At Home Spa Night

This evening I had the pleasure of taking some time for myself and having an at home spa night! We have a very busy next six weeks, so I decided tonight was the perfect night to take a life break, and have some "me" time after I got off work!

My first stop after work tonight was Lush Cosmetics. If you have not been to a Lush store... You need to go immediately. It's amazing.

To start my spa evening....

I grabbed some candles and lit them for a little relaxing ambiance. 

And then Lexi Lou thought she was going to get in the bath with me. She was so sad when I told her she couldn't get in.

I washed my face with my Simple sensitive skin face wash. 

I have been wanting to try one of Lush's fresh face masks for a while now, so tonight I decided it was time to try it out! After I did my face wash, I applied the mask. This one has bananas, vanilla, ground almonds, and oatmeal for sensitive skin. It smells so delicious, you just want to eat it! Lexi tried to lick my face multiple times before I finally kicked her out of the bathroom.

The nice thing about these masks is that you keep them in the refrigerator, and you get 4-6 uses out of one little jar. The downside is you have to use them within about a week because they are made out of edible ingredients. No parabens or chemicals found here! After the mask was finished, I washed it off with a warm washcloth, and applied moisturizer.

You can't have a good bath without a cup of tea or glass of wine. Tonight I tried Republic of Tea's cardamon cinnamon tea that I received in their monthly newsletter in the mail. Not my favorite of the 4 teas I've tried thus far, but it was good! I would add some lemon or orange slices in it next time to take down the strength of the cinnamon.

These are the bath bombs. They are ginormous and full of surprises! 

Into the bath it went. This one is the Lord of Misrule bath bomb. It is very similar to the Twilight bath bomb as well. The scents are similar and leave your body smelling absolutely di-vine!

This one surprised me, and it started fizzing like war head candies! It was fun to watch. First it was green...

Then it started fizzing pink!

This is what it looked like when I hopped in, I wasn't expecting it to be bubbly either! 

After this I dimmed the lights, and soaked in the tub until I became a prune! It was a lovely night in, with a quiet house. What kinds of things do you like to do on your pamper evening? 

With Love, 

-A

Thanksgiving

The weather is FINALLY cold! But, every store I have went into this week is already playing Christmas music. Apparently Thanksgiving is forgotten this year and we've moved straight to Christmas time. I am not okay with this, I love Thanksgiving! 

The husband and I started a little tradition of our own three Thanksgiving's ago of bringing pumpkin cake rolls to his families get together. They are always a huge hit, and we come home with hardly any leftover! 

Without further ado... Here is what I plan to make this year for Thanksgiving! 

Pumpkin Cake Rolls

Photo courtesy of Taste of Home

Ina Garten's herb & apple stuffing

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Healthy Green Bean Casserole 

Photo Courtesy of Crunchy, Creamy, Sweet

I cannot wait to make the turkey pot pies I made last year out of our leftovers. They were SO delicious!

I hope you enjoy these recipes, my mouth is drooling just thinking about all the yumminess about to take place in a few short weeks! 

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving from my house to yours!

-A

Weekly Meal Plan #1

I thought I would switch it up a bit this week and share with you what we are making for meals this week at our house! I have to admit, I haven't been in the mood lately to make anything that takes awhile to cook. It may have something to do with having company staying with us this month, and our house is a disaster zone! Literally. 

So, this week I decided that instead of focusing on cooking dinner about every other night, I would try to do multiple meals in the crock pot to save me time, and dishes. Here's what we are having! 

Meatball Subs 

Chili, and Chili Dogs per husbands request.

Beef Stew! Mmm... A favorite of mine. Recipe coming soon! I created my own this time and it turned out wonderfully! Can't wait to share it with you.

Lemon Chicken with herb potatoes & zucchini.

Chicken Salads for lunches that I pre-make into individual dishes so all we have to do is grab and be on our way to work in the afternoons. I use the leftover lemon chicken breasts from the previous day, it makes an excellent flavor addition to the salads!

The plus side to all of these meals is that they last for days in our house. Another plus, all of these freeze fantastically. So, if it has made too much, I just individually portion them and stick them in the freezer! 

I hope this gives you some good ideas for easy go to meals for your busy weeks! 

-A

Meatball Sub Sandwiches

Currently: Listening to Clair de Lune (Extended)

Ah, the piano. So relaxing. Especially this song, it makes me want to wander through a field and pick fresh flowers in the summer, while overlooking Tuscany. A girl can dream, right? 

Anyhow! Today is all about the meatball subs I made yesterday morning in my crock pot. My husband LOVES meatball subs. Every time we go to Larry's Giant Subs, he almost always gets one. I decided they couldn't be that hard to make. In fact, I used one of my previous recipes for the meatballs which you can find here. Grab your ingredients, and lets get to it! 

