Oprah Who? My Favorite Things....For Now

 

 I adore mascara and at the same time I loathe it. If I could afford it I would pay for eyelash extensions. I hate my eyelashes and envy those who have long, curled lashes. Sigh. However, Falsies Mascara is the CLOSEST thing I have found to make me happy. Just the black kind - NOT waterproof. 

 

 I love the light for my Kindle. I can read at bedtime without keeping J up. Plus it reminds me of a coal miner for some reason, which puts me in a Hunger Games mode. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

The Run Keeper App. I adore it. You can plug in your workout or use the GPS to track your workout. It will talk to you throughout the work out every 5 minutes with your distance, speed, MPH, and how far you are from your goal speed (only in GPS mode). It's kind of awesome. 

 

Sweaty Bands. A work out headband that does NOT budge. I swear, it does not move at all during a workout. Plus, they have ADORABLE styles. Very fun girly ones, team ones, sorority ones, etc. I am adding this one to my wishlist for very obvious WDE reasons. Check out Sweaty Bands. Better yet, buy me one.  

If my life depended on ironing then I would perish. Instead of ironing I use this fabulous wrinkle releaser spray on my clothes. Each night I pick out my work outfit and spray it down with this.The clothing can then be thrown in the dryer, but I usually just straighten it myself. It's amazing and works wonders. No wrinkly clothes and no ironing for me!

"I'm Going Off The Rails Of A Crazy Train"

Wow. I thought I couldn't keep up with my blog during football season, but Spring has proved to be even more difficult! Our life has been busy. We are still trying to get the house together while keeping our fabulous social appearances - ha! Seriously though April involves A LOT of traveling.

It began with a baby shower for one of my best friends Double L. We threw a shower for her in Scottsboro, AL Easter weekend. We are flying to Newport News, Virginia to visit with my sister, brother in law and a few of our friends we were stationed with in Abilene, TX. Getting ready for this trip, I lost the only valid ID I owned which may have ensued a mild panic attack. Luckily we found it so chances are I can get on the plane. J & I will be making a trip to ATL at the end of the month for another 5K race and to see Les Miserables at the Fox Theater. . In May I will be headed back to Alabama for a sorority sister's wedding and then back to ATL for another wedding. Absolute craziness. Can gas prices PLEASE go down?! Throw in an April HHBC meeting and Disney on Ice with M and you have my life. Oh wait, during that I will be starting a new job. Cheers!

Yes. Nothing adds to the stress and chaos of a busy month than turning in a two week notice and accepting a new position. However, this position is also a former position as I am heading back into the cookie world known as the girl scouts. They had the same position open up for the council in Columbus, which was the same position I held in Texas. Shhhh. I can hear you laughing at this news. After a particularly hard day I sat in my car crying and heavily praying about the future of my career. Literally 15 minutes later I saw the girl scouts finally had a position open up. Could it really be that God has had me wait over a year to go back to work in non profit? I mean every door that slightly opened for a new opportunity in this past year had closed; sometimes even slammed in my face. The morning before I received the offer from the girl scouts, I had received another rejection email from another company I had interviewed with . This time I took the lovely email as a message that God was closing another door to show me that I needed to accept this offer. And so I did. While I have been appreciative of my employment for the past year I am very excited to see what this door holds. Even though it's the same position, I will strictly be working in membership and fund development. Since this office is fully staffed I will not be wearing as many hats as I did in Texas. Thus, less traveling, less weekend events, less slumber parties in damp warehouses with cookies - what will I do? Of course I am happy to do all that, but I have a feeling this experience will be MUCH different. Prayers are appreciated. If I get nervous before spin class imagine how much fun I am before switching companies!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
1 C Unsalted Butter
1 C Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 C Sugar
1 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2.5 C Flour
1 t Baking Powder
.5 t Salt
1.5 t Baking Soda

Mix together butter, peanut butter and the sugars. Add the eggs and beat. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Stir this mixture into the batter. Refrigerate the mix for an hour. After an hour, make 1 inch dough balls and place on a cookie sheet. Mash down with a fork. Cook for roughly 10 minutes at 375.

I had a sweet craving and decided to make cookies. This recipe was chosen because it is what I had on hand. Very simple ingredients. It was super easy to make and delicious to eat. J is not a peanut butter fan and he loved them.A quick and easy thing to make for guests unless they are allergic to peanuts. 

No Excuse

It literally has been a lifetime since I have updated. People were blowing up my phone just begging me to update my blog, ha! I play on catching up, but until then...

I felt like this captures us well. On the way to high school friend T's wedding in ATL.

Getting mad at the neighbors because the kids leave these bike ramps in the middle of the street at nighttime. Documentation for HOA.

Completed my first 5K of 2012 in the chilly rain.

