AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Okay, I've been out of the blogger loop for quite a while. I'm just so overwhelmed with wedding stuff right now. Anyone seen my countdown on this page??? 19 days people. Oh my god!! I'm leaving for Georgia in two weeks. The wedding's in 19 days and I'm not ready. How did that happen?

And to top it off, I got this brilliant idea to start an 'online thrift store'. So I've been trying to get that going but it's going to have to be put on hold. I just can't keep up with the wedding stuff, my daily stuff, and trying to start a business. Too much.

I will be posting lots of photos on here....maybe I'll add a 'slideshow' app.... when we come back from Georgia. Super excited to be taking my new Canon with. The city skyline and River Street. Not to mention the mansions and churches. Ohhhh, **sigh**. I can't wait. :)

Peapod

This past Sunday I ordered our entire week's groceries from Peapod.com! It was amazing!! You can load your list into the little widget and it guides you through the virtual aisles. You can sort the products by many different factors: price, unit price, and so on.



As if that weren't good enough, the products are priced just as they are in a store. So for a can of diced tomatoes, I paid $.89. Yeah, that's bodacious!!!



AAAAANNNNDDDD, the delivery is only $9.95 (gets lower if you buy more than $50 worth of groceries). This is so worth it to me for many reasons. First, I don't have to actually go to the store. I hate shopping. Second, when I do, I never can stick to my list, so I end up spending AT LEAST an extra $20. Plus, there's the gas factor too. I don't waste any gas... true our store is about a mile away, but still.



They now have a promotion going on for free delivery for 60 days after your first delivery. YEA!! The delivery man was so nice, he brought all of our groceries in, bagged and set them on the counter for us. It could not have been any easier!! Sunday morning, I was drinking my coffee reading my ad papers and my shopping was ALL done for the entire week. I didn't have to go anywhere!!



I seriously don't know why I didn't start doing this sooner.

Wedding Makeup Choices (REVISED), please help me choose!!!

Okay, I'm trying out some wedding makeup looks. I could really use some help choosing.

Here are the first three. The first two are kind of the same look, one is just a bit more intense. The third one is a little bit more purple-y.

We will be in Georgia in March, so it will be fairly warm, around 70 degrees. Here's a photo of me in the dress (still needs to be hemmed in spots) to help get a feel for what the makeup will look like against it:

Leave me a comment with which look you like best.

Choice A:

Choice B:

Choice C:

I've gotten behind...

I haven't blogged in quite a few days. There's been soooo much going on. My mom decided to throw me a bridal shower at the last minute (as in February 22, 3 days before I leave for Georgia). So we've been getting the invitations assembled, addressed, stamped, and such. Those all went out today! Yea! And they're so pretty. I'll take photos tomorrow and post them up here.

I have lots to blog about, it's just been very hectic around here.

Swiss Burgers

Easy and SURPRISE healthy too!! These are not Rachel Ray's recipe, they are my own. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup oatmeal uncooked
1 tsp. worstechire sauce
salt and pepper
2 TBS. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS.Garlic powder
8 slices swiss cheese
buns

Directions:
-In food processor, chop oatmeal until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
-In food processor, pulse chickpeas, olive oil, and 1 TBS. of olive oil until completely smooth.
-Combine ground beef and turkey, oatmeal, chickpea mixture, all seasonings, salt, and pepper, and worstechire in a large bowl. Mix well.
-Form into patties.
-Broil until desired doneness.
-Remove from broiler and place 1 slice of cheese on each patty.
-Toast buns in stove if desired and place patties on top.

Deconstructed Lasagna

Yum, this was easy, quick and of course Delicious. Courtesy of Mrs. Rachel Ray!!

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 pound long fulili
2 TBS. EVOO
1 pound ground beef sirloin
1 small carrot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
A few leaves of basil, torn
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 TBS. butter
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
-Meanwhile, heat EVOO in a large skillet over edium heat. Add thae beef, crumbling into bits and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 ninutes. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic. Season ith salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the beef broth, then the tomatoes and basil; simmer.
-In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta and parsley.
-Toss the pasta with the butter, then stir in the parmesan and meat sauce. Scoop the ricotta mixture into each of 4 shallow bwls, then top with the meaty pasta.

This was super easy to make. I substitted the butter used to toss the pasta with olive oil. Also, I used Smart Taste Rotini instead of fusili and added ground chickpeas and olive oil to the meat mixture.

Fiber One Muffin Mix Review

I’ve been trying to work more fiber into my family’s diet. Namely my oldest daughter, Angel. She has stomach problems and her doctor said that more fiber would help to alleviate this. So among some of the foods and other remedies we’ve been trying, I came across a new product at our grocery store. FiberOne muffin mix.

