Random Tuesdays! And a Bonus Recipe for Protein Mango Smoothie

Hello everyone!

I am super late with this Tuesday post! I still have a few minutes of Tuesday left on the East Coast at least!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a late Psychology class and I am so tired on Wednesdays and Fridays. Last night after class I cooked a bunch of homemade sausage(I made these on Friday night and froze them) for easy breakfast for the rest of the week, I did my workouts, got the kids stuff ready for school, and did other little things around the house. I was super tired by the time I was done at 1am!

This morning I woke up, packed the kids' lunches, threw on some booty shorts and a sweatshirt ha!

My goal was to finish Week 4 Day 2 of my Couch to 10K run! I can't do it tonight as my husband is working the late shift. The kids and I (only my oldest 2) walked to school and then I went for a run. I started pretty well and then I started getting really hot. Damn sweatshirt. I wanted to take it off (i had a regular workout shirt underneath), but I didn't want to carry it. According to my RunKeeper App I burned more calories today than I have on any run I've done so far this year. I was a sweaty mess when I was done, and I was so happy to be done! But as I made my smoothie, I was so happy that I did run though I was dressed the part I didn't feel the part.

I prepped some dinner, made breakfast for my youngest, made/drank my smoothie and then took a nice nap.

That's why I am so late with the post. It's already Wednesday afternoon here, I usually do the daily posts the day after (here).

So let me share with you all a quickie recipe for the protein Mango Smoothie I made today! It's soooo good!

Serves 2

I didn't really measure so I guessing based off feel here LOL. I did take a picture of the ingredients in the blender so that kind of helps me get a feel.

3/4 cup frozen mangoes

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1/3 cup or one container of vanilla greek yogurt like chobani or yoplait

about 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk

and a splash of vanilla extract

It's so good and filling!!!! Try it after your workout or breakfast….lunch…dinner

Have a great day!!!!!!

#MakeupMondays #Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick! Plus quick demo!

Hello everyone welcome to a very late Makeup Mondays! So as you read in my last blog, my time is short these days. I'm back in school full-time and back on my exercise routine on top of EVERYTHING else that goes on! 

I had a coupon for this Maybelline Fit Me Stick Shine Free Foundation, I've heard RAVE reviews about this product, so I decided to try it. Especially as I had a coupon for it. BTW, there are SO many great coupons for drug store make-up! OMG. I am a make-up junkie, so me AND my husband are happy about that lol.

Anyway, I bought the Toffee/Caramel number 330 and it matches my skin color perfectly! It applies super smooth and has a nice satin finish and feels so light almost like "second skin". I love this foundation so much. 

It's only .32oz about .68oz less than your normal liquid foundation, however you don't need to roll this stuff all over your face.  This product normally cost $8.99 according to the site. http://www.maybelline.com/Products/Face-Makeup/Foundation/fit-me-shine-free-foundation.aspx

I like to use it in areas of my face where the skin color is off from blemishes. The coverage is phenomenal and a little really goes a long way. It doesn't look cake or like you have any make up on at all. The coverage is about medium but it's certainly build-able (you're able to layer it on) if you need to.

Before! Excuse my hair I put it up in a ponytail  :-)

Applying.  I just dot it on and blend with my fingers!

If you want to just quickly even your skin tone and run out the door, this product is perfect. It leaves a perfect skin finish. No powder needed. I've noticed after maybe 6 hours I may have to retouch on blemishes, but this item is perfect to carry around in your purse and not have to worry about liquid or powder foundation spilling all over the place! I hate that! 

IC Olive Styling Gel Quick Review

Hello everyone! Life is super busy lately. Between family life, school, and working out, my hair is what I want to spend the least time on. So I've opted for wash and goes!

I had to go shopping for some new hair products because I was completely out of conditioner and creams. Yes, chile, I am no longer a product junkie! Since I've been opting for wash and goes I needed a product for some hold. So I bought IC Olive styling gel. There were 4 kinds of Eco Styler gel available at the Base Exchange (I live overseas as a military dependent) but none with any added oils. So I decided to try IC. I saw it feature on many blogs and youtube videos, so I was excited to try.

