Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

Howdy.

I got to thinking about S'Mac in NYC yesterday and their tasty buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese.

Then I got to thinking about NYC which led to me thinking about my friends who I miss so much and I got sad. When I get sad, I need comfort food, which caused me to crave macaroni and cheese. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE.

Look at me trying to be in the picture. 

While "working" yesterday I googled around to see if I could find a lightened version of a buffalo chicken macaroni recipe but I couldn't find any that really struck me. Others seemed to be too complicated. So I merged two recipes into one, because I'm really innovative and smart.

As a lot of you know, skinnytaste is a jam. The recipes are delightful and delicious and very easy. The basic recipe is here. I also used some elements from this recipe.

Ingredients:
12 oz elbow macaroni
3 tbsp fake butter or the real thing
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cups of skim milk
1 cup of fat free chicken broth
8 oz reduced fat sharp cheddar
handful of extra cheddar for topping
4 ounces of blue cheese
1/2 cup franks hot sauce (more or less depending on your taste)
12 ounces of cooked chicken cut into pieces
salt and pepper
garlic powder
1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs (or however much you want)
cooking spray

Cook pasta according to the package directions, preheat oven to 375.

In a large heavy bottomed skillet (I used cast iron just for ease but do whatever floats your boat) melt butter on medium heat, add onions and cook about 2 minutes. Whisk in flour until dissolved, add milk and chicken broth turn up to medium high until it begins to bubble and becomes thick and there are no lumps. (be patient) Season with salt and pepper and a pinch or two of garlic salt.

Once your sauce is thick, remove from heat and add the cheddar cheese and stir until it's completely melted. Slowly add the frank's sauce tasting as you go. Adjust salt, pepper and garlic powder if you need to. taste! taste! taste! Once you've reached your desired heat stir in the chicken and macaroni. Now you can pour the mixture into a greased or sprayed baking dish or you can leave it all in your cast iron skillet, I opted for this since it's less clean up. Sprinkle your handful of extra cheddar, sprinkle the blue cheese on and then top with seasoned bread crumbs and spray with cooking spray.

Bake for about 25 minutes and then broil (carefully) to toast your bread crumbs.

I actually used less noodles and as a result my finished product was more saucy but I'll follow the directions next time.

I wasn't smart or thinking ahead last night when I made this dish so I didn't take a picture of the finished product in the cast iron skillet, but I do have this for your viewing pleasure.

Brandie's Closet Part II

Hello pals.

Today I bring you more fashions from Brandie's closet.

Truth be told most days I look like this.

On the weekends I dress it up because that's when I have the time to do my hair and my make up and do the whole thing. So I end up looking like this.

I don't think you're ready for this jelly. I was all balls to the wall and didn't wear spanx at all with this outfit. I've officially given up on life. This beautiful sweater came from Brandie, but originally it's from Target! I wore it with my black leggings from Torrid and my Lane Bryant boots. I really wear them all the time.Someday I will buy new earrings but as you can see I'm a minimalist in the way that I wear the same accessories errrday. I'm a work in progress. Give me a break.

Also this may be my favorite shirt of all time. I used the flash so you could see the horsies. HORSIES. Also from Brandie's closet, this is originally from Torrid. I've been sleeping on Torrid lately but this shirt is my jambo. I am IN LOVE with the neckline.

And of course would this look be complete without skinneh jeans and my dumb boots? Nope. 

Brandie has AMAZING taste. I can't wait until she has to clean out her closet again and I get to pillage all of her things. FRIENDSHIP.

Brandie's Closet

What up. I suck at blogging, I know this. My sentence structure is bad, my grammar is even worse but ya know what? Proper grammar is for rich people, so suck it. I write the way I speak. If I can read this back and it sounds like I'm just talking to you on the phone, then mission accomplished. I go through these phases where I have plenty to say but don't feel like blogging, and then when I do feel like blogging I have so much to say I word vomit about a million different subjects at once. So, for all of our sake's I'm going to try to blog more often and keep my subjects down to one at a time.

Push it back here we go.

I have a friend named Brandie. She is a glorious nymph I met in Cosmo Radio Land and she quickly became one of my closest friends. She is a Wedding Planner and a sometimes tweeter @Brandie327. We love make up. We dance the dance of friendship on a daily basis, and have basked in our love in person!

Perks of this friendship are that B and I are close to the same size, so I finally have someone to swap clothing with. Brandie's style is out of control. I don't think she really considers herself fashionable or a clothes horse but she really is! She and I happened to be cleaning out our closets around the same time and sent each other items that we'd otherwise get rid of in other ways, but friends get first dibs. BOOM. Happy. From rich colored sweaters, to flowy chiffony tops, to one particular dress I actually cried over when I tried on, my haul from Brandie is THE BEST, even better than online shopping. I took some pics of my favorite sweater this morning, thus inspiring this post, YOU'RE WELCOME.

This is a sweater from Target. I LOVE the neckline and color.

I know my glasses are crooked, deal with it for now.

 I love this sweater with my dark skinneh jeans and over the knee boots from Lane Bryant.

Another favorite is this dress from Asos! How fucking cute is this? I mean seriously. Brandie wore the shit out of this dress at Cosmo Con and I am happy to have it. I can't wait to wear it. Maybe for my 30th birthday? I dunno. I won't wear this with the heels pictured but they're the only ones I own and I wanted to see how it would look with heels. So there we go. Look how happy I am! haha.

