Beef Stew From Allrecipes.com

So for dinner tonight I made a quick and easy beef stew in the crock pot. Majority of the meals that I make are made in our crock pot. Its quick. Its easy. Its good. When you dont have much time for slaving away in the kitchen the crock pot is the way to go. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com I altered it a bit though. I didnt have celery on hand so thats one thing thats missing. I only had about 1 lb of stew meat instead of two like it called for. It still is super good though. Usually when it comes to potatoes I do one potato per person. So I used four I figured even though the baby isnt eating with us since Im nursing she still counts haha :p It turned out so good! I made some buttermilk biscuits to go with it and by made I mean I bought some store ones you pop open and in the oven hahaha! Here are the pictures and ingredients at the bottom

Ingredients:

1-2 Lbs Stew beef

Half of a large onion

1 Small bag of baby carrots

2 Cloves of garlic

1 Potato per person

Salt 

Pepper

paprika

Worcestershire sauce

1 Bay leaf  although I used shredded and just shook it in till it felt like enough

either enough beef stock to cover all the food or beef bouillon mixed with hot water 

I basically just tossed in the meat still frozen, cut up all the veggies then added them, I then did the beef stock, then the seasonings, let it cook on high for about 3 hrs then turned it down to low for about 2-3 hrs. Half way through I added a little bit more of each of the seasonings. I dont have measurements because I rarely go by them unless im baking. I just add it till it feels right. So you want to start out with a little and you can always add more. Just dont start out with a lot because its hard to fix that. You can always add more though. as Alton Brown would say " Now thats Gooooood Eats!"  

Grilled Lemon and Butter Salmon, Green Beans, and Rice

My husband once again made dinner :) Tonight he said he wanted grilled salmon so off to sams club he went to buy a big chunk of salmon to grill. He marinated the salmon in a lemon pepper seasoning, lemon juice, and butter for a couple of hours. I bought some fresh green beans at the store for my fave side dish. I cut off the ends of the green beans cleaned them and laid them on a cookie sheet, I didnt have evoo (because its under the bathroom sink with conditioner on it from my last deep treatment with evoo haha) So I had to use vegetable oil. I highly recommend you dont do that. Olive Oil is MUCH better. Very lightly coat them with it ( I accidentally put WAY too much oil). You may even be able to get a cooking spray since they come in Olive Oil options as well. Once you coat them sprinkle some salt all over them. Turn the oven up to 450, and put them in for about 15 min. When they come out you have a healthier mock french fry :) Its sooo good. I literally could eat a whole bag of green beans myself. My friend posted a picture of hers on Facebook one day and I've been hooked ever since. Back to dinner..scott also made rice along with dinner, I would of been happier with just plain jasmine rice in the rice cooker but he got one of those pre seasoned packets you can buy at the store. It was a good dinner! Tomorrow night is beef stew :)
Sidenote...yes we use paper plates 99 percent of the time to cut back on dishes, not the most glamorous or eco friendly way but with a newborn and 2 year old I need to cut corners where I can!

My Current Fave Beauty Products

I have a for sure love for beauty products. I am always browsing through sephora, makeup counters, and drug stores. Even if I've seen it all a million times before I never get tired of seeing it all. Lately these are the items that I have been grabbing the most.

In no particular order:

Josie Maran Argan Oil

Elf eyebrow powder

Nars Danmari Palette

Nars Casino Bronzer

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Urban Decay Smoked Palette

Urban Decay All Nighter Spray

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation NC 42

Benefit Erase Paste Med 2

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

Loreal Lineur Intense liquid liner

London Soho beauty sponge which is amazing and only 8 as compared to the beauty blender

Makeup Forever Hd Concealer

Makeup Forever lip liner that I use as an all over over color and its amazing a little drying but stays all day. 

MAC paint pot in painterly 

Buxom Mascara which is pretty awesome

Philosophy lotions in  mangos and cream and cabana girl. 

As for the lotions I am in awe... I had never used philosophy lotions till these really and they are so moisturizing. I started using the cabana girl when I was about 8 months pregnant and my skin felt so soft and moisturized even the next morning. The smell is good and not too strong but just enough and they have pretty good ingredients. I didnt see any mineral oils in them. Which for me is a big plus.

Ive been using all of these things for a little while now and Ive actually used them more than I have just about anything else Ive bought. I usually use something a couple times and Im over it, but these have been my go to products regularly now. I def think they are all worth checking out.

The Best Chili You'll Ever Eat

When I gave birth to my son a friend dropped off chili that I've ever had! It has since become a constant recipe in my arsenal. I literally make this almost once a week. Its quick. Its filling. Its filled with so much goodness! My husband made it last night and I didnt think to start taking pictures till half way through so... a few steps are missing photo wise. The recipe is listed below the pictures

Recipe for the best chili ever

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 onion

1 can of corn

1 large can of diced tomatoes 

about 4 stalks of celery

1 large green pepper

1 packet of chili seasoning

2 large can of kidney beans

1 small can of black beans

you can use fresh chopped up garlic if you like a little extra, the seasoning packet will already have that flavor but we sometimes add extra

a little bit of butter (like a tablespoon amount)

salt and pepper

sour cream (optional)

ok so first I cut up all the veggies, I prefer bite size pieces as opposed to tiny diced pieces. Cut according to your preference though. Put the onions, celery, and green pepper in a skillet on med heat with the butter and sauté that till they are softened, my husband doesnt do this step for long he prefers them a little harder.

 in one big pot I put the diced tomatoes, I drain the can of corn add that, drain all the beans and add those, I also add the season packet to this pot. Include the veggies you just sautéed.

