The Busy Broad

Gem Flamingo

2013-06-18T21:49:00.001-07:00

I have a secret love for flamingos

I think I've always kinda liked them....but a new found love for them is starting to brew inside me

Not only are they my favorite color....but they're just so...sooo.....nerdy?! There's something awkward about them that I love. Does that make any sense?

Almost like they're kinda of the underdog and I'm rooting for them. And they can twist and bend in ways I can only hope I will get to someday with my yoga practice. I basically strive to be a flamingo.....Ok not really. But I want to bend like one for sure!

Anywho....I can totally see myself being that crazy old lady with a bunch of flamingos in her yard....I freakin love them!

When I broke the news to The Boy that I wanted to put a flamingo in our yard his response was "Only if it's wearing sunglasses"

So I ran out the next day and bought a cheap one from the dollar store. I was far too excited and impatient to figure out the whole sunglasses thing....so I decided to go with gems

I just hot glued them all over and.....voila!

A gem covered flamingo

Cheesy as hell? Yep.

Awesome nonetheless? Absolutely.

And just so I fulfill The Boy's wishes....I think I might have to go buy another one just to give it some sunglasses. I wouldn't want my poor hubby to be disappointed now would I?

I think it would have been alot cuter if I had used a faceted type gem instead of these plain ones....but I was overly excited and eager to make one that I didn't care at them time and used what I had on hand

Does that mean I have to make yet another one? I think so!

Before you know it I will have a whole flock of flamingos in my yard. Stay tuned for the flamingo fun

MoMo Monday Week #9

2013-06-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Father's Day!

Hope all the dads out there had a great day

Here's a card MoMo made for her daddy a few years back

Complete with her cute little paw print...not the brightest idea I ever had though

And her list of reasons why he's such a good daddy

MoMo is such a card making fool! Go HERE to see the card she made me for Mothers Day

Pesto Crescent Bites

2013-06-16T18:37:00.002-07:00

I went to a baby shower back in September

There were mountains of delicious food everywhere....but I was pretty much eating only one thing

These delicious little crescent bites that I could not get enough of. I think I almost polished off the entire tray myself....it hit the point of embarrassing but they were like baby shower crack man!

When I asked what was in them I was surprised at how simple it was....just store bought crescent dough and pesto

So simple yet sooooooo delicious!

I couldn't get these delicious little things out of my head so when Thanksgiving rolled around I had to make them for our appetizer spread

I originally intended to make my own pesto, but when I saw that I could buy an entire jar of the premade stuff for less than I could buy one of those little plastic packs of just the fresh basil....not even including all the other ingredients....I decided store bought it is. The price of herbs is pretty ridic!

I don't have any pictures of the process of me making them but it's pretty straight forward.

Just unroll your crescents from the can, spread a little pesto all over the dough, and roll up as you normally would

Since some of the pesto seeped out as I rolled it up I spread some on the top too just so it would all look the same

Bake according the the package directions. You can keep them whole If you want but I cut them in half to be more bite sized

I promise everyone will love them.....so my suggestion is to make alot =)

DIY Wedding Planning Notebook

2013-06-13T21:51:00.001-07:00

Meet my friend Jade

I have known her since my Freshman year of high school. We also waitressed at the same crappy restaurant (bow ties and dancing included) and then went on to go to Culinary school together

Here we are at Disneyland

At the beach

And good ole senior prom

She's the friend that I don't get to see often.....but nothing changes. She's always a text away and there if I never need her. I love this girl to death!

When I heard the happy news that her boyfriend popped the question I was soooo happy for her! I instantly began thinking of gift ideas. I decided I wanted to give her something that would be useful in the planning process but still cute and thoughtful

So I decided on a wedding planning notebook

They chose yellow and grey as their wedding colors which I LOVE. In fact, I want that to be our living room colors when we buy a house....but enough about me....back to the bride to be :)

I bought a yellow binder, some scrapbook paper, some cool letters, and some embellishments

Her dog......my bad, her child.... is named Daisy and it's also her favorite flower so I had to incorporate them

Inside I put dividers with different planning topics

These topics included: venue, food, cake, music, ceremony, clothing hair etc, decor, guest list and invitations, flowers, and honeymoon

In the back I put page protectors that she can put behind each divider

In these she can put notes, inspiration pictures, receipts, business cards.....whatever

I got super lucky and found a bunch of grey and yellow notecards and notepads and Michaels. Perfect for jotting down all your to do lists and notes

Notice MoMo's little foot in the upper right corner? She kept laying down on top of all the stuffs as I tried to get a picture. I moved her about 4 times before I gave up and decided that this was as good as it was gonna get...so there her little paw is

I put it all in this cute bag. I really scored on the yellow and grey stuff!

I haven't had a chance to give it to her yet but I really hope she gets some use out of it all.

