Welcome to fall and some Pumpkin Poppers!

OK, so I've been out of the loop for a little while now, but since things with my life are starting to calm down and fall is my absolute favorite season, I figured now would be a great time to post my most recent  pin.... Pumpkin Poppers!  Yes, a bite of pumpkin goodness! The recipe came from a blog called Just the Little Things, click here for the recipe.

I had everything needed on hand except the Allspice, but I attempted to used Pumpkin Pie spice instead. So I made the little poppers exactly as the recipe called for, again except for the allspice.  Here is my original finished product....  (sorry,  I'm no food photographer!)  

 

They tasted delicious, however I didn't feel as though I could taste a whole lot of pumpkin and with how much cinnamon and sugar were coating them, I more felt like I was eating, well a mouth full of cinnamon and sugar... It's kinda like dipping them in the butter made them expand as well.

So I had a small amount of the batter left, enough to make 6 more poppers.  This time, with the cinnamon/sugar mixture,  I used less cinnamon and added pumpkin pie spice.  When they came out of the oven I only dipped the top half of it in the butter and cinnamon/sugar mix.  Here is the second finished product.

All in all I think this is a fun, tasty recipe and very easy to make.  I do enjoy my version a little better, again I personally can go without as much of the sugar mixture! And of course, next time I will make sure I have Allspice on hand!

Enjoy!

Shoo Fly Shoo

I had come across a pin that was a homemade wasp trap. Actually a couple of pins. I can't find the exact one but in the comments I read about how to deter flies. Living in an area with horses and other barn animals my neighbors love to have, my fly problems get crazy. I had not tried this around my house. (not from lack of trying) I have the easy contraption laying on my barbecue but did not figure out where to hang it around my sliding door area. Then I just got lazy and gave up.
Over the last holiday weekend the family had the annual camping trip and being that the campground resort is a couple of miles from a cattle farm, the flies were obnoxious. So I brought up this little idea I had read and we decided, why not? It doesn't hurt to try it. Next thing I knew it, the contraptions were brought out and being hung by the camper with care. 

1 sandwich Ziploc bag
1 shiny penny
Water
Something to hang it

Place penny in bag, add water, about halfway, and hang in the desired area to deter the flies. Here is the picture.

You can see duct taped to the awning was the bag with the sparkly penny. lol. Two were placed on each side of the awning.

Now the question is; did it work? I am not completely sure. It seemed to work that there was less flies under that awning than the one we were sitting under facing it. The flies also seemed to accumulate at the tables in between us but under that awning it seemed those pesky little buggers were not wanting to go under. Coincidence or was it working? I would like to think so. We did it the next day on the other awning and there seemed to be flies but not as much. Again, was it working? Hmmmmm. I would say maybe.

I guess the best way to test this little trick out is at my back door and really see how the flies react. This will have to be tested next summer as our weather is cooling off enough that the flies have diminished to one or two by the door other than 20 or 30. Why not test again when really it is a pretty cheap way to deter the flies. Looks silly but who cares. :)

I also read this can help deter wasps as well. I don't know about that one either but 2 for the price of one, I say go for it.

I also noticed some campers were using electric fans and had them blowing to get rid of flies. Yes, we were fancy camping with hook ups so electricity was available.

Ooooo Jalapeno Poppers with BACON

While perusing Pinterest, I came across this wonderful picture of the infamous Jalapeno Popper that had bacon and using crescent roll dough for the shell. Ooooooo this looked so good. I tried them immediately. Here is the link to the original recipe on the blog Hellohue http://www.hellohue.com/2011/01/pop-em-like-theyre-hot.html.

Now, I had the crescent rolls dough, cream cheese and uncooked bacon in the fridge but no fresh jalapenos and I did not want to go to the store. I know, lazy but dammit the store is annoying and we all can admit that we try to avoid it as much as possible for one small item. Plus, I just don't come home with that one item. It is usually a few more goodies I see and have to have.

OK back to the subject, I had jarred Jalapenos in the fridge too. They are a little spicy but I thought why not. I also had the pre-cooked bacon that you can just heat up in the microwave. (I kind of suck at cooking bacon for some reason) I am set to try this out my way.

