Meet Toni

So, this is Toni. I was SO excited to order and get this color FINALLY... and it was a real let down. I mean it's a pretty color and all, but WAY more purple than I thought it would be. I don't have a problem with purple, but when I'm expecting a brown and get a purple I get all sad face.
But, I did decide to use it anyway. I chopped my nails off last night and painted them this afternoon, right before a 1.5 hour nap. Yes, I know, I lead a fun filled life. My excuse is that I had knee injections today and I really just wanted to relax this afternoon.

OPI Chip Skip
Julep - Toni
Seche Vite - top coat





ATTENTION FOOD JUNKIES: I haven't stopped posting recipes, I just haven't really tried anything new that I thought was "share worthy". I've been busy lately and sticking to some golden oldies.... well if you wanna call the last 2 months "oldies".. anyway. I'm going to be looking for new stuff over the weekend so be on the lookout!!!

Beauty Boxes for September!

Well, the last box showed up today. While I wasn't blown away by any ONE box, there were products in each one that I'll use or at least pass on to friends who will use them. :)

So, in order of them showing up, we're going to start with MyGlam which is now known as ipsy.

SOHO smudge brush - I'll never use this, I'm pretty set on the brushes that I use.
Jane - sparkle gloss. I will use the hell outta this. If you know me, you know I have a huge lipgloss addiction.
Circus - yet ANOTHER Circus nail polish and this time in a gawd awful purple. The polishes are good and brushes are nice but hello....... some variety would be nice. This is the 4th month in a row!
Mirabella - eye color. I probably won't use this. It's pretty but I use my Beauticontrol eyeshadows and I'm pretty hooked on them.
Carol's Daughter - Split End Sealer. I'll be using THIS the next time I wash and dry my hair. Since I'm growing my hair out, I need all of the help I can get!

Beauty Box 5 showed up next:

H.Wood Beauty - Lip Shine... or bright red lipstick. I have a few that I like but I'm NOT a lipstick person. This will go in Melia's stash. She's the one that can pull it off.
Goat Haus Dairy - bath melts. I'll use this too. I take baths now and then and I'm always looking for good bath products. I'm a lush girl at heart but hey, it's free!
Silk Naturals - eyeshadow... again, nice color but I have my favorites already
Nastassja Skin - Enzyme Facial Peel. I'm going to give this a try this weekend on my beauty night. I heard it's pretty amazing BUT it's pretty pricey so it's nice to be able to try it first. I was happy to see this.
NuMe - Hydro Punch Hydrating Shampoo - They actually gave me enough to be able to wash my hair. Samples are NEVER enough for me. I usually have to pass them on. I don't have one shampoo brand that I like to stick to, in fact I like to rotate them out so that my hair doesn't get build up. I'll use this tonight. PLUS they gave me a $100 off coupon and the shampoo is only $25! I'm going shopping! :D

BirchBox showed up today:

Well, "meh"...
Bvlgari - Mon Jasmin Noir - perfume sample. It kinda smells good and it kinda smells like the Renaissance Festival but not in a sweaty armpit way.
Color Club - custom polish. I'll probably try it because you know ME, I wanna check out the brush and see if I like it, plus it's a nice sheer gold and sometimes that's just what I'm looking for!
Dr Jart+ - Water Fuse Beauty Balm - apparently it's a moisturizer, serum, sunscreen and tint all in one. I use Beauticontrol tinted face lotion though so I'm good. It seems a little dark for me anyway.
Fekkai - Essential Shea Shampoon & Conditioner. OH Fekkai, how I used to love you, then you kinda dumbed down your formula and sold it at Walgreens. It's still pricy, especially for Walgreens, but it's not the same quality it used to be. Their hair gloss is nice though. I do buy that. Regardless, I have way too much hair for the tiny samples they sent. :|
They also included a weird little twistband for you hair... I'll try it when I fast walk tonight.
They also gave me some "brush guards" I guess to slip them over your makeup brushes. Those would be nice for when I travel which is OH SO OFTEN (eye roll).

Well, like I said, none of them blew me away. I didn't hate any of them but Beauty Box 5 had the most samples that I would actually use so THEY WIN for September! :)

Paleo Chicken Soup

 This weekend is "cooking weekend". I was in the mood so I'm making Chicken Enchilada Stew, bread for Gary, a new salmon recipe because I have to cook what's in the fridge before it goes bad plus I've been craving chicken noodle soup all freaking week. SO MUCH so, that I broke Paleo law and ate a little bit last night... noodles and all! It, however, did not one little bit curb my craving. I went on a google spree and came up with this site. Jeff's Crazy Idea. I didn't have much time to do any reading, other than the recipe, but I'm assuming his crazy idea was to go Paleo. I should probably read more because our story could be called "Gary mentioned it and Rachel went crazy"... SO, mine is still simmering so I stole his picture and I'm really sorry, I feel horrible about it but right now my camera is crap anyway. :(

I did a few things differently or "Rachel's way" so here goes.