And if she's reading this......surprise! lol ;)

I can't wait for her big day

Patriotic Decor

2013-06-12T23:40:00.002-07:00

I have a thing for patriotic decor

The last few years have really brought out my inner flag waving "Merica!!" side

I think it's partly because you can keep all the decorations up for so long....basically you could have them up from May-September and nobody would judge you

Ok....MOST people won't judge you

Here's a cute and cheap craft you can add to that collection

All you need is some acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, wood letters, and a picture frame

I have an abundance of these Dollar Tree picture frames leftover from Christmas gifts that never came to be. I've meant to make them the past 2 Christmases and never did....so I think it's safe to use one for this project then.....dontcha think?

All I did was paint the frame red, and the letters white

These letters from Michaels were the perfect size to fit a 5x7 frame

I bought some blue glitter cardstock that was unique because it was corrugated. I think it made it alot more interesting

Cut your scrapbook paper or cardstock of choice to fit them frame and hot glue your letters to it

That's it! I originally intended to glitter the frame as well.....but ended deciding to leave it plain red to put more focus on the blue.

Let me tell you....for a glitter addict like myself that was a quite an accomplishment

But of course.....then I ended up using glitter star picks ( from 99c Only) in a mason jar next to it as an accent. So I still got a second glitter fix....but what are you gonna do? Addicts don't recover overnight

MoMo Monday Week #8

2013-06-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Happy National Donut Week!

MoMo is pretty excited about it because she is a big donut fan

When we have an Entenmann's variety box of donuts like this......

MoMo has been known to get caught with her head in the box. She lifts the top and sticks her head right in almost as if she's under the hood of a car

And what makes it even better is she takes after her mama. She could choose the powdered, or the chocolate.....but my baby goes right for the classic buttermilk....my all time favorite. Now that's my girl!

But since I don't have much self control when it comes to donuts....They aren't in the house much these days

Back around Thanksgiving I bought donut holes to make some cute acorn desserts with the little girls. The very next day after I bought them I woke up to find this........

MoMo had punched through the window of the box and licked a donut hole to death! Apparently, the bitch needed some sugar and couldn't resist the temptation any more. Silly MoMo!

And here is a picture of us sharing a donut....Lady and the Tramp style

And one of me....mouth full of donut....looking like a big dork and MoMo happy to get it all to herself

Now make MoMo happy and go get yourself a donut. And maybe one for her too ;)

Low Carb Spam, Eggs, and "Rice"

2013-06-05T18:55:00.002-07:00

I love Spam....let's make that clear

So much in fact that I wrote an award winning poem about it in the second grade

Well.....at least the first line of the poem

And I'm not kidding about the award....I was the district wide contest winner for my grade level.....what now sucka!

Prepare yourself for some poetic genius

Ahhem.......

I Like Spam and I like to skate

But there are things I really hate

Like hair in the sink and mushy peas

And wet smelly dogs that make me sneeze

I like Saturdays and rainy days

And going to the movies when my dad pays

But most of all I like to sing real loud

And talk on the phone when I'm not allowed

Why Robert Frost is famous and I'm not....I'll never understand

;)

So as you can see....I have a passion for Spam. I don't care what people say about it. I don't care that you plop it out of a can....nothing can sway my feelings of love for that salty pink meat. Nothin!

I've never been to Hawaii....but considering how much they love pineapple and Spam, as do I, I'm sure I would love it

Oh....and the beautiful weather and scenery couldn't hurt either....but mostly the Spam

But from what I've heard and seen a plate of white rice, Spam, and eggs is a very popular meal

I wanted to recreate it here at home but with a low carb twist

Start by slicing your spam....I like mine kind of thin

And pan fry it until crispy

If you don't like Spam I'm convinced you've just never cooked it right

I paired it with scrambled eggs (with a drizzle of sriracha) and cauliflower rice with loads of butter....because I can

(for those of you who have never made cauliflower rice it's just shredded cauliflower fried in a pan with some chicken stock added to let it steam and cook through)

It was delicious and exactly what I was craving

I think a low carb lifestyle is easiest to stick to when you find a way to satisfy any cravings you have by reinventing it and making it fit your new eating habits. It just takes some tweaks and a little thought....but it helps stick to it in the long run

Bullet Proof Coffee Flavor Variations

2013-06-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

If you live a low carb or Paleo lifestyle there is a good chance you have heard of bullet proof coffee already

If you haven't, I'll give you the basics:

It's coffee blended with grass fed butter and MTC oil.....but I use coconut oil because I'm cheap

While this sounds completely nuts to the average American (simply because we have this false idea of eating low fat as being healthy drilled into our heads) a low carb or Paleo lifestyle promotes high quality healthy fats as vital part of your diet

I had been eating low carb for about a year and a half when I knew I needed to up my fat intake....this was the perfect way to do it

Go to The Bullet Proof Executive website to read more details from the master himself

www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulletproofexec.com%2Fhow-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too%2F&ei=uCisUa6UIcjpigKV64HQBA&usg=AFQjCNHvxY1nfSSsaS5kA7v2QSs5DDbAKA&sig2=30WWqcByYvBwtU9hf7f0fg&bvm=bv.47244034,d.cGE

