Dinner Party Extravaganza and Try-em Out Tuesday

Okay so I decided to combine these two posts as kind of an explanation to my slackerness for this week's Try-em Out Tuesday!

First, although the Hubs has been stationed at the same base for three years we haven't met a lot of people around here! We recently moved on base which makes me feel a little more connected to the Hubs job and makes me feel safe when he is gone..yay!

However, our lack of connections (ie friends) can get a little lonely at times. Now, don't get me wrong, the Hubs and I love to spend all of our free time together and are still not tired of each other, but it would also be nice to have some friends around us to have cookouts and hang-out times with. So in an effort to meet new people on base and form new friendships the Hubs texted me on Friday to set up a dinner party date with a guy he works with and his wife that live two houses down from us! They are in the same life-stage as us (been married a few years with only dogs as kids) and they live by us ..score!

The ironic thing was that after we set up the party for last night the Hubs found out that they are moving next week!! Welcome to Military life :)

Oh well it was still a lot of fun!!

Here are some of the highlights/lowlights ...(oh totally forgot to take pictures and since i had never met them before i didn't really want to be flashing the camera for my blog all night...didn't want to scare them away)!

- This was the first dinner party that I have thrown in our new house/kitchen and it worked out very well! One of the hardest parts was planning the menu since usually I cook for people I know and know what they like. Here was the menu:

Braised Beef Ribs with a Horseradish Creme Sauce

Sweet and Hot Mustard Roasted Salmon

Sauteed Spinach with Bacon, Balsamic and Caramelized Pearl Onions

Smashed Baby Golden Potatoes with Chives

Bourbon Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

- Let's just say that on Sunday I hadn't cleaned the house or done any of the grocery shopping for the next night so yesterday was a mad dash to get everything done!! I tried to do like my mom does and write out a timetable for the everything that needed to be done..but well it never made it out of my head!! Oh well, I had everything done except the fish by the time they arrived and with only a few minor hiccups it went over pretty good!

- One of the funny/stressful parts was that I had been trying to get the hubs to check and see what they like to eat but as of Sunday night I still didn't know so I planned the menu out (everything except the salmon) and got all of the recipes ready! Then on Monday morning the hubs texts me to say the wife doesn't really eat red meat but eats a lot of salmon. okay time to find a new recipe to add to the menu..thank you robin miller for your quick turn around! Then I realized that although I like salmon I don't eat it that often and have never cooked it before..yikes! The only type I had worked with was the frozen pre-portioned fillets that you get from costco, so imagine my stress level when I went to the commissary and they only had salmon with the skin on (I couldn't get the frozen anyways b/c it wouldn't have time to thaw)! Needless to say it made me a little nervous. I did everything the recipe called for but for some reason it didn't seemed cooked enough..after putting it back in the oven a couple times and delaying dinner I decided it must be ready! I tasted pretty good and she ate a lot of it but when they left I noticed that the thicker part of the fillet might not have been fully cooked...oops..i think I just served a potential new friends partially cooked food!! Maybe she didn't notice?!

- other than that we had a really good time with a lot of laughs (they are awesome people)...too bad their moving :(

It didn't deter me though, I really enjoyed planning my first real dinner party for unknown guests and I look forward to many more in the future :)

Now on to "Try-em Out Tuesday"!!

Since I had a crazy last few days I was a bit of a slacker and failed to try out anything for this week!! So I decided to showcase on of my favorite products that I have been using for over a year now. I am a huge veggie (well mostly broccoli) freak and for a long time I had a hard time trying to figure out an easy way to steam my veggies without making them into mush! That's when I found this amazing product....

Glad Steam Bags!!