 I rolled out my crescent roll dough out and looked at it. Those triangles suck and are awkward. To make four triangles out of two just seemed hard to pinch together to make the poppers. (I tried and failed) How the hell did she manage to do it; I thought to myself and sat there staring at the pesky triangles. I then had this idea, I decided to just pinch the two triangle dough pieces together and I got the rectangle to cut into 6 squares. One cut down the middle, length wise and two from top to bottom. Well, this seems easier. I cut up my bacon into chopped pieces and began to create these gems. Here are pics of the process.

Above you can see where I had pinched the crescent roll triangles together and my cuts. I then added the cream cheese, jalapeno, and bacon.

Then I took each corner and pulled up to the center and pinched together.

I pinched the seamed together as well.

I placed them on the cookie sheet about and 3/4 to an inch apart. I then followed the time and temperature for the crescent rolls to cook in the oven. That is 350 between 10-15 minutes but I go about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

This is what they look like finished. They were a huge success and warning: very addicting. You just can't have one. My first batch I think I ate all but 5 of them. I had to make myself stop.

I would love to try it with the fresh ingredients and someday I will. But for now I will go for the jarred jalapenos and pre-cooked bacon. Quick, easy and a great appetizer for a party. They will go quick, so make a lot.

Costa Rica: Let me take you on a trip

Need to write about a beautiful place I had gone to. Costa Rica is one of the most wonderful places to see and visit. We had stayed on the pacific side of the country in an area known as Manuel Antonio. This is located south of Quepos which is a small town famous for its fishing excursions.

To start out, we had our long journey with the plane trip. We had landed in San Jose, Costa Rica mid afternoon and were ready to find our rental car. This airport is not big nor small and pretty easy to get around. Of course our first stop was the Duty Free store to pick up our alcohol we would be consuming during the week. Good ol' bottle of Sailor Jerry's was pretty cheap. What can I say; I was on vacation and drinks were planned to be flowing.

We got our luggage, made it through customs and headed to get the rental car. We had to drive 3 hours ahead of us to get to our destination which would have been cut down by an hour if we could have gotten on that wonderful new freeway. That is for the next paragraph. We got into the shuttle to the rental place and I am noticing all the bobbed wire along the tops of fences of houses and buildings. It was a little nerve racking at first but eventually I found myself pretty comfortable with the beautiful surroundings. We all loaded into our little SUV with our GPS and off we go. Now thank god our friend was not scared to drive here. He just took the bull by the horns and went for it. As we all laughed, we assumed the driving would be crazy. It was not bad at all. A little pushy is all, not like there were no laws on the roadways. Everyone seemed to go pretty smoothly.

We start out following the GPS and the crazy lady's voice on that device trying to tell us to get onto the freeway. UH, no! No on ramp! What the hell? We drive down the road which became a dirt road and come across some kids on little motorcycles and rifles slung to their backs. We drive by them in awe and try to convince ourselves they were probably out shooting iguana's or something, not a big deal. At least that is what kept me from freaking out. You just don't see that much in the states. We are in a foreign land we know nothing about except from what we read in our tour book. "It's an advneture" is what we kept saying and that seemed to keep us laughing through this drive. We drive along and pull into a small town as we try to get ourselves situated with the GPS and her telling us over and over to turn right, (she is pushy) then finally we were able to turn right. Now we found a road that runs along the freeway and we keep trying to find an on ramp. The lady keeps telling us there is one and when we get to it, it is blocked off. We finally get to one that a cop was at. We could see that the traffic was going east towards San Jose in all lanes. The boys go and talk to the cop. Both not knowing any Spanish, this ended up with the cop whose English was not good either he gave us directions to who knows where. That is the thing about Costa Rican's, they don't like conflict with us foreigners so even if they don't know the right info they will tell you something. We knew this before we went and it was no surprise. So at one point looking at our map in our trusty tour book we found out we were on the old highway and to just keep going. We will reach our destination. This road was narrow and twisty but the beautiful scenery and views were amazing.

We drove along hillsides, down to the shoreline, through the palm trees that our palm oil comes from, passing little resort towns including the last one, Quepos. We drive up this really narrow twisty road into a thick rain forest environment with resorts on the cliff edges. We could barely see them through the lush tropical trees. Wow, this is beauty. We made it to the resort we were staying and it was amazing. Los Altos is the name of this resort. These are condos with 3 large rooms, 2 baths with the kitchen and living area. This place was around 2300 square feet. The balconies looked out over the pool, rain forest and ocean. The Bali style interiors were refreshing and clean. While here, my big mouth and my friends husbands big mouth had some how made acquaintance with the owner and his son. They had breakfast with us and were very charming people. The staff is amazing! They helped with every thing we needed with a big smile on there faces. Check the link out. Pretty sexy place let me tell you.