Just a forewarning though....the first couple days you may be a hot mess. At least I was. It gives you CRAZY energy thus the "bullet proof" name.....but those first couple days I was far from it

I think it may have been magnified by the fact that if I go any extended length of time without drinking caffeine and have it again it's as if I'm having it for the first time ever and my body has a really shaky, cracked out, tweaker reaction. Prior to drinking bullet proof coffee I was never an every morning coffee drinking kinda gal at all....and I had recently cut sodas out so I hadn't had caffeine in quite some time

Also, I have a fairly labor intensive job with alot of repetitive motion and walking in circles (I cook) so if I am even the slightest bit nauseated the motion only makes it worse

Moral of this story is if you think you might be prone to a bad reaction the first few days, I highly suggest trying it out on a more low key day....maybe even your day off from work. That way you can veg out if needed. I was practically holding back heaves at work in a hot and humid kitchen......not fun at all

But after I got over the ick of the first 2 days I felt AMAZING! And I'm not kidding. I had such a boost of energy and it keeps me full and satisfied until my lunch break.....and I'm incorporating healthy fats into my diet that would up my metabolism for the whole day.....winning! Now I can't start my morning without it.

Here are 2 flavors I do to switch it up.....but coffee is a blank canvas anway

First up is cinnamon

Add in your desired amount of butter and coconut oil (I use 2 TB of each) and about 1 tsp. of cinnamon. I also add in a splash of Mexican vanilla. You can also add Stevia if you like more sweetness

Blend it up....I keep an immersion blender out on my counter

The butter and oil create a nice creamy foam on top....almost like a cappuccino

Mmmmmm

Next is chocolate....or I guess Mocha in the coffee world

I put in a little less than a tablespoon....which does add 1 carb. But I don't think that one carb is a big deal when you realize how delicious it makes it. I also add vanilla to this and sometimes Stevia

Here's proof that coffee can be delicious without high sugar coffee creamers....and it be healthy for you too!

MoMo Monday Week #7

2013-06-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've always had a sneaking suspicion that MoMo hit the green every now and again....I could see it in her dilated eyes late at night

But I was your typical mother in denial until I knew for absolute sure

I was cleaning the house and found my worst nightmare....a baggy of the goods hidden under her mattress

What they say is true....it's a gateway drug. Before you knew it, it just wasn't enough and MoMo had moved onto the harder stuff

We had to have an intervention to put an end to this madness!

She was ashamed......you could see it in her face when we confronted her

With a little time and support I'm happy to say that MoMo has cleaned up her act and is now completely drug free!

Just Kidding. ;)

Of course that was just a bag of cat nip and the syringes were her pain meds from her surgery

She took the most perfect picture ever with those syringes and I knew I had to turn it into a post.....my cute little actress!

DIY Tennis Racquet Mirror

2013-06-02T12:14:00.001-07:00

This project is old.....REAL old. Like I made this for my nieces' 13th birthday and she just turned 14 a few weeks ago old.

Better late than never right? Or so they say

So my Katie is quite the little tennis star. She's been taking lessons for maybe 4 years I think?.....somewhere around there

She was 13 and playing against 17 year old boys. She was kicking ass and taking names like a champ....that's my girl!

I wanted to give her a tennis themed birthday gift and I came across this picture on Pinterest that gave me the idea

So I made my trip to Goodwill to hunt down an old racquet and found this (beware of crappy pictures to come)

I spray painted the whole thing a light blue

I don't seem to have any pictures, but then I put a few coats of blue glitter acrylic on it

Then comes the mirror portion. I didn't have the time, patience, or ability to cut the mirror to the exact shape of the racquet like the inspiration photo. I just went to Michael's Craft Store and bought a round mirror that would fit in the middle. I kind of like the exposed strings because I feel like she could use it to hang earrings or something if she wanted to

I used the best glue in the world....E-6000 Glue

What I did was glue the mirror to the strings as best as possible, and then took a piece of cardboard cut to the same size as the mirror and glued it to the backside. This way the strings of the racquet were sort of sandwiched in the middle and the mirror had something to stick to (the cardboard)

I decorated the mirror by gluing on some gems I had.

Get this.....those gems were from a kit I got from my older sister Heather for Christmas in the 3rd grade. Katie was born when I was in 3rd grade.....so those gems are literally as old as her. I've had them for over 13 years

But hey.....my theory is that it's not hoarding if you eventually use it......right?

Now I'm already a bad photographer....terrible.....no good

But damn it's hard to take a picture of s mirror! I honestly have no clue how to do it and make it look even remotely ok looking. So they're pretty bad

Baaaadddd.......

