Getting in Shape

Ok so I have always struggled with the whole exercise thing. I have always started but then never see changes or I just get to busy with life. Well, this time around I have a few things that I hope will help me keep going. 1)My Husband Adam 2) I'm going to blog about it and  3) My friend Katie who is help keeping me motivated.

I start July 1st, 2014 so far I am doing pretty good there are only a few days I miss besides a break day but nothing to crazy. As far as food we already eat at home 98% of the time and most of it is homemade vs processed foods. Don't get me wrong we do still have processed foods but it isn't a over abundance. I do want to make it a little less then what we have but this is a huge change for my husband who grew up on take out, fried & mass processed foods. As, for me I had my fair share of processed foods but my mom almost always made decently healthy meals at home.

As for my exercise program I am doing the Chalean Extreme (recomended by Katie) and work outs I found on pinterest. I am do 2 different work outs right now bc with my schedule I don't always have the time (or someone else is using the tv) to do the Chalean Extream program during the week. So the days I can't do that I do my pinterest work outs.

Origami Owl ~ Bye Bye Birdie

Hey y'all hope everyone is having a great day and enjoying their summer. I know my puppy Echo is having a blast you can check out all of his fun adventure's at https://www.facebook.com/HuskyEcho

So a few weeks ago Origami Owl announced the bye bye birdie collection. These are items that will be retiring on August 10th, 2014. There are A LOT! But, don't worry our Fall/Winter collection will be coming out around this time. Go to the link below to see all the items that will be retiring there is 20 pages worth of items... 

Bye Bye Birdie Link

Starting tomorrow we will have a new hostess exclusive. 

       Retail Value: $87

           *Exclusive Rose Gold Heart Living Locket w/ Crystals

           *Exclusive Rose Gold Love Heart Plate

           *Exclusive Rose Gold Heart Chain

           * 3 Assorted Crystal Charms

July through September 2014 Hostess Exclusive

Want to know how you get this hostess exclusive?????

Host a Jewelry Bar! You can host a home party, catalog party or Facebook party (At this time I am not doing take out parties but hopefully in the near future I will be able to.)

As a hostess you get FREE SHIPPING and.... 

$125-$499 Jewelry Bar and earn $18+ (15% of sales) of FREE Product & 25% off Hostess Exclusive

$500-$999 Jewelry Bar and earn $100+ (20% of sales) of FREE Product & 50% off Hostess Exclusive

$1,000+ Jewelry Bar and earn $250+ (25% of sales) of FREE Product & FREE Hostess Exclusive

*Jewelry Bar must be at least $125 in retail  sales and have four (4) guest orders (one of which may be the Hostess BEFORE rewards are calculated).

Origami Owl

I am so excited to announce that I am now selling Origami Owl Custom Jewelry :-)
I was talking with my husband and we both agreed we needed away to earn some extra money for the adoption process we plan on starting int he near future. One of the ideas was to get into direct sales. Once we decided I would get into direct sales we had to decided which one. I talked to a few of my friends and one of them said with my personality and that fact I am always trying to do good in the world Origami Owl was for me. You're probably thinking oh she just wanted me to be on her team.... This is someone who is in a lot of different direct sales companies. She loves it and it really helps pays her bills as a single mother. Origami Owl is not one she sells (yet lol). She referred me to someone she knows who sells O2 and I asked her a bunch of questions about the company and decided this was the company for me. They encourage people to be a force for good. You earn 30%-50% of of your sales. I plan on posting blogs on here to share my story :-)

If you have questions feel free to leave a comment on here or go to one of the links below to contact me.

Visit my Shop

My Facebook Page

nicolerenay513@gmail.com

Pesto Ranch Pasta w/ Chicken

Ingredients 

8 oz. pasta (your choice)

2 Large Chicken Breast NO Skin

2 tbsp of Pesto 

2 tbsp Sour Cream

2 tbsp Garlic Powder

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 to 2 cups of Chicken Broth

Directions 

In the slow cooker add chicken (frozen or thawed) with pesto, ranch packet, sour cream, 1 tbsp garlic powder, olive oil, 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth. 

Turn slow cooker on low for 6-7hrs. 

Cook noodles al dente and add them to the chicken mixture with more chicken broth garlic powder if need be. 

Turn slow cooker on warm for 1/2 hr to hr

*Chicken broth helps so the 

chicken doesn’t get to dry.

*I use the entire ranch packet. 1/2 in the 

beginning and the 2nd 1/2 after adding noodles. 

*Shred the chicken before adding noodles

Apple Cheesecake Bars

My friend Amanda is having a Pinterest party this weekend and I chose to make this yummy dessert for my food item. Heads up this is not a healthy snack because of all the butter...

