Go Greek Yo

So slowly but surely I have been trying to eat healthier. I'm in nursing school so everyday its in my face the nutrition plays a role in our health, I have two little ones and its clear to me that they learn primarily from example, and hello tomorrow is my birthday and I am reminded I am getting older and my metabolism will not be good to me forever. My goal is to slowly integrate healthier choices into my diet and I wanted to share a couple easy changes I am making that you may want to consider.

1st is GREEK YOGURT. It taste almost identical to sour cream except its high in protein and low in fat. Such and easy and health switch. When you taste it alone you can taste a slight difference but when you mix it with food you would never know it wasn't sour cream.

Next, don't eat canned veggies. They have oddles of sodium and not much nutrients. I used to think "hmm it's a veggie so its healthy"... read the label they really aren't good I promise. Fresh or frozen is better. I usually do frozen because it is as convenient as a can and not much more expensive.

Try it! I will keep you guys posted on other ideas to eat a little healthier as I continue in my journey to stop eating like a "12 year old fat kid" as one friend described it. lol

Passion Tea Lemonade

Im not big on coffee but now and then I enjoy indulging at Starbucks with a passion tea lemonade. It is sooo refreshing and hot pink! I decided to try it out myself so that I could safe money and indulge a little more often:)

Brew a cup of passion tea ( I used Tazo. I got a box at Walmart for like 3 dollars.)
Then you need lemonade( Whatever kind you prefer, I just used crystal light.)

Grab a glass of ice pour you tea over it then put and equal amount of lemonade in. It is that easy. No need to mess with sweeteners the lemonade does the trick. Passion tea is naturally caffeine free and since I used crystal light and no extra sweeteners its also sugar free. Hello kid friendly... but I doubt you will want to share lol

A Valentine Treat

Cajun Injector Deluxe Marinade InjChocolate covered strawberries are the ultimate Valentine's Day dessert. They are easier than you may think and you can put your own spin on them.

What You Need
Chocolate chips in your favorite flavor (dark is mine)
Heavy whipping cream (just a tad)
Your fav alcoholic beverage and a cooking syringe (if you choose to spike them, it's totally optional, I use champagne or vodka)
Wax paper helps but is not a necessity
Strawberries of course :)

What To Do
1. Rinse your strawberries and lay them out to dry. The chocolate will stick much better to dry strawberries.
2. Warm up your chocolate. You can it several ways. I cover the bottom of a sauce pan with heavy whipping cream, bring it to a boil and then stir in my chocolate chips. You can use a double broiler, which does not require heavy whipping cream, if you have one. Some people even use a microwave. Although that technique has never been successful for me.
3. Now you dip your strawberries in chocolate and place them on a plate. If you put wax paper over your plate your strawberries will come out less sloppy.
4. Place them in the fridge to set. For basic chocolate covered strawberries you can stop after step 4  and enjoy.
5. For drunken strawberries you will need a cooking syringe. Simply suck some alcohol in the syringe and inject it into the strawberry through the top. A little goes a long way you don't want them to drip.
6. If you want to decorate your strawberries melt down another shade of chocolate, if you use white you can add food coloring. Then get creative, add swirls, stripes, or polka dots. For the Super Bowl I added football laces so they looked like little footballs. The possibilities are endless.

Progressive International 4 in 1 Flavor Injector

Beer Rinse

So you all know beer can make your waistline thicker and your eyes glassy, but did you know it can do the same things for your hair? If you want shiner hair that feels thicker try a beer rinse. 

What You Need

Just beer :) I am not a beer expert but I hear if you use real hops brewed beer as oppose to chemically altered beer it works better. 

What To Do

1. Shampoo and condition your hair as normal.
2. Pour the beer over your hair.
3. Let it set 5-10 min
4. Rinse

Notes

The body and shine are unfortunately temporary. They will only last until you next wash. On the bright side flat beer works too, this means if you don’t use all your beer you can save it for your next shower. This trick can help you to be less wasteful too. If you leave your beer sitting around for to long on the quickly approaching Super Bowl Sunday, you know what to do with it.

DIY Headband

Headbands are so in right now! Which is great because it is an easy way to change up your hairstyle and it is an awesome way to rock 2nd or even 3rd day hair. Headbands, like all diy accessory have endless possibilities. The one I am sharing is one I just finished. It was really simple.




What You Need

• Iron on patch
• A small piece of fabric (I am using felt) 
• Thin stretchy headband
• An iron

Directions
1. Cut your felt just larger than your patch, give yourself some room to work, but too much material makes it hard to maneuver.
2. Place your headband between your patch and your material and then iron on following the instructions of your specific patch.
3. Cut around the edges of your patch so that no material is visible from the outside.
4. Put it on your head and prepare for compliments. :)

Colorful Desserts

January hits me hard with birthdays. It seems like minimum, once a week we are having cake or ice cream cake. My wonderful man’s birthday is the 24th by then we are all caked out. This year I decided instead of cake or ice cream I would make him a cheesecake, strawberry is his favorite. So I grabbed a jello no bake cheesecake and some fresh strawberries. As I began to pour the cheesecake filling into the crust my 3 year old looked upset. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he wanted Daddy’s birthday cake to be blue. I replied that it would be red soon because we were going to put strawberries on top. He said “How about red and blue?” 

This picture does the color no justice!

My initial reaction was to think of a reason we could not make the cake red and blue. Then I thought why not. I grabbed the blue food coloring and stirred in a few drops. Suddenly the cheesecake filling became a beautiful light blue. After the cheesecake chilled we added strawberries and red sugar crystals. We wrote a 33 in the middle with red gel icing and the plain strawberry cheesecake I planned was transformed into a colorful nontraditional birthday cake.

It was perfect for us because it did not taste like cake or ice cream cake but it still had the look of a birthday cake. Some of you may be thinking “duh food coloring” but some of you may be like me and that “duh” will be followed by a “How didn’t I think of that?” It is amazing what can happen when you think like a 3 year old simple, creative, and fun! Try adding color to your favorite recipes to bring out your inner child. :)

DIY Decor

Photo Collage 

I was inspired to do this project by someone I looked up to in high school. She had done a photo collage on a piece of furniture and I thought it was so cool. Years later, when trying to make a house a home on a budget, it came back to mind. I love taking pictures of my kids! They are soo adorable and photogenic too. I have tons of great pictures of them, too many to display at once in frames. The idea of a collage is great because in one piece I can use several pictures. I bought two decorative pictures at the dollar store for $2 each and turned them into beautiful collages of my boys. Here is how :)

What You Need

• Something to turn into a collage- It can be anything so use what you have or find something inexpensive that fits your need. I am using 2 square wall hangings.
• Modgepodge Glue- I am using Mate instead of glossy because I think it gives the look of professional photography but many people prefer glossy. Chose the look you like :)
• Pictures- I am using black and white, I think it gives the collage an elegant touch.

        Directions

1. Cut out your pictures and position them as you please on the item you are collaging. If you cut out items to their shape you can fit more pictures on. Doing it that way looks great and really artistic but it is more tedious and time consuming. So I am keeping my pictures cut in squares and rectangles so it is simpler to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. I also like the clean lines. The best part of a diy project is you create it custom to what you like and what works for you, so do it your way. 
2. Once you have your pictures arranged how you want glue them down with the modgepodge glue.
3. Now that they are all glued down its time for the important part. You want to go over you entire collage with your glue. Do a thin layer let it dry for 10 min and then repeat. The more layers of glue you add the more your collage looks like one fluid piece of art as oppose to several pieces stuck together.
4. Once they look as smooth and even as you like they are done.

This is what it looks like when it is wet.