Still bad

And you guessed it......bad

And while I was on this tennis kick I also made this sign for her bedroom

I hope that when she makes it as a big tennis star she remembers how her favorite auntie was so supportive of her tennis career.....remember that Katie! ;)

So now you know what to give the tennis player in your life.....I know how often people are on the hunt for a good tennis gift.....all the time I assume

DIY Bling Pet Collar

2013-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago it was my MoMo's birthday

You can see the festivities Here

I decided to make her a special occasion collar in honor of the big day

It was super easy and all came together in 20 minutes the night before her birthday (I'm the queen on procrastination)

I bought a plain pink collar from the dollar store and attached gems and pearls with hot glue

Trying to get a cat to model for you can be a little tough. She insisted on taking a shower in the middle of the photo shoot. And not a simple lick the paw, rub the head kind of bath. No no. It was the head between the legs kind

This was the best I could get

Here's a side view of her wearing it during her birthday dinner

Now she has a fancy going out collar. Not that she goes out or anything....but if she did she would be preparedd

MoMo Monday Week #6

2013-05-27T12:09:00.001-07:00

All you hardcore Disney fans out there probably already know this....but this past week Disney Parks hosted a Monstrous 24 hour All Nighter

It was a promotion for Monster University coming out June 21st where the parks were open for 24 hours straight.....awesome right?

I was already bummed that I was missing out on the fun when I started seeing all the pictures roll in on the internet.....that lead me into straight depression mode. Waaaah!

Look at how cute all of them are in their jammies!

I would LOVE to go to Disneyland in my PJs.....I would rock my Minnie Mouse onesie

(Please ignore my ratchet hair)

Now for the MoMo portion of this MoMo Monday post......

Seeing all the characters all cute in their jammies made me dig through my pictures to find an old photo of my little love in her nightgown

I think she would have fit in well with the Disney crew! They had mice, ducks, chipmunks, and even a dog....but no cat. MoMo could have filled that void. After all.......she is the Cats Pajamas! (see what I did there? ;)

How to Make Ice Cream Cake Cupcakes

2013-05-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

My niece Katie just turned 14 on Monday....yea....she's getting old! My little buddy is getting all growed up and stuff :'( Here's a picture collage I posted on Instagram

It's hard for me to even fathom the idea that she will legally be able to start driving a car in one year and 7 months.

Not that she should....she kinda goes into complete spaz mode in any kind stressful situation so god knows what would happen to that girl in traffic. The point is though she legally COULD drive relatively soon....and that's just plain weird!

Anyway....all the men of the family went away this past weekend on a testosterone filled man camping trip. It of course included beer, guns, off roading, and the pungent smell of man feet filling the camper.

Us wives were so bummed to miss out...(yeeea....bummed) so we had to have our own fun. We had a chickfest weekend which included mounds of sushi, drinks, pool time, and of course a little birthday celebration for Katie

After giving her some ideas she decided on ice cream cake cupcakes as her dessert

They're really quite simple

Start by spooning a tablespoon of the cake mix if your choice into your cupcake liner. I used silicone liners but traditional paper ones work just fine

Bake about 12-15 minutes or until done and let completely cool

Then scoop softened ice cream (we used mint chocolate) on top of the cake and smooth. You want it to come up to the top of the cupcake liner

Put in the freezer until solid

Then pipe on your whipped cream and topping of choice and put back in the freezer to set up the cream

That's it!

You get the best of both worlds.....and no cutting and scooping required! It would be great for a kids party and make your life alot easier.

DIY Painted Floppy Hat

2013-05-21T22:31:00.002-07:00

Last summer I fell in love with the floppy hats at the dollar store. They seriously seemed almost exactly the same as the ones I've seen that are $10 and up

Here's the one I made back then

And the tutorial. In that post you'll see how I said I was tempted to buy a bunch and make a butt load of different designs

Welp.....I did just that. I bought a bout 5....ok 6.............alright maybe it was 8

And now I'm having fun doing all sorts of fun stuff to them. This first one I made was inspired by this look that I found at alot of different stores....stripes!

All I did was use acrylic paint to paint on the stripes using the lines on the brim of the hat as my guide

You really have to sort of push the paint through the holes for even coverage

I just did one black stripe and one white stripe. I'm debating whether or not I should keep going and paint the entire thing like the example above? What do you think? Or should I leave it? I can't decide!!

Thanks to Elsa for modeling it for me

Can't beat getting a customized hat for around $2.

MoMo Monday Week #5

2013-05-20T21:12:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday was MoMo's birthday.

Ok.....so technically I have no idea when her actual birthday is. I didn't have her mom as pet or adopt her from a friend whose cat had kittens or anything like that (actually...she adopted me. Another story for another Monday) but she needed a birthday. I took the month that I got her in and gave her the same birth date as me....so I deemed her birthday May 14th

Each year she gets a special dinner of salmon...this year was no different

I even let her eat it out of a fancy dish like one of those stuck up Fancy Feast cats. Why they're on TV and MoMo isn't I'll never understand

She was a trooper with her party hat. She wasn't a huge fan of it but the trick is to put it on her and then set her down right in front of her birthday dinner.....she forgets all about the hat

And of course....what's a birthday without cake???

MoMo got salmon and cake waaaasted!!!!!

