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Showing posts from 2018

How to Do Dip Powder Nails

 Staying at home means avoiding the nail salon, and as someone who always  smudges regular nail polish (seriously, how is it possible that they can still  be ready to smear by the time I go to bed?), I have a newfound appreciation for the variety of modern manicure solutions available. I previously reviewed Ohora's at-home gel strips , which are a great option for hassle-free designs. Another option that I really like, even though I am far  from a pro, is dip powder. Dip powder is essentially an acrylic powder that contains pigments or glitters. You purchase a set of liquids that can be used with the powders of your choice for a quick and clean manicure that requires very little dry time. Dip powder is easily accessible, and if you're new to dip nails in general, I'd suggest a reasonably priced option for practice. I started with the Lavender Violets brand on Amazon, which comes with a set of powders + all the liquids you need for a beginner. I did find that the l...
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Sweet and Spicy Sheet Pan Stir Fry Bowls

I love sheet pan recipes. Sure, you could spend 30 minutes standing and sautéeing, but why do that when you can throw everything on a sheet pan (or two), spend those 30 minutes scrolling through Instagram , and then come back to a finished meal? I initially made this for dinner, but you know how the old saying goes: tonight's leftovers are tomorrow's meal prep! People say that. Honest. So let me get straight to the recipe-- but first, in the interest of full disclosure, this is pretty close to a  sheet pan meal BUT, I had a lot of chicken once it was cut, so I used two sheet pans, plus I needed to boil the rice. If you have rice already made, you're all set, but otherwise, toss that pot of water on the stove and then we can move to the sheet pan portion. Sweet and Spicy Sheet Pan Stir Fry Ingredients: 2 lbs of frozen stir fry veggies 2 lbs of chicken breast, sliced olive oil soy sauce basmati rice, cooked salt and pepper Sauce (similar to a ...
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Stuffed French Toast Roll Ups

It's been a while, but I have a new kitchen, so I'm back and better than ever with these stuffed french toast rollups! I saw this recipe on Tasty's Facebook feed this week, and knew it would be a great weekend breakfast. Original video can be found here . On this Sunday morning, I only attempted the strawberry cream cheese and the banana peanut butter version, but I'm a big fan of sweet and savory combined, so the sausage roll ups are on my "must try" list for the future. My verdict? The actual process of rolling and assembling these was super easy. I didn't drizzle these with syrup as shown in the video, but instead served them with a dipping cup of maple syrup on the side, AND, as you can see in the photo above, I left the crusts on, which made no difference in the taste or texture whatsoever. If I make these again, I think I'd mix in a little powdered sugar with the cream cheese to make it a little more "cheesecakey". It would b...
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Copycat Gluten Free Crunchwraps

I did not invent the crunchwrap, do not lay any claim to the product, and am in no way sponsored by any company or inventor that has anything to do with them. Anyone who needs to eat gluten free already knows this won't necessarily be even close to the real thing, so I'd heavily encourage Taco Bell to make any effort to have any gluten free options whatsoever. Everyone's favorite Tex-Mex fast food restaurant is the expert at arranging the same handful of ingredients into a multitude of products that bring the masses in for tiny packets of hot sauce , cheese, and tortillas. The Holy Grail of the Taco Bell menu is arguably the Crunchwrap Supreme, known for it's portability, crunchiness, cheesiness, and overall deliciousness. Unfortunately, the gluten free "menu" is limited to mainly soft drinks and hot sauce packets, and the chain does not guarantee that anything is gluten free or recommend their own products to those who cannot eat gluten. Even the ground...
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Valentine's Day Hearts Door Hanger