Through this trip we had plans for different things to do. The first thing was the beach. Awe the beach. We go down towards Manuel Antonio and park. We paid a couple of people for an umbrella and a couple of chairs as we all set ourselves to embark into the warm waters. I did nothing but body surf the whole day and would only come out to drink my rum and cokes. The nice thing about paying for the chairs, the lady would run and get us drinks when needed. Good times.

That night we headed into Quepos where we were told to eat at El Grande Escape' (I can't remember how to spell it). This is a lady who had moved to Costa Rica in the mid 80's from our home town. She use to run one of our most popular restaurants here and now she is a successful restaurant owner there. (small world, huh?) We were able to talk to her and get her story. What a great lady and her place is fantastic. She knows everyone who travels there on a frequent basis for the fishing. If you catch it she will have her chefs cook it for you. We ate there twice. This is when my drinking had started kicking in and I was able to understand Spanish but for some reason would answer in Italian. What? Yeah and I don't know squat in Italian but seemed to after a few cocktails and the waitress seemed to know what I was saying. Well, there are a lot of Europeans who go to Costa Rica for vacationing as well. 

The next day we went on our adventure to the rain forest for some zip lining. This was one of the best experience ever. We learned all about Costa Rica and it's agriculture, to the eco-system there. Then the zip line itself, woo wee. After floating through the rainforest canopy the company of our tour fed us a great lunch full of Costa Rican cuisine. The best!

We had a spa day with our package at the resort and took one day to indulge in that as we sat by the pool too. We have a friend who moved to Costa Rica a few years ago and he came to visit. This day was great relaxation.

On another day we took a guided hike through Manuel Antonio park. This is a preserved place of the rain forest and we saw many animals. From howler monkeys, sloths, boas, to bats and raccoons. We learned so much from our wonderful guide. She was so passionate and knowledgeable.

That same night we did the catamaran boat trip. This was a big boat full of people with drinks and dinner all included. We found some dolphins to play with along side the boat and followed along the coastline that we have been experiencing on land. There was a stop for a little snorkeling and then the sunset began. Gorgeous being out on the water with the orange ball sinking into the ocean waters.

By the last night we were not ready to leave. Just a few more days would have been perfect. Isn't that always the case on vacations.

With all of our excursions we were picked up by the shuttle and taken to our destinations and back as well. Our boat tour we were picked up in a cab and it was paid for by the resort to get us back. No worries about us driving anywhere. We only drove into town and to the park twice. That was it. So nice and easy. The resort had done all of the arrangements for every excursion. No stress until the drive back to San Jose.

Now, a word of warning, when you are told to just hit the home button on the GPS it should take you back to the rental car place. No. Not in our case. Check it to make sure it is the right route. We ended up where the picture below shows. Yes someones "home". After this anxiety ridden drive and being in a small town that I would no way get out of my car for directions, we ended up at this little home. What a view.

We did eventually make it back, and before dark. Barely. The rental car place deducted the GPS from our charges but we still got charged for being late. Oh well, all I cared about that I was in the hotel lobby. I can sleep to get ready for our long flights home.

Honestly, I will go back to Costa Rica anytime. Now that I know how to travel around there. It was one of the greatest experiences in a beautiful country. I can see why people move there and love it. The ex-patriots I had talked to have a great love of the country and have not looked back. Now mind you it is still a poor country and there was the notice of that but I met great people from the Costa Ricans to the transplants that live there. What a fun experience and I will say it again, beautiful. If you haven't put this place on your bucket list, you should.

Oh and the food was amazing! The coffee was a coffee I had never tasted and I didn't even need cream. Have the Costa Rican breakfast while you are there as well. Eggs with a rice and bean mixture, to die for. I ate it everyday and never got sick of it. Everything was crisp and fresh.
FYI-
There are times of the years that are best to go. January-June is high season. Around August-beginning of December the rain season is upon them. We experienced a taste of this rain and it makes our dessert monsoons look like trickles.
The money are Colon's and exchange is pretty good. Check before you go. Tipping is appreciated. Even though you are charged when you eat at restaurants for the tips which is somewhere in the tax or something, the waiters or waitresses may not see it depending on the business. So tipping them yourself is nice.