I had great results with this product. Great hold, shine, and not flaky!

First Day Hair

Here are the results from last week! I had 4 great days with NO additional products needed after the first day to retain the style including water!

Second Day Hair!

Third Day Hair!

Today I had to wash my hair early in the morning and go! I washed, added about half a palm full of gel for three sections, shook each section, and finished my morning routine with the children. I couldn't diffuse because we were running behind. However when I came home I was able to diffuse and here are the results! I like this gel. It's slightly more costly (about a dollar) than eco styler, but I prefer the results of this gel the best. I love that there is NO flaking and my hair still feels soft but there is a slight hold that keeps my wash and go nice for a few days- even with my workout routine! It also works amazingly well for my daughter's super soft curls! 




I hope this was helpful!!!!

Fun Beauty Tag!

Today I am just going to do a fun Beauty tag that I found via Google. I am a beauty junkie so this should be fun. I tag anyone who reads! If you do it, please let me know in the comments so I can read and comment on your answers!




1. EEK! You’ve got five minutes to do your makeup for a date. What’s your minimum?
Fill in my eyebrows. Even my skin tone with a bit of concealer and set with powder, wear a pop of color on my lips and go super neutral with the eyes with brown shadows and a cat eye with some kick ass mascara.

2. Pick a trend—crazy cat eyeliner, super hot pink blush, or feathered false lashes?
Feathered eyelashes because they're so fun!
3. If you had to either give up all makeup for two months or give up your skincare for a week, which would you pick?
Probably make-up for two months. That would be a long long week without washing/moisturizing. 

4. What beauty products are always in your purse?
Lipstick/gloss.
5. Are there any beauty products that you keep coming back to throughout the years?
I go back and forth with Shea Moisture Products. I prefer their body line to their hair line. 

6. Smokey eyes or red lips?
Red Lips! A gorgeous matte lip and even skin tone.

7. Lipstick or lip gloss?
Matte lip stick.

8. Are there any products that you never expected to like but ended up loving?
Bronzer. I thought you wouldn't be able to see it on my skin tone, however it's quite incredible and gives me a great glow. Though I live on a tropical island, it get chilly here and I've become quite pale this winter. So the bronzer has brought some life to my face. I use Physician's Formula Dark. However in the summer, it's pretty useless lol.

How to Make English Muffins

Egg McMuffin. Pizza McMuffin. Eggs Benedict…McMuffin…?



I love English Muffins, though I prefer English Muffins slightly toasted, with bacon or sausage with good ol' American cheese and a little grape jelly. Mmm Mmm.  How do you like your English Muffins?



Once you make homemade, you'll never buy store bought again. I had every ingredient on hand, which was good as I decided to make this pretty last minute. I wanted to keep my promise that I will share a recipe post once a week.



Even though I have loads of homework to do. That's OK though! I love you guys. You guys have stuck by me for 4 YEARS. Well a lot of you have. That's crazy. So let's celebrate with MUFFINS!

Please check out the tips at the end of the recipe instructions!

This recipe is from the lovely Laura Vitale of www.laurainthekitchen.com. She has a video and instructions on her website if you love videos!

Laura Vitale's recipe for English Muffins

Makes 18 muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups of Whole Milk, scalded (i used 2% as it was all I had)

5 cups of Bread Flour
1 Egg
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp of Vegetable Shortening, melted
2 ½ Tbsp of sugar
1 ½ tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1 Envelope of Active Dry Yeast, (2 ¼ tsp) plus 1 tsp of sugar
Cornmeal

1) In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar over the milk and allow it to sit and foam for a few minutes. Add the shortening, butter and egg to the yeast mixture and whisk together to combine. I used 4 tablespoons of butter. However you don't need to use butter or shortening, I forgot both the first time I made this and they turned out very well and less fat!

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk mixture. If you do not own a stand mixer just add the flour mixture to the milk mixture.

