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Girls Night In

June 24, 2019 No Comments

Happy Sunday! I’m 100% refreshed after a little at home pampering session from last night. Do you ever have those weekend days you just need to hibernate at home? Sharing the best routine to relax and rejuvenate for a girls night in (or girl, as it were) pampering products with you below!

Relax, Rejuvenate, Girls night in, Baking Soda, Bath Bombs, Aromatherapy, Mud Mask, Nail Polish, Face Cream, Eye Cream, Rose, Wine, Sleep Mask, Girly Girl

First & foremost – get comfy! It’s tough to pamper yourself if you feel restricted. I love a good PJ set! Mine is sold out, but I linked a few cuties below. Make sure to get some that are also super soft and with a little stretch!

Disclaimer – the Rosé is not linked 😉 but choose your favorite.

I like to start with a quick polish change and am loving this Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. It claims to be dry in 60 seconds, which I Can neither confirm or deny, but I can say that mine was 100% dry within 6-10 minutes. Still a huge accomplishment from regular nail polish! (Be sure to grab the top coat – this will extend the polish for another 3-4 days.)

Post dry polish, I like to have a good relaxing soak in the tub. I was recently gifted this set of aromatherapy bath bombs and let me tell you – they smell amazing! Would be great for gifting…. even to yourself! My favorite is the lavender because that scent is so calming.

Let’s talk face-specific skin care – Post relaxing bath, I exfoliated. Exfoliating helps to slough off the top most layer of dead skin and leaves you with a shiny new layer when you’re done. Honestly, I’ve been through product after product, and one of my favorites is still regular old Baking Soda – that’s right! The stuff from your kitchen! It’s very mild and won’t scratch your skin if you have any sensitivity or acne happening, vs some other kinds that are more like grains of sand and tend to be more rough.

I chose this mud mask after exfoliating called “purifying” to help me proverbially slough off some of my previous week’s stress! The option pictured contains tea tree oil which is also known to have a natural anti-bacterial, which is great if you have any blemishes happening.

Always follow your face washing routine with moisturizer! Why? Because you remove natural oils from your skin when you wash with soap and water. If that moisture is not replaced, your skin will produce more oil, trying to remoisturize — so just cut it off at the pass. You’ll feel better about it and be less prone to break outs. I linked my favorite affordable eye & skin moisturizer for very dry skin (like mine) below.

And lastly, my very favorite part of my girls night in weekend routine involves sleeping in – I don’t know about you but that 5:30 alarm on the weekdays is just a little too early bird for me. Have you ever tried using a sleep mask before? I originally purchased this for a VERY long overseas flight, but it works wonders to help keep that light out when you want to sleep in! I love this sleep mask because of the cute details.

This was my “feel better because you’re staying in on a Saturday night alone” plan – what did I miss?? What would you have included that is important to your self-care routine?

Fashion & Beauty, Fashion & Style

July 4th Fashion Finds

June 22, 2019 No Comments

Can you all believe it’s practically July?! Where this year has gone, I’m not sure, but doesn’t it always feel this way? I wanted to share a few July 4th Fashion Finds with you, and if you’re any bit of a procrastinator like me, the best part is all these are available on Amazon Prime! Hooray for 2-day shipping! (Shameless plug – seriously, one of the best decisions we ever made, and if you don’t have it you can get it here, and trial it free for 30 days 😉 )

So one thing I haven’t been terribly public about is that my husband is actually a Team USA athlete, so I’m looking for these patriotic July 4th Fashion Finds year round!! If you’re wondering if I look like a total fan girl at his competitions, the answer is yes 🙂

What is your favorite July 4 Fashion Find? Or even accessory?? I often find awesome patriotic extras in the dollar bin at Target… Score! Which I utilize year-round.

Food, Recipes

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers

June 14, 2019 No Comments

Who loves a good stuffed pepper? This girl! Especially when the peppers are in season and major on sale! Only way I shop — sales. 🙂

These southwest stuffed bell peppers are stuffed with quinoa (What a power grain!), Black Beans, Corn, Onion, Turkey Sausage and Cheddar Cheese! Yum.

So, to start, heat your oven to 400 degrees. Begin cooking the turkey sausage over medium heat, and while the turkey is cooking, prepare the peppers and chop the onion. For stuffed peppers I like to behead them and then manually tear out the flesh & seeds. (Sounds so violent!) Then, a little trick I picked up was to slice off the points on the end of the peppers so that they stand flat while they’re cooking!