These bags literally have changed my life!! I have tried the ziplock brand as well but I like the glad ones a lot better. They hold a good amount of veggies and they steam them to pretty much perfection with little clean up! I usually use the bag two times and then throw it away. They are not too expensive and I just love them. Oh and you can believe me when I say that I go through a lot of veggies...I am embarrassed to say that I use one bag for myself each night and I go through about two big costco-sized bags (I think they are three pound bags) of broccoli a week by myself..I know I'm sick! The Hubs just laughs and shakes his head! I would be totally content to live off oatmeal and broccoli for life (I think I mostly do)! These bags are not just for veggies, you can also steam fish, chicken or beef and even add in seasonings or sauces to make an easy meal! I give this product an A++! I totally recommend that you keep some on hand for those night where you want an easy healthy meal or side dish!

Thank you guys again for helping validate my new favorite hobby and following me on my crazy life events and recommendations!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday ;)

Super Awesome Giveaway :)

First I want to say that I love all of the the blog friends that I have made..everyone is so hilarious, unique, honest..etc (I honestly could go on for a while)! Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for the support, encouragement and friendship you all give me!


Becky over at The Branches, one of the sweetest people I have met whose blog I can't get enough of, is having a suppertastic (i don't think that's a word but that's how great it is) giveaway!



Okay ladies here is a giveaway you don't want to miss!



We all like our make-up and what can be better than amazing mascara...



Go over to her blog and check it out ASAP!!!



Have a wonderful weekend all u lovely ladies :)

Does Anyone Want a Free Yellow Lab that goes by the Name of Charles and Has the Potential to be Well Behaved?!

Okay so I am not really giving him away...but today I am totally tempted!!

He was being fairly good this morning and since the weatherman promised it was going to be a day that resembled summer (still waiting on that day to show up!)....I decided to take the pup for a walk...I know, I know...that statement never ends well!
I will first say that he had been doing very well on his walks since the Hubs has gotten back! Well not today!
We start out on our walk and we head straight for his first marking spot..fire hydrant #1 (there are about 6 or 7 along our walk). That's when I spot them....a father, young son and female dog...oh no! Please charlie, can you go blind for a few minutes as to not see them I plead! Even worse it was a female dog that Charles has made "friends" with in the past...I so NEED to get him fixed!!
Well lets just say he didn't go blind and as soon as he spotted the female dog...he ran..oh no! so basically there was me caught behind the running Charles trying to make him stop and telling him to sit (yeah like that would work)! The dad was very nice and the female dog let Charles sniff her for a few minutes with my feeble attempts to control him. We finally were able to part with them and I decided to change our route since they were heading the same direction we were! We headed the opposite direction and on to the little walking path in our neighborhood. However, the Charles had decided to continue to sniff everything along the way and pull as hard as he could (maybe it was his raging hormones or something)!
That's when I saw him...squat position ready....oh no...he is going to poop! luckily I get him on the grass and smart thinking me had brought along a poop bag. He does his buizness and I pick it up..but the nearest trash can is by a house with someone mowing their lawn and a yard full of kids...I have already learned my lesson for the day...so we turn around a head the opposite direction. I usually have to use both hands to control him but since I still had the bag of poo I had to make due with one hand on the leash...not fun! He was still pulling like crazy!
We finally made it to the trash..me very frustrated and Him all happy..stupid dog! I was trying to be a good mom and get him fully walked out so we continued on. We had only walked about another minute and I had enough!
Let's just say the walk ended early and if someone had driven by right then and asked me to donate a dog...well it's a good thing dog donations were not present in our neighborhood today!!

What are your crazy dog stories??? any advise for me???

Have a great Thursday (it's thrusday right?)!

Running and Cooking don't mix :0

So I seem to be developing a pattern as of late..and not one I really want to continue! As I mentioned in an earlier post, The Hubs finally convinced me to start running with him and even though we don't go the same route or speed, I still wait till he gets home so that we can at least start out together. This is how all the craziness started last night!

I have been trying to be good about cooking on a budget and saving money. This week has been the first time that I have actually made a menu for the week and stuck to it! Last night I made Penne Pasta with braised Short ribs (courtesy of Giada) which I had to start mid afternoon so the beef ribs could braise. This would workout well b/c then all I would have to do is put it all together when we got back from the run.