Then she proceeded to curl up on the rug and fall into a deep birthday induced coma. I think she had a good time

And here are the pictures I posted on Instagram that night

Come follow me. TheBusyBroad

Happy Birthday little Mo! Here's to many more years of a purrrrrrfect friendship. (I couldn't resist a good cat pun)

DIY Custom Shirts Using Freezer Paper

2013-05-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have been DYING to start making my own shirts. My head is stuffed full of cool sayings and designs.....but I've been unsure of the best way to go about executing them

I really love all the cool shirts people make using iron on vinyl....but since I don't have a Silhouette Cameo or any other kind of cutting machine for that matter (This busy broad is also a poor broad) I haven't really felt like I should bother breaking into the world of vinyl. Pretty much too depressing for me without a machine haha

So I decided to finally give the freezer paper technique of making shirts for an idea I had for my niece Elsa's birthday

If you follow me at all, you might remember that she had a camping themed party....so sticking with the theme I decided to make a "Happy Camper" shirt

First off I decided to use up some pink flower iron on letters I had left over from making the little girls flower girl shirts for the rehearsal

Then came the camper portion

I found an imagine online and printed it out. Then I traced it with sharpie onto the freezer paper

I marked with an X what was to be cut out.

CAREFULLY cut the entire image with an exacto knife as well as the X out areas....but be sure to keep the pieces..you're going to need those

Take the piece of freezer paper and iron it onto the shirt shiny side down. It's the shiny stuff that makes it stick

Then position those little pieces you saved and iron those on too

Take your fabric paint and cover the whole area using a foam brush. I did about 3 coats to get it even

Peel off the outside

And then the little pieces

Not perfect...but not terrible for a first attempt at a new technique. You can see spots where I didn't have the paper ironed down good enough so paint seeped under. Next time I will do a better job of checking that. But once you put the shirt on a cute kid I think it doesn't even matter....right?

MoMo Monday Week #4

2013-05-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Mothers Day to all you mamas out there! Hope yours was great....mine certainly was.

Yes....I may not have human spawn but my I am most definitely a mother to my MoMo. Do I not feed her? Love her? Put a roof over her head? And pay over a thousand dollars recently to get her diagnosed and given surgery? If that doesn't qualify me as a mother I don't know what does.

Friday at work my supervisor was leaving and from across the kitchen I could see him mouthing something but I couldn't hear him. I said "Huh....what?"

"Not you he said.." and he turned to Persia my coworker and said "Happy Mothers Day" (she has a 17 year old and a 14 year old)

I was pretty happy that she came to my defense and said to him "She's a mother too...what about MoMo?"

Haha! thanks Persia! I'm glad somebody gets it ;)

Basically I think it boils down to the fact that there are 3 kinds of people in the world

Person #1 They don't like pets. And that's where I ask.....what the hell is wrong with you?? Seriously?

Replace the word "pets" in that card and that about sums it up

Person #2 You have a pet, but your pets are just "pets"

And then Person #3 is me.....your pets are much more than just a animal roaming your house. They are family. You talk about them to anyone and everyone who will listen....heck even to the people who don't want to listen. You take an insane amount of pictures of them and the people of Instagram and Facebook hate you (the ones without souls that is ) You may even write about them in your blog.....I'm not sure what kind of quack does that

With that being said.....back to Mothers Day.

The Boy....uhh...I mean MoMo made me a lovely card

I think she handles a crayon exceptionally well considering she doesn't have thumbs. Don't you?

And now for some Mama and Me photos. Or in this case MoMo and Me.......

I've showed this one before but it' worth showing again in my opinion. The night of our wedding I rushed home to see her before the after party. I love this picture because I'm still in my gown and she couldn't look anymore like an embarrassed child if she tried

Had enough?

Ok.....until next Monday

Low Carb Everything "Bagel"

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been one thing I've been craving.....an everything bagel

Considering there are over 60 carbs in one.....making my own version had to happen

So here's what I came up with

Start out by making your basic One Minute Flax bread

1 pat of Butter

1 Egg

1/2 tsp. Baking powder

2 Tb. Golden flax flour

1/4 C. Cheese

Start by spraying a ramekin with nonstick spray. Melt the butter in the ramekin, then mix in the egg, baking powder, flax, and cheese. It will look like this

Microwave it for....you guessed it....one minute. Flip it over and if it isn't done on the bottom cook it about 20 seconds more

Just plain like this it's perfect for sandwiches and burgers....whatever! Here it is as a breakfast sammie with bacon, tomato, a little mayo, and a fried egg

Now to make it into a bagel...