Los Altos link:
http://www.thepreserveatlosaltos.com/

If you have any other questions ask me in the comments below. I will try to answer the best I can. :)

Lint Balls

Yes I said it, "balls". Lol! I had seen this on a pin and I was thinking, "why in the hell didn't I think of that?" Oh well, it was someones genius idea and I loved it.

Lint balls~better known as the crap that accumulates in your dryer that you need to clean out at least every couple of loads. Plus, from time to time you need to check the exhaust tube going out the house to make sure this stuff has not stuck to the inside of it like a clogged artery. Thus making it a very dangerous hazard for a fire. Yeah, fire, people.

That is what I am sure what led to that smarty pant person to think, "hey, keep that lint and use lint balls to start a campfire or fire in the fireplace." Yes, I am assuming what would go through a persons head while coming up with these ideas. Any who, I did save lint from my dryer, made balls about the size of eggs and placed them in a egg carton for storage. They went to my camper (I use to tent camp but my spoiled ass is now in a camper, heehee) and was ready to go for the next camping trip.

This last weekend was the chance to try these little balls out. My friends laugh at me because I am a Pinterest obsessed freak and now I blog about it but they let me do what needed to be done for this blog experience. :) So there was already some paper plates from dinner in the fire pit and I grabbed a few sticks and bark and made a little bit of a mound. Then I took three small logs and stood them up like a tee pee over it. I placed three lint balls in separate areas of the spaces between the plates. I actually placed one under the bark just see what it would do without the plates. The balls were the only thing I lit and viola' they lit up. They seemed to burn long to allow the plates and bark to light up as the fire grew. It kind of had me thinking why they say to clean out your lint exhaust and tube. Woo wee the lint burns sloooooow. Not fast like a paper towel or Kleenex. So, that allowed the fire to get going and light up the small logs I had placed on there. Also the nice thing, we did not need the trusty, smoky, old pine needles help either. We had a great fire and easy to get going. YAY!

I wish I had got more pictures of the process but only this one of the balls in my carton. Plus, I had a few totties and didn't think about doing more. One task at a time for me at that point.

For any of you campers out there this was a great little idea. They hold well in cartons or in a baggie for that matter and are small to carry. They are light for backpackers to have as well. They would not take up much space in a pack at all.

Happy camping with happy fires. (in the fire pits of course) And don't burn in areas that are not permitted.

Link to original site:

http://www.intuitionphysician.com/how-does-my-garden-grow-and-tutorial-for-free-firepit-starters/

Ohhhhh the Baked Hard Boiled Eggs

Ok, so I tried this pin and was disappointed. I had been having issues lately of not being able peel our hard boiled eggs and thought I would try this out. It did not work for me. I tried it 5 times and each time the eggs would not cook all the way through. I did higher tempurature to longer times and it failed for me. Peeling them was even a bigger nightmare. I don't know if being at a higher altitude (we are at 5300') was the problem or I was not doing something right. I even took them out of the muffin tin and did it directly on the rack. Yeah, no go. Not saying that this does not work, just did not work for me. Try it yourself and come to your own conclusion. Link to these instructions are at the bottom of this post.

So I went back to my trusty old recipe and did adjustments for easier cooling and peeling. Here is the instructions for hard boiled eggs that peel much easier for me. 

Place pot of cold water on the stove
Add eggs, 1 tsp. salt and turn the heat up to high bringing to a boil
Boil eggs 2 to 3 minutes (3 minutes is what I found works for me)
Turn off heat and cover leaving pot on the stove for 11 minutes.
Take pot to sink and run cold water over it until the cold water is the temp in the pot. Let sit for a minute or two and then transfer to container and place in refridgerator.

To peel the eggs, I will crack them rolling them a bit and then peel under cold running water. The shell comes off easy this way. Now, I have not had to do this since I have found the cooking method above to work. I may have to start peeling under the water and then finish peeling without it. But for the most part it has been pretty affective without the running water trick.

Extra hint:
If doing deviled eggs, lay them on their sides 24 hours before boiling them. This will move the yolk to the center of the egg.

