Tuesday Lovin'

Some things that I'm loving today...



Duck Dynasty - 'Nuff said, Jack!




My Mary Kay Mineral Powder. I love this stuff!




I know... I know... It's my wand again. Seriously though, I love it!




My Paula Dean Baking Dish from my lovely mother.


Side note: I learned how to create a link to the websites that I got the pictures from through the pictures. Click on the pictures and it will take you to the website!

"Easy Lasagna"

Hello, my name is Heather, and I'm about to tell you one of the easiest, most delicious things that you can make. Are you ready? Lasagna. Ok, technically it isn't lasagna. But seriously, it tastes a whole lot like it, but better! You see, I don't like lasagna. I'm really not sure why. I just never have. Oh, and by the way, when I came across this recipe, I thought, "Hmm...this sounds disgusting." But I made it and loved it, along with my VERY picky husband. (I love that man, but he needs some lessons on the word "yummy.")

I do have a confession; I lost the recipe. I'm sorry! It isn't called "Easy Lasagna." I don't remember what it's called! All I know is that it's easy and tastes like lasagna.



This is from the first time I made this dish for Blake and I.
Note to self: start taking more pictures while cooking!!



Ingredients:

browned meat
spaghetti sauce
sour cream
mozzarella cheese
uncooked crescent rolls
margarine

Directions:  

Once you've browned the meat, mix it with the spaghetti sauce. This will be your first layer in your baking dish. (There's 3 layers.) Next, mix the sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Layer that on top of the meat/sauce. Then, lay out the crescent rolls (see above image.) I got a can that came with 8 crescent rolls and that covered my medium sized pan. Melt some butter and spread that over the crescent rolls once you have them layed out. Cook on 350 for 20-25 minutes (until the crescent rolls are a golden brown.) Once it is done baking, spread some mozzarella cheese over the top and let it melt. Boom! The end!

Since I don't have the recipe, I'm not sure of how much to use of everything. I made it yesterday for a dinner between worship services and I just got everything and made enough to fit into a large baking dish (which, by the way, came home empty...) I used a whole jar of spaghetti sauce, I have no idea how much meat, 3/4 of a medium sized sour cream tub, a whole bag of mozerella cheese (it was a regular bag), and around 2 tbs of margarine.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as my husband and I do, along with everyone from Church!

Where Did It Go?

Hello? Weekend! Where are you?

Yes, I have lost my weekend. It's been misplaced. If you find it, please bring it back to me!

I feel like I should explain a couple of these pictures...

The first one is a picture of my friend and I in 2008. Emily and I have been best friends since we were 3. You don't just find a friendship like ours anywhere. No matter what dumb thing I've done, Emma has always been there for me. She's one of the things I miss most about home.

The second picture (top row) would be my curly hair (thank you new wand!) I LOVE it!!

Bonds of Matrimony - a note written by the preacher who did mine and Blake's wedding. It was so sweet - it made me cry...

The two adorable girls on the bottom are Blake's cousins. I love them dearly!

What's Goin' On?

Have a wonderful weekend! See you all on Monday!

Baked French Toast

Baked French Toast Recipe

Ingredients

• FRENCH TOAST
• Butter, For Greasing
• 1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• Topping
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Grated Nutmeg, Optional
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• Warm Syrup, For Serving
• Butter, For Serving
• 1 cup Fresh Blueberries, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably). Or you can make it and bake it right away---delicious no matter what!
For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.
When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour-plus or more for a firmer, crisper texture.
Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup and sprinkle with blueberries.




My Soul is the Sky




My Soul is the Sky

How delicious does this recipe from The Pioneer Woman look? I found the recipe on My Soul is the Sky's blog. Since I was too busy having date night last night, I didn't get to do any cooking or hair styling, so some pictures and a recipe will just have to do!

What is Your Acne Telling You?

Acne - one word almost everyone hates (at least those of us who has to deal with it!) I never had acne. Never! I used to get so many compliments about my skin. It was awesome! Then, 16 rolled around... Oh, how I wish I could go back to my pre-teens and relive those care-free days. I never had major problems, but I had enough problems to where I was really embarrassed about it. It was only in certain places though. It's always been around my temples and between my eyebrows. I always wondered why, and then, one day I found this acne map!