I made some of the "Everything" seasoning by combining equal parts:

Seasame seeds
Poppy Seeds
Minced dried onion
Minced dried garlic

Plus 1/2 the amount of salt of all the other ingredients

Whether it be teaspoons, tablespoons,...however big a batch you want to make

I sliced my minute bread in half and sprayed the outsides with nonstick spray and dipped it in the seasoning

Then toasted it in the toaster oven, cut side down to keep as much of the topping on as possible

Then I dressed it up the same way I do my bagels. Loaded with cream cheese, tomatoes, shaved red onion (literally shaved with a vegetable peeler) sliced avocado, salt and pepper

So here's the deal.....don't go into this expecting it to really feel like a bagel. It doesn't. Bagels have that very chewy...VERY doughy feel that this will never have. Actually, this bread in general is much closer in texture to an english muffin. I only call it a bagel because the flavor profile of the everything bagel is what inspired the idea

For me it was less about the bagel "feel" and more about the taste of the seasonings and gobs of cream cheese....I never ate bagels plain. It was all about how I loaded it up. So for me....this is a delicious alternative. I was delighted to get all those flavors together again....and in a "toast" like manner

Note: Some of my topping did fall off. The dried onion I bought was really big and chunky and I think that was part of the problem. It was heavy and didn't stick as well as the other ingredients and took some of them with it. I will look for smaller onion pieces and possibly use egg whites to stick on the seasoning next time. Over all though it didn't really bother me. What did fall off I would scoop off my plate and sprinkle on top of my bagel so I wouldn't miss out on the flavor

X-Ray Tech Graduation Party

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

My seester Kinsey graduated from X-ray school 2 years ago this month. Yay for smart successful family members!

Here she is with her boyfriend Brian....he also graduated from the same school

I have a few pictures I thought I would share despite their terrible quality. These of course were my pre-blogging days

I mostly just wanted to show you a few ideas because at the time when I was doing her little family party....I remember googling ideas and there wasn't much out there. So maybe this will give you few ideas.

I wasn't quite as creative back then as I am now (that's me...tooting my own horn. Toot toooot!) I think if I could do it all over again I would have gone CUH-RAY-ZE with the theme....I love me a good them!

But I was a little strapped for cash at the time and in the middle of planning my own wedding.....you know how that goes....kinda takes over your entire life

But here's a few little things I came up with......

I made her a cake to look like an X-ray...

I also bought her this dress offline....seemed fitting, don't ya think?

I studied an actual hand x-ray very carefully to make it look as close as I could.....but I know it's still waaaay off

Printed out some Xrays offline and taped them to the sliding door so you could see them

And made some little signs

I don't have any pictures, but I also cut bone shapes out of cardstock, strung them on string, and hung them around like garland

You could also pull out any bone Halloween decorations you have....that would be cool! I have some now but didn't have any at the time

Another idea that I didn't get to do was to make "Barium" milkshakes. I intended to buy cups and decorate them to look like the ones in the hospital and serve everyone vanilla milkshakes out of them......but I suck and it didn't happen. Waaah!

It wasn't much.....but hopefully this will give you some ideas to help plan a graduation bash for the X-ray tech in your life

MoMo Monday Week #3

2013-05-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Don't let MoMo's sweet baby face fool you........

She's been known to punch her daddy in the face

And again........

Moral of the story. Don't piss her off man

Ceviche

2013-05-05T23:46:00.004-07:00

The first time I ever had ceviche was at my friend Kristina's house in high school

That day the clouds parted, the sun came out, and my life was changed forever. f you think this sounds dramatic....it's not. It's just really that good...promise

It's so refreshing and addictive....and the bonus of it all is that it's actually really healthy . It's just shrimp and veggies.....whose gonna complain about that?

It's a perfect summer time dish because like I said, it's super refreshing and requires no heat....so you get a meal without heating up your house. A bonus for me because living here in AZ I avoid turning on the oven and stove at all costs about 4 months out of the year

Here's the delicious ingredients you'll need

Fresh shrimp, cilantro, red onion, orange and yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, and lemons

Start by fine dicing your red onion

And your cilantro

Then start to finely chop your shrimp. When you think you've chopped it fine enough...you haven't. Keep choppin! I usually buy the larger tail on shrimps and it takes me longer to take the tails off and chop, but this time I paid a little more and got the smaller tail off ones to make it go a littler faster

In a non reactive pan (I suggest glass) mix together the minced onion, cilantro, shrimp, and the juice of your lemons. I usually used about 10 or so. You want to put it in a pan with alot of surface area (I use a 9x13 baking dish) so everything can lay out in an even layer to allow the lemon juice to cook the shrimp evenly

Correction....it's not exactly "cooking" Let me drop a little knowledge here.......

Technically, to cook something you have to apply heat. The shrimps reaction to the lemon juice is actually just a denaturing of the protein. The same denaturing process happens in cooking....but with the use of heat. In this process the denaturing is being done by acid. Make sense?

I paid thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of dollars to learn that. Wanna thank me for this tidbit of information? Feel free to send a check on my behalf directly to Sallie Mae....please and thank you

I kid, I kid

Unless of course you REALLy want to....I won't fight it ;)

Here's how it will look right after you mix it all together

Put it in the fridge and let it "denature" ;) Stir it occasionally to make sure it is all getting coated in the lemon juice

I let these ingredients sit on their own for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours

In the mean time, finely dice your bell peppers and cucumber

I've seen some ceviches where they leave the shrimp whole and everything is really chunky, but I prefer everything chopped small so that you get a little bit of everything in every bite

After about 2 1/2 hours you'll see a difference in the shrimp. It will be firmer and orangeish in color compared to the translucent blue look from earlier. This means your shrimp is now "cooked"

Now mix in your bell peppers, cucumber, and diced avocado. Add salt to taste

Your ceviche is ready!

