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Friday, July 27, 2012

Topless & Barefoot + Camera

Whoa. Risque title, right?

Those are the real names of my nail polishes this week. I swear.

Both Essie. Camera is the pink on the left, and Topless & Barefoot is the beige on the right. 

Ingrid and I have been coveting Topless & Barefoot on Pinterest for months. We were discussing it a few weeks ago and I mentioned that it was a discontinued color and we would probably have to get it on Amazon or eBay. She immediately found it and hooked me up with it. She's the best.

Once we got it and put it on we found out that we don't have the same skin tone as the girl in the pin (click on the link above) and it doesn't look as amazing on us (but still amazing, because, you know, it's us).

It actually didn't hold up too well and I had some chips at the edges. I decided to get out the tape and do a French mani with Camera while watching the Opening Ceremonies (I love the Olympics). It's a not-quite-neon pink that I like a lot. That index finger was a mishap with the tape. Apparently it was too sticky and it pulled the base color off. I figured it looked fine like this. I like it.

So there you go. Nail Polish Picks OTW: Topless & Barefoot + Camera.

What colors are you wearing this week?
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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Deliciousness: Cauliflower Style

You've seen this pinned, right? The Paleo approach to pizza is using a cauliflower (btw, in the last 24 hours I have become and expert in spelling cauliflower. I had no idea, or use for it before.) pizza crust. I heard about it a year or so ago from a girl I was friends with on Facebook, but she doesn't really look like someone who actually enjoys food, so I kind of ignored her. 

I've made low carb pizza before, and we enjoyed it, so I thought I might as well try the cauliflower recipe.

I decided yesterday that I was going to go for it. I like vegetables, but cauliflower isn't usually up on my list. I've actually never bought it before. I like broccoli, and well, just about every other vegetable (except peppers) but never cauliflower. I don't really even know why. It doesn't have a distinct taste or anything. So yeah, I had to search for cauliflower because it wasn't on my route of regular produce stops.

I found this post from Everything Tasty from My Kitchen on how to make the crust.

This is the recipe directly from the above posted link.

Makes one 9-10" pizza
Inspired recipe from Your Lighter Side

Ingredients for crust
  • 1/2 head of a large cauliflower (this will shrink to about 2+ cups after cooked) 
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Pizza Toppings
  • Pizza sauce
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese, or cheeses of your choice
  • Favorite pizza toppings  
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  1. Break the cauliflower into floret's and use a food processor or cheese grater to shred the cauliflower into little bits. It takes about 10-12 pulses in the food processor to get the right consistency, being careful not to over process and make a puree. Transfer to a large bowl and cook in the microwave, uncovered, for 8 minutes on high heat. It is not necessary to add water, the cauliflower will steam on it's own.
  2. Let the cauliflower cool slightly and mix in all remaining crust ingredients. Spray a pizza pan or sheet pan with non-stick spray liberally and spread out the mixture. Go for a pretty thin pizza, this will ensure crispiness. Spray the top lightly with cooking spray. 
  3. Place the crust in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. It will get crispy and dark in many areas. Important tip: before you top the crust with toppings, be sure to take a large spatula and very gently loosen the bottom of the crust from the pan. This will prevent it from sticking as you cook it further. 
  4. Top the crust with your favorite toppings and bake until cheese is melted, about 10-15 minutes, and turn on the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp the top to your liking. 



The following photos are mine that I took last night.

This is after the crust pre-baked. I would suggest baking it a bit longer. In my oven I would probably go for 25-30 min, its entirely up to you though. This was still fairly mushy, and I really wanted it to be crispier.
 Joshua doesn't care for Margherita Pizza, so I decided to make one while he was at work as a tester. I knew I had tomatoes, but forgot that I didn't have many red, so I used the orange tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil.
 Before baking.
 After baking I decided I wanted it more done, so I put it under the broiler for about five minutes.
And it was much better. I can't believe I'm going to say this, because I swore I never would, but I think I used too much cheese. Dare I say it was tooooo cheeeesy??? No. Just no.

However, I did put too much cheese in the center, and it was pretty soggy. I had to eat it with a fork, which is no big deal, because I probably would have anyway. Next time (later this afternoon) I make one I will try harder to get the crust crispy.
Absolutely delish. I was very skeptical with this one. Everyone who posted it though said it was delish, and now I'm on the bandwagon. I'm a big fan. Now I just need a better food processor.

 In other news, there has been a food stealing epidemic at work.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Cake Batter Protein Shake

Last night Ingrid told me about this protein shake that she saw on Pinterest that was absolutely amazing, so I got out my shopping list and added the ingredients.

I quit caffeine last week (has it been two?) and I almost feel like a smoker. You know how they will chew gum, mints, whatever so that they don't smoke? I'm constantly looking for caffeine free things to drink. I'm driving myself crazy. I have however mastered the Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade at home, and then I had this cake batter protein shake for breakfast. Wonderful. (I still miss my coffee.)

So as I said, this recipe was found via Pinterest, but this is the blog it came from.

Recipe copied from the blog. My comments below.
Source
 

Put everything into a blender and blend until creamy consistency is reached! Top with sprinkles if desired, and Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Low fat cottage cheese 
1 Scoop vanilla protein powder 
3-5 Drops butter or almond extract
1 tbs Vanilla sugar free instant pudding mix OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extractanilla sugar free instant pudding mix OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 Stevia packets (or sweetener of choice to taste)
1/2 cup-1cup Water (Alter this according to desired consistency)
5-10 Ice Cubes (Depending on how thick you like it, use less for a thinner consistency)
Optional: 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 

Sprinkles for topping!





I just made this, and it is absolutely heavenly. 

Here is a bit of back story on me. I haven't ever been a huge fan of sweets until the past five years or so. I'm pretty much a chip kind of girl. In the past if I would get a sweets craving I would only need a bite or so to satisfy. Sometimes I will still get a stomachache if I have too much too quickly. (It's embarrassing, I know). So while I found this shake to be a bit sweet, I have a feeling that Joshua and most of you would love it. I love it, I just need to drink it slower. (Rolling my eyes at myself right now). 

I bought the cheapest protein powder I could find at Meijer. It is the Body Fortress brand, and cost about $15.00. Joshua only uses chocolate protein powder, and this obviously would have been much more convenient if he used vanilla. 

I messed up on the pudding when I was at the store. 

Lets talk about that for a minute. I'm sure you've heard about the storms that went through Indiana, Ohio, Virgina, and other states on Friday leading the subsequent black outs. I want you all to know what an awful effect this has had on me. 

The Dirty Walmart got hit, y'all. Yes. Y'all.

They lost their power, and as of last night it still wasn't on. All the employees were standing out in the parking lot picking their noses (that was from Ingrid, not me) and it has completely disrupted MY LIFE. Think of me people. This is exactly like when Ingrid broke her foot and I had to suffer for that. No one ever thinks of the other person. 

So anyway, I had to shop at Meijer. (I simply couldn't go to the other Walmart. I simply couldn't.) I'm not a Meijer fan. The people there are weird, like way worse than the Walmart people. They're weird with money. The people at Walmart can't help it. 

So anyway, while I was looking for the pudding I needed I just grabbed the first vanilla I saw and when I went to make the shake this morning I realized I didn't get instant. I was off my game last night. I used the plain old fashioned mix though and it tasted fine. So don't worry if you happen to be dislocated at a store that isn't your normal one, and buy the wrong mix. Everything will be fine. 

So yeah, make that, drink it, and love it. You're welcome. 
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