Make Your Own "Nearly Naked"

I'm not sure about your household, but as of late mine has been addicted to Popcornopolis's Nearly Naked popcorn! I can't say enough good things about it. It tastes amazing, you can't beat the nutritional information and there are only 3 ingredients (that's it!). My kids LOVE it and it's a great snack on the go!

 After going through a bag a week for more weeks than I care to admit, it occurred to me that #1 we have a serious addiction and #2 the 3 ingredients inside this beautiful red bag already existed in my pantry. Now for some folks that might have been a "well duh" moment, but for others it's an "A-ha!" moment. I'm not ashamed to admit that it was an "A-ha!" moment for me! Because I'm a stay at home Mom on a serious budget and the lovely folks at Popcornopolis aren't paying me for this glowing endorsement.... I couldn't keep up this $6-a-bag addiction. Also, I grew up in a time where the air popper was king, so popping my own corn in a basic kettle never occurred to me (don't judge!). 

So here you have it... the DIY Nearly Naked popcorn or as I like to think of it... the Get Naked Without Leaving the House Popcorn!

* 3 tbs coconut oil

* 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels

* Whatever toppings/mix-ins you like (we like sea salt)

Pick your largest and deepest kettle (your favorite pasta pot is perfect). Throw in your oil and kernels, put your burner on medium to high, cover with a lid (slightly askew so the steam can escape) and watch the magic happen. Once your kernels slow down to 3 seconds between each pop it's time to pull your kettle. Dump your delicious pillows of corny goodness into a big bowl and get your fixin's on! Be boring like me and do a few cranks of sea salt or get fancy and try out one of those sinful caramel popcorn recipes on pinterest! 

It's as simple as that! Enjoy and never buy pre-popped popcorn again!

Go forth and get naked...

Lemon Blueberry Power Muffins

Lemon Blueberry Power Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 cup of plain greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk you like)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa 
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oat flour*
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by cooking 1 cup of quinoa per the package instructions. Let cool. Whisk together oil, eggs, lemon juice and zest, honey, vanilla, greek yogurt and almond milk. Add the cooled quinoa and the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir together until well combined. If your mixture feels a little too dry add a little more milk. Too wet? Add a little extra flour. Fold in the blueberries and place into muffin tins. I used muffin liners for mine, you can too or oil and flour your pans. Slide into the oven for 25-30 minutes. My batch made 27 standard sized muffins. 

* a note about oat flour. You can buy yours (Bob's Red Mill makes it) or you can just make your own. I used my stick/immersion blender to whiz up some steel cut oats into a fine powder. I don't use it often so it's easier to just make a little as I need it.  

Nutrition Info for one muffin:

Calories 113 ~ Carbohydrates 11g ~ Fiber 3g ~ Protein 4g ~ Sugar 3g

Have fun with this recipe and make it your own! Add what you like and take out what you don't. These would make some really yummy banana chocolate chip muffins too! Or pumpkin chocolate chip... or orange cranberry.... or cinnamon raisin. The possibilities are endless!

Eat Clean, Get Lean!

Have you thought about joining the clean eating movement? It won't just improve your health... it will improve your families as well!

If you aren't sure where to start.... start here! I have stumbled across a great resource!
He and She Eat Clean!

This is a great site run by 2 married couples that decided to get clean and lean together.
They will show you how to prep your foods in advance, plan your work out routine and even give you great recipes for when chicken and broccoli sounds boring!

Great job Jim and Tiffany & Scott and Whitney, I am LOVING your tips!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

After a harmless post on Facebook about what was for dinner in my house, there was a little ruckus with folks wanting to have the recipe. Well there really is no recipe, it's just some super easy deliciousness... but I'll do my best to create one!

So this is super, crazy, unbelievably easy! I love posting stuff like this because I hear "I can't cook" and "I don't know how to cook" waaay too much! It doesn't have to be complicated. Make it simple, delicious and fun!

What you need:

* Chicken! You can use breasts you can use thighs, you can do 6 or you can do 8. This is totally up to you on how much you want to make. Last night I made 8 chicken thighs, we like having this one in the fridge for leftovers, it reheats great! My only suggestion is that you use boneless/skinless chicken.

