BBQ Turkey Meatballs

I got this recipe from a close friend and adapted it to make it a bit healthier by using turkey instead of ground beef. I also used store bought BBQ sauce instead of making it from scratch. (It is more appetizing than the picture, I promise.)

3 lbs. ground turkey
1 (13 oz) can evaporated milk
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
BBQ Sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's Original)

Mix all ingredients together. Grease a 9x13 and 8x8 inch pans (or something of similar sizes). Use a large cookie scoop (golf ball sized) to scoop mixture and place in baking dishes. At this point either cover with saran wrap and place in refrigerator or cover cover with BBQ sauce. Bake 1 hour at 350.

I made these Saturday evening and kept in refrigerator over night. Then on Sunday covered the turkey balls in BBQ sauce and baked. Worked great and tasted amazing.

Turkey Meatball minus the BBQ - 113 calories, 7.3 g  fat, 8.5 g protein

Homemade Granola

I wanted a quick and easy snack that I can eat at work, home or on the go. So I made some homemade granola. Granola can be made with a variety of oats, nuts seeds, dried fruits and spices. I grabbed what I had in the cabinets and concocted this version. I plan to add some dried fruit next...after a trip to the store first.

Homemade Granola
Ingredient List
     1 cup old fashioned oats
     1 cup quick oats
     2 TBS chia seeds
     1/2 cup coconut
     1/2 cup slivered almonds, crunched up
     2 TBS pecan pieces
     1/4 cup honey
     1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
2. Mix dry ingredients together
3. Combine honey and EVOO
4. Thoroughly coat the dry mix with honey & EVOO
5. Line a cookie sheet with foil and evenly spread mixture on to it.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes tossing granola a few times to bake it evenly.

Productive

I would love to work from home and today made me remembered why.  I stayed home today to be here when the cable guy came sometime within a 4 hour window. I got to work in my bed. I wore comfy clothes all day (read: t-shirt and yoga pants). I didn't have to fix my hair or put on make-up. I was able to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day instead of during rush hour. I was able to work in silence. I was able to work without any interruptions. Most of all at the end of the day I was productive and sometimes that just isn't the feeling I have when I leave the office.

Felt Heart Garland

I wanted to change up my decorations a little from last year and decided to make some heart garland. It is an inexpensive and easy project that takes maybe 20 minutes. I freehand cut the hearts while watching TV. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

m.i.a.

Yes, I have been m.i.a. you can blame it on the fact that I read Fifty Shades of Grey and then every other smut book that was "recommended" by Amazon. My bad!!

September Birchbox

I am always so happy to get finger nail polish, I was a little bummed it is bright blue though. I saw the other color options and would have preferred them. Oh well, I'm still sporting some blue nails.  I am a huge fan of the soy body whip it smells great and makes my skin soft. The perfume smells delicious too. 

Color Club -  Insta This

Hollywood Fashion Secrets - Fashion Tape

jouer - matte moisturizer tint

Kate Spade - twirl

Poppy - Soy Body Whip

(not pictured) Twistband - Lace Hair Tie

The fall lookbook

Sign up for your first BIRCHBOX HERE so I can earn some free points and eventually free products.

August Birchbox

So it is October and I am finally getting around to posting about my August Birchbox. Oops, better late than never.  The August box had a Beauty School theme.  I opened my box and was super excited to get a razor, it totally made the $10 box worth it. Then I started through items and was coming up short. I only received half of the box of items.  I immediately emailed Birchbox and they had a new-complete package in no time, which was totally cool with me because it means I ended up with two razors.

Comodynes - Self Tanning Towelettes

Comodynes - Hydra Tanning Face Moisturising Summer Glow

Beauty Fixation - Makeup Remover

Juicy Couture - Viva la Juicy La Fleur

Schick Hydro Silk Razor

DDF - Brightening Cleanser

I love the razor and would buy it in the store. The perfume is nice, but kind of strong. And somehow I have managed to not use the other items....

  

So What! Wednesday

Linking up with Shannon at Life After I "Dew" to say So What if.... 

• I peed my pants when I heard, "Who puts vodka in a water bottle?". This girls does and Dominic took a big ole swig thinking it was water. And then I saw the tears and was laughing hysterically.