Here is the link to the Baked Hard Boiled Eggs:
http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/03/make-hard-boiled-eggs-in-the-oven/
Like I said, give it a try. It may work for you. For me; not so much. Let me know if it does work for you and what did you do to make it work. I am curious what the hell I did wrong or what it could be.

Pork Tenderloin~Yummy!!

I had a pork tenderloin in my freezer that needed to be cooked. I took it out and thawed it but was wondering what I wanted to do. Lately when I have cooked tenderloins they turn out great but need something else like a sauce (not because they are dry) just something more. Well, thats what I think and since I am the cook here in my home, I am a bit hard on myself on flavors and how the meal tastes. Everyone else seems to like what I cook and I am my worst critic. If I am not ooooo'ing and awing over it, the meal is not perfect. So I wanted a wow factor for my tenderloins.

I logged myself on the computer and pulled up Pinterest. I had not pinned on my own boards any tenderloin recipes so I searched for some. Most of the recipes were in the slow cooker or out on the grill. I didn't have time for the crock pot and it was a strange cold day in our area I didn't want to grill. There were a few oven recipes but just with the dry rubs, or stuffed, and not many sauces. So, I chose two of them and decided to combine the techniques and use the ingredients for my own version. It worked!!! It was sooooooooooooo good. Below is my recipe version and the links to the other recipes I created this with.

                                              Pork Tenderloin
2 pds. Pork Tenderloin (there are two 1 lbs. loins in one package)
2 Tbsp. Olive oil (or I just do a couple of swirls around the pan) 
Dry Rub:
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
Liquid Smoke
Note: I do not measure my seasonings in my rubs, I just sprinkle it on and rub in. So these measurements are estimates.

Sauce:
1/2 cp. Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cp. Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Soy (you can use low sodium as well)
1/4 cp. water
These are measured out.

Pre-heat oven to 425*
Take the silver skin off the tenderloins. The thin shiny membrane that reflects silver in light. This is that skin and you can either thinly cut it off or I have been able to pull it off too. I also will get most of the fat, if any off.
Heat skillet on stove on Medium Heat. Now, I don't have low, medium or high I have numbers from 1-9 and what I estimated is medium heat on my stove top is 5-7 this I put on 6. Add the olive oil and let it heat up.
Put the dry rub, dry ingredients on the tenderloins and then sprinkle the liquid smoke on and rub it all around the tenderloins. Place loins in skillet and brown the sides. This takes about 5-6 minutes turning the meat over in the pan on all sides to brown. In the mean time, mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. When all sides are a golden brown, place the skillet* with loins in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the sauce, pouring on top of loins to glaze them and it will pool in the skillet as well. Cook for another 5 minutes or when the temperature of the meat with a thermometer reads 155-160 (Medium). Take out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes on a cutting board. When finished cutting the meat, pour the sauce from the skillet on top of the slice pork tenderloins and serve.

*Note: the skillet shouldbe one that can go into the oven with a metal handle not plastic coated or covering. If you don't have one, after browning you can put the loins into a 9 x 13 baking pan.

This is one of my favorites for a pork tenderloin yet. It will be a 5 star in my cache of recipes.

I made up my own dry rub and you can as well with what is in your spice cabinet. I just thought what would be good with the ingredients for the sauce. The sauce I used for this recipe is from the second recipe that is linked below. The flavors of the dry rub and the sauce tasted like it was grilled even though it was done in the oven.

Here are the links to the recipes I merged and varied into one:
http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2010/02/simple-pork-tenderloin.html
http://www.happyclippings.com/2012/03/sweet-balsamic-glazed-pork-tenderloin-recipe.html

This one is really good!!!  This would be great in the slow cooker with my rub and it would be great grilled as well.

This was a quick meal as well. I did a side salad with the Pilsbury rolls. Yeah, I went a little naughty with the rolls but it was worth it. It maybe took me 45 minutes all together to get this on the table.

Hope you give it a try and love it as much as I did.

Let me know if you do try it and how it was.

Score for the wardrobe!!!!

So, I have been blogging a lot of the food recipes that I have repinned and I really wanted to do something different. This time I decided on my "Wardrobe" pinterest board was going to be attacked. As I repin the great wardrobe pins, I sit and wish my closet looked like my board. It would make my fashion needs easier. Plus to be able to afford much of these pins I have repinned with envy, made me want to find ways to get them without breaking my bank. I had my mission.

