A Feline Fur Real...idk

So what, if I want a cat. I do. I want one.

Maybe one day I'll figure out how to actually write a blog. Maybe. 

That is all for now, squirrels.

Crisis Continues

So the quarter life crisis mentioned in my previous post continues to linger and wreak havoc on my life.  I am stuck in a state of confusion and indecisiveness with occasional shots of delusion, inspiration, and the gut-wrenching feeling that I am missing out on life as it passes me by added to the mix.  My current state of utmost maturity and decisiveness is definitely not driving everyone in my life absolutely nuts.

I have a few new recipes and DIY projects that I hope to tackle in the near future, and I will be sure to start posting some of my condo projects soon.  All I can do is apologize for my flittyness, tell you to stay tuned, and hope for the best...

p.s. I ended up spending new years in a screamy music whole-in-the-wall bar.  Mind you I was wearing a beautiful and elegant Alice and Olivia sequined top with an open back and pale pink lip gloss. It was not exactly my scene.  I am CLEARLY a mess.

Welcome Back!

Last I left you all, I was preparing to graduate from college and pave my way in the world.

Good news... I did graduate!

Bad news...the paving my way part has been a little slow going.    I'll pave my way... in two more years once I finish grad school and have my MBA.  I'm not going to lie being back in school sucks, but on the semi-bright side, it is a welcomed delay in growing up!

So much has happened since my last post.  I graduated.  I bought a condo with my parents that was in shambles and created my own palace out of it.  I started grad school.  I had a quarter life crisis...Actually this one is still kind of lingering.  I guess it would be more accurate to describe it an ongoing current event.  I have a new internship with a dream organization.  I am learning to bartend at my pay-the-bills job.  And as always, I'm thinking about getting a puppy!

I can't wait to fill you all in on the details, but for now, I am just glad to be back!

 

Happy Sunday!

In my never-ending search for healthy recipes I stumbled upon RHONY Bethenny Frankel's website.  I have always been a fan of hers.  Her lack of filter is great and she always ends up saying whatever she is thinking.  I cannot wait for her show, Bethenny Ever After, season premiere next Monday, February 28th.  It cannot come soon enough.

Anyway, I am a fan of hers on facebook and one of her latest recipes popped up on my newsfeed.  This led me to her website where I found a number of delicious sounding healthy option recipes.  This Low Fat Creamy Mushroom Pasta sounds great and I cannot wait to try it.  My only concern is the whole wheat pasta.  I have been experimenting with whole wheat pasta recently, and while the taste is great, the consistency is a little off.  My whole wheat pasta wont bend once it is cooked.  It stays stick straight making it very hard to get on your fork and eat.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a whole wheat linguine or fettucini that still bends and curls like regular pasta?  Thanks Bethenny for the recipe!  I will let you all know how I feel about this one once I have made it.  In the mean time, any whole wheat pasta recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry today's post has been so random, but I'm almost done.  I promise.  My last little bit for today is my slight frustration in the fact that I cannot purchase Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Margarita here in North Carolina.  Bummer!!  I have really been wanting to try this low calorie alternative, but my only option is to order Skinnygirl Margarita from New York and have it shipped.  For a soon to be college graduate trying to save her money, this is not a promising option.  Someone please send some Skinnygirl to the South!

Hump Day

You know what sucks about Wednesdays?
Top Chef.

That's all I have to say about that.

Super Bowl Snacks and Home-Made Party Hats

Super Bowl... Great success!  There was great food, great people, a great game and thanks to some inspiration from one of my favorite blogs, Aunt Peaches, the fun also included some great home-made party hats!  But we'll get to those a little later!

I have such a nice boyfriend who willingly 

participates in all of my silly ideas.  

Ahhhh the food!!  All of last week I was anxiously awaiting the day of the Super Bowl for the simple fact that I was a great excuse to fill the house with junk food!  With the diet plan that I have been on, junk food has been strictly prohibited.  An excuse for  taco dip, chicken wings, and cornbread were joyfully welcomed!  I did manage to include some healthy options on the menu as well.  Cauliflower crust pizza and a healthy black bean and ground turkey chili.  Now the cauliflower pizza might sound super gross, I know, but it was actually very good!  I was so pleased with the outcome that I will share! 

Cauliflower Power Pizza (This is the name I have given the recipe)

Ingredients Needed:  

• head of cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup package of FF mozzarella
• low carb marinara sauce
• 1/2 lb. ground turkey
• mushrooms
• bell pepper
• (any other veggies you want, I added some diced onions)
• olive oil
• italian Seasoning
• garlic Salt

What to do! 

- preheat oven to 450

- cut up head of cauliflower into smaller pieces and put into a food processor

- make at least 2 cups of processed cauliflower

- cook on stovetop in saucepan with olive oil and garlic salt for at least 10 minutes (make sure not to cook on too high of heat; you don't want to fry the cauliflower)

- combine cooked cauliflower, both eggs and 1 cup of the FF mozzarella in a separate bowl

- spray cookie sheet with pam and spread the mixture over the pan

- bake for 15-20 minutes edges do get very brown but crust should look overall golden

- while baking the crust, brown the ground turkey with italian seasoning and garlic salt

- Take crust out and assemble pizza with sauce, veggies, meat, and 1 cup of FF mozzarella

-Broil until cheese is melted

- and Voila!

The pizza tastes great and you can't even taste the cauliflower.  I did have a  problem with the crust wanting to stick to the pan and not getting crunchy enough, but I think if I make the recipe again, I might try and make the pizza more like a casserole in individual ramekins.  This way I can allow the crust to cook longer in the dish without worrying about having to try and get it off of the bottom of the pan.  It was an overall success.  

The party hats, however, were the hit of the party!  My papaw was so tickled with his hat that he took it into work the next day to show all of the guys.  He couldn't stop texting me and telling me how good my chili and cornbread were and how everyone he told or showed his party hat to loved it. 

I pulled inspiration for the hats here.  Obviously Aunt Peaches' party hats are much fancier and prettier than my Super Bowl hats, but the concept is the same.  

I decided to use already sparkly party hats purchased from the dollar store in team colors.  I then asked for all of my party guests to rsvp with which team they would be rooting for and went to work finding pictures online of football players from each team and pictures of my guests' faces.  I cut out the faces and football players and replaced the players' heads with the faces of my party guests.  After glueing the newly formed players to the hats i simply added a pom pom ball to the top of each party hat.  :)!

An Unexpected Treat

Today was a super yucky no fun day. Until… while wondering around from store to store shopping in the rain, I headed into Target.  Now I normally have very mixed feelings about Target.  While the merchandise is usually of higher quality than what one would find at say a Walmart, the prices are sometimes a little steep.  But never the less, aimlessly shopping in Target is so fun!  Where Target really takes the cake for me, and today helped turn my no good very bad day into a so fun very good day, is the $1 special section.  The goodies that one can stumble upon here are endless.  Sometimes the selection is not that great with plastic farm animals being one of the better choices, but sometimes treasures can be found.  Now this is not to put down the farm animals, I actually plan to use them in one of my future crafts (be sure to look for it soon).  Bottom line, you never know what you are going to get.  That’s the fun.  It’s almost like a treasure hunt.  Today was a good-find day!  Hooray! This was just the treat I needed to make me smile on this otherwise miserable, cold, rainy day.  

My so cute, new $1 note cards from Target.  I know you must be jealous.  I can't wait to write my friend Anna a letter tomorrow so I can send her one of these little beauties!