For the Crust
Ingredients
12 Graham Cracker Sheets
50 Nilla Wafer Cookies (I got the mini so I used 70) 
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
1. Line a 9x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse graham crackers and Nilla Wafer cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. I have the smallest food processor ever so this took a little time but if you have a regular sized food processor it will take you know time at all. Place in a bowl and stir in cinnamon and melted butter. Press into prepared pan. 
3. Bake for 8 minutes, while preparing filling.

My Small Food Processor... See what I mean by this took me awhile bc of the size?



So after getting all of this done I dumped it in the bowl mixed up with my hands some since I couldn't process them all together. Then I added the cinnamon and again mixed with my hands. So much easier a lot of times when you use your hands and LESS dishes :-)



After adding the a but load of butter I mixed with the rubber spatula.



After I spread the crust I put it in the oven for 8 minutes.


For the Filling:
Ingredients
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
1. Beat cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla with a hand held or stand mixer. 
2. Place apples in a small bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon.

After placing all the filling ingredients in the mixer bowl I let the mixer do its job. 



Side note here is the pie crust after baking for 8 minutes... 



After mixing the cheesecake part of the filling 



Apples and cinnamon... umm yeah most likely I probably could have cut the apples up a little bit more but hey they are small enough for me lol.


For the Topping:
Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
Directions
1. Make the topping by mixing all topping ingredients in a medium bowl with a hand mixer.

Ok so I stepped away from the mixer for a second to answer the phone... The topping got a little pastey like texture instead of crumbs... So I recommend mixing with your hands (I should really learn not to follow recipes when it comes to mixing things like this lol) 









Left: Without Apples Right: With Apples


1. Pour cream cheese mixture over hot crust. Sprinkle with apples. Sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake for 40-45 minutes (mine took 43). 



So since the topping didn't turn out the right texture I still put it on bc it taste good but then poured some oats and brown sugar on top. 



Side view ofter baking in the oven. 


Cool to room temperature and then chill for at least 3 hours before cutting.

Carpet Cleaning

Ok so I had/have these really dark spots in my carpet in the high traffic areas... They have drove me crazy since the day we moved in. We have used the carpet cleaner and they wouldn't leave. We even tried using expensive carpet cleaning solutions. I kept reading on different blogs on pinterest about using vinegar and water.

I forgot to take pictures of the first area of spots but after the magic potion worked its miracle I remembered to take pictures of the second area.


I am going to borrow a carpet cleaner and put in the carpet cleaner and do the entire carpet area after seeing this miracle!


What you will need:
1 part Vinegar
2 parts Water
Spray Bottle
Iron

Directions:
I did not have a spray bottle at this time so I just used a solo cup. After this I am going to be investing in a lot of spray bottles and trying different DIY cleaners to try and save my family money.
I just dumped a little bit on each spot and ran the iron over the spot a few times. If the spot is really dark or deep in the carpet you might have to do it a few times. In the picture below you can tell the spots I missed with the solution.

Before Picture: So you can see the spots that I needed to get rid of

Here is the after picture. You can see the spots I missed with the magic solution. 

I want to do my entire carpet area!!!! 

Buckeye Pie

So my two of our friends are having a house warming party on Saturday and I was going to make my homemade Mac & Cheese that my fiance requested.... But I forgot Amanda (our friend) was making Mac & Cheese. When I asked Adam what to make he couldn't think of anything so I asked his brother Eric and he told me to make one of my famous pies. He then came up with the idea of making a Buckeye Pie... I looked it up on Pinterest and here is the cooking adventure I had in making it....


Ingredients:
9oz Peanut Butter
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Butter
1 3/4 Powdered Sugar
Instant Chocolate Pudding 
Milk (whatever pudding box calls for)
Cool Whip 
Graham Cracker Pie Crust (pre-made or make your own)

I started with following the exact directions from the pudding box. It called for the big box but we had a lot left over. Next time I am going to try the small box

get the milk bowling

                        

the different stages of the pudding being made.

So we did not have enough powder sugar and I was way to lazy to run to Jungle Jim's and get more. I tasted it and so did my fiance and we both said it still tasted good. This is suppose to be crumbly not pasty. Eric said it was a little to much peanut butter but Amanda loved it. So I feel most likely the powder sugar you can really do to taste. The crusted started breaking while I spread the pb mixture so Adam had to help hold it still. 

The pudding was filled to the top. I then let the pie cool over night. The next day I put the cool whip on top (I forgot to take pictures since it was morning time lol) 

Let's just say there was none left at the end of the night!!!!