Sweet Asian Salad Dressing

This is a tangy and delicious salad dressing perfect for any Asian style salad!

What You Need (makes about 1 cup):
Rice Vinegar
Olive Oil
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Franks Red Hot Sweet Chili sauce

What To Do:


Pour equal parts of the Rice vinegar and Olive Oil into a container or bowl.

Add remaining ingredients and shake vigorously.

Refrigerate and serve over your favorite Asian salad!

Random Breakfast Scramble

I do a lot of breakfast scrambles because they are easy, healthy, and you can add practically whatever you have on hand to make a really good breakfast. This one is a protein packed scramble that is easy and delicious!

What You Need (Serves 2):

2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 red potato,diced
1/2 chopped red onion
4 pieces of thinly sliced ham (I used lunch meat!)
1 clove chopped garlic
1/4 cup canned diced tomatos
1 tbsp finely shredded Parmesan

What To Do:

Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. Add to it 1 medium sized, chopped red potato. Fry the potatoes in the oil until brown and soft.

Once potatoes are browned, chop and add the lunch meat, onion, garlic, and diced tomatoes. Stir until the onions have caramelized.

Once everything is heated through lower the heat to medium heat. Make a 'hole' in the middle of the ingredients and crack the two eggs in the center. Allow them to cook for a little bit, and then begin to scramble. Once cooked through, combine the eggs with the rest of the ingredients. Scoop all the ingredients to the middle of the pan and allow to set for about 1 minute.

Sprinkle as much cheese as you like over the top and allow to melt (about 1 minute). I used about 2 tablespoons.

Serve alongside of fresh fruit or whole grain toast and you are all set to go :)) YUMMY!

Sunburst Mirrors!

I found a similar project on another DIY blog and decided to give it a try....the ENTIRE project cost me only $4.00!! I found both the skewers and the mirrors at 99¢ Only Stores and already had the glue and spray paint on hand :)

What You Need (This will depend on the size and number of mirrors that you make.):
Two 4 inch octagon shaped mirrors (you can go bigger or smaller or do various shaped mirrors)
A LOT of skewers. (for this I used about 250 skewers which were 10 inches in length)
Hot glue gun
A LOT of hot glue sticks ( I used about 8 glue sticks)
2 paper plates
Silver metallic spray paint
Hammer and nails for hanging

What To Do:

Trace the outline of the mirror you are using onto a paper plate. Cut it out. This will be the base you will glue the skewers to.

Begin playing with how you want to lay out the skewers. I lay mine in various lengths to create a 'sunburst' effect.

Once you have figured out how you want to place the skewers, begin gluing them to the paper plate cut out. As you can see, I made sure that I had one skewer which crossed into the middle. This will create an 'anchor' for hanging the mirror on the wall.

Continue doing this until the entire plate is covered with the skewers. COVER the skewers in EXTRA glue. Allow to dry thoroughly.

Once dry, take the mirror outside, flip it over glue-side down and lay on top of newspaper. It is now time to spray paint the skewers (or have your husband do it like I did hehehe).

Allow to dry, glue on the mirrors, hang and you are done! Repeat over and over until you have created as many mirrors as you want!

Play with different sizes and lengths also. I did one small and one larger :)

99¢ Only Stores is Just My 'Thing'!

Here is a bit of insight on why I shop 99¢ Only Stores...Mostly, because you can still get practically everything you want or need for 99.99¢ or less!! Watch here to see everything I got for only $23.00!! :)

Loaded "Pizza"

This recipe is an EXCELLENT option for those who are as addicted to pizza as I am. You still get the flavors and textures you desire WITHOUT packing on the pounds :) Enjoy!

What You Need (makes 1-2 servings, depending on how hungry you are): 

1 Multi-Grain Sandwich thins (bagel thins will work also)
1 tbsp olive oil
dried oregano to taste
garlic and parsley salt to taste
about 3 tbsp of canned, diced tomatoes
1 stick of light mozzarella string cheese
about 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Optional fresh veggies I used are:
a few chunks of fresh tomato
a few pieces of diced red onion

What to do:
Open up your sandwich thin and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. This will add delicious flavor and also help crisp up the 'crust' while it bakes in the oven.

Open a can of diced tomatoes and just sprinkle a few over the crust. I literally used a little less than 1/4 of the can and saved the rest.

Sprinkle with the seasonings to taste. You can also add minced garlic at this time if you would like.

I diced up a little bit of red onion and fresh tomato, but you can add whatever veggies you wish.

Take 1 stick of light mozzarella cheese. Trust me, the light is JUST as good as the regular, especially when it's on this pizza. It melts really nicely, but since there isn't as much fat in it, it will look as though it isn't quite melted so look for it to brown.

I then topped the pizza with just a sprinkle of parmesean cheese.

Pop that baby in the oven at 350 for about 15-18 minutes or until your cheese is brown and enjoy!!

Meals for Lowering Cholesterol

Yesterday, my husband and I found out that his cholesterol is extremely high. What an eye opener. He is now on medication for the next 4 months and we will be altering his diet immensely. Any suggestions for yummy meals I can make him while not harming his health?

Monogram Wall-Art for under $5!!

