Taco Pizza

I don't know why but lately all I have been making around the house is pizza. I think it has to be one of my favorite foods. This particular pizza is a favorite of my Mom. There is a pizza chain up north that makes a similar pizza. I honestly would never have thought crumbled nacho cheese chips on a pizza would be a good idea but it somehow works. It tastes just like eating a taco salad!

In Which I review the Cookbook Hungry Girl: 300 Under 300 {BLT Pizza}

When I decided to get serious about dieting I decided to start simple.  I've been signed up to receive Hungry Girl emails for some time now. I can't remember how I found out about Lisa and her website but I know I have been signed up since I worked my data entry job at the Dome which is forever ago!  Lisa now has an awesome show that comes on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.  Unfortunately I lack cable so I can't watch the shows.When I was still going to the gym I would occasionally catch an episode or two.  She's a fun girl and her recipes are really non-recipes.  Very simple and, of course, low in all the bad stuff.

Pin All the Things 6/24/12

Lately I have been trying to eat healthier.  It isn't easy let me tell you!  I'm really really trying to make changes that are better for me and my family.  As a result I have a crap ton of fresh fruit and veggies in my fridge.  I've re-instituted meatless Mondays and Fishy Fridays.  When I go to the grocery store I stay away from the center aisles and shop the perimeter where all the fresh stuff is: milk, produce, meats.

I haven't lost much weight but I feel better about what I am eating and I love finding new recipes to use all the veggies in my fridge.  Here are some I pinned this week:

I Made you a Cookie...

but I eated it!

I had the brilliant, but not to well thought out, idea to make my Dad some cute decorated sugar cookies.  My problem?  My Dad lives all the way up in frackin' Illinois and my work schedule makes it almost impossible to get to the post office.  Which would only matter if I had a container to sip them in.  I really believe that they would have survived their journey too.  They are very sturdy cookie.  Instead I just sent my daddy a card.  *sadness*

Angry Birds are Angry

After making my Avenger themed cake pops I was asked if I could make some Angry Birds. If you haven't played the game you've probably at least heard of it (unless you live under a rock). The game is very cute and the birds were for a birthday party. I have seen a lot of Angry Bird party ideas on Pinterest so I figured it wouldn't be hard to find some inspiration for these pops.

Sure enough I found a whole Angry Bird cake pop tutorial on the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything. She used a lot of black licorice which I decided, at first, to try to avoid. Unfortunately my alternate ideas sucked. I really hate the taste of black licorice and figured most children do to. Oh well. They look cute and I figured it could be picked off it really was unpleasant.

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Father's Day 2012

Pin All the Things 6/16/12 {Father's Day}

 

This week I went on a hunt for DIY Father's Day gifts.  My Daddy lives all the way up in Illinois so I needed to find a gift that would travel well. I finally settled on making him some decorated sugar cookies.  Hopefully they'll survive their long journey!

Avenger Themed Cake Pops

After passing out those Pinkie Pie cake pops around my workplace the word got out that I like to bake and decorate. One of my co-workers, MG, asked me if I could make her some cake pops for an Avengers themed birthday party. I love getting paid to be creative so I immediately said yes. She bought me the supplies and I brought my creativity!

She just wanted a simple cake pop with sprinkles and the ones she brought me we're very cute. I especially love the star sprinkles! I also happened to buy a silicone ice cube mold at Target that had star shapes. She didn't request but 24 round cake pops but I had some leftover cake mixture and decided to experiment with the star shapes.

Thai Thani {A Resturant Review}

Even the bathroom was pretty!

Peter's family was in town this past week and they graciously took us out to eat.  Our roommate suggested Thai Thani in Celebration, Fl because he loves Thai food and had recently eaten there with another friend of ours and enjoyed his meal.

Thai isn't my favorite genre of food.  I'm not sure why.  I guess I'm always uber worried about ordering something spicy.  This happened once.  My mouth was on fire.  Ends up my husband's dish and my dish got mixed up.  Didn't find out until he complained that his meal wasn't spicy enough, lol!  Thai is delicious but I think I have mentioned before that I am just not an adventurous eater.  Obviously I am not a fan of spicy either.  I'd rather have fried chicken and mashed potatoes personally.

Pin All the Things 6/9/12 {Getting Healthy}

So I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired and made an appointment with the doctor.  I pretty much knew what she was going to tell me but I went ahead with the appointment anyways because we have a family history of diabetes and thyroid problems.  After ruling out those possibilities she encouraged me to lose weight and put me on some anti-depressants.  No surprise.  Not at all.

That was over a month ago.  The pills really help.  I was really reluctant to give them a try.  My mood has improved.  My weight, however, remains unchanged.  It's one of my sources of sadness.  It is very easy for me to make excuses and just sit in front of the TV and eat.  When I'm sad I eat.  When I'm happy I eat.  Ick!  Why do I write a food blog again?

Anyways, at my check up to see how I was doing and get my test results I promised the doctor I would really really try to lose weight.  I have all the tools to do so.  I even have a gym membership I never use and a Wii.  This Sunday I am recommitting myself to healthy eating and exercise.  My husband has adorably decided to help me out by promising me prizes for #age lost.  Oh, and to also nag me about it and join me in my goals.  My cooking has made him a lil chubby too, lol!  He just needs to shape up a little bit.

This week I pinned some resources that I hope will aid me in my goal:

Beef on Sticks (okay and veggies too!)

One of the best things about getting married is getting to eat new foods and then getting to steal you new husband's family recipes without fear of reprisals.  The first meal I ever ate with Peter and his family was at Peter's going away party before we were really a couple (it's complicated).  It was a wonderfully tasty grilled beef shish kabob.  The meat was tender and delicious!  I'm pretty sure there was also veggies but I don't remember them, just the meaty goodness!

This is recipe was the first one ever given to me by Peter's mom.  She got it from a family friend.  Where it came from before that is anybody's guess but if you happen to know where it originated from let me know.  Most likely a magazine or similar.

Lemon-Pineapple Fizz

For some reason I really wanted to go all out and be festive for Memorial Day weekend.  It's a 3 day weekend for me and my hubby happened to be off so I just really felt like I should make something extra special to nom on.

I found a couple recipes I wanted to try out and figured this was the perfect opportunity to put them to the test.  One was this recipe I found via Pinterest:

Pin All the Things 6/2/12 {Hair-Dos}

This past week I blogged about a new shampoo and it really got me thinking that I really need to do something with my hair.  It's in that awkward growing out-I really need a hair cut phase.  I can't decide if I want to get it cut and styled the way I always do, or just let it grow out a bit so that it's long enough to put up in a bun without using a ton of bobby pins to wrangle in the shorter layers.

I really hate wearing my hair down in the summer months.  It's just so thick and makes my neck all sweaty.  I own a black car so no matter how high that a/c is cranked it's still hot as heck in that car.  Luckily I don't drive a lot ( I work like 15 minutes from home) but it's still unbearable at times.

I pinned around and found some cute (and easy!) hairstyles that would be great to wear to work and keep my hair from irritating me.  A couple of them I'll have to wait to my hair is a bit longer.  I'm incapable of using bobby pins right.  I just shake my head and they all fall out.  Annoying.

These are all Pinned under Beauty Tips:

Pinkie Pie Cake Pops

I finally decided that if Pinkie Pie were going to throw me a party she would definitely make me cake pops.  I've never made cake pops but I have been following Bakerella for sometime and she makes it seem so easy.  She's right they are easy.  They just take time, patience and a bit of creativity.  Since this was my first time making cake pops I decided to keep it simple but flavorful.