The Hubs got home and we changed and started off on what has become our nightly run. Everything was going well, except I have to add that I think my body is protesting b/c my hip was hurting so bad that it made my last 3 toes on my right foot numb..very annoying when trying to run! Anyways, I toughed it out though and made it the whole way. When I got home I wanted to get dinner done so I didn't take the time to change out of my workout clothes (can we say dedication...i think so?!) One of the last parts to the recipe was to transfer the cooking liquid and veggies into the food processor and mix till creamy to form the sauce. Since I didn't have a food processor I decided to use my immersion blender. However, the immersion blender decided to be MIA! I had always heard that if you don't have a food processor a regular blender works great too, and i have one of those so I decided to give it a whirl.

I transferred the hot cooking liquid into the blender, got it all ready to go and turned it on. What happened next shocked me to the core! All the sudden hot (and i mean burning hot) meaty liquid was spraying all over our kitchen and me! It took me a minute to comprehend what was transpiring and when I did I quickly turned off the blender.

The Hubs was standing there laughing and asking what happened..while I was standing there in shock and horror with meaty juices all over me! Then I started surveying the damage. Luckily there was still a decent amount of the liquid in the blender so our dinner was not ruined.

I then went to work cleaning up the mess. The sauce was literally all over a huge corner of our kitchen and the worst part is it stained our walls..(at least they are corner back walls)! I finished cleaning up..a little peeved at what just happened! And then leave it to me to say..."Oh man , I should have gotten a picture of this to post on my blog!" The Hubs just laughed and said.."silly girl" :)

What happened next was in no way on purpose though I wished I wouldn't have said the previous comment....

I had figured that I just hadn't had the lid on tight so I made sure that it was on tight this time, placed my had on top of the lid to make sure it would stay on this time and hit Blend one more time....

Again..complete shock as the still very hot liquid once again sprayed all over my just cleaned kitchen and me again!!! What the Heck!

Please excuse the grossness..I just got back from running!

All I could do then was whimper...I really didn't want to go through this again. My wonderful husband then banished me from the kitchen and took over the cleaning up process again! We all called in the reserves ...meaning The Charles .... and let him take care of the floor! At least I got pictures the second time!

The Charles was very excited

By then I decided the blender just wasn't working out and opened the cabinet one more time to look for the immersion blender. Holy Batman..what did I find right in the front...the immersion blender!!! I had thought it was out of it's box, but apparently for once in my life I had been organized and left it all secure in its box!

I put the remaining liquid into the pot again and in two seconds flat the immersion blender did it's job! Who knew it could be that easy?!!

Yeah, i don't know if it is a good idea for me to be doing any heavy cooking after running anymore...who knows what will happen next!!! The only reason I can think that the blender didn't work was because of the hot liquid and the steam it was producing?

Does anyone have any ideas???

Well the dinner came out wonderful anyways! Oh and the Hubs said that he really like my new perfume of meat sauce :)

I need to know i'm not alone...what are some of your most horrific cooking stories?

"Try-em Out Tuesdays" I forget what episode.. BUT MEN BEWARE?!

Sorry my brain is a little slow today! However, one thing I do know is that I love summer!!! I don't care how hot it gets and I can even deal with the humidity because baby when it's summer I am on cloud nine! I love the sun, the clothes, the trips, the nightly walks, the fact that it stays light until about 8pm and basically the heat (call me crazy but I still use my heated seat in the car during the summer)!

Unfortunately, I think that NJ has gotten confused and forgot that summer is suppose to start at the end of May/ beginning of June!! It is coming to the end of June and I am still waiting for the sun and warm weather!! All I have to say is that this state better not short change me on any summer days..gerrr (mean face)!