• I signed up for the Capitol Craze Obstacle Run and I'm seeing teaser pictures and getting a little nervous. Thoughts running through my head...I'm going to get mud in my mouth, ears, nose, everywhere. What clothes am i going to ruin? Is the mud going to stink? Am I going to freeze because it is Oct. 27th? If Tamera from RHOC can do it, then so can I.

• I am sick of reading potty training posts on facebook. Come on people, if it isn't funny or cute no one cares.

• I bought like 6 new pieces of jewelry this past weekend. I am a girl and NEEDED them.
• My car currently doesn't have brake lights. My bad. I had no idea.
• I am wishing that the closest Ikea wasn't 453 miles away. I read about how awesome Ikea is, but can't go. I am jealous.
• I am proud that I did 2 loads of laundry, the dishes, put up Halloween decorations, cleaned desk, and wrote a blog all in the same night and managed to watch 5 premieres. It is the small things people.
• I'm super excited to see my sister tonight and do a little shopping at Savers, Goodwill and Marshall's.

 

EMMY Fashion

I love award shows. The EMMY Awards are probably my favorite because I watch A LOT of TV so I recognize the majority of the stars on the red carpet and shows/movies I actually watch win. I can no longer say that about the Oscars. For me the Oscars are all about the fashion and not the winners. But the EMMY Awards about BOTH!!!  Now on the the fashion. I picked three winners and lots of losers.

Winning Looks

Sofia Vergara - Always nails the dress, hair, and accessories. This year is no exception. Perfection!

{via}

Julie Bowen looking FAB! I don't think she has looked this good on the red carpet before. She looks great head to toe.

{via}

Padma Lakshmi - I love the bold color and how well it looked with her skin color. This was an effortless look. 

{via}

Losing Looks

Phoebe Price who are you? And where did you get your dress? I really wanna know! Next month I'm going to an 80's-90's formal wear party and this ugly ass dress would be perfect.

{via}

Ashley Judd - Is she wearing a homemade dress? WTF is with the humongous bow around the neck? Do I need to even mention how bad the hair looks?

{via}

Heidi Klum - Why is her crotch eating her dress?

{via}

Nicole Kidman - U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi. Your dress is ugly. Yeah, yeah its ugly. (typical)

{via}

Kat Dennings - Put them watermelons away. I may have looked like that at the pool this summer, but I don't have a stylist or the money of an actress. Plus I'm not on national television or in the magazines. You don't have any excuses.

{via}

Christina Hendricks - She just looks stupid. Nasty side and top boob. Can she even breathe? Plus the color makes her look like a ghost.  

{via}

Julianna Margulies - Looks like she is wearing a dress made from an old lady's formal living room sofa. And her hair is so slicked back she looks like a boy. 

{via}

Julianne Hough - This one is all over the place. I like the color and the bottom of the dress. However, the boob area looks like eye lids and from the neck up she looks old. The hair is awful and the makeup makes her look as if she is 40. 

{via}

What was your favorite and least favorite?

  

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I have bought 6 pairs of shoes in the last week. 
• I canceled my cable less than a week ago and have already subscribed to Netflix and Hulu (not impressed).
• I only read blogs that archive posts.
• I watched Bethenny episodes all Monday evening and am SO excited that the show got picked up. If you start watching you won't want to stop.
• I am scheming to get a "volunteer pumpkin patch" to grow at my parents house next year.
• I am totally annoyed by all of the sponsored posts. Don't lie, I know you are too.
• I haven't posted by August Birchbox and I just got my awesome September box Saturday.
• I hate the term "fur ball" and REALLY hate "mom to fur ball". First of all it is a freaking cat and secondly it is your pet not your child.
• I went to an outdoor Jazz show this past weekend and I was BORED OUT OF MY FIND. Doing something different. Check. Enjoying something different. Fail.
• I made a wreath and am going to post a picture of it like every.other.blogger.

  

DIY Chevron Wall

Chevron is EVERYWHERE and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. It has made its way on a wall in my house!  

I am in the process of switching my spare bedroom and craft room.  The spare bedroom was a little bland with all 4 walls being tan in color.  I livened the space up by painting chevron on the focal wall.

