Plants Galore

I wanted to use all of the spray painted pots from last weekend and add some color to the gravel pit  backyard this weekend. I found most of these at Home Depot and although not all are succulents, they are all supposed to be drought tolerant once established. Bonus, some were really good deals.

 Orange Star of Bethlehem

 Red Kangaroo (joey) Paws

 Succulents (I combined two in one pot)

 Asiatic Lilies in bright orange (4 for $10)

 Reddish-yellow kangaroo (joey) paws

Giant kangaroo (joey) paws that were a steal at $20!! (thanks home depot)

Spray Paint it Pretty

My backyard leaves a lot to be desired. I am *lucky* that it is a blank slate, but I have been struggling with easy ways to make it pretty on the cheap. Pinterest offers ample inspiration, but I am trying to balance cost, effort and maintainability. This, along with living in San Diego, has created a "succulent monster".

I want every different type of succulent potted around my yard. They are beautiful and easy to maintain. Once I decided to go down this path I realized that all the pots I want are expensive. Even the basic terra cotta I initially planned on using started to add up really fast when I realized how many I needed. I started seeing lots of pots at consignment shops, but they were all funky colors. I don't want them all matchy matchy, but I would like a consistent color palette. After a few more hours on pinterest, I decided I was going to spray paint the crap out of some pots.

After a particularly fruitful consignment trip a week ago I ended up with way the hell to many quite a few pots that needed spray painting.

After agonizing over the eventual color pallet, I landed on mixed metallics. Today started the paint the crap out of some pots journey. Armed with some metallic gold and antiqued pewter (supposed to hide surface flaws and imperfections) I painted the first five of my consignment haul.

Now to decide what to put in them (succulents - duh) and where. Happy Saturday.

Mini "frittatas"

These are all the rage on pinterest so I had to give them a whirl.
Much like goldilocks, I liked the idea of them but wanted my own spin:

Some of them look really healthy.
Some of them yummy, but not healthy.
Some a little bit of both, but I wanted different mix ins.

So I gave it a go. The ingredients I used are as follows:

• A dozen eggs
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 red pepper
• 12 cherry tomatoes sliced in quarters
• 3 wedges of laughing cow light cheese (I used swiss)
• Salt & pepper to taste

I chopped all the veggies and arranged in a heavily sprayed muffin tin.

Then I cracked the eggs, added the 3 cheese wedges and salt & pepper and beat them. After making sure the cheese was broken up, I poured the mixture over the veggies (about 1/4 cup in each tin) making sure each individual cup got some cheese.

Pop in a preheated oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes and voila. Mini "frittatas"

Throw on a baking rack to cool and enjoy!

Bonus, they keep in the fridge well - and freeze well

It's finally chilly enough for chili, yay!

San Diego has been unseasonably warm this year. As a native Washintonian I crave sweater weather and crock-pots full of soup. Up until this weekend - I was not sure I would get either this year.

Well, the heat finally broke (we e ven got a little rain) and I was able to make chili (which I have wanted for weeks). I wanted to skip the spice packet and make my own, so it was off to pinterest I went searching for inspiration.... I found this recipe that was awesome and crazy informative - but I had to tweak it (because that is what I do).

I wanted to make it in the crock-pot and I hate ground beef so I made the following mods:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef stew meat
• 2  large onions, diced (I chose yellow and white)
• 2  large peppers, diced fine (optional, I used 3 we had on our pepper plant without the seeds)
• 5 tbsp. minced garlic 
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoons chipotle powder 
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons oregano (I used fresh from the garden)
• 2 cubes beef bullion 
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• water 
• 3 15-ounce cans beans (1 each of kidney, pinto and black)

Throw it all in the crock-pot and cook away. ps, Your house will smell amazing all afternoon.

After your chili is ready, top with light sour cream, avocado and chives for a delicious and filling dinner.

Fish off

For tonight's dinner we decided to each prepare one of the two types of fish I bought Sunday and see which one we liked better.

*spoiler alert: they were both delicious*

Left (his): Salmon, Honey, Salt & Pepper, Onions, Apple, Celery

Right (mine): Rock fish, Lemon, Salt & Pepper, Garlic, Chives, Kale, Onion, Portabella

We wrapped both in foil and threw them on the grill for 20 minutes.

Simple side of brown rice, kale, onion, portabella mushroom, garlic, salt & pepper, and a tiny bit of olive oil. Simple, easy and delicious!

*this could be a meal if you added protein, so yummy*

Obsessed with Black Shellac

Something about having my nails painted makes me feel pretty. My nails aren't long, nor have I ever been particularly fond of them. I have never spent much time or energy keeping them up (outside of an infrequent clear coat and a file to make sure they are not scraggly). Why I finally, at the ripe age of 30, have decided to care about what my nails look like is beyond me.

When everyone started raving about shellac I was not fast to buy in to it. I thought it was all hype... a manicure that would last three weeks without chipping.... I call bull. A few years ago I got a shellac mani for a wedding and my thumb chipped within the hour. I figured it was just your typical over-priced beauty fad. (brazillian blow out anyone). However, one of the women I work with always has immaculate nails and my curiosity was piqued. Shiny and polished but natural. No acrylic-style thick grow out or chipping. She swears by shellac. So I gave it another go. I got my nails done three weeks ago (to the day) and they still look amazing (no chips and still shiny). I think I have fallen in love. 

I needed a little R&R so I went in to get them done again. I opted for black (shocker, it is my favorite nail color of all time), and I have found my new obsession. Bonus, the shellac is similar to gel, so it strengthens your nails and helps them from breaking

*obsessed with the black!*

Smoothie Time

Smoothies are a staple in our household. So much so, that we bought a Vitamix a little over a year ago. ps, I love, love, love my Vitamix! Depending on the season I throw any number of things into the smoothies (some combos turn out better than others) Recently I have been on a cleanse/clean eating kick after a few unhealthy weeks and these are helping me get on track. These are hearty, filling, and healthy.... but most of all tasty.

Recent smoothie ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (unsweetened)
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks (unsweetened)
• 2 oz L&A all cranberry juice (100% cranberry unsweetened)
• a scoop of Garden of Life Perfect Food raw organic greens
• 1 scoop of Jay Robb Whey Protein (any flavor - I am on a chocolate kick)
• 2 cups of filtered water

*this mixture makes enough for two LARGE smoothies*