Favorite Fabulous Fall Fashions

Loving the leather look this fall. How hot is this jacket?! It's on my must have list:
Bad ass jacket

I used to stick with black and gray but this fall has so many wonderful colors:
Look at this combo!

BOOTS, BOOTS AND MORE BOOTS! Can't get enough of these

Time to get back into the swing of things

With all the traveling I've been doing for work and all the craziness that life has to offer, I've been severely neglecting my sweet escape - my blog. So I'm back...and hopefully I'm here to stay. I'm making this my end of the year resolution - blog AT the VERY least - once a week. I figure if I start expectations low, I'll be set.

My love for the summer is strong but I have to say that I this time of year is really great - the trees are beautiful, the little crispiness in the air and my favorite holidays are around the corner - Halloween and Thanksgiving - the holidays that are based on having fun, giving thanks and eating yummy candy and delicious food.

With the fall, comes our office Halloween Bake Off - so I researched my butt of (on Pinterest) and found some pretty cool ideas - still deciding on which one to make, though, I think I am pretty close on my selection. Check out these cool desserts! So funky and clever!

Darren and I won't be dressing up this year but that doesn't mean we won't be in the spirit! Enjoy all you ghosts and goblins!

spooky beverage for adults
Frank-ly pudding
Smor-Ghost-board of goodies
perfect pumpkin treats

Our little pumpkins in their costumes!

Friday nights are funny

TGIF everyone! The weekend is finally here. For some reason, even with the short week, the week seemed to drag a little bit, but at last - the time has come for a lazy weekend! What are you guys up to?

As I drove home tonight, I began to reflect on how I used to live for Fridays - who to go out with, who to see, where to go - the night full of high hopes. And now.....well...now it's just a night to relax, drink some wine, ask the kids how their week was and then....fall asleep reading your book, and I'm perfectly ok with that. It at least makes me appreciate our "nights out" even more.

So with that, enjoy your Friday, no matter what you are doing - make the most of it and appreciate it.

What's on the tube?

Aside from fashion and food, I have another obsession - reality TV, however, one night I veered away from the "real" drama of housewives and turned my attention to CBS to watch a show called "Two broke girls" and I'm really glad I did - the show is very funny, well written and it's actually got a good story. Have you seen it? Check it out here.

My other obsession is with the BBC show SHERLOCK, based of course on Sherlock Holmes. It just finished up its second season and I'm DYING for more.....I did read that the creators of the show were commissioned to do a third season, so keep your eye out for it - - - you will NOT regret it!

mad hatter

Am I the only one obsessed with these hats this summer??? I can't get enough of them quite honestly. They are different and add just the right amount of "oomph" to your outfit. Check these out at Target - cute and totally affordable.

Veggie Hodgepodge

I had a boat-load of fresh veggies left over from Memorial day weekend when we did some veggie kabobs on the grill so before they went bad, I figured I'd use them up!

I cut up some zucchini, squash, broccoli, carrots, corn peppers, onions, tomatoes and asparagus and laid it in a casserole dish. I poured a little vegetable broth over it and then lightly coated it with some store bought artichoke jalapeno dip I had from the weekend and then used some leftover reduced fat shredded cheese to top it all off. I baked it in the over at 360 for 27 minutes and it was done! I probably could have left it in for another 3-5 minutes, but since it was my first time making it I opted to be on the safe side. (See below for prep-pics)

Once I plated it, I decided to top it with some salt pepper and some fresh salsa (which ended up being just the right touch).

Easy prep time, easy clean up and most importantly, easy on the hips....almost no carbs and aside from the dip and reduced fat cheese, there's 0 fat.

Sitting on the deck of the park

It's weekends like this that make me so appreciative and make me feel so full of life. The weather was amazing, my husband and I got to spend some quality time together and we just got to sit and relax and take in life.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend as well....if you aren't, get out there and do so....you still have some time life before...well, you know, I don't need to remind you.

Enjoy!

Here's a pic of Our pup Trent relaxing on the deck with me, barking at all the kids in the park across the street.

A no meat kind of Monday

Tonight we went veggie. I made stuffed portobello mushrooms and they were a hit....even with my husband who is not a fan of the meaty 'shrooms.

I took 2 large portobello mushroom (stems removed) caps and placed them in a 1" deep pan lined with foil that was sprayed with PAM.

In a food processor I added one small onion, a medium sized orange pepper, a cup of broccoli lightly microwaved , a tablespoon of minced garlic, gluten free breadcrumbs (about a half cup), 1 egg and a dash of red pepper flakes. Blend it all together and Then scoop mixture into caps. Add a few breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of cheese and place in oven at 350 degrees for 28 minutes.
Serve with a side salad and you've got a hardy meatless meal!

Staring into the fridge....

The dreaded dinner time. I didn't get to the grocery store this weekend since we were visiting with my parents, and after eating out from Fr-day-Sunday for almost every meal, the thought of doing takeout make me cringe. So I did the "stare" (when you open up the fridge door and you just stare). I saw cheese, yogurt, bread, carrots, ground turkey and something that I think was growing legs. I knew I had frozen chicken but to defrost it would take time, so ground turkey was the winner!