Had a random stranger smash my kindle with her treadmill and proceed to rock back and forth on it. Completely accidental.

My Fendi Foo is just too cute not to photograph.

And this is Miss Friski literallly sleeping on her back propped up against my knee. Kitten mittens are so strange, yet so flipping awesome.

When Good Food Goes Bad....

I was performing my morning routine of browsing the daily news stories on AOL when I came across an article about how long to keep leftovers in the fridge. Yes, this means that you actually throw away food based on the shelf life, not that you take a whiff and decide it's edible for a few more days. AOL linked over to Hellawella where I stumbled across this fabulous guide:

 

Even though some foods have expiration dates, this is useful for the dates that fade or the items that do not have a date. 

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole
8 Slices Of Bread - cubed
1 Lb. Sausage - cooked & crumbled
1.5 C Cheddar Cheese - shredded
10 Large Eggs
2 C Milk
2 t Dry Mustard
1 t Salt
Pepper

In a greased casserole dish, place the cubes of bread on the bottom. Top the bread with sausage (make sure it is cooked) and shredded cheese. Mix the eggs, milk, mustard and salt together. Season this mixture with pepper and pour it over the sausage mixture. Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I believe I got this recipe from All Recipes, but I am not sure. Oops! I have never made a breakfast casserole before, but our good friends came for the weekend and I was excited for the excuse to try this recipe out. It was SO good. I served the casserole with a side of buttery, garlic toast. It was a filling breakfast and everyone enjoyed it. The seasoning was great and not one ingredient stood out from the rest. It was not too cheesy or too "eggy." The next time I do this I will attempt to throw in some hash browns as well. It says this can made the day before, but I did not attempt that. I also used leftovers for J's breakfast for the next two days. A breakfast casserole that reheats well is definitely going into my recipe box.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1T Chili Powder
1.5 t Ground Cumin
1 t Sea Salt
1 t Pepper
1/2 t Paprika
1/4 t Garlic Powder
1/4 t Onion Powder
1/4 t Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 t Dried Oregano

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container. Increase the red pepper for spiciness.

I swear I could eat these for days upon days upon days. You get the idea. Making tacos is so easy. It was one of the first things I made when we were married. In fact, I was so clueless in the kitchen that I did not know you needed to put the taco shells in the oven for a few minutes. I wondered why they tasted stale straight from the store. True story. J started to hate tacos or he hated them all along, but our marriage was too new to judge my cooking. I had made a homemade seasoning before and he surprisingly enjoyed the meal. I made this blend because I had everything, but seasoning for the meat. Loved this. If you randomly cook or you have a spice rack, you should have most of the ingredients on hand. I saved what I had left. Cheers for no more store bought seasoning packets!

Veggie Cups

Veggie Cups
Celery
Carrots
Ranch Dressing
Dixie Cups

Cut the celery and carrots into sticks. Squirt the dressing into the bottom of the cup and place the sticks in the cup. Voila!

This is almost to obvious to write out directions for. I cut the veggies and stored them in a ziplock bag overnight. Everyone loves a healthy snack option, even if it is covered in rich dressing. I discovered this idea on pinterest and thought about how genius it was. Little clean up and no one gets mad if you double dip. You know you are growing up when the same cups used for jello shots are used for veggies. Sigh.

Ham & Turkey Tortilla Rolls

Ham & Turkey Tortilla Rolls
Sliced Ham
Sliced Turkey
Medium Sized Tortilla Rolls
Ranch Mix Packet
8 Oz Cream Cheese

Mix the ranch packet and cream cheese until the mixture is soft enough to spread onto a tortilla. Lightly cover the tortilla with the spread and place turkey or ham on top. Make sure the tortilla is lightly covered with the meat and cream cheese, but that nothing is on the edge. Tightly roll the tortilla in a log shape. When ready, cut into smaller rolls. You may have to discard the ends.


This is another great appetizer I love to snack on. I made these the night before and stuck the tortilla logs in the fridge for half an hour. Once the cream cheese chilled it tightened the roll so the log would not unravel. I cut the log into smaller rolls, stuck in a ziplock bag and kept them in the fridge until ready to serve. These are great for game day and have more substance than munching on chips the entire night.

BBQ Meatballs - Crock Pot STyle

BBQ Meatballs
Large Bag of Frozen Meatballs
2 Bottles BBQ Sauce
1/2 C Ketchup

Throw all ingredients into a crock pot. Heat on low for 6-8 hours. After a couple of hours, mix the ingredients so the sauces combine and to ensure even coating for the meatballs.


I have a real problem making homemade meatballs. They fall apart no matter what I do. Therefore I am not ashamed to purchase frozen food. This is a great dish that requires minimal effort. Serve with toothpicks. This is great leftover.