Eat it on a tostada or with tortilla chips

I warned ya.....this stuff is CRAAAAZY addictive. I crave it so bad I sometimes have to make stops at the ranch markets for theirs to tide me over.....but it's nothing compared to this

I also made some Posole today in honor of Cinco De Mayo

Go Here for the recipe

*Low Carb Note* This could easily be adapted to low carb by eating it with pork rinds, lettuce leaves, zucchini chips, or simply with a fork

Ceviche

2lb. Shrimp, finely chopped (white fish can be substituted)

2 sweet bell peppers, finely diced

1 red onion, minced

1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

5-7 avocados depending on size

10 lemons (roughly)

Salt

Mix together the red onion, cilantro, shrimp, and lemon juice and let sit in a glass pan with alot of surface area (such as a 9x13 baking dish) for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occassionally.

After the shrimp looks "cooked" stir in the bell peppers, cucumber, avocado, and salt to taste and let that sit and marinate together for another hour or so before serving

Artichoke Cheese Squares

2013-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Do you like artichokes? What about cheese? If you answered yes to these questions there is a pretty good chance you'll fall madly in love this recipe. I mean I make no guarantees (I'm no eharmony over here)....but it's entirely possible

It's a recipe that you can completely adapt to your tastes. The basic recipe is.....

15 oz can artichoke hearts, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

4 eggs

2 cup shredded cheese

Salt & Pepper

Olive oil

.......but that is just a starting point. Add whatever your in the mood for....or whatever is in your fridge that's on the verge of growing fur. Or veggies that are gonna begin to "juice" themselves if you don't hurry up and eat them. You know what I'm talking about right? That brown juice that accumulates at the bottom of your veggie crisping drawer.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who experiences this "juice" from time to time.... Right? I blame the damn lettuce personally....

Anywho....

Some ideas are:

Bacon

Diced ham

Zucchini

Tomatoes

Different kinds of cheese

Oregano

Cajun seasoning

Hot sauce

Spinach

Garlic

You get it....it's whatevs!

This particular time I added bacon. So I chopped up about 5 or 6 slices and began to render it in a pan. When it was almost crisp, I tossed in the onion and cooked them until soft and translucent. Then add in your chopped garlic (I used 2 cloves) If you weren't using something like bacon that gives off it's own fat just use olive oil to cook your onion

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, cheese, and artichokes. Pour in your cooked onions and garlic and bacon in this case. Add seasonings (I used salt, pepper, and oregano....go easy on the oregano because it is strong....maybe 1/4 tsp) and mix all together. Pour into a well greased 8 in baking dish

It will be more chunky than eggy. Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until set

Let them cool. I like to eat mine semi warm or room temperature. They are good to keep in the fridge to have on hand for a quick meal or snack. I only heat them up about 45sec-1 minutes and then I let them cool a little.

Pair it with a salad and you have a tasty lunch

Cinco De Mayo Wreath

2013-05-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

So last year I made...not so much a wreath....but a door decoration for Cinco De Mayo. As soon as I made it I liked it, but I didn't love it. It just wasn't quite what I had in mind You can go see it HERE

Sooo....when April rolled around this year I pulled it out and decided I didn't want to put it up again and pulled the maracas off of it. Bad idea. Baaaaad. This ripped something else on it so the option of just reattaching them if I wanted to was out the window.

But I thought...No biggie....I have the whole month of April to make a new one.

Well....life happened. Between taxes, a friends wedding (which was multiple projects in itself), other projects, maintaining a house, oh yea....and the little thing I call a full time job......it didn't happen.

By the end of last week I was starting to stress over not having one made yet. It was literally hard for me to go to bed at night because I kept thinking I should be making a Cinco wreath right NOW!!!

I know.....crazy right?

So then the semi logical part of me kicked in and said "Hey Whit.....stop stressing. Nobody will care if a holiday comes and goes and you never put up a wreath...nobody will even notice" I chose to listen to that moment of logic and thought I had come to peace with the idea of just skipping it this year.

That is until..........................

Dun dun duuuun.

Monday my sister Kinsey came over...and whataya know.....one of the first things out of her mouth was "There's no wreath on the door?!?"

Welp....so much for logic and "nobody will even notice"......buncha bullshit!