You're going to need:
2 tablespoons of bacon grease
2 garlic cloves
1 large onion chopped
2 cartons (1L each) of chicken stock.
4 cups of chopped celery
4 cups of chopped carrots
2 Tablespoons of Italian Seasoning
4-6 chicken breasts cooked
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper

Let's get started!
Starting with the chicken. Jeff's wife (?) boiled hers which, as I've recently learned, is the healthiest way to prepare chicken. I didn't feel like boiling though so what I did was generously season 4 FULL chicken breasts with sea salt and white pepper. I never add salt and pepper to dishes, mostly because I forget, and this way you don't have bland chicken chunks in your soup.
While my chicken was cooking, I started in on the bacon grease. Now, I guess you COULD use a different fat but when someone (especially in a Paleo recipe) says "use bacon fat" I'M ON THAT LIKE A FAT KID ON CAKE because there HAS to be a great reason, right? I don't have bacon grease on hand and if you don't just take 5 strips, cook it down (on LOW) in the pot that you're going to make this soup in. It's going to take a little bit, but you don't want to risk burning the bacon because then you have to start over or everything in the soup will taste burnt. :(

Ok, so your chicken is done and your bacon grease is ready... let's continue!

Pour your chicken stock CARFULLY over bacon grease in a pot and place over medium heat. When broth starts to get warm, add your onions and garlic into the broth.

Once onions become translucent (about 10 minutes for me), add the celery, carrots, spices and chicken.

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Stir occasionally.

I don't usually post recipes before I've cooked and eaten them to avoid posting GARBAGE but this was smelling SO GOOD that I got a head start. Mine should be done in about 30 minutes and I'm going to GRUB for lunch.
Oh, and if the salmon, that I'm making for dinner, turns out tasty, I'll post it tomorrow! :)

Another 2fer..I'm just cheap this week!

This is from 9/9/12, I've just been too busy to update.
I was waiting on this polish to come in from Julep for a long time and it finally showed up. Not that they're slow, I'm just impatient. I've received a LOT of compliments on this color too. It's the first time I've ever used a green and it matches my engagement ring perfectly. It's a keeper.

OPI Chip Skip
Julep - Hoch
Seche Vite - top coat

Ok, the polish that I removed to put on this polish was Essie. Essie is a BITCH to get off. I swear, it takes me like 6 jumbo cotton balls and some freaking muscles. Maybe I'm a wimp but anyway, I have found myself avoiding Essie because of this. Well, I was googling one day and came across this link.
I'm not going to type out everything that I did when you can just go look but let me tell you, I'll NEVER remove my nail polish the "conventional" way again. This looks kinda goofy but takes 5 minutes and it got ESSIE off with NO STRUGGLES! "5 minutes nail polish removal tutorial"

This is what I did last night. I don't normally photograph the right hand. It has nothing to do with the fact that I have a 4 year old skin graft. It's mostly because it's kinda awkward using my left hand to take a picture. Anyway!!

OPI Chip Skip
Essie - Marathin
Seche Vite - top coat

Two For One Special!!

I haven't posted much lately and I do have another nail polish post to put up but I thought I'd do a quickie.

We eat a lot of broccoli and asparagus in this household and after I figured out the perfect way to roast them I'll never ever ever ever ever go back to steaming. EVER!

Let's start with the Roasted Broccoli.
1 bunch of raw broccoli
2 TBS of olive oil or coconut oil (I like using lemon or garlic infused olive oil!)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Wash and cut the broccoli into smaller pieces with long stems
Toss the broccoli with the olive oil and salt
Spread it out in a baking dish
Bake at 400F (204C) for 12-15 minutes until tender and slightly browned.
EAT!

Roasted Asparagus:
1 large bundle of asparagus (20 to 30 spears)
1 TBS coconut oil or olive oil.
Sea salt to taste (pepper and thyme too if you want)

Wash and remove the tough ends of the asparagus
Place in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet
Drizzle the oil over the asparagus and toss it around to make sure it gets evenly coated
Bake for 10 minutes at  400F (204C) THEN reduce the heat to 250F (121C) and bake for another 15 minutes.
Season it up with some salt and pepper!
EAT!

I'm telling you, this is how we will eat broccoli and asparagus for the rest of our lives... OK GARY? FOREVER!!!!

That is all. :)

Essie Strikes Again!

It's been a very, very, very, very, very, very busy week.
My sis (Melia) started her new job and I volunteered to take the boy child home from school until her training is over. I really don't mind AT ALL but it's made for a busy week.
Anyway, the polish from Julep that I had on last week stayed on VERY well. It didn't even wear out on the tips. That means my theory about my nails just being too long was correct.


I used:
OPI Chip Skip
Essie - Yogaga (beige)
Essie - Boxer Shorts (purple on ring fingers)
Seche Vite top coat as always.


Have a fabulous weekend! It's Labor Day weekend. That means Gary is off for 3 days and I think we're just going to be lazy, catch up on Dexter, maybe catch a movie and I have some swaps for swap-bot to get together!

"Sore Throat" Tea

I found this on pinterest and decided to give it a try. I like to think that I don't get sick that often but I had a horrible chest cold last September and then in mid-November I got a really bad head cold. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to at least try :)

Winter sore throat "tea". In a jar, combine lemon slices, organic honey and sliced ginger. Close jar and put it in the fridge, it will form into a "jelly". To serve: Spoon jelly into mug and pour boiling water over it. Store in fridge 2-3 months. (I leave out the ginger, I HATE ginger.)


UPDATE on 9/2/12: I have since added in fresh, grated ginger to the "jelly" as my sister, Lisa, pointed out that it's probably the most important part. I'm gonna have to "man up" and enjoy ginger. :D