Kitchen Adventures: Phyllo Dough Pizza!

I found this wonderful recipe over at Undressed Skeleton and we gave it a try.  It was super easy and SO good!

Phyllo Dough Pizza

1. 1 oz Phyllo Dough sheet

2. 1/4 cup fat free kraft Mozzarella cheese

3. Delallo Fat Free All Natural Marinara Sauce

4. 1/4 cup sliced onion

5. 3 tomato slices

6. 1/2 cup spinach leaves

7. 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

8. basil

Directions:

Spray a pizza pan with fat free cooking spray. Lay out the phyllo carefully and fold it in half.

-Spray phyllo dough layer with cooking spray, sprinkle garlic powder over dough.

-Evenly spread the Marinaria sauce over dough.

-Add onions, tomatos, basil , and spinach.

-Cover the vegetables with cheese.

Bake in the middle of a preheated 375 oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the edges are golden(keep an eye on it).

We made a few minor changes to the recipe… I couldn’t find Delallo sauce, so we used another brand of marinara that was pretty good.  I also added feta cheese to each pizza.  These were so easy and really filling!

The past few days I also made Sloppy Joe Sliders (also from Undressed Skeleton) and a Eating Clean recipe called Keep it Tight Tilapia that was awesome.  Neither one has photos, but look for a post with their recipes in them soon!

For now, I am going to paint my nails (one of my free Zoya colors!) and get ready to watch Glee!

Kitchen Adventures: Slow Cooker Pot Roast

I like to cook even though our kitchen is pretty much postage stamp sized.  Before the fella came a long I had a smallish Crock Pot that worked just fine for cooking for me with plenty of left overs.  But cooking for both of us with leftovers required a bigger Crock Pot and thankfully we got one for Christmas from my mom.  I’ve used it a twice in the two weeks we’ve had it, today being the second time.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lb boneless chuck roast
• 1/2 C A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1/2 C Water
• 1 package Mushroom Onion Soup Mix
• 1 package baby carrots
• 1 lb baby red potatoes
• 1 onion thickly sliced

Directions:

1. Place roast in crock pot
2. Put vegetables on top
3. Mix steak sauce, water, and soup mix in a bowl and pour over top of meat and veggies.
4. Cook on low approx. 8 hours or high 6-7 hours.
5. Serve with your choice of side.  We used dinner rolls.

We ran into a little of a time issue when I realized that it being a brand new Crock Pot it was going to cook fast… so we ate just over an hour early.  Thankfully the fella didn’t mind one bit.  This recipe was super easy to make and tasted wonderful!

 

 

2012 Goals

I don’t usually really get into the whole New Year’s Resolution thing.  As I’ve said before, I love change and any excuse for a new chapter or an overhaul of something in my world is generally okay by me.  I’ve spent the last day and a half knocked on my tush thanks to strep throat.  It’s given me some quiet time to think, and I’ve come up with some goals for this year.  Nothing major, nothing drastic… just simple goals that will expand my personal bubble a bit and encourage me to try some new things.

1. Read 100 books.

Sound crazy?  Not really.  Well, maybe.  I’ve had this goal for several years now… to read 100 books.  That’s my ‘high goal’.  My ‘low goal’ will be 52.  So at least 52 books completed in the 2012 calendar year (don’t screw this up for me Mayans!).  I tend to hit a mid-year slump in reading, but I’m hoping that with my library card – and only checking out books I intend to read not just things that sound fabulous but I may not read since they’ll always be at the library and I have a library of my own books that I haven’t read – I’ll make good progress.

2. Watch 100 films.

Mind you these are films I haven’t seen before.  No matter if they are via DVD from the fella’s collection, Redbox rented, Netflix streamed, theater watched, or watched with a kiddo I’m babysitting it’ll count.  I’m not counting tv series into this since I tend to get sucked into those and watch them and then never move on to movies.  Plus tv series is not a film. Derp.  I have around 70 movies queued on my Netflix streaming list, plus some others I know I want to see of the fella’s and those coming out/currently in theaters.

3. Use simple DIY projects around the apartment.

I’m an avid pinterest user.  I get these amazing ideas from things I re-pin there.  The problem is my extremely ADD self has an issue with follow through of these things, plus I’ll admit it – I am sadly not a crafty/creative person when it comes to stuff like this.  I can see what I want in my mind, but it never works out that way and I get entirely too frustrated.  First thing I may attempt is some type of necklace organizer.  I have so many beautiful long necklaces I never wear because they are in my drawers since I don’t have space for them in my small jewelry box.  I want to fix that one pronto.  Hopefully I’ll think to take pictures of things I do and share them here.

5.  Continue with weight-loss.

So many people say this, but I’ve come too far to stop now and I am so excited to try some new work outs (30 Day Shred here I come when I’m over this strep thing) and have the best body of my life by summer.

6. Thrift more.

Weight loss has been great for my health but not my wallet since I’ve had to revamp parts of my wardrobe several times over.  To be friendlier to my wallet as well as keeping to the fun and unique sense of style I tend to have, I think thrifting will be a great thing to get myself back into.  Plus, I’ve found some pretty rockin’ home goods in the past as I was checking out thrift stores.  Double win!

7.  Save money.

Another one that many people say every January 1st.  But I need a new car soon (my mechanic told me so.  Boo.)  We want to move into a bigger place where we have more space and can not only have our Cammie Lu but also his dog, Bruno. 