I went through my pins and found an outfit that I figured I could easily replicate. I printed it out and gathered my poor son on this mission. Do I think he would help me out; uh, No! He is 18 cares less and hates me dragging him along for the ride but with bribery for lunch he was on his way, trapped. I just wanted another body hanging out with me whether he vanished in the store or not. Of course he vanished to the bathroom and I am sure just hanging out on his phone to avoid most of the shopping torture I was about to put him on. I think it's an adventure, he thinks it is Chinese torture. Most guys would rather have their nails pulled out one by one, slowly, than shop with us women and my son is no exception.

Ok: I went off track there for a moment, back to the outfit. As I said before, I did not want to break the bank. Now, we have great low budget stores around town like Ross, Marshall's, and TJ Max, amongst others and I love them all. Who doesn't? But I really wanted to go as cheap as I could. Here is the surprise, I went to my local Goodwill store. Yes, a thrift store. Why not? You can find some pretty nice things there and what you buy goes towards their cause. Now, I will go through my closet and get rid of a bag full of clothes that I don't use every year or two that heads straight to them and then I turn around and shop there. Hee hee. I just need to make sure I don't pick up something that was mine in the first place. Wouldn't that be a hoot!! Anyways, my mission was laid out in front of me and I knew I may not find everything I wanted at the thrift store, that I might have to shop at my other stores of choice but I was going to try my best. I succeeded!!!! Here is the picture I had went by from the pin that I created my outfit.

Cute isn't it?? Now what I started out with was my own closet. I have jeans similar to these but not as straight legged. That's not a big deal. I have jewelry as well and I was not going to get the sunglasses. I have one pair that I wear all the time and I don't need to add more of those to another collection of stuff to my wardrobe as I may not wear them anyways. I do have a brown belt and other cute shoes that would make this outfit come together. This was a great start to my mission and can be your great start as well. Look in your own closet first before heading out the door.

Now, I printed this picture out to guide me through the process of finding what I needed. Once I got to the store, I knew I was not going to find the exact pieces I needed and I knew to look for the style. I started perusing the racks of tops, blazers (and let me tell you, thrift store blazers are old school boxy looking things) and even jeans just for giggles. First thing I found was the blazer (shocking considering my choices), then to the tops. I looked for a white one and no luck, so I kept looking and found a blouse that had the same shape as the one above. I moved to the purses and looked at the many choices I had, trying to keep with the look at the one above. I could go black or I could find something in the similar color. Well, color ones had few choices and then I see it, tan with black and a shape close to the one above. (oh and I will definitely use it often) Then against my own heebie jeebies, I wandered to the shoes. Yes I said it, "the shoes" in a thrift store. It usually grosses me out but I looked anyways. I figured I could swing by one of the other stores I mentioned above to find some cheap shoes that would come close to these but hey, why not look here at the thrift store first. I wandered up and down the racks and then "bam", a pair of shoes that would go well with the outfit I am creating. These shoes have never been worn and probably only tried on in the original store they were purchased. The soles were clean with no wear or tear and the insides had no impressions of feet ever being in them. They were my size and I can wipe the insides out with a Clorox wipe. That sound good to me. I pick them up and add them to my arm full of goodies. Standing in line at the check out,(which had a lot of people in line, I had time to run my eyes over the ends of the racks) I see a belt. I hand off my pile to my son as he stood there, clothes with purse in hand as I ran to grab it. Ah, it will fit, perfect. Ta-da I am done. I didn't need the belt but I love and will us them all the time. They are kind of like earrings to me, they add to any outfit.
Now for the tally of the clothes:
Blazer: $4.99
Blouse: $3.99
Purse: $4.99
Shoes: $9.99
Belt: $1.99
Equaling out to............$25.95
Yeah, that is a purchase!! I did it with a really small budget and actually not long time shopping either. I was in the store maybe 40 minutes because I had my handy-dandy print out of what I was looking for and this made it so much easier to shop.

Now for the reveal:

Like I said I had the jeans already. I don't skimp on my jeans and they are expensive but they last forever and fit me well. I had the jewelry and the hat but the rest is what I found at the thrift store. The blazer was a great find and so were the shoes and purse. I kept in my head to not look for exactly what was in the picture but to look for the style and start in my closet first. This was super fun and did not take a crazy day of shopping, plus keeping me on track with my purchase with having a picture in hand. This way I was not just aimlessly wandering the stores and their racks and getting random things when you get home don't create much for outfits. I can use each piece in other outfits and mix and match in my own wardrobe. I call this a SCORE!!!

