Nothing like a meal full of veggies

 

Dinner tonight was absolutely delicious! I really cannot say how much I love fresh veggies in the summer - don't get me wrong, I love veggies in the winter too but they don't hold anything to fresh, home grown veggies in the summer.

We had steak, sweet corn (bought from the local farmer's market), summer squash (grown by my aunt's neighbor) and twice baked potatoes with chives (grown in my garden), bacon and cheese.

What's in My July 2012 Birchbox

After seeing the preview video about this month's Birchbox, I was pretty excited (again!). It looked like there were going to be some great new products for me to try. Needless to say, I wasn't very disappointed.

Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Wind - Full size = $20 - Trial size = $5.71 value

I'm not sure the camera is picking up the true color of the gloss. It seems to me that the picture looks a bit more pink than it actually is. To me, the shade is much, much more nude. I'll be honest, I was actually a little scared of this since it's more of a nude color. I have yet to find a perfect nude shade that doesn't make my lips look like death. I should say had yet to find. I love this color. It goes on a peachy nude and looks great. I put a small swatch up there because I feel the swatch captures a more true color.

blinc Mascara - Full size = $26 - Trial size = $17.46 value

I've never heard of this brand before now, but I love a good mascara. I haven't tried this one yet and probably won't for a while. I want to use up more of the 2 tubes I already have open before adding another to the "open" pile. The package says it's water resistant yet comes off with some water and gentle pressure. I have another mascara like that and I love it. Hopefully this will become another favorite as well.

Tea Forté® minteas - 3 pack - Full size = $9.95 - Trial size = $3.32 value

I'd seen these pop up in several other boxes so I was very excited to see them in mine. However, that's about where the excitement stopped. I had hoped to get the cocoa/chocoalte ones, but was initallyh ok with getting the Lime Mojito flavor instead. I quickly learned that I really dislike this flavor. I've never had a mojito and if these mints are anything like the real thing, I don't want to either. I'm not even sure I can explain why I dislike this flavor, except that I don't taste any mint at all, just a citrus/tea flavor. I don't know that I'd really want to throw mint into that mix though.

Oscar de la Renta live in love - Full size = $78 - Trial size = $78 - Trial size = $1.56 value

I know that a lot of people don't like getting these types of perfume samples, but I was happy to get one this month. I'd been thinking about starting to wear perfume again and thought this might be a great start. Again, that's about where the excitement ended. The info card says that there are "notes of hyacinth and orchid over a rich base of sandalwood and cedar." I think that's why I don't like it - the sandalwood and cedar. I'm not at all saying it's a bad scent, just that it's not my scent. It reminds me of a sweet old lady's house - again, the sandalwood and cedar. So it's a pleasant scent, just not one I want to wear on my body.

Manna Kadar Cosmetics sheer glo shimmer lotion - Full size = 29 - Trial size = $0.29 value

I was quite disappointed in the size of this sample, mostly in compared to the full size product and not really in relation to how much is actually in the tube. I swatched a bit on my hand the day I received the sample and even after repeated hand washings and daily tasks there was still a bit of shimmer on my hand until I took a shower. Aside from that I haven't really tried this out yet, but I'm excited to.

Birchbox Exclusive Earbuds - Not currently for sale on Birchbox, but the cheapest earbuds run about $10 at Wal-Mart

I was so glad I got the pink/bllue ear buds and they couldn't have come at a better time. My regular ear buds decided to quit working on the right side after over 2 years of use (pretty good for ear bud standards!).

Total box value: $38.34 including the $10 estimated for the ear buds

Taco Bake Recipe - Foodie Friday

This recipe was born out of "I'm hungry," "Tacos sound good" and "Tacos again?" And while it's a pretty good recipe, there are a few changes I would/will make the next time this is on the menu (and there will be a next time). Don't worry though, I'll let you know when it comes what I would change.

 

Ingredients:

1 package cornbread/corn muffin mix prepared according to directions

Taco meat prepared according to your tastes - use your normal amount when feeding your family, along with any seasonings you put in

Cheese of your choice - shredded, cubed, from a jar

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Any other taco toppings you desire

As you may be able to tell from the ingredients list above, this recipe is quite customizable to your tastes. Feel free to make any substitutions you need according to your tastes and/or ingredients on hand.

Directions:
1. Prepare the cornbread/corn muffin mix as directed on the package. The ingredients and/or directions necessary to do this step may/will vary depending on the mix you have.

2. Brown the ground beef and season to your preferred tastes.

3. While the meat is cooking, chop/prepare any other ingredients you'll be using - tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, etc.

4. Also while meat is cooking and you're preparing ingredients, bake the cornbread in a large pan at the directed temperature on the package for half the time directed. When you take it out, it should just be setting up on the sides and still kind of gooey/not done in the middle.

5. Layer the cooked seasoned taco meat onto the partially cooked cornbread and spread to make an even layer. Put back in oven and finish cooking the rest of the time directed on the cornbread package, minus 5 minutes. You'll need that last 5 minutes for melting the cheese.

6. When there's 5 minutes left in the cooking time for the cornbread, take it back out of the oven and cover evenly with as much cheese as you desire. I used a mixture of shredded Colby-Jack cheese and Velveeta. In the future I will probably either use all shredded cheese or opt for a can/jar of nacho cheese.

7. The cheese should be melted in about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with your desired taco toppings. I put tomato and lettuce over the whole thing and individuals added sour cream, onions and hot sauce as they desired.

This was a great alternative to regular tacos in shells and really took about as long to make since I could be doing other things while it was baking.

Layered Summer Salad - Foodie Friday

Source: kraftrecipes.com via Jessica on Pinterest

This summer layered salad from Kraft has been my most liked and repinned pin on Pinterest ever. It currently has more than 700 repins and and 100 likes. Holy cow!

I first pinned it maybe about a year ago because it looked good in an e-mail I got from Kraft. I get e-mails from Kraft with recipe suggestions depending on the season or a theme they're going with for a holiday or other occasion coming up and this happened to be included in one for summer. This is not some sort of special service or anything fancy and anyone can sign up for the same thing from the Kraft website.

There are three main reasons I think this salad is amazing:

First, the picture just looks delicious. Who wouldn't want to eat a salad that looked that good?

Second, it looks easy enough to make. Most people I know over the age of 12 can put veggies down in layers, making this a recipe most could succeed at!

And third, I feel like this could totally be customizable for differing tastes. Don't like peas? Add something else or leave out altogether! Iceberg is cheaper than romaine? Use that instead!

A bonus fourth reason! You can make it ahead so you don't have to throw it together at the last minute and you can spend your time doing things you enjoy or need to get done instead of cooped up in the kitchen waiting to make a salad.

Do you have a favorite summer salad? Have you made this one before? Thoughts? Opinions? Is anyone out there? Bueller? Bueller?

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful I have been given the go ahead from my doctor to "Do whatever you want." Within reason of course. However I have no restrictions, no big "no-nos," nothing holding me back.