Thursday, September 22, 2011

Nails...Nails...NOTD!

LOVE this manicure!  I actually wore it three days!  (this is a record in case you are wondering)

It is Sally Hansen xtreme wear in CRUSHED with 9021Orange on top.

Simple but fabulous:

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My nails are actually getting MAD long.  I am seriously thinking maybe overlays?  dunno, maybe a dumb idea.  My nails are just so thin I feel like they need support!  Nail Bra!

Let me know in comments what you do to keep your nails strong!

RW




















Sugar busting...and food puuuurn

So I have been REALLY trying to eat low fat and no sugar.  Let me tell you, going into a gas station now I am just AMAZED at the high fructose crack syrup treats that are freaking EVERY DARN WHERE!

I have finally found my body surprising me. I FINALLY don't drool when I see something sugary. I can remember how crappy I felt and NOT eat it. Still. Now if I eat an apple I am shocked at how good it is where before I would have said "An apple? I want a 'lowfat' poptart" Now, I KNOW low fat isn't necessarily healthy and I know low carb isn't either. I have just been trying to eat my daily requirements of fruit, and veg and if I am craving something I do a low calorie version. My fave?

Grilled cheese Hungry Girl style.
2 slices low carb no sugar bread (who stone ground wheat or 12 grain is good, just make sure its smaller, not those gigantic pieces!)
1 Tablespoon Brummel and Brown spread
1 piece fat free cheddar cheese
1 laughing cow light spreadable cheese. (I like bleu cheese flavor, but I love stinky food cheese)

put one half of the Brummel and brown on one slice of bread and place on hot skillet. place cheddar on bread in skillet..
Now spread the Laughing Cow Cheese on the other slice, put in n the bread in the skillet.
Use the other hald tablespoon of Brummel and brown to spread on the back of the bread slice.
Wait about a minute (med low heat) and flip, cook other side for another minute, serve with tomato wedges! ok that's just me...
I can't believe I have made these over 10 times for me and the fiance and never took a picture. But other pictures of some of my diet food creations:
Turkey burger with baked center cut bacon and reduced fat cheddar and low carb Kaiser roll: Photobucket

Reduced fat vegan Caesar Dressing on Romaine with Turkey Bacon
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Stuffed Green Peppers with 90% lean ground beef, and low fat part skim mozzarella string cheese Photobucket


And breakfast oatmeal with flax, toasted wheat germ, sliced apples, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and splenda: Photobucket

Hungry? me too!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Autumn= time for comfort food!

So Autumn to me means its time to whip out my slow cooker and make some rib sticking chili, stew, and utilize those squash before winter is upon us and fruit is a thing of the past (sigh)

So I don't know about you but the idea of throwing together some things in a pot, leaving it on, and coming home to a house smelling like food is my idea of a good day.

I know a lot of people never leave their crock pots unattended, personally I just throw it on the stove and plug it into a surge protector and the house hasn't burned down yet *knock on wood*  But even so, a lot of crock pot recipes are the types that you can come home, turn on the crockpot, and then go do whatever for 4 hours and come home et voila! dinner is DONE mang.

So in celebration of the season of the crock pot I am listing a bunch of MY personal favorite recipes, in hopes that you will enjoy them.

Crock Pot Autumn Roast so easy it should be criminal.  This fills the kitchen with SUCH wonderful smells.  I have tried many roasts and darn it all those southern woman know their meat!

Chalupas Not taco bell! I omit the green chilis (personal taste) and use low carb tortillas to wrap these up.  They are excellent as a leftovers on Taco Salad.  Serve with peach salsa if you can find it.

Pumpkin Soup My Nana was southern and raised me,  Thus we ate pumpkin, A LOT.  It didn't help that at one point we had pumpkins hanging from our pine trees in the vegetable garden.  This recipe is SO GOOD, coating the pumpkin in butter (I use Brummel and Brown) and cooking for an hour is well worth it.  I also use vegetable better than bouillon to make stock, and use center cut bacon.  SO GOOD.

Crock Pot Corn Chowder     Diana Rattray KNOWS her recipes!  I have tried several of hers and found them tastier than even my beloved church recipe cookbooks that I collect!  These recipes are ones handed down from generations and hoestly you can taste the proof in the food. A fellow cookbook collector and self made culinary goddess her about.com recipes are truly unique and delicious!