I only have one sort-of complaint for the summer and that is the fact that us women are expected to keep our legs hairless and silky smooth during these warm months (now whether we do that or not is another thing). In the winter months we are all covered up so who cares whether we shave our legs or not (well maybe the hubs but hey he agreed to the hairy winter legs when he married me)!

*Okay this is where I feel obligated to warn any possible male readers that the rest of this post is about to dive into the "strictly women topics" and therefore you might want to step away from the computer right now...consider yourself warned!

Now that I got that out of the way lets continue...

I actually do okay shaving the main part of my legs but one of big things that I neglect to do during these colder months is shaving the bikini line area! and if you are like me and allow the whole winter to go by without shaving up there you know what a hassle it is when you finally do decide to attack the forest with the razor!! Not fun is all I have to say! Each year I vow to get better about maintenance, and each year I try several different products to make this job easier..both with little or no success. Let's just say that this year was no different!

But being the TV addict that I am I recently saw a commercial that gave me hope for this year!

What magical product gave me the hope I need for this summer you ask?....

Shick Quatro for Women Trimstyle

This product is not only a razor but it also has an electric razor on the end that is water proof with the sole purpose of trimming the bikini area (I guess i'm not the only one to let the forest grow)!

According to Shick "This is the gadget that every girl needs to stay perfectly groomed. It is the first four blade razor and waterproof bikini trimmer in one. Shave, trim and transform with the flip of a handle"! Well okay then :)

Well needless to say I just had to try it out! It is fairly inexpensive at around $8-10 for the razor (refills sold separately). When I got home I couldn't wait to bust it out of the package and try it out! The razor part worked just as well as any other specialty razor. However, I was really disappointed in the bikini trimmer part. It is not very wide so it takes awhile if you have let yourself go like I have. It also doesn't pick up much hair so you have to go back and forth a lot and then my skin had red lines all over it. It got the job done but in the end I felt more frustrated than excited! Honestly to me it was no easier than doing my usual method of using a couple disposable razors and getting the job done with those.

I will say tough that I am not the type to uses specialty razors, the pink throw away kind at target work great for me! But if you are a die hard specialty razor gal you might want to check it out. It wasn't any more expensive than the other refillable razors and I in my opinion the trimmer works a lot better for more consistent maintenance.

With all said and done I give this product a D :( I was actually really sad because this was my first negative review! But hopefully it will save some of you the disappointment I experienced when my hopes of easier silky legs were dashed!

And since I don't like leaving on a sad note...here is one of my all time favorite funny video clips...

Flight of the Concords - Business Time

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to load it directly onto this post! But you can click on the link and experience the joy :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!!

The Moments you think "Was I really just that retarded?"...

And the verdict is YES!!

So since the Hubs just got back from trip they gave him a few days off...yay for time together. I just love lazy days and today has totally been one of those! We slept in and then after many many tries of persuasion to go running with him today I finally gave in. He has been training for a 1/2 and then full marathon and I am very proud of him...but I am not a runner! Don't get me wrong I love working out, but it usually involves workout dvd's in the comfort of my own home!

But needless to say I finally gave in and went to bed last night with the promise that I would run with him tomorrow. Oh and since we were going to be expending all those calories on the run we decided be better get them back by making biscuits and gravy for a late brunch afterwards. Also, since he is all good at running we decided that he would run with me for the first few miles and then i would stop and he would continue his long run.

So as I promised, today I accompanied the Hubs on his run. It actually went really well and I ran about 2.5 miles and still felt like I could go more (which i didn't but at least i felt like i could)! He continued his run and I started working on the next task of the day....FOOD!!

I had to run (and by run i mean drive) to the store to get the makings (since this was decided last night to do this and we didn't have sausage)! I am always looking for ways to make things more healthy and so i purchased reduced fat sausage which is good for the waist-line but not so much for getting the drippings that you need to make the gravy! I had to add butter to the roux so I don't know if I really saved any calories in the long run.