To create your own visual wardrobe go to:
how2getthelook.polyvore.com
You can create the outfits like the first picture above, print it and head out the door with ammo. Be creative and keep in mind, you don't have to be exact just try to keep the style of the look.

Just to let you know

These pins I have done I will link to the original blogs or websites that are linked to the pins I have repinned. Did you get that sentence; because I am still wondering if I even got it. LOL. The titles to the subjects in my blog will be highlighted and underlined so you can click on them and be directed to the blogs or websites to make it easy for you to find them(ex: recipes, instructions and so on). Now if it is a pin I have to go to a link of a blog and they also have it where it is directed to the original source, I will direct to the original source. This way it is not a trek on the web for anyone viewing this blog to find the information. I will do the trekking for you. I will however link at the bottom of the page the blog I was directed to in the first place before my journey to the original. Some of these bloggers have great info of other subjects that I don't want to leave them out. The pictures I post on my blogs are the pictures I take of my own finished projects. There may be pictures of some of the original pins to show how I got to my finished product or to compare for learning experience, such as wardrobe and crafty/DIY projects.

Also, don't be afraid to comment. I will try to respond to as many of you as I can. I want to keep this an open and friendly area for anyone. So lets have fun.

Prosciutto, Asparagus and Parmesan Spaghetti

Sorry I have been a bit slow lately with my blogging. The weather warmed up and I have been busy with other errands/chores. I know no excuses buuuuuuuut key words "warm weather". I can't help myself to enjoy it with a mojito or two. ;)
I have been doing a few pins that has been sitting, waiting, anxiously on my boards on pinterest. I am still doing what I said I would do and do these little obsessions. I have just slacked on blogging about it.

So, for the next entry, I made a recipe called Prosciutto, Asparagus and Parmesan Spaghetti that I really loved. It was so yummy with the salty, prosciutto and then the asparagus and mushroom earthiness, I could eat the whole bowl if I had two empty legs to fill. Since my husband and I are trying to eat better, I had made this dish with a bit healthier ingredients.

I used whole grain pasta and instead of heavy cream, I used 2% milk. Now, using the milk instead of cream, made it a bit runny and did not thicken up so next time I might use a little bit less and see how that works. The prosciutto turns a weird color that I did not expect but still had great flavor. I loved how easy this was to make and how quick it was. I recommend trying it. It would make a great side dish or just a main dish. I used the left overs for a side dish to steak that I grilled and woo it was good. It reheats well in the microwave too. Next time I am going to try it with heavy cream just because I want to and see how the flavors change if any at all. But for now, it is a nice light meal with my changes for the healthier way I did it. Give this one a try with the naughty version (not that its a super naughty meal in the first place) or the little adjustments with a bit healthier rendition I did. Bon Appetite'! 

 Let me know how you liked yours.

Cruises are a great vacation

Hi y'all. I just got back from a great vacation on the Carnival Magic cruise ship. This ship ported out of Galveston, Texas so it would be only appropriate that everyone on the ship was majority Texans. I had somehow picked up some of their slang but since I have been back here on the west coast, it didn't take me long to get back to my old self. This was a great trip and met some of the best people who have become good friends. I truly suggest through your travels to talk to everyone. It makes for great times and new friendships. Who cares if you never see them face to face ever again, thankfully we have social media and high tech phones. You can stay in contact with all these new people in your life. Only if you want to stay in contact. So don't forget to get their info if you want to keep that connection going.

Anyways, I have been on 2 cruises so far. Both were fantastic and both were more than I had expected. The first one was a 5 day cruise and the second was a 7 day. I honestly could have stayed probably for 3 more days. I love the relaxing fun that is to be had on the ships.

I have only been on Carnival ships and they have not ever disappointed me. The age range is great, from kids to 60 something with and average of 20's - 50's. Everyone I talked to were friendly and fun. The few friends I made on the ships are fabulous! These are resorts on the water with everything a person could need or want. Food is great, drinks to be indulged (they do not skimp on the alcohol) and entertainment is everywhere any time on these ships. Comedy, to headliners, with a casino, and many bars to have fun. There a many different areas for children as well. Fun for any age on these ships.
 