As some of you may know, I am currently doing the house in a "beach" theme. Everything in the house is becoming blue, tan, and sea shell covered so I wanted to have our Master 'suite' *cough, cough* set apart from the rest of the home. My friend Melanie gave be the idea to do a 'Romantic' theme for our bedroom which I think is a fabulous idea. So far, I haven't really been focusing on the bedroom consumed by the rest of the home decorating, but I did manage to narrow it down to colors: Red and Black. While browsing around at 99¢ only stores, I came across some AMAZING and HUGE white wooden monogram letters. I immediately grabbed a 'k' and 'j' and a 'p' not really knowing what I would do with them.

I have oodles and oodles of paint and so one day I was looking at the bare wall above our bed and decided that the 'j' and 'k' would look great there. I painted the letters black and hung them; mine on my side and his on his side. The gap in between them was weird looking so I knew something had to go there. I went to Michael's with my weekly 40% coupon in hopes that I would maybe find a canvas to paint or something. I grabbed a small canvas and headed towards the wooden 'unfinished' pieces. I found the perfect plain little shelf. On my way up to the cash register, I passed by the 'dollar area' and noticed they had small canvas's with little tea cups on them for a $1. DING DING! Hello! I would much rather pay a dollar for a canvas than $5 dollars! I chose one I thought I could cover up.
The shelf (which I painted black) was $1.50 with my 40% off coupon and the canvas $1. The J and K letters were 99.99¢ each. I already owned the paint, so the whole project was only $4.50! Here's what it all turned out like :)

Here is what the canvas looked like before I painted it :))

Homemade Pizza Crust (So dangerous! hehe)

So after a very um...long night (lol) my husband and I were watching T.V. on the couch and saw a show on the Cooking Channel which was all about making pizza. We started craving it immediately. Of course, me being the aspiring 'homemade mommy' I am, I thought to myself, 'Self, how delish would it be to make HOMEMADE pizza crust and pizza??!?' Right away I started doing research to find what goes into making the perfect pizza crust. After searching through many chef's blogs, looking at different recipes, and taking into consideration what I like most about my favorite crust from my favorite pizza joints, I concocted this magnificent recipe. It's time consuming, but WELLLLL worth the wait :)) Enjoy!

What You Will Need:

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups of warm water
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

What To Do:
Heat the water to a warm temperature, not too hot and not too cold (too hot will kill the yeast, too cold will not activate it)

In a bowl, mix the yeast, brown sugar, and warm water and allow to sit for 10 min.

After 10 minutes, add in the salt and olive oil. Mix well.

Add in 2 1/2 cups of flour (You will add the rest later) and mix to create a sticky dough.

Thoroughly flour a dry flat surface and transfer the dough. Add the rest of the flour slowly and knead until it is no longer sticky. You may not end up using all of the flour.

In a separate bowl, rub oil all over the inside and transfer the dough to the oiled bowl.

Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 1 hour. The amount of dough should almost double.

Take the dough and create a tight ball. Allow to rest on a floured surface for about 2 minutes before rolling out.

Roll out to the thickness of crust you desire (I don't have a rolling pin can you believe that??? So mine is lumpy). I suggest getting it as thin as possible because mine ended up being pretty thick.

Place on a pizza stone or in an oiled pan.
Add toppings and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20minutes :)) YUM!

On my pizza (Ordered by how I applied them):

Olive oil
Fresh chopped garlic
Sprinkled Oregano
Sprinkled Onion powder
Sprinkled Garlic salt
Low-Fat Ricotta Cheese
Spinach Leaves
Parmesan Cheese

Quick and Easy Lasagna

This recipe is so easy you don't even have to boil the noodles! (That is, if you choose to use the no boil kind like I did hehe) Of course you can substitute any of these ingredients with brands that you prefer, but I am set on this specific way to do it!

Baking time is 60 min. 

What You Need (this will make a 4 layer lasagna in a 13 x 9 baking dish):

1 box of no boil lasagna noodles
1 lb of ground beef browned and drained
2 jars of red pasta sauce
1 pkg (2 cups) of mozzarella/provolone cheese
1 pkg (3/4 cup) of parmesean cheese
1 pkg (2 cups) of Italian blend cheese
16 oz of ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried parsley for meat and 1/2 tsp for ricotta mixture

What to do: 
First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the ground beef until brown. While cooking stir in the garlic salt, onion powder and parsley.

Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat two eggs.

Add in the ricotta cheese.

Add in the Parmesan cheese and the mozzarella/provolone combo. Mix well.

Stir in parsley.

Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Pour 1/2 cup of sauce into the bottom of the dish.

Lay 4 pieces of the no boil lasagna into the bottom of the dish.

Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. I found it easiest to spread with my fingers.

Spread 1/2 of the meat over the cheese and sprinkle 1/2 cup of the italian cheese blend over the meat.

Pour 1/2 cup of sauce over the top.

Layer 4 noodles again.

Spread another 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the italian cheese blend over the ricotta cheese.

Pour 1/2 cup of sauce over the top.

Layer 4 noodles again.

Spread remaining ricotta cheese, meat, and sauce over the noodles.

Top with the remaining italian cheese blend.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 60 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, remove the foil and allow the cheese to melt completely.




YUMM!