July 30, 2012

Fav Five Mondays

So in honor of all the fun I've had with my Summer of Pinteresting, for the month of August (I know it's not August yet, but close enough) I'm sharing my five favorite pins to inspire your week. I'm feeling like mint, pink, black, and purple will be filling my outfit choices! (You know picking just five was terribly hard).

Land of Cool on Tumblr
Yes please, want these socks! Totally Rad!

Kate Spade New York St Elmo Stripesmall Natalie Cosmetic Case
I love this Cosmetic Case, adding to my wishlist...

Double Ring - natural wood ring in cherry
I love a double ring and this one made of wood, really cool and from Etsy even better!

Steve Madden Lookoutt
Fuchsia heels!!! Come on, I wish these were in my closet right now!

Lovely Clusters on Tumblr
This kitchen is lovely, love the checkered on the wall.

While we're talking Pinterest I want to share with you one of my new favorite Pinners. Shannon Kirsten I  found her just yesterday, she has great fashion and photography pins. I'm always excited to find someone new!

xoxojolleen
*Link under pics will take you to their original home.
Do you have a favorite pinner?

July 29, 2012

Pastrami Roll-Ups

Don't they look like Sushi?? I think that's a little why I like these so much! I hate fish, but wish I liked sushi, something about eating it seems so hip and cool...the cool bus will pass me by on this one.

Anyways this is my modified recipe from The Pioneer Woman's Turkey Roll-ups...I'll post that later.  These were so delicious I made them with a peppered cream cheese, cucumbers, carrots, PICKLEs!! (side note, I love to drink pickle juice so we always have two jars of pickles in the fridge one that is mine that I can drink out of , labeled "Jolleen's Drank" and one that is for the honey and guests), Swiss Cheese, pastrami, and lettuce all rolled up into a tortilla! I also like to top them with black sesame seeds for a little extra flavor and it looks really cute....adds to the sushi feel.

Pastrami Roll-Ups

Pastrami Tortilla Roll-Ups

Ingredients
  • 8 ounces weight Cream Cheese Softened
  • 1/2 tablespoon Course White Pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon Fine Black Pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 6 whole Taco Sized Flour Tortillas
  • 1/2 pound Shaved Pastrami
  • 3 whole Carrots Peeled And matchstick cut
  • 1 whole Cucumber Skin cut off and matchstick cut
  • 3 leaves Green Leaf Lettuce Spine Removed
  • Kosher Dill Pickle cut into matchsticks
  • slices Swiss cut into matchsticks
  • Black Sesame Seeds (optional)
Make the herbed cream cheese by combining the softened cream cheese with the pepper, salt, and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Spread cream cheese in a thin layer over the tortillas. Lay ingredients down the middle of the tortilla. Let the veggies extend past the edges on either side.

Roll up the tortillas as tightly as they'll go, then wrap each roll-up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

To slice, cut each roll-up exactly in half, then line up the two halves and cut them in half again. Stand the end pieces up so that the veggies stick out the top.

I like to sprinkle mine with black sesame seeds.

NOTE: If your tortillas are cold they will crack, so warm them for a few seconds in the microwave to make them room temperature.

ENJOY!!!
xoxojolleen
Let me know if you try these...perfect meal for not heating up your kitchen. 


July 28, 2012

The Plan

I love meal planning!

But, I realize some people don't think this is one of the best things ever....so to help you out I'm going to start posting my meal plans on Saturdays, maybe this will give you some new ideas.

Then through out the week I'll post the recipes of stuff I made. This week I'll be posting in detail how I organize and budget planning for weekly and monthly stuff. Hope you get some new ideas!!!

xoxojolleen

July 22, 2012

Edible Cookie Dough Truffles?!?!? Yes Please...

I mean it has cookie dough in it, how could these not be good?Let me tell you, they are delicious! I originally saw these posted on a blog I follow called Bakerella if you love really cute cake pops or fun sweet treats, I recommend following her...I'm always amazed at the stuff she can make!

But for this post she was trying these Edible Cookie Dough Truffles out of a new cookbook called The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook (click here for recipe) the cookbook looks awesome!! I have it on my Amazon Wishlist, lots of fun stuff and just like the title says everything has cookie dough in it!YUM!! The book was written by Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil which was an awesome new blog find for me. They have really great recipes right now for the hot summer weather.
Edible Cookie Dough Truffles

Anyways I tried this and I love how they turned out, and they were really easy to make too. They recommend using popsicle sticks, but I had these pink flamingo toothpicks leftover from something else so I decided to use them up. I would like to try then dipped in dark chocolate next.