1 & 2: Digestive System — Eat less processed or junk food, reduce the amount of fat in your diet, step up water intake and opt for cooling things like cucumbers.
3: Liver — Cut out the alcohol, greasy food and dairy. This is the zone where food allergies also show up first, so take a look at your ingredients. Besides all this, do 30 minutes of light exercise every day and get adequate sleep so your liver can rest.
4 & 5: Kidneys — Anything around the eyes (including dark circles) point to dehydration. Drink up!
6: Heart — Check your blood pressure and Vitamin B levels. Decrease the intake of spicy or pungent food, cut down on meat and get more fresh air. Besides this, look into ways to lower cholesterol, like replacing “bad fats” with “good fats” such as Omegas 3 and 6 found in nuts, avocados, fish and flax seed. Also, since this area is chock-full of dilated pores, check that your makeup is not past its expiry date or is skin-clogging.
7 & 8: Kidneys — Again, drink up! And cut down on aerated drinks, coffee and alcohol as these will cause further dehydration.
Zone 9 & 10: Respiratory system — Do you smoke? Have allergies? This is your problem area for both. If neither of these is the issue, don’t let your body overheat, eat more cooling foods, cut down on sugar and get more fresh air. Also keep the body more alkaline by avoiding foods that make the body acidic (meat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, sugar) and adding more alkalizing foods like green veggies and wheatgrass juice. Another thing that most of forget – dirty cell phones and pillow cases are two of the top acne culprits and this area is what they affect the most!
Zone 11 & 12: Hormones — This is the signature zone for stress and hormonal changes. And while both are sometimes unavoidable, you can decrease their effect by getting adequate sleep, drinking enough water, eating leafy veggies and keeping skin scrupulously clean.
Zone 13: Stomach — Step up the fiber intake, reduce the toxin overload and drink herbal teas to help with digestion.
14: Illness — Zits here can be a sign that your body is fighting bacteria to avoid illness. Give it a break, take a yoga class, take a nap, take time to breathe deeply, drink plenty of water and know that everything always works out!



So, what is your skin telling you? Mine is telling me that I probably have some food allergies (which I already know) because I don't drink, so that's not the problem, and that I'm dehydrated (something else I know...) I have a major problem trying to remember to drink water! I love water, but I just don't drink enough of it!

Now, onto what I do for my acne. Every morning, I use an oil free face wash. Every night, I use the same face wash, but I also do a scrub. (I LOVE St. Ives!) After washing my face in the morning and at night, I use Deep Cleanser Formula Number 3 from Mary Kay.

Let me tell you something - after I started using this, my acne went away. Yes, I have the occasional zit every now and then, but for the most part, my face is usually zit free! It works wonders!

I hope this helps you, and I hope the acne map is as interesting and helpful to you as it is to me!

Blake Lively Kind Of Braid

Happy Valentines Day!

Do you all have a favorite actor or actress? I sure do! My favorite actor is Hugh Jackman. Man oh man, I don't mind watching iron come out of his knuckles! But, my favorite actress is Blake Lively. She is so cute! I love her style, her hair, and her face. Seriously. She is gorgeous. People shouldn't be allowed to be that pretty! And then she marries Ryan Reynolds? Enough said.

Anyways, do you all remember this famous braid of hers?

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrities/blake-lively

Do you believe in love at first site? Well, the moment I set my eyes on this, my heart skipped a couple of beats. It's so beautiful, so messy, so perfect. I tried to do something similar. It's no where near as wonderful, but I tried!

Basically, what I did, I took half of my hair and did a fishtail braid. Then I gathered the hair that I did nothing with and tied it to the bottom of the fishtail braid with a small elastic. I think there's more to her braid than just a simple fishtail. I kind of liked the way mine turned out though. Maybe you guys should try it and send me pictures and let me know how you did yours!

Have a wonderful Love Day!