You'll need: 

1lb of ground turkey

1lb mild sausage, I used Jimmy Dean

Salt & Pepper

2-3 small-medium sized garlic cloves

Half a handful each fresh parsley & fresh basil

One egg

About 1/4 cup of bread crumbs or less 

Optional: A pinch of red pepper flakes 

1 jar organic marinara sauce 

Provolone cheese slices

Hoagie buns 

Parmesan Cheese

Now, I did not take photos of this, it was early in the morning when I put these in the crock pot and I did not remember to grab my camera. I did Instagram a few photos however. 

Start by throwing all your meatball ingredients into a bowl, and mixing them together well, but not overworking the meat. (See previous meatball post for full details) Use your hands for this step, it works best! Then, form into the size of meatballs you want for your sandwich. 

Heat a skillet with a small amount of oil, whichever kind you prefer. You want the pan to be pretty hot, I'd say about medium high heat. Then, brown your meatballs on all sides, but making sure not to cook too long. They should be in the pan about a total of 3 minutes to brown all sides,you don't want your meatballs to be hard! This also prevents them from sticking together in the crock pot and falling apart. 

Once your meatballs are browned, throw them in the crock pot with the jar of marinara sauce. Cook on medium heat 6-7 hours, or high heat for about 4-5 hours or until your meatballs are completely done in the middle. You don't want to overcook them, so make sure you stir and check on them every few hours. 

Next, the best part. Assembling the sandwich! Cut your hoagie bun, but not all the way through. Put as many meatballs as your heart desires, and add a slice of Provolone cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Now go eat that sandwich, now! It is worth every calorie!

Alternative: If you do not want to do these in the crock pot, you certainly can bake your meatballs, and top with marinara sauce. You could also brown the meatballs, and throw in the sauce and cook on the stove top in a large pan until the meatballs are cooked through.

I hope you enjoy these, my husband and I sure did! Comment below if you tried these. 

With Love, A

Homemade Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Hello.

It's been awhile, I know. The month of October has been absolutely CRAZY. I will admit as well, I have had little motivation to do any sort of cooking. In fact, we have only done two regular grocery shopping trips this last month due to life being 1001 places everyday. This is amazing to me, because I usually try to go to the store at least once a week so we always have things to eat at the house, and to help save money. This month was the exception.

I did however, have a little time to create a new recipe! We were craving stuffed peppers, so I buzzed around on Pinterest to find a recipe I thought we would like, but I couldn't find one. So, I got creative and just threw a bunch of things together and it turned out really well! So today, I thought I would share my success with you all.

This recipe is perfect to make a large amount of, and put in the freezer and save for a later date. I love these kinds of meals, and am delighted when I find them! Without further ado, grab your skillets and lets get cooking!

Homemade Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Note: All of these measurements are approximate. I just threw in what I had in my fridge and freezer to make these, adjust to your liking!

1 cup Rotisserie Chicken, diced or shredded
1/2 onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 can organic fire roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
3/4-1 cup cooked rice, any kind
4 bell peppers, seeded and chopped in half
Chili powder & cumin to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro for topping
Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese for topping
Olive Oil for sauteing 

Second note- Ignore my pans, they are on their last leg, or handle? Anyways, its time to upgrade and I haven't found the perfect set I'm in love with yet. I would use my cast iron, but it is due for a seasoning, so it is out of commission until I find time to do it!

Throw some olive oil, your chopped onion and jalapeno in a pan. Saute for a few minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Sweat out those veggies!

Next, throw in your fire roasted tomatoes. You want some juice as well.

Stir in some corn. I used frozen kernels, but you can use canned if you prefer as well. Let those get all warmed up in your pan.

Add the rice. Yum!

Next, I added some chili powder and cumin to the mix. I just sprinkled it in around the pan. Make sure to give your concoction a taste during this step to make sure your seasonings are to your liking.

Add the chicken, and your ready to stuff those peppers!

Stuff your peppers with your mix. Yes, I'm cooking these in a pie pan. My large pan I usually cook in was in the dishwasher. Story of my life lately, nothing I need is clean when I need it!

Bake your peppers for 10-15 minutes covered with foil at 350.

Pull them out of the oven, and add some cilantro.

Then smother them with cheese! Put them back in the oven, uncovered for 15 minutes.

And...Voila! Your stuffed peppers are ready to enjoy! Let them cool for a few minutes before biting into them, these babies will be very, very hot! A suggestion for what to pair with the peppers: baked potatoes, french rolls, or a crispy baguette or crostini with your favorite toppings. 

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you try these, I'd love to hear what you all think! 

-A