Let me know if you try this or if you have The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook what is your favorite recipe to make?

xoxojolleen

July 20, 2012

DIY Microdermabrasion

Dear Pinterest, You are amazing....I've been looking for DIY beauty tips and found this...DIY Microdermabrasion, it's awesome and super easy 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water into a paste and apply in a circular motions, lightly,  and rinse. 
 
I really can't believe how great this worked, I tried it about three weeks ago and will be doing this every week. My face feels super soft and tight (in a good way). The original pin is from bloggers Kelli and Lisa at their blog Bud & Leo, they also have a face mask and face scrub I want to try. I highly recommend their blog if you love fashion and girly fun stuff.

Let me know if you try this!!
xoxojolleen

July 16, 2012

Nails Hot Pink with Leopard Spots

I'm so loving the come back of nail art...sixth grade me thanks you fashion world!! I forgot how much fun I would have doing different stuff.

Pink- Orly La Vida Loca
Leopard Spots- Essie Mint Candy Apple & L.A. Colors Art Deco Black

Have a wonderful week everyone!! Follow my Pinterest board "Nail Love" for more inspiration.

xoxojolleen

July 14, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I'm always looking for a good recipes for "too hot to cook" and "leftovers" nights. Chicken salad is one of my favorite things to do. On one night either my honey grills chicken and I have him make some extra or I get a Costco Rotisserie chicken we eat that one night with then I pull all the leftover chicken off  the bone and chop it up and make a chicken salad for another night that week.
Buffalo Chicken Salad

I love this one, I'm a HUGE buffalo wing fan so anytime I can have that flavor I'm all for it. There are a few different ways to serve this:
On lettuce for a salad
In lettuce for lettuce wraps
Use chips or Frito Scoops
Or whatever you like

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Serves  

Ingredients
  • 2 cups chicken cooked and chopped
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
  • 1 carrot chopped, you could add celery too if you like I'm not a fan
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • whatever you want for serving the chicken salad

1. Dice up chicken into the size pieces you like, put into a large glass bowl.
2. Add mayonnaise, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, chopped carrot, salt and pepper to taste. (start off small you can always add more) stir.
3. Taste add more of any of the above ingredients to suit your taste buds.
4. Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to mix, I put it in the fridge because I like it really cold.
5. Get together whatever you are serving it with/in.


ENJOY!

xoxojolleen
Let me know if you make this, what do you think? How did you serve it?
 

July 13, 2012

LA FRESH® Eco Beauty Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover Wipes Review

 Received in my June Birchbox

"How it Works - Each travel-friendly pad contains enough remover to get rid of the polish on all ten nails. But it doesn’t stop there: the formula is packed with soothing aloe, glycerin, and Vitamin E, plus horsetail and rosemary extracts to keep our nails strong and healthy. Did we mention that it’s free of sulfates, parabens, and artificial fragrances" - From Birchbox website.

MY THOUGHTS:
Each package claims to work on all 10 nails, I wanted to give them the best test so....I tried them two separate times once with black polish & and once with glitter polish. It worked good on the black, but did have some trouble with the glitter. I loved the smell and they are very convenient. I would say they are perfect for travel or if you don't use glitter. They also make make-up remover wipes I'd like to try.

Cost: $9.99 for 18 wipes
Buy here

If you try these, what did you think?
xoxojolleen

July 11, 2012

Pantry Makeover

The other day me and my friend completely did a pantry makeover at her house. It was so amazing, I love organizing....and the kitchen is my favorite.

PANTRY MAKEOVER:

1. I looked on Pinterest and brought ideas with me to see what she wanted.
2. We pulled out everything floor to ceiling from the pantry.
3. Organize items into piles on the counter so we know how much space we needed to put stuff back in. We also took this time to throw away anything that was expired or stale.
4. Cleaned all the shelves.
5. We then looked at the stuff we had and planned out on a sheet of paper what we wanted on each shelf and what we needed baskets for.
6. Went to the Dollar Tree for supplies (the Dollar Tree is a great place to look first, I bought this same shelf paper for my kitchen cabinets....it's so cute and only a $1 per roll!!! Wal-Mart is about $6 per roll.) We were so happy to find everything we were looking for, super cute shelf paper, baskets for everything.
7. Applied shelf paper to all shelves.
8. Put stuff back into pantry and added labels!




