Do you like to Do It Yourself?

Who else out there is a sucker for DIY?

I think creating something from nothing, even if it fails, appeals to my artistic nature. Plus, it appeals to my budget! I would much rather spend two dollars on a failed homemade sugar scrub then spend $20 on a delectable one at The Body Shop. I love The Body Shop! but good God, their prices are a bit sky-high for my taste. So, I will make my own (coming soon). My hair and face were in more need of some TLC than my bod, so I spent my gym time on Pinterest, searching for the best home made face mask and hair treatment.

I found one for both! For my face, I made my mask out of two egg whites, 1 teaspoon honey, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Whisk this until blended and frothy, put on your pretty face. This takes about 15 minutes to dry, at which point you may rinse off. My skin felt smooth and hydrated, a great bargain at a cost of maybe 50 cents!

For my hair, I saved the two egg yolks from my face mask recipe, added 2 Tablespoons of EVOO, and added enough water to make one cup. I poured this into a water bottle and shook until blended (the water bottle technique also made it easier to pour onto my dome). I worked this mixture into my strands, and let sit for about 15 minutes while I showered. It took 2 shampoos to get the greasy feel out, but days later, my hair is still crazy soft and not so frizzy.

Hooray for DIY beauty regiments!

Everyone Should Smoke

I never knew what I was missing out on until I started smoking...Food, that is (of course it's food)!

Barbecue has never been my bag. It's messy, which offends my girly nature; not to mention greasy, fatty, doused in salty sauce, and it can't be truly enjoyed without an enormous side of potatoes, mac and cheese, and mayonnaise-y cole slaw.
Oh! and biscuits. With butter. So...not really part of my diet, haha.

I surprised Matt last year with a charcoal smoker, and we fell immediately and hopelessly in love with this slow-cooking phenomenon that is true BBQ. I'd like to make fun of the hardcore crazy smokers on all the forums we read, but these online cults provide just the most terrific tips and tricks, so I can't say much. We've also taken to watching hours of 300-pound chefs compete on BBQ Pit Masters, until the point I want to eat the TV.

We have learned a couple very important tips:
1) Smoking is all about your rub. If you have a tasty rub on your meat, you won't even need barbecue sauce.
2) Don't peek, no matter how much your moouth waters. This takes a lot of willpower, but we're getting there!
3) Decide which flavors you want the meat to take on, and soak wood chips in water for a couple hours.

4) Trim off some fat from your pork butt (shoulder). Most of the stuff you buy from the store has a large fat cap, you don't necessarily need all that!

5) Rub your meat (I can't help myself-haha) with a generous helping of rub. You can buy pre-made rub at the store, but we like to make a big bin of our own recipe that we use on everything. Yum!

6) Smoke the pork until it reaches an internal temp of about 165 degrees, then make an aluminum foil boat. Place the pork and about 1/2 cup of apple cider in the boat, wrap tightly, and place back in the smoker.
7) When your hunk of meat gets to about 185 degrees, remove it from the smoker and get ready to pull! You can use a fancy meat puller tool, but two forks works just fine.

The beautiful thing about this pulled pork is that it yields a ton, and is even tastier the day after! We made pork tacos, pork sandwiches, pork wraps...(I sound like Bubba in Forrest Gump!) Enjoy!

Obsessed with Pizza

Last week, I found a simple no-knead pizza dough recipe that I fell in love with from Smitten Kitchen. Since I know that we are going to indulge in our pizza obsession at least once a week, I decided to give it another go, this time experimenting with a longer rise, substituting half whole-wheat flour, and adding Italian dried herbs to the mix.

(A slightly embarrassing side note: We tried this pizza crust, and using the whole-wheat flour made it taste like cardboard, despite my best efforts. If that's your nag, then this is your recipe! Otherwise, sticking to regular flour will yield fantastic results.)