It is an easy process and I was able to complete the marking, taping, painting, and peeling in under 6 hours. 

The first step is determining what kind of zigzag you want. I knew I wanted a more spread out version instead of a very spiky zigzag.  Then its time to get your supplies and start going.

Chevron Wall

Supplies: Painters tape, level, pencil, paint & supplies (roller, brush, bucket, etc)

1. Mark the center of the wall at the baseboard. Mark every 12 inches going horizontally. Then from those spots mark every 6 inches vertically all the way to the ceiling. (like my drawing?!?)

2. Play connect the dots with your tape making the zigzag pattern. 

 

3. Start painting every other row. I did 3 coats of dark brown.

4. Once dry peel the tap off and make any necessary touch ups.

Check at this Lowe's idea library tutorial for another example of how to create a chevron wall.

  

Damaged Good Makeover

Always stop at the clearance aisle of whatever store you are in. You will never know what you find. There may be a bunch of crap and you should just continue walking by. There may be something fantastic that you MUST have and it is shocking its in the clearance aisle. Sometimes there are damaged goods FOR CHEAP that just need a little makeover.

I bring to you a cheap damaged good product makeover.

 A cute little shabby chic earring holder.

  

Ombre Cake

It's a surprise in a cake!

Overall an ombre cake is really easy to make, but just time consuming.  Each layer of color requires its own pan. Yes, 5 pans were used to make this cake. That means I had to wash 5 different pans. I felt like I was working on a wedding cake. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but I hate washing cake pans

This cake was made using vanilla cake and then pink food coloring was added to each cake that was made.  You must level each cake tier so the top is as flat as the bottom and you end up with a cake that is standing not leaning or toppling over.

For frosting use the same method. Start with vanilla buttercream and then as you frost add more pink coloring as you frost. 

Don't just look at it eat a piece! 

  

Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

This morning I threw some chicken and taco seasoning in the crock pot. I had no idea what I was going to make with it...obviously something with a Mexican flare. Once I got home I was flipping through my new EveryDay with Rachael Ray magazine and came across the Campbell's soup ad/recipe. The recipe looked good, easy, and I didn't have to go to the store.  I changed it up a bit and it was AH-MAZING!!!

(recipe adapted from Campbell's Kitchen)

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cups shredded taco seasoned cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6-8 inch)

1. Cook chicken in a crock pot for with a package of taco seasoning. (I used 6 boneless thighs and about 3/4 of a package of taco seasoning). Once cooked shred the chicken.
2. Heat oven to 350. Stir soup, sour cream, picante sauce, corn and chili powder in medium bowl.
3. Stir in 1 cup soup mixture, chicken and cheese in large bowl.
4. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up tortillas and place seam-side down in a 11x7 baking dish. Pour remaining soup mixture over filled tortillas. Cover dish with foil.
5. Bake 40 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling.

Top with tomato, green onion, lettuce or whatever you like. Or eat them plain with a few tortilla chips like I did.

Enjoy!

  

High Five for Friday

1. I had some delicious fresh apples which found their way into a cake and bread. The recipes I used were great and I will be using them again. You can find them here and here.

2. Bought some fun new fabric that is going to be made into something for ME! 

3. Back in June I showed you my new patio.  I wrote a review on Target's website for the Solar Bubble String Lights. The directions weren't quite accurate and I commented to help others through the struggles I was having.  Well, that little review I wrote apparently entered me into the Target Product Review Sweepstakes. I had no idea of this until I WON! Yes, I won a $500 gift card to Target! (& I tested the card out and it is legit!)

4.  It is the last day of August, which in my book basically means the last day of Summer. I will be taking down my Summer decor including these blocks and putting up FALL DECORATIONS!!!!!

5. Every year my hometown has a 48 hour softball marathon. The tournament profit goes directly into the ball association fund and keeps costs as low as possible for participating children the next season. It is one of my favorite events of the year. The tournament and I share a special bond...we have both been around for 26 years. Some years it is hot as hell, other years freezing, maybe rainy, usually foggy in the mornings, but one thing it always is is FUN!

Have a fabulous 3 day weekend, but link up with FMGD first!!