* Italian style breadcrumbs - I like Delallo or Progresso

* Marinara sauce - We prefer Classico or Bertolli but use what you like

* Shredded mozzarella cheese - Last night I used the uber fancy shredded italian cheese blend from Target, just the Market Pantry stuff... nothing fancy, this is not a fussy meal!

Process:
1. Dredge your thawed chicken in the Italian breadcrumbs. We buy our meats in bulk so I usually pull out what we need from the freezer and put it in a ziploc bag overnight. Once it's thawed and you're ready to rock just toss the chicken and breadcrumbs in the same bag. Easy clean up and again... no fuss!
2. Bake your chicken at 375 for about 30 minutes. Time will vary on the size of your chicken pieces. Just cook until the chicken is done and the breadcrumbs are starting to brown.
3. Spoon as much or as little marinara on the cooked chicken, sprinkle with your mozz and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes just the melt and brown the cheese.

Time to eat! This is great served with angel hair pasta or even just some salad!

The Twins are One!!!

That means....

365 Days!

8,760 Hours!

525,600 Minutes of pure awesomeness!

My sweet little Roxy and Rocco, my how you have grown! From the sweet, little, teeny babies snuggling together in your bassinet at the hospital. To the busy, active, energetic, almost toddlers you are today! Where does time go?

Little Foxy Roxy Doll...

Sometimes you're "Foxy", sometimes just "Roxy", but always my little Roxy Doll!

You have shown us so much personality from the beginning! There is never a dull moment when you're in the room and you always have something on your mind. You're my little instigator. You love taking toys from your brothers, I guess you wanted to show them who was boss from the get go. You are the Princess of standing, but you have yet to take those first steps! You like to say "Hi" and "no no". When you get excited you

squeal the cutest, most high pitched adorable squeal ever. You get excited a lot!

You adore your Daddy, but you're kind of a Mommy's girl... I don't mind so much!

You are such a great little eater. People underestimate you due to your tiny size, but you have a big appetite! You love to eat everything on your tray, and sometimes what's on your brother's tray too! You are the sippy cup champion and the bottles are a thing of the past!

You're instantly drawn to other kids you see, usually other little girls.

You're always so excited to do things that you have a hard time waiting your turn.

You have brightened my life more than you will ever know!

I look forward to so many more memories and great times with my little girl!

My little Rocco man...

You may just have the sweetest smile ever.

You're always so happy and mellow, even when you don't feel so great.

You sure love your Mommy, but you are a Daddy's boy at heart.

When Daddy is in the room you just have to be near him. I don't think he minds at all!

You love having fun with your Brother and Sister, but you're perfectly happy to play on your own too. You're a little bruiser, but you have the kindest soul.

In the last few weeks, we've really started to see your little personality shine.

You like to say "yeah" and try to mimic what Mommy and Daddy are saying to you.

You've been a little chatterbox since you were about 6 months old.

I can tell that one day you will have a great vocabulary like your big brother.

You love your sippy cup, as long as it has handles and you really love to eat fruit and pasta.

When you get excited you clap and bob up and down. Sometimes you even make a "oo oo ooo" sound, not unlike Arsenio Hall.

You're so funny, so sweet and so smart already!

We can't imagine our happy little home without you!

I sure didn't expect to have twins, but I'm so glad they were my little Rocco Man and my Roxy Doll! Happy Birthday Babies aka "Little Folks" Now... let's go have some ice cream!

What's For Dinner???

I have to take a minute to rave about this amazing recipe that I came across on Pinterest!

After re-pinning the same recipe about 4 times I finally tried it out!

Ahhhhhhmazing!

So delicious, so easy and I always have the ingredients on hand!

I'm actually planning on making this tonight and I'm just so darn excited about it!

This photo was lovingly hijacked from www.daydreamkitchen.com

So... how do you make this??

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 3 teaspoons Olive oil
• 4 tablespoons or whole garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

Since pinning this recipe (over and over and over again) I have made this many times. 

I have even tried it with some boneless skinless pork chops and guess what???

DELICIOUS!