Nothing says "I love you" like solid sugar hearts with sassy sayings, so why not dazzle your doorway with this simple Valentine's Day decoration? This quick and easy craft is great for crafting with kids, too! All you really need are some foam shapes and paint. You can go with classic Valentine's Day colors, or draw your inspiration from the classic pastel conversation hearts . Valentine's Day Hearts Door Hanger Supplies Heart stencil Sheets of lightweight craft foam in the colors of your choice Coat hanger Ribbon hot glue gun and glue Paint Thin paint brush for lettering Scissors or exacto knife (exacto knife is recommended!) Instructions Align your stencil on the craft foam, and trace around it with the exacto knife to cut out 12 colorful foam hearts. I found that cutting two at a time was the best mix of speed and efficiency-- three was a little more difficult. I also worked on top of an empty Amazon box, s...
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Grilled Cheese and Tomato Bisque

Happy New Year! 2018 has rushed in at a balmy zero degrees Fahrenheit, and what better way to warm up than with this seriously amazing creamy tomato bisque? I've been exhausted  lately, so I've been fairly quiet on the blogging front. That's not to say that I haven't been cooking up a storm (just check out my instagram ), even though the holidays knocked me off of the healthy train for a few days. So, today I dove back in with an awesome tomato bisque. The original recipe is by Debi at Lifecurrents , but my adaptation is below. I had every intention of making this a slow cooker dinner, but you know how that goes... I'm 15 minutes away on the interstate heading to the office when it dawns on me that I never actually put anything in the crockpot . Oops. Luckily, this wasn't too difficult, and with a few chopped veggies and a whirl with the immersion blender , this was an amazingly filling and delicious dinner. ...
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Popular posts from this blog

How to Do Dip Powder Nails

 Staying at home means avoiding the nail salon, and as someone who always  smudges regular nail polish (seriously, how is it possible that they can still  be ready to smear by the time I go to bed?), I have a newfound appreciation for the variety of modern manicure solutions available. I previously reviewed Ohora's at-home gel strips , which are a great option for hassle-free designs. Another option that I really like, even though I am far  from a pro, is dip powder. Dip powder is essentially an acrylic powder that contains pigments or glitters. You purchase a set of liquids that can be used with the powders of your choice for a quick and clean manicure that requires very little dry time. Dip powder is easily accessible, and if you're new to dip nails in general, I'd suggest a reasonably priced option for practice. I started with the Lavender Violets brand on Amazon, which comes with a set of powders + all the liquids you need for a beginner. I did find that the l...
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Apple Cinnamon Sheet Pancakes and Bacon

If you've seen my post about  Peachy Cinnamon Sheet Pancakes , you already know how I feel about sheet pan recipes. These sheet pancakes pull together all the goodness of regular pancakes, plus the ease of a casserole-- no more standing at the stove flipping batter! UPDATE: These make a great breakfast sandwich -- perfect for a crowd! If you have not checked out that recipe, I recommend you check it out , as this is a significant improvement over an adaptation of the first. Since it's fall, and we have been doing all the fall things-- like a family pumpkin painting day, and trying to brave the fall festivals even though it's unexpectedly hot-- these pancakes bring a taste of fall with apples, cinnamon, maple syrup and bacon. Yum! Read on for the recipe. Apple Cinnamon Sheet Pancakes Ingredients: 1 cup gluten free bisquick 2 tbsp cooking oil of choice, plus a little for greasing the pan 1 egg 1 cup milk 1/2 tsp cinnamon, plus extra for...
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Curly Girl Routine for Wavies: My Secretly Wavy Hair

My hair has been straight for my entire life. Puffy-straight. "Needs time to calm down" after blow drying it, straight. Works great with extra heavy conditioner, straight.  Sure, occasionally I'd wake up with a few curls here and there, but after brushing my hair-- because brushing is a must!-- they would disappear into a puff of frizz, so I'd add some serum and calm it down. It literally never dawned on me that my straight hair struggles were happening because my hair wasn't straight. Sure, it had some  wave, sometimes, but I just assumed straight hair was the default. Mine was puffy and needed help all the time, but it was straight. It turns out, I'm not alone. In fact, this blogger  had the same realization, and the descriptions of her hair rang true for me as well. I've always had "damaged ends" or "a texture issue", even right after a major haircut. So what gives? About two years ago I decided it was time to do a big chop, and cut ...
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