the date, and the other two will head back to the house. Becca feels like she is being left behind and is not really sure why she is there. You would think after two attempts you would have the concept down, but guess not. 

I love how honest Caila is during her time with Ben. I love that she explains herself as moldable, but for some reason I do not think Ben is finding that super assuring. Ben decides to give Amanda the rose, since he feels she needs to feel confident in order for him to come back and meet her family. Becca and Caila are left at the farm, depressed and wishing they had the rose. Becca says she doesn't want to feel like this about a man she is falling in love with. Because being on the Bachelor means that you will be getting one on one attention 24/7 and there aren't 25 other girls trying to fall in love, just kidding!

Ben takes Amanda to McDonalds, yes you read that right! I am sure she has bought her fair share of kid's meals but I do not think she was expecting to serve them on live television!

They head to a carnival, have some fun on the merry go round and the carousel. It is a cute date, and obviously him giving her the only rose of the night (other than the rose ceremony) speaks volumes! So good for Amanda! 

91-120 minutes:

Ben and Emily head out on the pontoon, she proceeds to admit that she doesn't really know what a swan is. In her defense, out here in the desert we don't really have swans, so I kind of get it. Caila calls Emily a "bright eyed puppy", saying that to her everything is new and exciting. I could not agree more. Thank you, Caila. Sometimes when Emily is giving her interviews, I have to double check my guide and make sure I am not watching that one show about Hugh and his girlfriends. She admits to Ben's mom that her biggest dream is to be a NFL cheerleader, and that she wants to be married young. This poor girl, this editing is not helping America's view of her. 

I am sure Emily is a great person, and definitely looking forward to seeing her on the field, but she is about to be completely blindsided. Ben says goodbye to Emily due to the fact that she is not wife material. Love how humble and sincere she is in the limo, props to you, Emily!

Meanwhile, the rose ceremony gets under way! Ben is confused and seeks some good ol' fashion Bachelor advice from the main Bachelor himself, Chris!

Rose Ceremony:
Amanda has a rose from the group date.
Lauren
JoJo
Caila

Becca does not get a rose! 
She is upset, obviously and says that she didn't want to be blind sided. Ben says that he needed all the time he could get, which is why he waited until the rose ceremony.

Next week is hometowns and honestly, who doesn't think this is the best episode of the season? Make sure to check in with everyone else in the link-ups and get their feelings on last night's episode. 

Happy watching, 

An InLinkz Link-up

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the perfect egg sandwich

Who has taken advantage of McDonald's all day breakfast? I am not going to lie, I love their egg white sandwich, so I may have gotten that once (or twice)! Honestly, I eat fast food, maybe once every 3 months, but I love a good egg sandwich. Today's #freezerlovefriday is here to meet your breakfast sandwich craving! 



There are great egg sandwiches in the frozen section, but it is much cheaper to make your own and you know what is going into them! There are a few different ways to cook the eggs. One option is to whisk your eggs together, pour into a 9X9 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350º. When they are completely cooked through, you can use a circle cookie cutter and cut out 6 circles. Or you can cook in the microwave using ramekins. I opted for the microwave option and after a few explosion, came up with the following recipe! 

The Perfect Egg Sandwich 

Yields 6 Sandwiches 

Ingredients:

6 eggs 

6 slices of cheddar cheese

6 turkey patties or 6 slices of bacon

6 english muffins

Directions:

Grease a ramekin thoroughly. 

Crack an egg in the ramekin and add a tsp of milk. Mix with a spoon. 

Microwave for 45 seconds on 50% power level 

**times may vary, as well as power levels**

Repeat for all 6 eggs 

Let cool completely. 

Cook turkey patties and/or bacon 

Let cool completely

Cut english muffins in half.

Assemble sandwich with egg on bottom, than meat and lastly cheese slice. 

First wrap the sandwiches in wax paper and than wrap in foil. I like to put mine in a ziplock baggie for an extra level of protection.

Freeze for up to two months.

Reheating:

When reheating, leave the wax paper on and microwave for 2 minutes. Or remove wax paper and use a convection oven, wrap in foil and heat on 350º for 10-12 minutes. I prefer to use the convection oven for reheating because it gives the muffins a bit of a crunchiness, but if a microwave is all you have that works just as well.  

Happy freezing, 

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hard boiled egg lunches

My family easily goes through 2 dozen eggs a week! We LOVE eggs. I typically have 2 eggs for breakfast and 2 hard boiled eggs throughout the day. Ryan and Luke both love them too, so we are constantly buying lots and lots of eggs and finding new ways to eat them.

I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite hard boiled egg recipes. If you missed it last week, make sure you check out my super easy and fool proof guide to hard boiling the perfect egg. 

First up is avocado egg salad. Growing up, we didn't eat many avocados. Honestly, I don't think many people who lived east of the Mississippi did, it just wasn't on our radar yet. But now I am obsessed and eat many, many avocados a week. When I worked full time, I was near this cute little deli and would meet Ryan there for dinner often. They had a version of this and I immediately fell in love.  I like to mix up the avocado egg salad and put it on a whole grain english muffin or toast, along with some berries and I have the perfect lunch. 

Ingredients:

2 hard boiled eggs 

(I do not typically use the yolk, but this is up to you)

Dash of Mayonnaise

Dash of Pepper

1 whole avocado, mashed

A few squeezes of lime and lemon 

Directions:

Peel and chop the eggs. Mix all of the ingredients together. You will want to use most of it, since the avocados will brown. I sometimes will leave some for an afternoon snack or late night snack. 

Lately, I have been on a Black Bean Burger kick for lunch. I love meat, but it is nice to have something different occasionally. 

I pop them in the convection oven for 10 minutes and it gives them a nice crispy taste. I love topping mine with just about everything, but hard boiled eggs and avocado make the perfect topping. 

It is protein loaded and keeps me satisfied until dinner!

What is your favorite way to enjoy hard boiled eggs? If you have tried my hard boiled egg method, make sure to let me know!

Happy eating, 

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