The recipe I used is as follows (this is for 2 12-inch round pizzas, although last week I just made one ginormous rectangle pizza):

~1 1/2 cups white flour
~1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
~1/2 tsp active dry yeast
~1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
~1 1/4 cup water
~1 Tbs dried Italian seasoning
~1/4 tsp sugar

The biggest "bowl" I had on hand was a large metal pot, so I mixed everything together using a large wooden spoon, and then covered with ClingWrap. I was planning on a half-day rise, but ended up allowing my dough to sit for about 18 hours. When I woke up this morning and took a peek into my pot, I was pleased to be greeted with a delicious yeasty smell, and saw that my dough had nearly tripled in size:


I floured a large Ziploc bag, and scooped the moist, pliable dough from my pot. To ensure it wouldn't stick too much to the bag, I tossed it around a bit for even flour coverage, and then squeezed the air out and placed lovingly in my refrigerator for use later today (hopefully). When we do decide to bake, the oven will be preheated at 500 degrees, and the pizza tray will be prepped with a splattering of corn meal. Carefully stretch the dough over your preferred cooking tray (we use one with holes in the bottom, which makes a mess, but ensures an unsoggy crust), and pre-cook for about 10 minutes. Then add your sauce, toppings, and cheese, and bake at 425 degrees until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown (15-20 more minutes, although ovens always tend to vary).

I can't say that my mouth isn't watering right now...Enjoy!

Winning!!

My dad and I had a terrific heartfelt, tearful conversation before he left The States for Portugal. We made sure to say all the things we wanted to, just in case his plane crashed and we didn't get to say it (true story).

The overall theme of our conversation was living every day like it's your last, and the fact that I've always put a lot of pressure on myself, ever since I was a little girl. I think this was meant to be constructive criticism, a suggestion to step back and smell the roses...I do smell the roses, I try to live in the moment, but I also believe in intense pressure making us the best that we can possibly be. You may hate clichés, but consider a diamond as the perfect example.

I've just recently begun to embrace my neuroticism, because there's no chance of it going away. My quirks make me, well, quirky. Instead of wasting energy trying to be something I'm not, it's much more fulfilling to be accepting of what others may view as shortcomings.

Below is a blend of ideas from Rocky, Charlie Sheen, and my ever-confident boyfriend. When my self-doubt starts to take control, and I feel myself spinning, reading this helps me remember that I am in control...

"Blaming shortcomings on this or that or someone is not what winners do. Life will always throw punches. It's not about how hard you can hit, it's about how you take the hits that counts. Winners overcome and no one can stop them, because there's no one to blame but themselves. WINNING!!"

(P.S.- if you're able to picture Charlie Sheen shouting, "Winning!" over and over again, it makes this much more effective, hahaha!)

Summertime Cucumber-Tomato Salad

My lovely and talented sister is a caterer, and she is ever-patient and helpful whenever I call her looking for fab recipes. I feel like I'm stealing from her, taking her successful dishes and recreating them at home; but it's the only way to get a taste of her cooking from a thousand miles away. She never fails to supply me with an idea for something inventive and delish to try, like this Cucumber-Tomato Summer Salad.

This is super easy, a plus for me and my A.D.D. cooking style. Plus, Matt doesn't hold the same affinity as I do for tomatoes and cucumbers, so I get to hoard all this to myself (bonus)! I know this isn't exactly the recipe I was given, but it turned out tasting like summer, and was the perfect side to my barbecue chicken last night. I diced four Roma tomatoes and a half of a cucumber, julienned about an eighth of a large red onion, and tossed the mixture with some Greek vinaigrette I had in my pantry... Done!
I can't wait to eat this for lunch today, and next time I make Matt's office lunch, I definitely want to include this in the menu.

Just four ingredients is all it takes!

Red Wine+Clumsy Lady

I was too rushed to think of taking a picture of the spill,
but here's our couch mid-cleaning, after try one, and after a second run-through...Back to pretty!


My Italian blood dictates that I be passionate about pasta, talk with my hands, and have a love affair with wine.