Clean out your skillet then brown your ground beef. Drain and add that to the pot. 

Let this cook stirring occasionally with a lid on it, simmer it on med low heat for about 30 min. Or you can do this test to see if its done to your preference, taste 5 dif beans and if they are done then the rest should be done. 

The nice thing about this is you can adjust how many jars of each thing you add based off of how many people you are feeding. Smaller jars for less ppl, larger for more. We usually have enough for lunch for the next two days as well as enough for me, my husband, and our 2 year old son, my husband and I eat huge portions though so...

I usually add shredded cheddar cheese to the top as you see in the pics above.

Versatile Blogger Award!

The gorgeous Stephanie over at Beauty By Lee awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award! I feel so bad because I dont think I saw this..If I did and I already did this awhile ago then I feel really dumb but I have def mom brain going on. I cant remember anything lately! I might as well have amnesia. Anywho. She awarded it to me and with this award I have to list 7 random things about myself..


1. I have a huge phobia of fish and small holes grouped together..like a sponge, or bee hive etc. FREAKS ME OUT! Fish... I'm just scared to death of them. 99.9% of the time I cant even look at them. Picture or real life.

2. I love Greys Anatomy

3. My son has 3 nipples. Yes thats not about me but its hilarious non the less. The third is right above one of his normal ones and its tiny you only see it if you look close.

4. I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches

5. every single time I spell out banana I sing it like the gwen stefani song. thats my personal spell check.

6. I daydream all day long about saving peoples lives, or some crazy accident or traumatic thing happening around me and me running and saving everyone.

7. Every time I listen to music I daydream that Im performing it on a stage in front of thousands of people. If there isnt a good solid guitar sound or vocals in the song I normally dont listen to it cause I cant perform those types of songs haha

ok so this is prob gonna make me sound a little cray cray but oh well. :p

Im supposed to tag someone else so I tag
Girlie Blog Seattle

Todays Nail

It took me two days to complete because I have two sick babies and a sick hubby, I used Essie Turquoise and Caicos and Aruba Blue and the silver striping polish. I bought some striping tape off of ebay to try to get straight and clean lines. I dont know how I feel about the tape yet. I got the idea with the tape from the daily nail. Hers def looks much better than mine. Im still trying to find a thicker tape because my tape is soooo thin it doesnt give the look I was looking for which if it were just a litttttttle bit thicker would be perfect. I also used a dotting tool I bought a pack off of ebay a while ago for about 3.00. I love ebay for nail supplies. Actually I love ebay for a lot of things! Dirt cheap stuff and free shipping. I really didnt care too much for the turquoise polish, it took 3 coats to get it looking decent. Each time Id go to do the next coat even though the last one was dry, it would take the previous one away with each swipe. It was horrible. It was ok by the third but I think that Wet n Wild Ineedarefreshmint is much better for that type of color and much cheaper.  I topped it all off with my face seche vite top coat. No base coat this time. 

Smitten Kitchens Homemade Yellow Cake and Savory Sweet Life's Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Icing

So...I've never thought of myself as someone who is good in the kitchen, but every once in awhile I get homemaker burst and start baking and cooking and cleaning like a mad women. Usually its after watching food network haha, for some reason that channel just inspires me to cook better, bake, and clean deeper. Ive been on a roll since im getting back to my ol self since having Riley. I've always had this desire to learn how to decorate cakes and bake well even though i've never felt that good at it. I keep thinking how neat it would be to have a bakery. Then I realized having a bakery you can just go buy boxed cakes lol! You need to know how to make them from scratch. So I decided to learn. I spent about two days searching online reading all types of different yellow cake ( since my hubby said thats his fave only later to say he doesnt even like cake at all after all my slaving away for days to find it and make it for him) recipes. I finally found one at the Smitten Kitchen's blog a friend of mine said that she had tried some of her recipes and they were good and I had already eyeballed her site so that helped me decide hers was the one to try. I have usually always made my own icing for cakes since I really hate store bought icing, but I had never made a chocolate buttercream icing so I searched and searched for one, compared lots of dif sites and their ingredients, the one that stood out to me the most was the one I found at the Savory Sweet Life blog. Hers just looked amazing. Plus it one that I could decorate with since I wanted to play around with different decorating tips I had just bought. So with my newborn and 2 year old it took me a good 7 hours! It should never take that long to bake a cake, but I had to constantly stop. It was so worth it. This cake was AMAZING! It tasted sooooo good. I highly recommend you try it. I still have no problem making a box cake just for the quickness of it, but for the flavor, and the self appreciation of doing it on your own I definitely recommend making your own. I also purchased an apron from Flirty Aprons so it made baking even more fun! Keep an eye on groupon because I got mine with an awesome groupon so it was like half the price! I ended up getting the sassy black one. I should add the density of this cake is insane...I normally eat a LOT of cake. A huge slice...but you cant with this cake, its so filling in just a small slither of a slice. So keep that in mind. My picture does no justice as to how big this cake is...so be ready to feed plenty of people with this.

So here is the recipes although you could just click on the links above that will take you straight to the sites recipes with much better photos than mine (working on that ;) 

Best Yellow Layer Cake 

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment. (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

When it comes to prepping the pans, I just used shortening all over then added flour on top of that and it worked perfect.

                                               Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

A simple recipe for classic chocolate buttercream frosting. Perfect for frosting cakes, cookies, brownies, or cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.