Get out there and talk to your friends, swap clothing and find a new style. I feel like Brandie and I have different styles because our body shapes are actually different, even though we are close to the same size. Some of the things she sent I wouldn't pick for myself off the shelf, but they look amazing on! 

I can't stress enough how much I love the things she sent. FRIENDSHIP!

This will be a two part post, because I have other outfits to take pictures of. This isn't a fashion blog so we'll all just have to deal with photos of me in my dirty mirror. 

Also, dumps like a truck, truck, truck. 

Thighs like what, what, what. 

Just wanted to post a picture of my butt and yes I wear those boots for nearly every outfit.

Hard Strawberry Lemonade

I have been meaning to write about this delicious treat for quite a while. I make this lemonade when I have a crowd to please, it's so easy.


1 can frozen lemonade
1 can frozen pink lemonade
1 pint of strawberries pureed or sliced
24 ounces (approximately) citrus vodka

In a large punch bowl, make the lemonade according to the directions on the cans but substitute one part vodka. I believe the directions on the cans calls for 3 cans of water, so I use 2 cans of water and one can of vodka.

Stir in your strawberries however you have prepared them. If I'm making a small batch just for me, I'l use one can of lemonade and just a few strawberries and blend the mixture with an immersion blender. Play around with this recipe and make it your own! This is especially good over ice from Sonic. :)

This comes out VERY strong, just FYI. Taste as you go and add the vodka slowly. People get so hammered.

Things of Summer

Oh hey what's up blog? I haven't been up in here since like April or something. However I did update my juicing recipe, so if you're trying to mess with juicing you can see that here.

So it's summer. It's stupid hot (we all forget  how hot it gets when we're bitching about how cold it is in the winter. I do it, you do it, we do it). For the first time since I was like 14, I have a swimming pool in my very own backyard son! One Saturday my husband and I were riding around together and he turned to me and said lovingly "Fuck this shit, it's hot. Let's go get a pool." No argument from me, let's do the damn thang. So we hot footed it over to that evil conglomerate Wal-Mart, because while they may be evil, shit is cheap in there guys, give me a break. On the way home I began to wonder how much actual work I'd have to do to put this thing together and I started to frown. As I mentioned before, it's hot man, and I don't really like, do physical labor. I mean would you rather dig ditches in 100+ degree weather or lay on your couch in the AC drinking beer? Ok so there, shut up and stop judging me. However, I am a good damn wife so I figured if I was going to reap the benefits of the pool, I'd shut the hell up and help. So I started helping Matt clear a spot and level the ground. UGH. That lasted for about 15 minutes before I damn near pulled my shoulder out of the socket (drama queen). Here's the process documented after I almost lost my arm. I really did try to help though.

See the look of pity, sadness general unattractiveness, also redness and sweatyness.

My man doing all of the real work, Lindsey posing like the diva she always is. (She get it from her mama)

Also I don't know why my dog is named Lindsey. My parents had her first and my little brother thought it was a great name, it's a terrible name for a dog.

I'll save you all the other details but here is the finished product, it's small but big enough for me to float around on one of those loungey floaty things. 

I was delighted to learn that I was able to fit into the swimsuit I bought for my honeymoon 2 years ago. I'd actually grown out of it considerably and had to buy a new swimsuit last year, pretty devastating no matter what size you are. So here is a picture of me happy as a clam to be in my old swimsuit, it's a size 22. 

I was busy screaming at the neighborhood that I was a mermaid at one point, then I ran in the house to make mermaid hair. Thanks pinterest and damn you wonky eye! I see you. 

Also I thought my husband and I should have a picture together since we never take any. So here's one of us, I look strangely a lot like my mom in this picture. That's what happens when he takes it when I'm still talking. 

Pool time for me means having awesome dranks and snacks too. Being out in the hotness makes me hungry (so does just breathing apparently) so allow me to share with you my treats for this summer. 

First off, homemade popsicles. I got 2 molds from Target for like $2. I love Target.  

There is no recipe for these, I just winged it. I used pineapple juice and marachino cherry juice and I put one cherry at the top, you can kind of see it in this picture. Let me tell you man, this was a tasty treat. I don't understand those of you who don't like pineapple. I still love you but I don't understand you or your life. 

Next, my favorite thing of all time thanks to my wonderful mother in law, Amanda who first made these, blueberry picnic bars. LORD. These are so buttery and just wonderful, I can't even tell you. Here's the recipe, just go make them and report back to me. I actually make extra topping because I find that I really need it. I like the extra crumbly buttery deliciousness.

Sometimes I buy blueberries for oatmeal, or for a blueberry pie, or to make these bars and I never get to it because blueberries are also a delightful treat all on their own. Oh, if you're feeling extra fancy, heat these up a little and top them with vanilla ice cream, you'll thank me. I accept cash and Sephora gift cards, you're welcome.

Summer isn't summer without a delightful drink. Last year it was Watermelon Mimosas and this year is my own little concoction of pineapple juice, coconut rum and marachino cherries. (see a pattern here?) 

We got these cups at Target, they come in really handy because I tend to spill a lot. I'm a toddler and I require a sippy cup. 

One last treat, faux ice cream. Well that's what I call it. Frozen bananas food processed with just about anything you like is a dream, if you like bananas. I happen to love me a banana or two, or three. 

I made this with 2 frozen bananas and a handful of strawberries. It didn't need any sugar or anything. It's a cool treat that satisfies my ever nagging sugar cravings without having to make late night runs to Dairy Queen. 

So try and stay cool (not in a high school yearbook way) this summer and have some fun. Swim if you want to swim, lay on your couch in the AC and take naps, it's all ok.

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!