Keeping in mind that all these things are true, you should also know that my boyfriend has a love of light-colored furniture, which is how this question arises...When red wine and light furniture collide, how do you maintain a happy house?

The internet has many tips on removing red wine from anything you can think of, and after many spills and many frantic "Googlings", I've found the best recipe for red wine wine spills. And the best news is that it probably won't require a trip to the store (every lost second counts when we're talking about red wine), and it WORKS .

I have a tendency to force myself to stay up and watch TV when I should just go to bed. This often means I fall asleep in a sitting position, and wake up in the middle of the night to move to the bedroom, alone and slightly embarrassed because

I. Am. Stubborn.
This last week at work has been particularly exhausting, and I once again insisted on staying awake when I had no business doing so. I was awoken at 12:30 a.m. by the clink of my glass tipping out of my relaxed hand; a glass that was half-full of Cabernet. As I mentioned, we have light-colored furniture, and this was no sprinkling of stain. I bolted up, grabbed my iPad (ie, my Googler), and started searching for remedies that could be found in my kitchen.

Without further adieu, here's my step-by-step for all my fellow red-wine-enthusiasts-who-may-also-be-clumsy peeps...
1. Grab a towel and blot the stain until no more color comes up.
2. Sprinkle a thick layer of salt over the entire affected area, let sit for at least five minutes.
3. While the salt is pulling up more moisture, mix together a few drops of liquid dish soap and 12 cup of white vinegar. Grab a clean towel.
4. Brush or vacuum the salt off your stain.
5. Using the clean towel, blot and rub (gently) both sides of the stain if possible with your vinegar and dish soap combo. Let this sit for at least 5 minutes.
6. Get another clean towel and fresh, cold water. After the five minutes has lapsed, rinse the area by blotting and gently rubbing with clean water until no more color comes up.
7. Let the area air-dry and hope for the best!
8. If the stain is still noticeable after drying, repeat steps 5-7.

I used this remedy on both a light microfiber couch and a tan shag rug (sadly, on two different nights in the same week), with spectacular results (hooray!). Although it would be amazing if I didn't spill in the first place, I think I'll be switching to white wine for the time being!

Please keep in mind that every fabric is different, and although this worked for me, it may not work for you. But best of luck, and if you find something better, please share it!

Chicken-Filled Mini Peppers

Trolling around the grocery store for on-sale meats and fish is one of my favorite activities (don't be jealous). There will usually be something inventive, organic, and out of my budget on sale, meaning I can indulge without breaking the bank.

One week, I found Sausage-Stuffed Mini Peppers for $2, so I snatched them up for plans on dinner that evening. Amidst my excitement at this value, I completely forgot that we were on a health-food kick and sausage was strictly outlawed. So I froze them with the intent of eating them after we were done dieting, but the funny thing is, it's never stopped and now I actually enjoy eating healthy food (drat). So I pitched those fatty nuggets and decided to remake them, in a healthy version.

I just happened to have picked up a giant bag of mini sweet peppers for the grill, and had ground chicken breast on hand, so this was a no-brainer recipe. I cooked my chicken with salt, pepper, ground red pepper flakes, minced garlic, diced celery, red onion, until it was nearly cooked through, then I tossed a handful of shredded Colby-Jack cheese to the mixture. In the meantime, I cut the tops off my peppers, removed the seeds, and arranged in a mini muffin tray (I didn't think we would eat all 24, but we sure did!). When I cook regular-sized stuffed peppers, I'll put a bit of water in the bottom of the dish, but since these didn't have flat bottoms, the mini muffin tray worked like a gem; I could still add water to each cup, and not worry about the mixture falling out.

I covered the tray with aluminum foil, and baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then I uncovered the tray and set the oven to broil, to add some nice color and texture to each pepper. These were lava-hot coming out of the oven, and we made a meal with just these and a glass of white wine. Matt pretty much dug out the chicken and left most of the peppers, but I felt good about "sneaking" veggies into our dinner, so I'd call this one a success!

How do you "health-up" your favorite recipes?