Kielbasa Casserole   In Minnesota we call casserole "hot dish" everywhere else in the country they look at you as if you have lost your mind.  Never the less this hot dish is not only insanely simple, but I have use grated blanched sweet potatoes in lieu of frozen hash browns  to make this low glycemic.  Also I used cheddar soup mix halved with fat free sour cream for tasty results. Experiment!  This also tastes great with browned ground turkey or low fat ground beef.

So I hope you pull out and dust off those crock pots and let the savory smells waft through YOUR kitchen this Autumn!





















Monday, September 19, 2011

Who do you love?

There are many blogs I subscribe to that when they have new posts I do a happy dance.

You KNOW the feeling.  When your blog feed of choice shows you a new post and its like getting GOOD mail when its usually bills.

So without further ado, my blog heroines and heros:

Scrangie fellow animal lover and nail polish aficionado.  I have been following her for over a year.  Check her out, you won't be disappointed!!

Robin Moses  I admit I was late to the game on finding her site,  But now I make it my Monday, Wednesday, Friday stress relief.  Not only is her art inspiring but she and her clients are HILARIOUS, you owe it to yourself to check her out.

Miss 80Millions  this Canadian nail blogger never ceases to amaze me with her creativity.  Her youtube tutorials are easy to follow, designs are easy but chic and are in steps so that you can stop at simple, or go elaborate. 

I have two swatch homies that never cease to amaze me with the beauty and precision in which they apply color!

Enamel Girl  has picture perfect nails, and lots of swatches.  I may be a tad jealous.

Lextard  I started stalking her on her Flickr feed.  Everytime I wanted to know what a nail enamel looked like I.R.L.  She usually had it.  (that britch!  LOL)  Her application is always smooth and flawless.

Loodie Loodie Loodie  She is the Mr.Science of the nail care world.  All the questions and bad habits you had with your nails she answers in a totally hilarious and down to earth way.  And it doesn't hurt that she loves good food, just like me!

Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss  this lady is the mother I wish I'd had!  Teal hair, rocking eye makeup, long natural claws.  She is funny, sweet, and a font of knowledge.  A blog I cherish.

So I bet you wonder WHY you don't see your blog here.  Its not that I don't follow or don't love it, I am just doing a longest subscriptions first!

Check out these awesome blogs and tell me what you think!

KJ




















Saturday, September 17, 2011

Blingernails Give away!

So I am late to learn about this give away. The winner gets three polishes from pIcture pOlish (Awesome Aussie Brand, but again everything Aussie is awesome) To enter go here: http://www.blingernails.com/2011/08/picture-polish-giveaway.html

Some deets from Blingernails:

"pIcture pOlish is hosting a giveaway to win THREE polishes of your choice from their own range (this doesn't include the Ozotic brand).  They have a fantastic choice of shades to choose from"

pIcture pOlish is located here: http://www.picturepolish.com.au/  on the web to look at their beautiful colors.

Good luck to anyone else who enters!



Saturday, September 10, 2011

NOTD-Wet and Wild Franken

Hello readers of mass destruction. Today I have a manicure using a slightly frankened version of Wet and Wild "How I met your Magenta" with "9021 Orange" over it and OPI "OPI Red" for accent nail art. Nothing fancy to gussy up the WnW HIMYM, I just added 5 drops of China Glaze Strawberry Fields and 9 drops OPI "OPI Red" Then mixed the bejeebus out of it. I like how it turned out! Photobucket Photobucket The above is 2 coats WnW HIMYM Franken with 1 coat WnW 9021 Orange. I think it turned out nice! WnW has been surprising me with the quality of their polishes. I have 6 bottles of OPI in similar colors to WnW and have to say the WnW chips a LOT less and usually only starts on day three. (Which by then I am literally panting to change my manicure) The OPI on the other hand is usually chipping for me by the end of day one. Now to be fair I am HARD on my manicures. I have 4 cats, a tortoise, a turtle, a dog, and a fiance to take care of, my nails take a BEATING. A friend of mine suggested that I try gel polish, saying that I could still paint over the color as long as I used non acetone remover. However with the frequency in which I change my nail color, it seemed like a waste of time to me. HOWEVER, when I go out of town for 7 days in October I am SERIOUSLY considering getting a gel manicure in a neutral color so that I don't have to mess around with lugging polish. I am doing wedding coordinating, hair, nails, and makeup for the Bride and her entire Bridal Party. So needless to say a 7 day french manicure might be just what I need so I don't obsess over chipped nails. Then I could do a review! LOL Ah the depths to justify a nail care purchase. I need to go out and buy some more Acetone, however I was in the Emergency room all last night for a terrible migraine. They tried Toradol and Benadryl and it didn't help. So they gave me Thorazine. MAN. I instantly felt like I lowered my IQ by 20 points. Its lingering too. Then my O2 stats kept falling below 90 so they hooked me up to O2. And it was cold as a meat locker in the room. I had a minor panic attack once the doctor saw me and was in the middle of putting on my shoes and clothes and leaving (for some odd reason I had this foreboding that I was going to have a bad reaction to the IV meds, and I did) but one of the nurses who knows my sister in law came in and talked to me and got me to relax. I told him about my weird fear and anxiety (which is NOT normal for me at all) and he said if I felt like that again to tell him right away and he would walk with me around the floor, that maybe I just had nervous energy or my back may be n a bad position and be irritating my nerves. He was wonderful. So Today I am resting in bed, Doctor AND Fiance orders. Hope you are well! KJ