Be sure to give this winner a try. I love it, the hubs loves it and even the kids think it's great!

I like to pair mine with some roasted brussel sprouts or just a salad.

We like to keep it low carb, that's just how we roll ~

Cuisinart Cordless Immersion Blender (Google Affiliate Ad)

DIY: Let's Make a Craft Cabinet!

So this lovely friend of mine had a few pieces of furniture in her garage that she no longer wanted hanging around in her garage. After putting on my thinking cap (love the old school reference) I decided they would make a great furniture remake. She so sweetly let me take these unloved pieces of furniture so that I could give them a new life. She had a dresser and a TV/Bookshelf, both finished in a lovely (or not so lovely) Ivory and Gold crackle finish.

This is the story of a little entertainment stand that couldn't and the rad craft cabinet that could!

From Ivory/Gold crackle TV stand to Semi-Organized craft cabinet

I started off by removing the hardware and doors. Sanding the entire piece down until it was smooth.

I put on a coat of purple paint. Add some new hardware and sewed up a simple curtain to keep the mess out of sight. 

I love all the space that I have! My old craft area was a corner in my dining room. Sure, my craft cabinet is also in the corner of my dining room, but it's much less IN my dining room. The craft monster that was, was taking over our living space. Fabric stacked all over, batting on the floor, and nearly everything else in Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabric's bags. Looking for something was always a time consuming nightmare. Not to mention my little's getting into the craft goodies constantly!

My craft cabinet may look like a disorganized mess to some, but I assure you... it's organized chaos!

Having all things craft in one place (and a home for my monster sewing machine) is pure bliss!

Fabric is folded and stacked in colorful canvas bins. Ribbon is stacked.
An old baby wipe container corrals craft paints and glues and my pens and sharpies are  in an old vanity  glass jar.

From left to right: top to bottom. My awesome Thirty-One carryall bag. This is actually a gardening bag, but it works so well at keeping my sewing stuff in one easy to find and transportable place. A basket for misc. fabric scraps. A box for more ribbon. A small shelf in between for scrapbook paper, felt, and small boxes of beads, buttons and hair clips.
Extra spools of thread in the vintage tea tin, made and ready to sell hair accessories in the large pink and white box, my current project; Wonder Woman tutu for my little lady and another large basket for hard to wrangle fabrics (tulle, etc.)

I didn't purchase anything special for this project other than paint and hardware. I wanted to use containers I had around the house. It would be super cute and fun it they were all the same funky color or pattern, but that was just more dough than I wanted to sink into this little project. 

I think for my first furniture "remix" it went alright! It's not the best work ever, but it's functional, it helps keep me organized and I love it! 

Stay tuned for next weeks DIY project... the dresser from my friends garage!

Money Saving Tips

I love stumbling across other Mom blogs that discuss tips on saving money!

Whether you stay home, your Hubby stays home or you both work this Mom's blog has so many great money saving tips! Check it out, tell her I sent ya!

The Humbled Homemaker

DIY: Two Plates and a Candlestick

I keep seeing this cute little pedestal stands on Pinterest made out of plates! I love the idea and wanted to make some, but every time I clicked on the links... yep, the link went no where! Sometimes it's nice to get ideas and check out another bloggers crafts. PSA: Please folks, if you see something super awesome online and pin it, don't forget the correct link! Have to give credit where credit is due right?

Anyway... so I decided to go ahead and use a little trial and error and make my own cute little bathroom organization pedestal stands!

I started off by checking out my local thrift shop for some funky plates. You can check anywhere you like... thrift store, dollar store, Mom's cabinet, etc! I found 4 awesome plates that I loved and off I went! My next stop was to Hobby Lobby (aka My 2nd Home Sweet Home). There were a lot of great candlestick options, most of them glass which is fine. I didn't really want to use glass though. I wanted to try and do this project on the cheap and the glass candlesticks started at $4 and went up to $20. I decided to check out the woodworking aisle and found some pretty awesome little candlesticks for $2 each.

Once I got home I painted my candlesticks. One I painted a shiny black and the other is light grey. I just used regular old craft paint that I had on hand, nothing fancy.