3) Mix the dough on low until the flour is incorporated, turn the speed up to medium and knead for 3 to 4 minutes or until the dough is smooth but still sticky.

4) Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, place it in a warm place and allow it to rise for about 2 hours.

5) Dump the dough on a floured surface, knead it together and cut it into 18 equal pieces (if you like smaller English muffins, cut them into 22 equal pieces). Roll each piece into a ball, press them down with your hand to form a patty and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the top of your patties with a little more cornmeal, cover them with a kitchen towel or  spray the boules with cooking spray (to prevent sticking) and put plastic wrap over boules, and let them rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

6) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

7) Preheat a griddle pan or a skillet to medium heat, gently lift each round with a spatula, place it on the hot griddle and let them cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides (do them in batches). Place them back on the baking sheet, then place them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Allow them to cool a bit before serving. Then using a fork, Laura suggests to prick muffins opened with a fork to get extra nook and crannies. 

Some tips!
In my opinion, the key to a kick ass muffin is the size (besides taste of course). If you have a kitchen scale, make sure each boule (ball) of dough is about 2.5-3.0 ounces. If you do not own a kitchen scale, please make sure the ball fits in the palm of your hand at least. If this helps I made 18. So make 18 equal boules. Also, I was hoping this would be vegan for my non meat-dairy friends, but freaking forgot this recipe calls for milk. I think this recipe will work if you substitute a cup of warm water and a cup of soy milk a room temperature for milk. And the first time I made this recipe I used neither butter or vegetable shortening (rarely have that on hand anyway) and it still worked! And lastly these muffins keeps well in the freezer!!!! So the night before just thaw as many as you want to use for the next day and you have muffins for your family. I like to cook a lot of sausage patties to make it a bit more rounded.

ENJOY!

#ThrowbackThursday! Children Grow Up So FAST!

Hi Everyone it's Thursday here so here are some pictures of my little ones when they were really little. I hold on to them so much I don't want to think of the day when they won't need me as much. Them showing independence is great and shows they're developing well, however it still makes me a little sad. My three promises that they will never leave the nest. I think my husband and I will be like the Cosbys where they want their  grown kids out, but they always welcomed them back if they needed somewhere to live for a week or year…but I think I will secretly happy about it :-) 

Question: How do you cherish every moment? I try to do little fun stuff with them. Do things as a family A LOT so they know the importance of family. Sometimes I take some time alone and think about what I love about them all and individually. They really made my life so much better!

My daughter as a newborn

My oldest as a newborn

My daughter is a day old

My youngest as a newborn

As you can tell I couldn't choose just one!!!!! 

My Blog!

I can not count the number of times I've made a post like this. But here we go!

I think I've explained before that the direction I'd like to take with this blog is to turn it into an everything blog as it was before. So I'm back at it. I have so many ideas running through my mind.

I also would love to blog because, I need to work on my writing. I haven't taken a writing class since I was in college a decade ago! YES! A DECADE ago! I can say that!

A lot of you follow me on instagram and I sometimes share on my Facebook page. I just hate to bother you all with my randomness, but you guys wouldn't follow me if you didn't like me. If any of you have a page or blog you'd like me to follow, PLEASE let me know. I would love to follow like, love whatever endeavors you're looking to get out there!

I get surprised when I read my blog statistics. The things people are interested in is so fascinating and I am very happy they found my blog! I need to update more often so they will stay around!

Well, for the rest of month from now on, I'd like to try a different daily theme.

Starting tomorrow I will do:
 #throwbackthursdays: pictures from the past

 #foodiefridays: where I will write recipes or write a dish I really can not get enough of

#sillysaturdays: In my household there is always something going on! Or blog tags!

#productjunkiesundays: where I share my favorite hair products

#makeupmondays: where I share my favorite makeup of the previous week

#talkingtuesdays: gratitude and attitude

#wordlesswednesdays: Just pictures of the day or from the week

And of course if (it will be difficult) travel I will share pictures and/or vlogs!


Thank you all for sticking around so long!  See you all tomorrow!!!