8. Cook more.

I’m a pretty good cook.  I can’t really whip things up without at least a basic guideline, but I can find my way around a kitchen fairly well.  Having Josh around has been great because I enjoy cooking more when it’s not just me.  We fell into a habit of going out to eat and we’ve been pretty good about breaking that (minus this week when Panera soup was my best friend in the whole world).  I want to try new recipes and of course use some of my good ‘ol standbys.  Again, the goal is to share the recipe and photos here.

Maybe I’ll make separate pages for this blog to keep track of books read and films watched.  Suggestions for both are more than welcome!

I’m also crazy stoked because between now and the middle of March there are two concerts (Emilie Autumn and VNV Nation) and one musical (Spring Awakening) that I think we are going to go see.  Hooray for a boyfriend who humors my eclectic cultural partakings.

Free Nail Polish

Check it out, loves!

There are some gorgeous colors to choose from and all you pay is shipping! Great deal considering my shipping came to $6.95 and each bottle of Zoya is retailed around $8.

My two choices:

Marina and Megan

I’m pretty much big into neutrals and cool colors.  Plus, I have a lot of reds and pinks floating around here that I hardly use as is.  Besides… Miss Meg couldn’t pass up a nail polish named Megan.

Be on the look out for reviews of these two pretty polishes once they arrive.

Happy manis and pedis!

The Books of 2011

I did this last year for the books of 2010 (on my old blog, obviously) and figured that I’d do it again this year… so here we go.

1. Best books of 2011?  Top spot, hands down goes to The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Also,  Room by Emma Donoghue, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein were among the best.

2. Worst book of 2011? Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by  Barbara Ehrenreich… While the concept was great, I felt like because she had her “normal” life to go back to that she didn’t fully capture what she set out for… like it was a game to her to go “Slumming It”.

3. Most disappointing book of 2011? Bumped by Megan McCafferty (the whole book just was… not what I hoped) and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (it was pretty good until the end).

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011? The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare…  I’ve just recently begun getting into the Urban Fantasy YA and these were great!

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2011? The Help, most definitely.  Though, The Art of Racing in the Rain was up there was well.

6. Best series you discovered in 2011? Mortal Instruments series and Delirium (since that has a sequel coming out this year).

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011? Lauren Oliver, Cassandra Clare.

8. Most hilarious read of 2011? Go the F*** to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011? The Help.

10. Book you most anticipated in 2011? Books 2 and 3 in the Mortal Instruments Series!  Granted they were already out but I had to wait for them to come in at my library since I had them on hold.

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011? Dearest Creatures by Amy Gerstler and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

12. Most memorable character in 2011? Everyone in The Help, for sure.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2011?  The Help and The Art of Racing in the Rain.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011? Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

15. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2010 to finally read? The Help and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

16. Honorable Mentions? These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf, and The Handmaids Tale.

Nearly a New Year

 

 

Current Tunes – “Because I Can” Laura Marling

I can’t believe another year is almost over… this year has absolutely flown by, full of some happier than ever times and some gut wrenching heart breaking ones as well.  I’m not sad to say goodbye to 2011… and I’m welcoming 2012, with it’s good and bad times to come, with open arms.

This time of year always leads me to reflect – I LOVE change.  I crave it, often.  I’m introspective to a fault more often than not, so any excuse to execute change is something I love.  That said, I don’t do the whole “New Years Resolution” thing.  For a few years I did “Life Resolutions” meaning that they were meant to stick around not just be something I viewed as just to try out at the start of a new year.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how one views it) I’m too fracked up on cold meds right now to go through and do a whole long list of things.  

I’ve learned that change is something that can only occur when I really want it, not at the start of a new year or week… but I have to want it badly.  That’s how it’s been on my path of weightloss.  I went from nearly 200lbs on my five foot nothing frame two-ish years ago, to around 135lbs now.  A size 18 to a size 4.  It’s been amazing, and it’s something that I had to pluck up the courage to do, and once I did it I never looked back.  I still have a long way to go, but I’m having fun.

I’ve also begun to accept, more than ever, that my life is MY LIFE and no one elses.  So what if friends and acquaintances my age are getting engaged/married/having kids/buying houses/working seemingly amazing jobs making obscene amounts of money?  My life is unfolding as it should.  Only I can institute changes in my life, and I’m happy with my life and the changes I’ve made and will be making… it’s small and quiet and filled with love and books.  What more could I ask for?!

I’m insanely excited to share some new recipies I’m going to be trying as I try them over the next few weeks… as well as show off the 25 books (36 if you count the fella’s picks) I snagged at a local bookstore closing.  Look for those posts soon.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years Eve.  As for us, I’m not of our plans.  I could be simply happy staying in watching Dr. Who, playing Alice: Madness Returns, eating sushi and reading… but the fella kind of wants to find something to get into tonight.  We’ll see what happens. )

 

Let’s give this a whole new start.

I’ve tried to revive my old blog, Moose, so many times in the past year or so that I’ve totally lost interest in it.  I couldn’t decide if I wanted it to be a homemaking type blog, a book blog, a political rant blog, etc etc… and it was starting to make a mess out of the pages.  Then I realized that I could do all of the above… in a way that wouldn’t make me crazy.  And for me… the best way of doing that is to just start over using this here wordpress account that I all but forgot I even started!

So what can you expect to see here?  How about first and foremost some changes in the coming weeks.  But also…

*My weight loss journey

*Books – reviews, etc

*Homemaking

*Recipies

*Antics of the fella and the cat and myself

*Random mouthing off about political things

*Pretty much anything to do with my LIFE and the things that make it mine.

I’m pretty stoked to get into doing this and hopefully this will stick.  Like so many others in the blogosphere I have dreams of making this next year the year of my blog.  So we shall see.

Welcome to…. The Apartment Girlfriend!