So I frantically made one the other night....and guess what....I still don't love it. So I'm sure I'll be back in this same position next year

Normally I love all my wreaths, but I think Cinco De Mayo decorations have such slim pickins that I just can't seem to get anything I love. I still have an image in my head for what I want....I guess I have a year to make the PERFECT Cino wreath

I guess this one will have to do in the meantime

All I did was glue on my usual wreath background of shreddy paper. I used red, green, and white. Then glued on my maracas (which I'm sure will somehow end up in the next one too) And then some of these paper fans I made.....Here's what I did

Cut 3 sqaures the same size. Fold the square accordion style....then fold in the middle

Glue or staple the two middle sides that come up to make your fan shape. Repeat this with the other 2 squares, the glue or staple all 3 together to create one large circle fan

Now I've got myself another mediocre Cinco De Mayo wreath. Oh well....there's always next year ;)

MoMo Monday Week #2

2013-04-29T12:13:00.002-07:00

So here's the thing about MoMo....whenever she is laying anywhere in the house and you merely walk past her she makes this sort of "burrrughp" sound (that's the best I could do at trying to type it out) It's like her way of saying "huh?"

The point being she makes plenty of noise when she's out in the open....but when I'm looking for her she doesn't make a damn peep!

She has sent me into mass hysteria many times. One time for example, I was looking for her for over 45 minutes when I got home from work. Walking from room to room calling her name over and over....not a sound. This was at a time when she was mostly indoor but I left the doggy door open so she could get out if she really wanted to (doggy door is now covered)

I had visions of her laying dead in the road. I even got a flashlight and walked up and down my street looking for her.....no sign of her anywhere.

Turns out she was laying in our hamper....and I had checked our closet at least 3 times. I swear she does it on purpose....she would normally barely have to move for her collar to jingle and I would hear it. I'm convinced she does it on purpose to mess with me. She can sense when I'm in a panic and all of the sudden she becomes a mute who sits like a stone.

Anyway....we had another one of these little incidents. The Boy and I tore the house apart looking for her. I had checked under the bed multiple times when I finally noticed this lump....

Apparently, she found a gap where the fabric was stapled to the box spring and crawled in creating her own little kitty hammock

It became her favorite spot for quite some time. To coax her out I would bring food and her little sniffer would get going and slowly she would crawl out...typical right? Well not this time....and I'm SOOOO glad we got this one on tape

I hope you find this as hilarious as I do. She got too smart for our shenanigans. She got her sour cream and she got to stay in her spot...MoMo for the win!

And there's something about the way she gets it too. She doesn't simply dip her paw....there's sort of a fancy flick of the wrist (paw?)

Oh MoMo....she never fails to make me laugh

Low Carb Zucchini Chips 2 Ways

2013-04-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

IF there is anything I thought would KILL me about cutting out starches and sugars in my life I thought for sure it would be chips

I never had a huge sweet tooth. Granted I do get a hankering now and again like any normal person but I don't crave sweets on a regular basis....but chips on the other hand...oooh lawwdy!

I could devour an entire bag of potato chips myself. Heck I'll even hoover a bag of tortilla chips...don't matter to me as long as it was crunchy and salty

But surprisingly I have handled a chipless life quite well. Once you don't have them in your house you realize you can do it. Parties can still be rough on me....because what's a party without 4 different flavors of chip? (at least in my family) I have my strong days and my weak days at those events....but over all I do ok.

I did however think it was time to branch out and start trying a LC chip alternative besides my go to pork rind that I could possibly pack with lunches or bring to those gatherings for myself to lessen the temptation

This first recipe is not my recipe at all. It is straight from http://yourlighterside.com/. This site is simply amazing. It is all about adapting your old favorites to your new lifestyle of eating and she does an AMAZING job at it! She is the original creator of the cauliflower pizza crust!

Here is a link to her original recipe and post for these chips http://yourlighterside.com/2009/05/zucchini-nacho-chip-recipe-2/

But I added a few steps when I made that I wanted to share

2 cups grated zucchini

2 eggs beaten

2 cups cheese

She doesn't state this in the original recipe, but whenever I make anything with zucchini that I intend to get crispy I take the extra step in trying to remove as much water as possible. You do this by sprinkling the shredded zucchini with salt and letting it sit for about 10-15 minutes. This will draw out all the water and then you wring out as much as you can either in a dish towel or ricer

Add your zucchini to the egg and cheese. Scoop your mix onto a well greased piece of parchment (I used a silpat) into 6-8 inch circles

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes, then flip and cook another 5 minutes or so or until brown

Take them out of the oven and let cool slightly before cutting into chips

Her recipe states to put them back in a cool oven to dry out and crisp for 6-8 hours, but I decided to go another route. I have a dehydrator so I just loaded them up in there over night. In the morning I had perfectly crisp chips!

I made them into nachos that day at work

Here is the instagramed version of the pics. Come follow me! TheBusyBroad

One thing I did notice was some were the perfect chip thickness and some were a little thick and crackery...so next time I will be sure to spread the mixure a little more thin and even. Otherwise they made a good hearty nacho chip

And since I had a leftover zucchini and the dehydrater was already out, I made another version of chips

Just thinly sliced zucchini, tossed with a smidge of oil and some cajun spice

Ended up with some darn tasty and spicy chips. I think I could go wild making all sorts of flavors of these babies!

I think the first recipe is better suited for nacho or cracker type applications, where as the second one is more similar to a potato chip. Now I have all my chip bases covered