Once the glue was dry I decided to embellish my candlesticks with pearls and rhinestones. Once your paint and embellishments are dry it's time to assemble! I applied a little E-6000 adhesive to the bottom of the candlestick and stuck it right in the middle of my bottom plate. After a couple of minutes I put more E-6000 on the top of the candlestick and set the smaller, top plate on it, as close to centered as you can get. Now... don't touch them! Let them set up all night long if you can. The E-6000 will provide a good strong hold as long as you give it time to set up. And there you go! Now you are set to get organized. I have one pedestal next to my sink for my bobby pins, moisturizers and deodorant  The other is on my dresser to hold perfumes, hair accessories and jewelry. They are so darn cute and handy! Now go make one of your own!

Badgley Mischka Randall Shoes (Light Pink Satin) - Women's Wedding Shoes - 10.0 M (Google Affiliate Ad)

DIY Wednesday!

I saw the idea for the Magnetic Make-Up organizing board on Pinterest a while back. But every time this genius idea popped up the link went no where! It was so frustrating... I wanted to know what supplies were used to create such a masterpiece! So I decided to make my own and blog about it!

The inspiration for this craft project.
Image seen on indulgy.com

So lets get started! I didn't take pictures during the process because ya'll are smart folks and can follow along! I decided to make mine on the cheap (aka a little less fancy). You can make your make-up board as fancy or as budget friendly as you like. I had an old cookie sheet that had seen better days and hasn't been used for cookies in years. I decided to use that as my base. Of course you could also buy a funky frame and get some metal sheeting to fit your frame. I picked up some "Tiffany Blue" spray paint at Hobby Lobby and gave my cookie sheet a few coats. If you don't care to paint your metal sheeting/cookie sheet you can always cover it in a funky fabric or scrapbook paper. While waiting for my paint to try I glued magnets onto the back of my make-up items that I wanted on my board. A hot glue gun would work great here, but I just used my Beacon Fabric Fix because it's what I had and what I prefer to use for craft products (fyi... it's great for so much more than just fabric). Once your paint and glue are both good and dry have fun sticking your make up on your board! For easy hanging I just punched a couple holes (with a mini screwdriver and hammer) in the top of my cookie sheet and nailed it to the wall. You can always string some pretty ribbon through or dress it up however you wish. If you go with a picture frame you could use the mounting, or use the easel and just set it on your vanity, super cute either way! I decided to attach a little zebra print bucket to hold eye liners and brushes to the bottom of the sheet (just magnets) and a fun "N" at the top for a little dressing up. Nothing super crazy or fancy... just cute and functional!

My finished Magnetic Make-Up Board

Cost run down:

• Cookie Sheet - Old and Gross so FREE!
• Spray Paint - Hobby Lobby $5.49 (But only about $3.30 if you use your 40% off coupon!)
• Magnets - $1.99 for 8 small magnets, "3" on the strength scale. I ended up buying two packages, some items needed more than one magnet. Also Hobby Lobby
• Metal "N" - $1.50 at Hobby Lobby, normally $2.99 yay for 50% off!
• Zebra Bucket - $1.49 Hobby Lobby again! I found this in the party section.

Total cost to me: $10.29  not great, but could be worse!

Whip up a make-up board of your own and be sure to send me a pic and brag about it!

Canon PowerShot SX50 12.1MP 50x Optical Zoom Black Digital Camera (Google Affiliate Ad)

It's a new year...

Time for a new look and some new goals!

I don't like to make resolutions. They are a lot like rules... made to be broken. I like to think of them more as goals... something to strive for. These are my goals for 2013:

• Complete 2012's goal by finishing the Rock and Roll Half marathon in 2 weeks.
• Blog more!
• Finish off the last 14lbs. I need to lose to hit my goal weight
• Continue to focus on decreasing my body fat percentage and increasing my lean muscle mass
• Get a little more crafty
• Get the house more organized and livable
• Update the blog a little more so it's organized and readable with fun new tabs!

2012 held a lot of great moments, a lot of sad moments and a lot of moments in between. I'm looking forward to what 2013 has in store for my little family and I!