Shelf One: Big Stuff
Large cooking stuff (rice pot)
Basket of cleaning supplies

Shelf Two: Can & Jar
Basket for Pasta
Canned and jarred goods - arranged by type

Shelf Three: Breakfast
Basket for oatmeal packets & cereal bags with just a bowl left
Cereal
Boxed goods

Shelf Four: Snacks & Treats
Unopened bags of chips
Basket with opened bags of chips
Basket for snacks
Crackers, cookies, and other misc pantry items

Shelf Five: Party Supplies
Basket for napkins
Basket for party decorating (candles, streamers, balloons)
Basket for plastic sliverware
Paper plates
Cups

Floor:
For the floor we got these bigger baskets to group together other pantry items
One basket, plastic bags
One basket, swifter supplies
One basket, tea lights and candles holders

Thanks to the dollar tree we got-
6 shelf liners
9 baskets
3 larger baskets
total $18 plus tax to completely organize this pantry, so awesome....

Everyone's pantry will look different depending on how they eat, entertain, and what items they keep on hand. But taking the time to organize will make you feel so wonderful. I love organizing a pantry, I'm hoping we get to do her whole kitchen in time.

Follow me on Pinterest for more organizing ideas for the home, follow my board "crib"
Happy organizing!!
xoxojolleen


July 10, 2012

Chocolate Ice Cream, No Churn????


No churn ice cream, I know I had to try it too. Let me tell you, it was delicious! Super rich and creamy almost like a custard.
Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Easy Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream - 5 Stars

  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee 
  • 1 tablespoon hot water
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream cold

1. Combine coffee powder and hot water in small bowl. Let stand until coffee dissolves, few minutes. Microwave chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and coffee mixture in bowl, stirring every 10 seconds, until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute. Stir in vanilla and salt. Let cool.

2. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, whip cream to soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Whisk one-third of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold remaining whipped cream into chocolate mixture until incorporated. Freeze in airtight container until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 2 weeks. Serve.

Have a great day! Hope you try this!!
xoxojolleen


July 8, 2012

Lemon Ice Cubes

Have leftover lemons? Why not make ice??

Today we had some relief from the 90+ degree days...so I decided to take advantage of 76 degree weather and bake!!!!! (that gets extra extra exclamation points, I've been going through baking withdrawals. Me and the honey have an agreement that I won't turn the oven on if it's over 80 out and I won't turn the stovetop on if it's over 90 out, which for the last two weeks has made for some interesting dinners. And lots of BBQing on his part)

Anyways with all my cooking/baking today I had a leftover half of a zested lemon...why toss it? Make lemon ice cubes!

1. Squeeze whatever is left of your lemon into each ice cube hole.
2. Cut the lemon into as many pieces as you want to make ice, I had enough for one tray.
3. Fill with water.
4. Freeze.
5. Enjoy with water, soda, any drink you would like a slight lemon flavor. As the ice melts it will flavor your beverage more. And it looks really cute too!

P.S. This would work with any fruit you have leftover or that you want for flavored drinks. Works great for parties.

Have a great week everyone.
xoxojolleen

July 7, 2012

Wrapping Paper Organized Using Toilet Paper Roll

use toilet paper rolls around wrapping paper
Saw this on Pinterest, Brilliant!

Take an old toilet paper roll, cut a slit in it, then slide around  wrapping paper rolls.

Works great! I'm in the process of organizing my craft room....stayed tuned for photos. I have a Pinterest board that I've been saving ideas on how to organize, decorate, and plan it's called "My Chick Palace" follow me if you aren't already.

Happy Saturday everyone!
xoxojolleen

P.S. I'm very excited for today, I'm going to a friends house and we are cleaning out and organizing her pantry! Can't wait! Organizing is one of my favorite things to do, she is even going to let me label things. Exciting!! Well gotta go I'm making Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, before I go, to take to my honey's friend's house tonight to watch the fights. Days like this I realize how amazing my life is.

July 2, 2012

Salt Container

Saw this on Pinterest such a great idea. So I had to try it, works great!

Just cut the lid off of a salt container and put it in place of the mason jar lid. Seal shut with mason jar lid ring.

Fantastic! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! xoxojolleen