Okay back to the story. So as I am cooking the sausage I am trying to scrape up all of the brown goodness on the bottom and to do that I grab one of my cooking spoons. Didn't really dawn on me that using a plastic spoon on a hot metal pan really isn't the smartest thing! At first I thought the spoon just looked black b/c of the drippings...not so...as I inspected the spoon closer I saw the truth.

It was one of those moments where i though...seriously..was i really just that retarded! and the spoon answered YES!

Oh well at least they are cheap! and the Hubs didn't promised that the gravy didn't have any sort of plastic taste to it! We enjoyed a good brunch anyways with only one casualty in the process!

PS.. I have a confession. When i first realized the demise of the spoon I threw it in the trash. Then when digging through the trash to recover the ruined spoon with the sole purpose of taking a picture of it to put on my blog it hit me...When did I become this blog obsessed??! Don't let my lack of posts fool you..i constantly have stories running through my head to post..it's getting them on the computer screen that is the problem!

When did you first realize you were blog obsessed? Does anyone else look at life as one blog post to the next?

Have a great day :)

Try-em Out Tuesday - Episode 3 (especially for pet owners)!

Hey All!!!

Okay so this is not a beauty/body product but OH MY GOSH it has changed my life!! And now without further blah blah (since I know you are dying to know what it is)...


Today's featured product is...

Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair

Anyone with a pet (or without one) understands how annoying it is to have animal hair all over everything, which in turn gets all over you! We have enough shedding problems to deal with on our own without throwing our animals into the mix!

While we were moving there was a period of about a month that we had to kennel The Charles and I had actually got used to not having his hair over everything...then he came back! Don't let their short hair fool you...labs shed like crazy! Now don't get me wrong I missed him terribly but couldn't he have just left his shedding at the kennel?! And the worst part was that he was shedding out of control when he returned..I blame it on the shedding of the winter coat! We had gotten new couches and I was determined to keep our new casa nice so sorry charlie no more couch time :( Sadness..it was hard but I was determined. However, even though he wasn't directly on the couch his hair still managed to get all over it! It was driving me crazy and I was tired of people saying "Oh you must have a dog" how did they know? oh yeah my new accessory (white lab hair) couldn't leave home without it! so embarrassing! Once the Hubs left for his trip I needed to cuddle with someone so I started to let The Charles on the couch...big mistake...more hair! Seriously people, I could make like five more dogs with all the hair he lets go!

Then a few weeks ago I was strolling around target on my lunch and I saw the answer to my problem (or so I hoped)! I had seen the fabric sweeper on TV but didn't know what to think of it. They claimed it would do the job of 145 sticky lint remover sheets but since those never work for me that didn't leave me with a lot of hope. But since it was about $5 or under I decided to take a chance. I got home and first banned The Charles from the couch again (he needs boundaries anyway..its good for him) and got out my pledge fabric sweeper. I started with one of the cushions and did the sweeping back and forth motion that box directs .... were my eyes telling the truth...the hair was actually coming up! I could see my couch again :) I have used it for several weeks now and although it looks full it is still picking up pet hair everyday!! Seriously if you have pet hair problems and haven't tired it yet go out and get it RIGHT NOW! It will change your life! I even bought another one for upstairs since I'm too lazy to walk up and down the stairs to get it (pathetic i know)! Once it is full you have to buy another one...but as I have said it has lasted me several weeks and it is around $5 or under...you can't beat that!

Okay so on a side note...I have to apologize for giving The Charles such a hard time because I just used one of those swiffer sweepers on our bathroom floor and I have no room to talk about shedding! sometimes I am amazed how much hair comes off my head and yet there is still so much there! Is anyone else amazed about this?? Gross I know but I had to unclog the bathtub the other day and I swear I pulled out a full head of hair, and it had only been from about two weeks worth! Maybe I'm shedding my winter coat!

Anyways...sorry about the random tangent! Pledge Fabric Sweeper...You Rock!

Are there any products you are wanting to try? Let me know and stay tuned to next weeks episode!!