Sort of an aside – Mix 1 cup quinoa with 1 cup water and 1 cup broth (it adds more flavor), and allow this to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, I like to leave the pan on the hot burner, and allow to sit for 5 minutes more. This makes the most perfect fluffy quinoa!

Chop the bottom from a bell pepper to make it stand upright when cooking — Tough to see, but I’ve sliced off the little “feet” at the bottom of the pepper so it will stand upright in the oven! 😉 One of my favorite cooking tips!

And don’t let that top go to waste! Chop off the edible portions, and you can add these together with the onion, and stuff them in the peppers too.

Don't let the pepper tops go to waste! Cut all the edible portions and add them to the dish!

Not a must, but I like to line my pan with foil to make cleanup a little easier. Pepper filling gets a little messy!

Disclaimer – I only cooked 4 peppers, but had a ton of leftover “stuffing”. 6 peppers will be much more fitting unless you just want to eat the stuffing as-is. Which I sometimes like to do!

So, once your turkey is cooked, Add the chopped pepper & onion. As they are cooking, stir in the spices, and continue to cook until peppers are soft and onions become translucent.

Once all this yumminess is cooked, remove it from the heat, and into a separate mixing bowl. Add the corn, beans, cheese and cooked quinoa to this, and mix until well blended (Promise it’s all hiding down there).

And now you’re ready to stuff those peppers! I use a medium sized spoon, and fill to the brim, gently pressing the stuffing down to fill the entire pepper. You could call them well-stuffed peppers…

Once those peppers are stuffed, put them in the oven for 35 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, add a little cheese and let it brown in the oven.

I garnished with a little extra cheese (yum!), some sliced avocado and my not-so-famous Greek Yogurt + powdered Ranch dressing mixture.

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers with Quinoa & Turkey Sausage

admin

A delicious and easy meal, perfectly made from a few leftovers or on the fly!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6 peppers

Ingredients

6 Sweet Red Peppers
1 cup quinoa (dry)
1 cup water
1 lb ground turkey sausage
1 cup chicken broth
1 medium onion
1 jalapeno (could omit if too spicy!)
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup corn, frozen
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove tops & seeds from the bell peppers. Slice the edible portion of the tops off, and chop. This will be added to the frying pan later.
Slice the bottoms off the peppers, to make them flat so they will stand upright in the glass pan (see photos). But don't cut into the interior of the pepper. Don't want the goodness leaking out!
Begin cooking ground turkey over medium heat until fully cooked through, and no pink remains.
While the turkey is cooking. Add 1 cup of dry quinoa with 2 cups of fluid (1 cup water & 1 cup broth). Bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, turn the heat off, but leave the pot on the burner, and the lid on. Let steam for 5 minutes more for fluffy quinoa.
While the turkey is cooking, chop the medium onion, and add to the pan with the cooked turkey.
Add the seasonings to the turkey and then the chopped jalapeno peppers, tops of the red bell pepper, and onion. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and bell pepper is soft.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cooked quinoa, and the turkey & vegetable mixture, with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Place the hollowed bell pepper in an oven safe dish, and fill each pepper with the grain & meat mixture. Once each pepper is filled, top with additional shredded cheese.
Cook for 35 minutes or until peppers are tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro for serving.

Keyword bell pepper, ground turkey

As always, Enjoy!

Fashion & Beauty, Fashion & Style

Summer Statement Earrings

June 10, 2019 No Comments

Just a heads up: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are entirely my own. Thanks for supporting me!

Who doesn’t love a good statement earring?? Check out my top picks from Amazon below! The best part is that all these summer statement earrings are suuuper light! They don’t weigh your ears down and every set is under $15! I got an incredible amount of compliments after wearing a tassel pair to the pool over the weekend, so I decided to share the deets!

Products are linked below, or through the like to know.it app.

Summer Statement Earrings | Tassel | Rattan | Wicker | Fringe | Acrylic | Light Statement Earrings | Leather | Not Heavy Earrings | Big Earrings — Leather // Rattan // Tassels // Acrylic

I’m generally a big fan of statement earrings because I think the elongate my face. And I’m very “anti” wearing a large statement earring with another large statement piece. What do you guys think??

Which summer statement earrings are your fave and how will you wear them?!

Fashion & Beauty, Fashion & Style

Casual Weekend Outfit // Patio Sitting

June 6, 2019 No Comments

I met up with my girlfriend last weekend at a local winery, and we had such a great day just enjoying the sunshine! Have you ever seen that shirt or tagline that says something along the lines of “I’m outdoorsy, in the sense that I like sitting on patios”. 100% me, although I do take a hike every now and again 😉 Details for this casual weekend outfit are linked below and available through the Liketoknow.it site.

