Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Taking inspiration from the glorious Joy the Baker, I have taken to making smoothies. I love a good smoothie as a meal replacement. I'm still juicing, but for breakfast I find smoothies are the best way to make it through the morning. I have been making Joy's peanut butter, banana and oat milkshake as well as her toasted oat blueberry smoothie that can be found in her cookbook. So last night, I decided to try my hand at a Strawberry Banana Smoothie, I have to say it was DELICIOUS and incredibly filling.

Keep in mind that this recipe makes a lot, (4 mason jars) I stored my smoothies in the mason jars in my fridge and Matt and I each had one for breakfast. :)

5 cups unsweetened almond milk (or any other milk you like)
4 frozen bananas
1 lb cut strawberries, they can be frozen or fresh
1/2 cup of almond butter
2 tablespoons ground flax seed (ground into meal)
2 tablespoons old fashioned oats (ground fine)
2 tablespoons honey

I used fresh strawberries for this recipe, you may want to let the frozen ones thaw a bit so the smoothie isn't super thick, and it will be easier to blend.

I never really eat bananas, but I find this is a good way to incorporate them into my diet. Now anytime I buy them I know they're for smoothies, I peel them, cut them up into large pieces and freeze them.

I use my husbands coffee grinder thingy to grind the oats and flax seed. If you don't have a coffee grinder, then a food processor may work. I honestly have no idea, just get those things ground up!

Play around with this recipe and adjust to your liking, less banana more strawberry? sure, go ahead. One day I will buy a blender but for now I make smoothies in my HUGE measuring cup with an immersion blender. Try it out and enjoy!

Frederic Fekkai plus other must have goodness.

Greetings! In today's video blog I talk Frederic Fekkai's glossing system, Bite lipgloss, Urban Decay's eyeliner, Rimmel concealer, and They're Real by Benefit mascara, and Tarte blush!

Juicin'.

As some of you may know, I won a juicer a few weeks ago! Wake Up with Taylor was giving away a juicer to the first caller who could sing the outro to Kenny's Fat Kid Friday song, and YOUR GIRL aka me, won it! Matt and I juiced for the first time this morning and it was really great! We basically followed Dr. Oz's Green Juice recipe with just a few changes:

1 large cucumber
4 granny smith apples
1 lemons
4 carrots
1 large naval orange
4 handfuls of spinach
2 stalks of celery
1 large bunch of parsley

We ran the pulp through the machine just to be sure we got the most out of it.

I did a taste test after each ingredient was added just so I know what to add or take away. I was really intrigued by the apple, citrus, cucumber combo that tasted like concentrated spa water. I think this would be great juice to freeze in ice trays and add to water. instant spa water! Super tasty.

I have to admit I was really nervous during this process! Thankfully my husband was just as nervous and excited. The juice actually turned out really great. The main thing I could taste was the lemon and  parsley, and I didn't really mind that at all.  It tasted kind of the way a fresh mowed lawn smells.  We made the juice in batches, it was enough for us each to have one 8 ounce glass and I stored the rest in mason jars. My juice should be good for 72 hours, so come Tuesday evening I will make another batch. A few hours after my first juice I actually feel different. Maybe it's just a placebo effect but I feel like I've had coffee today, I'm really energized.

Matt and I are in the middle of watching "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" and are thinking about doing a juice fast! I think it will be a great jumping off point to a better lifestyle.

Urban Decay review plus other goodness

In this video I talk Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette, Beauty for Real lipgloss, Make Up Forever foundation and concealer, Carmindy for Sally Hansen cream blush and upcoming reviews! Yay! I know this video is a little shaky, just deal with it for me for a second. These videos will stop being so hood really soon, I promise. Also Tara's blog is Tarathefoodie.blogspot.com, not what I said in the video I'm not the smartest.

Product reviews coming soon! Also, ear worms.

This month I will have a few new  products to talk about, including Urban Decay's gel eyeliner, lip gloss by Bite, Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette, and whatever else I can blow my remaining $25 gift card on at Ulta. Also I will be getting Frederic Fekkai's glossing system, I'm pretty pumped about that. I'll also instruct some of you how to apply eyeliner ha ha.

Can we talk about ear worms? Not literal worms, but songs that get in your head and won't leave. I've been humming "I'll Never Tell" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical episode "Once More With Feeling" for WEEKS now, and it's the same little loop over and over again. Usually my remedy is to listen to the song until I'm sick of it, but that hasn't been working, much to my husband's dismay as he's forced to listen to my personal rendition every night from the shower. "This the man I plan to entangle, isn't he fine?" D'oh. "Cus there's nothing to tell!" God, kill me.

On another note, since I haven't updated this thing in literally months, you'll be happy to know that my holidays and birthday came and went without much trouble. I really love my birthday, it's my favorite time of the year because I am the most entitled.

In conclusion, my current ear worm.

Burning Bridges

I don’t care what you have to say

I don’t know you anyway

This is not a game I play

I’m just burning bridges

Move ahead and don’t look back

How many now? I’ve lost track

The fire so hot, the smoke so black

I’m just burning bridges

It’s too easy to walk on by

I’m too cold to see you cry

I’m too careless to care just why

I continue burning bridges

One more time, let’s go around

Building you up then tearing you down

I hear the cracking no other sound

Of me burning bridges

Let the fire touch me please

Leave me here on my knees

Abandon me with such ease

As I have burned these bridges

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

My mom made us take home so many left overs for Thanksgiving. I was trying to think of something comforting to make with them. I love Thanksgiving food afterall, but I've had my fill. I thought about making a pot pie because I had frozen veggies, left over turkey and a can of cream of chicken at home. The only thing I needed from the grocery store yesterday was a pie crust and an onion. I don't know about you but I love potatoes, the more potatoes the better.

2 pie crusts ( I used a regular 9 inch from Pillsbury, next time I may get a deep dish)
1 1/2 cups (approximately) of left over turkey or chicken
1 can cream of chicken
1 medium onion diced
1/2 cup diced potato
1 1/2 cups frozen veggies ( I used lima beans, green beans, corn, carrots, and peas)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup of milk
1 egg
chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly poke holes with a fork in the bottom and sides of one pie crust and bake for about 9 minutes or until lightly golden. set aside.

Saute onions in butter and rosemary until just translucent, add diced potatoes and cover with chicken broth. This was probably about 2/3 of a cup for me. Use enough just to cover the potatoes. One potatoes are fork tender add frozen vegetables and cover with chicken broth. Once veggies are heated, add chicken or turkey and cream of chicken soup. Add 1/4 of milk to the empty can of soup and whisk with a fork and add to the pot. At this point if you may need to add a little more chicken broth to even out the mixture but you don't want it to be too runny. Season with salt and pepper to taste and fill the pie crust.

Top with the second pie crust cutting off any excess. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and brush on to the crust. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Voila! Easy left over chicken or turkey pot pie.