One of the places I ported to: Ocho Rios, Jamaica (first cruise)

This port I will say, is not my favorite. I am not going to lie and say it was beautiful and fabulous. I was told to not even get off the boat here by other cruisers but I did because I wanted to experience Jamaica. Getting harassed by the locals was the worst but once you learn how to ignore or deal with them it is not to bad. It is a cultural experience here and I would say do an excursion if you want to experience Ocho Rios. I have been told the resorts are great here but I have not been so I cannot say.



Now for port on second cruise: Montego Bay, Jamaica (second cruise)

This port actually is very nice. You will need to take the bus taxi's into town if you want to go to a beach or shop. It costs $5 each way and they stuff you in like sardines but it is not a big deal. The town was cool to wander around and shop. We went into a shop that was owned by some people from India and had been in Jamaica for over 20 years. She said her and her husband vacationed there and fell in love with Jamaica. They made the decision to move there and have a business. (see, talk to everyone you can on your trips, you get some great stories and meet some interesting people). I can say if I go on another cruise and we port here, I will get off the boat and explore again. I never felt scared or uncomfortable at any point. Oh and if you get in the water, I warn you, it is very salty and I mean very salty.

The next port I had on both cruises: Grand Caymans

The Caymans surprised me on how flat it was. Like Florida flat. It is a port that you have to be transferred on boats. Kind of interesting for your first time but piece of cake the next time. On my first cruise I did an excursion called Snuba and I loved it. It actually made me want to scuba dive. So, I am going to learn to scuba dive. The second time I wanted to go to Seven Mile Beach. It was beautiful there for the 20 minutes we were there. It poured buckets of rain on us and we decided to go back to port and shop. Then we decided to get back on the ship. Let me tell you, the Caymans are really nice but being on the ship with very few people on it was fabulous.

The next and last stop of the second cruise was: Cozumel, Mexico

This port has so much shopping, bars and food. It is beautiful with the colors. This was the best people watching here in the shopping areas. Here is where we did an excursion. The twister jet boats to Isla Passion. I recommend this excursion if you want to be at speeds up to 65 mph and have sharp 180 degree turns and get soaked. It was such a great ride. I would do it again. Oh and once you get to your destination it is all inclusive for food and drinks/alcohol. Then you get back on those jet boats to head back.

The sister boats at the Cozumel port.

For anyone who has not been on a cruise I suggest it highly. It is fun, relaxing and you only have to unpack once. Talk to your fellow cruisers and make new friends, don't be shy. Not to mention all the food you can eat as well as your room being taken care of twice a day. The alcohol is not included but hey your on vacation and your not driving so I say indulge.

You are waited on hand and foot with all the service that is at your finger tips. The crew are great people and fun to get to know as well. So go ahead plan your cruise and remember to just shut off the real world while on the ship, it is worth every moment of relaxation.  

My first "official" re-pin!

OK, so with Kristin on vacation, I had decided to post my first re-pin as a craft item. I have made the Buttercup Bag by made by RAE. Her version consists of a pocket on the inside and decorative buttons on the outside. Mine, however, is very basic with no pocket and no decorations on the outside. I wanted to see if I could actually do the whole project all by myself (without the help of my sewing instructor)! And by golly, what do ya know... I DID IT!
I honestly made this cute little bag after work yesterday. Seriously, START to FINISH! I was and still am so proud of myself! It was fairly simple to make as well. The pattern is a free download from made by RAE. It uses just a fat quarter (plus a little extra for the lining). I didn't use a fat quarter, I just bought a half yard of the outer fabric, so I had some extra and the lining was just some remnants I had sitting around. Next time I will try it with a heavier fabric or put some fusible interfacing on it, especially in the handle. This was definitely a fun project and I'm excited to be able to share it with whoever is reading this! Until next time, happy pinning!

Hello to all!

My name is Amanda and I am an Obsessed Repinner as well! Who turned me on to this crazy site? One guess, my friend Kristin. I do blame her for my obsession to this amazing website! I too, find myself pinning as much as possible! I have already made multiple recipes I have found from the site in addition to some craft items. I am so excited that Kristin has invited me to join in on this blog. I will be publishing my first entry this weekend! I look forward to this journey with my friend!