Best part about all these pieces is that they’re under $50 each. If you haven’t caught on yet – I’m a bargain shopper through & through. The full outfit was approximately $100!

Casual Weekend Outfit, Affordable Style, Budget Friendly Summer Fashion, Budget friendly summer style — Earring (similar) // Jacket (similar) // Tank // Skirt // Sandals // Watch

So tell me, what do you guys like to do on casual weekends once the weather gets warmer? Are you as outdoorsy as me? Or more so? ha!

I’d love to hear what you would add to this casual weekend outfit??!

Fashion & Beauty, Hair & Beauty

Makeup Budget Buys

June 3, 2019 No Comments

Just a heads up: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are entirely my own. Thanks for supporting me!

Any ladies out there like to wear makeup? Yah, me too… the expensive stuff 😉 Well, after reviewing our budget, we realized we needed to be cutting corners everywhere we could… Unfortunately for this girl who loves makeup… that meant ditching my most expensive beauty routine for some much more affordable makeup budget buys! I’ve been pretty impressed with some of the products I’ve found!

Makeup Budget Buys Photo Shoot, Affordable Makeup, Drugstore Make up finds

Under Eye Concealer – L.A. Girl Pro Conceal HC Concealer, Light Yellow

After reading about yellow concealer, I figured I’d give this a go. I have pretty dark circles under my eyes, or at least I think so. So I swapped my $45 name brand concealer for this $5 find instead. It stays on all day, and I have great coverage with this!! The concealer also has this cool brush applicator that makes putting it on that much quicker! Also, no cleaning brushes – when it’s gone, you toss it. I love easy clean up. Think I’ll continue with the yellow for now at least!

Spot Correcting Concealer – Maybelline New York, Fit Me! Concealer in #15 Light

I hate to admit that I’m at this lovely age where I’m jointly wearing face cream to prevent wrinkles, but also still need the zit cream on occasion… does this ever go away?! I digress. Because of this, I still rely on a spot correction concealer for those little pesky spots you don’t want seen!

BB Cream – Dr. Jart’s Premium Beauty Balm with SPF 45

OK, ok, this one wasn’t as much savings, or new to my routine, but I’m super passionate about applying sunscreen daily. Considering this has an SPF 45, it was tough to get rid of. This goes for $38 on Amazon, which is about $7 cheaper than my former “expensive” foundation. I like the light coverage that this gives, for both summertime and daytime wear. I wear light-medium in color, and with daily application, this lasts me about 3 months.

Finishing Powder– Coty Airspun Face Powder, Translucent Extra Coverage

Another crazy savings of $30 from my former product! Honestly, I remember that my grandma used this brand as a child, because I recognized the art on the container! Ha! It’s equally as great as my former brand, and lasts FOREVER. I do apply this with a brush vs the included powder puff in the container. I wear the Translucent Extra Coverage shade. This lasts me more than 6 months!

Contour – e.l.f. Cosmetics Contour Palette, in Light/Medium

Full disclosure, I’d been using a contour set I received in one of my subscription beauty boxes, but wanted to share one with you all. If you have plenty of blush laying around, this one would be a great option! Total savings ~$10-15 from my designer choice.

Contour / Blush Combo – BYS Contour Trio Powder Palette

Again, If you don’t have a supply of blush readily available, I love this set from Amazon, it’s like a super budget buy since you don’t need to purchase any blush additionally. I don’t know about you but I think I look a lot brighter and fresh with a little blush! That’s my “can’t go without” in the makeup department. 😉 I was a little hesitant about this buy since I wasn’t familiar with the brand but it’s a great buy and seems to stay on all day!

Mascara – L’Oreal Paris Makeup Lash Paradise, Waterproof Mascara

This bad boy is about $16-20 cheaper than my former fancy mascara, and stays on just as well! I found it a lot easier to go for a more budget-friendly mascara, despite my love for expensive beauty products. I’ve been using this L’Oreal product, and It does leave you with light, feathery, voluminous lashes! I opt for the waterproof version so I don’t have to worry about looking like a raccoon in the late afternoon.

I’m a big fan in general of Amazon Subscribe & Save…. you can save an additional 15% on each of these products if you play the game right! Check them out, and let me know if you love any of these products.

SO- My total savings? $115!! Just on making a couple simple swaps. I’d love to hear how much you saved by swapping out a few products!

What makeup budget buys have you discovered at a crazy discount?? I’d love to hear!