There are two flavors, Apple Cinnamon and Banana Nut. I picked up the apple cinnamon and crossed my fingers. When I got home, I made them immediately adding about ¼ cup of blueberry flavored ground flaxseed to the mixture. Before pouring them into muffin cups, I tested the batter (force of habit) and was genuinely shocked. It was DELICIOUS~~ So I poured the batter into the muffin tins and baked it according to the package directions. Once they were done and cool enough to eat, I tried one. Again I was floored…. Not only was the taste incredible, but they were MOIST. I just couldn’t believe it. The true vindication came when my picky-as-hell daughter Angel tried one and actually liked it. These babies contain a whopping 20% of the daily fiber suggestion!!! That’s great.

These were so good and not too bad, price wise. We’re going to try the banana nut next. I just wanted to share this with anyone out there who has the same problems as Angel. Her stomach gets blocked and she has such a hard time… but she’s so very picky about what she eats, it’s hard to make her eat healthy (see my Sneaky Ways to add Healthy Foods blog)

Sneaky Ways to add Healthy foods to your family's meals

All right, so my oldest daughter has been having BAD stomach problems lately. Actually, this has been an on and off thing for a while now. The doctor has told us repeatedly it is because of the way she eats. This of course, falls back to me. I fix dinner almost every night. But, I’m Italian. So, even though I’ve learned how to personally control eating the bad stuff…. Pasta, potatoes, bread, etc…. I haven’t quite mastered how to consistently shy away from cooking them for my family. My bad. So I’ve recently taken up preparing healthy dinners for my family along with the healthy lunches and breakfasts I was already making for myself.

I’ve found some really interesting (and admittedly delicious) ways to “sneak” healthy foods into the ones that I already make. So as not to cause a huge rebellion from my husband and kids.

Here are a few that I’ve tried with tons of luck! They actually went over big. Of course I didn’t tell any of them what was really in the food they were wolfing down, I just smiled to myself and watched as my family began the journey to healthy.

-Sloppy Joes-
My family LOVES ground beef. In pasta sauce, meatloaf, burgers, sloppy joes, you name it. Here’s an easy way to turn these otherwise not so healthy foods into ones you can be proud of.

For sloppy joes…. Forget the canned sloppy joe mix. Brown your lean ground beef in olive oil. Instead of all ground beef, use half ground turkey and half ground beef. To the browned meat, add ¼ cup ground flax seed and 1 pureed avocado (I place mine in the food processor with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper). Mix well. Then add 1 small can tomato sauce and 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Mix well and heat through. Serve with whole wheat buns if desired and TADA! You’ve just made HEALTHY sloppy joes!!


-Sweet fruit Salad-

My kids actually love fruit, so I capitalize on this.
Mix peaches, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes in a large bow. (I use frozen fruit, except for the grapes) In a small bowl, mix together 3 TBS. honey and the juice from half of a lime. Add a dash of cinnamon and 1 packet of Splenda. Pour over your salad and serve at room temperature.

-Pasta Sauce-

This is an easy one. Tomatoes are healthy by nature. You just have to make it homemade. It takes barely any more work than opening a jar and heating it. But the rewards are soooooo much better.

In a food processor, pulse 1 can chickpeas, 1 TBS. olive oil, garlic powder, and a dash of MRS. DASH until smooth. Heat 2 TBS. olive oil in a large pot. Saute ½ of an onion until they begin to carmelize. Add about 1 cup of red wine to this. Boil down for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 can of whole tomatoes to the pan. Let them heat through, then begin lightly smashing them down. Add 1 can tomato sauce and the chickpea mixture. Mix well to combine. Your sauce will be a bit light in color, so add another can of tomato sauce if desired. Season to taste with Italian Seasonings, garlic powder, and pepper. I add a packet of Splenda because we like our sauce not quite so tart. Serve this with Smart Taste Pasta of Whole Wheat pasta.

If you would like to see more of these easy healthy ideas, let me know. I have an eBook that has so many more ideas in it. I’d be happy to send it to you!!

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

Here's our recipe from this past Tuesday.

Tilapia:
Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chili powder
salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cup
1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:
-Preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chili powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
-Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 tsp. of the mayo mixture.
-Place tilapia fillets in he baking dish and coat with the remaining mayo mixture.
-Top with the corn.
-Broil until the corn is lightly browned and the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
-Garnish with the lime.

Chickpea Salad:
Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cucumber, diced
2 TBS. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Heat oil in large pan.
-Add all ingredients.
-Saute about 5 minutes, stirring often.
-Remove from pan and place in bowl.
-Refrigerate until ready to serve.
(Best served cold, but can be eaten warm). Also delicious on a salad!!