Now what? Turkey burgers? Turkey meatloaf? Chili? All very good contenders but I had an urge to try something a bit new (At least for the family). So here's what I did:

Cooked the ground turkey in a pan (just added a little water, salt, pepper and minced garlic)
Then boiled some whole wheat pasta
Microwaved some frozen spinach
Threw it all in a casserole dish
Covered it with tomato sauce and shredded cheese and baked it at 375 for 20 minutes

It ended up being super flavorful and had leftovers for lunch the next day which is a major plus!
 Here's a pic of what the end result was:

Puppies are like babies

With our new puppy Trent, life has been turned upside down lately and I must admit I'm struggling a bit to manage it all. The kids homework, trying to break up arguments over the Xbox, taking the dog out, packing lunches, taking the dog out, making dinner, giving baths, taking the dog out, doing laundy and then of course trying to make time to be a wife....oh and did I mention working full time? If this is what having a baby is like, I think I might double up on my birth control for the time being. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ruling it out completly but for now, I don't know how I'd do it - - Id' be a puddle!

It's all adding up and it's effecting my attutidue, my disposition, my entire self....I need help! Any advice out there from you Super Women that I admire?

Here's a pic of our pup - - as you can see he's super cute and loveable, so giving this guy away isn't an option!

A Room With A View

As I sit here after a long day - I wanted to share the view that makes me happy. Our little puppy Trent, my Ugg slippers and my husband's guitar that produces some of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard.

Ice cream with Grammy J

My grandmother who is 90 years old (and still has her own real estate business) is adored by my 2 step-daughters - they call her "special" which just warms my heart all over. This summer we were at the beach for my wedding and one night we hit up the boardwalk for some ice cream. The store was crowded so we found a bench outside where the girls chatted and enjoyed every bite of their ice cream cones.

This really captures how happy everyone was and how much fun we were having - one of my favorite photos of all time.

Eggfins

If you are anything like me, you are running around with one earing and an unbuttoned half ironed shirt in the morning and the last thing on your mind is what to eat for breakfast. You know you need to eat it and you know for as much as you enjoy a gooy egg and cheese on a bagel, it's not always the healthiest option. So while I had some time tonight and was cleaning out my fridge since garbage day is tomorrow, I made some egg "muffins" aka eggfins.

I took a small carton of Quick Eggs, an almost-gone-jar of salsa that I was going to toss but figured why waste it and poured it into a muffin tin that I sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Placed it in the oven at 350 degrees for 17 minutes and you are good to go.

Throw them in the fridge and reheat in the mic in the morning and you have bfast for a couple of days. Save your splurge on the egg and cheese bagel for Sunday morning, afterall, you bust your hump so hard during the week, you desrve it!

Ahoy Fix

About a month ago, on one of my grocery shopping excursions, I bought a bag of Chips Ahoy!^© mini cookies thinking I would put them in the girls’ lunches as a nice little treat.

One cold blustery, PMS day, I opened up the bag and indulged in a couple and every night after dinner, I allow myself one as a “topper” (a term I like to use for something sweet after each meal), being fully aware of the fact that the cookies had never, nor will ever make it into the girls’ lunches (I packed them fruit snacks instead). However, last night, like all good things, it ended. I put my hand in the bag, and there was nothing but a few crumbs and one lonely chocolate chip.

So I decided to satisfy my sweet tooth and my husbands (since I saw him scanning the snack cupboard after dinner). I would make some cookies. Much to my dismay though, I had no eggs – so I made some vegan-style oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I am not vegan, nor is anyone in my family but I’ve learned to really enjoy some of the vegan recipes. However, sometimes, I use dairy products, if that’s what I have in my fridge – it’s really all about making it work for you. 

Here’s what I used:

About ¾ cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of white sugar

1 cup of flour ( I happen to use Rice flour since it was all I had handy)

1tps vanilla extract

¾ cup of soy milk (I used Rice milk – but I am sure you could use regular milk as well if you aren’t vegan – if your rice or soy milk is sweetened, you may want to use a little less to avoid the cookies being too sweet)

1tsp baking powder

½ cup of mini chocolate chips (if you don’t like chocolate you can use raisins, coconut, cranberries, nuts or all of the above)

1 stick of butter (of course if you are vegan, you would use a butter substitute)

1½ cups of rolled oats

And here’s what I did:

Mix the butter and brown and white sugar together until creamy. Add in the milk and the vanilla and blend some more (I used a hand held blender mainly because I was lazy and didn’t want to clean my standing mixer).

Next add in the flour and baking powder and mix together well. Fold in the oats and chocolate chips.

Drop a spoon full of the cookie batter onto greased cooking sheet and bake at 350^○ for 15 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Don’t be alarmed if the cookies are flat – they will still be nice and chewy with a little bit of crunch. A perfect (healthier) substitute for my Chips Ahoy!^© addiction.