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Who do you love? Right now.

So I posted before about how much I love certain brands of things. But there are lots of things that I am loving right now that have nothing to do with polish (I know...WEIRD)

Well. I have had time to use, and use and use and I wanted to post an updated WHAT I LOVE, now.

1. Nail Magic Base coat therapy. Available at Sally Beauty, I am on my second bottle and am going to be going back for a third. It has replaced CND Stickey and Instant Artificial's as my Holy Grail of Nail Bases. You do need to apply two coats so that your polish does not stain (If you are like me and wear dark China Glaze, Sinful Colors, and LA Colors)I love it so much I am going to be buying some for my Nana.

2. Blue Cross Cuticle Remover. Also Sally Beauty staple. I use this on my dry feet, Chris' cuticles, and oh yeah, to remove cuticles from my nails.

3.Olive Oil in an empty nail polish bottle. I actually BOUGHT a sterile nail polish bottle and put in some organic extra virgin olive oil with just a few drops of Evening primrose and vitamin e. Every time I think about it I swab it onto my cuticles (And my fiance' cuticles) and let it soak in. I use to have hangnails lke cray cray, but now not the case!.

4. Poshe Top Coat. Yes I know the old Poshe was supposedly better, and something about the new Posche people don't like. But you know what? This top coat dries like instantly and keeps my mani fresh for three days with no chipping. I don't care if it is made from the tears of lonely puppies, it works. ( I actually would care about the puppies, I love puppies, and kittens, and all baby animals.)

5. Suave Naturals Rosemary Mint Conditioner. I have used this conditioner three bottles now. My fiance Chris loves it, I love it. It doesn't weigh down the hair, rinses clean but leaves hair soft but not coated. Plus the smell is rad.

6. Wicked Scentuals (Etsy) Liquid Blue soap. This soap is so complex...like old skool blue Coast, and vanilla, and awesome. We have almost used up our sample bar and are going to buy a pound. It is cleansing but doesn't strip the skin, is a perfect face wash for me. And the scent lasts for a long time without being overwhelming. I actually caught a kid sniffing me in the grocery store and when i looked at him he says "You smell like happy" LOL.

7. My old retainer. YES I said retainer. My teeth are actually floating again and I called my orthodontist and he said "start wearing your retainer at night again" its been freaking 10 years since I wore that thing! But here I am once again wearing it. My Dentist does not cover orthodontia but my old Ortho said if I came back to MN to bring it and he would adjust it or replace it for free so my teeth would stay straight. Wearing it keeps me from grinding my teeth in my sleep too.

8. Laughing Cow Light spreadable cheese. This is the shiznit. 50 calories, 2 grams of fat, add a slice of fat free cheese and low carb bread and a tablespoon of low fat buttery spread and you have a decadent grilled cheese that is 1/8 the calories and fat of a normal grilled cheese.

9. Brummel and Brown Yogurt and Butter spread. Tastes just like butter, 65% less fat, grills up awesome, you can bake with it, perfect on a piece of toast.

10. Straight Leg Lunges. OK yeah, actually I HATE these. But I make myself do 90 a day on top of my plie squats, normal squats, Horse stance squats, and Russian Twists abs. Adding in the other weight and resistance stuff I do while watching netflix I am finally starting to loose thigh, and gain muscle. WIN.

So what are you loving right now?

KJ